as yet to be raised vp so the sugered consolations may for a while over heale the Conscience and abate some present griefe but so as afterward the smart may be the sorer the griefe may growe the greater Heereof ensueth this effect that comfort seemeth to cure for a while but for the wante of wisedome in the right discovering of the cause men minister one medicine for another and so for want of skill the latter fit grindeth them sorer than the former Some there are that without all precepts and practise will be their owne Phisitions and these so soone as the fitte commeth vpon them thinke it best to chastise chase away their sorrowe by drinking at Tavernes by minstrilsie in merry companies by purgeing melancholies in taking phisick all which may seeme to weare away the paines for a while but yet after it biteth more deeplie when the burning feaver of their spirites shaketh them with the second recourse and for that they were not before trulie searched purged seared and launced it comes to passe that the second relapse is the more dangerous To come to our purpose we must knowe that all griefes are either confused or distinct and sure it is that the mind is appalled either for some cause knowne to vs as certaine or for something vnknowne to vs and vncertaine to them which are troubled with such blinde griefes whereof they can see no reason As oft it hapneth to Gods children in secreet election who either neuer knowe God or else had but a generall knowledge of him I answere that as I deny not phisick to be ministred if in any parte it proceede of a naturall cause so I require the word especiallie to shewe the principall and originall cause to beginne in the soule I do the rather because I would haue wisedome both in the considering the state of the bodie if need so require and in looking chieflie to the soule which fewe thinke on If a man troubled in Conscience come to a Minister it may be he will look all to the soule and nothing to the bodie If he come to a Phisition he onlie considereth of the bodie and neglecteth the soule For my part I woulde neither haue the Phisitions counsell seuered nor the Ministers labour neglected because the soule and bodie dwelling together it is convenient that as the soule should be cured by the word by praier by fasting by threatning or by comforting so the body should be brought into some temperature by phisick by purging by dyet by restoring by musick and such other like meanes provided alwaies that it be done so in the feare of God and wisedome of his spirite as we think not by these ordinarie meanes to smother and smoke out our troble but as purposing to vse them as preparatiues wherby both our souls and bodies may be made more capable of the spirituall meanes to follow after As wee require these thinges to be the matters of our ministerie in such a perplexitie so we would wish the persons ministring to be men learned and of sound judgment wise and of godly experience meek and of most loving spirits for when the troubled patient shall be well perswaded of our knowledge discretion and therewithall shall perceiue vs to come in loving and tender affection I think an entrance is made and all prejudice taken away so as we may more freely worke vpon that conscience First bring them to the sight of sinne as to some cause of their trouble wherein we must labour to put away al confusion and blindnes of sorrowe by wisedome to bring the parties wounded to some certaine object and matter of their troble and so draw out of them the confession of some speciall secreet and severall sinnes I say secreete and severall sinnes because I knowe howe that many through a palpable blindenes or disordered discerning of sinne talke nothing so much as of sinne and yet either they cannot descrie severall sinnes or they will not be brought to acknowledge their secreet sins whereof the one proceedeth of the ignorance of the Lawe of God the other of selfe-loue which maketh vs loth even in our trauell of minde to shame our selues Now that confession of particular sins is requisite it may appeare by the 32. Psalme wherein being a Psalme of instruction concerning the forgiuenes of sinnes the Prophet by his owne experience teacheth vs that he could finde no reliefe of his sicknes vntill hee had remembred and made confession of his sinnes What shall we think of the Prophet of God which taught so wonderfully by the word and by the spirit and did not see his sins before be it far from vs rather let vs knowe that he had not severally and particularlie ripped vppe his sinnes before the Lord in a severall confessing of them which though the Lord knowes farre better than wee our selues yet such kind of sacrifice is more acceptable to him Nowe in this trouble the persons humbled cannot come to this particular sight of sinne in themselues It is good to vse the helpe of others to whome they may offer their hearts to bee gaged and searched and their liues to be examined more deeplie by hearing the several articles of the Law laid open before them whereby they may square the whole course of their actions For as we said before the grossest hypocrite will generally complaine of sinne and yet deale with them in particular pointes of the particular precepts and proue them in the applying of things to bee done or vndone to them to their owne conscience and we shall see many of these poore souls tossed to and fore nowe fleeting in joyes nowe plunged in sorrowes not able to distinguish one sin from another Now when we shall see the wound of the spirit to arise of any certaine and knowne sinne it is either for some sinne already committed wherein wee lie or else for some sin yet not committed but whereunto wee are tempted For the former it pleased God often to bring old sinnes to minde when we haue not throughly repented of them before so as it nowe representing them to vs a fresh we may fall into a more misliking of them and yet herein is not al to mislike our selues for some particulars although it bee good to be occupied about some speciall sin for as it is not sufficient for the avoiding of hypocrisie to see sin generally so it is not ynough to eschew the damnablenes of the heart ever to bee purring in every particular and to be forgetfull of the great and generall sins and lette vs learne by the particulars to passe to the generalls When any such one sinne doth pursue the rest not onely therein but say thus rather vnto thy selfe O Lord is this our sinne so grieuous and doth my God punish this one so sorely howe great should be my punishment if thou shouldest O Lord so deale with me for all my other sinnes Let vs labour to haue a sence both of particular and generall
their wittie devises and head-strong attemptes so as without hope of remedy they were hampered in pensiuenes and sorrow of mind then being not able to turne themselues vnder so heauy a burden they shrink down and by violent death would ridde themselues of that disquietnes and impatiencie of their troubled mindes But let vs come neerer and whether we behold the Papistes or the familie of Loue or the common sort of Christians we shal see they will passe quietly through many afflictions whether for that they haue a spirit of slumbering and numnesse cast on them whether because they haue branned themselues through som sensles blockishnes as men hewen out of hard oaks or grauen out of marble stones I knowe not but yet when the Lord shall let lose the cord of their conscience and shall set before their faces their sinnes committed see what fearfull ends they haue so whilest some of them by hanging themselues some by casting themselues into the water some by cutting their owne throates haue ridde themselues out of their intollerable griefes Now wherein is the difference that some die so sensleslie and some dispatch them so violentlie Surely the one feeling no sinne depart like brutish hoggs the other sure charged with sin depart like barking dogs But let vs come to the children of God who haue in some degrees felt this troble of minde and it will appeare both in the members and in the heade of all burthens to be a thing most intollerable to suffer a wounded conscience and to begin with let vs set in the first ranke Iob that man of God commended vnto vs by the holy Ghost for a mirrour of patience who although for his riches he was the welthiest man in the land of VZ and for his authoritie might haue made afraide a great multitude whose substance was the greatest of all the men of the East yet when the Sabeans came violently and tooke away all his cattell when the fyre of God from heauen burnt vp his sheep his servants when the Caldeans had taken away his Camels when a greate winde smote downe his house vpon his children although indeede he rent his garments which was not so much for impatiencie as to shewe that he was not vnsensible in these euills yet it is said that he worshipped blessed the name of the Lord saying Naked came I out of my mothers wombe and naked shall I returne thither Howbeit beholde when at the strong conference of his comfortlesse friendes his minde began to be agasht which was not so in all his former tryall when his Conscience began to bee troubled when he sawe the Lord fasten in him sharp arrowes and to set him vp as a Butt to shoot at when he thought God caused him to possesse the sinnes of his youth this glorious patterne of patience could not beare his griefe he was heauie and so may commend to all the image of a wounded spirite that shall come after Dauid a man chosen according to the Lords owne heart Ezeckiah a pure worshipper of God and a carefull restorer of true Religion Ieremiah the Prophet of the Lord sanctified and ordained to that office before he was formed in his mothers wombe were rare and singular in the graces of God yet when they felt this wounde pearcing them with grief of hart they wer as Sparrows mourning as Cranes chattering as Pellicanes casting out fearful cries they thoght themselues as in the graue they wished to haue dwelt solitarie they were as bottels parched in the smoke they were as Doues mourning not able without sighes grones to vtter their wordes their hartes claue to the dust their tongues to the roofe of their mouth but aboue all if these were not sufficient to perswade vs in this doctrine there remaineth one example whome wee affirme to be the perfite annotomie of an afflicted mind that is the Lord and Saviour of vs all Christ Iesus the Image of the Father the heade of the bodie the mirrour of all graces the wisedome righteousnes holines and redemption of all Saints who sustained the crosse even from his youth vpwarde besides povertie basenes and hunger did willingly vndergo that great trouble of contempt and reproch and that among them where he should haue had a right deserued honour in respect of the doctrine that hee taught them and in regard of the manifold miracles wrought among them as the healing of the sicke the giuing sight to the blinde and restoring life to the dead this vnkindnes neverthelesse did not so much stick into him but at what time hee was set as a sacrifice for all when hee was to beare our infirmities and carie our sorrowes at what time hee was plagued smitten of God humbled and wounded for our transgressions when hee should be broken for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was vpon him then he cried out My soule is heauie euen vnto the death then hee praieth O Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me but how praied hee even with sweating howe sweated he even drops of blood how often praied he three times when ended his agonie not till hee was deade what said he being ready to depart My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee was this for his humane death as some haue imagined no wee wicked men haue died without complaint whose patience then might haue seemed to exceede his it was his suffering in his humane spirite which encountered with the wrath of God his God-heade suppressing it for a while hee suffered many torments in his bodie but much more heavilie did the wrath of God lie vpon his soule if this consideration of an afflicted spirite in these examples doth not sufficiently shew what a grieuous thing it is to suffer a wounded conscience let vs proceed with the comparing of this with other euils which falleth into the nature of man there is no sicknesse but phisick prouideth it a remedie there is no sore but Chirurgerie wil afforde a salue freindship helpeth povertie there is no impresonment but there is hope of libertie sute and favour recouereth a man from banishment authoritie and time weareth away reproch But what phisick cureth what chirurgerie salveth what riches ransome what countenance beareth out what authoritie asswageth what salue delayeth a troubled conscience All these banded togeather in league though they would conspyre a confederacie cannot help this our distres of a troubled or vnquyet mynde And yet this one comfort of a quyet mynd doth wonderfullie cure and comfortablie aswage all other griefes whatsoeuer For if our assistance wer as an host of armed souldiers if our friends were the Princes and all the governours of the earth if our possessions were as large as betwene the east and the west if our meat were as Manna from heaven if our apparell were as costelie as the Ephod of Aaron if euerie day were as glorious as the day of Christs resurrection yet our mindes beeing appalled with the
judgement of God these things would little comfort vs. Let experience speak if a troubled mynd impaireth not helth dryeth not vp the blood consumeth not the marrowe pyneth not away the fleshe and consumeth the bones if it make not all pleasures painefull and shortneth not the life surely no wisedome can conceale it no counsell can advise it no advise can asswage it no asswagement can cure it no eloquence can perswade it no power can overcome it no scepter will affray it no Enchanter can charme it and yet on the contrary If a man languish in sicknesse so his heart be whole and he is perswaded of the health of his soule his sicknes doth not grieue him If a man be reproched so he be precious in the sight of God and his Angels what losse hath he If a man be banished and yet doubteth not that heaven is his cuntrie and that he is a Citizen among the Saints it doth not appall him If a man be in trouble and findeth peace of Conscience he wil quietly disgest his trouble but if the minde be troubled who dareth meete with the wrath of the Lord of Hostes Who can put to silence the voice of desperation Who wil step out make an agrement with the highest to spare vs Who dare make a covenant with the devill that he would not lay claime to vs If then a good conscience helpeth all evills and all other benefites of this life in them selues cannot help a troubled conscience nor see it true by proofe which heare it by prouerb The spirit of a man will sustaine his infirmitie but a vvounded spirit who can beare it Againe in all other afflictions we may haue some comfort against sin but this is ever accompanied with the accusation of sinne A man may be sick reproched imprisoned and yet in all these haue a cleare conscience his own heart telling him that there is no spirituall cause of these crosses in him but that he may suffer them for the triall of his faith or for righteousnes sake and wel doing but where the spirit is wounded there is still a guiltines of sinne and when a mans spirit is troubled hee suspecteth all his waies hee feareth all his sinnes he knoweth not what sinne to begin with it breedeth such hurlie-burlies in him that when it is day hee wisheth it were night and when it is night he would haue it day his meate doth not nourish him his dreames are fearfull vnto him his sleep often tymes forsaketh him if he speake hee is little eased if hee keepe silence hee boyleth with disquietnes of heart the light doth not comfort him the darknesse doeth grieue him to prosecute our comparison where all other evills are the more tollerable because they be temporall and pursues vs but to death this not being cured endeth not in death but becommeth eternallie for even the Heathen men thought that death was the end of al miseries the perswasion thereof made them being in some miserie to make an end of themselues and hasten their owne death as Sathan doeth make many now adaies to do who are ignorant of the Hells which is a place of far greater paine than any they can suffer in this world whatsoeuer Howbeit a tormented conscience if before it was begun is now continued or if it were not before nowe beginneth and never endeth world without end For though true it is that povertie imprisonment or banishment haue ended their times in death yet a wounded heart which was temporall in this life that which before death was in hope recoverable is after death made both vncurable and vnrecoverable It is good then to considder if even in this life the torment of Conscience bee so fearefull how much more grievous it is to sustaine it in hell where that is infinite which here is finite where that is vnmeasurable which heere is measurable where is the sea of sorrowe whereof this is but a drop where is the flame of that fyre whereof this is but a spark But to shut vp argument some there haue beene that throughout their life time haue beene free from other troubles so as either they felt them not at all or in very smal measure and by that meanes never knewe their head-ache For povertie never knewe what want meant who for discredit were never euill spoken of who ever put farre from them the evill daye of the Lord who haue made a league with death as it were and a covenant with hell who thoght they could crucifie every crosse rather than come vnder any yet they could never escape a wounded conscience either in this life or in the life to come true it is that Gods children by faith and repentance doe oft escape it but the wicked and such as are borne to it as to their sure inheritance the more they flie from it the more it pursueth them If we transgresse the civil lawes the Iudge by bribes may be corrupted If a man haue committed some capital offence by flying his Cuntrie hee may escape the Magistrates hands But our conscience telling vs that we haue sinned against God what bribe shall wee offer or whither shall wee flee where shall we go from his spirite or whither shall we flee from his presence If wee ascend into heauen is hee not there If we lie downe in hel is hee not there If wee flie to the vttermost partes of the earth is he not there also there nedeth no Paritoure to summon vs there needeth no Bailife to fetch vs there needes no accuser to giue in verdite against vs sinne will arrest vs and lieth at the doore our owne conscience will impanell a queast against vs our own hearts will giue in sufficient evidence and our iniquities will pleade guiltie to our faces Thus wee see both by the experience of them that haue suffered the wound of the spirit and the comparing it with other evills what a weight most grievous and a burthen intollerable it is to haue a tormented Conscience Nowe let vs shewe howe we may preuent it and by what meanes Gods children often fall into some degrees of it but if it rage in extremitie it is an euill vnrecoverable yet many safely and quietly be deliuered from it and heere a just complaint is to be taken vp and it is a woonder to be marked if we may wonder at Gods works that we see many so carefull and watchfull to avoide other troubles and so few or none take any paine to escape trouble of minde which is so grievous we see men loving health and loathing sicknesse in dyet temperate in sleepe moderate in phisick expert skilfull to purge and so to avoid such corrupt humours which in time many breede though presently they do not bring forth sicknes yet to avoide the diseases of the soule no man abateth his sleepe none abridgeth his dyet no man prepareth phisick for it no man knoweth when to be full and when to be emptie howe to want and howe to
with loosenes the way to lewdnes with weaknes the way to strange vanities with wantonnes the way to open wickednes is even in the best of Gods Children in the daies of their youth which being afterward in the time of their regeneration brought as it were to judgment and laid before their consciences doth cause them to repent But heere is a thing to be blushed at which maketh mens eares to tingle when they heare it that many men no doubt farre from this true Repentance can largely indeede discourse of the things done in their youth but with such a braverie with such a bosting pleasing of themselues therein as besides that they provoke others to sinne in the like and set a flat back of brasse against Repentance and this Christian examination they seeme to renewe the decaied colours of their old sinne with the fresh sent of their second pleasure therein But alasse what pleasure haue they in those things whereof they haue no profit What profite haue they of those things whereof they should be ashamed neither in this straint can wee forget the madnes of them who may seeme to steppe one degree further towards this examination of sinne than did the former by thinking that the leauing of sin and the repenting of sinne is all one against these both daily experience and the word of God doeth sufficiently declare Iosephs bretheren Iacobs sons who devised evill against their brother put him into the pitte and solde him to strangers did cease from this crueltie but yet are not read to haue remembred their sin with any remorse vntill 13. yeares after this sin was committed as we may see in the processe of the historie David had left his sinnes of murther and adulterie as thinking all quitte and well the space of a whole yeare After which time being admonished of the Prophet Nathan hee repented of it and experience hath tryed in many that haue had some-working of God in them that though they left their sinnes many yeares agoe yet because they repented not truly for them they haue rebounded vpon them with terrible sightes and fearefull visions to humble them and to bring them to a serious examination of them beeing done and lefte long since Examples whereof we need not fetch from farre seing so many Preachers as ar acquainted with fearefull spirites will giue vs witnesse hereof the fruite of which amazed minds for sinnes alredy is ours to beware of sinnes that are to come and that other mens harmes may teach vs blessed wisedome Let vs labour not onely to leaue sinne which one may do for profite for feare for praise or for wearisomnes but also to repent of it for Conscience sake This examination of our sinnes past must be partly of those which we committed before and partlie of those we haue done after our calling every man especiallie hauing his reason reformed by the word of God will graunt an examination of the life before our true knowledge of God in Christ to be most needfull but it may be thought we neede not to be so precise in the searching of those sins which were after our knowledge but seing of al other those sinnes bite the sorest and pearce deepest for that they are aggrauated with all the mercies of God going before and sin is then most sinfull when after we knowe the trueth after we haue bene delivered from sinne after we haue beene enlightned with the good grace of God we haue fallen into it I think that examination most especially is to be had of these sins wherefore to iterate our former examples in a new matter as we may see the former kinde of examining first from sins before our calling in the sonnes of Iacob so wee haue a patterne of the latter in the practise of the Prophet David who at the hearing of his sinne was so troubled in his spirit that he could not rest in the Prophets speach telling him his sinne was forgiuen him but stil was disquieted as one vtterly forsaken of God and as though he could finde no comfort of Gods spirit in him For as it fareth often in sores so also it commeth to passe in sinnes we are loath to haue our woundes often grated on we cannot so well away to haue our sores rifeled seared lanced but fedde with healing salues so we are hardly brought to haue our Consciences seared or our sinnes ransacked sifted and ripped but coulde still haue them plastered with sweet promises and bathed in the mercies of God whereas it is farre safer before incarnatiue healing medicines to vse corasiue and mundifying waters without which though our sores may seeme to close and skinne vp apace yet they proue worse and being rotten still at the core they haue aboue a thinne skinne and vnderneath deade flesh In like maner we would cloak wee would hide and couer our sins as it were with a curtaine but it is more sounde Chirurgery to prick and parch our conscience with the burning yron of the law and to cleanse the wounde of the soule by sharp threatning lest that a skinne pulled over the conscience for a while wee do lament the rotten corruption which remaineth vncured vnderneath and so wee be constrained to crye out that our sinnes openeth As it is a folly then to dissemble our sores whilst they bee curable and after to make them knowne when they be vncurable So it is as great folly to dissemble our sinnes whilest they may be remedied and so after be constrained with shame for to blaze them abrode when they are vnremediable But of this by the way because we shall more largely touch it in the part to come It is sufficient to commit sinne before knowledge but after knowledge to sinne breedeth either hardnesse of heart or a troubled heart both which we shall avoide if in trueth we be carefull to watch our affections and beware after our deliverie wee fall not into sin againe Severall men subject to severall sinnes haue their severall cloggs in their consciences some are overcome with wrath and yet after the moodie sitte they can tell that the wrath of a man doeth accomplish the righteousnes of God Some are subject to lust and afterward they say it profiteth them nothing some are giuen to a continuall course of vanitie whome notwithstanding canne say that mans life hath another end Some sleeping deepe into worldlinesse and yet they be often wakened with terrible checks of Conscience well blessed are they whose heartes are truely grieved with sinne and let them beware that make a daliance with sinne for either hardnesse of heart will overtake them or a troubled Conscience will confounde them Wherefore it oftentimes commeth to passe that many spending of their bodies on lust do lament that euer they so abused their strength many given too much vnto the pleasures of this life haue great griefe and sorrowe comming vpon them to remember howe they haue mispent Gods graces lauished his good giftes and mis-spent their tyme
A FRVITFVL AND GODLY SERMON CONTAINING NEcessary and profitable doctrine for the reformation of our sinfull and wicked liues but especially for the comfort of a troubled Conscience in all distresses By M. Richard Greenham Pastor of DRAYTON EDINBVRGH PRINTED BY RObert Walde-graue Printer to the Kings Majestie An. 1595. Cum Priuilegio Regio TO THE VERTVOVS AND GODLY MATRON SARA SPEâ—R Grace mercie and peace in Christ Iesus Amen DEare Sister you knowe this World is not your home but a Pilgrimage and a place wherein God trieth his children And I doubt not but you haue learned howe to make right vse and profit of the Lord his merciful chastisements For the Lord vseth many waies and meanes for the triall of his I knowe You haue heard of the patience of IOB as saith the Apostle IAMES and you haue seene in the end how that God is merciful patient and long suffering euen so say I vnto you that you shall receiue accordingly if so be you be patient that is if you feare God set his vvord before your eies and serue him thereafter and if hee lay his crosse on you beare it with patience the which you shall do when you considder it not according to the present sense but according to the end Heb. 12. And I doubt not but you are of the number of them which are daily dying to themselues and this sinfull world Ye are one of them that lookes for a citie whose builder and maker is God Ye are one of them that knowes your selfe and your being to be in this earth but as a Pilgrime and stranger for heere yee haue no byding place Yee are one of them which haue made a Covenant with God to forsake your selfe and this sinfull World Yee are one of them vvho say Nay The Lord hath all things written in his memoriall book for such as feare him remember his Name Yee are one of them vvhich haue their Loynes girded about and their lights burning in their hands Like vnto servants that wayte vpon their Lordes comming Yea and I am certainlie perswaded that you and your godly Brethren and Sister are of the number of them vvho haue the Lord for their portion which haue their hope in heaven vvhose leader is Christ Iesus the sonne of God and governour of Heaven and Earth vnto him is given all power he is God almightie with the Father and the holy Ghost praise vvorthie for euermore Now deare sister I partly knowing the present estate of your troubled perplexed minde in regard of the want of your greatest outwarde comfort I thoght it good to present you with this sweet Sermon made by that godly-learned zealous Pastor of Christs Church M. RICHARD GREENHAM which by Gods providence came vnto my handes containing a comfort for a troubled conscience he being throgh the mercy of God a man greatly exercised therewith and therfore taught the same through his owne experience hoping through the working of Gods holy spirit it shal also minister comfort vnto your trobled mind Therfore my dear sister to conclude I beseech you to be instaÌ„t with our merciful God by harty praier for the spirit of wisdome knowledge humblenes meeknes sobriety repentance which euen the best of Gods Children haue great neede of because our sins continuallie prouokes the Lord our God to be angrie with vs but let vs beare his fatherly corrections acknowledge our faults with bitter tears and sorrowfull sighes not doubting but so hee will be mercifull vnto vs in Christ To whome with the Father and the holy spirit be all glory honour praise and everlasting thanks for euermore Amen Your wel-willer in the Lord Christ R. W. A SVVEET AND COMFORTABLE SERMON FOR A TROVbled Conscience PROV 18. 14. The spirit of a man will sustaine his infirmitie but a wounded spirit vvho canne beare it THIS Scripture is not onely woorthie to be grauen in steele with the point of an Adamant and in letters of golde but also to bee written and registred by the finger of Gods spirit in the tables of the hearte which sentence brieflie speaketh thus much vnto vs that what trouble soever befalleth a man his mind vnapalled he will indifferently beare it out But if the spirite of a man be once troubled and dismaied he cannot tell how to be deliuered And no marvell for if the minde of man be that fountaine of comforte which ministers comfort to him in all other troubles and if it become comfortlesse what shall comfort it if it be voide of help where shall 〈◊〉 be helped If the eye which is the light of the bodie be darknes how great is that darknes If the salt which sauoreth all things be vnsauorie for what is it good If the minde which sustaineth all troubles be troubled how intollerable is that trouble To shewe this the better wee will first declare howe great a punishment of God this wounde of Conscience is Secondly we will teach how this trouble of mind may be avoided Lastly we will set downe how Gods children falling in some measure into this affliction of spirit may be recouered out of it For the first the griefe of this maladie is seene either by some due consideration of the persones that haue felt it or by some wise comparison made betweene this griefe of minde and other outward griefes incident to a man The persons in whome we may consider this wounde of spirite are either meerlie naturall men or such as be renewed by the spirite of God the men meerly naturall are either the heathen such as never knewe God in Christ or carnall professors such as haue not protested Christianitie aright If we looke among the Heathen howe many of them haue willingly gone vnder povertie and haue bene content to vnburden themselues of all worldly tresures how haue some of them whilest their minds were vnapalled suffered imprisonment exile and extreame tortures of bodie rather than they woulde betraye their Cuntries c. How many of them haue devoured many injuries and born outward troubles with some ease and with no resistance whilest their minds were at libertie and yet look not to the â—â—â—nest but to the best and most excellent men among them even their wise Philosophers sweet Oratours and exquisite Poets who in bearing and forbearing they thought the chiefest point of vertue to consist and yet yee shall see when once some great distresse of mind did wound them some would make an end of it by preparing a cup of deadlie poyson some would violently and voluntarilie run on their enemies pykes some would throwe downe themselues from high mountaines some woulde not stick to stabbe most monstrouslie their own bodies with daggers or such like instruments of death All which men woulde seeme to haue great courage in sustaining many harmes so long as their minds were not ouer maistered but when that devine and supreame essence which they acknowledged did by his power crosse and ouerturne
abounde others carried away with the loue of riches and fearfull to fall into povertie will not stick to rise early to take sleepe lately to fare hardly to travell and tyre their fleshe in labour by Land and by Sea in faire and fowle weather by rockes and by sands from farre and from neere but to fall into spirituall decay to avoide the pouertie of Conscience noe man taketh such paines as though salvation and peace in mind were a thing not worth the labouring for some ambitiouslie hunting after honour and not easilie digesting reproach behaue themselues neither sluggishly nor sleepily but are actiue in every attempt by loue and by counsell by prudence prowesse by wit and by practise by labour and learning by caring diligence to become famous and to shun a civill reproch yet to be glorious in the sight of God and his Angels to fall before the heavens and in the presence of the Almightie to be covered with shame and confusion of conscience wee make none account as they who neuer vse means to obtaine the one nor avoid the occasions which may bring the other others vnwilling to come within the daunger of the Lawe that they may escape imprisonment of the body or confiscation of goods will be painfull in penall statutes skilfull in every branch of the civill lawes and especially will labour to keep themselues from treasons murther fellonies and such like offences of life and death yet when the Lord God threatneth the losse both of soule bodie the attaching of our souls the confiscating of our consciences the banishing vs from heauen the hanging of vs in hell the suspending of our salvation the adjudging of vs to condemnation for the breach of his commandements no man searcheth his eternall Lawe no man careth for the Gospell neither the sentence of an everlasting devorcement from the Lord neither the covenant of reconciliation is esteemed of vs. And to reache out our complainte one degree farther beholde the more wee seeke outward pleasures and to auoide the inward trouble of mind the more we hast and runne into it and we speed to plunge our selues in a wounded spirit before we be aware who posteth more to become riche who hopeth lesse to become poore than the Marchant man who adventureth greater treasures who hazardeth his goods who putteth in jeopardie his life and yet suddenly hee rusheth vpon the rock of hardnes of heart or else is swallowed vp of the gulfe of a dispairing mind from which happilie he cannot be redeemed with a ship-full of golde Wofull proofe hath confirmed howe some men whollie set vpon pleasure such as could not away to bee sadde and hedged vp alwaies of godly sorrowe haue had their troubles made snares vnto them and even their excesse of pleasure hath brought excesse of sorrowe and whilest they laboured to put the euil day farre from them they haue vsed such follies as haue bene the bitter and most speedy hangmen of their sorrowfull Consciences There be some of an other sorte who never dreaming of a troubled mind haue had their hearts set on nothing but howe they might get some great fame renown and therefore haue slipt into such dangerous attempts foule flatteries as they haue not onely lost the peace of their Consciences but also fallen most deeply into shame which they sought to shun Nowe as the peace of Conscience and joy of mind is such a treasure as the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard nor the tongue cannot expresse but passeth all vnderstanding so the wounded spirit is such as the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard nor the tongue vttered it but passeth all vnderstanding and as they onely knowe what the peace of minde meaneth that feele it so they alone can in trueth speake of a troubled minde that haue tasted of it by experience But let vs shew what way is to be vsed to keep vs from this wound of spirit it is the vse of Phisick as to cure vs from diseases when wee are fallen into them so to preserue vs from sicknesses before it hath taken holde of vs so it is the power of the word as to aswage the trouble of Conscience when it doeth once presse vs so to prevent it before it hath overtaken vs. It is a chiefe point of worldly wisedome not to tary for the vse of phisick till we be deadly sick but to be acquainted with Gods mercifull preservatiues to defend vs from it likewise it is a chiefe pollicie of a godly Christian not onely to seeke comfort when the agonie is vpon him but also to vse all good helpes to meet with it before it comes and if wee condemne them of follie who will not as well labour to keepe themselues out of debt as to pay the debt when we owe it so it is a madnes not to be as circumspect to avoid al occasions which may bring trouble of minde vpon vs as we would be provident to enter every good way which may drawe vs out of this trouble when wee haue once entered into it these remedies preservatiue are first the searching of our sinnes and then the examining of our faith the examining of our sinne is either the due acknowledging of our sinnes or the sence and feeling of them the acknowledging of sin is either of those that be past whether we haue repented of them or of those that are present whether we are truly greued for them Thirdly of those secreet corruptions to come whether we are reverently afraid of them concerning sins past we must call to mind the sinnes done of old in our youth in our middle age and in our old age that we judging of our selues may not be judged of the Lord that accusing our selues Sathan haue no occasion to accuse vs and throwing downe our selues before the Lord he may lift vs vp for many going quietly away and sleeping securelie in their sleeues notwithstanding the sinnes of their youth and neglecting to make conscience of their sins done long agoe sodainly haue fallen into such horrour of mind that the violent remembrance of all their sinnes sure charging they haue beene overwhelmed this examination doth then rightly proceed when it is reached to the errours of this life and to the sinnes of our youth because many even from their childe-hood by a civill righteous life hauing escaped grosse sins wherewith the world culd never charge them haue notwithstanding caried the burthen of more secreet sins done in their youth David Psalm 25. 7. prayeth the Lord not to Remember the sinnes of his youth Iob the man of God confesseth that the Lord writing bitter thinges against him made him to possesse the iniquities of his youth what shall wee think that David or Iob were giuen to notorious wickednesse in their youth no but they knew they were subject to youthfull wantonnes and vntamednes of affections which though it did not burst out yet it made them lesse careful to glorifie God
sorts man or woman â—â— what complexion soever they are of what knowledge to discerne sinne of what degree in committing sin of what age authoritie wealth estate or condition soever they are It is good to mark that there be many who are more troâ—â—led for the vexation and disquietnes of their minde being distempered than for the vilenes and horriblenes of their â—â—nne committed who are wounded more with feare of shame with feare of being madde or with the feare of running out of their wittes than with the conscience of sinne which thing if wee finde in them it is our parte to travell with them that they may make a lesse matter of the outward shame more conscience of the inward sinne neither must we herein forget to make a distinction betwene our speaches vsed to the humbled in the very time of their extreame agonie burning ague of their troubles and those speaches which we vse then the fit being past because the former requireth more consolation lesse exhortation than the other and the latter wold haue vs more abundant in admonishing and more sparing in comforting when wee may wisely admonish them to beware of sinne which so procureth their own woe in this brething time It is also expedient to exhort them that for some season vntill they shall finde greater power in regeneration they would tye themselues to some holy orders godly vowes that thereby they either may be furthered in mortifying some speciall sin which for that they could finde no power against it did most greue them or strenthened in some speciall grace the want whereof did also wounde them but before we launch deep into the sea of particular temptations and begin to sound the dangerous passages of natural corruptions and originall sinne the troublesome froth whereof doth almost ouerwhelme many poore Pilgrimes It shall be good to giue this caution that both in these and in the former trobles men would be stil admonished patientlie to bear with a wounded spirit albeit it falleth out so that they be somewhat pettish seeing the holy Ghost speaketh so favorably of them saying a wounded spirit who can bear it And surely our practise in other things by the law of equitie may vrge this at our handes For if men by the light of reason can see it to be a dutie convenient not frivolouslie to travell but meekly to suffer wisely to put vp vnadvised speaches of a man distempered in braine by reson of some burning ague or other vehement sicknes We may easily gather even by this rule of reason not so severely to sensure the impatient speaches of him who by reason of some parching feavour of the spirit is disquiered in mind and hath all the veines of his hart as it were in a spirituall agonie vexed wherefore both vnsavorie of godly wisedome vncharitable for want of Christian loue are their murmuring obtractations which say What is the godly man Is this hee that is trobled for his sins why see how pettish he is nothing can please him no body can satisfie him Consider O man if thou canst bear with a frail body that thou must much more bear with a fraill mind consider that this his pettishnes doth more wound him to the hart than any injurie thou couldest pearce him with and therefore seeing he afflicteth his own soule for it thou must not adde any thing to his afflictions and to exasperate his smart considder that it is a blessed thing mercifullie to bethink vs of the state of the needy and that to rub a fresh wound and to straine a bleeding sore is nothing else but that which Iobs friendes did to bring a newe torment where there is no neede of it If the wise Father rather doeth pittie than rebuke his child when by reason of sicknes the appetite is not easilie pleased so if wee purpose to do any good with an afflicted mind we must not be austere in reprehending every infirmitie but patient in considering of it as tender frailtie neither do I speake this to nourish pettishnes in any but wold haue them to labour for patience and to seeke for peace which though they finde not at the first yet by praier they must wait on the Lord and say Lord because there is mercie with thee that thou maiest bee feared I will wayte vpon thee as the eye of the servant waiteth vpon the eye of his master I will condemne my selfe of follie and say O my soule why art thou so heavy vvhy art thou so cast downe within me still trust in the Lord for he is thy helpe and thy salvation FINIS Heb. 13. 14 Genes 15. 13. 14. Deut. 29. 14. 15. Mal. 3. 16. Luk. 52. 35 Deut. 32. â— Col. 1. 27. Mat. 28. 18.