Iesus Christ that gladlie you would come but that your sinnes doe so clogge and loade your heart with sorrow then heare how againe he replies vpon you saying The tired sinner may boldely come to Christ If the case stand so with thee then come in any wise yea therefore the rather come For if thy sinnes doe put thee to paine and be as a heauie burden to bigge for thee to beare come thy way and say them all vpon my shoulders for my backe is broade inough to beare them all were they neuer so many I am well content to beare the whole loade of them mine owne selfe that thou mayest be fully and for euer discharged Matth. 11.28 Marke well that Christ will saue humbled sinners and none other For such sinners doe I call and such sinners onelie will I saue as are in paine and throughlie tyred with their sinnes As for such sinners as haue store of sinnes hanging vpon them and either doe not feele them or care for no helpe I haue nothing to do with them neither will I be any Sauiour vnto them For the whole neede not the physition but the sicke Matth. 9.12 13. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Thus farre I haue endeuoured to satiâ—tie your first and maine obiection and to my power aimed at this marke namely to pacifie your troubled conscience with this comfortable and sound persuasion Rom. 5.1 that beeing iustified by faith you haue peace toward God through our Lorde Iesus Christ by whome you haue boldnesse and entraunce vnto God the Father Ephes 3.12 and that by the powerfull working of Gods spirite which is the spirite of adoption which you haue receiued Ro. 9.15 16 18. whereby you crie Abba Father The same spirite beareth witnesse with your spirit that you are the childe of God And if you bee a childe then are you also an heire of God and a ioynt heire with Christ And therefore not I but Gods holie spirite in the Epistle to the Hebrewes whose wordes you ought both to regard and reuerence saieth vnto you in this wise Hebr. 4.17 Let vs goe boldely vnto the throne of grace that wee may receiue mercie and finde grace to helpe in time of neede I beseech you marke aduisedly that the author of the epistle calleth vpon you to goe and to goe boldely Labour to cast off feare when God would haue you bolde But whither would hee haue you goe forsooth to the throne And to what throne You are louingly called to come to a louely throne hanged all ouer with hangings of grace and mercie Not to a throne of iustice of wrath and condemnation but to a throne of grace and mercie It is indeede a throne of iustice of wrath and condemnation but not to you nor anie such as you are The throne against your comming is couered and hanged all ouer from end to end both wide and side with most rich costly cloth of grace and mercy TheÌ„ hangings are al of grace and throughout embrodered with nothing but mercie View them your selfe looke vpon them throughly and you shal finde all mercie and nothing els but mercie Therfore you are willed to come to this throne boldly because it is a throne of grace and mercie And that you may knowe before hand what you shall gaine by your comming thither Mercie welcomes you you are told plainly truely you shall find that which your soul most longeth after store of grace and you shall receaue so much mercy as may helpe you when you shall stand in most neede of mercie Thus must is needs be you must needes be welcome for the Iudge is your great frend and otherwise it cannot be because the iudge himselfe who sits vpon the throne is a iudge ful of mercie clad altogether with rich robes of mercy and your great frend who wil shew you all that fauoâ— that may be For why he is Iesus your Sauiour Matth. 1.21 who will in no case suffer you to miscarie Here is good occasion offered to answere a second obiection of yours The second obiection and answer which is that you beleeue that Iesus Christ is a perfect and an able Sauiour but not your Sauiour The troubled minde cannot apply Christ to it selfe that he saith come but he saith not come to you But I will prooue he speaketh to you as wel as to any other and that as particularly and as plainly as if he shuld call you by your name and say come M. P. E. I speake vnto thee by name First Aduise your selfe well that he that knowes you calls you Esa 43.1 Feare not for I haue redeemed thee I haue called thee by thy name thou are mine you will grant that in those wordes which you finde thus written in Mathew chap. 11. verse 28. Come vnto me all you that are weary and laden Christ Iesus calleth al sinners generally you are one among the rest Therefore he cals you For he saith he came to cal sinners to repentance Secondly in the forenamed wordes he cals such sinners onely particularlie and by name as are wearie and laden with their sinnes Iudge you whether you be called Are your sinnes pleasant to your palat and sweete vnto your taste Doeth the remembrance of your sinnes make you laugh as though ye were tickled when you thinke vpon them Is it the ioy and pleasure of your sinnes which drawes so great store of falt teares from your eies and fetcheth so many deepe sighes from your heart Doe your sinnes lie vpon your conscience like some little light feather or rather do they not presse and holde you downe as a woonderfull weightie burthen If you be in this case then may you know if you will know that which shall doe you good that he speakes to you by name and saith vnto you come boldly and feare not I will ease thee of all those thy sinnes which are so great a burthen to thy conscience and will giue thee a gracious generall pardon in my death and passion Moreouer I will from top to toe couer and cloath thee with the rich robes of mine owne righteousnesse vnto the full assurance of euerlasting life The third obiection followeth The third obiection answer The troubled mind complaines of the weaknesse of faith that your faith is weake and so weake as you are fully perswaded there is no childe of God hath so weake a faith as you haue I perceiue it fareth with you as it doth with one that is greatly troubled with that tooth-ach gout stone or some such strong disease who being in verie great paine in the extremitie thereof cries out that there was neuer any creature in the world so cruellie tormented And why saith he so forsooth because he feeles his own paine and no other mans beside Enery man complaines of his owne paine therefore he speakes of that which himself feeleth and not of
worldly things but dung in comparison thereof did that word I say neuer speake peaceablie to your conscience by the holy ministerie did 〈◊〉 neuer giue you assurance and ioy in the holy Ghost did it neuer worke such sweete comfort as no worldly ioy could be like vnto it did you neuer heare such a sermon from your owne godly and carefull pasâ—or or from any other that you haue said at your comming home you would not for all the worlds good but you had heard it because it was so sweete and comfortable did you neuer speake that worde from the true feeling of the heart which might warrant your soule that you are in Christ Iesus If this worde hath had this gracious and powerfull worke in your soule as I am fully perswaded it hath Ephes 4.30 and your selfe cannot denie it for if you doe beside the great wrong you offer your own soule you trespasse against that spirit whereby you haue bene sealed vnto the day of redemption then know assuredly you are so graâ—â—ed into that body of Christ Iesus Gods loue is euerlasting and â—â—changeable as nothing shall be able to seperate you from that loue which the Lord your God beareth you in his deare Sonne in whome hee hath so loued you once Iohn 13.1 as hee must needes loue you for euer And that bicause the Euangelist saith whome hee loues he loues to the end For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance Againe Rom. 11.29 God is not as man that hee should lie Num. 23.19 neither as the sonne of man that hee should repent Hath he saide and shall he not do it and hath he spoken it and shall hee not accomplish it No be you well assured and write vpon it 1. Sam. 15.29 that the strength of Israel wil not lie nor repent For as the apostle Iames saith Iam. 1.17 with him there is no variablenesse nor shadowing by turning Let these and such like places be alwais in your remembrance and giue your selfe vnto the continuall meditation thereof For they shall stand you in great stead if you can call them to minde when your temptations shal assaile you with greatest streÌ„gth And forget not Therefore reade them often and continually that you may alwayes haue them at your fingers end often to thinke of such excellent places as that is which you find written in the eight chapter of the Epistle written to the Romanes and the sixe and thirtieth verse after this manner What shal separat vs from the loue of Christ shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or peril or sword c. No I am persuaded that neither death nor life angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Iesus Christ our Lord. And full sweet to this purpose are those words of the holie prophet Dauid Psal 34.18 19. The Lorde is neere vnto them that are of a contrite heart and will saue such as be afflicted in spirit Great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lorde deliuereth him out of them all Psal 30.5 Againe weeping may abide at euening but ioy commeth in the morning But you finde no such matter you saie for this trouble of minde hath holden you not onelie nights and daies but weekes and moneths yea and yeeres and yet you can finde no ease nor comfort Be it so yet bee not therefore out of heart for the longer it bee before you haue ease the more welcome it shal be when it commeth And to this purpose are the wordes of the Wise-man where hee saieth The hope that is deferred is the fainting of the heart but when the desire commeth it is a tree of life Lastly let the words of Eliphas the Temanite be fast bound vnto your soule which you shall find thus reported in the booke of Iob the fist chapter 17 18 19. verses Beholde blessed is the man whome God correcteth therefore refuse not thou the correction of the Almightie For hee maketh the wound and bindeth it vp hee smiteth and his handes make whole Hee shall deliuer thee in sixe troubles and in the seauenth the euill shall not touch thee The summe drift of all that which hath bin set downe from the beginning to this present place is to encourage you concerning the maner of your affliction which though it be very sharp bitter to the flesh because no chastisement for the present seemeth to be ioyous but greeuous Hebr. 12.11 A principal coâ—fort for the afflicted soule yet there is a time when it shall bring the quiet fruit of righteousnesse vnto them that are exercised thereby In regard hereof Moses the man of God saith Deut. 8.16 that the Lord humbled his owne chosen people and prooued them that hee might doe them good at their latter ende And truely in my poore iudgement you may gather more vndoubted assurance of Gods euerlasting fauour towards your soule by these inward afflictions Afflictions better tokens of Gods loue then riches and prosperitie then by any outward prosperitie of anie worldly blessing whatsoeuer whether it be of health of riches or such like And that because in these your afflictions you are most like vnto your head Christ Iesus Hebr. 1.2 who though hee were the right sonne and heire of the whole world yet had hee not a house to hide his head in Matth. 8.10 as himselfe confesseth Hebr. 2.10 But it pleased the Father seeing hee would bring manie children vnto glorie to consecrate the prince of their saluation through afflictions Now as the holy Apostle reasoneth â— Tim. 2.11 12. This is a true saying if we be dead with him we shal also liue with him If we suffer with him we shal also reigne with him To be short the Holy ghost saith Act. 14.22 That we must by many afflictions enter into the kingdome of God And once againe Rom. 8.28 Those whom he knew before hee also predestinated to be made like to the Image of his Sonne that he might be the first-borne among many brethren So that you may wel perceiue you are not thus farre forth any whit out of your way but you keepe the rode Afflictions the highway to heauen euen the good way which leaveth you as streight as a line vnto the kingdome of heauen And therefore as no traueller who keepes his right way and knowes it wil be sory but very glad because he trusteth to come to that place where his desire is to abide so no more cause haue you to be grieued but rather to reioyce because you know you walke in the streight path which shal bring you to that place of your abode where you would so faine be and where you shal abide most blessed and happie for euer Thus much haue I thought good to offer
of the holie apostle Saint Iames who counselleth vs Iames 5.16 to confesse our sinnes one to an other and to pray for one an other But alas say you how should I pray for you True praier is not a set order of fine wordes when I can not pray for my selfe If you cannot pray in set wordes and in fine order can you not therefore pray at all can you not sigh and groane inwardly in the true feeling of your soul as one that is so greatly oppressed with griefe that he hath not a tongue to vtter that which he hath within his minde If you can sigh and grone after this maner be of good comfort For you haue learned long since from some of your faithful teachers who haue many times soundlie taught this point from the word of God and that of purpose for the relief of weake consciences that you pray verie effectuallie Your sighes are prayers which the spirite from whom they proceed vnderstandeth right well yea although there is not so much as anie one worde vttered to expresse them Wordes are for our vnderstanding that we may thereby knowe one anothers meaning But the hoke spirite which is our comfortable schoolemaister and searcheth the deepe things of God knowes our meaning and thoughts before we speake yea although we speake not at all For as the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 139.2 He knowes our thoughts long before And the Apostle saith the spirite helpeth our infirmities for we knowe not what to pray as wee ought but the spirite it selfe maketh request for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed These sighes breaking out violentlie from the consciences of the godlie The sighes of the Godlie are acceptable prayers are prayers and loude cryes acceptable tâ— the Lord and pearcing deepelie into his eares as appeares in Exodus 14.15 Where the Lorde demaundeth of Moses why hee cryed so vnto him whereas the wordes of the Text make no mention of anie one worde hee spake or vttered I pray you tell mee this one thing A similie if the childe of your owne bodie whom you loue dearelie and which is vnto you as your owne soule shall be sicke and being full of paine shall moane him selfe vnto you tell you howe sicke hee is where his paine doth holde him and shall entreate you euen as you loue him to doe what you can to ease him will you not doe it both willinglie and readilie yea will you not doe whatsoeuer you are able euerie kinde of way for the ease of your deare dearling But if his paine shall encrease and grewe so great that it takes awaie his speech so as bee is not able to speake a worde but to fetch deepe sighes and to moane himselfe vnto you by most greeuous groanes will not these groanes pearce your heart more deepelie and cause the bowels of compassion to yerne in you more stronglie to straine your selfe euen to the vttermost of all your power to affoorde him as much comfort as is possible both by your selfe by others shall the groning of your child worke great pitie in you and shall not the the mightie groanes of your poore sicke soul moue the Lord your God to greater compassion The Lord exceedeth al men in goodnesse and compassion and therefore will heare and helpe you readily If in such a case you will be so readie to heare and helpe know you for certentie the Lord will be more readie to heare and helpe whensoeuer you shall in the anguish of your soule groane vnto him For looke how farre he exceeds you and all other in goodnesse so farre also doth he exceede you and all other in mercie and compassion Beside all this there is no sacrifice more acceptable in the sight of God then the sighes and groanes of a troubled minde Psalm 51.17 The sighes of the spirit aâ—e to be regarded For so saith the Prophet The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit a contrite and broken heart O God thou wilt not despise Therefore make as good account of the groanes and sighes of the spirit as of any prayer you can make euen in the best words you can deuise And for a farewell of this matter remember that the godlie and good king Ezekias Ezekias could not pray but chatter could not in smooth and fine wordes poure out his prayers before the Lord in his great sicknesse but chatter like a swallow or a â—rane as hee confesseth of himselfe Esa 38.14 Consider also that the poore Publican being ashamed of himselfe The Publican prayed feruently but saide little by reason of his sinnes and feareing to lift his eies toward heauen could not deliuer his minde at large in fit and choise words but with much paine Lu. 18.9 10 c. at the last he breakes forth after this manner O God be mercifull to me a sinner Neuerthelesse our Sauiour Christ giueth sentence on his side that he went home more iustified then the proud Pharisie who had both words and winde at will Your fist obiection doth thus offer it selfe That you cannot leaue sinne The fist obiection and answere of leauing sinne And that which doth more trouble you you cannot leaue those sinnes which you haue vowed to leaue but you fall againe into them First you reason thus against your selfe that you can not leaue sinne No maruell Sinne cleapes too fast to our nature to part with it in haâ—â—e for although you be one of Godes saintes and haue receiued the spirit of sanctification in measure to fight the Lords battels against sinne and hell yet are you no Angell in this world so as you can altogether ceasse to sinne because you carrie and shall carrie vnto your graue a bodie and soule subiect to sinne Therfore you must fight this battel euen so long as you haue breath and life This enemie of yours is so strong No perfect conquest ouer sinne vntill death that he will neuer be fullie ouercome vntill you haue ouermastred him by death And then you shall haue a full and perfect conquest ouer him and all your enemies In the meane time plucke vp a good heart gird you fast with all your Christian armour Christian coâ—â—age and armor put on your complete harnesse and euerie part thereof as you finde it set down in the sirâ— chap. of the Epistle written to the Ephesians Ephe. 6.13 14 c. take your weapon in one hand I meane the sworde of the spirite and your buckler in the other that is to say the shield of faith Lay about you lustily with all the strength and cunning you haue Yea bee strong in the Lord and in the power of his might And fear not the issue Be carefull to fight Christ his â—attell and feare not the issue although you latch and catch many a sore blowe no though you be foiled and wounded because you haue a valiant captaine Christ Iesus your Samour who hath alreadie himselfe gotten