great housholder if he complaine of vncleannesse whether he be not a yong-man vnmaried if he be humbled with couetousnesse whether he be not old because diuers countries callings ages conditions and estates of men haue their diuers and peculiar sinnes which wee must rightly discerne Howbeit of what sex soeuer they are mā or woman of what complexion soeuer they are of what knowledge to discerne sin in what degree of committing sinne of what age authority wealth estate or condition so euer they are it is good to marke that there bee many who are more troubled for vexation and disquietnes of the mind being distempered than for the vilenes and horriblenes of their sin committed who are wounded more with the feare of shame with the feare of beeing madd or with the feare of running out of their wittes than with the conscience of sinne Which thing if we finde in them it is our parts to trauell with thē that they make a lesse matter of the outward shame and more Conscience of the inward sins Neither must wee here forget to distinguish between our speech vsed to the humbled in the time of theyr extreame agonie and those words wee vse the fit beeing past because the first requyreth more comfort the latter more admonishment for thē wee maye wisely admonish them to beware of sin which procured their woe In thys threatening time it is also expedient to exhort them that vntill they shuld find greater power in regeneration they would ty themselues to some holy orders godly vowes whereby they may either be furthred in mortifying some speciall sinne which for that they could finde no power against it did most grieue thē or strengthened in some speciall grace the want whereof did also wound them But before we launch deeper into this sea of perticular tentations and begyn to sounde the daungerous passages of natural corruptions and originall sinne the troublesome froath whereof doth almost ouerwhelme manie poore pilgrimes it shall be good to giue this caution that both in this and in the former troubles men would bee still againe admonished patiently to bear with a wounded spirit howbeit it fall out so that they be somwhat pettish seeing the holye Ghost speaketh so fauorably of them saying A wounded Spirit who can bear And surely our practise in other things by the lawe of equitie maye vrge thys at our hands For if men by the light of reason can see it to bee a duetie conuenient not furiously to control but meekely to suffer and wisely to put vp the vnaduised speeches of a man distempered in braine by reason of some burning ague or such like violent and vehement sickenes we may easily gather by the same rule of reason not so seuerely to censure the impatient speeches of him who by reason of some parching Feuer of the spirite is disquieted in all partes of his minde and hath all the veynes of his heart as it were in a spirituall agony vexed Wherefore both vnsauorie for want of Godly wisedome and vncharitable for want of Christian loue are their murmuring obtrectations which say What Is this the Godly man Is this hee that is so troubled for his sinnes Why see how pettish he is nothing can please him no body can satisfie him Consider O man if thou canst beare with a fraile body that thou must much more beare with a fraile minde Consider that this his pettishnes dooth more wound him at the heart than any iniury thou couldst presse him with And therefore seeing he afflicteth his owne soule for it thou needest not adde any thing to his affliction and to exasperate his most grieuous smart Consider that it is a blessed thing mercifully to bethinke vs of the poore and needy that to rub a fresh wound and to streine a bleeding sore is nothing els but with Iobs friendes to bring a newe torment where ther is no need of it If the wise father doth rather pitie than rebuke his childe when by reason of sicknes the appetite is not easely pleased so if we purpose to doo anie good with an afflicted minde wee must not bee austere in reprehending euerie infirmitie but pitifull in considering of each tender frailtie Neither doo I speake this to nourish pettishnesse but would haue them to labour for patience and to seeke for peace which though they finde not at the first yet by praier they must wayt on the Lord and say Lord because there is mercie that thou maist bee feared I will wait vppon thee as the eye of the seruant wayteth vppon the hand of his Master I will condemne my selfe of follie and saie Oh my soule vvhie art thou so heauie Whie art thou cast dovvn vvithin mee Still trust in the Lorde for he is thy health and thy saluation FINIS A Letter from M. Robert Greeneham to a frend of his against hardnesse of heart I Beseech God the father of Iesus Christ giue mee his holy spirite in writing to giue aduice and you in reading to receiue it Amen Since the time I receiued M. S. his letter wherein hee declared his carefull compassion ouer your estate I haue beene not a little grieued because of my manifolde distractions with the like occurrances and other waighty affayres I haue beene hindred hitherto from wrighting vnto you and albeit euen still I am euen in the same case yet conscience towardes God compassion loue towards you forceth me to ouercom lets which hardly I could otherwise preuaile against and albeit I cannot write as I woulde yet of that which I shall write proceeding from the forenamed groundes I looke for some blessing from God through Iesus Christ if you will not too much faint in faith and yeelde to the aduersary yea if you will but hope so well of your selfe as in the feare of God I doo write it I hope of you First whereas it seemeth you are sometimes grieued because you tarried not still at Cambridge according to mine aduise you must knowe I aduised it not as a thing necessary but more conuenient as I then supposed but that I aduised you to obaye your father if his pleasure still continued to haue you home whereunto you yeelding I canot see how you offended it beeing your Fathers pleasure you should so doo and who knoweth whether beeing here you might not haue bin as much troubled there beeing no priuiledge for persons and places In such cases who knoweth whether it be the Lordes pleasure for the ensample and instruction I hope the consolation of others in the ende And albeit you will nowe thinke that heere you were nearer the the more stronger means yet knowe you and bee perswaded that God can doth in such cases worke by fewer and weaker according to his good pleasure Besides it is in our corrupt nature to make much of such meanes as wee cannot haue and not so to esteeme those which God dooth offer vs as wee should I beseech you therefore in the name of
praier the Sacrament of the supper the companie of gods children contrarie to hope vnder hope yea without any present feeling all this is a certaine argument that gods spirit is with such and therefore with you This estate although it bee verie grieuous yet it is neuer daÌ„ger us much lesse is it fearfull vnlesse anie bee so wilfull that they persevere and continue in desperate refusing al good means vnles they perseuere I say for through the subtill sleight of the spirituall aduersarie and his forceable power wherby God suffereth him sometime for a season to winnow them as wheate they are so bewitched and intoxicated that they are carried by violent force of temptation to wexe wearie of or to refuse all meanes of comfort by fittes yea almost to haue no desire at all vnto them yea sometimes to speake verie euill of them But all this is but temptation and therefore God will bee mercifull vnto them for Christ his sake Thus Iob cursed the daye of his birth wished to be straÌ„gled Ieremie almost repented that euer he preached in the name of the Lord both scarcely abstain from blasphemie Dauid moued with the spirit of ambition though dutifully admonished wilfully weÌ„t on in numbring the people Peter also vaingloriouslye presuming of his owne strength being most wisely effectualy admonished of his weaknes euen by our Lorde Iesus yet wittingly rusheth as the horse into the battel then verie cowardlye yeeldeth yea doubly denieth yea strengthneth his sinne with a threefold coard and fastneth it with banning and cursings yet all these obtained mercie most bountifully For why as Satan desired to winnowe them so our Lord Iesus praied for them that theyr fayth though it was vehemently assaulted it should not be ouercome although it was battered yet that if should not bee destroied and though it was oppressed yet it shuld not be extinguished And here bee you fully perswaded that albe it Luk. 22. 31. the wordes seeme to runne as belonging but to Peter vz. I haue praid for thee that thy faith should not faile yet he praied for the rest of the Apostles yea for all the faithfull For first he saith not Simon sathan hath desired to winow thee but you Why then saith hee I haue praied for thee Verely because hee should more greeuously offend than the rest although their offence was verie great therefore hys and our most blessed Sauior applyed to him the promise but not appropriated it vnto him onely and restrained it from the rest Compare with this place Iohn 17. 20. you shall see that the heauenlye verity affirmeth that he praied not only for the Apostles but for all those that shoulde beleeue through their word yea farther Our Lorde Iesu Christ was yesterdaye is to day shalbe for euer And as the fore-fathers were baptized vnto him and did eate his flesh and drink his blood so was his praier effectuall euen to them vnder the lawe then more to vs vnder grace And when you can find testimonie in your hart that wheÌ„ you would doo well euill is present with you and that ye doo the euil you would not then do not you it but sinne in you when it leadeth you captiue Rom. 7. much more when sataÌ„ works with al buffeting you assure you GOD hath pity on you that the vertue of his power shall be perfect in your weaknes If you beleeue according to your faith it shalbe done vnto you Bâ—â—â—ou will say you cannot beâ—â—â—â— that this vile crooked hardnes of your hart can be remitted and renued and eueÌ„ this was the second point which in the former part of my Letter I gaue you to vnderstaÌ„d was the cause of your excessiue distresse I beseech you and I charge you in the name of our Lord Iesus that you will not willingly lie nor offer iniurie to Gods spirite nor to your self who hath receiued it Tell me what is the reason why you thinke you haue no faith Verely because you haue no feeling nor any other fruites thereof as you thinke Well first then agree with me herein as you must if you will not disagree with the truth that feeling is but an effect and frute of faith therefore there may be faith without feeling aswell as the cause may be without the effect and the tree without anie appearance of frute yea of sap for a season And as a man sore wounded and diseased may for a season be depriued almost of all operations of the naturall life to the outward show of his owne indnment and feeling so may a spiritual man be fore wounded by satan and diseased by the present sight and feeling of his sinful corruptions speally in temptation that hee may think yea appeare to others that the life of the spirit is not in him Thus Peters faith did not wholly faile as you haue heard or else the praier of our Sauiour preuailed not Thus when Dauid in the one and fiftie Psal. the twelueth verse declared that his heart was vncleane and his spirite crooked or vnstable and in the fourteenth verse that he had lost the ioy of his saluation and the spirit of libertie or adoption yet in the thirteenth vearse hee prayeth that GOD would not take his holie spirit from him therefore hereby it appeared hee was not depriued of the spirite of sanctification Heere seemeth to bee repugnaunce but there is not anie hee was depriued indeed for a time of the graces of the sanctifiyng spirite but not of the holie Ghost wherwithall hee was sanctified which graces as God restored vnto him so I am perswaded he will do vnto you Yea and I doubt whether you are depriued of them but onely that partly melancholy partly Satan working therewith make you doo iniurie to your selfe and to the graces of the Spirite in you which I beseech you to take heed of But the messenger cannot staye and therefore I cannot write as I would either of this or of the remedie which you should vse which hereafter I will as God shall enable me and I pray you let me vnderstand as I requested in the beginning of your estate in perticular somwhat more and by this Bearer if you can becaus he is of your acquaintance and will bring it to me faithfully Onely I doo adde now vnto you that I haue written of hardnes of heart at large that you must diligently obserue the Woorde Create which Dauid vseth in the one and fiftie Psalme declaring that he had no feeling of his hearte To this ioyn that which the Prophet Esay speketh in the person of God 57. 23. I create the frute of the lips to be peace peace to him that is far off as to him that is nere Therfore in faith you may as well praye with hope to obtain as did Dauid therfore say with him often and with Gods people Esay 64. 12. O Lord thou art our Father we indeed are claye but thou art our maker wee are the worke of thy hands
Knowe also God can cause wolues lions leopards to dwell louingly with lambes calues and kids and that that is vnpossible to men is possible with god euen to cause a cable to go throgh a needles eie that is to change the hard hart of the vnbeleuing couetous man much more yours yea knowe that all things are possible to him which beleeueth Cry then I beleeue O Lord help my vnbeliefe I dare promise ye in the name of Iesus Christ that you shall haue your heartes desire in goodnes Thus abruptly I must end commending you to God and the word of his grace which is able to builde you vp giue you the right of inheritaunce among them that are sanctified The verie God of peace sanctifie you throughout that your whole spirit and soul and body may bee kept blamelesse vntill the comming of the Lord Iesus Christ. Faithfull is hee which hath called you which will do it Amen I pray you pray for me I trust as I haue so I shal pray for you and much more Yours in Christ Iesus to vse in anie need R. G. AN OTHER COMfortable Letter by Master R. G. BRother beloued in the Lorde and Sauior IESVS CHRIST seing you haue had hertofore not onely knowledge but also experience of Gods gratious and mercifull goodnes in Iesus Christ your owne vnbeliefe and Satans subtlenes I coulde meruaile why you should giue such place and not keepe your grounde no surer if I were not much acquainted with such occurrences I know not therfore whether with wordes of rebuke or comfort I shoulde seeke to releeue you Because I cannot come vnto you my counsell and desire is that you woulde come vp to London the next Tearme at the farthest that so I might aske of God to frame my speeche according to your good In the meane season I bessech you call vnto mind that which you cannot be ignorant of that in the lawe sacrifices were offered for Gods people not onely at their first entrance into couenant with the Lorde but also afterwards many times and that not onely by ignorance but also by error that is forgetfulnes frailenes retchlesnes carelesnes c. It is manifest that the sinne of errour is there opposed against the sinne committed with an hie hande that is to blaspheme with contempt of GOD and making his Law of none effecte but to bee in vaine Which sinne I am sure you are most farre off from I would you were as farre off from vnbeliefe and distrust that Gods children may fall into diuers foule faultes as it may appear by many proofs First in the Lawe when the Lord speaketh in his Maiestie and proclaimeth his glorie yet in howe many wordes commendeth he his mercie and for howe many seuerall sorts of sinnes in Exodus the twenty foure Chapter sixe and seauen verses Doth not Esay the holy Prophet call the people of his daies the people of Gomorrha and and their Princes the Princes of Sodome Doth not he accuse them as grieuous transgressors both of the first and seconde Table Esay the first Chapter ten and eleuen verses c. And yet dooth afterwardes promise them in the eighteenth verse that though their sinnes were as crimson they shalbe as white as snow though they were redde like scarlet they shall be as wool Dooth hee not charge them that they were sunke deepe in rebellion and yet exhorteth them to returne vnto the Lord Esay the thirty one Chapter and sixth verse Yea doth he not charge them not onely with rebellion but aâ—so with vexing the holy spirit of of God Esay sixty three and tenth verse And reade what is written Esay nine eleuen Pray as there you may learn Esay tenth Cha. fiue sixe c. What dooth not the holy Prophet Ieremy in the thirty one Chapter and the eighteenth nineteenth and twenty verses shew that Ephraim was an vntamed Calfe c. yet so soone as hee mourned and was ashamed of himself doth not the Lord shew that his bowels of mercie were troubled for his estate Doth not the Lord offer mercy vnto the prophane and forgetfull transgressours of his holy couenant Psalme fiftith from the fifth verse to the two and twentith Is not this part of the couenant made with all the sonnes of Dauid in Iesus Christ that if they not onely omit many good thingeâ— also committe rebellions and iniquities that though hee may visit them yet it shall be with the rodde of his children and that his mercie hee will not take from them nor breake of his couenant made with them in Iesus Christ. Therefore remember that the holy promises threatnings and examples are written that we should not sinne but if any man sinne we haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the iust and he is the reconcilliation of our sinnes and not for our sinnes onely but for the sinnes of the whole world Doth not the blessed Apostle Paule charge the Corinthians whoÌ„ he affirmeth in the first Chapter to bee rich in Christ and destitute of no spirituall gift to be more carnall than spirituall yet babes in Christ yea to bee falne into idolatry coÌ„mitting of euill thinges fornication tempting not onely of God but of Christ yea murmuring against them yet doth hee not herein comfort them that no temptation hath taken hold on them but such as appertaineth to man and that God will bee mercifull vnto Dauid prayeth against presumptuous sinnes that they should not raigne ouer him Psalme ninetenth Chapter thirteenth verse Signifiyng though he sinned presumptuously yet if hee did not perseuer in presumption obstinately without desire to repent that such sinne or sinnes were pardonable Nowe the Lordes couenant towards his in Iesus Christ is not to deale after their sinnes not to rewarde them after their iniquities much lesse will hee not regard in wrathfull displeasure their infirmities But if he should so marke what is saide or done amisse who were able to abide it But with him is mercie in Iesus Christ that hee may be feared therefore lift vp your handes which hange downe strengthen your weakknees and say vnto your soule why art thou so cast downe and so vnquiet within mee I will yet trust in Iesus Christ and wait vpon the mercifull graces of God purchased by his mercies Consider that true humillitie ariseth of faith in Iesus Christ and that is true faith that ingendreth humillitie as wee may not diminish our sinnes so may wee not too much aggrauate them nor diminish Christs merits haue euermore in your minde the examples of the prodigall son who saith not I am not thy sonne but I am no more worthy to be called thy sonne he saith not let me bee thy bondslaue nay hee saith not let me be thy hyred seruant but as one of thy hyred seruants his father came and met him fell on his neck c. So shall it come to you good brother I neede make no more aplication the holy annointing which you haue receiued will bring the olde mercies of God vpon others and vppon your selfe vnto remembrance and lead you into all truth which shall bee requisite for your saluation Put your trust in the Lord you shall prosper The Lord Iesus came not to breake the brused reede nor to quench the smoaking flaxe his grace shall bee euer more sufficient for you and his vertue shall vnto the end manifest it selfe in your weakenes Nowe therefore I beseeche him to preserue your body soule spirite vnto his most glorious appearing Faithfull is he that hath called you and promised you who will performe it Amen Yours in Iesus Christ as he hath beene Richard Greeneham Sweet and sure signes of Election to them specially that are brought low A cleering of iudgement by conceauing of the truth and true meaning of the Scripture making for vs or against vs. A rebuking of sinne in wardlie a pouertie of spirit fioÌ„ thence and a mourning therefore A being cast downe in our own conceipt and a meeknesse to beare our owne punishment thereby wrought An hungring after the righteousnes which is in Christ and a praising and esteeming it aboue all earthly things A musing vpon and a desire to thinke and speake onely of heauenly things A conflict of the flesh spirit and therin by praier practise the force of the spirite euer breathing out A sowing into the spirit by vse of the meanes as by the word praier c. A purpose vnfayned vppon strength receiued of vowing ones selfe wholly to the glorie of God and health of his brethren A resignation of our selues into Gods hands An expecting of the daily increase of the hope of our souls health and our bodies resurrection The forgiuing of our enemies An acknowledging of our offences with our whole heart whiles we are sicke and a verie dooing of it indeed when we be recouered A delight in Gods Saints A desire that after death the Church of God may flourish and haue all peace A spirit without guile that is an vnfained purpose alwaies to doo well how soeuer our infirmities put vs by it FINIS
stab most monstrously their owne bodies with Daggers or such like instruments of death all which men woulde seeme to haue great courage in susteining many harmes so long as their mindes were not ouermastred But when the diuine and supreame Essence which they acknowledged did by his power crosse and ouerturne their witty deuises and headstrong attempts so as without hope of remedie they were hampered in pensiuenes and sorow of minde then beeing not able to turne themselues vnder so heauy a burthen they shrunke down and by violent death woulde ridde themselues of that disquietnes and impatiencie of their troubled mindes But let vs come nearer and whether wee behold the Papists or the Familie of loue or the common sort of Christians wee shall see they will passe quietly through many afflictions whether for that they haue a spirite of slumbring or numbers cast vppon them or whether because they haue brawned themselues through some senceles blockishnes as men hewen out of hard Oakes or grauen out of marble stones I know not But yet when the Lord shall let loose the cordes of their consciences and shall set before their faces their sinnes committed see what a fearfull end they haue whilst some of them by hanging themselues some by casting themselues into the water some by cutting their owne throates haue rid themselues out of this intollerable griefe Nowe wherein is the difference that some dye so sencelesly and some dispatch them selues so violently Surely the one feeling no sinne depart like brutish Hogs the other surcharged with sinne dye like barking Dogs But let vs come to the children of God who haue in some degree felt this wound of minde and it will appeare both in the members and in the heade of all burthens to bee a thing most intollerable to susteine a wounded Conscience And to begin with let vs set in the first ranke Iob that man of God coÌ„mended vnto vs by the holy Ghost for a myrrour of patience who although for his riches hee was the wealthiest man in the land of Huz for his authoritie might haue made afraid a great multitude and for his substance was the greatest of all the men in the East Yet when the Shabeans violently tooke away his cattell when the fier of God falling from heauen burnt vp his sheepe and his seruaunts when the Chaldeans had taken away his Cammels when a great winde smote down his house vpon his children although indeed he rent his garments which was not so much for impatiencie as to shewe that he was not vnsensible in these euils Yet it is saide that hee worshipped and blessed the name of the Lorde saying Naked came I out of my mothers vvombe and naked shall I returâ—e thither againe The Lord giueth and the Lord taketh away Blessed be the name of the Lord. Howbeit beholde when at the strange conference of his comfortles friends his minde began to be agast which was not so in all his former tryall when his conscience began to be troubled when he saw the Lord fasten on him sharp arrowes and to set him vp as as a Butte to shoote at when hee thought God caused him to possesse the sinnes of his youth this glorious patterne of patience coulde not beare his griefe he is heauy now may commende to all the Image of a wounded spirite that shall come after Dauid a man chosen according to the Lords owne hart Ezekiah a pure worshiper of God and carefull restorer of pure Religion Ieremiah the Prophet of the Lorde sanctified and ordained to that Office before hee was formed in his mothers wombe were rare and singular in the graces fauour of God yet when they felt this wound piercing them with griefe of hart they wer as Sparrows mourning as Cranes chattering as Pellicans casting out fearefull cries they thought themselues as in the graues they wished to haue dwelt solitarily they were as bottels parched in the smoke they were as Doues mourning not able without sighes and grones to vtter their words their harts cloue to the dust and their tongues to the roofe of their mouths But aboue all if these were not sufficient to perswade vs in this doctrine there remaineth one example whom we affirme to be the perfect anatomie of an afflicted Conscience This is the Lord Sauior IESVS CHRIST the Image of the father the head of the body the myrror of all graces the wisedome righteousnes holines and redemption of all the Saintes who susteined the Crosse euen from his youth vpward and besides pouerty basenes hunger did willingly goe vnder the great trouble of contempt and reproch and that among them where he shuld haue had a right deserued honor in respect of the Doctrine he taught them and in regard of the manifolde myracles wroght among them as the healing of the sicke the giuing sight to the blinde the restoring of life to the deade This vnkindnes neuertheles did so much strike him as at what time hee was set as a Sacrifice for al when he was to beare our infirmities carry our sorrowes at what time hee was plagued and smitten of God humbled and wounded for our transgressions when hee should be broken for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was vpon him then he cryed out My soule is heauie euen vnto the death Then hee prayeth Lord if it be possible let this Cup passe from mee But how prayeth hee euen with sweating howe sweateth hee euen droppes of blood how long prayeth hee Three times when ends his agony not vntill he was dead What saide hee beeing ready to depart My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Was this for his humane death as some haue imagined No no wicked men haue died without coÌ„plaint whose patience them might seeme to exceede his it was his suffering in his humane Spirite which incountred with the wrath of God his Godhead suppressing it self for a while he suffred indeede many torments in body but the wrath of God did much more lye vpon his soule If this consideration of an afflicted spirit in these examples doe not sufficiently shew what a grieuous thing it is to susteine a wounded Conscience Let us proceede to the comparing of this with other euills which fall into the nature of men There is no sickenes but Phisicke prouideth for it a remedy there is no sore but Chirurgery will affoorde it a salue Friendship helpeth pouertie There is no imprisonment but there is hope of libertie Suite and fauour recouer a man from banishment Authoritie and time weare away reproch But what Phisicke cureth what Chirurgerie salueth what riches ransome what countenance beareth out what authoritie asswageth what assault dismaieth a troubled Conscience All these banded togeather in league though they wold conspire a confederacie cannot help this one distresse of a troubled minde And yet this one comforte of a quiete minde doth wonderfully cure and comfortably asswage al other griefes whatsoeuer For if our assistance were as an host of
when the bodye needeth rather a strong purgation than a matter restoratiue and as incarnatiue medicines for the time allaye the payne of the patient but after the greefe becommeth more greuous so the comfortable applying of Gods promises are not so profitable for euerie one that is humbled especiallye when their soules are rather to be cast downe than as yet to bee raised vp so the sugred consolations may for a time ouer-heale the conscience and abate some present greefe but so as afterwardes the smart will be the sorer the grief may grow the greater whereof insueth this effect that comfort seemeth to cure for a while but throgh want of wisdome in the right discerning of the cause wee minister one medicine for another and so for want of skil the latter fitte grindeth them sorer than the former Some there be who without precept and practise wilbe theyr owne Phisitions and these so soone as the fit commeth vpon them thinke it the best to chastise and to chase awaye their sorrowe by drinking at tauernes by minstrelsie in merrie companie by purging melancholy in phisicke all which seeme to weare away the paine for a while but yet after it byteth more deeplye when the burning feauer of the spirit shaketh them wyth a seconde recourse and for that before they were not truly searched purged seared and launced it commeth to passe that the seconde relaps is more dangerous than the first To come to our purpose wee must knowe that all griefes are either confused or distinct and sure it is that the minde is appalled eyther for some cause verye well knowen to vs as certaine or for something vnknowen to vs and vncertaine To them which are troubled with such blinde griefes whereof they can see no reason as often it happeneth to Gods Children who either neuer knew God or had but a general knowledge of him I answere that as I denie no Phisicke to bee ministred if it in part proceed from a naturall cause so I require the word especially to shew the principall and originall cause to begin in the soule And this I doo the rather because I would haue wisedome both in considering the state of the bodie if need so require and in looking chiefly to the soul which so few thinke of If a man troubled in conscience come to a Minister it may be he will looke all to the soule and nothing all to the bodie if hee commeth to a Phisition hee onely considereth of the bodie neglecteth the soul for my part I would neuer haue the Phisitions counsell seuered nor the Ministers labour neglected because the soule and bodie dwelling together it is conuenient that as the soule should be cured by the word by prayer and by fasting by threatening or by comforting so the bodye also should bee brought into some temperature by Physicke by purging by dyet by restoring by musike and by such like meanes prouyding alwayes that it bee styll done so in the feare of God and wisedome of his spirite as we thinke not by these ordinarie meanes to smoother or smoake out our troubles but as purposing to vse them as preparatiues whereby both our soules and bodyes may bee made more capable of the spirituall meanes to follow after As we require these things to bee the matter of our Ministerie in such a perplexitie so I would wish the persons ministring to be men learned and of sounde iudgement wise and of Godlye experience meeke and of most louing spirites for when the troubled patient shal be perswaded of our knowledge and discretion and therewithall shall perceiue vs to come in tender and louyng affections I thinke an enteraunce is in a manner made and all preiudice is taken away so as wee may the more freely woorke vppon the greeued Conscience first bringing them to the sight of sinne as to some cause of their trouble Heerein wee must labour to put awaye all confusion and blindnesse of sorrowe endeuoring by wisedome to bring the parts wounded to some certaine obiect matter of their trouble and so drawe out of them the confession of some especiall secrete and seuerall sinne I say secrete and seuerall sinnes because I know how manie through a palpable blindnes or disordered discerning of sinne talke nothing so much as of sinne and yet they eyther discrie seuerall sinnes or they will not bee brought to acknowledge theyr secrete sinnes whereof the one proceedeth of the ignorance of the Lawe of God the other of selfe loue which maketh vs loath in our trauel of mind to shame our selues Now that the confession of perticular sinnes is requisite it maye appeare by the two and thirtieth Psalme wherein beeing a Psalme of instruction concerning the forgiuenesse of sinnes the Prophet by his owne experience teacheth vs that hee could finde no reliefe of hys sicknes vntill he had remembred and made confession of his sinnes What shal we thinke that the Prophet of God taught so wonderfully by the word and by the spirite did not see his sinnes before Be it farre from vs. Rather let vs know that he had not seuerally and perticularlye ripped vp hys sinnes before the Lorde in a seuerall confession of them Which things the Lord knoweth farre better than wee our selues yet such kinde of sacrifice is most acceptable vnto him Now if in this trouble the persons humbled can not come to the perticular sight of sinne in themselues it is good to vse the help of other vnto whom they maye offer their hearts to bee gaged and searched and their liues to bee examined more deeply by hearing the seuerall Articles of the law laid open before them wherby they may square the whole course of their actions For as we said before the grosest hypocrite will generally complaine of sinne and yet deale wyth them in perticular poynts of perticular precepts proue them in applying of things to bee done or vndone to their owne consciences and wee shall see manie of these poore soules tossed too and fro now floting in ioies now plunged in sorrowes not able to distinguish one sin frō another Now when we see the wound of the spirit arise of any known sin it is eyther for some sinne alreadie committed wherein wee lie or els for some sinne as yet not committed whereunto wee are tempted For the former It pleaseth God oftentimes to bring old sinnes to minde when wee not truely repented of them before that so as it were representing them to vs afresh we might fal into a more misliking of them And yet herein is not all to mislike our selues for some perticulars although it bee good to bee occupied about some speciall sinnes for as it is not enough for the auoyding of hypocrisie to see some generally so it is not enough to eschue the deceauablenes of the heart euer to bee poaring busily in one perticuler and to be forgetfull of the great and generall sinnes And let vs learne by the perticulers to passe by the generalls When anye such
one sinne then dooth pursue thee rest not onelye therein but saye thus rather to thy selfe Oh Lord is thys one sinne so grieuous and dooth my God punnish thys one sinne so soarely Howe great then should be my punishment if thou shouldest O Lord so deale with mee for al my other sinnes I haue committed Let vs learne to haue a sense both of generall and of perticular sinnes least in tyme our griefe passe away wythout frute whilest that beeing not displeafed as well wyth one sinne as with another we either looke too superficially to generall and not to perticulars or els too superstitiously obserue perticulers and not the generals Concerning those sinnes whereunto we are tempted as when a man is mooued to think blasphemously of God the Father or to doubt whether there be a Christ or no or to imagine grosely of the holy Ghost or to deny God or to doubt of the Trinitie to be mooued to murther adultrie or such like in which temptations he feeleth Gods spirit to check him for them so as he knoweth not in thys case what to doo for that on the one side he dares not listen willingly to these fearefull and monstrous temptations and on the other side he feareth least in time by long sute he might fall into them or at the least yeeld for that he seeth not how to be deliuered frō them I suppose these motions are not so much to bee disputed with as we by them are to be prouoked to more instant and zealous praier Surely these are dangerous temptations and therefore are not to bee kept cloase which our nature will easely encline vnto but perticularly are to bee confessed of vs. For the diuel will come somtime to thee to keepe thee still in a generall acknowledging of thy sinne and vrge on this manner Surely thou must needes doo this sinne thou seest thou canst haue no ease vntill thou hast assented thou art ordained to it the reason why thou art thus incessantly tempted is because thou doost not take thy pleasure Go too delay not denie God beleeue not his word it is but a pollicie to keepe men in awe Religion is no such matter as men make it Thus for feare of yeelding on the one hande and for shame of disclosing the tentations on the other hande many men haue pined away and almost haue beene ouercome by them If we should disclose this say these men what would people say of vs They would count vs Atheists they would thinke vs the wickedst men in the worlde Well for our instruction and consolation herein Let vs learn that these kind of tentations are either corrections for some sinnes past or the punishment of sins present or forewarners of some sin to come Wee shall see many tempted to adultery who now no doubt cannot bee be brought to commit it and yet because in their youth they haue committed it and not repented of it it coms to them againe The like may bee obserued in theft in gluttony and in other tentations which are not so much sent vnto vs presently to ouercome vs as to put vs in mind that hertofore we hauing bin ouercome with them should now repent for them Sometime a man shall lye in some sin wherof when he will not bee admonished neither by the priuate nor publike meanes then some strange tentation shall fall vpon him differing from that wherein he presently lyeth to admonish him of that other sinne As when a worldling shal be tempted to adulterie a thing which hee hath no desire to do yet it is to make him look to his worldlines whereof he hath so strong and through a lyking Whereas if then he will not bee awaken he may sodainely fall into that too and so by the punishment of GOD in punishing one sinne with another both his sinnes shall bee to his great shame laid open and one sin shall make knowne another Sometime also it commeth to passe that one shall bee tempted with such a sinne as neither heretofore nor presently hee hath giuen any liking or entertaignement vnto and yet the Lord by it may forewarne him how hee may fall into it hereafter as also to shew that hee hath stoode all his former life rather by the grace of god than by the strength of flesh and blood Wherefore when thou art moued to doubt of God and of Christ of the word or of iustification doo not so much stande woondring at these strong tentations as thinke with thy selfe that it is the mercie of God by them to cause thee better to discerne of those tentations in others Wherefore thou shouldest haue obserued with feare trembling howe they make the first entry into a mans heart howe they gather strength howe they agree with our corrupt nature in what degrees they come to some growth how the spirite of God dooth resist them what bee the meanes best to preuaile against them And thus if thou make thy profite by them thou shalt so woonderfully search and descrie by seuerall veines the body age and sleight of these tentations in others by an holy experience which GOD hath taught thee in others that besides thou shalt lay foorth mens secrete corruptions as if thou wast in their bosomes thou shalt be able by the seed of sorrowe in thy selfe to beget an vnspeakeable ioy in others who in time may bee tempted to sin as thou nowe art Thinke moreouer and besides that such is the efficacie of sinne that they who are nowe no Papistes Heretiques Adulterers or Theeues may for their secure contemning and passing ouer these tentations sent vnto them sodainely shortly after fall into them because they woulde not seeke to make some vse of them nor confesse before the Lorde both their pronenesse and worthinesse to fall into them But if wee will humble our selues in such tentations and learne by them meekely to discerne the corruption of our hearts we shall not only presently deliuer our selues from imminent perill but bee also further enhabled to assist others hereafter in the like danger But some wil oppose against these things which wee haue deliuered Doo you thinke it a remedie to cast downe them that bee already humbled this is rather to bee a Butcher than a builder of a mans conscience To whom I answere that I desire Preachers to be Builders and not Butchers and it is one thing generally to apply and another perticular to lay the medicine vnto the wound It is good to begin with searching first to purge the sore by the vineger of the Lawe and after to supple it with the oyle of the Gospell Both which must bee done in wisedome vsing them to some in greater to some in lesser measure For as some hauing nothing but a decay of nature and no mortall humor neede rather restoratiue than purging medicines So some rather troubled for spirituall wants than for grosse sinnes needes not so much the threatninges of the Lawe as the sweete promises of the Gospell But if
Iesus Christ humbly to praise God for those meanes he offereth in mercie vnto you and to vse them in faith accordingly and so God shall blesse you by them And then by such conference as you may haue from hence wherein if I may stand you in any steede rather for the good opinion you haue of me then for any great matter I am able to performe I shalbe ready to offer any office of loue vnto you as God shall inable mee and so farre foorth as I shall bee at any time instructed in your perticular estate In some letters sent from you by conuenient messengers I perceiue that you ar afflicted with the blindenes of your minde and hardnes of your heart which cannot be mooued either with the promises of Gods mercies or feare of his iudgements nor affected with the loue and delight of the thinges which bee good nor with the hatred and loathing of the euill great cause you haue of griefe I confesse but no cause of dispaire dare I graunt because I am perswaded that your perswatioÌ„ is somewhat false partly for want of a sounde iudgement of your estate and partly for some defect of faith somwhat through your owne default First therefore know you for certainty that this is no other tentation than such as diuers of Gods children haue been humbled with afterward haue had a good issue out of it if it please God to moue ye to credit me my selfe haue known others as deeply this way plunged as you can be Remember therefore God is faithfull who wil not suffer you to be teÌ„pted aboue that you shalbe able to bear And farther yet to confirme you the holy scriptures do shew that this way god heretofore hath humbled his own people in whose person the prophet Esaye lamentably complaineth Esa. 3. 15. O Lorde looke downe from heauen behold from thy dwelling place of thy holines and of thy glorie VVhere is thy zeale thy strength the multitude of thy mercies and of thy compassions They are restrained from me And afterwards O Lord why hast thou made vs to erre from thy waies and hardened our hearts from thy feare And in the next chapt VVe haue been alas an vnclean thing all our righteousnes is as filthy cloutes and we all doo fade as a lease and our iniquities as the winde doth take vs away and there is none that calleth vpon thy name neither that stirreth vp himself to take hold on thee for thou hast hid thy face from vs consumed vs because of our iniquities And before 59 chap. 5. We grope for the wal like the blinde and we grope as one without eyes we rore like beares and mourne lyke doues So complaineth Ezechias in the bitternes of hys soule Like a crane or a swallowe so did I chatter I did mourn as a doue and when Dauid crieth Create in me O God a cleane hart renue in me a right spirit Restore to me the ioy of my saluatioÌ„ establish me with thy fre spirit doth he not couÌ„t his hart vnclean his spirit croked the ioy of his saluatioÌ„ lost himselfe subiect to the spirit of bondage so that waÌ„ting the spirit of libertie or adoption he could nether cry Abba Father nor haue anye power against sin Thus you see how Gods children maie be blinded in minde hardned in heart for a time so that they feel the grace of the holy spirit to be in theÌ„ nere perished and dead Farther to releeue the infirmitie of your iudgement in this case which may much distres you know that there bee two kindes of hardnes of heart the one not felt the other felt and of the former ther be two sorts the first which is most fearefull when any do purposely and wilfully resist the motions of Gods spirit means of their saluation of which the Prophet Zachary speaketh 7. 11. They refused to harkeÌ„ pulled away their sholder stopped their eares that they shuld not heare yea they made their hearts as an adamant stone lest they should hear the law the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the ministery of the former Prophets The outragious sin of these men the Prophet Esay expresseth in their owne fearful termes 28. 15. VVe haue made a couenant with death and with hell we are at agreement though a scourge run ouer passe thorough it shall not come at vs for we haue made falshood our refuge vnder vanitie are we hidden This was a fearfull estate indeede yet for all that no man can saye but some of those might bee and were afterward conuerted The other kinde of hardnes of hart which is not felt nor perceyued or is perceiued yet not felt albeit it is lesse fearfull yet it is daungerous enough is in such as although they wilfully resist not Gods spirite in good means yet securely willingly they lye in sin without anie remorse of it or true taste of good things Such was Dauid his estate for the space of a yeare before Nathan the Prophet came to reproue him rouse him from his lulled sleepe Both these kindes I am perswaded you are free from otherwise thâ—n in temptation Sathan maye sometimes mooue ye therevnto the other kind of hardnesse of heart which is perceiued felt is of two sorts the one in them which are desirous of meanes whereby they may be releeued although they finde smal or no ease at all in themselues for a time Of this kinde the Prophet Esay in the name of some of Gods people complaineth Esa. 63. Such was Dauids state after NathaÌ„ reproued him gods spirit begaÌ„ to work with him that he crieth out as ye heard before of the losse of Gods graces when he saith that God will accept of no sacrifices nor petitions without a contrite hart broken spirit he sheweth that for a time euen after the prophet had reproued him he wÌ„ated both This is your case therfore you are in the state of saluation for Dauid was in this case euen after hee had confessed his sin as my trust is you doo was certainly perswaded of the pardonablenesse of it throgh gods mercie althogh he was farre off from the feeling it or applying to his wofull conscience his state was good and very wel to be hoped of and you must knowe and be perswaded that those things which are written of Gods saints namely of Dauid and Peter such others are examples for vs if we will stay our selues vpoÌ„ the word of God in the mysterie of his seruants and wait vppon the Lords good time til he come neerer vnto vs by his spirite nerer I say for he is come alreadie vnto you or it may be he neuer went from you because to be greued and humbled with blindnes of minde and hardnes of heart to beleeue certainly the trueth of God is promised in generall to reuerence the seruants of God which bring the glad tidings of the Gospel