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
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
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
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
the hazard of their Immortal Souls 4. NOW the Rules to be observed are these First Earnestly endeavour to find out and abandon all thy known Sins Secondly Rest not in outward appearances but entertain the illumination of God's Word into the secret and dark recesses of thy Heart For the Woman in the Gospel first lighted and then swept the Room Luke 15.8 Thirdly Judge thy self as impartially as thou wouldst do an Enemy Skillful Painters place their Work at some distance from 'em that they may be able to judge and amend their Errors So must thou fix thy actions upon some other Person like David who could noâ— behold his Sin in himself till Nathan shewed it him in another 2 Sam. 12. I need not instance in Judah Gen. 28. Or in Ahab 1 Kings 20.4 5. BEGIN Early and be constant in this Duty If thy Thoughts after some slender pursuit return as those Men of Jericho with a Non est Inventus Josh. 2.22 Know that thou hast more need of greater diligence to repeat often thy Examination Examin thy self by the whole Law of God And enquire what thou hast done in opposition to Sin Few wicked Men but are content to observe some of God's Laws if thou wilt grant them Naaman's Plea only The Lord pardon thy Servant in this thing And sometimes Herod Ahab and Pharaoh will have certain fits of seeming Devotion and Repentance The Brazen Serpent will not Sting And Men's Corruptions are most apparent when opportunity gives them Birth 6. NOW The Interrogatories to be propounded to thy Conscience are these First doth Sin reign in thee so that thou yieldest a willing obedience to it Or doth it bear sway and tyrannize over thee For between these there is an immense difference True it is all Men sin but Sin reigneth only in the Unregenerate Let not sin reign in your mortal Body Rom. 6.12 And St. Paul further tells ye that the Regenerate sin Rom. 7.15.19 That which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but whâ—t I hate that do I For the Good that I do I would not But the Evil which I would not that I do From this Inference ask thy Conscience whether thou wouldst have committed this Evil which now wounds it If not it is no more thou but Sin that dwelleth in thee 7. DOST thou detest all Sin because it is contrary to God's Holy Will And rather more for the love of God than for fear of his Judgments Dost thou not only grieve for every Sin which thou hast committed but also for the â—ravity and Corruption of thy Will and the infirmities of Flesh and Blood disabling thee to the purer service of God If thou art in this State thou art not disesteemed in the Eye of the Almighty Neither will God ever Condemn thee for that which he hath given thee a competency of Grace to abhor and condemn in thy self For if we would judge our selves we should not be judged 1 Cor. 11.31 The Unregenerate Person Idolizes Sin but is afraid of the Punishment but the Regenerate abhors it therefore God will not judge him for it but will rather say what he said to the Woman taken in Adultery Neither do I Condemn thee go and Sin no more John 8.11 8. WOULDST thou embrace Sanctity and is it thy Heart's desire to serve God in sincerity So that thou can'st say with the Church Isa. 26.8 The desire of our Soul is to thy Name and to the remembrance of thee If thou dost hunger and thirst after Righteousness be assured thou shalt be satisfied Matt. 5. Dost thou in the inward Man consent to the Law of God 'T is Infallibly certain if thou dost pursue after Holiness without which none can see God thou art esteemed of the Almighty For our best Perfection at present is this not that we are throughly Pious but that we chase after it 9. HAST thou with the Kingly Prophet Psalm 119.6 a respect to all God's Commandments so that thou dost not in thy Heart dispense with any of them for Pleasures Profits or any secular Advantage but wouldst earnestly enjoy that Priviledge of keeping them all If so let not slip the Anchor of thy Hope but receive Comfort For hower Satan's Delusions may allure thee and thy own Corruptions may betray thee yet thy minor serving of thy Creator without Exemption or dispensation to any Sin concludeth thee in a State of Regeneration the Denomination following the better Part as appears in St. Paul's Expression of himself in the same case Rom. 7.25 With the Mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the Flesh the Law of Sin That is groaning under the Tyranny but not dispensing with its Reign 10. DOST thou resolve to oblige thy self to avoid Sin Then God will accept thee 2 Cor. 8.12 David said I will keep thy Statutes and I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy Righteous Judgments Psal. 119 8.106 It is evident he made a breach of his Performance tho his Intentions were quite contrary 2 Sam. 12.9 Dost thou conscientiously and diligently use the means to take cognizance of thy Sins as by applying the word of God home to thy Conscience for by the Law comes the knowledge of Sin Rom. 7.7 Dost thou carefully shun all occasions and incentives moving thee and enticing thee to Sin and Wickedness It is a vanity in him to detest Drunkenness who will not restrain his boon Companions It is impossible for him to hate Adultery who fixeth his Eye upon the Lascivious and is entangled in the snare of the Adulterer Such are apt then to forget what was mentioned in our Saviour's Sermon on the Mount Matt. 5.28 Whosoever looketh on a Woman to Lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart And Solomon's Advice is very proper Come not near the Door of her House Prov. 5.8 For Opportunity and Occasion is Lust's Pander 11. ASK thy Conscience whether it can presume to sin wittingly and willingly And whether it can be sedate in any known and unrepented Sin If it be disturbed dissipate thy Fear for this very disturbance of Conscience which so much appals thee is a principal Mark of a good Conscience It is true as the Woman sang of Saul and David 1 Sam. 18.7 Saul hath slain his Thousands and David his ten Thousands So Despair hath cast away some but Presumption Multitudes Hath not thy Conscience at some time in a particular Measure been refreshed by a Divine assurance of thy Interest in a Saviour a resolution to forsake all thy Sins Peace with God and Salvation by the Merits of Christ We commit a gross Mistake if we always judge of our State by present Sense For there are certain hours of Tentation wherein the light of Grace is obscurely Eclipsed to our Sense and the stupid or afflicted Conscience feeleth no present Illumination of God's Spirit which yet in due time shall return and compensate our Tryals with
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
which denominates tempting or proving As you will find in Exod. 15.25 and Ch. 16.4 Deut. 8.16 and Chap. 13.3 Psal. 26.2 1 Pet. 1.7 And there is a Temptation of seducement which is a Solicitation to defection and falling from God by sinning and committing evil 1 Tim. 6.9 1 Thes. 3.5 So that God tempteth that he may Discipline us but the Devil that he may destroy us 3. SOME Temptations spring from the Corruption and Sin Inherent in the Flesh St. James 1.14 Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Lusts such as are mentioned Gal. 5.19 20. Some are suggested by the Tempter who being a Spirit hath power to insinuate and convey his impious notions into our minds Suggestion between Spirits are as Contiguity and touching of Bodies for whereas he cannot discover the unuttered secrets of the heart it being the Almighties peculiar Prerogative but he observes mens natural inclinations and habits by their Words and Actions and so prepares Baits accordingly thus he fishes in these depths till he perceives his Suggestions are swallowed and the Sinner taken And by this means he presenteth such Thoughts as he conjectureth will take by that which is obvious to the Senses of men As he fitted an opportunity of Treason to impious Judas by the malice of the high Priests Of Lust to Amnon of venturing on the cursed thing to Achan of the Revenge to Cain of Idolatry to Ahaz by the Altar of Damascus 2 Kin. 16.10 c. 4. OF Temptations there are four degrees by which it ariseth to full Maturity First Suggestion Secondly Delight therein Thirdly Consenting Fourthly Acting the same As St. James tells ye Chap. 1.14 15. Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Lusts and enticed then when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth Sin and Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death The first of these a bare Suggestion is not our Sin if there be no delight or consenting to it For Christ was tempted Mat. 4.1 Luke 4.2 in all points as we are yet without sin Heb. 4.15 The Sin is Satans when ever he Suggesteth evil The Second as the Third and Fourth is Sin in its degree for every delight in evil declares a Mans inclination to be such A declining from Good and a proneness to consent and act evil 5. A tryal of Temptation to the Just is but as Fire to Gold it purifieth and createth a valuation in God's Esteem as the Psalmist tells ye Psal 116.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints and the Apostle informs ye 1 Pet. 1.7 That the tryal of your Faith being much more precious than of Gold which perisheth though it be tryed with Fire might be found unto praise c. And that mirror of Patience is Comforted Job 23.10 When he hath tryed me I shall come forth as Gold Temptation therefore burneth out the dross and is as a Winnowing Wind For Satan by a Temptation winnowed St. Peter Now Consider with thy self can the Refiner of Gold take that Care that he will not lose it in the Furnace Can the Husbandman so opportune the Wind that he will not lose the Corn but cleanse it from the Chaff And canst thou think that the Almighty will suffer thee to be lost by permitting thee to Temptations No assure thy self he cannot err He measureth all Is Faithful and will not suffer thee to be tempted above what thou art able 1 Cor. 10.13 He knoweth how to deliver his out of Temptations 2 Pet. 2.9 Therefore God commands us not to fear any of these things which they should suffer whom Satan should cast into Prison Rev. 2.10 6. THERE can be no Conquest gained without an Enemy nor no Crown without a Conflict No Faith without Troubles nor no Combate without some Adversary When the Almighty puts thee to Tryals he stedfastly beholds how thou entertainest the Enemy and as thou standest the Shock he supplieth thee with fresh aids as necessity requireth and in the mean time prepareth the Crown Many by a long and secure peace grow Impotent and for want of Experience unable to resist an enemy when he invadeth perhaps their own Pride born out of self-ignorance overcometh them or fulness may debauch them whereas Exercise makes them Vigorous and Temptations humble Lest I should be Exalted above measure saith Saint Paul There was given to me a Thorn in the Flesh the Messengers of Satan to buffet me 2 Cor. 12.7 And indeed Conscience of a Sin and fear of punishment makes the Regenerate more Religious and is much the firmer Faith which Repentance storeth up That ye Sorrowed after a Godly sort what Carefulness it wrought in you 2 Cor. 7.11 7. THE Spiritual Pharoah most eagerly pursueth those who are departing out of his Kingdom He passeth by his own as Captives And chaseth those in whom he perceiveth Christ liveth When he must be cast out then he teareth most furiously Luke 9.42 So that his rage against thee is no Argument of Despair but rather of great Affiance that Satan himself finds thou art none of his Disciple were he secure of thee he would let thee go unmolested to destruction and never disquiet thee lest any agitation should bring thee to Repentance and him to loss This Lesson our Saviour taught When a strong Man armed keepeth his Palace his Goods are in peace Luke 11.21 8. CONSIDER well that the best have been and the best that live are tempted The Jebusites were left in Jerusalem for an Exercise of Vertue 2 Sam. 5.6 The Apostle wrapt up into the third Heaven was buffetted by Satans Messengers 2 Cor. 12. 12. EVERY day dedicate thy first and last 2 7. Once for all Christ in whom was no sin was tempted Heb. 4.15 That thou are tempted is no inference of Despair It seems a Paradox how Heaven and Earth are here so annexed we being partly Spirit and partly Flesh that we cannot appear as we would Gal. 5.17 We find an irksome Law in our selves opposing us Our Reparation is something and Supernatural but so short of that which shall be that our selves like the Israelites in Ezra's time sound a discordious Concord of sharps and flats joy and sorrow Ezra 3.13 We must expect perfection in Heaven for our present freedom from sin is rather a desire to be free than our being so 9. NEXT let us consider that God's Grace who at his pleasure chaineth up the Tempter is sufficient for thee Rev. 20.1 2 Cor. 12.9 He restraineth him so much that he cannot be a lying Spirit in the Mouths of Ahab's Prophets untill he have leave to tempt him out to his destruction from him who justly permitteth to strong Delusions that they should perish in believing Lies who receive not the love of the Truth that they might be saved Omnipotence knows best how far he will suffer thee to be tempted and accordingly measureth out a sufficiency of Grace to all the Regenerate Why he suffered David so