The Souls Conflict With Itself, Chapter 21
CHAP. XXI.
Of quieting the spirit in troubles for sinne. And objections answered.
TO begin with troubles of the spirit, which indeed are the spirit of troubles, as disabling that which should uphold a man in all his troubles. A spirit set in tune, and assisted by a higher spirit, will stand out against ordinary assaults, but when God, (the God of the spirits of all flesh) shall seeme contrary to our spirits, whence then shall wee finde reliefe?
Here all is spirituall, God a spirit, the soule a spirit, the terrours spirituall, the devill who joynes with these a spirit; yea, that which the soule feares for the time to come, is spirituall, and not only spirituall, but eternall, unlesse it pleaseth God at length to break out of the thick cloud, wherewith hee covers himselfe, and shine upon the soule, as in his own time he will.
In this estate, comforts themselves are uncomfortable to the soule; i… quarrels with every thing, the better things it heares of, the more it is vexed. Oh what is this to mee, what have I to …e with these comforts, the more happinesse may be had, the more is my griefe; As for comforts from Gods inferiour blessings, as friends, children, estate, &c. the soule is ready to misconstrue Gods end in all, as not intending any good to him thereby.
In this condition God doth not appeare in his owne shape to the soul, but in the shape of an enemy; and when God seemes against us, who shall stand for us? Our blessed Saviour in his agony had the Angels to comfort him; but had he beene a meere man, and not assisted by the Godhead, it was not the comfort (no not) of Angels that could have upheld him, in the sense of his fathers Nihil est tentatio vel universi mundi & totius inferni in unum conflata, ad eam qua Deus contrarius homini ponitur. Lutherwithdrawing his countenance from him. Alas then what will become of us in such a case if we be not supported by a spirit of power, and the power of …n almighty spirit?
If all the temptations of the whole world, and hell it selfe were mustered together, they were nothing to this, whereby the great God sets himselfe contrary to his poore creature. None can conceive so, but those that have felt it. If the hiding of his face will so trouble the soule, what will his frowne and angry look doe? Needs must the soule bee in a wofull plight, when as God seemes not onelyonly to bee absent from it, but an enemy to it. When a man sees no comfort from above, and lookes inward and sees lesse, when hee lookes about him, and sees nothing but evidences of Gods displeasure; beneath him, and sees nothing but desperation, clouds without, and clouds within, nothing but clouds in his condition here, he had need of faith to breake through all, and see Sunne through the thickest cloud.
Upon this, the distressed soule is in danger to be set upon by a temptation, called the temptation of blasphemy, that Tentatio blasphemiarum.is, to entertain bitter thoughts against God, and especially against the grace and goodnesse of God, wherein he desires to make himselfe most knowne to his creature. In those that have wilfully resisted divine truths made knowne unto them, and after taste, despised them, a perswasion that God hath for saken them, set on strongly by Sathan, hath a worse effect, it stirs up a hellish hatred against God, carying them to a revengefull desire of opposing whatsoever is Gods, though not alwayes openly (for then they should lose the advantage of doing hurt,) yet secretly and subtilly, and under pretence of the contrary. To this degree of blasphemie Gods children never fall, yet they may feele the venome of corruption stirring in their hearts, against God and his wayes which he takes with them; and this addes greatly to the depth of their affliction, when afterward they think with themselves what hellish stuffe they cary in their soules. This is not so much discerned in the temptation, but after the fit is somewhat remitted.
In this kinde of desertion, seconded with this kinde of temptation, the way is to call home the soule, and to check it, and charge it to trust in God, even though he shewes himselfe an enemy, for it is but a shewe, he doth but put on a maske with a purpose to reveale himselfe the more graciously afterward; his maner is to worke by contraries. In this condition God lets-in some few beames of light, whereby the soul casts a longing looke upon God, even when he seemes to forsake it; it will with Ionas in the belly of hell, looke back to Ion. 2. 4.the holy Temple of God, it will steale a looke unto Christ. Nothing more comfortable in this condition, then to flye to him, that by experience knew what this kinde of forsaking meant, for this very end that he might bee the fitter to succour us in the like distresse.
Learne therefore to appeale from God to God, oppose his gracious nature, his sweet promises to such as are in darknesse, and see no light, inviting Isay 50. 10them to trust in him, though thereappeare to the eye of sense and reason nothing but darknesse: Here make use of that sweet Relation of God in Christ, becomming a Father to us: Doubtlesse thou art our Father: flesh would make a doubt of it, and thou seemest to hide Esa. 63. 16thy face from us, yet doubtlesse thou art our Father, and hast in former time shewed thy selfe to be so, wee will not leave thee till we have a blessing from thee, till we have a kinder looke from thee: This wrastling will prevaile at length, and we shall have such a sight of him, as shall bee an encouragement for the time to come, when we shall be able to comfort others, with those comforts 2 Cor. 1. 4.whereby we have been refreshed our selves. With the Saints case remember the Saints course, which is to trust in God. So Christ the Head of the Church commits himselfe to that God, whose favour for the present he felt not; So Iob resolves upon trust though God should kill him.
But these holy persons were not troubled Object.with the guilt of any particular sin, but I feele the just displeasure of God kindled against me for many and great offences.
True it is, that sinne is not so sweet Answ.in the committing, as it is heavy and …itter in the reckoning. When Adam had once offended God, Paradise it selfe was not Paradise to him. The presence of God which was most comfortable before, was now his greatest terrour, had not God out of his free infinite and preventing mercy come betwixt him and hell, by the promise of the blessed seed. This seed was made sin to satisfie for sinne; sinne passive in himselfe 2 Cor. 5. 21to satisfie for sinne active in us.
When God once charges sinne upon the soule, Alas who shall take it off? When the great God shall frowne, the smiles of the creature cannot refresh us. Sinne makes us afraid of that which should be our greatest comfort; it puts a sting into every other evill; upon the seazing of any evill, either of body, soule, or condition, the guilty soule is imbittered and enraged; for from that which it feeles, it fore-speakes to it selfe worse to come. It interprets all that befalls, as the messengers of an angry God, sent in displeasure to take revenge upon it. This weakneth the courage, wasteth the spirits, and blasteth Psal. 38.the beauty even of Gods dearest ones. There is not the stoutest man breathing, but if God sets his conscience against him, it will pull him downe, and lay him flat, and fill him with such inward terrors, as he shall be more afraid of himselfe, then of all the world beside. This were a dolefull case, if God had not provided in Christ a remedy for this great evill of evills, and if the holy Spirit were not above the conscience, able as well to pacifie it by the sense of Gods love in Christ, as to convince it of sinne, and the just desert thereby.
But my sinnes are not the sinnes of an ordinary Object.man, my spots are not as the spots of the rest of Gods children.
Conceive of Gods mercy as no ordinary Answ.mercy, and Christs obedience as no ordinary obedience. There is something in the very greatnesse of sin, that may encourage us to goe to God, for the greater our sinnes are, the greater the glory of his powerfull mercy in pardoning, and his powerfull grace in healing will appeare. The great God delights to shew his greatnesse in the greatest things; Even men glory, when they are put upon that, which may set forth their worth in any kinde. God delighteth in mercy, it pleaseth him (nothing Mic. 7. 18.so well) as being his chiefe Name, which then we take in vaine, when we are not moved by it to come unto him.
That which Sathan would use as an argument to drive us from God, wee should use as a strong plea with him. Lord the greater my sins are, the greater will be the glory of thy pardoning mercy. David after his hainous sinnes, cries not for mercy, but for abundance of mercy, according to the multitude of thy mercies, doe away nine offences: his mercy Psal. 51.is not only above his own works, but above ours too. If we could sin more then he could pardon, then wee might have some reason to despaire. Despaire is a high point of Atheisme, it takes away God and Christ both at once. Iudas in betraying our Saviour, was an occasion of his death as man, but in despairing he did what lay in him to take away his life as God.
When therefore Conscience joyning with Sathan, sets out thy sinne in its …ours, labour thou by faith to set out God in his colours, infinite in mercy and loving kindnesse. Here lies the art of a Christian; It is divine Rhetorick thus to perswade and set downe the soule. Thy sinnes are great, but Adams was greater, who being so newly advanced above all the creatures, and taken into so neare an acquaintance with God, and having ability to persist in that condition if he would, yet willingly overthrew himselfe and all his whole posterity, by yeelding to a temptation, which though high (as being promised to bee like unto God,) yet such as hee should and might have resisted; No sinne we can commit, can be a sinne of so tainting and spreading a nature, yet as he fell by distrust, so he was recovered by trusting, and so must we by relying on a second Adam, whose obedience and righteousnesse from thence Rom. 5. 17raignes, to the taking away not only of that one sinne of Adam, and ours in him, but of all, and not onelyonly to the pardon of all sinne, but to a right of everlasting life. The Lord thinkes himself disparaged, when wee have no higher Gods mercy not to be limited.thoughts of his mercy, then of our sins, when we bring God downe to our Model, when as, the heavens are not so much higher then the earth, then his thoughts of Isay 55. 8.love and goodnesse, are above the thoughts of our unworthinesse. It is a kinde of taking away the Almighty, to limit his boundlesse mercy in Christ, within the narrow scantling of our apprehension; yet infidelity doth this, which should stirre up in us a loathing of it above all other sinnes. But this is Sathans fetch, when once he hath brought us into sins against the Law, then to bring us into sinnes of a higher nature, and deeper danger, even against the blessed Gospell, that so there may be no remedy, but that mercy it selfe might condemne us.
All the aggravations, that conscience and Sathan helping it, are able to raise sinne unto, cannot rise to that degree of infinitenesse, that Gods mercy in Christ is of. If there be a spring of sin in us, there is a spring of mercy in him, and a fountaine opened daily to wash our selves in. If we sin oft, let us do as S. Paul, who prayed oft against the prick Zac. 13. 1.of the flesh. If it be a devill of long continuance, yet fasting and prayer will drive him out at length.
Nothing keepes the soule more downe, then sinnes of long continuance, because corruption of nature hath gotten such strength in them, as nature Isay 55. 8.is added to nature, and custome doth so Sinnes of continuance dangerous.determine and sway the soule one way, that men thinke it impossible to recover themselves, they see one linke of sin draw on another, all making a chain to fasten them to destruction, they thinke of necessity they must be damned because custome hath bred a necessity of sinning in them, and conceive of the promise of mercy, as only made to such as turn from their sinfull courses, in which they see themselves so hardened, that they cannot repent.
Certaine it is, the condition is most lamentable, that yeelding unto sinne brings men unto. Men are carefull to prevent dangerous sicknesses of body, and the danger of law concerning their estates; but seldome consider into what a miserable plight their sinnes which they so willingly give themselves up unto, will bring them in. If they doe not perish in their sins, yet their yeelding will bring them into such a dolefull condition, that they would give the whole world, if they were possessours of it, to have their spirits at freedome from this bondage and feare.
To such as blesse themselves in an ill way upon hope of mercy, we dare not speake a word of comfort; because God doth not, but threatens his wrath, shall burne to hell against them. Yet How to deale with such, as have lived long in sinne.because while life continues there may be as a space, so a place, and grace for repentance, these must be dealt withall in such a maner, as they may be stayed and stopped in their dangerous courses, there must be a stop before a turne.
And when their consciences are throughly awaked with sense of their danger, let them seriously consider whither sin, and Sathan by sin is carying of them, and lay to heart the justice of God, standing before them as an Angell with a drawne sword, ready to fall upon them if they post on still.
Yet to keep them from utter sinking, let them consider withall, the unlimited mercy of God, as not limited to any person, or any sin, so not to any time; there is no prescription of time can binde God, his mercy hath no certaine date that will expire, so as those that fly unto it, shall have no benefit. Invincible mercy will never be conquered, Bonitas invicti non vincitur, & infinita miserecordia non finitur. Fulgent.and endlesse goodnesse never admits of bounds or end.
What kinde of people were those that followed Christ, were they not such as had lived long in their sinfull courses? He did not onelyonly raise them that were newly dead, but Lazarus that had lyen foure dayes in the grave. They thought Christs power in raising the dead, had reached to a short time onelyonly, but hee would let them know, that hee could as well raise those that had been long as lately dead. If Christ be the Physitian, it is no matter of how long continuance the disease be. He is good at all kinde of diseases, and will not endure the reproach of disability to cure any. Some diseases are the reproaches of other Physitians, as being above their skill to helpe, but no conceit more dangerous when we are to deale with Christ.
The blessed Martyr Bilney was much offended when he heard an eloquent Preacher enveighing against sin, saying thus. Behold, thou hast lyen rotten in thy owne lusts, by the space of sixty yeares, even as a beast in his owne dung, and wilt thou presume in one year to goe forward towards heaven, and that in thine olde age, as much as thou wentest backward from heaven to hell in sixty yeares? Is not this a goodly argument (saith Bilney?) Is this preaching of repentance in the name of Jesus? It is as if Christ had dyed in vaine for such a man, and that hee must make satisfaction for himselfe. If I had heard (saith he) such preaching of repentance in times past, I had utterly despaired of mercy: We must never thinke the doore of hope to bee shut against us, if we have a purpose to …e unto God. As there is nothing more injurious to Christ, so nothing more foolish and groundlesse then to distrust, it being the chiefe scope of God in his word to draw our trust to him in Christ, in whom is alwayes open a breast of mercy for humbled sinners to flye unto.
But thus farre the consideration of our long time spent in the devils service should prevaile with us, as to take more shame to our selves, so to resolve more strongly for God and his wayes, and to account it more then sufficient that wee have spent already, so much precious time to so ill purposes, and the lesse time we have, to make the more …st, to worke for God, and bring all the honour wee can to Religion in so little a space. Oh how doth it grieve those that have felt the gracious power of Christ in converting their soules, that ever they should spend the strēgth of their parts in the worke of his and their enemie. And might they live longer, it is their full purpose for ever to renounce their former wayes. There is bred in them an eternall desire of pleasing God, as in the wicked there is an eternall desire of offending him, which eternity of desires God lookes to in both of them, and rewards them accordingly, though hee cuts off the thred of their lives.
But God in wisdome will have the conversions of such as have gone on in a course of sinning (especially after light revealed) to be rare and difficult. Birthes in those that are ancienter, are with greater danger then in the younger sort. God will take a course, that his Cavendu… est vulnus, quod dolore curatur.grace shall not be turned into wantonnesse. He oft holds such upon the rack of a troubled conscience, that they and others may feare to buy the pleasure of sinne at such a rate. Indeed where sinne abounds, there grace superabounds, but then it is where sinne that abounded in the life, abounds in the conscience in griefe and detestation of it, as the greatest evill. Christ groaned at the raising of Lazarus, which he did not at others, because that though to an Almighty power all things are alike easie, yet hee will shew that there be degrees of difficulties in the things themselves, and make it appeare to us that it is so. Therefore those that have enjoyed long the sweet of sinne, may expect the bitterest sorrow and repentance for sinne.
Yet never give place to thoughts of despaire, as comming from him that would overturne the end of the Gospell, which layes open the riches of Gods mercy in Christ, which riches none set out more then those that have beene the greatest of sinners, as we see in Paul. We cannot exalt God more then by taking notice, and making use of that great designe of infinite wisdome in reconciling justice and mercy together, so as now he is not only mercifull, but just in pardoning sinnes. Our Saviour Rom. 3. 26.as he came towards the latter age of the world, when all things seemed desperate, so hee comes to some men in the latter part of their dayes. The mercy shewed to Zacheus, and the good theefe was personall, but the comfort intended by Christ was publike, therefore still still trust in God.
In this case wee must goe to God, with whom all things are possible, to put forth his Almighty power, not only in the pardoning, but in subduing our iniquities. He that can make a Camell goe through a needles eye, can make a high conceited man lowly, a rich man humble. Therefore never question his power, much lesse his willingnesse, when he is not onelyonly ready to receive us when we returne, but perswades and intreates us to come in unto him, yea after back-sliding and false dealing with Ier. 3. 2.him, wherein he allowes no mercy to be shewed by man, yet he will take liberty to shew mercy himselfe.
But I have often relapsed and fallen into Object.the same sin againe and againe.
If Christ will have us pardon our brother seaventy seaven times, can wee Answ.thinke that hee will enjoyne us more, then he will be ready to doe himselfe, when in case of shewing mercy hee would have us thinke his thoughts to be farre above ours. Adam lost all by once sinning, but we are under a better covenant, a covenant of mercy, and are encouraged by the Sonne to goe to the Father every day for the sinnes of that day.
Where the worke of grace is begun, sin loses strength by every new fall; for hence issues deeper humility, stronger hatred, fresh indignation against our selves, more experience of the deceitfulnesse of our hearts, renewed resolutions untill sin be brought under. That should not drive us from God, which God would have us make use of, to flye the rather to him, since there is a throne of grace set up in Jesus Christ, we may boldly make use of, and let us be ashamed to sinne, and not ashamed to glorifie Gods mercy in begging pardon for sin. Nothing will make us more ashamed to sin, then thoughts of so free and large mercy. It will grieve an ingenuous spirit to offend so good a God. Ah that there should be such an heart in me, as to tire the patience of God, and damme up his goodnesse, as much as in me lyes; but this is our comfort, that the plea of mercy from a broken spirit to a gracious Father, will ever hold good. When wee are at the lowest in this world, yet there are these three grounds of comfort still remaining. 1. That wee are not yet in the place of the damned, whose estate is unalterable. 2. That whilest we live, there is time and space for recovering of our selves. 3. That there is grace offered, if we will not shut our hearts against it.
O, but every one hath his time, my good Object.houre may be past.
That is counsell to thee, it is not past Answ.if thou canst raise up thy heart to God, and embrace his goodnesse. Shew by thy yeelding unto mercy, that thy time of mercy is not yet out, rather then by concluding uncomfortably, willingly betray thy selfe to thy greatest enemy, enforcing that upon thy selfe, which God labours to draw thee from. As in the sinne against the Holy Ghost, feare shewes that wee have not committed it: So in this, a tender heart fearing least our time bee past, shewes plainely that it is not past.
Looke upon examples, when the Prodigall in his forlorne condition was going to his Father, his Father stayed not for him, but meetes him in the way, Luke 15.he did not only goe, but ranne to meet him. God is more willing to entertain us, then we are to cast our selves upon him. As there is a fountaine opened for sinne, and for uncleannesse, so it is a living fountaine of living water, that runnes for ever, and can never bee drawne dry.
Here remember, that I build not a Cautionshelter for the presumptuous, but only open an harbour for the truly humbled soule, to put himselfe into,