THere are divers lets and impe­diments which hinder poore [Page 2] Christians from comming unto Christ, all which I desire to reduce to these following heads.

First, such hinderances as really keepe men from comming to take hold of Christ at all, which are briefly these.

Lets vvhich hinder mē from com­ming to Christ.1. Blinde carelesnesse, or presumptuous securi­ty, whereby men content themselves in their pre­sent condition, presuming all is well with them, when there is no such matter.

2. Being convinced of this, they bethinke how to save themselves by their own strength, & thereupon set upon a reformation of life, thinking to make God amends by reforming [Page 3] some sinnes which they heare themselves repro­ved of by the Ministers.

3. The sinner being convinced of his utter in­ability to please God in himselfe, at length gets up a stayre higher, and sees all his performances, & pray­ers, and duties to be of no power in themselves, but that he must leave all, and cleave onely unto Christ by faith; and this he thinks hee can doe well enough, and so thrusts himselfe up­on Christ, thinking all the worke is then done, and no more to bee looked after.

4. If hee sees this failes him too, then he goes yet further, and confesseth he [Page 4] cannot come to Christ ex­cept Christ give him his hand, and helpe him up: therefore now hee will at­tend upon the ordinances, and labour and bestirre himselfe hard in the use of all good meanes, con­ceiving thereby to ham­mer out at last, a faith of his own to make him hap­pie. And here hee rests, hanging as it were upon the outside of the Arke, so long till at last the waves and windes growing fierce and violent, hee is beaten off from his hold, and so sinkes for ever.

Besides these, there are other kinds of hinderances which doe not indeed de­prive a man of title and in­terest [Page 5] to eternall happi­nesse, but make the way tedious & uncomfortable, so that he cannot come to Christ so readily, as he de­sires and longs to doe; the ground whereof, is this, when men out of carnall reason contrive another way to come unto Christ, then ever hee ordained or revealed, when we set up a standard by Gods Stan­dard, and out of our owne imagination make another condition of beleeving then ever Christ required or ordained. Thus wee make barres in the way, and manacle our hands, and fetter our feet, and then we complaine wee cannot goe: thus it is with you [Page 6] poore Christians, and the fault is your owne. Now amongst many there bee three hinderances which are chiefly to bee obser­ved, Three main hin­derances which keep man from Christ. by which many gra­cious hearts are marvel­lously hindered from com­ming to, and from recei­ving that comfort from Christ, which they might, and hee is willing to be­stow.

1 First, the distressed soule being happily truely hum­bled, takes notice of the beauty of holinesse, and the Image of God stampt upon the hearts of his chil­dren, and of all those pre­cious promises which God hath made to all that are his; now the soule seeing [Page 7] these, begins thus to rea­son with himselfe, and saith, Surely if I were so holy and so gracious, then I might have hope to re­ceive the pardon of my sinnes; for were my heart so enlarged to duties, and could my heart bee so car­ried with power against my corruptions to master them, then there were some hope; but when I have no power against sin, nor any heart to seeke so importunatly for a Christ, how dare I thinke that any mercy belongs to me, ha­ving so many wants? thus they dare not come to the promise, and they will not venture upon it, because they have not that inlarge­ment [Page 8] to duties, and that power against corrupti­on which sometimes the Saints of God have.

But wee must know this doth not hinder, we make it a hinderance, when in truth it is none; for ob­serve it, we must not think to bring enlargement and hope to the promise, but wee must goe to the pro­mise for them; hope must be stirred, and desire quick­ned, and love and joy kind­led by the promise; who made this a condition of the covenant, that a man must have so much en­largement before he come to the promise? our Savi­our requires no portion, but meere poverty and [Page 9] emptinesse: if thou hast nothing he will have thee, provided that thou wilt have him; Luk. 1.53. The rich he sends empty away, but the poore is satisfied, and the thirsty refreshed: there is nothing required on our side, but onely to receive him as a husband: Esay 55.1. Buy without mo­ney, saith the text; you must not thinke to come and buy a husband; the Lord lookes for no power or sufficiency of our selves, no power against corrup­tion, nor enlargement to duties, if you will be con­tent that Christ shall take all from you, and dispose of you, then, take a Savi­our and have him.

Quest. But the poore soule [Page 10] saith, If I goe thus hud­winked, how shall I know that I doe not presume, and how shall I know that I have a true title to the promise.

Answ.I answer, there is no better argument in the world that thou hast an interest in Christ, then this, thy taking of the Lord Christ as a Saviour whol­ly, and as a husband. Iohn 1.12. As many as received him, to them he gave power to be the sonnes of God, even to them that beleeve on his name. He doth not say, to as many as had such en­largement in duties, and such power against cor­ruptions; but if thou wilt take Christ upon those [Page 11] termes which hee offers himselfe, there is no better argument under heaven, that thou hast a title to the promise. There is a despe­rate despaire that often seazeth upon the hearts of distressed sinners.

Therefore in the second 2 place, as the sinner lookes upon the excellency of Christ, and grace, and his owne insufficiency, and so will not venture upon the promise, so he lookes up­on his own sinfulnesse and worthlesnesse, and there­fore dares not venture up­on mercy; hee viewes the number of his sinnes so many & vile, and the con­tinuance of them so long, and hee seeth the floods of [Page 12] abominations comming in amaine upon his soule, and Sathan helps him forwards hereto; for this is the po­licie of the Devill, that, if he can, he will make a man that hee shall never see his sinne, but say, there is mer­cie enough in a Saviour, and therefore I may live as I list: but when the sin­ner will needes see his sin, then hee will let him see nothing but sinne; the one that hee may presume, and the other that hee may de­spaire.

Now the poore sinner stayes here; tell him of the mercy of God, and of the plenteous redemption in Christ, and of the riches of the freenesse of Gods [Page 13] grace, What, saith he, should I thinke that there is any mercy for mee, and that I have any interest in Christ; that were strange? And thus the soule is here poring, and fastned, and setled upon his corrupti­on, and is ever stirring the wound, and never goes to the Physitian: For a man is as well kept frō looking to Christ by despaire, as by presumption; before hee sees his sin, he thinkes his condition is good, and hee hath a sufficiency of his owne, and needs not goe to Christ; and when hee sees his sinne, then he be­holds so much vilenesse in himselfe that he dares not goe to Christ, lest when [Page 14] he goes before him, hee send him down to the pit. Herein the devill is very subtill; but this doth not hinder our title to Christ, neither ought it to discou­rage our hearts from lay­ing hold on salvation.

For first, (observe it) for whom did Christ come in­to the world, & for whom did hee die when hee was come? it was not for the righteous, that needed him not, but for the poore sin­ner that condemnes him­selfe, and knowes hee can­not save himself. Paul saith, Christ Iesus came into the world to save sinners, 1 Tim. 1.15. of whom I am the chiefe: and Zach. 13.1. There is a foun­taine opened for sinne, and [Page 15] for uncleannesse, that is, for all sorts of sinnes, and for all kind of sinners: be their iniquities never so great, and never so vile, there is a fountaine set open, come who will; there was never any saved but a Rebell, and never any man received to mercy, but hee that oppo­sed the mercy of God, and his grace in Christ. The fiery Serpents did sting the people in the wil­dernesse, but there was a brazen Serpent to heale them.

Observe the folly of this plea: what Scripture ever said that the greatnesse of mans sinne could hinder the greatnesse of Gods mercy? no Scripture re­veales [Page 16] this, we see David prayeth the contrary, Have mercy upon me O Lord, Psal. 25.11 and pardon my sinnes, for they are great: Nay, God himselfe doth the quite contrary, Isa. 43.24, 25. Thou hast made me serve with thy sins, and wearied mee with thine iniquities, yet I am hee that blotteth out thy transgressi­ons for my names sake. When the Jewes did tire GOD with their distempers, and burthened him with thei [...] sinfull courses, then th [...] Lord for his owne name sake would not so much a [...] remember their iniquitie [...] against them.

Againe observe, tha [...] sinnes though they be ne­ver so haynous of themselves, [Page 17] yet if the soule can see them, and the heart be burthened with them, they are so farre from hinde­ring the work of faith, and frō making thee uncapable of mercy, that they fit thee to goe to Christ: The truth is, (which I pray you take notice of) it is not properly our unworthi­nesse, but our pride and haughtinesse that hinders us from cōming to Christ; for wee would have some­thing in our selves, and not have all from Christ. Take the distressed soule that sees the vilenesse of his sinnes: suppose thy sinnes were fewer, neverthelesse even then thou goest not to Christ, because thou art [Page 18] perswaded of the freenesse of his grace, but because thou hast a worthinesse in thy selfe, & wouldst bring something to Christ, and not receive all from him: Therefore it is thy pride, and thy selfe-conceited­nesse that hinders thee, thou must have thus much grace and holinesse, and Christ must not justifie the ungodly, but the godly man; I tell thee, then he will never justifie a man while the world stands.

Object. But the soule replies a­gaine, My sins are worse, not onely because they are many, but because of the mercy and salvation that I have rejected, which hath [Page 19] beene offered mee from day to day.

Answ. This hinders not, pro­vided that thou canst see those evils of thine: though thou hast cast away the kindnesse of the Lord, yet the Lord wil not cast away thee, if thou wilt come and seeke him earnestly againe: Esa. 57.17, 18. For the iniquity of his covetousnesse I was wroth (saith God) and I smote him, I hid my selfe, and hee went on frowardly in the way of his owne heart. If this could have hindred, Iudah should never have received mer­cy; but the text saith, I have seene his wayes, and will heale him; Ier. 3.1. Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet turne againe to [Page 20] me, saith the Lord. There is no time past if a man have but a heart to re­turne; there is no limita­tion of the riches of Gods free grace, except the sin against the holy Ghost, Rev. 3.20. I stand at the doore and knock; though he cry til he be hoarse, & stand till he be weary, yet he stands still: if any adulterous or deceitfull wretch will o­pen, the Lord will come in, and bring comfort, and sup with him.

Object. Oh, that is true, saith the poore soule, had I but a heart to mourne for my basenesse; see my sinnes I doe, but this is my misery, I cannot bee burthened with them, I have a heart [Page 21] that cannot breake and mourne for dishonouring of God.

Answ. This hinders not nei­ther, provided that thy heart is weary of it selfe, that it cannot be weary of sinne: Mich. 7.18. The Lord shewes mer­cy because hee will shew mer­cy, it is not because thou canst please him, but be­cause mercy pleaseth him. When did the Lord shew mercy to Paul, even then when Paul did expresse most malice against him; Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou mee? hee persecutes Christ, and yet Christ pi­ties him, and shewes him mercy; and so the churlish Iaylor, Acts. when hee was most opposite against the means [Page 22] of grace, the Lord shewed then most compassion up­on him; he that before re­sisted the meanes of grace, was now brought home by those meanes.

Object. But woe, faith the poore soule, you are now come to the quicke; this very word is like a Milstone a­bout my neck, to sinke my soule for ever; for this is the depth of that basenesse that lies on me, that all the meanes doe not better me. Why, though Paul and the Jaylor were bad enough, yet they were made better by the meanes; but this is my hopelesse condition, that the meanes of grace prevaile not on mee. Is there such a heart in hell [Page 23] as I; how ill must I needs be, when all the meanes in the world will doe mee no, good? but, mee thinkes, I feele my heart more hard and stubborne under all Gods Ordinances; my con­dition is certainly hope­lesse, when the meanes that should soften me, doe but harden me, and make me worse.

Answ. This is the last plea whereby the devill holds down the heart of a poore sinner; but let me answer thee, this hinders not nei­ther, but that at least thou maist have hope of mercy, therefore observe three passages by way of an­swer.

First, the Word and 1 [Page 24] meanes of grace doe work good, if it make thee more sensible of thy hardnesse and deadnesse, though hap­pily it worke not that good, and after the same manner that thou desirest, yet if it make thee see thy basenesse, and hardnesse of heart, and dulnesse, in re­gard of that body of death which hangs upon thee; then the word workes in the best manner, because it is after Gods manner, howsoever not after thine: That Physick workes most kindly, that makes the party sick before it works; so it is with the Word; thou hast a proud heart, and liftest up thy selfe in thine owne abilities, and [Page 25] trustest in thine owne strength, and thinkest that thy care and improvement of the meanes would work wonders; but now the Word works sweetly, whē it makes thee apprehen­sive, that a wounded soule is the gift of God, not of man, nor of the meanes; and therefore the Word makes thee looke to God for it, and to prize it when thou hast it; and the Word makes thee looke to God to continue it; to feele deadnesse is life, and to feele hardnesse is soft­nesse; onely remember this one Caution, Caution. except there bee some lust or di­stemper that thy heart hankers after, for then the [Page 26] Word will harden thee, because thou hardenest thy selfe.

2 Secondly, (marke this I beseech you) thou art the cause why thy heart is not softned, & why the Word works not upon thy soule; the distemper of thy owne heart hinders the working of the Word, and dispensa­tion of Gods providence, and the tenour of the Co­venant of Grace; thou must not thinke to limit the Holy One of Israel, for it is a Covenant of Grace; the Lord will not stand bent to thy bow, and give thee grace when thou wilt; it is not for us to know the times & seasons. What if the Lord will not [Page 27] give thee grace this yeare, Waite for mercy. nor the next, nor all thy life, if at the last gaspe hee will drop in a little favor, it is more then he owes thee, therefore heare to day, and waite to morrow, and con­tinue so doing, because thou knowest not when God may blesse his owne Ordinances; & complaine not of delayes, but waite, for God hath waited for you long, and therefore if he make you waite for peace of conscience, and assurance of his love, the Lord deales equally with you, and as shall bee best for you; God gives what, and when, and how he will, therefore waite for it.

Thirdly, know and con­sider 3 [Page 28] that thou hast rested upon thine owne duties and endeavours, Rest not upon du­ties. and thou doest not goe to God, that blesseth both the meanes and endeavours; the fault is thine owne, (I say) be­cause thou restest in thine owne performances, and in the power of the means that thou apprehendest, and doest not goe to God, that would have wrought more then all these: for did a man depend upon Gods power and mercy in his Ordinances, hee should al­wayes finde some propor­tionable succour, as well when he findes no successe, as when he findes any; for God sometimes gives, and sometimes delayes, but [Page 29] Gods love is as constant whē he gives not, as when he gives. Therefore labour to get out from all carnall confidence in holy duties, and rest not in thy perfor­mances, but looke beyond all duties to God, and de­sire him to give thee suc­cesse above them.

Many a man makes his services, his Saviours. Hee makes them the bottome to beare up his conscience, the ground whereof is this: Happily he findes & feeles by woful experience, what the fruits of sinne are. Hee sees the venome of his cor­ruptions, and the lamen­table effects of all his sinful practises. Hee thought it before a fine thing to [Page 30] sweare, and lye, and drink, and follow base company, but now they are gravell to his heart, and gall to his soule. His conscience fly­eth in his face, and hee is ready to sink down to hell. Conscience saith, these bee thy sinnes, and these will be thy damnation, they have been thy delight, but they will prove thy shame and confusion in the end, thou shalt shortly finde the smart of them. To hell; away be packing.

Now this man hath no cure for his conscience but this, hee entreates Consci­ence to bee quiet, hee con­fesseth hee hath lived in base courses, and his con­dition is very miserable, [Page 31] but now hee will reforme all; hee hath neglected prayer heretofore, but now he will pray; hee hath ha­ted Gods servants, but now hee will love them, his wayes have beene exceed­ing evill, but now hee will reforme them, hee begins to turne a new leafe now, and thinkes that will serve the turn. Thus many poore soules use the meanes as Me­diators, and so fall short of Christ. A gracious heart doth not onely pray, and heare, and receive, and use all possible meanes to ob­taine Christ, but he is rest­lesse and unsatisfied till hee enjoy and possesse Christ in the meanes. Hee rests not upon the bare perfor­mance [Page 32] of any duty, neither thinks by vertue of any of his endeavours, to obtaine a part in Christ.

I will expresse this par­ticular more fully in this manner. A rich Usurer that is sicke of some dis­ease, tell him such a Physi­tian can cure him, but hee stands upon state, he will not come without a great deale of charge: Charge (saith hee) I doe not stand upon that. I have money enough by mee, that will fetch him hither. Such a man now placeth all his confidence in his money. So when the soule sees, the guilt of sinne is not re­moved, and conscience is still snarling, and the law [Page 33] condemning him, and Christ is the onely Savi­our, that can satisfie and cure all. But how shall Christ be procured? Why his prayer, and fasting, and performances wil command him, by the power and merit of the worke done, though he hath no promise for it, and so by resting on his owne performances, falls short of Christ and salvation.

Object. Oh, saith a poore sin­ner, I would goe out of my selfe, and I see I rest upon my duties, but I cannot get out of my selfe.

Answ. I answer, it is Sathans subtilty to keepe us in our selves here too, by endea­vouring to make us goe [Page 34] out of our selves by our owne strength; and this is a marvailous depth of ma­lice and cunning in the de­vill, when he makes us be­leeve (and we out of igno­rance are deluded) that we have power in our owne hands to goe out of our selves; no, it is a superna­turall worke, and the same hand must bring us out of our selves, that must bring us to Christ: Self-denial what it is. This is in truth selfe-deniall, when the soule knoweth it h [...] nothing, and therefore is over powred with the mighty hand of God, and the worke of his Spirit, so that the poore sinner doth not so much as expect any power or ability in him­selfe, [Page 35] or from the creature, in the doing of any duty; hee knowes he is dead, and therfore cannot help him­selfe, much lesse can the creature doe him good, and therefore he lookes to heaven, and seekes all suffi­ciency from God alone. For (observe it) whiles that I thus thinke with my selfe, that I have ability to goe out of my selfe, I doe not then say, that I have a principle within me to de­ [...] my selfe, which is quite contrary, for to deny a mans selfe, is to know that he hath no power in him­selfe to doe any spirituall duty, therefore wee must looke onely to the voyce of Christ, and know, that [Page 36] hee that calls us from the wayes of darknesse, and from our selves, must also bring us to Christ; there­fore expect power from Christ to plucke thee out of thy selfe, and to make thee beleeve, for the same hand doth worke both.

I would not have a poore creature thinke thus with himselfe, If this meanes and these Ordi­nances will doe mee no good, and will not work upon my heart, I shall ne­ver have it; but speak thus unto God, and say, In truth Lord I expect no power from my selfe, nor from the meanes, but my reso­lution is, to looke up to him that hath hid his face [Page 37] from Iacob I will not looke inward here for power, to receive it from within my selfe, nor to the Minister, nor to the meanes, but I wil waite upon thee Lord, and looke up to thy power to worke by the meanes. Who is amongst you that fea­reth the Lord, Esay 50.10. and obeyeth the voyce of his servants, that walketh in darknesse, & hath no light of comfort, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay himselfe upon his God. When all other things in the world faile, let the soule then looke up to the Lord, and looke out from it selfe; this is the fittest time of all to meete with God; I would have a Chri­stian chuse this time above [Page 38] all times to meete his Sa­viour in, and this is the onely time to disappoint Sathan; for, as I said be­fore, it is the last refuge that the devill hath, and if hee misse this opportunity, hee is for ever conquered. Thus the sinner partly see­ing the beauty of grace, will not, and partly seeing the basenesse of his owne heart, dares not come to Christ.

Object. Then in the next place it is want of sense and feel­ing, which he would have and cannot finde; there­fore the distressed soule saith, Alas, I never knew what it was to have the assurance of Gods love, I never received any evi­dence [Page 39] of Gods favour, and shall I thinke that I have faith? they that beleeve have their hearts filled with joy unspeakable and glorious, the Word re­veales this, but I am a stranger to that joy, how can I then thinke that I have any worke of faith wrought in me.

Answ. I answer, this doth not hinder either that thou hast not faith, or that thou maist not come to God by beleeving, therefore re­member these three parti­culars.

First, thou must not 1 thinke to have joy and re­freshing before thou go to the promise, but thou must looke for it, when thou [Page 40] doest chew and feed upon the promise: thou wouldest have the Lord to give thee all the bargaine before thou make the match: This joy is a fruit that pro­ceeds frō faith after much wrestling; it doth not fol­low from faith at the first; first beleeve, and then joy; the heart is never filled with joy before beleeving; but afterwards when thou hast had the sweet dew of the comfort of the promise many a day, then looke for this joy.

2 Secondly, know that these joyes, and this sense and feeling may be absent from faith: a man may have a good faith, and yet want the rellish and sweet­nesse [Page 41] which he longs after. A man may want his desi­rings, and yet want nei­ther life nor heate: A tree may want leaves and fruit, and yet want neither sapp nor moysture: A mans faith may bee somewhat strong, when his feeling is nothing at all: David was justified and sanctified, and yet wanted this joy; and so Iob rested upon GOD when hee had but little feeling, as when hee saith, Thou makest mee a Butt to shoot at; Iob 3.15. yet I will trust in thee though thou kill mee. Therefore build not your comfort upon sense and feeling, but goe to the pro­mise.

Thirdly, the Saints of 3 [Page 42] God many times are de­prived of comfort, not be­cause God with-holds it, but because they put it from themselves, and will not have it, though he of­fer it, Psal. 77. as David, My soule refused comfort, like a sullen childe that wil not eate his Milke, because hee hath it not in the golden dish; so because God doth not for you what you would, you will have nothing at all. These are the maine hin­derances: I might adde many more, for carnall reason is very fruitfull this way, and wee through our owne folly and the devils subtilty, are apt to abuse things, and make them hinderances in our way to [Page 43] eternall happinesse. I come now to the cures of all our impediments, for if we had the wisdome and care wee should have, wee might breake through them all and come to Christ. The means are especially foure, whereby wee may bee in­wardly fortified against them, and at last be able to overcome them.

The first cure and helpe is this, Helps to come to Christ. We must not looke too long, nor pore too much or unwarrantably up­on our owne corruptions, so farre as to be feared or disheartened from com­ming to the riches of Gods grace; for this is an ever­lasting truth, that whatso­eversight of sin unfits a mā [Page 44] for mercy, when hee may take it, and it is offered to him, that sight of sin is ever sinfull, though it have ne­ver so faire a pretence of sorrow and deepe humi­liation: as we think many times, Had I a soule so throughly humbled and bruised, True god­ly sorow what it is. and so forth. The devill oft keepes us in sin, by poring upon our sinnes, when we thinke hereby to be carried from our sinnes; that course thus is a sinfull course. Tell not me of sor­row, and repentance, and humiliation, all that sor­row and humiliation is nought that keepes a man from receiving mercy, when it is offered; see this in Abraham, hee had this [Page 45] promise, that hee should have a sonne in his old age; Hee being not weake in faith regarded not his old age or deadnesse, Rom. 4.19. nor the barrennesse of Sarahs wombe, but belee­ved in him who had promised it, and there hee rests and stayes; hee saw his body was dead, yet there was a living promise; and what though Sarahs wombe was barren, yet the promise was fruitfull; he knew his owne deadnesse and her barrennesse, but hee consi­dered them not: so wee must see our sinnes, and consider our many weak­nesses, but never so settle our selves with, or consider of them so, as to be hinde­red from comming to God [Page 46] for mercy, which he freely offers us, and wee stand in neede of, for while the soule of a man is daily plodding upon his owne misery, and distempers, these two things follow.

1 First, wee stop the streame of Gods promise, and let downe the sluce against it, so that the pro­mise cannot come into our soules.

2 And secondly, wee set open the streame & floud­gate of corruption, and make it to runne most vio­lently in upon us, and in the end to overwhelme us, and the inconvenience arising hereby, will slay the best Christian in the world; for what can a man [Page 47] get out of his corruption? hee can have no more thereof then is there to be had; it is vaine to looke for comfort where it is not to be had, it may dishear­ten us, but never encou­rage us. See the humility and wisdome of the wo­man of Canaan, Mat. 15.27. shee fol­lowes Christ, but he listens not to her, but gives her the repulse, and calls her dogge, and saith, you Gen­tiles are dogges; and the Gospell of Grace and sal­vation is the Childrens bread. Now if she had on­ [...]y considered the words of Christ, and onely looked into her owne basenesse, shee had never come to re­ceive mercy and comfort, [Page 48] but she saith, Truth Lord, I am a dogge, yet the dogges eate of the crummes that fall from their Masters table. There are two things here which doe expresse the frame of a gracious heart that is truely wise to at­tend to its owne basenesse, her humility and wisedome; as if shee had said, Thou saist I am a Gentile, and a Dog, I confesse it, yet though I am a Dog, I will not goe out of the doores but lye under the table for mercy; so wee must and ought, when our corrupti­ons come in upon us, and wee see our selves damned creatures, let us then say, In truth, Lord, I am as bad as thy word can speak, yet [Page 49] let us not flye away from mercy, but lie at the feete of our Saviour.

It is fit, and wee ought to see our sinnes, but stay not too long here; see thy sinnes thou must, but not be setled thereon, so as to be kept from Christ; that sight of sinne which doth not drive a man to Christ for mercy, is ever sinfull. Labour therefore to see thy sinnes, thus:

First, How to see sinne aright. see thy sinnes till thou see them odious and loathsome.

Secondly, till thou see an utter insufficiency in thy selfe to satisfie for them.

Thirdly, till thou hast seene an absolute necessity [Page 50] of Christ to succour thee; and then away speedily to the throne of Grace, and dwell no longer on thy sinnes, for there is pardon enough to remove the guilt that sin hath brought upon thy soule, there is power enough to make thee master thy corrupti­ons. Indeed every soule should say thus, It is true Lord, my sinnes are many and great, for I have de­parted from thee the foun­taine of blisse: But shall I goe on yet further from thee, and persist in evill? God forbid. All this while I speake to broken-hearted Christians. You prophane ones, you have your por­ [...]ion already, and shall have [Page 51] more afterwards, therefore a while stand you by, and let the Children come to their share.

The Lord lookes to him that is of an humble and con­trite heart, Esay 66.2. Opened. and that trembles before him. A poore crea­ture cannot but observe every word, and tremble at every truth. Here is sal­vation indeed (saith hee) but it is not mine, here is mercy, but I have no part in it; and so hee shakes at the apprehension, conclu­ding certainely I shall ne­ver enjoy it. Now marke what the text saith, The Lord lookes at such a trem­bling soule, that is, he casts sweet intimations of his goodnesse and kindnesse [Page 52] upon him, and saith, Thou poore trembling sinner, to thee bee it spoken, I have an eye towards thee in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Esay 40.2. Comfort yee, comfort yee my people (saith the Lord) speake comfortably to Ierusa­lem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned, tell Ierusalem she is accepted, tell her what my minde is. So the Lord saith to his Mini­sters, Speake to the heart of such an humbled peni­tent sinner, tell him from MEE, tell him from Hea­ven, tell him from the Lord Jesus Christ, tell him from under the hand of the Spirit, his person is ac­cepted, and his sinnes are [Page 53] done away, and he shall be looked upon in mercy.

Ephraim is the picture of a soule truly humbled, in whom wee may see the behaviour of a true pe­nitent towards God, and Gods dealing towards him. The Text saith, Ierem. 31.18, 19, 20. Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoa­ning himselfe (there's the heart broken & thirsting) thou hast chastised mee, and I was chastised, turne thou to mee, and I shall be turned: thou art the Lord my GOD, Surely after that I was tur­ned I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote up­on my thigh, I was ashamed, yea even confounded, because I did beare the reproach of my youth. As if the sinner [Page 54] should say, I am the wretch that have seene all the meanes of grace in abun­dant measure, and yet ne­ver profited under the same. The Lord hath cor­rected me, but I would not be tamed; He hath instru­cted me, but I would not learne. Lord turne mee, Thou art my God; I have nothing in my selfe; Nay, now I see the evills which before I never perceived; And I observe the base­nesse of my course now which before I never con­sidered; And I am asha­med of my abuse of grace revealed, I am even con­founded in the sense of those abominations which my soule hath harboured. [Page 55] This is the mourning of a poore sinner; Now marke Gods answer: Ephraim is my sonne, hee is a pleasant childe, for since I spake a­gainst him, I doe earnestly re­member him still, therefore my bowells are troubled for him, I will sure have mercy upon him. As who should say, I observed all those se­cret sighes, I considered all those teares, I heard all those prayers, and tooke notice of all those com­plaints, and my bowells earne towards this poore sinner, that seekes to mee for mercy. And the truth is, I will embrace him with my loving kindnesse.

Now the second means of cure is this, 2. Helpe. take heed [Page 56] of judging thy estate by carnall reason without the rule, as thus it is the fashion of poore distressed spirits, to passe fearefull sentence upon themselves upon groundlesse arguments, and to say, I never found it, I feele no such thing, and I feare it is not so. Thus we heare those carnall pleas which Sathan helps us to invent, and we judge our selves by them: The dan­ger of judging our selves rashly. Now, I say, take heed of this, and make conscience of this same, as of any other sinne of swearing, stealing, who­ring, or murther, for this is as truely a sinne as those, though not so great; nay; it is a farre greater sin than you imagine. Consider [Page 57] this you humble-hearted Christians, for to you I speake; for when upon these grounds thou con­cludest thy case and estate is naught: see against how many Commandements thou sinnest. First, thou dishonourest God and the worke of his grace; in de­nying that which GOD hath done for thee, & spea­kest unreverently against God; thou art a murderer, and woundest thy owne soule; thou robbest thy selfe of comfort, and art a thiefe; and thou bearest false witnesse against thine owne heart, yea against Christ, and his Spirit, and the worke of grace wrought in thee, and joynest with [Page 58] the devill against the Lord Christ.

But thou wilt say, I speake as I thinke. That hinders not, but that thou bearest false witnesse: as wee see, if a man affirme such a one is a drunkard, and knowes it not, this man beares false witnesse, because though the man bee a drunkard, yet hee knowes it not: so thou sayest thou dost nothing, when as thou dost onely feare it, and suspect it, and the like: I speake this the rather, because of the sin­full distemper that creepes in upon the hearts of ma­ny broken hearted Chri­stians, that out of a selfe­willd rode of carnall rea­son, [Page 59] and a vile haunt that they have got, their hearts are perswaded that they doe well to do so, and they are never well except they doe thus.

But such as these (marke it) when reason is plaine, and the Scriptures are evi­dently against them, they doe not so much attend what the Minister saith, but they stand and invent how they may answer the Minister, and so put away their owne comforts. Let the feare of God fall upon every soule that heares this, and know that how­soever you have taken leave to you selves, and have taken up pleas against the truth, yet now goe [Page 60] your wayes, and mourne for it, and wonder that the Lord hath not taken away all the comfort of his grace, and all the motions of his Spirit from you. The Prophet David prayes the Lord to turne away his eyes from beholding vanitie: Psal. 119.37. now if God must doe that, then much more must hee turn away our hearts from attending to vanities: I must attend to God, and the voice of his Spirit, but to listen to those carnall pleas which I have no warrant to doe, I sinne deeply, and hurt my owne soule dangerously there­by. No man would deale with a cheator; carnall reason is a cheator, there­fore [Page 61] let us not attend ther­to, unlesse wee resolve to bee cozened; and if the danger of the sinne cannot make us doe this, then let the sorow that will come by it constraine us: Isa. 50.11. Behold all you that kindle a fire, and that compasse your selves about with the sparkles that yee have kindled, this shall you have at my hand, yee shall lie downe in sorrow. I will shew what is meant by sparkles, and what by fire; in the old Law you know there was heavenly fire continually in the San­ctuary, that shadowed out to us the will and wisdome of God in his word: but there was also strange fire, that is, there were divers [Page 62] sparkles of their owne ima­ginations, and conceits; every poore creature ca­ries his tinder-boxe about him, and hee is ever kind­ling of it; which the Lord doth not allow of: In that text are two things: first, that the heart of man will naturally invent car­nall reasons and pleas a­gainst it selfe, and be setled upon them: secondly, the issue that follows thereup­on, This shall yee have of mine hand, you shall lie downe in your owne sor­row. When the Scriptures are cleare, and reasons are evident, and yet you will have your owne devices, thus much I tell you, you shall lie downe in sorrow [Page 63] at last, and you may thank your selves for it; away with your tinder-boxes therfore, abase your selves before the throne of grace and bee at length wise to salvation.

Ho every one that thirst­eth (saith God by his Pro­phet) come and buy without money, take of the well of the water of life, and live for ever freely. Many a poore Minister would faine leave his commodity behinde him, and saith, You must have it, and you shall have it; it is your portion, and belongs of right unto you; we are even faine to force Gods favours upon the soule. We beseech you to beleeve, and wee intreate [Page 64] you for the Lord JESUS sake to receive mercy and humble your hearts.

But will any man take these favours?

No beloved, many sweet promises, and many ad­mirable precious things of grace and salvation are revealed, but men neither passe nor care to receive benefit by them. Some carnall plea or other evades all. This argues plainely your small estimation of CHRIST. A poore hun­gry sinner that is appre­hensive of his owne weak­nesse and feeblenesse, longs till the feast day commeth, that hee may partake of these delicates. Oh how carefully will he listen, and [Page 65] how diligently will he at­tend what the Minister saith; and if the Word comes home to his consci­ence inlightning his heart, and reproving him of his secret corruption, he cries out, I am in great trou­ble, good Lord comfort me: I am full of doubts, good Lord resolve me: I am ignorant in spirituall things, good Lord teach me: I have a proud, stout, stubborn heart, good Lord humble me. Take this for a generall rule, A good heart is alwayes at best ease, when the Word works most. But a wicked gracelesse person is then best, when the Word workes least upon him. [Page 66] Therefore when he thinks the Minister will come close to his soule, hee will not bee at home that day, he will be sure to be out of Towne, hee knowes the Word would awaken him, and affright him, and hee cannot beare the blow, therefore he keepes away, and shunnes the hearing of Gods Word, which would worke upon him.

3. Helpe.But thirdly, let us bee marvellously wary and watchfull that wee enter not into the lists of dis­pute with Sathan, upon those points which are be­yond the reach of man; as thus to say, I am not elected, therefore GOD will not doe me good, it is [Page 67] vaine for mee to use the meanes; my time of mer­cy is gone, oh the day of grace that I have seene, the Lord knocked sweet­ly, and was pleased to re­veale my sinnes at such a time: but then hard-hear­ted wretch that I was, I shut the doore of my heart against the Lord JESUS CHRIST, and now it is gone and past, now there is no hope for ever of re­ceiving mercy againe: If the devill get thee here, all thy comfort is gone, for upon this ground a man shall never receive rest to his heart, while the world stands; for if no man can ever know the thing, how shall I bee able to give, or [Page 68] any man to take comfort? Looke as it is with a poore travelling man that light­eth among theeves, who come and promise to cary him a neerer way, and at last they bring him into a wood where no passengers come, and there they doe what they will with him: so it is with a poore soule, when the devill gets him into these secret disputes of Gods eternall counsell, there are no passengers come this way, therefore thou art voide of succour, and Satan may exercise his pleasure in terrifying thy poore soule. Therefore for your direction in this case, observe three rules.

1 First, let the soul in this [Page 69] case stay it selfe upon the al-mightinesse of the pow­er of God, Gen. 17.1. I am God all-sufficient: if thou art per­swaded of the al-suffici­ency of GOD, this will helpe thee: God can doe more thā thou canst think. Hee is able, and will doe thee good, though thou know it not; and there­fore observe thus much, the soule never doubts of Gods will, but it doubts of his power also in some measure.

Secondly, check thine 2 owne heart for medling with Gods secrets, and prying into his hidden counsels; let no man goe beyond his bounds: it ap­pertaines not to thee to [Page 70] dive into this mystery. Deut. 29.29. Se­cret things belong to God, but revealed things belong to us: 1 Cor. 1.2.16. and Who hath knowne the minde of God? saith Paul. Mark this, you that will be going up into the skies to know what Gods secret minde is, keepe your stati­ons wisely, for the devill and all the devills in hell never knew the minde of the Lord. Ionas 4.19. When Ionas cri­ed against Niniveh, saying, Within forty dayes all you drunkards, and adulterers shall be destroyed: Marke there how the King stayes himselfe, saying, Who can tell if the Lord will repent and stay his fierce wrath that we perish not. When the devill tells thee thus, [Page 71] and saith, God hath ap­pointed a way to salvati­on, and you have had the meanes, and did not profit by them, therefore God will never shew you mer­cy, nor give you grace: how can the devill tell that? nay, all the devills in hell cannot tell: let mee walke in that course which God hath appointed and commanded, and doe that which I ought, and let me say, who knowes but God may breake the heart of a proud rebellious sinner, none but God knowes it.

Thirdly, Measure not 3 the riches of Gods love, and the sweetnesse of his grace according to your owne conceits, and do not [Page 72] thinke that because you cannot conceive it, there­fore God will not doe it: Let the wicked forsake his wayes, Esay 55.7, 8, 9. and the unrighteous man his thoughts, saith the Prophet: that is, All you wicked ones, and you that have lived leudly, returne from your wicked wayes, and from your vaine ima­ginations, for he will abun­dantly pardon.

Object. But will the Lord par­don all my sinnes, saith the soule, I cannot think it, If I were a God, I should ne­ver passe by such intolera­ble things.

Answ. And because you can­not, you thinke God can­not: Yes, saith the Lord, I can abundantly pardon, [Page 73] for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my wayes as your wayes. A poore creature thinkes his sinnes are unpardonable, and he shall never get assu­rance of Gods love. You are men, saith the Lord, and have finite thoughts, but I am God, and have mercy infinitely, when you think I have no mercy.

Object. But there were never a­ny such received to mer­cy, saith the soule, and therefore why should I be the man?

Answ. When CHRIST had wrought many strange miracles, the people said, there were never any such things done in Israel; and therefore it is plaine, God [Page 74] can doe things that never were done the like: Hee doth great things past finding out, Iob 9.10. and wondrous without number, saith Iob: there­fore judge not Gods power and love by what thou canst conceive.

The best Christians are most suspitious of them­selves, and none fuller of doubts and feares, then those that have least cause to feare their estates are bad. Sathan makes it his chiefe worke to grieve and terrifie these? And their owne distrustfull hearts are alwayes raising false surmises, and putting mer­cy from them, as if they were hired by the devill, to take his part in pleading [Page 75] against themselves. There­fore it is worth our obser­ving what David saith, Psal. 42. Psal. 42.18 The Lord shall com­mand his loving kindnesse in the morning. It is a phrase taken from Princes & great Cōmanders, whose words are a law. So God will send forth his loving kindnesse to a truly humbled Chri­stian with a command. As if he should say, Goe love and everlasting mercy, take thy Commission, and I charge thee go to that poor broken-hearted sinner, go to that poore, hungry, and thirsty soule: goe and pro­sper & prevaile, and settle my love upon his heart, whether hee will or no. Thus the Lord charges [Page 76] his loving kindnesse to doe good to poore sinners, and by his owne Almightinesse stayeth the soule, when it is ready to sinke under the burthen of its transgressi­ons.

Object. What, shall I have mer­cy? No, No, (saith the doubting heart:) Will the Lord Jesus accept me? No surely. Could I pray so, and had I these parts, and could I performe duties after this and this manner, then there were some hope, but alas there is no mercy for me.

Answ. Let mee tell thee who ever thou art, God invites thee in particular, and all the sweetnesse in Christ, and his precious promises, [Page 77] appertaine to thy soule, and thou hast as great an interest in them, as any ser­vant of God in the world whatsoever.

Object. No, No, saith the trem­bling soule, I cannot be­leeve it, such a wretch as I goe to heaven, It can­not bee; heaven shall ra­ther fall then I come there. Thus the discouraged sin­ner knocks off mercy, and shuts the doore against himselfe.

Now when all carnall reasonings, and high ima­ginations, (as Paul calls them) have raised up strong holds against mer­cy and comfort; when the word cannot for the pre­sent settle peace in the [Page 78] soule, God is faine at last to command loving kind­nesse, and send him with a Commission from heaven, saying, I charge you, breake open the doore of the heart of such a sinner, rend that vayle of ignorance that is before his eyes, si­lence all his doubts and feares; And I charge you go home to that soule, and cheere it, refresh it with the sense of my favour, and fill it with the assu­rance of my love.

Rom. 5.8. Whilest we were enemies, saith the Apostle, Christ di­ed for us. The Lord sends from heaven to a poore miserable creature, Com­mend my love, commend my mercy to such a distres­sed [Page 79] soule, and tell him though hee hath beene an enemy to mee, yet I am a friend to him. Tell him though hee hath beene a Traytour to mee, I have beene a good King to him. Hee hath beene a rebell to mee, but tell him I have beene a loving GOD to him. Tell him his sinnes are pardoned, his person accepted, and his soule shal be saved. Tell him his sighes and groanes are heard, and his prayers ob­served in heaven; let him know that the Lord Jesus died for sinners when they were sinners. Make this good to his soule I charge you before you come back.

Therefore the fourth [Page 80] cure is this, Helpe. and it is speci­ally to bee observed above all in thy proceeding with thy selfe in judgement; that is, Passe no sentence against thy soule, but ac­cording to the evidence of the Word: if thou art to be approved, let the word of GOD approve thee, and let his word exa­mine thee, if thou art to be examined; if the Word speake for thee, it is no matter though all men and Angels speak against thee; and if the word condemne thee, it is no matter who speakes for thee: what though some wrangling rayler step in, and will be determining the causes be­fore the Judge comes; yet [Page 81] a wise man will stay till the Judge comes, and wait his leisure. Deale thou so with thine owne soule, put not the case to be tryed by a company of peevish car­nal reasons, but stay till the word come, and judge thy selfe by that, and hold to that for ever. Eph. 5.13. The light is that which manifesteth all things; the meaning is this, the light of the word, and the evidences of Gods truth manifested to the soules of Gods people; all sense and feeling of carnall reasoning, are like fogges and mists which make a man that he cannot see the way; but bring him to the light, and then his state and condition will be mani­fested [Page 82] what it is. Mat. 11.29 Learne of me (saith our Saviour) and you shall finde rest to your soules: And the Psalmist saith, I will enquire what the Lord will say: so say thou, I will not hearken what car­nall reason will say. The want of this is the cause why wee have so many di­stractions and disquiet­ments, & are still in doub­tings, because hee that teacheth us is a deluder.

For the poore soule saith, What, shall I have an interest in Christ, shall I have title to the promises? nay, this belongs to those that are broken-hearted: indeed if I had such po­wer against corruption, such heavenly mindednes, [Page 83] and this and that, there were some hopes, but I am so full of weaknesse, and many times led captive by my rebellious heart; that it is too apparent I never had saving grace, nay, I feare I never shall have it truly wrought in my soule.

But who told you so, and where learned you this Religion? I am sure you never learned it of Christ. Who, or what word tells you, If I have such corruptions, I shall never have grace? not the word of Christ, I am sure: wherefore I charge you bold to the truth of the word; Learne of me, saith Christ, and put not your cause to bee decided by [Page 84] carnall reason, nor hearken what it telleth you; for if you take that course, you shall never come to Christ whilst the world standeth: Learne of the Lord Christ, for his word is faithfull, and his promise sure, and there you shall finde rest as strong as Mount Sion; it is that word whereby thou shalt be judged at the great day, when sense and feeling shall be cast out for wranglers, and never come into Court. Thus much of the foure cures: I will now propound foure rules how a man may order himselfe aright in this course, so that he may re­paire to the word at all times, as he ought to doe, [Page 85] and gaine evidence there for establishing his heart in peace and tranquillity.