Supream Court of Judicature within us and above us and a silent Register of our Thoughts and Words It is a thousand Witnesses as the Apostle says Accusing or Excusing Rom. 2.15 Such is the Impartiality of this Judge that no Bribery can tempt him to Justifie the Wicked nor Condemn the Just but he is the first Revenger of Impiety and an excluder of the Guilty from Absolution 2. IN true Tranquility of Conscience the Heart is cheerful in every Estate and Condition Rom. 5.1 3. and dreadeth no Judge nor Witness It is a continual Feast the Soul's Paradise the Mind 's fair Haven an unvaluable Possession which renders every owner Happy It is an immoveable Comfort the first Fruits of Heaven and Riches which shall never be taken away As no Wind can move or shake the Sun-beams so neither Life nor Death Prosperity or Adversity can Transfix this While this is secure tho Men receive many sharp Encounters as the Citizens of Ai did Josh. 7. Yet are they confident to resist they can resolve with that pattern of Patience Job 13.15 Tho he Kill me yet will I trust in him But if that fail and the Smoak ascendeth their Hearts are under a great Consternation Josh. 8.20 3. THE Almighty Woundeth and Healeth Deut. 32.39 Job 5.18 But it is with his Justice and Mercy The Wise Man says Prov. 6.32 33. We wound our selve by Sin and God healeth us by Afflictions as Chirurgions do with the Lancet and Cautery Sins are the Thieves which rob us and leave us wounded us by the way till the good Samaritan appears with his Wine and Oil to cleanse supple and bind up our Wounds He scourgeth the Conscience with a sense of his Anger to make us sensible of our Sins and to bring us to an abhorrence of them And thus he sometimes Disciplines us with external Afflictions 4. GOD sometimes wounds the Heart and terrifies the Conscience by the Word Preached and then we are Pricked at the Heart and with St. Peter's Auditors cry out Men and Brethren what shall we do Acts 2.37 Sometimes he smites the Conscience with an inward sense and apprehension of his fierce Wrath and severe imminent Judgments in which as the Psalmist complains of Psalm 55.4 5. An Horrible fear overtaketh them like the Earthquake at Horeb preceeding the Still small voice of Mercy 1 Kings 19.11 12. In sense of a Spiritual Desertion while he hideth away his Face Spiritual Wants or permission to some grievous Temptation cold Fits of Despair and Buffetings by the Messengers of Satan in all which tho there be means of Comfort appointed yet none can prevail till the Spirit of God the Comforter return and Heal. 5. THE same Hand giveth the Wound and prescribeth the Plaister as it was said Hos. 5.13 The Assyrians and Jareb could not heal Judah and Ephraim of their Wound so no Mortal Creature can administer Comfort whereby to heal a wounded Spirit till he who correcteth in Measure approaches and bindeth it up Jer. 30.11 c. He only he says the Psalmist Psalm 147.3 He healeth the broken in Heart and bindeth up their Wounds Even he who was Wounded for our Sins and bruised for our Iniquities and by whose Stripes we are Healed Isa. 53.5 CHAP. XXVII What things principally wound the Conscience THERE are some things which Principally afflict and wound the Conscience and comes up as the Prophet mentions 1 Sam. 13.17 like those Philistim Spoilers in three Companies to destroy and drive Men into Despair And the first Apparition and Assault is the apprehension of God's Wrath for some Hainous Sin committed An Instance we have in Cain having Murdered his Brother cryed out My Sin or Punishment is greater than I can bear Gen. 4.13 And Judas having betray'd his Lord and Master durst not approach to him to beg Mercy by reason he apprehended an implacable Anger in Christ. 2. IT is certain according to the Apostles saying That the Wrath of God cometh on the Children of Disobedience Col. 3.6 And that his Wrath is revealed from Heaven against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men Rom. 1.18 And that the Impenitent by their hardness of Heart treasure up to themselves Wrath against the day of Wrath That theâ—e shall be Indignation and Wrath to them that obey not the Truth Rom. 2.5 8. But when thou who art of a wounded Spirit and broken Heart hast well considered perhaps thou wilt find that these things are of no Concernment to thee but to those who live in Sin 3. THE second Obstacle in wounding the Conscience is sense of Spiritual Wants as Hope Faith assurance of Salvation the Spirit of Sanctification and Prayer These being the Graces of the Almighty and the Presence of his Holy Spirit in the Regenerate may yet for the time be an hidden Treasure an Immortal Seed under the frozen Clods without any appearance of Life And the truly Devout may weep and complain like the Penitent Magdalen in the Garden for the loss of Christ when at the same season he is discoursing with them but they are ignorant of his Presence John 20.14 4. THE third Obstacle is fear of some strong Temptations and Tryals at which the afflicted and affrighted Conscience is Amazed as the Disciples were when Jesus slept in the Storm and the Ship was Over-mastered with Waves and ready to Travel to the bottom of the Sea upon Death's Errand Matt. 8.24 25. Or like St. Peter on the Water when he beheld the rough Billows come Plowing before him cryeth out Save Master we Perish Matt. 14.30 When it evidently appears they cannot Perish who are with Christ nor they cannot be Safe who are without him CHAP. XXVIII Divine Considerations of the Afflicted AS God is Just so he is Merciful he is no enexorable Radamanth but he is easie to be entreated Concerning whom we have a Word more sure than any Testimony of Man for the Almighty in Exod. 34.6 being his own Herald thus proclaims himself The Lord merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth keeping Mercy for Thousands forgiving Iniquity and Transgression and Sin Now if that which others report of the Kings of Israel 1 Kings 20.31 That they were merciful Kings Could perswade them to seek Mercy and to enjoy their Lives and Liberties how much more should that which God who cannot lye hath declared himself Tit. 1.2 move the afflicted Soul humbly to Petition him for Mercy who is more ready to grant it than we are or can be to entreat it for ask it we never could except his preventing Grace and holy Spirit invisibly moved us 2. GOD delights not in the Death of Sinners but in their Conversion Ezek. 18. And as it is a true Prognostick of a Guests being welcome by the good Aspects and Deportment of the Family So it is an evident signal that a Penitent Sinner is welcome to Heaven by the Angels loud Exultations If God in his good Pleasure would have destroyed thee how often
His sake I humbly implore thee to convert this Judgment I now labour under into Mercy Let it operate in my Soul a true detestation of all Sin a stedfast purpose to forsake all my evil ways a comfortable experience of thy Mercy pronouncing Pardon to my afflicted Conscience by the infallible Evidence of thy Holy Spirit and assurance of Peace with thee O make me to hear of Joy and Gladness that the Bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Cast me not away from thy presence neither take thy Holy Spirit the Comforter from me but restore me to the joy of thy Salvation and uphold and establish me with thy free Spirit 5. O thou who despisest not a broken and contrite heart pour the Oyl of thy Mercy and heal my wounded Spirit Then will I teach Transgressors thy way that they may fear thee and melt at the sight of thy Judgments then shall Sinners be Converted unto thee who art the Fountain of all Mercy and Consolation Lord hear me and incline thine Ear in this day of my Calamity Lord Consider and perform thine own promise made through thy beloved Son Jesus Christ the Righteous to whom with thee O Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory in Heaven and Earth from this time forth and for ever more Amen CHAP. XXXIII The Sense of Spiritual Wants THE next thing which wounds and afflicts the Conscience is Sense of defects and Spiritual Wants As want of Faith Hope and Assurance of Salvation Want of Sanctification Purity of Heart the Spirit of Prayer and Hearing and want of ability to perform other Holy Duties In these the Spirit is stupified and overcast even in the best of Christians for a time The Religious Person sometimes is sensible of a dulness and want of Fervency in Prayer and of a comfortable assurance that God heareth or regardeth it because he doth not presenty answer or not grant our Petitions Sometimes they feel a Deviation of the Mind and discomposure of thoughts in attention and unbelief in hearing and reading the Word Sometimes want of Patience want of Love to God and Charity to Men In short such a general debility or distemper of the Internal Man that he readily concludes with St. Paul That in his Flesh dwelleth no good thing Rom. 7.18 These are great Maladies of the Soul and Wounds of the Spirit but it inferreth a good Prognostick of a bad Cause Where these are and the Sinner is insensible they are desperate Symptomes 2. IN this Case let us consider that the very same measure of Grace which to the present sense of a Regenerate Man seemeth incompetent may yet be a sufficient measure to save him And when he Invocates the Divine Assistance he is most strong though in his own sense he is weak and deficient For in St. Paul's distress the Lord thus answered his Petition My Grace is sufficient for thee 2 Cor. 12.8 It saith not it shall be but it is sufficient meaning the present measure of Grace he had in his Possession when he looked upon himself as a weak Vessel 3. THE most Pious their measure of Assurance is such as they are not only enjoyned to give diligence to make their Calling and Election sure that so an entrance may be administred to them abundantly into the Everlasting Kingdom but they are in duty bound also to Work out their own Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 All Incredulity inferreth not a Reprobate sense There is Incredulity in the very Elect before and a perplexing Remnant after their Calling yea even in their best Estate here else why did the Holy Apostles pray Lord encrease our Faith Luke 17.5 And why did our Saviour upbraid them with unbelief Mark 16.14 4. AND Saving Faith differeth in degrees So that there is a stronger and a weaker Faith yet both true and justifying So do all other Graces one hath a greater and more Excellent measure of the Spirit of Prayer than another One hath a more discerning and attentive Spirit of Hearing than another and yet in either instance the minor may be true and sufficient For to every Man is given according to the measure of Christ Ephes. 4.7 One hath ten Talents and another but two Nay even in one and the same Person 's Faith there is sometimes a grander and sometimes a diminutive measure of Confidence and Assurance And so we must judge of other Gifts sometimes there is more fervency in Prayer and other times less The Sun doth not display his Radiant Beams on us always alike neither doth the light of Gods Grace illuminate us after one manner 5. A true saving Faith may be very impotent and the Believer may be insensible for some space but yet the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against it as may appear in St. Peter's Example There are doubtings and failings in the best on Earth by Reason we are but here partly Spiritual We are not yet arrived to perfection Faith here must receive continual encreases and be subject to Tryals And the like does ensue to all other Vertues and Graces That true Faith never shall finally fall away or utterly fail though it be subject to Intension and Remission because Christ interceeded for us as he said to St. Peter behold Satan hath desired that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not Luke 22.31 32. Because his Grace by which we are called and stand is immutable in the Counsel and Decree of Heaven and are Sealed up by the Holy Spirit of Promise 2 Cor. 1.22 And the like we are to judge of of all the Fruits of Sanctification which being the Donations and Graces of God are such as he repenteth not of neither finally withdraweth Rom. 11.29 6. THOU hast indeed a true sense of thy Spiritual wants and mournest at thy Corruptions of Heart which on every occasion produce sinful Acts against thy Maker if this be a heavy burden unto thee receive this Comfort that thy sin is excluded its proper place and become a Stranger unto thee For nothing in its own proper station is so ponderous The danger is want of Sense and taking pleasure in Unrighteousness If a wounded Person is insensible he is either dead or in some dangerous Exstacy No part hath sense but the Living though it were for the present more comfortable to be whole yet sense of smart in thy wounds inferreth Life and indeed in Gods Medicaments who makes all things operate for the best to them that love him 't is a better State in respect of the quiet Fruits of Righteousness accruing to them that are thereby Exercised and the Ulcerous Corruptions of our Souls often necessitating our wounding that we may be healed than the secure prosperity of Sinners for it is good and beneficial at the last for the just that they have been afflicted Psal. 119.67 7. WHEN thou hearest or readest the Scriptures art thou sensible of the want of Faith
Assurance Sanctification and the Spirit and Fervency of Prayer If so be comforted For as the Solar Eclipse and Descension of Light towards us can be discerned by no Lustre but it s own so neither can the want of Grace be possibly discerned by any thing but Grace Hast thou a hearty desire to have these wants of Grace supplyed Then that very holy Ambition is Grace it self without which thou couldst not desire it Our blessed Lord in his Sermon on the Mount Math. 5.6 pronounces Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled God will never desert that Soul which desireth him and his saving health None can hunger but the Living and none hungers for Grace but he that subsisteth by it But then thy desire of that Seed must be ardent not languid such as cannot rest unsatisfied with any thing else in the World 8. THERE may be an Enervate and Oblique appetite of Salvation in Balaam for fear of Damnation but he more loved the Wages of Unrighteousness The happiest thirsts for the Waters of Life and afflicteth the Soul till it be obtained and enjoys no rest or peace without it So that indeed this very State which so much afflicteth thee is the most secure and happy and thou shalt once know that which one said in the happy Event of his unhappy Shipwrack We had perished if we had not thus perished And when thou hast received the Spirit of God in such a measure as thereby to discern the things that are freely given thee of God then thou shalt find That Blessed is the Man whom the Lord chasteneth and teacheth in his Law that he may give him rest from his days of adversity Psal. 94.12 13. 9. MAKE that inquest with thy Soul whether ever thou wert possest of that which thou art now sensible thou wantest If so be assured it shall revive again and finally overcome For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the World and this is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith 1 John 5.4 And this sense and sorrow is a signal of the recovery of the health of thy most precious part thy Soul as the seven times Neezing of the Shunamite's Child presaged his reviving 2 Kings 4.35 If thou never yet enjoyd'st the Grace which thou now beginnest to be sensible of it now evidently is apparent thou shalt acquire it for this internal perplexity is but as the motion of the Waters of Bethesda a certain Prognostick of a healing Power descending on thee 10. NEXT ask thy self according to that saying of the Prophet Jer. 2.17 Hast thou not procured this unto thy self Even this which thou now complainest of Hast thou not neglected the appointed means If want of Faith perplex thee hast thou not negligently heard the Gospel Hast thou laid it up in a Solicitous Heart Hast thou valued it and begged it fervently and frequently of God above all things in the World Thou art querulous for want of the Spirit of Prayer Hast thou not neglected this Duty formerly and dost thou now duly prepare thy self for that holy Office Dost thou use that vigilancy which Christ enjoyn'd of Watch and Pray by recalling thy profane and wandring Thoughts from their Extravagancies and all attention of Spirit fixing them on the Holy Jesus Thou art sensible thy Heart Tongue nor Actions are not Sanctimonious Appeal to thy own Conscience and then tell me if thou hast not heretofore us'd all Arts and sollicited all things to appear in the throng to drown the loud checks of that voice within thee and hast looked upon it as thy utter Enemy Now if thou wouldst cease the Effect remove the Occasion duly observe God's holy Ordinances and he will infallibly perform his Promises 11. ENQUIRE whether thou dost not persevere in some habitual sin It is a great folly to cry out of the Heat and still cast oyl on the Fire If it be an Achan's Wedge hidden search for the Cursed thing Josh. 7.25 26. and the Plague in thine own heart 1 Kings 8.38 And by removing the Impediment and Obstruction thou shalt be Comforted If it be a sleeping Jonah cast him over-board And as Eliphaz said to Job If thou return to the Almighty thou shalt be built up thou shalt put iniquity far from thy Tabernacles The Almighty shall be thy defence then shalt thou have delight in the Almighty and shalt lift up thy face unto God Thou shalt make thy Prayer unto him and he shall hear thee Job 22.23 c. 12. TO reduce what has been said into practice follow these Rules Give an audit to God's Word preparedly that is renew thy Repentance and Invocate the Father of Lights to Illuminate thee that thou mayst be a Reverend and an Attentive Auditor Faith comes by Hearing so doth Sanctification God's Spirit operating upon his own Ordinance to make it Active The occasion why so many hear so often and so few so seldom practise and receive true Comfort by it is for want of a due preparation resembling them that sow among Thorns Let Faith and all Christian Graces be valuable to thee for his sake who is the Author of all our Happiness How few set a right Estimate on Heavenly things till it be too late Mundane Vanities are Rated high and often purchased at a dear Rate but where are those that rise Early rest Late Eat the Bread of Carefulness venture Sea and Land to obtain the holy City even the New Jerusalem Be eager in the pursuit of these things thou standst in need of and the Almighty will not with-hold them from thee 13. OUR Saviour affirms to us John 7.38 39. He that believeth in me out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Waters That is fluency of Graces proceeding from the Holy Ghost If thou wilt labour and endeavour to attain unto this Faith chase away all Obstructions that do oppose thee For a Resolution to persevere in any known Sin and True Faith are inconsistent An obdurate Heart is like the great stone on the mouth of the Well at Padan-Aram which kept Men back from the Waters of Refreshment These Impediments I say must first be removed for sin in the Affections is like a venomous Toad in the Mouth of the Fountain obstructing the Waters of Life 14. CONSIDER the Operation of the Almighty in thee and compare thy misfortunes with others If thou art not heard by the Great Being perhaps thy Supplication is not consonant to his Will For his design is to save thee and infallibly to bless thee and if he performs that by a means suitable to Omnipotency wilt thou be impatient with Naaman if thou art not healed according to thy way which thou proposest Is not it enough that he will effect that which is properest and best for thee and canst thou pretend to outvie his Wisdom Perhaps he thinks it requisite to try thy perseverance and patience whereof I confess I know no severe object than an opinion
of its Seat of Passion leaveth a Man an Incompetent Judge for it is natural to frail Mortality to think them evil whom they have any Antipathy against Architas Considered well when he said to his offending Servant 'T is well for you that I am angry And Socrates who in like case said I would beat thee but that I am angry Other Passions in Extreams discompose the Mind but anger Precipitateth it To be a Master of other Affections demonstrateth him very Moderate but to gain a Conquest over Anger declares him to be Prudent 6. IN no Passion do we more lose our Friends our Advantages our Judgment our Selves nor give an Enemy more Advantage than in Anger He is a Fool that can be angry at nothing and he Wise who will not at every thing It is as great a Vertue to Conquer thy Self as it is to encounter with the fiercest Lyon He made a good choice who chose rather the Meekness of Moses than the strength of Sampson He that hath vanquished his Anger hath gain'd the Victory over a dangerous Enemy Allay and overcome thine Anger with Reason that chasing it with due Revenge it may prove Justice 's Hand-maid not its Mistress 7. DID we Consider the dangerous Effects it brings we would hasten and wean our selves from it I shall Endeavour to give you a Catalogue of some of the accomplices of Anger and then tell me whether it be not a Passion of a Pernicious Consequence To begin it is a short madness differing from it only in point of time it distorts the Countenance precipitates the Mind and so disturbeth the Reason that for the time it converts Man to a Beast From hence prceed the Unguarded Mouths Unbridled Tongues Reproaches Calumnies Contumelies Conflicts and Fruits of Fury spring from that Fountain This whets the Sword and breaks the Sacred Bands of Nature and Religion provoking men at that height by their Assasinations to be Butchers of Men. 7. OBSERVE how a sudden Deluge sweeps along the Verdant Fields and destroys the Husband-mans most flourishing Hopes even so rusheth the most impious deluge of Anger into the Mind covering dangerously for the time if not drowning the fairest Plants of Vertue Wisdom and Temperance under that bitterness of Mind and breathing of Revenge leaving neither Venerable Age Tender Youth nor any thing Sacred or Unspar'd It depriveth thee of Councel rendreth thee Obnoxious to thy Friends exposeth thee to thine Enemies and maketh thee altogether Fruitless when Patience and Mildness would leave better Impression and Root then the best Precepts sowed in Storms In short it makes thee assume the shape of an Unjust Judge who Correctest thy Child or Servants Fault with a greater fault of thine own Intemperance 8. DESIRE and Anger are the worst Counsellers they not only disturb the Soul but deform the whole Frame of the outward Man Could the angry man but take a Prospect of himself and stedfastly behold what change that Passion worketh in his Countenance its impossible he could be Enamoured with that Distemper He would find it as much altered from its Native Beauty as the Face of the Thundring Skie differs from the lovely Serene or the Enraging Boysterous Sea does from a Pleasant Calm Plato advised his Scholars when they were Angry to look into a Glass And if ever the Odious Spirit of Satan looked out of the Windows of Man's Face 't is in his Exhorbitant Anger What a Deformity does it Operate in the Divine Soul Obvious to the Eye of God It brings along with it the same disadvantage as those Dogs of the Prophane Donatists whom they fed with the Bread of the Holy Eucharist for which they escaped not without an evident Sign of Gods Justice for the Dogs were so Inflamed with Raging Madness that they fastened upon their own Masters as Strangers and Enemies Tearing them with Revenging Teeth Even so it often comes to pass that impious Anger destroyeth the Angry 9. HE that can by a Regular Reason Bridle his Anger reaps great Advantage First In Point of Pacification according to Solomons Counsel Prov. 15.1 A soft Answer turneth away Wrath. Secondly In respect of Victory for as the Patient Man enclineth the Prudent as Witnesses to his Party So that shall more Foil the Outragious and Violent with Meekness than by Retaliation of Injuries and Contumelies In which Sense what Solomon says confirms it for a Truth A soft Tongue breaketh the Bone Prov. 25.15 Next thy Councel better recovereth its Seat by thy forbearance and thou losest nothing of thy Interest by delaying that which thou once must express or act To conclude in the most just Occasions of Anger remember God's indulgence with thee Be not like that Evil Servant who having found much Mercy would shew none lest thy Judgment be equivolent Matth. 18.34 10. MALICE is the Venom of the Old Dragon Satan's bitter Influence on the Wicked and his lively Image in them It is the Fire of Hell breaking out on the Men of this World It is the Mother of Revenge and Symptome of an Unregenerate Heart the Affection of a Reprobate Mind the Devils Leaven which must be purged out of those who will Communicate with Christ our Passover Malice is the Fuel of God's Anger and an Obstruction to his Mercy who cannot justifie the Malicious for what he has said is just and true Mat. 6.15 If ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive you And seeing it is wholly disagreeable with the Love of God therefore it is impossible as St. John says To Love God and hate thy Brother 1 John 4.20 Concerning which I need prescribe no other Rule than this If Malice possess thy Heart then desert all Pretences and immediately cast it out if ever thou hopest to enter into that Kingdom where inhabits all Love Peace and Tranquility with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory CHAP. X. Of Envy ENVY is an inveterate Grief at others Welfare and Prosperity and an Evil Perturbation of the Mind so odious that to expose it to View is a Motive sufficient to make us loath and detest it It is a Tare of the Wicked 's sowing and worthy of Divine Revenge and Punishment it is an impediment to Piety a path to Hell and a secluder from the Kingdom of Heaven It is a Pernicious Attendant to Posterity A Vanity and Vexation of Spirit Eccles. 4.4 A Fruit of Unregeneration Rom. 1.29 It is the Daughter of Self-Love and Pride the Result of Carnal Minds 1 Cor. 3.3 A Work of the Flesh Gal. 5.21 It is an Obstruction of Edification and Growth by the sincere Milk of Gods Word 1 Pet. 2.1 2. 2. IT is a Blasphemous Censure of the Most High whose Judgment it dissalloweth secretly Murmuring and Repining at his Providence who Wisely Disposeth of all things in Heaven and Earth Setting up and pulling down and distributing to every one according to his good Pleasure Dan. 4.25 To display it farther it is a Diabolical Wisdom a Companion
ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof Strive by a Holy imitation to follow the Example of thy Lord and Master who was meek and lowly in Heart and envied no Man Matt. 11.29 Christ loved all respectively For Love envieth not 1 Cor. 13.4 If we love for the sake of him who first loved us we shall never be perplexed for any competent Blessings he in his good pleasure bestows but should rather wish them greater We shall wash off that guilt of undervaluing others and abandon that presumption of over-rating our selves and this sort of Ambition which acts contrary to these Remedies reigns only in the Dominion of the Envious 2. THE Meek Moses was so free from Pride and Ambition that he reprehended those that Envied for his sake and wisht that all God's People could Prophesie and besought the Lord that he would put His Spirit upon them Num. 11.29 Discipline thy self in God's School for there is the best and safest cure of Emulation It was a Paradox to David Psal. 73.16 Vntil saith he I went into the Sanctuary of God then understood I their end There thou mayst learn not to value Transitory things too much to consider well his Hand which setteth up and pulleth down To refer all thy Desires to the advancement of his Glory and humbly to acknowledge and in a high manner express thy thankfulness for those favours of Providence he hath conferred on thee having the possession of these thoughts thou mayest quite Banish Envy 3. NEXT consider where thou placest thy Enmity The Psalmist found in the Sanctuary that his Enemies were not to be Envyed Surely said he thou didst set them in slippery places Thou castedst them down to Destruction Psal. 73.18 Let not this Memento flip out of thy Mind That God mixeth Bitter with Sweetness to all in this Life One hath great Riches but no Child to enjoy it nor perhaps a generous Heart to make use of those goods of Fortune God hath been pleased to bestow upon him Another is in perfect Bodily Health but his Soul may be sick unto Death Others contrive and hoard up Wealth but with such a seared Conscience that the poorest Saint is incomparably more happy Another is advanced to Honours perhaps only to make his Fall the greater Another in divers respects may be very Prosperous in the Eye of the World but may resemble the Moon who is most tenebrous towards Heaven when she Illuminates the Earth So it is with Man very observable that the greater Lustre they shine with in the Eye of the World the more despicable they are in the sight of Heaven for God abhorreth all those Pomps and Vanities and layeth up such severe Judgments for the Owners that a Soul in the midst of Torments is as proper an Object of Envy as the glittering Shadows who are hasting thither 4. O let us not forget then that we are Brethren Members of one Body whereof Christ Jesus is the Head therefore let us with all Gentleness and Meekness take St. Paul's advice Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a Man be over-taken in a Fault restore such a one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Let us support one another through Love and mutually rejoice at each others Happiness and by these means we shall cast away the works of Darkness Strife and Envy CHAP. XIII Of Impatience IMPATIENCE is a Distemper of the Mind proceeding from several Causes as Indignation Anger Envy Sorrow apprehension of Injuries Affliction deluded Hopes and the like As the diseased Body cannot endure Heat or Cold so an impatient and discontented Mind cannot comply with Prosperity or Adversity Every present Estate seemeth uneasie wanting a true relish to make it palatable it is not only a Guilt but a Punishment of the Sin of Ingratitude against God Therefore the Almighty threatned to send them trembling Hearts Sorrow of Mind and pendulous Thoughts and Fears Deut. 28.65 66 67. In the Morning thou shalt say would God it were Evening and at Even thou shalt say would God it were Morning 2. SICK of this wayward Distemper was he who being at Rome lik'd Tyber best but when at Tyber gave Rome the Preference the sick Person shifteth Rooms and Beds as the wounded Hart flieth from Brake to Brake but can find no ease whilst the fatal Arrow that Messenger of Death sticks fast in his side So it is observable Malecontents waver between contempt of the present and vain hopes of the future But Coelum non animum mut at he transmueth the Air not his Mind that crosseth the Ocean Wherever thy Progress is thy Mind bears thee company and according to its Malignancy a proportionable Remedy must be applied 3. TRIVIAL matters doth not perturb the the Healthy but a small Accident discomposeth the Sick The sound and strong Man can rest any where but to the infirm a Bed of Gold or Wood produces the same ease and a rich Palace or a poor Cottage affords him equality of rest So it is observable a fixed and stable Mind will rest contented any where he is become a Proficient and can say with St. Paul I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be Content Phil. 4.11 And a Mind so serene and calm is Health to the Sick Enlargement to the Prisoner and far excells a Kingdom to the Possessor whereas the impeteous Mind is troubled and discomposed with every trifle I do well said pievish Jonah to be angry even unto death Jonah 4.9 And all this Morosety was but for a poor Gourd when at that juncture he ought to have been more concerned at so many thousand Lives which were near Destruction 4. TO cure this no Cataplasm Externally applyed can afford any Operation but it must be a Catholicon Internally used which must purge the Mind of these Malignant Perturbations which disaffect it and to strengthen it by a right Informatioâ— of the Understanding and rectifying thâ— distempered Affections untill the Mind enjoy a Calm of Patience And indeed Patience is a Magnanimous Vertue and attended with a Train of â—piritual Qualifications First It is Afflictions Cordial and Despair Antidote the Daughter and Nurse of Hope Rom. 8.25 And the Saints Communioâ— with Christ Rev. 1.9 It is the way to thâ— Inheritance Heb. 12.1 The Seal of Salvâ—tion 2 Pet. 1.10 A Symptome of Faitâ— and Hope in Christ 1 Thess. 1.3 Patiencâ— is an Equanimity in bearing Adversity anâ— a Fruit of Charity And the Apostle giâ—â— you this Certificate That the Fruit of thâ— Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gaâ— 5.22 And Charity suffereth long 1 Cor. 13.4 5. IMPATIENCE is a Perturbation of the Mind a Self-corroding Tormenting bitterness of the Soul proceeding from Impotency or Levity of Mind A secret contest with and repining at the Providence of God It is the absurdity of Rich Men and the vexation of the Poor The Mother of Despair and sad fury of the Internal
God has promised Remission of Sins Grace Glory and all things necessary for this present Life and the future and the instrumental Motive is justifying Faith from whence it springs for the Apostle tells you Heb. 11.1 Faith is the Substance of things hoped for The supream end God's Glory the subordinate our own Salvation and present Comfort whereby we may effectually offer up our Thankfulness to God to who begetteth us again to a lively hope in Christ 1 Pet. 1.3 8. St. John tells you in his first Epistle 3.3 That he which hath this Hope is purified and the Psalmist animates you saying It is an Expulsion of servile Fear Psal. 5.6.4.5 As also a dependance on God and casting all our Care upon him a Fortitude in bearing Afflictions and a Joy in Adversity The Subject of this Hope are God's Saints Faith and Hope accord in the Cause and God's Spirit giveth both and in the certainty as we believe so we hope All they differ in is this That Faith begetteth Hope whereby Faith hath the Preference Secondly Faith beholdeth the the verity of God's Promises Hope on the Goodness of them as Faith can entertain nothing but infallible Truth for its Object so Hope can enjoy nothing but Goodness Faith apprehendeth the Truth and Hope patiently expects the fulfilling of it Now the Object of this Hope hath four Qualifications Good Future Difficult and Possible 9. GOOD Whatsoever is contrary to it may be an object of Fear which has no coherence with this Hope Now whereas there is a real Good so there is an appearing or seeming one which being not sincere creates a vain or impious Hope as if a Man hopes for Ease Pleasure Riches and Honours These are not Verities nor good of themselves but in their use and so their hopes may be vain and of no duration A Man hopes a Revenge on his Enemy a Satisfaction of his Lusts or the like This Hope is impious and not durable and must in the end render a Man unhappy But if we hope for the Glory of God our Soul's Health and Comfort or what is really good in it self this is true Hope and shall attain to that heighth of Perfection tho to transitory Eyes it seems not to be durable as when we invocate for some Temporal Things which Omnipotency discerneth not to be agreéable to our Necessities or for him to grant as when Christ prayed that the Cup might pass from him and when Moses hoped to go into Canaan Christ was heard and Moses not defeated of his hope because in both God decreed that which was best and that is ever consistent with true Hope which gives not the Deity Prescriptions but confidently expecteth either what it hopeth or something better 10. FUTURE Rom. 8.24 25. Joy is of things Present or so represented as when we rejoice in Hope Rom. 12.12 Hope maketh that present by a Prepossession of that which is to come for Hope acts contrary to that which is present Difficult Such are all things Excellent perhaps deluded Hope makes it an easie step to Heaven and Salvation But they that indeed go that Path shall find it narrow and inviron'd with a World of Difficulties Lastly Possible That which is impossible to Carnal Reason may be hoped for because 't is possible to God therefore Abraham believed above Hope And we expect the Resurrection of the Dead and some things which sinful Men think possible are impossible 11. ALL things are possible to Omnipotence which he 'll perform and he will perform what he has Promised But some things he disannuls and so are impossible Omnipotency will not lie nor be unjust for that importeth Impotency and is a declining of his Attributes To hope that those Asseverations God hath pronounced concerning Supine Sinners shall not be accomplished is a Hope altogether vain and fruitless for it is impossible for the Divine Majesty to be untrue To be resolute in Sinning and yet to hope for Pardon is a frivolous Hope because it is impossible for God to be unjust a severe Lesson for Presumptuous Sinners who resolve to enjoy their Lusts and Pleasures glut themselves with Revenge and yet hope when this Life's Scene is ended the few Petitions of their Epilogue shall purchase favour 12. IF thou goest on in this Career thou wilt be guilty of a gross Absurdity for if thou resolvest to Sin and invocatest the Almighty to be Merciful thou dost in effect beseech God to unthrone himself of his Justice and to be indulgent to an Impenitent Sinner This being impossible it concerns thee to arise from sleep and shake off all vain and deluding Hopes that thou mayst fix on the true and never failing which is the Anchor of the Soul a laying hold on the Land of the Living it is the ease of Sorrows Grief's Asswager Affliction 's Comforter and Despair's Antidote Again it is Faith's Perspective the Nebo where we take a view of the Promised Rest and the Faithful Spy to discover the Holy-Land bringing us the Tastes from Escoll the Fruits of the Spirit the Possession which they hold who enjoy no more and yet are Rich in all Things CHAP. XVII Rules to govern our Hope IN order to this Governance endeavour to fortifie thy Mind with Resolution and Sobriety which will guide to Purity of Life For every one that hath this Hope purgeth himself as he is pure 1 John 3.3 A true Hope with a Resolution to persist in any known Sin is incompatible The Devout Man's Hope never faileth of which Seneca could say That Fortune hath often deserted the Innocent but good Hope never Hope to the End for the Perfection of that Virtue is Perseverance We must wait for the Adoption to wit the Redemption of our Body Rom. 8.23 Though deferred Hope disturbs the Heart Though it tarry wait for it shall surely come Hab. 2.3 What ever Tryals we undergo let us put on Job's Resolution Chap. 13.15 Though he stay me yet will I trust in him We belong to him that Redeemed us If we hold fast the Confidence and the rejoicing of the Hope firm unto the End Heb. 3.6 2. THOUGH through Humane Frailty thou sometimes art assaulted with Fear yet be confident and pursue the Psalmists Rule who expresses What time I am afraid I will trust in thee Psal. 56.3 Fear and Hope may inhabit together especially where the fear of the Lord doth not abrogate Faith's Confidence but Carnal Security Treasure up the Promises of God to that intent were they written and divulged That we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Rom. 15.4 Fix not thy rest on this World or place thy Confidence on any thing in it it is but comparable to a broken Reed a slack Rope on the raging Sea or a false Friend in Adversity and like the Quick-Sands on which infatuated Builders lay their Foundations As Moses told Israel Ye are not come to your rest Deut. 12.9 3. ALL temporal Enjoyments are liable to Vicissitudes
acceptable to him if they extend to Fruits of Regeneration and uniting us to Christ dedicateth us to a Capacity of his Sanctifying Spirit and enableth us in some measure to vanquish Sin and perform that whâ—ch is holy in his sight Now the Apostle mentions St. James 2.18 Shew me thy Faith without thy Works and I will shew thee my Faith by thy Works And St. Paul says Rom. 3.28 A Man is justified by Faith only without the Deeds of the law 3. THOUGH our best Performances cannot justifie us before the Almighty because imperfect yet are they never separated from true Faith and they are the Path-way to the heavenly Jerusalem though they cannot finish our happy Arrival Therefore to the Young-Man's Query who desired to be justified by Works our Saviour replies Mat. 19.16 Keep the Commandments Thus he was convinced who had not yet learned the Righteousness of Faith which saith Believe and thou shalt be Saved thereby implying that yet he was wanting in some things who was excellent in others and therefore must seek Salvation by Faith and the way to Heaven by Sanctity This is a Condition not an Obligation of our Salvation for as we can never acquire Salvation by it so we can never expect any without it because our very best Endeavours and Performances we owe to God's Honor and Glory 4. IT is not sufficient to have a good Intention either to speak or to do good for Satan is well-pleased that Men should draw near unto God with their Lips if their Hearts be far from him or that they speak well if they will perform Evil. Words at best are but Feminine Virtues but Works are Mâ—sculine Of these the Spiritual Pharoah giveth charge to smother them But we desire to convert our Words into Actions and not only to speak but to Effect holy Performances 5. ACTIONS Humane Natural or Civil are no otherwise here concerned than as they are in order to the Moral and so regulated by the Law and holy Word of God in the affirmative or negative Precepts which is the only Rule of all our Moral Actions towards God or Man Neither Examples Prescriptions Universality of Consent nor Commands of Men must be prevalent with us against the express Word of God For these claim Privilege only in those things which God's Law alloweth and refereth to our Authority CHAP. XXIV Rules in External Actions FIRST Neither Propose nor Act any thing Evil or Unjust for any Worldly profit Honours or Pleasures For it is an apparent detriment to acquire the World with the loss of thy Soul Mat. 16.26 What can Secular Honours advantage thee when thou art condemned by the Almighty Should all the World extol thee and thou be Canonized a Saint in the opinion of the multitude or thy Actions be highly applauded equivalent to Herod's Speech and be rendred Supernatural God's Angel may smite thee and the Worms destroy thee What are Pleasures In their Birth they look towards a Precipitate End and the Vicissitude of this Scene serveth only to aggravate the misery Like that ungrateful sound which reached the Ears of Dives in Hell Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things Luke 16.25 Present remembrances of past pleasures embitter the Torment 2. LET God's Law be thy Rule and Counsellor and weigh all thy Actions by his Standard before thou Execute any Purpose David could not enterprize before he had consulted God's Oracles Nor the very Heathens before they sent for the double Effataes of their Priests When the Word of God is our Rule we abhor setting up strange God's in our Hearts like those who adore their own Inventions in Will-worship and voluntary Religion wherein all even the most zealous and painful Actions as Pilgrimages superstitious Fasts foolish Penance and idolatrous Oblations or costly Dedications shall be rejected with a Who required this at your Hands Isa. 1.12 And the Prophet tells you Micah 6.7 8. The Lord will not be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousand Rivers of Oil And He hath shewed O Man what is good And what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God 3. IN Religious Acts God left not Israel to their own disposing in minor things but commanded Moses See thou make all things according to the Pattern shewed thee in the Mount Heb. 8.5 Also when God's Word is our Rule we will neither lay Snares upon our own Consciences placing Religion in those things which God hath left Indifferent as they who prohibited certain Meats or Marriage 1 Tim. 4.3 Nor will we dispense with that Word in any one point which any humane Authority pretends or imposes to the Contrary 4. IN all thy acts and designs before thou execute them duly and seriously consider the Event which is like a Ship 's Rudder tho it comes last it directs first and last Endeavour to gain a fore-sight and consider the Sequel O that they were Wise saith the Lord That they understood this That they would consider their latter End Deut. 32.29 By which means thou wilt in all sinful Actions with the Holy Apostle be ever ready to conclude That the end of those things is Death Rom. 6.21 5. IN all thy actions fix thy self in the presence of God by following David's Example Psalm 16.8 Ever remember thou art in his Sight and that neither thy Thoughts nor Actions can be excluded from him for neither Solitude nor Darkness can vail thee from his All-seeing Eye Psalm 139.11 12. In all thy Undertakings accustom thy self to the rule of Charity for that is the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13.10 and the Fruit of God's Spirit Gal. 5.22 And there can be no performances acceptable to God if we omit this Duty and Command of the Apostle Let all things be done in Charity 1 Cor. 16.14 6. IN all Religious Duties act not the Impostor for the Hypocrite doth but personate act and counterfeit the Saint he seems good but is doubly Impious as the Orator said of the Servilii which were very like but not the same so resembling that they were not dâ—stinguished abroad amongst Strangers but were known at home by their own Acquaintance But when the Hypocrite hath deceived all the World he can never defraud his own Conscience Therefore let this advice be thy faithful Monitor to be just and sincere in thy Deportment before God and Man Let Christ's Rule be thy constant Pattern Whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you do ye even so to them For this is the Law and the Prophets Matt. 7.12 7. TRANSACT nothing which must cost thee a bitter Repentance When the Philosopher had a great price set him upon Folly replied I will not buy Repentance so dear Never act any thing against thy Conscience for fear or favour of Men but rather esteem a good Conscience before all Treasure on this side Heaven In some things we Sin all But happy is he
like Crimson they shall be as Wool CHAP. XXX Divine Considerations of our Repentance forgiving Enemies and the Love of God CONSIDER why Christ came into the World The beloved Disciple informs you John 3.16 Because he so loved it God sent him to save Sinners not only them who had broken some of his Commandments But as St. Paul saith He came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief 1 Tim. 1.15 He came to call as himself professeth Not the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance Mat. 9.13 Mark 2.17 He called the heavy laden not fallaciously but indeed to ease and disburthen them of their Sins Mat. 11.28 He saved the Publicans and notorious Sinners and to manifest the same in contempt of Pharisaical Calumnies conversed with them 2. CONSIDER that God who commanded us to forgive not only seventy times but oftner would not enjoin us that which himself could not or would not perform He is essentially and so infinitely gracious that his Mercy is more than thousands of Oceans which can never be exhausted Man hath but a slender Stock a finite Mercy at the best and such as may be diminished and vanquished by Injuries He that enjoineth Man to forgive without Exception could not in his Justice command and require Man to forgive more than himself in his abundant Mercy could or was willing to assent to Add to this a Consideration of his tender Love He hath planted a Paternal Love and Care not only in Parents for their Children but lest we should suppose it rather habitual than natural taught by Precept or Example rather implanted by the Almighty in their Natures in the very brute Beasts of the Field and Birds of the Air for the Preservation of their Young All this Love in the Creature is but momentany but in God it is Essential Infinite and Unchangeable 3. NOW consider did God give Man suppose David so much Love and Mercy as that upon the Mediation of the Tekoite he could presently be reconciled to a Rebellious Absolom hath he given thee Bowels of Compassion and an ardent Zeal for thy Childrens Good and Safety to mourn for their Transgressions and to be ready upon the least appearance or signs of amendment to enter into a Reconciliation with them and canst thou conceive that God will not be much more ready to Pardon thee if thou canst heartily Repent and Implore Forgiveness through the Merits of a Crucified JESVS the Son of his Love and in whom he hath proclaimed from Heaven He is well pleased Matt. 3.17 4. THE Custom among the Molossians was whom Plutarch mentions that the Petitioner should take up the King's Son in his Arms and so kneeling before the Altar nothing was denied for the Protection and Safety of the Suppliant So Themistocles found favour with King Admetus So likewise will our Heavenly King give Audience to our Petitions if we present him in the Arms of Faith his Beloved Son Christ Jesus with the Merits of his Death and Passion A wounded Spirit a broken and a contrite Heart is an acceptable Sacrifice to God and that which he will not despise Psalm 51.19 Thou canst not reasonably think thy Case detestable for that which God approveth and loveth in thee and hath so mercifully Cherished in those he dearly loved The Royal Psalmist the Man after his own Heart felt this which thou art afraid of My Heart saith he is Wounded within me Psalm 109.22 5. CONSIDER seriously that a calm Conscience is not always the best nor a Tempestuous the worst There is a Lethargy and Stupidity of an evil Conscience in a Carnal Security This Calm is such a Storm wherein the Soul like the Men of Laish is quiet and secure until some Spiritual Danites awake it and the Sinner goeth on like Agag thinking surely that the Bitterness of Death is past As some Heart-sick Patient in whom Nature's strength is so far decayed that he is insensible of the undiscovered approaches of Death now imminent even such is the calm Conscience of a secure Sinner 6. NOW if that Angel Guardian the Conscience which God and Nature has placed within the Breast of a Righteous Person be sometimes at Variance and upon the seasonable point of Admonition for some Sin Unrepented we may infer it to be like the Ship in which Jonah fled followed with Storms untill he was cast forth whereby his Happiness might be the greater But the danger is desperate with those when the Mind is Drowsie and will not be awakened from its Guilt and Impenitency but are given up to the Spirit of Slumber those I say if at any time their Conscience within 'em whispers and severely Checks 'em then are they ready to cry out as Ahab to Elijah Hast thou found me O mine Enemy If we are not sensible of our Wounds the sign is Mortal therefore let us not our selves remove from that wholesome Discipline or fly that Chirurgion whose Lancet threatens none but the imposthumated Parts but rather chuse wisely that main skill of knowing whether our Consciences thus lull'd up in treacherous sleep or disturbed by that Voice within us which of these two I say prognosticates the most Danger CHAP. XXXI The Examination of the Conscience concerning our Repentance c. TO this a serious Examination is requisite wherein I shall lay down these Particulars First some Reasons why we must seriously examine our Consciences Secondly The main Lets incident thereto Thirdly Certain Rules by which we may throughly Examine Fourthly Interrogatories to be proposed to the afflicted Conscience Fifthly Some Conclusions necessary to be drawn from the Whole 2. FIRST We ought to Examine our selves for certainly God hath not so often Commanded it in vain Lam. 3.40 Psal. 4.4 1 Cor. 11.28 2 Cor. 13.5 Secondly Without this we cannot know our Sins and so not Repent nor have any solid Comfort in Impenitency We are extream apt to mistake our selves which if we do we can have no sound Comfort in the Testimony of a good Conscience which presupposeth Faith and Illumination Thirdly Without this we cannot possibly know which way we are going the Broad way to Destruction or the Narrow to Salvation which were very necessary to comfort us if we go right or to recal and rectifie us if wrong Fourthly Without this we can never make a right use of God's Chastisements nor obtain any comfortable way out of 'em Neither can we distinguish his Operations of Mercy in us when he Humbleth us here that we may be Exalted hereafter 3. NOW the common Obstructions to this Duty are first an Evil Conscience which being wounded by a deep Guilt cannot endure any Searching Secondly Native Hypocrisie misrepresenting us to our selves by denominating us highly Pious and looking upon it as an important Injury not to be counted so Thirdly distracting Cares of this Life and Carnal Security which say with those Jews Hag. 1.2 The time is not come These make Men refer their Repentance to the last Hour even to
of his not hearing our Prayers It was no small tryal when David cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why art thou so far from helping me and from the Words of my Roaring Psal. 22.1 But the Acclamation on the Cross carryed a louder sound Mat. 27.46 Moses was denied entrance into Canaan but was received into Heaven The Cup did not pass away from Christ but God's Will was perform'd in the operation of Man's Redemption and so he was heard Heb. 5.7 15. DOTH thy Faith endure many sharp encounters of the Tempter Then observe the Almighty by this means doth more confirm it Is not every Temptation as the shaking of Trees which loosing the ground Engrafts them the deeper Thou art sensible of thy great defects in Sanctity and of many dubious conflicts between the Flesh and the Spirit provoking thy Soul to cry with Rebecca when perplex'd with her wrestling Twins Why am I thus Gen. 25.22 Despond not but consider the work of him with whom we have to do Thus he chaseth thee often to fly to him and to Consult his Oracles Thus he exerciseth thee to humility without which the most Excellent Graces could not save thee He that Prayed for St. Peter's falling could have prevented him from falling into that Sin But in so doing he kept him from presumption and fitted him to confirm his Brethren 16. IN all Humility beg Holiness of God who hath expresly said ask and ye shall have And to consider that God is perfect Holiness is a vehement Motive conducing to it and certainly he cannot chuse but love his own Image in us and freely give us that which he loveth It pleased the Author of our Being that Solomon before Riches Revenge and Life it self should petition him for Wisdom upon which he did not only grant his request but additionally gave him Riches and Honour And undoubtedly it doth so much please God that any of his Servants doth in the sense of their wants before all things give Grace the Preferrence and they that in the sincerity of their heart Petition to him for Sanctity of Life he will not deny them but will insert to their grant more than we are able to ask or think of The Prayer O Almighty God Infinite in Mercy and perfect Verity who delightest not in the destruction of Wretched Creatures nor despisest the Groans of a Troubled Spirit Lord I am poor and afflicted and do in bitterness of Soul acknowledge my vileness and vacancy of Grace the Corruption of my sinful nature the misery which I have procured my self by my wilful disobedience to thy Holy Laws and my Impotency to any thing that is good Lord I am as that wretched Traveller wounded and cast down only sensible of my Wounds but utterly unable to move or help my self The Priest and Levite pass by and afford me no relief neither is it in the power of the Creature to assist me Nay even thy just and holy Law which wholsomely instructs Do this and live is so far from aiding me or administring Comfort that my sins make it appear to me a killing Letter or at best resembling the Prophets Staff sent before by the Ministry of thy Servant not able to give Life but a Prospect of my Sins and rendring me guilty before thy dreadful Tribunal and at the Bar of my terrified Conscience 2. BUT O Lord let the good Samaritan the Prophet himself Christ Jesus thy dear Son and my alone Saviour inspire me with his Holy Spirit for he only can bind up my wounded Soul and heal it Thou hast wounded me by an heavy apprehension of thy Justice O now heal me by the assurance of thy Mercy Strengthen my Faith in Christ who freely justifieth Sinners And as thou hast in thine Eternal Love given him to Death for my Redemption so give me an infallible assurance that he is my Saviour and Deliverer That according to thine own Gracious Promise in him I may live with thee 3. AND O thou who art the Saviour of all the World who sentest the Holy Ghost the Comforter of all thy Servants to thy Afflicted Disciples to strengthen them send him to my Enervated and Wretched Soul It is neither of him that Willeth nor of him that Runneth but of thine own Infinite Goodness shewing Mercy Thy Omnipotence is effectual in the Operation of thy good Will and Pleasure O be Graciously pleased to Sanctifie my Corrupted will and affections And as thou hast freely given me a will and a hearts desire to serve and please thee that I might be saved so perfect thine own work in me and establish what thou hast begun Give me O Lord true Holiness and repair thine own Image in me that thou mayst own me for thine and then manifest thine own work in me and unto me 4. LET not the good Spirit which has possession of me remain any longer in obscurity but blessed Lord manifest thy self unto my Soul And let the Illumination of thy Spirit break out in full assurance of Faith that I may no more doubt of thy Mercies Grant me an entire Victory over Sin and Despair by the apparent presence of the Comforter My afflicted Soul O Lord knoweth no Sanctuary to flie unto but thy infinite mercy Unto thee alone it Gaspeth as a thirsty Land O shower down such a plentiful Dew of thy Grace which may refresh my wearied Spirit and fill me with the Fruits of Righteousness which may evidently appear in my Life and Conversation to thy Glory and the assurance of my Election Vocation Sanctification Perseverance and Salvation in thy beloved Son and my alone Saviour to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit Three Persons one Immortal Incomprehensible Omnipotent only Wise God be rendred all Honour and Glory in Heaven and Earth now and to all Eternity Amen CHAP. XXXIV Fear of Temptations NEXT We are to Consider the Conscience afflicted with Fear of Temptations and a defection through them enclining it to a despair of Grace sufficient to resist them by this means the Soul is immerst with heaviness through manifold Temptations 1 Pet. 1.6 In which case it is necessary to consider That first A Temptation is a Tryal or taking an Experiment of something or other The Devil who cannot compel tryeth men whether he can allure them to Sin and this is apprehensively Temptation 2. THERE is a Temptation of Tryal which you see Acts 20.19 1 Cor. 10.13 Rev. 3.20 and St. James saith My Brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers Temptations And Blessed is the man that endureth Temptation For when he is tryed he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that Love him St. James 1.2 12. God is said to tempt no man that is to Evil Evidently implying as there is no Sin in him so neither is there any occasioned by him yet tried Abraham to manifest him openly to others and himself For no man knoweth himself which is untried
occasion to vex at the Levity and Vanity of thy own Mind If it be just what is the monstrous Object of thy Hatred and Malice Assure thy self the Adulteress is unhappy enough and there is no Creature on Earth more despicable and odious nor no Sin in this Life accompanied with so many varieties of Plagues and Judgments so that indeed they are great Objects of Pity if all these wretched Ingredients can render them to be so as a wounded Conscience the Devil 's Earnest to the Impenitent and assurance of Hell and Damnation 8. IN the next place my address shall be to those in whom there is occasion of Suspicion And first Let Man himself consider how odious Adultery is and out of all measure sinful for he sinneth against his own Body defileth the Temple of the Holy Ghost Cor. 6.18 19. and pierceth through his own Bowels with a Dart of Rottenness Prov. 7.23 And that which will render him in the end mournful But beyond all this in case of Impenitency which the stubborn Presumer may justly suspect it is that whereby he excludeth himself from the Kingdom of Heaven 1 Cor. 6.9 10. And in the Adulteresses Crime some Aggravations are appertaining to it as robbing her Husband of his Posterity obtruding a base and adulterous Issue and so stealing away his Estate and Inheritance by giving it to a Stranger and fixing on an indelible Character of Dishonor and Bastardy upon her Child who but for her impotent and ungovern'd Lust might have proved noble and legitimate An Injury which she can never expiate nor repair to the innocuous Son with Rivers of Tears and streams of her infected Blood This multiplied Sin is sometimes conceal'd from Men but never from the All-seeing God who is a severe Revenger of all Iniquity 9 OTHER Sins are grievous and pernicious yet neither Lying Stealing Idolatry Murder nor Witchcraft can of it self dissolve the Sacred Bond of Wedlock as this only base act of Adultery doth Therefore our Saviour admits of no Divorce but upon that occasion And it is remarkable that when God would display the loathsomness of Idolatry which most displeased him he styl'd it Whoredom and himself a jealous God and certainly though that be abolished of the bitter Water causing the Curse and rotting of the Thigh with swelling which attended that antiquated Ceremony yet the bitter Moral and Substance are not quite extinguish'd Numb 5.18 10. AVOID what you are sensible of hath created your Suspicion otherwise you are guilty if not of Adultery yet of a just Cause of Jealousie Lysander punished one of his Soldiers for going out of his Quarters resolving that he would have none of his look or go out like a Plunderer Dinah's idle visits Gen. 34.1 2. proved her dishonor effusion of guiltless Blood her Father's Trouble and her Brother's Curse The wisest of Men recordeth it as the mark of an Harlot Prov. 7.11 12. Her feet abide not in the house now she is without now in the streets lying in wait at every corner 11. IT was an Italian Severity in Sulpitius and a Diposition to part with his Wife who divorced her for going out of doors bare-headed The Law said he confined thee to mine Eyes and Approbation and not to please others The common Law noted any going out unvail'd with the odious brand of Adultery So careful were they to avoid all occasions or suspicions of that Sin However foolishly strict they were I am sure Jerom's Rules fore-noted is good Whatsoever saith he may probably be feigned be thou cautious it may not be feigned Thou owest this to thy Husband's Love thine own Indemnity and Honor and the Right and Credit of thy Children The PRAYER O Eternal and Almighty God Father of Lights and of the First-born who are written in Heaven and of the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect Thou art the Searcher of all Hearts and Reins to whose All-seeing Eye every Creature is manifest and every thought of the Heart naked and open We humbly beseech thee to take from us our stony Hearts and to give us Hearts of flesh to subdue in us by thy omnipotent Spirit the miserable remainders of the First Adam that native inclination to Sin which continually carrieth us away Captive to the Laws thereof even to that Evil which we would not commit but utterly detest and in bitterness of Soul repent of 2. LORD create clean Hearts and renew right Spirits within us root out that raging Spirit of Jealousie that infernal Fire which lies scorching in our bosoms and enlighten our Vnderstandings with a sound Knowledge of all the Mysteries of Eternal Life and Salvation Sanctifie our Wills and Affections and according to thine own gracious promise six thy Law in our inward Parts and write it deeply in our Hearts that we may know thee from the least to the greatest Heal up those Wounds which our Sins have made so wide that none but thine own Hands can close them and forgive our Iniquity and remember our Sins no more 3. O Lord thou didst by thy holy Word so heal the fountains that death and barrenness was no more therein heal we humbly beseech thee the wretched Corruptions of our hearts cleanse and sanctifie all the thoughts thereof by the sweet and blessed influence of thy Holy Spirit and so quide govern and direct us in the way which thou wilt have us to walk in as that we may in all our Thoughts Words and Actions be acceptable to thee Mortifie and subdue all our evil Desires and Thoughts and bring them all into Subjection to thy Holy Will and Pleasure that we may constantly resist all Temptations to Sin and Wickedness 4. KEEP us and Counsel us in all our Affairs Spiritual and Temporal that we may be filled with the holy Fruits of the Spirit of Sanctification appearing in new and hallowed Thoughts Words and Actions to thy glory and our farther assurance before thee so that in our Bodies and in our Spirits we may be kept blameless in this sinful and miserable World unto the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ To whom with thee O Father of Mercy and the Holy Spirit the Comforter of the Elect be rendred all Honor and Glory in Heaven and in Earth from this time forth and to all Eternity Amen CHAP. XXIII Of External Actions THE External Actions of Men are the product and fruit of their Thoughts and as we owe Sanctimony to God and our own Consciences within so do we good Examples to our Neighbors in things External And our blessed Saviour in his Sermon on the Mount excites us with this Doctrin Mat. 5.16 Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven 2. GOOD Actions proceed from a sound Credence without which they cannot be good nor pleasing in the Sight of Heaven For whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin Rom. 14.23 For Faith apprehending Christ to our Justification renders our Works