between himselfe and himself himselfe as he is in Christ and so to joy and triumph and himselfe as hee is growing on his first root and so to sorrow and loath and condemn himself so that to wiâ—de up all that I have said looke upon your selfe as in Christ you may say these involuntary infirmities do not shall not condemn me But Lord it is grace Grace that it is not so and this is Evangelicall humiliation Look again upon your self as you stand on your own bottom and live in your owne nature and so you may say after the least infirmity I have now broken a most holy and righteous Law and therefore I am already condemned O woe is me I have already undone my selfe by mine iniquity and this is Legall humiliation which serves for mortification as the first for vification I know it is very difficult to bring the heart to acknowledge freely it deserves death after so â—mall an involuntary offence but when the Lord reveales two things First himself in his glory Secondly how the least sinne strikes him I perswade my selfe the vilest heart cannot but be forced to confesse how just God should be in his severest proceedings against him And withall consider the more involuntary any sinne is the more strong and naturall it is and the more naturall the more horrible as to be a naturall Thief is farre worse then to be a deliberat thiefe who sometimes steales and therefore good Sir take heed of looking no deeper nor seeing no further then the bare act and unvoluntarinesse and accidentalnesse and suddennesse of your infirmities for if you do you look through the wrong end of the glasâ—e and they will appear so small that you will find it a very tough work to bring your heart consentively to say if I may say and use your owne phrase It is thy mercy Lord that I am not consumed for them but look upon them as indeed they are in respect of that infinite glory you strike doing the greatest mischiefes to God by them and which makes them the viler as they are so strong you cannot remove them and so horrible as that it is naturall to you to commit them c. And surely you will not through grace finde such thoughts haunt you long not but that they wil be haply rising and tempting but never allway vexing and prevailing Satans ground reaching as far as the minds of Gods people and therefore so farre he may come and there he may walke for the came into the minde of innocent Adam nay Iesus Christ by his suggesting temptations but the heart is Christs peculiar posâ—ession and purchase and if he shall still there offer to come in and vex you and prevail against you and to lodge his suggestions this or any other way with you you have Law and Christ on your side by this little light now given you to cast him out The third thing that troubles you is the disranking of the Persons in the Trinity for though you thinke the holy Ghost is God yet you have not so high a repute of him as of the Father and the Sonne because the Sonne addresseth himselfe to God the Father in all his prayers and acknowledgements in a more immediate manner then unto the holy Ghost and therefore you would know if the word Father as in the Lords Prayer includes not the Unity in Trinity To this briefly consider three things 1. Without all question the same God which lies under that relative property of Father is the same God with the God-head of the Sonne and the God-head of the holy Ghost there being not three Gods and therefore the God-head of the Sonne and Spirit are not excluded but included in the Godhead of the Father when we looke upon the Father as God in the Lords Prayer or anywhere else 2. But secondly the Father as Father is never taken for the same holy Ghost in Scripture nor the Sonne as Sonne is taken for the Father nor the holy Ghost as holy Ghost is at any time taken for the Sonne For it is a rule in Theologie though the res subsâ—rata the thing that lies under the Relative property viz. the God-head of every person be common and communicated yet the same God-head considered as clothed with his Relative property as Father Son and Spirit it is not common but peculiar For the God-head of the Father as Father is not the God-head of the Son as Son c. 3. Hence it followes that when Christ addreâ—seth himselfe to the Father as Father in Scripture it is not because he is either a diverse or greater God then the holy Ghost but it is for two other reasons 1. Because the Father as Father received primarily the wrong that sinne did against his worke of creation For the Father being the first Person in order and creation the first transient act as election and reprobation were the first immanent hence this worke is attributed chiefly to God the Father in respect of our orderly apprehension and hence man sinning then when he was onely made this is chiefly attributed to be against the Father because his worke appeared to be chiefly there and not against the Son for his worke chiefly appeares in redemption hee being the second Person and this the second main and wonderfull work neither against the holy Ghost for his worke chiefly appeares to us in application being the third Person And this the third main act that ever God will do or show forth to the world in this life hence God the Father receiving to our apprehension the wrong in creation by sinne he is the Person that is to be satisfied and not the holy Ghost And hence Jesus Christ in all his prayers hath a most speciall eye to him and not to the holy Ghost as holy Ghost because he came into the world by his death and intercession and strong cries to satisfie God the Father and not God the holy Ghost as a third Person And hence it is said 1 John 2. 1. 2. If any man sinne we have an Advocate with God the Father not God the holy Ghost because he was to our apprehension the Person wronged and hence we are after sins committed chiefly to eye the Father in our prayers and to go to him for pardon with our advocate with us because to whom offence is chiefly offered from â—im chiefly pardon and reconciliation is to be expected 2. Therefore Christ addresseth himselfe chiefly in his prayers to God the Father because hee is the originall and first cause of all good because he is the first Person in order of subsisting and therefore first too in the manner of conveying I know the God-head is the originall of all good but consider the Persons one with another and so the father is ever the first in operation as the holy Ghost is the last in consummation for all good comes from the Father Iames 1. 17. through the Sonne by the holy Ghost And hence
CERTAIN SELECT CASES RESOLVED Specially tending to the right ordering of the heart that we may comfortably walk with God in our general and particular Callings BY THOMAS SHEPHARD Sometimes of Emanuel-Colledge in Cambridge Now Preacher of Gods Word in New-England LONDON Printed by W. H. for Iohn Rothwell at the Sun and Fountain in Pauls Church-yard near the little North-door 1650. Imprimatur This Reverend Author hath other practicall peeces Viz. The Treatise of the Sabbath Sincere Convert Sound Beleever Ioseph Caryl To THE CHRISTIAN READER THis holy Letter of that ready Scribe of Christs Kingdom is so full of Grace and Truth that it needs no other Epistle commendatory then it self Yet seeing the Lot is unexpectedly fallen upon my pen to give it a Superscription that it may passe current from hand to hand I do heartily in the first place dedicate it to thee thou bleeding troubled-spirit as a choice cordiall friend an Interpreter one of a thousand that doth not onely speak thy heart but by the Comforter whom Christ hath promised to send to thy heart It may be this paper present is sent on Embassie from Heaven on purpose to set thy house in order to untie thy bosome knots to bind the strong man and cast him out of thy doores that thy heart may be once againe set at liberty to serve the Lord thy God in thy generall and particular Calling whose service is thy freedome What is here sent by this Ambassador of Christ who is now the voice of one crying in the wildernesse to a wearie and heavy laden soule in this Island I had rather it should appeare to thy judgement in the serious reading and to thy conscience in the â—ome application thereof than from my opinion of it Therefore I shall onely adde as the Contents of this letter certain select Cases proposed and resolved in the severall paragraphs thereof as they lie in order in the pages following viz. Page 3. Trouble of mind in civil affaires by the secret injection of religious thoughts Page 4. From what Spirit such suggestions do arise Page 8. How to entertain them when they crowd in Page 12. Concerning the not being humbled for sinnefull distractions that hinder and interrupt the spirituall performance of holy duties Page 16. How a Christian may be said to be under the Covenant of works Page 18. How to conceive aright of that Mystery of Mysteries the blessed Persons in the Trinity Page 22. The souls aptnesâ—e to go to God immediately in holy duties without taking Christ Jesus by the hand Page 26. How to apply absolute promises to thy selfe though they are made indefinitely without condition Page 38. A notable discovery of a secret unwillingnes in the soule to seek God in the strictest solemn services before it entreth into them Weariness of them while they last and a gladnesse when they are ended Page 42. A sound confutation of that Hereticaâ—l Arminian Tenet viz. That the strength of Grace is to be got rather by Argumentation then inward Communication and influence arising from union with Christ Page 44. The experiences of this tried servant of Christ who is the Pen-man hereof how he was cured of Atheisticall thoughts whether they did wear out or whether by the diâ—t of Arguments they were rationally overthrown Page 48. Lastly whether those changes which a child of God hath sometimes and those movings of the spirit are caused by a naturall temper or Gods Spirit All which select Cases and many more that collaterally issue from their sides are judicioâ—sly resolved with much perspicuity and bâ—â—vity in these few sheets by the onely judge of all Câ—ntroversies the two edged sword of the Spirit the Word of God Thus humbly beseeching thee to read over this Epistle of Christ to thee with the same Spirit of love and of a sound mind which indited every line in it I doe desire to leave thee at the Throne of Grace in the armes of Christ with the Father of all Coâ—fort that thou mâ—iâ—st receive the Peace of God which passeth all understanding and be crowned with joy unspeakable and full of Glory I subscribe my selfe Friend Thine in any Spirituall furtherance of thy Faith William Adderley Dated from Charterhouse in London Febr. 1. 1647. Deare Sir I Dare not multiply many words in acknowledging and professing my own unfitnesâ—e and insusficiency to yeeld your loving and most welcom Letter that satisfaction which both your Self desire and it deserves Neither yet will I be so unfaithfull to you seeing your expectation â—uts me to reply neither ought I I think be so unserviceable to Jesus Christ who in you and by you beckens to me to take this call to write to you and not to neglect so faâ—r a seaâ—on seeing especially it may be possible my dyâ—ng Letter to you before I depart from hence and returne to him as not knowing but our â—ast disasters and Sea-straits of which I wrote â—o you may be but preparations for the execuâ—ion of this next approaching voyage Yet our â—eies are to the hils and our desires are your â—rayers and at this time my endeavour shall be in respect of your self to break open that light to you and to prepare it to you with that brevity I may and with what plainenesse I am able beseeching the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who must be when all failes the wonderfull Counsellor to give you the spirit of revelation and that after you have suffered a while by these outward temptations doubts fears desertions distractions which the Letter mentions hee would make you perfect stablish strengthen and settle you And this I verily think will be the unexpected yet happy joyfull and most glorious end of them For since I have observed and seen the lamentable ruines of the soule and seeming graces of many men by being rockt a sleep in a quiet still calme easie performance of duties without such awaking temptations and tumults within which it self complaines of I say since I have observed what a deale of mud is in the bottom of such standing Pools and what a deale of â—ilth is in such Moats which are inwardly at ease and not emptied from vessell to vessell next unto the donation of the Lord Jesus to a man I have accounted such tumultuoâ—s heart-storms and uproars together with the fruitfull strange effects of them the second mercy For I never saw that man kept from secret putrefaction and corruption that was not usually salted with such temptations especially in a Christians first Apprentiship which usually preserve him entire till death And therefore Dear Sir faint not for Jesus Christ will raise a world of blessings out of your present Chaos and confusions But I make hast to answer Before your reply to my first Letter your complaints are many Your first trouble is concerning your disturbances in civill affairs by the secret injection of Religious thoughts so that you know not how to follow the one without hazard of grieving
have your heart elevated and lifted up to Jesus Christ and say I receive this and taste this from Jesus Christ Oh but this is but a taste of the hony-comb with the end of my rod and if this presence of Christs Spirit I feel now be so sweet what is himselfe then 3. Thirdly Labour for increase of love and familiarity with Jesus Christ by taking notice of him by comming often to him by musing daily on his love as on a fresh thing by banishing slavish false feares of his forgetfulnesse of you and want of everlasting love towards you and then you know love will carry you speedito him amor meus pondus meum nay grant that you have been a stranger to Christ yet restore the love of Christ to life againe in your Soul and when you come to his ordinances where he dwells your Soul will make its first enquiry for him neither will it be satisfied till it hath seen him as we do them wee love towards whom wee have been greatest strangers Your fifth trouble is you know not how to apply absolute promises to your selfe as in Heb. 8. because they are made indefinitely without condition Conditional promises you say you can if you can find the qualification that gives you right to the good of the promise within you This usefull fruitfull question how to apply absolute promises to ones particular deserves a larger time and answer then now in the midst of perplexities I am able yet willing to give For when the Lord saith absolutely without condition that hee will take away the stony heart and he will put his feare into his peoples hearts c. and these kind of promises are made to some not to all to those only whom the Lord will and in generall to his people Hereupon the Soulâ—s of many Christians especially such as question Gods love towards them are most in suspence and therefore when they complaine of the vilenesse of their hearts and strength of their lusts let any man tell them that the Lord hath undertaken in the Second Covenant to heal their backslidings and to subdue their iniquities they will hereupon reply it is true hee hath promised indeed to do thus for some absolutely though they have no good in them but I that feele so vile a heart so rebellious a nature will he do this for me or no and thus the Soule floats above water yet feares it shall sink at last notwithstanding all that God hath said I will answer therefore briefly these two things in generall 1. I shall shew you to what end and for what use and purpose God hath made absolute promises not onely to them that be for the present his people but to them that in respect of their estates and condition are not 2. I shall shew you how every Christian is to make use of them and how and when hee ought to apply them For the first of these 1. First I conceive that as in respect of God himselfe there are many ends which I shall not mention as being needlesse so in respect of man there are principally these two ends for which the Lord hath made absolute promises 1. To raise up the Soul of a helplesse sinnefull cursed lost sinner in his owne eyes to some hope at least of mercy and help from the Lord For thus usually every mans Soul is wrought to whom the Lord doth intend grace and merâ—y he first turnes his eyes inward and makes him to see he is stark naught and that he hath not one dram of grace in him who thought himself rich and wanting nothing before and consequently that hee is under the curse and wrath of God for the present and that if the Lord should but stop his breath and cover his face and take him away which he may easily do and is to be feared he will that he is undon for ever Hereupon the Soul is awakened and falls to his kitchin physick as I spake before prayes and hears and amends and strives to grow better and to stop up every hole and to amend it selfe of every sinne but finding it selfe to grow worse and worse and perceiving thereby that he doth but stirre and not clense the puddle and that it is not amending of nature that he must attain to but he must believe and make a long arme to Heaven and apprehend the Lord Jesus which so few know or ever shall enjoy and hereby quench the wrath of God I say finding he cannot do thus no nor no meanes of themselves can help him to this hereupon he is forâ—aken of all his self wisdome and of all his vaine hopes and now sits down like a desolate widdow comfortlesse and sorrowfull and thinks there is â—o way but death and hell and the wrath of a displeased God to be expected And if any come and tell this Soul of Gods mercy and pitty to sinners I saith he its true he is even infinitely mercifull unto them who are rent from their sinnes and that can believe but that I cannot do and am sure shall never be able for to do and therfore what cause have I but to lie downe in my sorrow and to expect my fatall stroke every moment Reply againe upon this Soul and tell him that though hee cannot believe or loosen his heart from sinne yet that the Lord hath promised to do it that he will subdue all his iniquity and he will pardon all his sinne and that he will cause men to walk in his waies c. True saith the Soul againe hee will doe thus for his owne people and for them he hath chosen but I never had dram of grace in my heart and there is no evidence that the Lord is mine owne or that I am his Here againe the Soul lies downe untill the Lord discovers to the Soul that he will doe these things for some that have no grace or never had grace for these promises were made to such Here upon the Soul thinkes thus These promises are made for some that are filthy for why should God poure cleane water upon them for some that be hard-hearted for why should hee promise to take away the stony heart from them c. and if unto some such and I being such a one why may not the Lord possibly intend and include me seeing hee hath not by his promise excluded nor shut me out Indeed I dare not say he will but yet how do I or men or Angells know but yet I may be one Hereupon Hope is raised to life againe seeing God hath undertaken the worke for the vilest it is possible he may doe it for me now when I am vile and can doe nothing for my selfe And thus you may see the first end and use of absolute promises to be as it were twigges to uphold the sinking Spirits of hopelesse helplesse distressed Souls 2. The Second End and Use of them is this To create and draw out faith in Jesus Christ in the promises