that head and this body Into their secret let my soule come and unto their assembly let mine honour be united But if where I find weaknesse of grace and involuntary failings of obedience I shall say Stand by thy selfe come not neer me for I am holier then thou how can I make other account then that this pride shall be a smoke in the nostrils of the Almighty a fire that burneth all day and that he will recompence it into my bosome Shortly I know none so fit to depart from as from my selfe my owne pride self love and the rest of my inbred corruptions and am so far from over-looking others that I know none worse then my selfe X. TEMPTATION However the zeale of your scrupulous Preachers is wont to make the worst of every thing and to damne the least slip to no lesse then hell Yet there are certaine favour able temperaments of circumstances which may if not excuse yet extenuate a fault such as age complexion custome profit importunity necessity which are justly pleadable at the barre both of God and the conscience and are sufficient to rebate the edge of divine severity Repelled VVIcked tempter I know there is nothing upon earth that so much either troubles thee or impairs thy kingdome of darknesse as the zeale of conscionable Preachers those who lift up their voice like a trumpet and shew Gods people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sin this is it that rescues millions of souls from the hand of hell and gives thee so many foyles in thy spirituall assaults This godly and faithful zeal represents mens sins to them as they are and by sins the danger of their damnation which thy malicious subtilty would faine blanch over and palliate to their destruction But when thou hast all done it is not in their power to make sin worse then it is or in thine to make it better As for those favourable temperaments which thou mentionest they are meere Pandarismes of wickednesse faire visors of deformity For to cast a glance upon each of them Age is not a more common plea then unjust The young man pretends it for his wanton and inordinate lust The old for his gripplenesse techinesse loquacity All wrongfully and not without foule abuse Youth is taught by thee to call for a swing and to make vigour and heate of blood a priviledge for a wild licentiousnesse for which it can have no claime but from a charter sealed in hell I am sure that God who gives this marrow to his bones and brawne to his armes and strength to his sinewes and vivacity to his spirits lookes for another improvement Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth saith Solomon And his father before him Wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word Lo the young mans waies are foule with lusts and distempered passions and they must be cleansed and the way to cleanse them is attendance not of his owne vaine pleasures but of the holy ordinances of his maker Thou wouldst have him run loose like the wild Asse in the desert God tells him It is good for a man to beare the yoake in his youth even the yoke of the divine precepts the stooping whereunto is the best truest of al freedoms so as he may be able to say with the best Courtier of the wickedest King I thy servant feare the Lord from my youth The aberrations from which holy lawes of God are so far from finding an excuse from the prime of our years as that holy Iob cries out of them in the bitternesse of his soule Thou hast made mee to possesse the iniquities of my youth and as David vehemently deprecates Gods anger for them Remember not Lord the sins of my youth so Zophar the Naamathite notes it for an especiall brand of Gods judgement upon the wicked man that his bones are full of the sins of his youth and God declares it as an especiall mercy to his people Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth The more head-strong therefore my youth is the more straite shall I curbe it and hold it in and the more vigorous it is so much the fitter it is to be consecrated to that God who is most worthy to be served with the best of his own As for old age it hath I grant its humours and infirmities but rather for our humiliation then for our excuse It is not more common then absurd and unreasonable that when we are necessarily leaving the world we should be most fond in holding it when wee are ceasing to have any use of riches then to endeavour most eagerly to get them when we should bee laying up treasure in heaven to be treasuring up wrath for our selves and baggs for we know not whom To be unwilling to spend what we cannot keep and to be mad on getting what we have not the wit or grace to spend If then thou canst perswade any man to bee so gracelesse as to make his vicious disposition an apology for wickednesse let him plead the faults of his age for the excuse of his avarice As for morosity of nature and garrulity of tongue they are not the imperfections of the age but of the persons There are meek spirits under gray haires and wrinkled skinnes There are old men who as that wise heathen said of old can keepe silence even at a feast He hath ill spent his age that hath not attained to so good an hand over himselfe as in some meet measure to moderate both his speech and passion If some complexions both incline us more and crave indulgence to some sinnes more then other the sanguine to lust the cholerick to rage c. wherfore serves grace but to correct them If we must be over-ruled by nature what doe we professing Christianity Neither humours nor stars can necessitate us to evill whiles thou therefore pretendest my naturall constitution I tell thee of my spirituall regeneration the power whereof if it have not mortified my evill and corrupt affections I am not what I professe to be a Christian The strongest plea for the mitigation of sinne is Custome the power whereof is wont to be esteemed so great as that it hath seemed to alter the quality of the fact and of sin to make no sin Hence the holy Patriarchs admitted many consorts into their marriage-bed without the conscience of offending which if it had not been for the mediation of Custome had beene justly esteemed no better then criminous But however where is no contrary injunction Custome may so far usurp as to take upon it to be no lesse then a law it selfe Yet where there is a just regulation of law the plea of Custome is so quite out of countenance as that it is strongly retorted against it selfe neither is there any more powerfull reason for the abolition of an ill use then that is a custome so much
disciple My Lord and my God Malignant spirit thou dost but set a face of checking me by my Saviours Crosse thou knowest and feel'st that he was the Chariot of his Triumph whereupon being exalted he dragged all the powers of hell captive after him making a show of them openly to their confusion and his glory Thou knowst that had it not been for that Crosse those infernall regions of thine had been peopled with whole mankind a great part whereof is now delivered out of thy hands by that victorious redemption Never had heaven been so stored never had hell been so foyled if it had not been for that Crosse And canst thou think to daunt me with the mention of that Crosse which by the eternall decree of God was determined to be the means of the deliverance of all the soules of the elect Dost thou not hear the Prophet say of old He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he striken And he made his grave with the wicked and the rich in his death He hath poured out his soule unto death and he was numbred with the transgressors and he â—arâ— the sin of many Didst thou not hear my Saviour himself after his glorious resurrection checking Cleopas and his fellow-traveller for their ignorance of this predetermination O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory Yea lastly when had my Saviour more glory then in this very act of his ignominious suffering and crucifixion It is true there hangs the Son of man despicably upon the tree of shame He is mocked spit upon buffered scourged nail'd revil'd dead now have men and Devils done their worst But this while is the son of God acknowledged and magnified in his almighty power both by earth and heaven The Sun for three hours hides his head in darknesse as hating to behold this tort offered to his Creator the earth quakes to bear the weight of this suffering The rocks rend in peeces the dead rise from their graves to see and wonder at and attend their late dying and now risen Saviour The vayle of the Temple tears from the top to the bottome for the blasphemous indignity offered to the God of the Temple And the Centurion upon sight of all this is forced to say Truly this was the son of God And now after all these irrefragable attestations his Easter makes abundant amends for his passion There could not be so much weaknesse in dying as there was power in rising from death His resurrection proves him the Lord of life and death and shews that he died not out of necessity but will since he that could shake off the grave could with more ease have avoided death Oh then the happy and glorious conquest of my blessed Saviour declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holinesse by the resurrection from the dead Go now wicked spirit and twit me with the Crosse of my Saviour That which thou objectest to me as my shame is my onely glory God forbid that I should glory save in the Crosse of my Lord Jesus Christ whereby the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world II. TEMPTATION Still thou hast upon all vocasions recourse to the Scriptures as some divine Oracles and think'st thou maist safely build thy soul upon every Text of that written word as inspired from heaven whereas indeed this is nothing but an humane devise to keep men in awe and never came neerer heaven then the brains of those Politicians that invented it Repelled WIcked Spirit when thou presumedst personally to tempt my Saviour and hadst that cursed mouth stopped by him with an It is written thou daredst not then to raise such a blasphemous suggestion against this word of truth Successe in wickednesse hath made thee more impudent and now thou art bold to strike despitefully at the very root of religion But know that after all thy malicious detractions this word shall stand when heaven and earth shall vanish and is that whereby both thou and all thy complices shall be judged at that great day It is not more sure that there is a God then that this God ought to be served and worshipped by the creature Neither is it more sure that God is then that he is most wise most just most holy This most wise just and holy God then requiring and expecting to be served and worshipped by his Creature must of necessity have imparted his will to his creature how and in what manner he would be served and what he would have man to believe concerning himselfe and his proceedings Else man should be left to utter uncertainties and there should be a failing of those ends which the infinite wisdome and justice hath proposed to it selfe There must be therefore some word of God wherein he hath revealed himselfe to man and that this is and must be acknowledged to be that onely word it is clear and evident for that there neither was nor is nor can be any other word that could or durst stand in competition or rivality with this word of the Eternall God and if any other have presumed to offer a contestation it hath soone vanished into contempt and shame Moreover this is the only word which God ownes for his under no lesse stile then Thus saith the Lord which the son of God hath so acknowledged for the genuine word of his eternall Father as that out of it as such he hath pleased to refell both thy suggestions and the malicious arguments of his Iewish opposites It drives wholly at the glory of God not sparing to disparage those very persons whose pens are imployed in it in blazoning their owne infirmities in what they have offended which could not have been if those pens had not been guided by an higher hand It discovers and oppugnes the corruptions of nature which to meer men are either hid or if revealed are cherished and upheld it laies forth the misery and danger of our estate under sin and the remedies and means of our deliverance which no other word hath ever pretended to undertake Besides that there is such a Majesty in the stile wherein it is written as is unimitable by any humane author whatsoever the matter of it is wholly divine ayming altogether at purity of worship and integrity of life not admitting of any the least mixture either of Idolatry superstition or of any plausible enormities of life but unpartially laying forth Gods judgements against these and whatever other wickednesses This word reveals those things which never could be known to the world by any humane skill or industry as the Creation of the world and the order and degrees of it and the course of Gods administration of it from the beginning thousands of years before any records of history
were extant As it was onely the Spirit of the most high God in Daniel that could fetch back and give an account of a vision fore-passed All the Soothsayers and Magicians confesse this a work of no lesse then divine omniscience And as for things future the predictions of this word of things to be done after many hundreds yea some thousands of years the events having then no pre-existence in their causes being accordingly accomplished show it to proceed from an absolute unfailing and therefore infinite prescience And whereas there are two parts of this word The Law and the Gospel The Law is more exact then humane braines can reach unto meeting with those aberrations which the most wise and curious Law-givers could not give order for extending it selfe to those very thoughts which nature knows not to accuse or restrain The Gospel is made good as by the signes and wonders wrought in all the primitive ages so by the powerfull operation that it hath upon the soul such as the word of the most prudent man on earth or of the greatest Angel in heaven should in vain hope to parallel And whereas the pen-men of both these were Prophets and Apostles The Prophets are sufficiently attested by the Apostles to be men holy inspired by the Holy Ghost the Apostles are abundantly attested by the Holy ghost powred out upon them in their Pentecost besides variety of tongues enabling them to do such miraculous works as astonished convinced their very enemies To these may be added the perfect harmony of the Law the Gospel the Law being a prefigured gospel the gospel a law consummate both of them lively setting forth Christ the redeemer of the world both future exhibited Neither is it lightly to be esteemed that this word hath been by holy men in all ages received as of sacred and divine authority men whose lives and deaths have approved them eminent Saints of God who have not only professed but sealed with their bloud this truth which they had learned from him that was rapt into the third heaven That all Scripture is given by inspiration of God a truth which cannot but be contested by their own hearts which have sensibly found the power of this word convincing them of sin working effectually in them a lively faith and unfaigned conversion which no humane means could ever have effected Lastly it is a strong evidence to my soule that this is no other then the word of a God that I find it so eagerly opposed by thee and all thy malignant instruments in all ages Philosophers both naturall and morall and politique have left large Volumes behind them in their severall professions all which are suffered to live in peace and to enjoy their opinions with freedome and leave but so soon as ever this sacred book of God looks forth into the world hell is in an uproar and raises all the forces of malice and wit and violence against it Wherefore would it be thus if there were not some more divine thing in these holy leaves then in all the monuments of learned humanity But the protection is yet more convictive then the opposition that not withstanding all the machinations of the powers of darknesse this word is preserved intire that the simplicity of it prevails against all worldly policy that the power of it subdues all nations and triumphs over all the wickednesse of men and devils it is proof enough to me that the God of heaven is both the author and owner and giver of it Shortly then Let my soul be built upon this rocky foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Let thy storms rise and thy flouds come and thy winds blow and beat upon it it shall mock at thy fury and shall stand firme against all the rage of hell III. TEMPTATION Art thou so sottish to suffer thy understanding to be captivated to I know not what divine authority proposing unto thee things contrary to sense and reason and therefore absurd and impossible Be thou no other then thy self a man and follow the light and guidance of that which makes thee so right Reason and what soever disagrees from that turn it off as no part of thy beliefe to those superstitious bigots which are willing to lose their reason in their faith and to bury their brains in their heart Repelled WIcked tempter thou wishest me to my losse wo were to me if I were but a man and if I had no better guide to follow then that which thou call'st Reason it is from nature that I am a man it is from grace that I am a man regenerate Nature holds forth to me as a man the dim and weak rush-candle-light of carnall reason The grace of regeneration shows me the bright torch-light yea the sun of divine illumination Thou bid'st me as a man to follow the light of reason God bids me as a regenerate man to follow the light of faith whether should I beleeve whether should I listen to It is true that reason is the great gift of my Creator and that which was intended to distinguish us from brute creatures but where is it in the originall purity to be found under heaven Surely it can now appear to us in no other shape then either as corrupted by thy depravation or by Gods renovating grace restored as it is marred by thee even naturall truths are too high for it as it is renued by God it can apprehend and imbrace supernaturall verities It is regenerate reason that I shall ever follow and that will teach me to subscribe to all those truths which the un-erring Spirit of the holy God hath revealed in his sacred word how ever contrary to the ratiocination of flesh and bloud Onely this is the right reason which is illuminated by Gods spirit and willingly subjected to faith which represents to me those things which thou suggestest to me for unreasonable and impossible as not faisible only but most certain That in one Deity there are three most glorious persons distinguished in their subsistences not divided in their substance That in one person of Christ the Mediator there are two natures divine and humane not converted into each other not confounded each with other That the Creator of all things should become a creature That a creature should be the mother of him that is her God how ever they be points which carnall reason can not put over yet they are such as reason illuminate and regenerate can both easily and most comfortably digest Great is the mystery of godlinesse God manifested in the flesh What mystery were there in godlinesse if the deepest secrets of religion did lie open to the common apprehension of nature My Saviour who is truth it self hath told me that no man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him and with the same breath gives thanks to his heavenly Father that he hath hid these
hands of God he only knows that shall judge this I am sure of that without this Saviour there can be no salvation That in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousnesse is accepted with him That he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life As therefore we do justly abhor that wild scope of all religions which thou suggestest so we do willingly admit a large scope in one true religion so large as the author of it hath thought good to allow For we have not to do with a God that stands upon curiosities of beliefe or that upon pain of damnation requires of every believer an exquisite perfection of judgment concerning every capillar veyne of Theologicall truth it is enough for him if we be right for the main substance of the body He doth not call rigorously for every stone in the battlements it sufficeth for the capacity of our salvation if the foundation be hold in tire It is thy sclander therefore that wee confine Truth and blessednesse to a corner of Reformed Christians no wee seek and find it every where where God hath a Church and Gods Church we know to be Universall Let them be Abassines Cophties Armeniant Georgians Jacobites or what ever names either sclander or distinction hath put upon them if they hold the foundation firme howsoever disgracefully built upon with wood hay stubble wee hold them Christs we hold them ours Hence it is that the new Jerusalem is for her beauty and uniformity set forth with 12 precious gates though for use and substance one for that from all coasts of heaven there is free accesse to the Church of Christ and in him to life and glory He who is the Truth and the life hath said This is eternall life to know thee and him whom thou hast sent This knowledge which is our way to life is not alike at tained of all fome have greater light and deeper insight into it then others That mercy which accepts of the least degree or the true apprehension of Christ hath not promised to dispense with the wilfull neglect of those who might know him more clearly more exactly Let those carelesse soules therefore which stand indifferent betwixt life and death upon thy perswasion content themselves with good meanings and generalities of beliefe but for me I shall labour to furnish my self with all requisite truths and above all shall aspire towards the excellency of the knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings TEMPTATIONS REPELLED The second Decade Temptations of Discouragement II. DECADE I. TEMPTATION Were it for some few sins of ignorance or infirmity thou might'st hope to find place for mercy but thy sins are as for multitude innumerable so for quality haynous presumptuous unpardonable with what face canst thou look up to heaven and expect remission from a just God Repelled EVen with the face of an humble penitent justly confounded in himself in the sense of his owne vilenesse but awfully confident in a promised mercy Malicious tempter how like thou art to thy selfe when thou wouldst draw me on to my sins then how small sleight harmlesse plausible they were now thou hast fetch 't me in to the guilt of those foule offences they are no lesse then deadly and irremissible May I but keep within the verge of mercy thou canst not more aggravate my wickednesse against me thē I do against my selfe thou canst not be more ready to accuse then I to judge and condemn my selfe Oh me the wretchedest of all creatures how do I hate my selfe for mine abominable sins done with so high a hand against such a Majesty after such light of knowledge such enforcements of warning such indearments of mercy such reluctations of spirit such check of conscience what lesse then hell have I deserved from that infinite justice Thou canst not write more bitter things against me then I can plead against my owne soule But when thou hast cast up all thy venome and when I have passed the heaviest sentence against my selfe I who am in my selfe utterly lost and forfeited to eternall death in despight of the gates of hell shall live and am safe in my Almighty and ever-blessed Saviour who hath conquered Death and hell for me Set thou me against my selfe I shall set my Saviour against thee urge thou my debts I show his full acquittance Sue thou my bonds I shall exhibit them cancell'd and nayled to his crosse presse thou my horrible crimes I plead a pardon sealed in heaven Thou tell'st me of the multitude and hainousnesse of my sins I tell thee of an infinite mercy and what are numbers and magnitudes to the infinite To an illimited power what difference is there betwixt a mountaine and an ant-heape betwixt one and a million were my sins a thousand times more and worse then they are there is worth abundantly enough in every drop of that precious blood which was shed for my redemption to expiate them Know O tempter that I have to doe with a mercy which can die my scarlet sins white as snow make my crimson as wooll whose grace is so boundlesse that if thou thy selfe hadst upon thy fall been capable of repentance thou hadst not everlastingly perished The Lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and of great mercy The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works And if there be a sin of man unpardonable it is not for the insufficiency of grace to forgive it but for the incapacity of the subject that should receive remissision Thou feel'st to thy paine and losse wherefore it was that the eternall sonne of God Jesus Christ came into the world Even to save sinners and if my owne heart shall conspire with thee to accuse me as the chiefe of those sinners my repentance gives me so much the more claim and interest in his blessed redemption Let me be the most laden with the chaines of my captivity so I may have the greatest share in that all-sufficient ransome And if thou who art the true fiery serpent in this miserable wildernesse hast by sin stung my soul to death let me as I do with penitent and faithfull eyes but look up to that brazen serpent which is lift up far above all heavens thy poyson cannot kill cannot hurt me It is the word of eternall truth which cannot faile us If we confesse our sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse Lo here not mercy only but justice on my side The spirit of God saith not only if we confesse our sins he is mercifull to forgive our sins as he elswhere speaks by the pen of Salomon but more he is faithfull and just to forgive our sins Our weaknesse and ignorance is wont to flie
Wo were us if we were not thus hated Let the world hate and hurt us thus still so we may be the favorites of heaven None fare so ill on earth as the godly both living and dead The dead bodies of Gods servants have they given to be meat to the fowls of the heaven the flesh of his Saints unto the beasts of the field their bloud have they shed like water and there was none to bury thē They are become a reproach to their neighbours a scorn and derision to them that are round about them Oh the poor impotent malice of wicked spirits and men What matters it if our carcasses rot upon earth whiles our souls shine in heavenly glory What matters it if for a while we be made a gazing-stock to the world to Angels and to men whiles the Son of God hath assured us of an eternall royalty To him that over-commeth will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame and am set downe with my Father in his throne None are so ill intreated as the godly It is true for none are so happy as they Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousnesse sake for theirs is the kingdome of heaven Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evill of you falsly for my sake Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven Who would not endure wrongs a while to be everlastingly recompenced Here is not place onely for patience but for joy and that exceeding in respect of a reward so infinitely glorious It is no marvell then if we be bidden to pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us these are the men that are our great Benefactors though full sore against their wills contribute to our eternall blessednesse The wicked triumph whiles the righteous are trampled upon What marvell we are in a middle region betwixt heaven and hell but nearer to this latter which is the place of confusion It is but staying a while and each place will be distinctly peopled with his owne there is a large and glorious heaven appointed for the everlasting receptacle of the just an hell for the godlesse till then the eternall wisdome hath determined for his most holy ends to give way to this confused mixture and to this seeming-inequality of events How easie were it for him to make all heaven but he hath a justice to glorifie as well as a mercy and in the mean time it is the just praise of his infinite power wisdome goodnesse that he can fetch the greatest good out of the worst of evils All things go crosse here the righteous droop the wicked flourish The end shall make amends for all The world is a stage every man acts his part the wise compiler of this great interlude hath so contrived it That the middle Scenes show nothing but intricacy and perplexednesse the unskilfull spectator is ready to censure the plot and thinks he sees such unpleasing difficulties in the carriage of affaires as can never be reconciled but by that time he have sate it out he shall see all brought about to a meet accordance and all shut up in a happy applause Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the crowne of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him The world is an Apothecaries shop wherein there are all manner of drugs some poysonous others cordiall An ignorant that comes in and knows only the quality not the use of those receits will straight be ready to say What do these unwholsome simples these dangerous mineralls these deadly juices here But the learned and skilfull artist knows how so to temper all these noxious ingredients that they shall turn Antidotes and serve for the health of his patient Thus doth the most high and holy God order these earthly though noxious compositions to the glory of his great name and to the advantage of his chosen So as that suggestion wherewith thou meant'st to batter the divine providence of the Almighty doth invincibly fortifie it his most wise permission and powerfull over-ruling of evill actions and men through the whole world to his owne honour the benefit of his Church VII TEMPTATION If God be never so liberall in in his promises and sure in performances of mercy to his own yet what is that to thee thou art none of his neither canst lay any just claime to his election Repelled HOw boldly can I defie thee O thou lying spirit whiles I have the assurance of him who is the word of Truth How confidently dare I challenge thee upon that unfailing testimony which shall stand till heaven and earth shall passe Ye that have believed in Christ are sealed with that holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance untill the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory Lo here a double assurance which all the powers of hell shall in vaine labour to defeat The Almighties Scale and his Earnest both made and given to the believer and therefore to me In spight of all temptations I believe and know whom I have believed I can accuse my faith of weaknesse thou canst not convince it of untruth and all the precious promises of the Gospel and all the gracious ingagements of God are made not to the measure but to the truth of our beliefe and why should not I as truly know that I relie upon the word of my Saviour as I know that I distrust and reject thine Since then I am a subject truly capable of this mercy what can hinder me from enjoying it Cheare thy selfe up therefore O my soule with this undefeisible confidence that thou hast Gods seale and his earnest for thy salvation Even an honest man will not be lesse then his word but if his hand have seconded his tongue he holds the obligation yet stronger but if his seale shall be further added to his hand there is nothing that can give more validity to the graunt or contract yet even of the value of Seales there is much difference The Seale of a private man carries so much authority as his person the seale of a Community hath so much more security in it as there are more persons interessed But the signet of a King hath wont to be held to all purposes authenticall as we find to omit Ahab in the signatures of Ahasuerus and Darius Who desires any better assurance for the estate of him and his posterity then the Great Seale And behold here is no lesse then the great seale of heaven for my election and salvation Ye are sealed with the spirit of promise But lest thou shouldest plead this to be but a graunt of the future and therefore perhaps upon some intervenient mis-deamures or unkindnesse taken reversible know that here is yet further
an actuall conveyance of this mercy to me in that here is an Earnest given me before-hand of a perfect accomplishment An earnest that both binds the assurance and stands for part of payment of that great sum of glory which abides for me in heaven This seale I shew this earnest I produce so as my securance is unfailable And that thou maist not plead this Seale to be counterfeit set on only with a stamp of presumption and self-love know that here is the true and cleare impression of Gods spirit in all the lines of that gracious signanature a right though weak illumination of mind in the true apprehension of heavenly things sincerity of holy desires truth of inchoate holiness unfainedness of Christian charity constant purposes and indeavours of perfect obedience And as for my earnest it can no more disappoint me then the hand that gave it My soule is possessed with true how ever imperfect grace and what is grace but the beginning of glory and what is glory but the consummation of grace What should I regard thy cavils whiles I have these pledges of the Almighty It is not in thy power malicious spirit to sever those things which Gods eternall decree hath put together Our calling and election are thus conjoyned from eternity All the craft and force of hell cannot divorce them Whom he did predestinate them also he called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justifieth them also he glorifieth It is true that outwardly many are called but few chosen but none are inwardly called which are not also chosen in which number is my poore soule whereto God hath shewed mercy in singling it out of this wicked world into the liberty of the sons of God For do not I find my selfe sensibly changed from what I was am I not evidently freed from the bondage of those naturall corruptions under which thou heldst mo miserably captiv'd Do I not hate the courses of my former disobedience Do I not give willing eare to the voice of the Gospel Do I not desire and indeavour to conforme my selfe wholly to the will of my God and Saviour Do I not heartily grieve for my spirituall faylings Do not I earnestly pray for grace to resist all thy temptations Do not I cordially affect the means of grace and salvation Do I not labour in all things to keep a good conscience before God and men Are not these the infallible proofs of my calling and the sure and certaine fruits of mine election Canst thou hope to perswade me that God will bestow these favours where he loves not that he wil repent him of such mercies That he will lose the thanks and honour of so gracious proceedings Suggest what thou wilt I am more then confident that he who hath begun this good work in me will perform it untill the day of Jesus Christ Do not I heare the chosen vessel tell his Thessalonians that he knows them to be elected of God And upon what grounds doth he raise this assurance For saith he our Gospel came not to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost That which can assure us of another mans election may much more secure us of our owne the entertainment successe of the Gospel in our souls Lo that blessed word hath wrought in me a sensible abatement of my corrupt affections and hath produced an apparent renovation of my mind and hath quickned me to a new life of grace and obedience this can be no work of nature this can be no other then the work of that Spirit whereby I am sealed to the day of redemption My heart feels the power of the Gospel my life expresses it maugre all thy malice therefore I am elected When the gates of hell have done their worst none of Gods children can miscarry For if children then they are heirs heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ Now as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God and this is the direction that I follow There are but three guides that I can be led by my own will thy suggestions the motions of Gods spirit For my owne will I were no Christian if I had not learn'd to deny it where it stands opposite to the will of my God as for thy suggestions I hate and defie them they are onely therefore the motions of that good Spirit which I desire to follow and if at any time my owne frailty have betraied me to some aberrations my repentance hath overtaken my offence and in sincerity of heart I can say with an holier man I have gone astray like a sheep seek thy servant for I do not forget thy commandements All thy malice therefore cannot rob me of the comfort of mine adoption It is no marvell if thou who art all enmity canst not abide to heare of love but God who is love hath told me that love is of God and that every one that loveth is borne of God and that by this we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren now my heart can irrefragably witnesse to me that I love God because he is good infinitely good in himself and infinitely good to me and that I love good men because they are his sons my brethren I am therefore as surely passed from death to life as if I had set my foot over the threshold of heaven VIII TEMPTATION Alas poor man how grosly deludest thou thy selfe thou talk'st of thy faith and bearest thy selfe high upon this grace and think'st to doe great matters by it whereas the truth is thou hast no faith but that which thou mis-callest so is nothing else but meer presumption Repelled IS it any wonder that thou should'st sclander the graces of God who art ever ready to calumniate the giver No tempter Canst thou challenge this faith of mine which thou censurest to be thine owne worke such it should be if it were presumption Were it presumption would'st thou oppose it would'st thou not foster and applaud it as thine The presumption is thine who darest thus derogate from the gracious work of the Almighty and fasten sin upon the holy Spirit Mine is faith yet so mine as that it is his that wrought it There is not more difference betwixt thee and an Angel of light then betwixt my faith and thy presumption True faith such is mine after all thy sclanderous suggestions is grounded upon sound knowledge and that knowledge upon an infallible word Whereas presumption rests only upon opinion and conceit built upon the sands of self-love Whence it is that the most ignorant are ever the most presumptuous when the knowing soule sees what dangers it is to encounter and provides for them with an awfull resolution True faith never comes without carefull and diligent use of meanes The word sacraments praier meditation are but enough with their conjoyned forces to produce
safe for this though more uncomfortable wait thou upon Gods leisure with all humble submission the event shall be happy when the distemper is once over thou shalt returne to thy true relish of Gods mercy when thine heavenly father shall smile upon thee and take thee up in his armes thou wilt see love in his late stripes when those dead ashes shall be removed and the gleeds of grace stirred up againe in thee thou shalt yeild both light and warmth when the Sun of righteousnesse shall approch to thee and with his comfortable beams draw up the sap into the branches thou shalt blossome and flourish In the meane time feare nothing only believe and thou shalt see the salvation of the Lord Thy soule is in surer hands then thine owne yea then of the greatest Angel in heaven far out of the reach of all the powers of hell For our life is hid with Christ in God Hid not lost not laid open to all eyes but hid hid where Satan cannot touch it cannot find it even with Christ in the heaven of heavens Feare not therefore O thou feeble soule any utter dereliction of thy God Thou art bought with a price God paid too deare for thee and is too deeply ingaged to thee to lose thee willingly and for any force to be offered to the Almighty what can men or Devils do And if that malignant spirit shall challenge any forfeiture plead thou thy full redemption It is true the eternall and inviolable law hath said Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them and the soule that sinneth shall die Death and curse is therefore due to thee But thou hast paid both of these in thy blessed redeemer Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Where sin abounded grace did much more abound that as sin hath reigned unto death even so might grace raigne through righteousnesse unto eternall life by Iesus Christ our Lord It is all one to pay thy debt in thine owne person and by thy surety Thy gracious suerty hath staked it down for thee to the utmost farthing Be confident therefore of thy safe condition thou art no lesse sure then thine adversary is malicious X. TEMPTATION Had God ever given thee any sure testimonies of his love thou might'st perhaps pretend to some reason of comfort and confidence But the truth is God never loved thee he may have cast upon thee some common favours such as he throwes away upon reprobates but for the tokens of any speciall love that he bears to thee thou never didst never shalt receive any from him Repelled THis is language well-befitting the professed make-bate betwixt God and man but know O thou false tempter that I have received sure and infallible testimonies of that speciall love which is proper to his elect First then as I have to do with a bountiful God who where he loves there he inriches so I have received most precious gifts from his hands such as do not import a common and ordinary beneficence w ch he scatters promiscuously amongst the sons of men but such as carry in them a dearnesse and singularity of divine favour even the greatest gifts that either he can give or man receive For first he hath given me his spirit the spirit of Adoption whereby I can call him Father for the assurance whereof The Spirit it selfe beareth witnesse with our spirit that we are the children of God Deny if thou canst the invaluablenesse of this heavenly gift and if thy malice cannot detract from the worth but from the propriety yeelding it to be great but denying it to be mine know O thou envious spirit that here is the witnesse of two spirits combined against thine Were the testimonies single surely I had reason to believe my owne spirit rather then thine which is a spirit of errour but now that the spirit of God conjoines his inerrable testimony together with my spirit against thy single suggestion how just cause have I to be confident of my possession of that glorious and blessed gift Neither is that good spirit dead or dumb but vocall and operative it gives mee a tongue to call God Father it teacheth me to pray it helpeth mine infirmities and maketh intercession for me with groanings which cannot be uttered It worketh effectually in me a sensible conversion Even when I was dead in sins and trespasses God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved me hath by this spirit of his quickned me together with Christ and hath raised me up together with him By the blessed effects therefore of this regenerating Spirit happily begun in my soule I find how rich a treasure the Father of mercies hath conveighed into my bosome Besides my life shows what is in my heart it was a gracious word that God spake to his people of old and holds for ever I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes I will also save you from all your uncleannesses The spirit of God can never be severed from obedience If the heart be taken up with the holy Spirit the feet must walke in Gods statutes both heart and life must be freed from all wilfull uncleannesses I feel that God hath wrought all this in me from him it is that I do sincerely desire indevour to make straight steps in all the ways of God and to avoid and abhor all those foule corruptions of my sinfull nature Flesh and bloud hath not would not could not work this in me The Spirit therefore of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwels in me And if this be not a pledge of his dearest love heaven cannot yeeld one Moreover he hath bestowed upon mee another gift more worth then all the world his own son the son of his love the son of his nature by eternall generation Whom he hath not only given for me in a generality with the rest of mankind but hath by a speciall donation conveighed unto me and as it were put into my bosome in that he hath enabled me by a lively faith to bring him home unto my soule and hath thus by a particular application made him mine so as my soule is not more mine then he is my soules And having given me his son he hath with him given me all things If there can be greater tokens of love then these let me want them Besides his gifts his carriage doth abundantly argue his love were there a strangenesse betweene God and my soule I might well feare there were no other then overly respects from him towards me but now when I find he doth so freely and familiarly converse with his servant and so graciously imparts himself to me renuing the daily testimonies of his holy presence in the frequent motions of his good