I before said gives us Comfort as to Children dying in their Infancy others maintain The Regeneration of Elect Infants by Baptism I shall freely tell you what I judge is all in this Cause The most of those Baptized in the time of the Apostles were Persons grown up who had first made a visible Profession of their Repentance and Faith in Christ to these Baptism was a Seal of the Forgiveness of Sins and an Engagement to an Holy Conversation as you read Rom. 6. 4 c. To Infants it is a Seal of the Covenant of Grace as exhibited to Mankind That in case they do Repent and Believe their Sins shall be washed away with the Blood of Christ To these it is an Ordinance of Admission into the Church To these it is an Engagement to be the Lords an Avouchment of God for their God and Christ for their Saviour To these if when they grow up they shall Repent and Believe it shall be as a Fountain of Living Water springing up in the Soul to Eternal Life they shall as the Apostle instructeth the Romans Rom. 6. 4 5 6. fetch Arguments obliging them to die unto Sin and to live unto God Whether it hath any such immediate Effect as to all to justifie them from the guilt of Original Sin or to Regenerate them that is to make a change in their Heart I shall not dispute but cannot prove it nor do understand how possibly it should have any further effect of this Nature than Circumcision had to the Jews I am sure the Holy Scripture makes Pardon of Sin and Justification not the necessary or ordinary Effect of Baptism but of Confession of Sin True Repentance and forsaking of Sin and True Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ Flatter not your selves therefore if there be any Soul that liveth in any known course of Sin that never confessed his Sins and forsook them nor knew what godly Sorrow for Sin meant nor what it was to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and to believe in him onely knoweth he was Baptized and he liveth in the Church and is called a Christian and here he resteth not doubting but being confident that he shall be saved Let me tell him or her he presumeth and trusts his Soul upon a Lie and that which no weighed Divine of any Perswasion would ever say was a sufficient bottom to rest his Soul upon None ever said that Baptism washed away Sins past and to come and those that do ascribe Justification to Baptism make it such a state as may be lost and is lost by a course of Actual Sinning CHAP. V. The Notion of a Power in Man to Repent and Believe agreed by few if true no ground of hopes for Eternal Life Why Mistakes about the Nature of Regeneration Conversion Saving Repentance Faith Holiness great Occasions of Presumption The Truth as to those Notions enquired and proved What Regeneration Repentance Conversion Faith Holiness is necessary to Salvation and to the raising any Hopes in us with Relation to it 4. A Fourth Notion which I instanced in as a cause of Presumption was this That every Man and Woman hath his Life in his hands I mean a power in and of himself supposing the Common Grace of God denied to none to do all that God requireth of him in order to Salvation is a power to Repent to Believe to Love God c. Hence many think that there is no haste for Men to deny themselves or to take up the Cross or to follow Christ they may stay till they are old and their Eyes can be no longer pleased with Seeing nor their Ears with Hearing if then they do but Repent and Believe all is well enough As to which give me leave to speak two or three things 1. As brisk as this Opinion seemeth to be in the World I could never yet meet with any so hardy as to affirm That these things were within the Power of Man without the Assistance of Special Grace I have met with many that have talked high for the Power of Mans Will but when they have been brought to a close Discourse they would assert it no farther than either as to Moral Actions or Acts of Moral Discipline They would affirm indeed that a Man hath a power to go to Church instead of going to the Tavern to turn away his Foot from the House of an Harlot to do Justly and an hundred such things to read to hear the Word to pray to consider his Sins Now these are things which none denieth onely we say his power as to these is much weakened by the fall So as we doubt whether by Common Grace and all the Natural Power Man hath he can do these materially good Actions when he is pressed with a vehement Temptation But I say I could never yet meet with any that would say It is in the power of Man to Believe to Repent savingly to Love God c. 2. If any doth say so He saith what is contradicted by a multitude of Scriptures But it is not my work to enlarge here on that Discourse 3. In the next place Those Divines that do hold the greatest Natural Power in the Will of Man yet do say Time may be past that a Man may have sinned away this Natural Power and have his Heart so hardened in a Course of Sinning that he may have lost this Power and so be concluded to an Eternal Misery which alone to considerate Souls is enough to spoil its Presumption from this Head For how shall I who go on in a Course of Sin knowingly presume because I have a power in my self to turn when I will if it be possible that I may by a Course of Sinning have so provoked God as he may have given me up to a judicial blindness of Mind and hardness of Heart 4. Admitting thou hast such a Power if it still remaineth established that this Power must be produced into Act and that before thou canst enter into Heaven thou must actually Repent and Believe how dost thou know thou shalt have time for it May not God take away thy Soul with a stroke May he not come upon thee on the sudden and say This Night thy Soul shall be taken from thee and then what doth thy Power signifie Doest thou not see Men and Women die suddenly So that a pretence of such a Power in thee signifies nothing but that thou art more inexcusable by it if indeed thou hadst such a Power that thou didst not use it for the end for which thou hadst it 5. I proceed now to the great grounds of Mens Presumption viz. Mistakes as to the Nature of Regeneration Faith and Holiness The Scripture makes all these so necessary to Salvation that altho some ignorant Persons may build up to themselves idle and presumptuous Hopes because God made them and Christ died for all Men and they are Christians and Baptized c. yet considerate Persons plainly must see That unless a Man be
of his Birth and Job 6. 8 9. Oh that I might have my Request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let loose his Hand and cut me off So Elijah c. 3. Sometimes the Lust of Servile slavish fear when men and women have a Prospect of some great Evils that are like to come upon them and are not able to bear the thoughts of them nor to live in the view of them In this case we shall find Temptations also have prevailed upon Gods own People to desire Death though not to be the instruments of their own Death This was the Case of Elijah 1 Kings 19. 4. Jezebel sending a message to him had sworn by her Gods that by the next day she would kill Elijah as he had done by Baals Priests v. 3. v. 4. he goes into the Wilderness he goeth into the Wilderness and sits under a Juniper Tree and requesteth for himself that he might die and saith It is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am not better than my Fathers Now where any of these Lusts predominate at any time the Devil doth very ordinarily join his strength with it and makes frequent and violent impressions upon the Spirits of Christians putting them upon the murthering of themselves and where he meets with men or women that are ignorant or of base Atheistical hearts who do not believe there is a God or that there is such a thing as Eternity either an Heaven or Hell a place of Eternal happiness or Eternal torment or misery or an Immortal State of a Soul it is not at all to be wondered that he doth very often prevail For if they can but look upon death coming upon them any way as a freedom from misery and the grave as a place where the wicked cease from troubling where the weary be at rest where the prisoners rest together and hear not the voice of the oppressor it is but natural to them to cry out Wherefore is Light given unto him that is in Misery and Life to the bitter in Soul which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it as for hid Treasures and rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the Grave But now it being impossible that a Believer that knoweth the Scriptures and believeth them and agreeth to the Immortality of the Soul and the torments of Hell the truth of the Worm never dying and the Fire that never goeth out and that all Murderers shall have their portion in the Lake where this Worm this Fire is should ever look upon Death and the Grave in this dull notion Satan can never prevail with him So that no such Soul while he is possessed of any Liberty to use his Reason and to conclude from Principles can possibly be prevailed upon 2. Sometimes it may be The Motion may be first from the Devil who seeing a Man or Woman in great pain or misery or in great fears and expectations of misery may come to it and say as Job's Wife said to him Doest thou still retain thy Integrity Curse God and die I mean make some such Impressions upon a Man or Womans Spirit This possibly Men and Women at first discern and receive with great abhorrence cry Get thee behind me Satan tell their Friends and Neighbours of it beg of them to pray to God for them but the Devil reneweth his Motions and Impressions with great frequency violence and importunity until at length their own Lusts incline them to hearken either their over-eager desire to be out of their fears or out of their pain and at some more rest and quiet than they can possible arrive at and come to so as they yield CHAP. IV. By what Seeming Good the Soul tempted to Self-Murther may be drawn away and inticed What good greater than Life Eternal Life a greater good This can bait no Believer to such an Act why Immunity from some great Evil felt or imminent the onely appearing Good in the Case A Case arising from a Souls being possest of the Doctrine of Election Whether that can give this Temptation advantage It is denied BUt it may possibly be worthy of our Inquiry What can be a Bait fitting for such a Trap He who is tempted saith the Apostle is drawn away by his own lust and enticed No Man is enticed but by some appearing Good None can be drawn away from a Good nor enticed out of the possession of it but upon the view of a greater Good possible or probable to be obtained by parting with that which is lesser Now Life being in the Eye of Nature the greatest Good Skin for Skin saith the Devil and all a man hath for his Life One would think the Devil could not shew a Man or Woman any thing for the obtaining of which he should deliberately and voluntarily part with his Life To this I Answer two things 1 Though Natural Life in Pleasing Circumstances be the greatest Natural Good yet Life Eternal is a more Excellent Good So that if it be possible that a man should be cheated by his own heart or by the Devil so as to believe that the dispossession of himself of his Natural Life shall bring him into the possession of an Eternal Life he may upon that account be rationally perswaded to determine his own Life Thus the Devil imposed upon some of the Heathens who had by the Light of Nature but a dim Prospect of that Life and Immortality which the Apostle telleth us is brought to Light by the Gospel Dreaming that an happy State of the Soul in another Life was the common portion of all men or at least of all that lived up in any degree to the Rules of Moral Vertue and not understanding that the Wages of Sin was Death nor the right way to Eternal Life nor that of the Apostle That no Murtherer hath Eternal Life abiding for him no more than abiding in him they might easily be so cheated as Cleombrotus and others But it is not possible that a Believer one I mean who believeth the Scriptures should be thus enticed for by Faith he knows That the Law is Thou shalt do no Murther That no Murtherer hath Eternal Life That the Murtherer is one of those Sinners that have their portion in the Second Death Rev. 21. 8. and therefore not in the Second Life 2. Secondly Though Natural Life in pleasing Circumstances may be the greatest Natural Good yet this Natural Life as to particular persons may be so ill circumstanced that a present freedom from some Evil may to a Natural Eye appear a much greater Good in comparison of which even Life it self may be an Evil undesirable and abhorred Life is much rated by the happy or less happy Circumstances of it Even Nature it self would not desire a Life of Continual and Extream pain And indeed This Ease and Immunity from Evils which either at
is no hope for it to the contrary Can there be so much as the least umbrage and appearance of Good that should have preference to these hopes in a Soul under the least conduct of Reason Iâ— it true for a Sensual Despair there may for that is rooted in Aâ—hâ—isme and Unbelief of any such thing as the need of a Pardon for its Sins or a future happy State the obtaining of which the Sensual Man seeing limited to the hard Condition as he thinks of denying himself in all his Sensual Pleasures he may jocularly conclude There is no hope for him believing no reality in the pretended Objects for his hope that he may the more securely cry out with the Epicures Let us eat and drink for to morrrow we shall die or like them Jer. 2. 25. When God said to them With-hold thy Foot from being unshod and thy Throat from thirst said There is no hope no for I have loved Strangers and after them I will go But now for a Sorrowful Despair for a Soul having this Grace and Hell in Prospect it may look for a great Riddle What appearing Good should be a Motive to him to conclude there is no Mercy in God for him no possibility of Eternal Salvation 1. What if we should say That the appearing Good that enticeth him to these thoughts is To speak the truth of himself and not to flatter himself with idle and vain hopes as he now thinks he hath done too long You know we are naturally desirous to know our own Fate or Fortunes as we call them What shall become of us or betide us in the latter end And though we are willing enough sometimes to flatter our selves yet there is a time when we desire the contrary 2. Secondly Is not the appearing Good in some a rooted Malice and Hatred against God and the Satisfaction of that by deregating from his Goodness and Mercy This is indeed of all the most dreadful Account that can be given That Soul is in the Suburbs of Hell it self to whom it is a satisfaction when it can do no more to Blaspheme and speak Evil of God I had rather assign the former as the most ordinary appearance of Good seducing the Soul into this Guilt It now pleaseth the Soul that thinks it hath deceived the World so long by walking in a vain shew to know and speak the truth of it self as it thinketh in its Heart through the Seduction of Sathan but still it must be enquired what the Devil can possibly suggest to a Soul to debauch it into such a misapprehension of God and sad Opinion of it self Now there being nothing in Nature that can alienate God from the Soul but Sin the guilt of the Soul and its state before God by reason of Sin must needs be that and that onely which the Devil can mount this great Gun upon and this is that which Cain saith Mine Iniquity is greater then it can be forgiven But before I come to speak of that let me a little take notice of some other Propositions which many grave Divines take to be most certain truths and others think serve the Devil in great stead in order to his inforcing this great Temptation Let me digress a little to judge whether indeed the guilt of those Propositions be according to the cry by which they are accused They are those concerning the Doctrine of Predestination Redemption and the necessity of Special Grace in order to Salvation I intend not to argue the truth of the Propositions on either side that were too large a Work but onely to consider whether the Devil can use what by some eminent Divines as to them is asserted as advantages for this fiery Dart. I remember Scultetus in his Annals tells us a Story of an honest studious Young Man in Cambridge whom 't is believed the Papists made away That he was found hang'd in his Study with his Finger laid upon a Bible opened before him upon a Text usually brought to confirm Predestination But the Fiction obtained not that credit for which it was devised to induce the World to believe that his imbracing the Doctrine of Predestination put him upon that desperate Practice But to the Matter 1. It is true many great and eminent Divines have thought That God hath passed an Eternal Decree concerning the future state of all Men and Women chusing some to Eternal Life passing by others Suppose we should put it to the highest pitch Determining others to Eternal Death I intend not as I said before to dispute what is truth in this certain it is God from oll Eternity fore-knew the Eternal Issues of all if some can conceive how God should fore-know this without willing it or be willing not to determine how he fore-knew it and what that was or could be but the Will of God which should make a Futurity certain And others cannot conceive any first cause but God nor any way of Divine Fore-knowledge but from his Will and Purpose It is not my Business to intermingle my self in their Quarrel but suppose the one Opinion or the other I would gladly understand what advantage the Devil can take from the one or the other as to this Temptation Some Divines indeed do say That God ordained some to Eternal Life out of his own good pleasure in and through Christ without any consideration of their Faith and good Works fore-seen as moving him so to predestinate them but with all he predestinated them to obtain this Eternal Salvation in the Exercises of Faith and Holiness without which they were never to see the Lord. But do any Divines say That God ordained any to Eternal Death or passed over any in his Eternal Counsel who should be damned otherwise then upon the just demerits of their preceding sins Yes it may be will some ignorant Persons say they that hold an absolute Decree hold Election of Persons and Reprobation of Persons They do indeed hold an Election of Persons in the sense I before opened that the foreseen Faith and Holiness of none moved God to ordain them to Life They do also believe that God hath a Jus Absolutum a Soveraign Power over his Creatures as the Potter over the Clay But they say that God doth not in the Condemnation of any Sinner use this but onely useth a Jus Ordinatum and proceedeth according to his Law The Soul that sinneth shall Die Which now being supposed I would gladly know what Argument Satan draws from hence to perswade any to Despair He can Suggest to the Soul That it is a Reprobate and cannot the Soul Answer That it is more then the Devil knows That there is no Soul but that which sinneth shall Die so that notwithstanding all said upon rhis Argument The Guilt of Sin is all that remaineth to the Devil to object to drive unto Despair It is true that concerning the Extent of the Death of Christ as to Persons there are various Opinions some think he equally
it pleaseth not God to renew them by Repentance if thou findest an heart to Repent to bleed for Sin and turn from it there is no Reason for thee to Despair or to conclude it is too late for thee It is a true saying That True Repentance is never too late for it always hath the Promise of Pardon and Forgiveness annext 4. Fourthly as to that Text Heb. 10. 26. If we sin wilfully after we have received the Knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins It is not to be understood strictly as the words seem to sound as if it concerned all Persons that sin against their Light and Knowledge but onely of some degrees of wilful sinning for all the Sons and Daughters of Men would be in a sad state if there were no Sacrifice for sin remaining for any that after the receiving and owning of the Truth did in any degrees knowingly and wilfully sin against God But this also appeareth by the Conâ—ext and the Text Heb. 6. to which this is apparently paralel 1. It speaketh of Adversaries v. 27. 2. Of such as trod under foot the Son of God and counted the Blood of the Covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing It is apparent he spake of Christians that made a total open Defection from the Doctrine of the Gospel to Judaism This is that which v. 26. He called the forsaking the assembling themselves together forsaking the Communion of all Christians and a malicious contempt and despising of Christ and of his Blood counting it an unholy thing The Truth which he here speaketh of is undoubtedly the Truth which he had before opened in this Epistle wherein he had enlarged in a Discourse to prove that Christ was truly God and truly Man and the true Messias shadowed out by the Jewish High Priest Now saith he if a man sin wilfully that is having owned and acknowledged and professed this Truth afterwards reject it deny it apostatise from the profession of it leaving the Assemblies of Christians shall joyn himself to the Assemblies of those who are the Adversaries of Christ and continue and maliciously go on in that apostacy and defection What ever Remedy he may dream of finding in the Jewish Sacrifices he will indeed find that there is none of their Sacrifices will do him good nor will Christ expiate for him so there will be no Sacrifice for his Sin This I take to be much of the sense and import of that Text according to which it will not much concern one in thy Circumstances 4. Temptation But will some Soul say There is a Sin that shall never be forgiven our Saviour hath told us so Math. 12. 31. Mar. 3. 28. Saint John calls it a Sin unto death The Apostle admiting those two Texts Heb. 6. 6 7. and Heb. 10. 26 27 28. be to be restrained to that saith of it that those who are guilty of it cannot be renewed by Repentance and that there remaineth no more Sacrifice for it I have committed that Sin and therefore I know there is no hope for me I have nothing to do but to look for that fiery Indignation which is to devour the Adversaries Thus speaks the Tempter Thus after him doth the poor Soul speak that is Tempted To which I Answer 1. It is very unreasonable for thee to conclude that thou hast sinned the Sin against the Holy Ghost the unpardonable Sin till thou canst tell what the Sin against the Holy Ghost is if thou canst not tell what it is how canst thou tell that thou hast committed it Now it is not like that thou shouldest be able to determine a Question which hath exercised so long the greatest Divines and yet remains not determined by them at least not agreed in by any considerable consent Some make it a Sin of which we are not now capable the dâ—nial of the Divine Nature of Christ after they had seen his miraculous Operations which God alone could do and Reviling Reproaching and Persecuting him notwithstanding all they had seen in him or heard from him And it is plain this is that which Christ in those Texts of the Gospel doth primarily and immediately speak of But those Texts in the Epistle to the Hebrews cannot be thus interpreted yet what this specifical sin is is not agreed amongst the best Divines 2. Secondly Many of those from whom we hear these complaints apparently have not Light enough I mean not knowledge enough to be under the guilt of this Sin for that is apparent from Heb. 6. that whatever this sin be it must be the sin of knowing enlightened Persons such as have been once enlightened as have tasted of the Heavenly Gift So that ignorant Persons cannot be under this Guilt they must be knowing Persons and such as have made a Profession 3. Thirdly It is also thus far agreed That there must be a Total and Final Falling away from the Profession of Faith which Men have made and this must â—e conjoyned with Malice expressed in Words or Deeds or both such as may â—e interpreted a doing despight to the â—pirit of Grace a trampling under-foot the â—lood of the Covenant an accounting it an unholy thing a Crucifying Christ a-fresh 4. Fourthly There must be a Perseverance in this Apostacy and Blasphemy to the end without Repentance or it cannot be this Sin for the Apostle saith of such as commit this Sin that it is impossible they should be renewed again by Repentance and Christ saith That it shall never be forgiven Now it is certain any Sin that is repented of may and shall be forgiven I must confess when I consider what woful Apostacies some in the days wherein we live have made from the Doctrine of Godliness and what Blasphemies come from their Tongues and Pens against the Operations of the Spirit imputing that to Melancholick Fancies and Dreams and to Impressions from the Devil which are from the Holy Spirit of God and its Impressions Teachings and Operations and when I also consider with what an heat and passion of Madness many are carried out iâ— Persecuting the Servants of God and thâ—â— in an age so ferrtile of means that they either have known do know or may know other things My Heart akes and trembleth for many poor Souls and I cannot but fear many more than we are aware of are under this tremenduoâ— Guilt nor know I how they can evince the contrary but by a timely sense of their Sins Repentance and Sorrow of Heart for them and taking a new course but yet I say final Impenitency must go to make up this Sin which unless thou findest thou hast no Reason as to it peremptorily to conclude against thy self The Evidence of this truth often puts the Tempter to his last shift and we hear often the poor Tempted Soul saying thus 5. Temptation Ah! This this is my case I know I have not so sinned but if I could Repent if I could Believe in Christ I might
there are many Trees of forbidden Fruit which we may not eat the Fruit of least we die God hath not said to any Thou shalt not Marry But he hath said Thou shalt not commit Adultery He hath not said Thou shalt not enjoy Silver or Gold Houses or Lands But he hath said Thou shalt not Covet thy Neighbours House nor Lands He hath said Thou shalt not Steal He hath not said Thou shalt not spend any day but in the solemn Worship of God But he hath said Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day Now our Lusts encline us to forbidden things Nitimur in vetitum and these desires of unlawful things or lawful things in an immoderate undue and unlawful manner are what we call Lusts yet Men living under the Revelations of Divine Truth and of the Divine Will and hearing of an immortal State of Souls and of an Eternity which waiteth for all Men after this Life and that either in Bliss or Misery we knowing that we must all die and after come to Judgement and receive an Eternal Reward or an Eternal Punishment cannot but desire an Eternal Happiness and our business I mean the business of a Natural Man resolved upon the Satisfaction of his Lust and yet desirous to shew himself one that believeth the Scriptures and to cherish in himself an hope of an Eternal Happiness is to close with such Notions and false Representations of the Divine Will as may serve to cherish his hopes for a Living with God for ever he in the mean time enjoying those Lusts and sensual Satisfactions to which he is most biassed and inclined Hence it is that he Presumeth that is he buildeth up unto himself Hopes and Confidences of Gods Favour to him as well as others and that he shall when he dies goe to Heaven whatever Ministers say who would put a Yoke upon Peoples Necks that no Flesh is able to bear Now it may be worth an enquiry what false Notion those are upon which Men build up these Presumptions and which the Devil the World or our own Lusts suggest and build upon as upon a sandy Foundation I shall name some and onely in this place shew you that if these Notions were true they might give a foundation for such Confidences at least some of them others not I shall reserve my demonstration of the falshood of them until I come to the Applicatory part of my Discourse 1. That God will not Eternally Condemn any Man or Woman that he hath made especially not any within the bosome of the Church This hath not been the avowed Opinion of many who have published their Sentiments to the World We Read of Huberus and Paccius and some two or three more who have adventured to publish such Sentiments to the World but by the lives of too many it is proclaimed that there are too many such Atheists in the World for they wallow in such prodigious Filthiness as it is impossible but that they must conclude that if there be an Hell and it be not to stand empty they are like to goe to it for none can live more prodigiously lewd and profane lives than they do Now indeed if this Notion were true if Men could but perswade themselves that they are Gods Creatures it were enough for them to be confident of Gods Favour and their going at last to Heaven 2. A Second Notion which some have taken up is That Christ hath dyed for all and all those for whom he dyed shall be Saved The latter part of this is held by no learned Man that I know though if I could admit the former I should not be very difficult as to the latter There are as I have formerly told you three Opinions concerning Redemption as to the Objects of it Some saying he died equally for all as much for Judas as Peter Thus say the Arminians others that he died for all but not equally He purchased a certainty of Salvation for some a possibility for all Thus the Methedists or those that are for the middle way Others say he died for no more than the Elect. I intend not to meddle with this great Question onely I say no judicious and learned Man that hath held either of the two first Opinions hath said or will say That all those for whom Christ died shall be Saved All agree in the Negative of that but I fear abundance of less judicious People are of that Mind and here build up their Presumptuous Hopes 3. A Third Notion is That Sin is washed away in Baptism There are some learned and great Men indeed who have thought that the Guilt of Adams Sin yea all Original Sin is washed away in Baptism and Men Justified in it but they add If by Actual Sins they put not a barr so as all the Relief that Opinion affords if it be true as to Persons dying in their Infancy as to whom they are as gentle as Augustine was judged an hard Father but I shall not enlarge on this for there can be no other Pretence for this as to grown Persons than their Admission into the Catholick Church by that Ordinance and so it in part falleth in with the first Notion I named 4. A Fourth Notion is That Men and Women have their lives in their own hands a Power in themselves to believe and do whatsoever God hath required of them in order to their Salvation so as they shall not need look after their Salvation till they come within sight of the Grave Upon this they build up Presumptuous Hopes all their Life hoping to have time before their Death to bethink themselves and to turn unto God 5. Under a fifth Head may come Mens false Notions of Faith Repentance and Holiness They are told by Papists that Faith is nothing else but an Agreement to the proposition of the Word and that they think they do That Repentance is nothing else but some sorrow for Sin and a turning from some flagitious Courses unto God That Holiness is nothing but a performance of some good Works Commanded in Gods Word or a Resolution to do them if they have time so as if they do upon their Death-bed profess they die in the Faith and declare they are sorry for their mispent Life and their Resolution if God spare their lives to live a better Life This is enough to carry them to Heaven 6. A Sixth is this That if they do but receive the Sacrament and receive Absolution from a Minister before they Die This is enough to secure their Eternal Salvation For whose Sins they Remitt are Remitted 7. A Seventh is and that is perfectly Popish That if they happen to die under the Guilt of Sin if it be not one of the seven Mortal Sins and that without Repentance it is but lying some years in Purgatory and they shall come out and go to Heaven nor would those Teachers of Presumption put that necessity upon them if it were not to get money for Masses to be said
the Person that hath received it So that all the Question can be Whether God hath not commissionated Mininisters to do it in his Name and will not ratifie what they do 2. Secondly It is so great a Prerogative of God so great a piece of his Glory that it is a verry unreasonable thing for any to think that God should trust it out of his hands Christ indeed who thought it no Robbery to be Equal with the Father and who had all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him had Authority on Earth to forgive Sins but no Creature had ever such a power It is a piece of the Lords Name I even I am he that blotteth out Transgressions for my Names sake It is his Glory which he will not give unto another 3. Thirdly It cannot be imagined but that our Lord knew well enough That if a Power of Forgiving Sins should be intrusted to every Minister many Mens Sins would be remitted expresly contrary to the whole Tenour of the Gospel They know not who Believe nor who truly Repent they can judge but according to the outward appearance Now Thousands may appear to us true Believers and truly Penitent that are not so and so consequently many Unbelievers many Hypocrites and hard hearted Sinners should have their Sins remitted Besides Ministers are no better then Elijah Men subject to like passions with other Men and out of Passion or Prejudice might refuse to Remit their Sins who did truly Believe and truly Repent and can any Man think that our Lord should commit such a power to those who are so Fallible who are no competent Judges of Persons whom God indeed will Pardon but might through Ignorance or through Passion and Corruption pronounce a Forgiveness of Sin or a not Forgiveness directly contrary to the Will of God Or will any be so mad as to think that every Minister is Infallible Or that God will in Heaven confirm what they do upon Earth directly contrary to the Will of God The Papists indeed contend the Pope is Infallible but is every Priest so too Or can they think that God will confirm his Errours contrary to his own Revealed Will as to those Terms upon which alone he will forgive the Sins of any 4. It must therefore be understood onely of a Declarative Forgiveness Whose Sins soever you shall according to my Will declare Remitted they shall be Remitted and whose Sins soever you shall according to my Revealed Will declare not to be Forgiven they shall not be Forgiven Now this Declaration may be either General or Particular Generally every Minister that Preacheth the Gospel Declareth That he who confesseth his Sins and forsaketh them shall have Mercy That he who Believeth shall be Saved more particularly If any Christian in any distress shall ask the Judgment of any Minister having declared the state of his Soul to him so as to give him a probable Hope that he heartily hath repented and doth truly believe the Minister may Declare If these things be true which thou hast told me if indeed thou truly repentest and truly believest in the Lord Jesus Christ God hath Forgiven thine Iniquities But the truth of the latter dependeth on the truth of the former and it is impossible that any Minister should have any other Power to Forgive any ones Sins or Authority to declare them to be Forgiven for he must not pronounce contrary to the Scripture and therefore our Liturgy says no more Then that God hath given Power and Authority to his Ministers to declare Remission of Sins to those that truly repent and believe his Holy Gospel 5. The Apostles had I cannot say any further Authority but a further Advantage for this than ordinary Ministers having a more extraordinary Revelation a more extraordinary ability to dicsern Spirits Without doubt the Apostles themselves were not authorized by Christ to declare to any Impenitent any Unbelieving Soul that his or her Sins were forgiven for this had been for our Lord to have contradicted himself Indeed the Apostles might and did see further into Men than any can now do by reason of the extraordinary Gift of the Holy Ghost and therefore it immediately is said before He breathed upon them and said Receive the Holy Ghost I know none now to whom Christ so breatheth upon and to whom he saith Receive the Holy Ghost yet as the Hebrew Docters say Spiritus Sanctus non semper tangit corda Prophetarum The Spirit of God did not always touch the the Hearts of the Prophets the Prophets could not always Prophecy but onely when the Spirit of Prophecy came upon them So though the Apostles could sometimes by vertue of that extraordinary Gift of discerning Spirits discern Spirits yet I do not think they could allways for if they could the Apostles would never have Baptized Simon Magnus whom he by and by told That he was in the gall of bitterness and bands of iniquity 6. This being all can be affirmed of any Ministers with any Sense or Modesty the Papists in the Council of Trent had no ground to Curse all those that held That the Words of Christ Whose Sins you remitt are remitted are to be understood of an Authority to Preach the Gospel or that the Priests Absolution is not a Judicial but a Ministerial Act. Yet this new Doctrine passed not those that were assembled in that Popish Council without Contradiction Concil Trid. Sess 14. cap. 3. cap. 9. The Franciscan Divines told them That it was the Opinion of Hierom and P. Lombard and Bonaventure and almost all the School-Men That the Absolution in the Sacrament of Penance as they called it is but a Declaration that his Sins are remitted and Pelargus told them That that Text Whose Sins you remit are remitted by the Ancients is not as to their Sense limited to the Sacrament of Penance nay perhaps not by any one of them so understood Because this Doctrine of the Priests or Ministers Absolution savours much of the Popish Doctrine I will a little shew you what their Doctrine is in the Case 1. They hold that Original Sin is washed away in Baptism then Children are regenerated and justified 2. But in regard that after Baptisme Men sin many times a day they have therefore devised a Sacrament of Penance as they call it The matter of which they make to be Contrition Confession and Satisfaction the Minister of it to be a Priest good or bad for they determine that a Priest guilty of Mortal Sin may administer this Sacrament the vertue of which they say doth not depend upon the quality of the Priest but the Character of his Ordination Contrition indeed they make an hearty sorrow for Sin Confession they say is not onely necessary in private to God but in the Ears of the Priest for say they how can he absolve and remit Sins if he doth not know them and that in their Circumstances So that their Doctrine of the necessity of Auricular Confession
upon which account they all have their Confessors depends upon this Doctrine of the Priests Absolution all the pretended necessity of it is in order to the receiving that benefit Then they further say That God doth onely Pardon the Eternal guilt of Sin and Christ hath onely satisfied for that So that for the removal of Temporary Punishments there must be also Satisfaction Hence their Priests have power to appoint People Pilgrimages Building of Churches Paying sums of Money for Satisfaction This Penance being undergone they do declare that any Priest being appointed thereto by the Church may in ordinary Causes not onely Declaratively but Judicially Pardon and Absolve the Sinner but if an higher Priest a Bishop or the Pope hath reserved some Cases in which he or they alone will have power to Absolve and to appoint to Penances and Satisfactions in those they onely can do it the more private Priests cannot This is their Doctrine Protestants now say that God alone can forgive Sins but by his Ministers in the Preaching of the Gospel he doth declare a Mans Sins are forgiven who have a true Contrition who truly repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ fully forgive them so that he expecteth no further Satisfaction for the Sinner than that which was long since given by the Blood of Christ who hath Trod the Wine-press of his Fathers Wrath alone and finished all that Work They say indeed that Confession of Sins in most causes is sufficient to God alone It is he alone that can forgive them In some Causes indeed a more open Confession is necessary 1. When the Church hath been publikely Scandilized not that this is necessary in order to Gods Pardon but as an Act of Obedience to Gods Will and for a more Comfortable Brotherly Communion and the Churches Satisfaction that the Person ought not to be longer kept out of its Communion 2. They say further That in the case of great Horrors of Conscience and Terrors upon Peoples Spirits it may be of great advantage to particular Christians under such Terrors to confess some particular Sins unto their Judicious Brethren or unto their Faithful Ministers but not in order to their Pardon of them but in order to their Prayer to God for them and offering words in season unto them that are weary and being more knowing and mighty in the Scriptures than they are from the Scriptures declaring the Will of God in their case comforting them if their case will bear comfort from the Word of God or otherwise advising them what to do according to the Will of God that they may receive true and solid comfort and Peace They do also further say that Satisfaction where any hath wronged another is necessary if in our Power as in Cases of Theft c. but for any necessity of any other Confession or Satissaction in order to Gods Forgiveness of the Sin they do not understand it nor believe it And for Judicial Absolution they say it is Gods alone Act and that all that the Minister can do is to declare the Will of God to People in case they do truly Repent and Believe that God hath doth and will forgive them freely for Christs sake In the mean time they do not deny but God may concurr with the Minister as his Ordinance giving a sense of the Remission of Sins which Remission was before given them upon their Repentance and believing in Truth to them while the Minister faithfully declareth the Will of God for the pardoning such as truly Repent and Believe but if any person be Absolved by a Minister hath cheated him and pretended Repentance and true Faith having no such thing his heart Or if any Minister hath either through Ignorance or Passion declared a Persons Sins forgiven whose Sins while he is in those Circumstances God hath said he will not forgive he may have cheated his own Soul or the Minister may have cheated him but God is not mockt his sins remain notwithstanding his pretended Absolution God dispenseth out the Grace of forgiveness not according to the Ignorance and Passions of Men but according to the Rules of Holy Scripture which is the Revelation of his Divine Will 2. Trust not therefore to any such vain Imaginations no nor to the Receiving of the Sacrament either in thy life time or at thy death That the Lords Supper is an Ordinance of God by which God doth signify and seal the Remission of Sins and Eternal Life by the commemoration of Christs death to such as truly repent and believe is out of question but that God in that Ordinance doth give Remission of Sins or hath appointed it so signifie seal or convey the pardon of Sin to any unbelieving Impenitent Soul is a very great Errour Such Persons may Eat and Drink there but it can be nothing but Judgment and Condemnation This hath made me frequently admire at some persons fondness of that Holy Ordinance when they apprehend themselves in danger of Death who never made Conscience of it in the time of their Health and Life especially considering that it cannot be administred in a right order viz. In the Communion of the Church where many who are joyned in one body eat of that one bread Upon which all Protestant Churches reject private Administrations of that Institution and upon just grounds Christ first gave it to the 12 at least to 11 of them we never read the Apostles Examples or Directions to or of any such Administrations upon this Account unless some particular Persons that have had long and lingring Sicknesses and of that nature as have not influenced their head nor so indisposed them but their minds could attend to the Action some of which I have known desiring a competent number of the Church with them privately to partake in the Ordinance from the publick Participation of which they have been long hindred I do not know that I ever knew any judicious Christian so much as desire such an Administration but many others I have which makes me think some more Ignorant People rest upon it and trust to it We know the Popish Notion of it and what a stir they make with the Host carrying it about in great state to dying Persons And I fear a tang of their Doctrine yet sticks in the minds of many who are professed Protestants We know what a trade the Papist make of their Doctrines of Auricular Confession Satisfactions and Private Masses Celebrated for the living and the dead and were it not for the gain came into their Purses by them they could not be so fond of such absurd Opinions and Practices But Christians take heed of these Notions which tend to nothing but to nourish Presumptions in your Souls and that you may take heed of them let me mind you of 2 Passages of our Saviours Mark 4. 24. Take heed what you hear and Luk. 8. 18. Take heed how you hear Take heed how you hear hear as those noble Bereans Acts 17.
10 11. They received the Word with readiness of Mind and searched the Scriptures whether thâ—se things were so yet St. Paul himself was the Preacher and good Reason for the same Paul hath commanded That if he or an Angel from Heaven should bring any other Doctrine then what they had received what was according to the Gospel they should be Accursed Gal 1. 8. in doing this you will take heed what you hear and whom you hear too The Influence of Notions upon the Mind is very great our Hopes will be built upon the Notions which we receive Takeheed therefore what Notions you receive see them solidly founded in and proved by the Word of God be assured else there is no light in them 7. A Seventh Notion I shall but name for it is perfectly Popish concerning a Satisfaction for Sin after this life by Purgatory out of which too men may get by the Prayers of the Saints or by Masses said for them or by an Indulgence or Pardon This is that which they say That if any die in Venial Sin or under the debt of Punishment when the guilt is acquitted that is when the Priest hath Absolved them but they have not performed the Penance and given the Satisfaction which the Priest hath enjoyned all such go not into Heaven but go into a place they know not where which they call Purgatory where till they come out which also shall be they know not when for they are not agreed in the time of Souls lying there they shall be Tormented they know not how some say by a material Fire some say by a metaphorical Fire some say by Water and Fire too but by giving so much money for so many Masses or by a Pardon from the Pope or many other ways they may get out sooner And this Doctrine doubtless destroyeth thousands of Souls amongst them they love their Lusts better than their Moneys and venture to live and die in their sinful Courses and then bequeath a good part of their Estates for saying Masses c. to get them out of Purgatory when alas poor wretches they are in the bottomless Pit from which is no Redemption for ever But it is enough to have named these horrible things this Ridiculous Fire serves now for nothing but to keep the Popes Kitchin warm and the Priests pot boyling and to damn poor silly Papists by Presumption it hardly hurteth a very ordinary Protestants Conscience But I shall enlarge no further upon this first Direction for avoiding a Temptation to Presumption by taking heed of Notions which lead the Soul right on upon it and indeed serve for little else I proceed to a Second Direction CHAP. VI. Further Directions for the avoiding Presumption considering the greatness of the guilt of the danger how many miscary by it To be possessed of the difficulty of being Saved the paâ—city of those who shall be saved Self Examination Rules for it Takeing heed of Sinning against Light Prayer to God Working out our Salvation with Fear 2. POssess your Souls Secondly if you would avoid this great Temptation with the greatness of Sin and danger of Presumption and the great multitudes which split eternally on this Rock Here are three things offered to your Consideration 1. The greatness of the Sin of Presumption This will be understood partly by considering the Nature of it partly by considering the Revelation of Gods wraih against it as to the Nature of it 1. It Robbeth God of the Glory of his Justice it indeed seemeth to give God the honour of his Goodness and Mercy but it makes him an Idol of Mercy and despoileth him of his Justice and Purity and Holiness God indeed is Gracious and Merciful but he is also a God of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity a God before whom Sinners shall not stand in Judgment a God that cannot clear the Guilty Now that Soul that goes on in its sinful Courses and yet hopes to find Favour with God and to go to Heaven at last doth think that God is not so holy and pure a God as indeed he is or that he is not so Just as he is either that he hath not Power to be Revenged upon Sinners or not so just a Will and steady a resolution to be revenged upon such as go on in their Courses of Ungodliness as indeed he hath Now consider with they self how great a sin it must be either to deny the Purity and Holiness of God or the Power and Justice of God The Presumptuous Sinner saith God is not of so pure Eyes but he can abide Iniquity a Sinner may dwell in his sight whereas God could not be God if he could not be Just or not be Holy and Pure Holiness is a piece of Gods Glory he is not only Glorious in Majesty but he is also Glorious in Holiness 2. And as the Justice and Purity of God is Impeached by Presumption so his Truth is also Impeached The Presumptuous Sinner doth in effect say The Scripture is a Lie and a Romance for the language of his heart is directly contrary to the language of Scripture that saith such and such Sinners shall never enter into the Kingdom of God but shall have their portion in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone He saith I am such a one yet I shall enter into the Kingdom of God I shall not have my portion in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone What is this but either to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God or to deny that which is contained in them to be truth and so to make God a liar who is a God that cannot lie Judge you how great an Iniquity this must be And if the Impeachment of a Mans truth be counted such a violation of his honour that he knoweth not how to put it up but is ready to revenge it with a Stab what shall God do who cannot lie So that three eminent Attributes of God Purity Justice and Truth are all of them questioned impeached or denyed by the Presumption of a Sinner And Presumption is not only a Transgression of the Law of God but containeth in it a secret Impugning of the Divine Nature and transformeth God into a being that is not Pure and Holy at least not so Pure and Holy but it can abide Sin well enough that either cannot or will not be revenged upon Sinners that can declare one thing and do another 2. Secondly The magnitude of any Sin is well taken and judged from the Revelation of Divine Wrath against it And it is but just and equal to judge that the greatest Sin against which God doth most severely reveal his Wrath. As to this we shall need look no further then the Text which I have made the foundation of this Discourse Deut. 29. It is the Presumptuous Sinner that is spoken of v. 19. That heareth the words of the Law and the words of the Curse annexed to the violation of the Law
I do not think any Books opening the Scriptures or any portions of Scriptures fitter to be read or any Sermons fitter to be heard by persons under these circumstances then such Books such Sermons such Portions of Holy Writ as most express the Wrath of God against Sinners most livelily express the miserable estate of Souls in another World under the Wrath of God Together with such as contain or explain the Promises of God for Support and Strength and Help under and Deliverance from the greatest Pressures of Affliction and Misery By the reading and hearing of the one the Grace of God concurring which is always requisite to make the Soul believe what it reads and hears a Soul shall be deterred from such an undertaking from the rational consideration That there is no way for it to get out of its Misery and by the other it shall be perswaded that there is a far nearer and more certain way of Relief for it if it can but exercise a little Patience from the good hand of God who is able to relieve it and who hath promised and is faithful Which two points are of very great import for a Soul to be perswaded of that it may stand against this fiery Dart and of that Nature that it is impossible that any Soul in the full possession and belief of them should ever listen to this Temptation so long as it pleaseth God to keep it in the exercise of its Reason Let therefore every Soul under this Temptation make it its business to give it self the fullest possession of these Truths for it is the Unbelief or faint Belief of these things that gives the least advantage to the roaring Lion thus seeking about to devour Souls The more rooted a Soul is in the Doctrine of Eternity both that which relateth to damned Souls and that which relateth to such as shall be saved the more remote and difficult it will be as to listning to any Temptation of this nature CHAP. XI Further Directions for Souls thus tempted The avoiding of Solitude The Study and Meditation of the Nature of the Covenant of Grace in the Matter of it the freeness of it the sureness of it the well ordering of it in all things 3. Dir. AVoid Solitudes and Solitary Places I mentioned this before as a means to prevent prevailings of Melancholy but let me a little farther inlarge upon that Argument Indeed excesses of Solitude are by no means to be affected by Christians under the greatest freedom of Body and Mind tho nothing more conduceth to a Souls Health and Freedom in communion with God then some just Measures and Proportions of it yet nothing is more dangerous in this hour of Temptation I observe Elijah was alone when he prayed God in a fit of Discontent to take away his Life and Jonah ch 4. 5 8. was in a Booth alone out of the City when he said It is better for me to die than to live And our blessed Lord was alone when Matth. 4. 6. the Tempter said unto him set upon the Pinacle of the Temple If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down Of Souls under these circumstances it is eminently true that Solomon saith Ecc. 4. 11. Two are better than one and woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath none other to help him up These Acts are committed usually by Persons that are alone It is therefore highly advisable to Persons under these Impressions to avoid giving this advantage to the Adversary and to those who are nearly concerned in and about Persons under these Temptations to be watchful as to this thing especially when they discern the Impressions are most strong upon them But having touched upon this before I shall add no more to it now 4. Dir. Fourthly There is nothing more proper for Souls under these circumstances Than to be much in the Study and Meditation of the Nature of the Covenant of Grace I told you before that supposing a Man or Woman under the conduct and government of Reason it is very hard to imagine what Motive should possibly prevail upon them to put an end unto their Lives but the freeing of themselves from so eminent Evils which they suffer to that degree that they conclude it is better for them to die than to live Now these Evils I told you were either External Afflictions and Crosses or such as are Internals Horrors of Mind Terrors of Conscience If the Motive be a freedom from Evils of the first sort I advised before what I judged proper viz. The Consideration whether the determination of our Lives in that manner would indeed free us or rather make our Condition much worse And Secondly Whether there be not an easier and safer way to procure our selves such an Immunity But now Suppose the Evils be of the second sort viz. The Horrors and Terrors of Conscience from the guilt of sin If this be the Motive the force of it lieth in our Ignorance or Mistake about the Covenant of Grace and look as under a Temptation to which External Misery is the great Motive There is nothing more proper than a just understanding of the state of the Damned and the misery of Impenitent and Unpardoned Souls in the World to come So supposing the Motive to be Horrors and Terrors of Conscience upon our Reflections upon Sin there is nothing more proper for a Soul than rightly to understand the Covenant of Grace and the reading of such Books and whetting upon our Hearts such Portions of Gods revealed Will in his Word as are most fully expressive of it Truly to understand this That there is no Sinner run into such an arrear with Gods Justice no Soul so guilty but by vertue of a gracious Covenant of Redemption and Grace which God the Father hath from Eternity contracted with the Son of his Love the Redeemers part in which Covenant is also fulfilled by Jesus Christ may find Mercy with God repenting of his Sin and casting it self upon the free Mercy and Grace of God in and through the Merits and Satisfaction of Christ Such is this Covenant of Grace that the most guilty Soul fulfilling his part in it and accepting of it may be assured that although its past sins cannot be made never to have been yet they shall be as if they never had been That is they shall no more condemn the Soul then if they never had been they shall not be mentioned they shall be sought for and not found the Righteousness of Christ shall be reckoned unto the Soul as if it were its Righteousness It is impossible that a Soul knowing and believing this and living in the view of this gracious Covenant should ever be frighted out of its Life from the Horrors of Conscience by its Reflections upon its guilt of Sin Though an ignorant Person that knoweth not this or an unbelieving Soul which though it may have received the Notion of it yet cannot believe it may from this Motive
be induced to a yielding to this Temptation yet to speak the truth admiting a Soul sure of its Damnation and that its Sins were so great as they could never be forgiven it should in reason rather be an Argument to a Soul if it were possible by all means imaginable to lengthen out its days to the years of Methâ—sâ—lah then to cut off an inch of that time which God will allow him For what reason can prompt any Man to think the Horrors and Torments of a wounded Conscience more intollerable than the Pains that are suffered by damned Souls Or what Reason will guid any Man to endeavour to be tormented before his time How earnest do we find condemned Malefactors sometimes tho out of all hope to be pardoned but to be reprieved for a time but I say by reason of the Covenant of Grace this is not the case of any one poor Soul to advantage this Temptation There is no Soul that can in judgement say though sometimes they say so in their Fits and Passions I know I shall be damned and there is nothing can give a â—ise for Satan in this Temptation but Persons Ignorance or Unbelief of the Covenant of Grace O therefore let all Souls but especially such as are thus tempted study this Consider 1. What it is that God hath Covenanted for for pardon of Sin For power and strength against Sin for Eternal Life and Salvation for strength against Temptations Every Spiritual Promise is a branch of the Covenant and the Promises are of those various Natures that there is no Spiritual Evil of which we can have any present sense or any fear as to time to come for which God hath not in one Promise or an other provided us an Antidote Is it the guilt oâ— Sin already committed God hath promised to pardon it Is it the fear of guilt not yet contracted God hath said I will heal your Backslidings and love you freely He hath said Sin shall not have Dominion over your Mortal Bodies So as thoâ— hast no reason to destroy thy self eitheâ— because thou hast sinned or becauseâ— thou fearest thou shalt sin against God to an irremissible degree Art thou afraiâ— that Temptations shall prevail against theeâ— He hath assured thee that Christ waâ— therefore tempted that he might be able tâ— succour the tempted that with the temptation he will give thee an happy issue that he will bruise Sathan under thy Feet shortly In short There is no Spiritual Incumbrance as to which there is not some provision made in the Covenant of Grace and declared in some Gospel Promise 2. Consider again the freeness of the Covenant It is called a Covenant of Grace Grace signifieth Free Love I will saith God heal your Backslidings and love you freely There is nothing to be paid for thy Pardon all that is is finished the utmost Farthing that the Justice of God could exact is already paid by the Hand of Christ There is nothing required of thee but an acknowledgement of thy Guilt an hatred of thy former Ways a resolution joyned with an endeavour to forsake them with an acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as thy Redeemer and Saviour Oh this this is that which could a Soul under Temptations of this Nature believe these Temptations would certainly abate We in distresses of Conscience stick too much in a Righteousness of our own Let me here give you the Copy of a short Letter wrote by that Eminent Servant of God Luther to an Hermite v. Luther Ep. t. 1. I saith he desire to know what thy Soul doth whether at last being weary of its own Righteousness it hath learned to breath after and to trust in the Righteousness of Christ For in our Age a Temptation of Presumption too much prevaileth and particularly in them who by all means study to approve themselves Righteous and good Men being ignorant of the Righteousness of God plentifully and freely given unto us by and through Christ They so long study to work well until they arrive at a confidence of standing before God as it were upon their own Legs and by their own Merits which is a thing impossible You and I have both been once of that Opinion or rather in that Error but now I set my self against it but have not yet conquered my self as to it Therefore my dear Brother learn Christ and him crucified learn to sing Praise to him and despairing of your self to say to him Lord Jesus thou art my Righteousness I am thy Sin Thou hast taken upon thee what was mine and given unto me what was thine Thou hast taken what thou wert not and given unto me what I was not Take heed saith he of aiming at such a degree of purity as to appear to thy self no Sinner for Christ dwelleth in the Hearts of none but Sinners He therefore came down from Heaven when he dwelled in his Saints that he might dwell in Sinners O meditate of his Love and you will feel his most sweet Consolation For to what purpose hath he died if we could arrive at a tranquility of Conscience by our own Endeavours and Tormenting of our selves You will never therefore find Peace but by despairing of your Selves and your own Works and a fiducial dependance on him You will further learn by this That as he took thy Nature and made thy Sins as it were his so he hath made his Righteousness thine An hour of Temptation either of this Nature or to despair of Gods Mercy as to the pardon of Sin and the Eternal Salvation of the Soul will discover the value of those Physicians who have found out another way to relieve afflicted Consciences in the sense of their own Unrighteousness then by pressing the great Doctrine of the Gospel of the Justification of the Soul by the Righteousness of Christ reckoned to the believing Soul for Righteousness And certainly Gods Absolution or Acquittance of a Soul from its Debts to Divine Justice by the Righteousness of the Son of God reckoned accounted or which is the same imputed to it as if performed by it is of no more difficult Conception whatever some pretend in the case than a Creditors Discharge and giving Acquittance to a Debtor upon his Friend or Sureties payment of the Debt upon which the Principal is Discharged as if he had personally paid it Believe it other Notions may afford matter of Discourse in a calm time but nothing but the Notion of Free Grace and Christs Righteousness reckoned to us will serve us in an hour of Temptation Let us therefore rather chuse to part with the Sun in the Firmament or with the Light of our Eyes than to part with this great Truth Let some trust in Charriots some in Horses Let some trust in the Works of others some in their own Fancies but let us remember the Name of the Lord of God and let us remember that his Name is the Lord our Righteousness When a Soul is under great Horror and