he saith to himselfe Thou hast sinned and offended a just God and therefore thou must be damned and to hell thou must goe This is the particular seising of the curse upon a sinfull soule for this is the nature of true sorrow if evill be to come we feare it if evill be upon us we grieue and sorrow for it herein is the greatest worke of all the Lord deales diversly as he seeth fit specially these three wayes First if God have a purpose to civilize a man he will lay his sorrow as a fetter upon him he only meanes to civilize him and knocke off his fingers from base courses as wee have knowne some in our daies many desperate persecutors of Gods people God casts his sorrow into their hearts and then they say they will persecute Gods people no more haply they are naught still but God confines them first God only rippes the skinne a little and layeth some small blow upon him but if a man have been rude and a great ryoter the Lord begins to serve a writ upon him and saith Thou art the man to thee be it spoken thy sins are weighed and thou art found too light heaven and salvation is departed from thee thy sorrow is begunne here never to have end hereafter but thou must continue in endlesse torments thou hast continued in sinne and therefore expect the fierce anger of the Lord to be upon thee for ever so that now the soule seeth the flashes of hell and Gods wrath upon the soule and the terrours of hell lay hold upon the heart and he confesseth he is so and he hath done so And therfore he is a poore damned creature and then the soule labours to welter it and it may be his conscience will be deluded by some carnall minister that makes the way broader then it is and bids him goe and drinke and play and worke away his sorrow or else it may be he stops the mouth of conscience with some outward performances it may be his conscience saith Thou hast committed these these sinnes and thou wilt be damned for them And then he entreats conscience to be quiet hold his peace and he will pray in his family and heare sermons and take up some good courses and thus he takes up a quiet civill course and stayeth here a while at last comes to nothing And thus God leaves him in the lurch if he meanes only to civilize him But Secondly if God intends to doe good to a man he will not let him goe thus and fall to a civill course When a man begins to colour over his old sinnes and God hath broken his teeth that he cannot worry as formerly but yet there is no power in him If the Lord love that soule he will much the more clearely reveale his sinnes unto him God will plucke away all his chambering and wantonnesse all his pride and peevishnesse and pull off his vizzard and shew him all his sinnes and pursue him therefore as before God entred the blow so now he followes it home And hence it is that Iob saith The arrowes of the Almighty sticke fast in me and the venome thereof drinkes up my spirits and the terrours of the Almighty encampe themselves against me every way And as David saith Thou keepest my eyes waking and my sinnes are ever before me If God love a sinner and meane to doe good to him he will not let him looke off his sinne the Lord wil ferret him from his denne and from his base courses and practises He will be with you in all your stealing and pilfering and in all your cursed devises if you belong to him he will not give you over And in another place Iob saith How long wilt thou not depart from me nor let me alone till I swallow downe my spittle You had better a great deale now have your hearts humbled and broken and see your sinnes then to see them when there is no remedy And in another place the holy man Iob saith Thou wilt not suffer me to take in my breath but fillest me with bitternesse Your eyes have beholden vanity therefore now you shall see the Lords wrath against you for your sinnes and you have breathed out your venome against the Lord of heaven therefore now he will fill your soules with indignation in so much that he shall breath in his wrath as you have breathed out your oathes against him you have filled the Lords eyes and eares with your abominations and the Lord of heaven shall fill you answerably with his wrath And in another place Iob saith Thou wilt breake a dry leafe tossed too and fro And yet the Lord brake him Now the soule seeth all the evill and the Lord pursueth him and sets conscience aworke to the full Consider that of the Apostle That all those might be damned which beleeved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse Even all of them What shall no great ones be saved No nor you little ones neither all that lay not hold upon Christ but have pleasure in unrighteousnesse not only great ones and such as are abominably prophane but even all that had pleasure in wickednesse Now conscience saith Doest not thou know that thou art one of them that have had pleasure in unrighteousnesse therefore away thou must goe and thou shalt be damned Now the soule shakes and is driven beyond it selfe and would utterly faint but that the Lord upholds it with one hand as he beates it downe with the other he thinkes that every thing is against him and the fire burnes to consume him and he thinkes the ayre will poyson him conscience flies in his face and he thinkes hell mouth is open to receive him and the wrath of God hangs over his head and if God should take away his life he should tumble head-long downe to hell Now the soule is beyond all shift when it is day he wisheth it were night when it is night he wisheth it were day the wrath of God followeth him wheresoever he goeth and the soule would faine be rid of this but he cannot and yet all the while the soule is not heavy and sorrowfull for sinne he is burdened and could be content to throw away the punishment and horror of sinne but not the sweet of sinne as it is with a child that taâ—es a live coale in his hand thinking to play with it when he feeles fire in it he throws it away he doth not throw it away because it is blacke but because it burnes him So it is here A sinfull wretch will throw away his sinne because of the wrath of God that is due to him for it and the drunkard will be drunke no more but if he might have his queanes and his pots without any punishment or trouble he would have them with all his heart he loves the blacke and sweet of sinne well enough but he loves not the plague of sinne Foolish people saith the
feeles no sinne but yet he is not cured because his sinne is not removed and his heart unpacified in the blood of Christ. Secondly is it so that the wound of a sinner is in his heart then we haue here a matter of complaint that we may iustly take up against the secure generation wherein we liue there is but little saving sorrow and therefore but little saving grace if there be no preparation for Christ there can be no true evidence of grace nor of Gods love in Christ if there be no preparation for a building there can be no building set up The Lord be mercifull to a world of men that live in the bosome of the Church if we had a foūtaine of teares with Ieremy to bewaile this age in this respect it were worth the while and if the Lord should send some Ezekiel and say to him goe to such a countrey or such a shire and see if there be any that doe mourne for their sinnes comfort such Alas what would become of a world of persons This is a bill of inditement against three sorts of people it arraignes and condemnes such as never yet shared in this worke of preparation of saving sorrow and therefore were never in Christ these swarme in our streets And first it fals marvelous heavy upō such as take contentment in their base courses those loose Epicures and boone gallants of our time that goe staggering in our streets they are so farre from grieving for their sinnes that it is their greatest vexation that they cannot commit sinne and have elbow roome to sinne freely O what a griefe it is to them to have a minister checke them and that there is a law to punish them for sinne whereas finne should be poyson in their soules to woūd them it becomes as meat to nourish them They sleepe not except they have done mischiefe saith the Wiseman and their sleepe is taken away unlesse they cause some to fall they 〈◊〉 the bread of wickednesse and drinke the Wine of violence So farre it is from being poyson unto them and so far are they from being troubled with sinne that it is their meat and pastime to sinne Just Esau like What did he When he had eate and drunke he rose up to play and this was all he looked after When he had passed away his title to heaven and happinesse and esteemed of Christ and heaven no more then of a messe of pottage he ate and dranke his heart was never touched for what he had done he did not smite upon his thigh as Ephraim did say What have I done Have I sold away my birth-right for nothing You that know the world you know there are many that sit upon the ale-bench and sweare and drinke and raile against Gods servants and are never troubled for it Nay the world is come to this passe that it is their greatest vexation that they are hindered in their sinfull courses It was the guise of the old world Haman went home sicke because he wanted the Cap and knee from Mordecay Amnon was sicke of incest and Ahab was sicke of covetousnesse and Ahitophel was sicke because his counsell was not followed The Lord of heaven knowes the adulterer is sick because he cannot get the heart and company of his queane many a man is sicke of envy it is rottennesse to his bones yea many a man goeth up and downe sicke of it and is not quiet because he cannot vent his rage against a faithfull minister that checkes him You swearers doth not your hearts rise against the King state for making a law against that sinne Doe you not hate the constable and witnesse that come in against you you account these the greatest plague to you in all the world I appeale to the hearts of you all that heare me this day can you say you are troubled for sin and yet grieve because you cannot commit sinne still Woe woe to your soules that thus delight in sinne There are many that despight the spirit of grace and sticke not to say I did sweare such a man out of the house and I did drinke such a man under the table dead Read that place of the Apostle there you shall see your doome and if there be any such in your families or amongst your neighbours throw this in their faces and if they will goe downe to hell let them goe with paine that all they might be damned saith the text which beleeved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse God is not partiall but saith that all they might be damned it would almost shake a mans heart to thinke of it How many notorious vile wretches may say Good Lord what will become of our families villages we are all opposers of God his grace shall all be damned I dare not say what God will doe to thee the text saith so This me thinks might lie as poyson and rats-bane upon the heart of a sinfull creature the Lord in mercy looke upō you and make sinne as loathsome and bitter unto you as ever it hath beene sweet and pleasant You see how the matter will goe with you you that thus jibe and jeast at the Saints and sport yourselves in sinne the time may come that it will be a dry feast as it was with Dives that was drunke and fared deliciously every day he had a dry feast in hell and could not have a droppe of water to coole his tongue So it will be with you you must either buckle and mourne for sinne or else burne for ever Secondly It condemns such as are in a faire straine such are they that have a slight sense of sinne but it never goes downe to the heart the skinne is ripled a little but the kall of their heart was never broken for their abominations Naaman was to wash seven times in Iordan so this water of godly sorrow is of a healing nature but these men doe not rubbe and reince their soules in it they only dippe their soules in a little sorrow but you must wash it throughly and fully if ever you desire to have the leprosie of sinne purged out Men bathe their sinnes with teares but they doe not drown them they do as parents doe with their children they will correct them a little and presently cocker them againe so the hypocrite useth to trouble his corruptions and complaine of them and vexe them a little with sorrow but in the meane time cocker them and dandle them againe But sinne will not be so killed and the heart will not be so easily broken this kinde of sorrow is too slight and overly As it is with a debter that hath borrowed money he will complaine he had an ill bargaine and desires that either he might have the debt abated or the day put off he puts it off w th meer talking such a generatiō there are of the whining hypocrites that wil outwardly complain of
they are wise enough to take their meat and to apply the word to themselves Answ. To this I answer three things I confesse it is true the Lord blessed be his name hath made his word more evidently knowne then formerly and yet there is a great deale of knowledge wanting in the most sort of men nay I can speake it by experience that the meaner ordinary sort of people it is incredible and unconceiveable what Ignorance is among them Nay I will be bold to justifie it that he that thinkes himselfe the wisest in understanding if we come home to him by way of examination we shall make it known to him that he knowes little or nothing of which he should and ought to know But Imagine men had the knowledge of the word that is not the maine end of preaching to instruct men but to worke upon their hearts When a man hath taught men what they should doe he is but come to the walls of the Castle the fort is in the heart the greatest worke of the ministery is to pull downe the wills of men that know the truth of God and hold it in unrighteousnesse Nay they that doe know it how dull are they in the performances of these duties God calles for at their hands so that we had not onely need to mince their meat for them but even to put it into their mouthes nay they sleepe with meat in their mouthes I appeale to you that are inlightned in the knowledge of the truth doe you not finde dulnesse of minde and indisposednesse of spirit in the performances of those duties God calls for at your hands It was spoken by a reverend Divine that the freest horse needs sometimes a spur to pricke him forward so I say the best Christian needs a sharpe reproofe to pricke him forward in a Christian course But thirdly if reason cannot prevaile they dash this preaching out of countenance Object and say when men want matter to make up their sermons then they ransacke mens consciences and apply unto them their particular sinnes and so they make up their sermons Answ. To this I answer againe then our Saviour Iesus Christ wanted matter he presseth their faults to the Scribes and Pharises seven times together nay in the sixt of Iohn he presseth on truth nine times his aime and end was namely that he was the bread of life he followeth it and setleth it on them Now in these mens judgements Christ wanted matter he had not wherewith to spend the time therfore he spake to the hearts of men and came home to their Consciences but to say the truth the ground of their cavills that are cast against this kinde of preaching is because this troubles the hearts of those to whom we speake brings vexation to the soules Do we want matter for our preaching no but this I say it is an easie matter for any man to observe truths out of a text to lay forth a point this is an easie thing for any one that hath a judgement inlightned in the Scripture but for a minister of God in the worke of examination to drive the soule of a carnall man to a stand that he cannot escape to make him goe away and hang the wings in so much that the soule shall be humbled or else goe away and snarle at the truth and reproofe delivered Or for a man to uphold a soule in the time of trouble to comfort it and take away all doubts I say this is the hardest matter for a minister to accomplish under the Sunne in the worke of the ministery I speake for these two passages that all the world may know what belongs to the worke of the ministery and also that al the world may know if men take any distaste at this kinde of preaching we care not it is our dutie The third use is for exhortation if this be our duty it ought to stirre up the heart of all the people of God to set an edge on their affections that they should desire this manner of teaching and when God maketh his truth thus knowne to us we should submit to the power thereof You have most need of this and there is most profit in this and therefore your hearts ought to be more inlarged to the coveting and submiting thereto And therefore you that are hearers suffer me to provoke you to it when the time comes that you are to approach to the house of God pray unto the Lord that he would direct you and that the minister may come home to your hearts bring your hearts to the word as the people did their sacrifices in the old law they brought them and laid them on the Altar that the Priest might kill them and divide them So bring your hearts under the power of Jesus Christ that they may be cut and divided that you may be let blood in the right veine that your corruptions may bee subdued that they may have their deaths wound given them take up that resolution of the Prophet David I will heare what the Lord saith to my soule I will not heare what the Levit saith to the Courtier or to the commons but I will see what the Lord saith to me Oh say some the minister speakes home to such a one he touched him to the quicke What is that to thee Will anothers mans salve cure thee therefore labour that the Lord may come home to thy particular that the Lord may salve thee and cut thee and save thee for thy everlasting comfort You are wise for the things of this life you will be content to part with any thing that may procure your comfort if a father were now on his death bed making his will every child would thinke what doth my father give me For if a man be bidden to a Feast he is not content only to have the meate set before him but if the master of the feast will carve for him he will take it kindly Every faithfull minister is the father of the people and they are his children they are the Stewards of the Lords house and give to every one their portion terrour to whom terrour belongs and comfort to whom comfort belongs Therefore when you come into the congregation and see the minister giving and parting to every one his doale reproofe here and instruction there looke up to heaven and labour to get some thing to thy owne particular and say as Esay did in another case something for me Lord something for me instruct me reprove me make knowne my sinnes and discover my abominations when the dainties of salvation are distributing You that are at the lower end of the table thinke with your selves will the dish never come to the lower end Oh that the Lord would now guide the minister to lay his hand on the sore of this cursed infidelitie of minde Oh that the Lord would knocke downe that sinne of mine this day And if thy heart be any whit