and help me to believe in Christ I shall be most certainly condemned by Christ For he that believeth not is †Enallage Temporis condemned already saith Christ John 3.18 4. Desire to believe as he Mark 9.24 For a desire of faith if true is faith Or thus as a worthy * Downam in his Christian warfare c. 42. Writer saith confidently Our desire of Grace Faith and Repentance if true are the Graces themselves at least in God's acceptation see Matth. 5.6 Blessed are they which hunger and thrist after righteousness Mark they are blessed who have such gracious desires as are called hungring and thirsting and therefore they cannot be without faith and the cause hereof is the blessed * Blessed Bolton Nobleness of God's Nature which by infinite distances doth transcend the noblest spirit upon earth now men of ingenious dispositions are wont to take sweetest contentment in prevailing over and gaining the hearts good wills and affections of those that wait upon them how much more then must needs spiritual longings gracious aspires and thirsty desires be kindly accepted with that most kind God whose most loving disposition passeth all mens kindness especially sith mens good turns turn many times to our good and benefit but our well doing extendeth not unto God Psal 16.2 Were all the sons of men Abrahams or Angels and as many in number as the stars of Heaven and as shining both with inward Graces and outward acts of piety as they are in visible glory yet could they make no addition to that incomparable Majesty above nor confer so much as one drop to that boundless and bottomless Sea of goodness or the least glimpse unto that Almighty Sun of glory If thou be righteous what givest thou unto him or what receiveth he at thy hands Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art and thy righteousness may profit the Son of man Job 35.6 7 8. Our holiness helps him not our sins hurt him not it is only for our good that God would do us good no good nor gain accrues unto him by our goodness for what good can come by our imperfect goodness to that which is already infinitely good What glory can be superadded by our dimness to him which is already incomparably glorious Every infinite thing is naturally and necessarily uncapable of addition Possibility of which supposed implies contradiction and destroys the nature of infiniteness wherefore to return to my purpose sith desires are excepted with God for deeds let every one of you that would be assured of his salvation desire to believe to his salvation It is reported of Luther that when a certain poor student at Wittenberg would not be perswaded by any to believe or that he did believe and so was exceedingly troubled in his mind and left by all he was sent for and when he came did ask him when he said he neither did nor could believe but do not you desire to believe whereunto the poor student replyed yes with all my heart I do desire it why then said Luther you do believe whereat the poor Scholar was exceedingly comforted satisfied and perswaded that he did believe so you be satisfied in this point that if you truly desire to believe you do believe Our most gracious God * As in Abraham Gen. 22.16 17. read the place accepting the will for the deed and your affections for actions and so long so thirst * Dyke of self-deceiving cap. 19. so hunger after Faith as a Fame-lik after meat a Febricitant after drink a Mendicant after a piece of silver and you shall be satisfied For they that hunger and thirst after righteousness and so consequently after Faith which apprehends Christs righteousness shall be satisfied Mat. 5.6 and * Bern. de Lect. Evangel Serm. 7. so much as they can desire they shall receive 5. Labor to see an excellency in Christ surpassing all things and fixing thy heart upon him resolve to seek him without resting and seeking him to sell all for the gaining of him like the Merchant in the Gospel◠who seeking after him and met with him and seeing him to be a * For Christ is that pearl Hilar. in Loc. pearl of great price and so esteeming him above all sold all and bought him Matth. 13.45 46. For * Rogers of Dedham in his Doctrine of Faith e. 2. p. 128. then is Faith begun when namely a man begins to be of Kilians a Dutch School-masters and blessed Martyrs mind who being asked if he loved not his Wife and Children said Yes if the World were gold and were mine to dispose of I would give it to live with them though it were but in prison yet my soul and Christ are dearer to me than all O souls souls how do your hearts now stand affected are ye so resolved to sell all do you so prize Christ above all will you seek after him upon such terms if you will well for assuredly you shall have him and faith in him and with him O my God help this people so to prize thy Son help thy Sons to believe in thy Son I humbly pray thee 6. Labour to have your hearts over-powered with the evidence of truth and reason For we find by experience that though truth and reason and conscience and all make for it so as that we may truly say Amen to what is said yet the heart is stubborn and will not yield but stands out like a contentious Adversarie which though he be overthrown in every trial yet will begin again So the heart though it be answered and overcome with Arguments and Pleas and Reasons again and again yet will begin again to plead against it self For say some when they are non-suited and have nothing to say Ministers are mercifull and good Christians compassionate will not discourage us but did they know our hearts what base unclean Cages they be they would judge otherwise than they do Therefore I say give over quarrelling and be satisfied and perswaded when Truth and Reason tell ye that ye ought to yeild and to believe because the Lord of Life and God of Truth hath said Him that cometh to me whatsoever his heart be or have been and whatsoever his former life have been for he saith not unlesse he have a base filthy heart Again him that cometh to me though he have been the vilest wretch that ever the Earth bore though a notorious Belialist a beastly liver a filthy fornicator an insatiable Drunkard an unreasonable Extortioner I will in no wise cast him out John 6.37 O my Brethren what could Christ say more Christ you see speaks for you and will you have us speak against you nay will you speak against your selves O be overcome by Reason overcome by Truth for Reason tels you that you ought to yield when your Reasons are answered and Truth commands you to submit when you are so well promised by the God of Truth 7. Beg Faith for it is the
the evils that will follow if you will not follow these directions 2. Others from the good that will come if you will come to labour for this Assurance 1. As for the evils You will live 1. In continual doubts 2. In continual fears and sorrows 1. You will live in continual doubts and question even every thing as whether ye did not all that ever ye did in Hypocrisie whether your love be true your conversion true your godliness true and especially you will doubt of your Faith whether that be true saving Faith * Nam fidel is non est nisâ— qui suae salutis securitati innixus Diabolo morti confidenter insultet quomo do doceinur Rom. 8.38 Calv. Inst l. 3. c. 2. s 16. yea or no because so few have it and because so much temporary and hypocritical Faith is going where give me leave to dwell a little while because I hear most doubting Christians call their Faith mostly in question And because those two kinds of Faith carry men so far as they do and thereby raise such doubts As 1. The Temporary carry men so far as to make them hear the word even with jâ—y Luke 8.13 Oh! me-thought saith the Temporary I was even ravished when I heard such a Sermon 2. It maketh men to be not hearers only but doers also of many things both in their Families and apart even to admiration Mark 6.20 St. Basil knew such a Temporary at Jerusalem * Basil Epist mihi p. 515. who for a time lived so strictly as that he did even admire him for he had fasted so often as that he had brought himself to nothing almost but skin and bones and counted the greatest wealth as dung and watered his cheeks with rivers of tears and walked as he thought with God day and night in brief lived so solitarily and retiredly as if he had cared for no earthly creature and yet at last fell not only off but also in love with a strange woman having forsaken his own wife and I do not read in the same Basil of his recoverie at all and this and the like examples cannot but make any man who wants this Assurance to tremble and doubt So the hypocritical I mean the sturdie Hypocrites faith * Famous Mr. Hooker as Divines call it Good Lord how far it carrieth 1. It brings him to a great deal of sorrow being * Matt. 13.22 thorny ground and having his thorns in him that is pricking sorrows and troubles of mind The Temporary saith he is deceived for he came easily by his faith he was never much troubled before it or about it he believed by and by but mine cost me dear and the truth is such a Hypocrite commonly hath sorrow enough for the quantitie of it though not enough for the quality or uprightness because everie valley is not filled according to Luke 3.5 though he himself like a high Mountain was thrown cast down by a soul-piercing Sermon there being a hollow false heart left in him 2. It makes him even to trade with Christ and that much too like that * Mat. 19.16 17 18 19 20 21 22. young man who also was so sorrowful and had so much talk with Christ about his salvation and made as if he would do much by Christ's perswasion though not to the losing hand upon any terms but only so far and to so much as will suit with his estate and occasions 3. Nay it will carry him out even unto suffering for saith he the Temporarie cozeneth himself for he is * Mat. 13.21 offended yields and ‖ De quo Socrates l. 3. c. 1. Ezebolius-like complies by and by * Luk. 8.13 and is gone but I scorn to do so I will stand it out to the last though I die for it See 1 Cor. 13.3 how a man may give his bodie to be burnt and yet want Charitie and so consequently true saving faith which works by love Gal. 5.6 Beloved there is a Rule in Logick Those disjunct Propositions both parts whereof are true the whole must needs be true if either part be false then the Proposition must be false Now here both parts are true I may give my bodie to be burnt and yet want Charitie so a man may suffer and yet want faith Ergo. For there be many things in mans heart that he will rather die than yield as Pride Obstinacie self-wildness sturdiness and the like This this maketh men doubt so and doubt they will till by the use of means formerly prescribed they gain that Assurance which is here required and therefore get it O by all meanâ— get it my dearly beloved for how long will ye doubt so 2. You will live in continual fear and heaviness for you are whilst you want this Assurance in darkness and see no light Isa 50.10 the Hebrew is brightness which is more than light and seemeth to allude to the brightness of God's countenance which a child of God walking in darkness and wanting this Assurance cannot see Now when a man walketh in darkness you know what a sad fearful man he is because he can see no light every man that he meets he takes to be an enemie everie voice he hears he thinks to be the voice of Robbers everie step he makes he fears will make him fall so when men are not assured of their salvation and of God's favour how sad and fearful are they everie Scripture almost they meet with they take to be against them everie step of theirs to be a step into hell everie glimpse of comfort to be a delusion of the Devil and so they live the sorrowfullest the dismallest the disconsolatest life that poor creatures can live living in a continual fear of death of Devils and of hell fire which burns for ever It hath been my own case when I wanted this assurance I was afraid to be alone and afraid of Satan because of his buffetings and so will you be or are alreadie O my brethren the tongue of man is hardly able to express the sorrow the fear the perplexity that a poor doubting Christian is in whilst he wants this Assurance and cannot see the light of the Lord's countenance when he looks upon his Wife if he have any his Children his Goods wherein others take a world of comfort he saith what comfort can I take in them who cannot be assured at all as others are of the favour of God which is better than ten wives ten sons nay 10 thousand worlds when he looks upon his meat and drink he saith what good can all this good meat sweet drink do to me who have no assurance at all that ever I shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and drink of that new sweetest wine which they drink of in the Kingdom of God When he looks upon his bodie he saith O how will this bodie of mine be able to dwell in that flaming fire and how O how will
delivery is in pain and cryeth out in her pangs so have we been in thy sight O Lord. woman when her time is near and her pangs begin to come upon her or as a child cryeth as soon as it is born so you before you be new born as thus what will become of our poor souls for they are yet unregenerate and therefore cannot in any wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven unlesse extraordinary mercy be shewn them by the God of Heaven or thus as the Egyptians once cryed out when there was not an house in all Egypt where there was not one dead saying We be all dead men Exod. 12.30 33. And there was a great cry in Egypt See the place So let there be a great cry among you in every house and family For I believe that there is scarce an house where there is not one or more unregenerate and dead and in your several chambers 〈…〉 unto which you have according to my premised advice betaken your selves and let your cry be the same that was in Egypt Oâ— we are all dead men we that are unregenerate men for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it That except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God John 3.3 Not all the art and wit of man Not all the â—heâ—orick of the eloquent'st Orator Not all the inâ—reaâ—ies of Saints and Angels can therefore or will perswade God to take one that is a drunkard or Whoremaster or Usurer or Lyar or Thief or covetous man and such have been some of us into his Kingdom 〈…〉 even as not all the perswasions of the men of this Country are or will be able to prevail with any one of us to take but one toad or snake into his bosome Thus cry out for anguish 2. Cry out for and to the spirit of Regeneration for by the spirit also a man must be born again according to that famous saying of our Saviour John 3.5 where note that the Spirit doth three things to regenerate souls 1. He convinceth them John 16.8 9. 2. He injects the feed of Regeneration into them according to that of Saint John His seed remains in them 1 John 3.9 3. He delivers them and makes them free 2 Cor. 3.17 helping them to come forth out of the dark womb of nature into his marvelous light that by him as by a * Irenaeus adv haeres bal. l. 3. c. 40. Ladder they may ascend into * John 3.35 Heaven to our Father which is in Heaven so that unto him you must cry and say O blessed spirit of Regeneration Regenerate our souls O our poor souls that they may live O convince them of their unregeneracy O inject the feed of Regeneration into them from above Oh help them to come forth Oh let a new heart be given to us O let us have flexible and tender hearts like the heart of a little child for we also must be like little children Oh come blessed spirit come and help us Oh come quickly come presently and deliver us 〈◊〉 come now whilest we are in this Room waiting for thee as thou comest upon the Apostles in that house wherein they were sitting Acts 3.2 3. O let this be the time of our regeneration that we also may be sure of our Salvation here be earnest and cry mightily Nay if need be and thou canst not be heard in that day cry in the night too and so come to the Spirit at this time as Nicodemus came to Christ in old time even by night and so cry day and night and then it will not be long before thou shalt be delivered being regenerated for as Christ said once Luk. 18.7 8. And shall not God hear his elect which cry unto him day and night though he bear long with them I tell you that he will avenge them speedily So I shall not the spirit of God hear his elect which cry unto him day and night I tell you that he will hear them and deliver them speedily For ask and you shall have saith Christ Luk. 11.9 It is no more but ask and have ask therefore the spirit and you shall have * How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him Luke 11.13 him ask Regeneration of the spirit understand in the manner aforesaid and you shall have it and it will not be long before you shall hear the spirit cry Abba Father Rom. 8.15 even most emphatically For therefore to the * Abba from the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jun. Tremel in Marc. 14.14 Syriack word Abba is added Father if you shall so cry day and night for the spirit to the Father Beloved there is no crying which the Father of mercies loves better and the Father of lies likes worse than this crying and therefore use it 6. Strive to come forth For as endeavour without God cannot so God without endeavors will not help us See Phil. 2.12 13. and therefore as Christ said once strive to enter so I strive to come out Luk. 13.24 for ye will find a very hard bout before ye will be able to come out therefore I say again strive and strive as other children do when they come to their birth or thus strive as once * Gen. 38.29 Pharez and Zarah in Tamars womb nay as Pharez so strove as that he made a breach and was therefore called Pharez from that breach so do you make a breach as it were and tear away from Natures womb and tear away from your beds of ease and sin and tear away especially from your lusts your pride of life your vile affections your violent passions your vain and filthy conversations your usury your atheism polytheism and abominable epicurism and whatsoever else is contrary to the holy Law of God thus strive to come out I pray you pardon my boldness which I took by this digression which carried me so far in this Sea of matter concerning our Regeneration and be pleased to impute it unto the vehemency of my love which made me thus to forget and to lose my self that you might not lose your selves which God in mercy grant 2. Labour to believe 2 Direct or Medium for so did those holy ones who according to my Text were so assured of their salvation v. 8. and besides if a man do believe and be sure of it that he doth he must needs be assured also that he shall be saved For so God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 Mark He * Nay he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life Joh. 3.36 which much more and plainly demonstrates that a believing soul must needs be assured of its salvation because it hath it shall have it saith Christ as if he should say he may be sure of it for the mouth of truth hath spoken it
have done and ver 24. ' O wretched man that I am Note again I am and not I have been who shall deliver me from the body of this death Mark shall deliver me and not hath delivered me though that be a truth too that he was in a great measure mortified and partly delivered already and therefore be not disheartned O my Soul for though Paul was transcendently more crucified to the world than I yet was he pestred and troubled with a world of sin which he calls the body of death as well as I and his only hope and trust was in Jesus Christ that he would deliver him at last for so he saith I thank God through Jesus Christ as if he should say and would you know what I mean to do in this heavy case then I must tell you that I will collocate and place my sole and whole trust and affiance in the Lord Christ who as he hath delivered me in part so doubtless will deliver me yet more and more therefore as being certain of it that he will do it I thank God for it thorow Christ who will do it as if he had done it already and this same course thou also must take O my soul and therefore hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God Soul But why is not that worldliness which I objected but now as discovering it self so by eagerness after and delightfulness in the things of this world with its fashions at least more subdued yet all this while than it is Believ Doest thou wonder at that O my soul then consider 1. What a multitude of enemies do continually assault me I mean Satanical suggestions the worlds enchanting provocations and the fleshes own insurrections most mighty and most frequent which maketh me even wonder how a poor soul can overcome such a world in any measure for who would not rather admire a little Ship if fighting with many great well mann'd Turkish Galleys it should escape though her mast and all the higher part of it should be beaten off down to the water and many men slain in her than enquire why it should be so spoiled debilitated and weakned which is just thy case O my soul for thou hast fought with many great and pestilent enemies like a little Ship and yet didst so far escape as that they could not totally nor finally prevail against thee though it cannot be denied but that they have wasted and spoiled and hurt thee much and killed many good motions and therefore I say that even this is a thing to be wondred at 2. Besides God hath his time for every thing a time for tryal and a time for help and to subdue the world in a greater measure as he will and therefore * Psal 42.11 for the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expecta wait thou upon God 3. Again it may be that the means were not so industriously used whereby the world may be subdued even the vision and application of Faith and therefore let us amend this fault and then I hope all will be well Soul You say well and therefore up and be doing Christ What manner of communications be these which you have being so * Luk. 24 1◠18 19. sad Believ Concerning sin which my soul is troubled for and would be delivered from Christ Art thou willing indeed O Christian Soul to part with any sinful pleasure profit honour and with life it self for my sake Soul * Joh. 21.17 Thou Lord knowest all things thou knowest that I desire it and would not willingly live or lie in the practise of any * Psal 119. one known sin Christ * Luk 24.25 O foolish soul then and slow to believe all that the Prophets have spoken did dest thou never read what is written * Mich. 7.19 20. he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou will cast all their sins in the depth of the sea Mark he will not only have compassion pardoning iniquity and passing by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage but also subdue your iniquities that is he will * For the original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subjugabit vi ac violentia capiet subjugate and bring under the yoke as it were * all your sins so as that like yoked oxen you shall be able to rule them though in themselves they be never so unruly and he will even offer and infer violence unto your nature so as that your sinful lusts desires and affections shall be even captivated in such a manner as that they shall not be able to range and to rage so freely as they did and therefore trust in God O thou Christian Soul who is the health of thy countenance and thy God who can and will help thee and deliver thee at last most happily out of all thy misery Soul Blessed be thou sweet Jesus dear Saviour who thus art pleased to comfort me and praised be thy holy name in the which I sweetly repose my trust for I know thee what thou art The Holy one of Israel the mighty God the Prince of peace the God of comfort even Immanuel God with us who by this sweet and precious promise art fast bound to perform in me what thou hast here promised unto me and therefore Lord do unto me as thou canst and then I shall be able to forsake sin as I would I humbly beseech thee yea I do even assure my self that as thou canst so thou wilt because thou art the * Joh. 14.6 truth it self and therefore I say * Mich. 7.19 20. thou Lord wilt cast all my sins in the depth of the Sea of thy mercy and suffocate them in thy precious blood as the Egyptians were drowned in the Red-sea and wilt subdue them as they were subdued that they may not rule over me as they did when I lived in Egypt the house of bondage in the state of my unregeneracy I mean O Lord Lord I believe that thou wilt perform thy truth to me as well as to Jacob and thy mercy as to Abraham which thou hast sworn from the daies of old as thou art God from everlasting Christ I see thou wilt hold me to my word like Jacob and the truth is that being the truth I cannot go from them nor deny them and therefore * Mat. 15 2◠be it to thee as thou wilt Believ Amen Lord Jesus The second Conference Wherein Faith makes use of the Promise of Heaven and threatning of Hell against sin BEliev. Seest thou not O my Soul these snares which Satan that cunning fowler hath laid for thee to illaqueate and to catch thee Soul What snares Believ Snares of covetousness in the goods of this world snares of voluptuousness in eating drinking marrying snares of pride in praying preaching discoursing Alms-giving snares in sleeping snares in waking and in every other thing Soul I