The Practice of Piety, Treatise · Part 33
Meditations against Despair, or doubting of God's Mercy.
IT is found by continual experience that near the time of Death (when the Children of God are weakest) then Satan makes the greatest flourish of his strength, and assails them with his strongest temptations. For he knoweth that either he must now or never prevail: for if their souls once go to Heaven, he shall never vex nor trouble them any more. And therefore he will now bestir himself as much as he can, and labour to set before their eyes all the gross sins which ever they committed, and the Judgments of God which are due unto them: thereby to drive them, if he can, unto despair, which is a grievouser sin than all the sins hat they committed, or he can accuse them of.
If Satan therefore trouble thy Conscience more towards thy death,Satan's first stratagem in time of death. The defeature. than in thy life;
1. Confess thy sins unto God, not only in general, but also in particular.
2. Make satisfaction unto those Men, whom thou hast wronged, if thou be…st able. And if thou dost injuriously or fraudulently detain or keep in thy possession, any Lands or Goods, that of right do belong to any Widow, or Fatherless Child, presume not, as thou tenderest thy Soul's health, to look Christ the righteous Judge in the face, unless thou dost first make a restitution thereof to the right owners; for the Law of God under the penalty of his curse, requireth thee to*Lev. 6. 2, 3, 4, &c. Nu… 5. 6, 7, 8. restore whatsoever was given thee to keep, or which was committed to thy trust, or whatsoever by robbery, or violent oppression, thou tookest from thy neighbour, with a fifth part for amends added to the principal. Non remittitur peccatum, nisi restituatur ablutum.And unless that like Zaccheus thou dost make†Luk. 19. 8, 9. Mic. 6 10, 11. restit…tion of such Goods and Lands, according to God's Law, thou canst never truly repent, and without true Repentance, thou canst never be saved. But though by the temptation of the Devil, thou hast done wrong and injury; yet if thou dost truly bJet. 18 7. Act. 2. 38. Act 8. 22.repent and make restitution to thy power, the Lord hath promised to be merciful unto thee, to hear thecGen. 20 7. J…m 5. 14, 15. 16. Lev. 6. 6, 7. Prayers of his faithful Ministers for thee, to forgive thee thy trespass and sin, and to receive thy Soul in the Merits of Christ's Blood, as a Lamb without blemish.
3. Ask God for Christ his sake pardon and forgiveness. And then these troubles of mind are no Discouragements, but rather Comforts: Exercises, not Punishments. They are assurances unto thee, that thou art in the right way: for the way to Heaven is by the gates of Hell: that is, by suffering pains in the body, and such doubtings in the mind, that thy estate in this life being every way made bitter, the joys of eternal life may relish unto thee better and more sweet.
If Satan tell thee that thou hast no Faith,Satan's second assault. Tbe Christian's encounter. because thou hast no feeling; Meditate,
1. That the truest Faith hath oftentimes the least feeling, and greatest doubts; but so long as thou hatest such doubtings,Mar. 9. 24. they shall not be laid unto thy charge; for they belong to the flesh from which thou art divorced. Mat. 14. 31.When thy flesh shall perish, thy weak inward man, which hates them, and loves the Lord Jesus, shall be saved.
2.Job 13. 15. That it is a better Faith to believe without feeling, than with feeling. The least Faith (so much as a grain of Mustardseed, Mat. 17. 20.so much as is in an Infant baptized) is enough to save the Soul which loveth Christ, and believeth in him.
3. That the Child of God which desireth to feel the assurance of God's favour, shall have his desire, when God shall see it to be for his good: For God hath promised to give them theaRev. 21. 6. Isa. 55. 1. Water of Life, who thirst for it, we have an example in *Fox Acts. & Monum.Mr. Glover the holy Martyr, who could have no comfortable feeling till he came to the sight of the Stake: and then cryed out and clapped his hands for joy to his Friends, saying, O Austin, he is come, he is come; meaning the feeling joy of Faith, and the Holy Ghost. Tarry therefore the Lord's leisure: be strong, Psal. 27. 14.and he shall comfort thine heart.
If Satan shall aggravate unto thee the greatness,Satan's third assault. the multitude, and hainousness of thy sins; meditate,
1. That upon true Repentance it is as easie with God to forgive the greatest sin,The encounter. as the least; 1 Tim. 1. 15.and he is as willing to forgive many, as to pardon one. And his mercy shineth more in pardoning great sinners, than small offenders; as appears in the Examples of Manasses, Magdalen, Peter, Paul, &c. And where sin most aboundeth, Rom. 5. 20there doth his Grace rejoyce to abound much more.
2. That God did never forsake any man, till a man did first forsake God, as appears in the examples of Cain, Saul, Achitophel, Ahazia, Judas, &c.
3. That God calleth all, even those sinners who were heavy laden with sin, Mat. 11. 28.and that he did never deny his mercy to any sinner that asked his mercy with a penitent heart. This the history of the Gospel witnesseth: There came unto Christ all sorts of sick sinners; the blind, lame, halt, Lepers; such as were sick of Palsies, Dropsies, Bloody-fluxes; such as were Lunatick, and possessed with unclean Spirits and Devils: Yet of all these, not one that came and asked his mercy and help, went away without his errand: If mercy he asked, mercy he found, were his sin never so great, were his Disease never so grievous. Nay, he offered and gave his mercy to many that never asked it, (being moved only with the Bowels of his own compassion, and the sight of their misery) as to the woman of Samaria, Joh. 4. Luk. 7. 13.the widow of Naim, and to the sick man that lay at the Pool of Bethesda, who had been 38 years sick. If he thus willingly gave his mercy to them that did not ask it, and was found of them (as theaIsa. 65. 1. Rom. 10. 20 Prophet saith) that sought him not; will he deny mercy unto thee, who dost so earnestly pray for it with Tears; and dost like the poor Publican, so heartily knock for it, with penitent fists upon a bruised and broken heart? Especially when thou prayest to thy Father, in the name and mediation of Christ, for whose sake he hath promised to grant whatsoever we shall ask of him; Joh. 14. 14.as sure as God is true, he will not. Though Nineve's sins had provoked the Lord to send out his sentence against them, yet upon their repentance he recalled it again and spared the City: how much more if thou likewise repentest, will he spare thee, seeing his sentence is not yet gone forth against thee?Novit Dominus mutare sententiam si tu noveris …mendare vitam. Aug. in Psal. 50. if he deferred the judgments all Ahab's days, for the external shew only which he made of humiliation; how much more will he clean turn away his vengeance, if thou wilt unfeignedly repent of thy sin, and return unto him for grace and mercy?
He offered his mercy unto Cain (who murthered his innocent Brother.)Gen. 4. 7. If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted? As if he should have said, if thou wilt leave thy envy and malice, and offer unto me from a faithful and contrite heart, both thou and thine Oblation also shall be acceptable unto me. And to Judas (that so treacherously betray'd him) in calling himaMat. 26. 50. friend, a sweet appellation of love: and when Judas offered, he willingly consented with that mouth (wherein never was found b1 Pet. 2. 22.guile) to kiss those dissembling lips, under which lurked the cPsal. 140. 3. 1 King. 20. 32, 33. Verse 34.poyson of Asps. Had Judas apprehended this word friend out of the mouth of Christ, as Benhadad did the word Brother from the mouth of Ahab, doubtless Judas should have found the God of Israel more merciful than Benhadad found the King of Israel. But God was*…udam non tam …lus quam desperatio fecit penitus interire. Aug. li. de util. poenit. more displeased with Cain for despairing of his mercy, than for murthering his Brother, and withaS…leration omnibus O Juda extitisti quem non poen…tentia duxit ad Dominum, sed desperatio traxit ad laqueum. Leo. Judas for hanging himself, than for betraying his Master in that they would make the sins of mortal men greater than …he Infinite mercy of the eternal God; or as if they could be more sinful than God was merciful. Whereas the least drop of Christ's Blood is of more merit to procure God's mercy for thy salvation, than all the sins (that thou hast committed) can be of force to provoke his wrath to thy damnation.
If Satan shall suggest,Satan's fourth assault. that all this is true of God's mercy, but that it doth not belong unto thee, because thy sins are greater than other mens, as being sins of knowledge, and of many years continuance, and such as whereby others have been undone: and all (for the most part) …ommitted wilfully and presumptuously against God and thy Conscience. And therefore though he will be merciful unto others, yet he will not be merciful unto thee; Meditate.
1.The encounter. That many (who are now in Heaven most blessed and glorious Saints) committed in the same kind (when they lived on earth) as great and greater sins then ever thou hast committed, and continued (before they repented) in those sins as long as ever thou hast done. As therefore all their sins and the continuance in them, could not hinder God's mercy upon their repentance, from forgiving their sins, and receiving them into favour; no more shall thy sins and continuance therein hinder him from being merciful unto thee, if thou dost repent as they did: 1 Tim. 1. 16.yea, upon thy Repentance, every one of their examples is a pledge that he will do the same unto thee that he did unto them. For as the least sin in God's Justice without repentance is damnable; so the greatest sin upon repentance is in his mercy pardonable. Thy greatest and inveteratest sins are but the sins of a man, but the least of his Mercies is the mercy of God. Because thou knowest thine own sins, thou doubtest whether they shall be pardoned. Mark how this doubtful case is resolved by Good himself. Many in Isaiah's days, thought (as thou dost) that they had continued so long in sin, that it was too late for them now to seek to return unto God for Grace and Mercy. But God answereth them, Seek ye the Lord whilst he may be found: Isa. 55. 6, 7, 8, 9.call ye upon him whilst he is near. As if he had said, whilst life lasteth, and my Word is preached, I am near to be found of all that seek me, and pray unto me. The People reply: But we (O Lord) are grievous sinners, and therefore dare not presume to call upon thy Name, or to come near thine Holiness To this the Lord answereth, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts: and let him return unto me, and I will have mercy upon him, and to his God, and I will pardon him abundantly. But we would think (say the people) that if our sins were but ordinary sins, this promise of Mercy might belong unto us: But because our sins are so great, and of such long continuance, therefore we fear lest when we appear before God, he will reject us. To this God answereth again: My thoughts (of mercy) are not your thoughts, neither are your ways (of pardoning) my ways: for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. If therefore every sinner in the world were a world of such sinners as thou art; do thou but yet (what God bids thee) repent and believe, and the †Act. 20. 28. 1 Joh. 1. 7.Blood of Jesus Christ, being the Blood of God, will cleanse both thee, and them from all your sins.
2. That as God did foresee all the sins which the world should commit, and yet all those could not hinder him from loving the world, Joh. 3. 16.so that he gave his only begotten Son to death, to save as many of the world, as would believe and repent: much less shall thy sins (being the sins of the least member of the world) be able to hinder God from loving thy soul, and forgiving thy sins, if thou dost repent and believe.
3.Rom. 5. 8, 9. That if he loved thee so dearly (when thou wast his Enemy) that he payed for thee so dear a price as the spilling of his heart blood; how can he now but be gracious unto thee, when to save thee will cost him but the casting of a gracious look upon thee? Look nor thou therefore to the greatness of thy sins, but to the infiniteness of his mercy, which is so surpassing great, that if thou puttest all thine own grievous sins together, and addest unto those the sins of Cain and Judas, and puttest unto them all the sins of all the Reprobates in the World (doubtless it would be a huge heap) yet compare this huge heap with the infinite mercy of God, and there will be no more comparison betwixt them, than betwixt the least Mole-hill & the greatest Mountain in a Country. The cry of the grievous est sins that ever we read of, could never reach up higher than unto Heaven, as the cry of the sins of Sodom: Gen. 19. 13. Psal. 108. 4.but the mercy of God (saith David) reacheth up higher than the Heavens, and so overtoppeth all our sins. And if his Mercy be greater than all his works, Psal. 145. 9.it must needs be greater that all thy sins. And so long as his mercy is greater than the sins of the whole world, do thou but repent, there is do doubt of pardon.
If*Satan's fifth assault. …tan shall object, that thou hast many times vowed to repent, and hast made a shew of repentance for the time, and yet didst fall to the same sins again and again; and that all thy repentance was but feigned, and a mocking of God. And that seeing thou hast so often broken thy vow, therefore God hath withdrawn his mercy, and hath changed his love, &c. medi…ate,
1.†The encounter.. That though this were true (which indeed is hainous) yet it is no sufficient cause why thou shouldst despair; seeing that this is the common case of all the Children of God in this life, who vow so oft to forbear some sinaI remember (saith Luther that Staupitius was wont to tell me, Ego plus quàm millies Deo vovi, &c. I have more than a thousand times vowed unto God, that I would mend my life, but I could never perform my vow. Henceforth I will make no such vow, because I verily know that I cannot keep it. Unless therefore God will be merciful unto me for Christ his sake, and grant me a blessed departure out of this wretched life all my vows and good works will stand me in no stead. This is the state of the dearest Children of God in this life. Read Luther on Galat. 5. till perceiving their weakness nor able to perform it, they vow that they will vow no more. Their Vows shew the desires of their spiritual Man; their breaking, the weakness of their corrupt flesh. And our oft slips into the same sins, Christ foresaw, when he taught us to pray daily; Our Father, forgive us our trespasses. And why doth Christ enjoyn thee (who art but a sinful man) to forgive thy brother seven times in a day, Luke. 17. 3, 4.if he shall return seven times in a day, and say, it repenteth me? But to assure thee that he (being the God of mercy and goodness it self) will forgive unto thee thy seventy times seven-fold sins a day which thou hast committed against him,Mat. 18. 21. 22. if thou return unto him by tru… Repentance.Num. 21. 9. Post lachrymas gemitusque graves clementia Christi confestim est, occulos ante locanda tuos. The Israelites were cured by looking (though with weak eyes) on the Brazen Serpent, as oft as they were stung by the fiery Serpent in the Wilderness: to assure thee that upon thy tears of repentance, thou shalt be recovered by …aith in Christ as often as thou are wounded to death by sin.
2. That thy salvation is grounded, not upon the constancy of thine obedience, but upon the firmness of God's Covenant. Though thou variest with God, and the Covenant be broken on thy behalf, yet it is firm on God's part; and therefore all is safe enough if thou wilt return; for there is noaJam. 1. 17. variableness with him, neither shadow of change. He hath locked up thy salvation, and made it sure in his ownbRom, 8. 28. Rom. 9. 11. unchangeable purpose; and hath delivered to thy keeping the keys, which are*By these Keys Peter opened Heaven to himself, and afterwards with the rest of the Apostles, unto others, Luk. 22. 62. Luk. 24. 47. &c. Faith and repentance; and whilst thou hast them, thou mayst perswade thy self that thy salvation is su…e and safe;Joh 20. 21. For whom God cJoh. 13. 1.loveth, he loveth to the end, and neverdRom. 11. 29. repenteth of bestowing his love on them who repent and believe.
Lastly,Rom. 8. 30. Satan's sixth assault. If Satan shall perswade thee that thou hast been doubting a long time, and that it's best for thee now to despair, seeing thy sins increase, and thy judgment draweth near; meditate,
1. That no sin (though never so great) should be a cause to move any Christian to despair, so long as God's mercy by so many millions of degrees is greater: and that every penitent and believing Sinner hath the pardon of all his sins confirmed by the Word and Oath of God;*Heb. 6. 18. two immutable things, wherein it is impossible that God should lye. His Word is, that at what time soever a sinner, whosoever, doth repent of his sin, whatsoever, (for both time, and sins, and sinners are indefinite) from the bottom of his heart, bEzek. 18. 22.God will blot forth all his sins out of his remembrance, that they shall be mentioned unto him no more. Dr. King of Lond…n, his Lectures on Jonah.If we will not take his word (which God forbid we should doubt of) he hath given us his Oath: As I live, I desire not the death of the wicked, Ezek. 33. 11.but that the wicked turn from his way and live. As if he had said, will ye not believe my Word? I swear by my life, that I delight not to damn any sinner for his sins, but rather to save him upon his conversion and repentance.O foelices nos quorum causa jurat Deus! O miserrimos nos si non Deo quidem juranti credimus? Tertul. The meditation hereof moved Tertullian to exclaim: O how happy are we, when God sweareth that he wills not our damnation! O what miserable wretches are we, if we will not believe God when he sweareth this truth unto us! Listen, O drooping Spirit, whose soul is assailed with ways of faithless despair; how happy were it to see many like thee, and Hezekiah? Isa. 38. 14.(who mourn like Doves for the sense of sin, and chatter like Cranes and Swallows for the fear of God's anger) rather than to behold many who die like Beasts without any feeling of their own estate, or any fear of God's wrath, or Tribunal Seat, before which they are to appear? Comfort thy self, O languishing soul; for if this earth hath any for whom Christ spilt his blood on the Cross, thou assuredly art one Chear up therefore thy self in the all-sufficient atonement of the blood of the Lamb, which speaketh better things than that of Abel. Heb. 12. 24.And pray for those, who never yet obtained the grace to have such a sense and detestation of sin. Thou art one indeed, for whom Christ died, and from whom a wounded spirit (judging rather according to his feeling than his faith) hath wrung that doleful voice of Christ, aMat. 27. 46.My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And doubt not but ere long thou shalt as trulyb2 Tim. 2. 11. reign with him as now thou dost suffer with him, forc2 Cor. 1. 20. Yea anddRev. 3. 14. Amen hath spoken it. No sin bars a man from salvation, but only Incredulity and Impenitency: Heb. 6. 6.nothing makes the sin against the Holy Ghost unpardonable, but want of repentance. Thy unfeigned desire to repent, is as acceptable unto God, as the perfectest repentance that thou couldest wish to p…r…orm unto him.
Meditate upon these Evangelical comforts, and thou shalt see that in the very agon… of death God will so assist thee with his spirit, that when Satan looketh for the greatest victory, he shall receive the foulest foil; yea, when thy eye-strings are broken, that thou canst not see the light, Jesus Christ will appear unto thee to comfort thy Soul, and his Holy Angels will carry thee into his Heavenly Kingdom. Luke 16. 22.Then shall thy Friends behold thee, like*Judg. 13. 1. Manoah's Angel, doing wonders indeed, when they shall see a frail man in his greatest weakness (by the mere assistance of God's Spirit) overcoming the strength of sin, the bitterness of death, and all the power of Satan; and in the fire of Faith, and perfume of Prayer, ascend up with Angels victoriously into Heaven.