THE POOR Doubting CHRISTIAN Drawn to CHRIST.  
Wherein the main lets and hindrances which keep men from coming to Christ are discovered.  
With special helps to recover God's favour.  
Ho, every one that thirsteth, drink of the waters of life, and he that hath no money, come buy and eat freely  
The Third Edition.  
LONDON Printed for R. Dawlman and L. Fawn at the Brazen Serpent in Pauls-Churchyard. 1636.    

THE POOR DOUBTING CHRISTIAN drawn unto Christ.  JOHN 6.45. 
Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.  
THere are diverse lets and impediments which hinder poor Christians from coming unto Christ, all which I desire to reduce to these following heads.  
First, such hindrances as really keep men from coming to take hold of Christ at all, which are briefly these.  

Let's which hinder men from coming to Christ.  1. Blind carelessness, 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 bethink how to save themselves by their own strength, & thereupon set upon a reformation of life, thinking to make God amendss by reforming some sins which they hear themselves reproved of by the Ministers.  
3. The sinner being convinced of his utter inability to please God in himself, at length gets up a stair higher, and sees all his performances, & prayers, and duties to be of no power in themselves, but that he must leave all, and cleave only unto Christ by faith; and this he thinks he can do well enough, and so thrusts himself upon Christ, thinking all the work is then done, and no more to be looked after.  
4. If he sees this fails him too, than he goes yet further, and confesseth he cannot come to Christ except Christ give him his hand, and help him up: therefore now he will attend upon the ordinances, and labour and bestir himself hard in the use of all good means, conceiving thereby to hammer out at last, a faith of his own to make him happy. And here he rests, hanging as it were upon the outside of the Ark, so long till at last the waves and winds growing fierce and violent, he is beaten off from his hold, and so sinks for ever.  
Besides these, there are other kinds of hindrances which do not indeed deprive a man of title and interest to eternal happiness, but make the way tedious & uncomfortable, so that he cannot come to Christ so readily, as he desires and longs to do; the ground whereof, is this, when men out of carnal reason contrive another way to come unto Christ, then ever he ordained or revealed, when we set up a standard by God's Standard, and out of our own imagination make another condition of believing then ever Christ required or ordained. Thus we make bars in the way, and manacle our hands, and fetter our feet, and then we complain we cannot go: thus it is with you poor Christians, and the fault is your own. Now amongst many there be three hindrances which are chief to be observed, 
Three main hindrances which keep man from Christ.  by which many gracious hearts are marvellously hindered from coming to, and from receiving that comfort from Christ, which they might, and he is willing to bestow.  
First, the distressed soul being happily truly humbled, takes notice of the beauty of holiness, and the Image of God stamped upon the hearts of his children, and of all those precious promises which God hath made to all that are his; now the soul seeing these, gins thus to reason with himself, and saith, Surely if I were so holy and so gracious, than I might have hope to receive the pardon of my sins; for were my heart so enlarged to duties, and could my heart be so carried with power against my corruptions to master them, than there were some hope; but when I have no power against sin, nor any heart to seek so importunately for a Christ, how dare I think 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 enlargement to duties, and that power against corruption which sometimes the Saints of God have.  
But we must know this doth not hinder, we make it a hindrance, when in truth it is none; for observe it, we must not think to bring enlargement and hope to the promise, but we must go to the promise for them; hope must be stirred, and desire quickened, 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 mere poverty and emptiness: 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 poor is satisfied, and the thirsty refreshed: there is nothing required on our side, but only to receive him as a husband: 
Esay 55.1.  Buy without money, saith the text; you must not think to come and buy a husband; the Lord looks for no power or sufficiency of ourselves, 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 poor soul saith, If I go thus hudwinked, how shall I know that I do 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, than this, thy taking of the Lord Christ as a Saviour wholly, and as a husband. john 1.12. As many as received him, to them he gave power to be the sons of God, even to them that believe 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 terms which he offers himself, there is no better argument under heaven, that thou hast a title to the promise. There is a desperate despair that often seizeth upon the hearts of distressed sinners.  
Therefore in the second place, as the sinner looks upon the excellency of Christ, and grace, and his own insufficiency, and so will not venture upon the promise, so he looks upon his own sinfulness and worthlessness, and therefore dares not venture upon mercy; he views the number of his sins so many & vile, and the continuance of them so long, and he seethe the floods of abominations coming in amain upon his soul, and Satan helps him forwards hereto; for this is the policy of the Devil, that, if he can, he will make a man that he shall never see his sin, but say, there is mercy enough in a Saviour, and therefore I may live as I list: but when the sinner will needs see his sin, than he will let him see nothing but sin; the one that he may presume, and the other that he may despair.  
Now the poor sinner stays here; tell him of the mercy of God, and of the plenteous redemption in Christ, and of the riches of the freeness of God's grace, What, saith he, should I think that there is any mercy for me, and that I have any interest in Christ; that were strange? And thus the soul is here poring, and fastened, and settled upon his corruption, and is ever stirring the wound, and never goes to the Physician: For a man is as well kept from looking to Christ by despair, as by presumption; before he sees his sin, he thinks his condition is good, and he hath a sufficiency of his own, and needs not go to Christ; and when he sees his sin, than he beholds so much vileness in himself that he dares not go to Christ, jest when he goes before him, he sand him down to the pit. Herein the devil is very subtle; but this doth not hinder our title to Christ, neither aught 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 he die when he was come? it was not for the righteous, that needed him not, but for the poor sinner that condemns himself, and knows he cannot save himself. Paul saith, Christ jesus came into the world to save sinners, 
1 Tim. 1.15.  of whom I am the chief: and Zach. 13.1. There is a fountain opened for sin, and for uncleanness, that is, for all sorts of sins, and for all kind of sinners: be their iniquities never so great, and never so vile, there is a fountain set open, come who will; there was never any saved but a Rebel, and never any man received to mercy, but he that opposed the mercy of God, and his grace in Christ. The fiery Serpents did sting the people in the wilderness, but there was a brazen Serpent to heal them.  
Observe the folly of this plea: what Scripture ever said that the greatness of man's sin could hinder the greatness of God's mercy? no Scripture reveals this, we see David prayeth the contrary, Have mercy upon me O Lord, 
Psal. 25.11  and pardon my sins, for they are great: Nay, God himself doth the quite contrary, Isa. 43.24, 25. Thou hast made me serve with thy sins, and wearied me with thine iniquities, yet I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my name's sake. When the Jews did tyre GOD with their distempers, and burdened him with thei● sinful courses, than th● Lord for his own name sake would not so much a● remember their iniquities against them.  
Again observe, tha● sins though they be never so heinous of themselves, yet if the soul can see them, and the heart be burdened with them, they are so fare from hindering the work of faith, and from making thee uncapable of mercy, that they fit thee to go to Christ: The truth is, (which I pray you take notice of) it is not properly our unworthiness, but our pride and haughtiness that hinders us from coming to Christ; for we would have something in ourselves, and not have all from Christ. Take the distressed soul that sees the vileness of his sins: suppose thy sins were lesser, nevertheless even then thou goest not to Christ, because thou art persuaded of the freeness of his grace, but because thou hast a worthiness in thyself, & wouldst bring something to Christ, and not receive all from him: Therefore it is thy pride, and thy self-conceitedness that hinders thee, thou must have thus much grace and holiness, and Christ must not justify the ungodly, but the godly man; I tell thee, than he will never justify a man while the world stands.  
Object. But the soul replies again, My sins are worse, not only because they are many, but because of the mercy and salvation that I have rejected, which hath been offered me from day to day.  
Answ. This hinders not, provided that thou canst see those evils of thine: though thou hast cast away the kindness of the Lord, yet the Lord will not cast away thee, if thou wilt come and seek him earnestly again: 
Esa. 57.17, 18.  For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth (saith God) and I smote him, I hide myself, and he went on frowardly in the way of his own heart. If this could have hindered, judah should never have received mercy; but the text saith, I have seen his ways, and will heal him; 
jer. 3.1.  Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet turn again to me, saith the Lord. There is no time past if a man have but a heart to return; 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 door and knock; though he cry till he be hoarse, & stand till he be weary, yet he stands still: if any adulterous or deceitful wretch will open, the Lord will come in, and bring comfort, and sup with him.  
Object. O, that is true, saith the poor soul, had I but a heart to mourn for my baseness; see my sins I do, but this is my misery, I cannot be burdened with them, I have a heart that cannot break and mourn for dishonouring of God.  
Answ. This hinders not neither, provided that thy heart is weary of itself, that it cannot be weary of sin: 
Mich. 7.18.  The Lord shows mercy because he will show mercy, it is not because thou canst please him, but because mercy pleaseth him. When did the Lord show mercy to Paul, even then when Paul did express most malice against him; Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? he persecutes Christ, and yet Christ pities him, and shows him mercy; and so the churlish jailor, 
Acts.  when he was most opposite against the means of grace, the Lord shown then most compassion upon him; he that before resisted the means of grace, was now brought home by those means.  
Object. But woe, faith the poor soul, you are now come to the quick; this very word is like a Millstone about my neck, to sink my soul for ever; for this is the depth of that baseness that lies on me, that all the means do not better me. Why, though Paul and the Jailor were bad enough, yet they were made better by the means; but this is my hopeless condition, that the means of grace prevail not on me. Is there such a heart in hell as I; how ill must I needs be, when all the means in the world will do me no, good? but, me thinks, I feel my heart more hard and stubborn under all God's Ordinances; my condition is certainly hopeless, when the means that should soften me, do but harden me, and make me worse.  
Answ. This is the last plea whereby the devil holds down the heart of a poor sinner; but let me answer thee, this hinders not neither, but that at lest thou mayst have hope of mercy, therefore observe three passages by way of answer.  
First, the Word and means of grace do work good, if it make thee more sensible of thy hardness and deadness, though happily it work not that good, and after the same manner that thou desirest, yet if it make thee see thy baseness, and hardness of heart, and dulness, in regard of that body of death which hangs upon thee; then the word works in the best manner, because it is after God's manner, howsoever not after thine: That Physic works most kindly, that makes the party sick before it works; so it is with the Word; thou hast a proud heart, and liftest up thyself in thine own abilities, and trustest in thine own strength, and thinkest that thy care and improvement of the means would work wonders; but now the Word works sweetly, when it makes thee apprehensive, that a wounded soul is the gift of God, not of man, nor of the means; and therefore the Word makes thee look to God for it, and to prise it when thou hast it; and the Word makes thee look to God to continued it; to feel deadness is life, and to feel hardness is softness; only remember this one Caution, 
Caution.  except there be some lust or distemper that thy heart hankers after, for then the Word will harden thee, because thou hardenest thyself.  
Secondly, (mark this I beseech you) thou art the cause why thy heart is not softened, & why the Word works not upon thy soul; the distemper of thy own heart hinders the working of the Word, and dispensation of God's providence, and the tenor of the Covenant of Grace; thou must not think to limit the Holy One of Israel, for it is a Covenant of Grace; the Lord will not stand bend 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 give thee grace this year, 
Wait for mercy.  nor the next, nor all thy life, if at the last gasp he will drop in a little favour, it is more than he owes thee, therefore hear to day, and wait to morrow, and continued so doing, because thou knowest not when God may bless his own Ordinances; & complain not of delays, but wait, for God hath waited for you long, and therefore if he make you wait for peace of conscience, and assurance of his love, the Lord deals equally with you, and as shall be best for you; God gives what, and when, and how he will, therefore wait for it.  
Thirdly, know and consider that thou hast rested upon thine own duties and endeavours, 
Rest not upon duties.  and thou dost not go to God, that blesseth both the means and endeavours; the fault is thine own, (I say) because thou restest in thine own performances, and in the power of the means that thou apprehendest, and dost not go to God, that would have wrought more than all these: for did a man depend upon God's power and mercy in his Ordinances, he should always find some proportionable succour, as well when he finds no success, as when he finds any; for God sometimes gives, and sometimes delays, but God's love is as constant when he gives not, as when he gives. Therefore labour to get out from all carnal confidence in holy duties, and rest not in thy performances, but look beyond all duties to God, and desire him to give thee success above them.  
Many a man makes his services, his Saviour's. He makes them the bottom to bear up his conscience, the ground whereof is this: Happily he finds & feels by woeful experience, what the fruits of sin are. He sees the venom of his corruptions, and the lamentable effects of all his sinful practices. He thought it before a fine thing to swear, and lie, and drink, and follow base company, but now they are gravel to his heart, and gall to his soul. His conscience flieth in his face, and he is ready to sink down to hell. Conscience saith, these be thy sins, 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 find the smart of them. To hell; away be packing.  
Now this man hath no cure for his conscience but this, he entreats Conscience to be quiet, he confesseth he hath lived in base courses, and his condition is very miserable, but now he will reform all; he hath neglected prayer heretofore, but now he will pray; he hath hated God's servants, but now he will love them, his ways have been exceeding evil, but now he will reform them, he gins to turn a new leaf now, and thinks that will serve the turn. Thus many poor souls use the means as Mediators, and so fall short of Christ. A gracious heart doth not only pray, and hear, and receive, and use all possible means to obtain Christ, but he is restless and unsatisfied till he enjoy and possess Christ in the means. He rests not upon the bore performance of any duty, neither thinks by virtue of any of his endeavours, to obtain a part in Christ.  
I will express this particular more fully in this manner. A rich Usurer that is sick of some disease, tell him such a Physician can cure him, but he stands upon state, he will not come without a great deal of charge: Charge (saith he) I do not stand upon that. I have money enough by me, that will fetch him hither. Such a man now placeth all his confidence in his money. So when the soul sees, the guilt of sin is not removed, and conscience is still snarling, and the law condemning him, and Christ is the only Saviour, that can satisfy and cure all. But how shall Christ be procured? Why his prayer, and fasting, and performances will command him, by the power and merit of the work done, though he hath no promise for it, and so by resting on his own performances, falls short of Christ and salvation.  
Object. O, saith a poor sinner, I would go out of myself, and I see I rest upon my duties, but I cannot get out of myself.  
Answ. I answer, it is Satan's subtlety to keep us in ourselves here too, by endeavouring to make us go out of ourselves by our own strength; and this is a marvelous depth of malice and cunning in the devil, when he makes us believe (and we out of ignorance are deluded) that we have power in our own hands to go out of ourselves; not, it is a supernatural work, and the same hand must bring us out of ourselves, that must bring us to Christ: 
Self-denial what it is.  This is in truth selfe-deniall, when the soul knoweth it h● nothing, and therefore is over poured with the mighty hand of God, and the work of his Spirit, so that the poor sinner doth not so much as expect any power or ability in himself, or from the creature, in the doing of any duty; he knows he is dead, and therefore cannot help himself, much less can the creature do him good, and therefore he looks to heaven, and seeks all sufficiency from God alone. For (observe it) whiles that I thus think with myself, that I have ability to go out of myself, I do not then say, that I have a principle within me to de●● myself, which is quite contrary, for to deny a man's self, is to know that he hath no power in himself to do any spiritual duty, therefore we must look only to the voice of Christ, and know, that he that calls us from the ways of darkness, and from ourselves, must also bring us to Christ; therefore expect power from Christ to pluck thee out of thyself, and to make thee believe, for the same hand doth work both.  
I would not have a poor creature think thus with himself, If this means and these Ordinances will do me 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 myself, nor from the means, but my resolution is, to look up to him that hath hid his face from jacob I will not look inward here for power, to receive it from within myself, nor to the Minister, nor to the means, but I will wait upon thee Lord, and look up to thy power to work by the means. Who is amongst you that feareth the Lord, 
Esay 50.10.  and obeyeth the voice of his servants, that walketh in darkness, & hath no light of comfort, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay himself upon his God. When all other things in the world fail, let the soul then look up to the Lord, and look out from itself; this is the fittest time of all to meet with God; I would have a Christian choose this time above all times to meet his Saviour in, and this is the only time to disappoint Satan; for, as I said before, it is the last refuge that the devil hath, and if he miss this opportunity, he is for ever conquered. Thus the sinner partly seeing the beauty of grace, will not, and partly seeing the baseness of his own heart, dares not come to Christ.  
Object. Than in the next place it is want of sense and feeling, which he would have and cannot find; therefore the distressed soul saith, Alas, I never knew what it was to have the assurance of God's love, I never received any evidence of God's favour, and shall I think that I have faith? they that believe have their hearts filled with joy unspeakable and glorious, the Word reveals this, but I am a stranger to that joy, how can I then think that I have any work of faith wrought in me.  
Answ. I answer, this doth not hinder either that thou hast not faith, or that thou mayst not come to God by believing, therefore remember these three particulars.  
First, thou must not think to have joy and refreshing before thou go to the promise, but thou must look for it, when thou dost chew and feed upon the promise: thou wouldst have the Lord to give thee all the bargain before thou make the match: This joy is a fruit that proceeds from faith after much wrestling; it doth not follow from faith at the first; first believe, and then joy; the heart is never filled with joy before believing; but afterwards when thou hast had the sweet dew of the comfort of the promise many a day, then look for this joy.  
Secondly, know that these joys, and this sense and feeling may be absent from faith: a man may have a good faith, and yet want the relish and sweetness which he longs after. A man may want his desirings, and yet want neither life nor heat: A tree may want leaves and fruit, and yet want neither sap nor moisture: A man's faith may be somewhat strong, when his feeling is nothing at all: David was justified and sanctified, and yet wanted this joy; and so job rested upon GOD when he had but little feeling, as when he saith, Thou makest me a Butt to shoot at; 
job 3.15.  yet I will trust in thee though thou kill me. Therefore build not your comfort upon sense and feeling, but go to the promise.  
Thirdly, the Saints of God many times are deprived of comfort, not because God withholds it, but because they put it from themselves, and will not have it, though he offer it, 
Psal. 77.  as David, My soul refused comfort, like a sullen child that will not eat his Milk, because he 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 main hindrances: I might add many more, for carnal reason is very fruitful this way, and we through our own folly and the devil's subtlety, are apt to abuse things, and make them hindrances in our way to eternal happiness. I come now to the cures of all our impediments, for if we had the wisdom and care we should have, we might break through them all and come to Christ. The means are especially four, whereby we may be inwardly fortified against them, and at last be able to overcome them.  
The first cure and help is this, 
Helps to come to Christ.  We must not look too long, nor poor too much or unwarrantably upon our own corruptions, so fare as to be feared or disheartened from coming to the riches of God's grace; for this is an everlasting truth, that whatsoeversight of sin unfits a man for mercy, when he may take it, and it is offered to him, that sight of sin is ever sinful, though it have never so fair a pretence of sorrow and deep humiliation: as we think many times, Had I a soul so throughly humbled and bruised, 
True godly sorrow what it is.  and so forth. The devil often keeps us in sin, by poring upon our sins, when we think hereby to be carried from our sins; that course thus is a sinful course. Tell not me of sorrow, and repentance, and humiliation, all that sorrow and humiliation is naught that keeps a man from receiving mercy, when it is offered; see this in Abraham, he had this promise, that he should have a son in his old age; He being not weak in faith regarded not his old age or deadness, 
Rom. 4.19.  nor the barrenness of Sarahs' womb, but believed in him who had promised it, and there he rests and stays; he saw his body was dead, yet there was a living promise; and what though Sarahs' womb was barren, yet the promise was fruitful; he knew his own deadness and her barrenness, but he considered them not: so we must see our sins, and consider our many weaknesses, but never so settle ourselves with, or consider of them so, as to be hindered from coming to God for mercy, which he freely offers us, and we stand in need of, for while the soul of a man is daily plodding upon his own misery, and distempers, these two things follow.  
First, we stop the stream of God's promise, and let down the sluice against it, so that the promise cannot come into our souls.  
And secondly, we set open the stream & floodgate of corruption, and make it to run most violently in upon us, and in the end to overwhelm us, and the inconvenience arising hereby, will slay the best Christian in the world; for what can a man get out of his corruption? he can have no more thereof then is there to be had; it is vain to look for comfort where it is not to be had, it may dishearten us, but never encourage us. See the humility and wisdom of the woman of Canaan, 
Mat. 15.27.  she follows Christ, but he listens not to her, but gives her the repulse, and calls her dog, and saith, you Gentiles are dogs; and the Gospel of Grace and salvation is the Childrens bread. Now if she had on●y considered the words of Christ, and only looked into her own baseness, she had never come to receive mercy and comfort, but she saith, Truth Lord, I am a dog, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their Master's table. There are two things here which do express the frame of a gracious heart that is truly wise to attend to its own baseness, her humility and wisdom; as if she had said, Thou sayest I am a Gentle, and a Dog, I confess it, yet though I am a Dog, I will not go out of the doors but lie under the table for mercy; so we must and aught, when our corruptions come in upon us, and we see ourselves damned creatures, let us then say, In truth, Lord, I am as bad as thy word can speak, yet let us not fly away from mercy, but lie at the feet of our Saviour.  
It is fit, and we aught to see our sins, but stay not too long here; see thy sins thou must, but not be settled thereon, so as to be kept from Christ; that sight of sin which doth not drive a man to Christ for mercy, is ever sinful. Labour therefore to see thy sins, thus:  
First, 
How to see sin aright.  see thy sins till thou see them odious and loathsome.  
Secondly, till thou see an utter insufficiency in thyself to satisfy for them.  
Thirdly, till thou hast seen an absolute necessity of Christ to secure thee; and then away speedily to the throne of Grace, and devil no longer on thy sins, for there is pardon enough to remove the guilt that sin hath brought upon thy soul, there is power enough to make thee master thy corruptions. Indeed every soul should say thus, It is true Lord, my sins are many and great, for I have departed from thee the fountain of bliss: But shall I go on yet further from thee, and persist in evil? God forbidden. All this while I speak to  Christians. You profane ones, you have your por●ion already, and shall have more afterwards, therefore a while stand you by, and let the Children come to their share.  
The Lord looks to him that is of an humble and contrite heart, 
Esay 66.2. Opened.  and that trembles before him. A poor creature cannot but observe every word, and tremble at every truth. Here is salvation indeed (saith he) but it is not mine, here is mercy, but I have no part in it; and so he shakes at the apprehension, concluding certainly I shall never enjoy it. Now mark what the text saith, The Lord looks at such a trembling soul, that is, he casts sweet intimations of his goodness and kindness upon him, and saith, Thou poor trembling sinner, to thee be it spoken, I have an eye towards thee in the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Esay 40.2.  Comfort ye, comfort ye my people (saith the Lord) speak comfortably to jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned, tell jerusalem she is accepted, tell her what my mind is. So the Lord saith to his Ministers, Speak to the heart of such an humbled penitent sinner, tell him from ME, 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 sins are done away, and he shall be looked upon in mercy.  
Ephraim is the picture of a soul truly humbled, in whom we may see the behaviour of a true penitent towards God, and Gods dealing towards him. The Text saith, 
jerem. 31.18, 19, 20.  Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself (there's the heart broken & thirsting) thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, turn thou to me, and I shall be turned: thou art the Lord my GOD, Surely after that I was turned I repent, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh, I was ashamed, yea even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. As if the sinner should say, I am the wretch that have seen all the means 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 learn. Lord turn me, Thou art my God; I have nothing in myself; Nay, now I see the evils which before I never perceived; And I observe the baseness 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 soul hath harboured. This is the mourning of a poor sinner; Now mark Gods answer: Ephraim is my son, he is a pleasant child, for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still, therefore my bowels are troubled for him, I will sure have mercy upon him. As who should say, I observed all those secret sighs, I considered all those tears, I heard all those prayers, and took notice of all those complaints, and my bowels earn towards this poor sinner, that seeks to me for mercy. And the truth is, I will embrace him with my loving kindness.  
Now the second means of cure is this, 
2. Help.  take heed of judging thy estate by carnal reason without the rule, as thus it is the fashion of poor distressed spirits, to pass fearful sentence upon themselves upon groundless arguments, and to say, I never found it, I feel no such thing, and I fear it is not so. Thus we hear those carnal pleas which Satan helps us to invent, and we judge ourselves by them: 
The danger of judging ourselves rashly.  Now, I say, take heed of this, and make conscience of this same, as of any other sin of swearing, stealing, whoring, or murder, for this is as truly a sin as those, though not so great; nay; it is a fare greater sin than you imagine. Consider this you humble-hearted Christians, for to you I speak; for when upon these grounds thou concludest thy case and estate is naught: see against how many Commandments thou sinnest. First, thou dishonourest God and the work of his grace; in denying that which GOD hath done for thee, & speakest unreverently against God; thou art a murderer, and woundest thy own soul; thou robbest thyself of comfort, and art a thief; and thou bearest false witness against thine own heart, yea against Christ, and his Spirit, and the work of grace wrought in thee, and joinest with the devil against the Lord Christ.  
But thou wilt say, I speak as I think. That hinders not, but that thou bearest false witness: as we see, if a man affirm such a one is a drunkard, and knows it not, this man bears false witness, because though the man be a drunkard, yet he knows it not: so thou sayest thou dost nothing, when as thou dost only fear it, and suspect it, and the like: I speak this the rather, because of the sinful distemper that creeps in upon the hearts of many broken hearted Christians, that out of a selfe-willd road of carnal reason, and a vile haunt that they have got, their hearts are persuaded that they do well to do so, and they are never well except they do thus.  
But such as these (mark it) when reason is plain, and the Scriptures are evidently against them, they do not so much attend what the Minister saith, but they stand and invent how they may answer the Minister, and so put away their own comforts. Let the fear of God fall upon every soul that hears this, and know that howsoever you have taken leave to you selves, and have taken up pleas against the truth, yet now go your ways, and mourn 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 prays the Lord to turn away his eyes from beholding vanity: 
Psal. 119.37.  now if God must do that, then much more must he turn away our hearts from attending to vanities: I must attend to God, and the voice of his Spirit, but to listen to those carnal pleas which I have no warrant to do, I sinne deeply, and hurt my own soul dangerously thereby. No man would deal with a cheater; carnal reason is a cheater, therefore let us not attend thereto, unless we resolve to be cozened; and if the danger of the sin cannot make us do this, then let the sorrow that will come by it constrain us: 
Isa. 50.11.  Behold all you that kindle a fire, and that compass yourselves about with the sparkles that ye have kindled, this shall you have at my hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow. I will show 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 wisdom of God in his word: but there was also strange fire, that is, there were diverse sparkles of their own imaginations, and conceits; every poor creature caries his tinder-boxe about him, and he 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 carnal reasons and pleas against itself, and be settled upon them: secondly, the issue that follows thereupon, This shall ye have of mine hand, you shall lie down in your own sorrow. When the Scriptures are clear, and reasons are evident, and yet you will have your own devices, thus much I tell you, you shall lie down in sorrow at last, and you may thank yourselves for it; away with your tinderboxes therefore, abase yourselves before the throne of grace and be 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 poor Minister would fain leave his commodity behind 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 fain to force God's favours upon the soul. We beseech you to believe, and we entreat you for the Lord JESUS sake to receive mercy and humble your hearts.  
But will any man take these favours?  
Not beloved, many sweet promises, and many admirable precious things of grace and salvation are revealed, but men neither pass nor care to receive benefit by them. Some carnal plea or other evades all. This argues plainly your small estimation of CHRIST. A poor hungry sinner that is apprehensive of his own weakness and feebleness, longs till the feast day cometh, that he may partake of these delicates. O how carefully will he listen, and how diligently will he attend what the Minister saith; and if the Word comes home to his conscience enlightening 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 spiritual things, good Lord teach me: I have a proud, stout, stubborn heart, good Lord humble me. Take this for a general rule, A good heart is always at best ease, when the Word works most. But a wicked graceless person is then best, when the Word works least upon him. Therefore when he thinks the Minister will come close to his soul, he will not be at home that day, he will be sure to be out of Town, he knows the Word would awaken him, and affright him, and he cannot bear the blow, therefore he keeps away, and shuns the hearing of God's Word, which would work upon him.  

3. Help.  But thirdly, let us be marvellously wary and watchful that we enter not into the lists of dispute with Satan, upon those points which are beyond the reach of man; as thus to say, I am not elected, therefore GOD will not do me good, it is vain for me to use the means; my time of mercy is gone, o the day of grace that I have seen, the Lord knocked sweetly, and was pleased to reveal my sins at such a time: but then hardhearted wretch that I was, I shut the door of my heart against the Lord JESUS CHRIST, and now it is gone and passed, now there is no hope for ever of receiving mercy again: If the devil 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 be able to give, or any man to take comfort? Look as it is with a poor travelling man that lighteth among thiefs, who come and promise' to carry him a nearer way, and at last they bring him into a wood where no passengers come, and there they do what they will with him: so it is with a poor soul, when the devil gets him into these secret disputes of Gods eternal counsel, there are no passengers come this way, therefore thou art void of succour, and Satan may exercise his pleasure in terrifying thy poor soul. Therefore for your direction in this case, observe three rules.  
First, let the soul in this case stay itself upon the almightiness of the power of God, 
Gen. 17.1.  I am God all-sufficient: if thou art persuaded of the alsufficiency of GOD, this will help thee: God can do more than thou canst think. He is able, and will do thee good, though thou know it not; and therefore observe thus much, the soul never doubts of Gods will, but it doubts of his power also in some measure.  
Secondly, check thine own heart for meddling with God's secrets, and prying into his hidden counsels; let no man go beyond his bounds: it appertains not to thee to 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 known the mind of God? saith Paul. Mark this, you that will be going up into the skies to know what Gods secret mind is, keep your stations wisely, for the devil and all the devils in hell never knew the mind of the lord 
jonas 4.19.  When jonas cried against Niniveh, saying, Within forty days all you drunkards, and adulterers shall be destroyed: Mark there how the King stays himself, saying, Who can tell if the Lord will repent and stay his fierce wrath that we perish not. When the devil tells thee thus, and saith, God hath appointed a way to salvation, and you have had the means, and did not profit by them, therefore God will never show you mercy, nor give you grace: how can the devil tell that? nay, all the devils in hell cannot tell: let me walk in that course which God hath appointed and commanded, and do that which I aught, and let me say, who knows but God may break the heart of a proud rebellious sinner, none but God knows it.  
Thirdly, Measure not the riches of God's love, and the sweetness of his grace according to your own conceits, and do not think that because you cannot conceive it, therefore God will not do it: Let the wicked forsake his ways, 
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 lewdly, return from your wicked ways, and from your vain imaginations, for he will abundantly pardon.  
Object. But will the Lord pardon all my sins, saith the soul, I cannot think it, If I were a God, I should never pass by such intolerable things.  
Answ. And because you cannot, you think God cannot: Yes, saith the Lord, I can abundantly pardon, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways as your ways. A poor creature thinks his sins are unpardonable, and he shall never get assurance of God's 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 soul, 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 plain, God can do things that never were done the like: He doth great things past finding out, 
job 9.10.  and wondrous without number, saith job: therefore judge not God's power and love by what thou canst conceive.  
The best Christians are most suspicious of themselves, and none fuller of doubts and fears, than those that have lest cause to fear their estates are bad. Satan makes it his chief work to grieve and terrify these? And their own distrustful hearts are always raising false surmises, and putting mercy from them, as if they were hired by the devil, to take his part in pleading against themselves. Therefore it is worth our observing what David saith, Psal. 42. 
Psal. 42.18  The Lord shall command his loving kindness in the morning. It is a phrase taken from Princes & great Commanders, whose words are a law. So God will sand forth his loving kindness to a truly humbled Christian with a command. As if he should say, Go love and everlasting mercy, take thy Commission, and I charge thee go to that poor  sinner, go to that poor, hungry, and thirsty soul: go and prospero & prevail, and settle my love upon his heart, whether he will or no. Thus the Lord charges his loving kindness to do good to poor sinners, and by his own Almightiness stayeth the soul, when it is ready to sink under the burden of its transgressions.  
Object. What, shall I have mercy? Not, Not, (saith the doubting heart:) Will the Lord Jesus accept me? Not surely. Can I pray so, and had I these parts, and could I perform duties after this and this manner, than there were some hope, but alas there is no mercy for me.  
Answ. Let me tell thee who ever thou art, God invites thee in particular, and all the sweetness in Christ, and his precious promises, appertain to thy soul, and thou hast as great an interest in them, as any servant of God in the world whatsoever.  
Object. Not, Not, saith the trembling soul, I cannot believe it, such a wretch as I go to heaven, It cannot be; heaven shall rather fall than I come there. Thus the discouraged sinner knocks off mercy, and shuts the door against himself.  
Now when all carnal 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 soul, God is fain at last to command loving kindness, and sand him with a Commission from heaven, saying, I charge you, break open the door of the heart of such a sinner, rend that veil of ignorance that is before his eyes, silence all his doubts and fears; And I charge you go home to that soul, and cheer it, refresh it with the sense of my favour, and fill it with the assurance of my love.  

Rom. 5.8.  Whilst we were enemies, saith the Apostle, Christ died for us. The Lord sends from heaven to a poor miserable creature, Commend my love, commend my mercy to such a distressed soul, and tell him though he hath been an enemy to me, yet I am a friend to him. Tell him though he hath been a Traitor to me, I have been a good King to him. He hath been a rebel to me, but tell him I have been a loving GOD to him. Tell him his sins are pardoned, his person accepted, and his soul shall be saved. Tell him his sighs and groans 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 soul I charge you before you come back.  
Therefore the fourth cure is this, 
Help.  and it is specially to be observed above all in thy proceeding with thyself in judgement; that is, Pass no sentence against thy soul, 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 speak for thee, it is no matter though all men and Angels speak against thee; and if the word condemn thee, it is no matter who speaks for thee: what though some wrangling railer step in, and will be determining the causes before the Judge comes; yet a wise man will stay till the Judge comes, and wait his leisure. Deal thou so with thine own soul, put not the case to be tried by a company of peevish carnal reasons, but stay till the word come, and judge thyself 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 God's truth manifested to the souls of God's people; all sense and feeling of carnal reasoning, are like fogs 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 what it is. 
Mat. 11.29  Learn of me (saith our Saviour) and you shall find rest to your souls: And the Psalmist saith, I will inquire what the Lord will say: so say thou, I will not harken what carnal reason will say. The want of this is the cause why we have so many distractions and disquietments, & are still in doubtings, because he that teacheth us is a deluder.  
For the poor soul saith, What, shall I have an interest in Christ, shall I have title to the promises? nay, this belongs to those that are : indeed if I had such power against corruption, such heavenly mindedness, and this and that, there were some hopes, but I am so full of weakness, and many times led captive by my rebellious heart; that it is too apparent I never had saving grace, nay, I fear I never shall have it truly wrought in my soul.  
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; Learn of me, saith Christ, and put not your cause to be decided by carnal reason, nor harken what it telleth you; for if you take that course, you shall never come to Christ whilst the world standeth: Learn of the Lord Christ, for his word is faithful, and his promise sure, and there you shall find rest as strong as Mount Zion; 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 four cures: I will now propound four rules how a man may order himself aright in this course, so that he may repair to the word at all times, as he aught to do, and gain evidence there for establishing his heart in peace and tranquillity.  

Rules to direct a Christian how to use the Word of God for the evidence of his assurance.  
First, 
Rule 1.  to use the word of God aright: as thou must in all conditions that concern thy soul repair to the Word, so thou must consider thine own uprightness, and what work of grace is in thy soul, that will answer the word, and testify that the work of grace is true: be sure to take thy soul at the best; do not always consider what is the worst part in thee, nor thy failings that may accuse thee only, but if there be any uprightness that may speak for thee, hear that also; It is injustice for any Court to hear one side and not another: the Lord doth not lie at catch with his children, but he takes them at the best: as Rom. 4.22. it is said that Abraham believed the promise, and it was imputed to him for righteousness: yet in the 12. of Gen. we see he had some doubtings, but God took him at the best, 
1 Pet. 3.6. Gen 18.12  and so records this of his faith. So we see that Sarah is spoken of as a gracious woman, and a pattern for women in calling her husband Lord, which was a sign of an humble heart; but yet we read that she derided the message of the Lord by the Angel; yet notwithstanding the Lord buries that, and only mentions the other in the commendations of her. Now as the Lord deals with his servants, so must we deal with ourselves, whatsoever is found sincere and upright, observe that as well as the other, nay rather before the other. If a man should have his cause handled in any Court after this fashion, and they should only observe the failings in his cause, the best cause may happily go against a man, therefore the Court will hear all read; as if any Bond or Bill come in, or any matter of agreement, they will hear all: If a man have an Indenture, and the lawyer only opens and reads the failings in it, and that which seems to make against the party, if the Judge only hear that, it must needs go against him, and therefore the man saith, Good my Lord hear all: and when they find it written that such a debt is paid, and the party satisfied, than the cause goes well; whereas if they had heard only the first part, and not the second, he had lost all. So, many bring in great inditements against themselves, and say, O what pride and stubbornness is in my heart, o how weak am I, and dull, and dead, and backward to holy duties? How careless of enjoying communion with GOD? How negligent in sifting and trying my own heart, in watching over my senses, and mourning in secret for my daily failings? It is true; but art thou not troubled with these, and is it not the greatest grief of thy soul that lies upon thee? yea, saith the poor soul, I confess my heart is weary of these, and I could be content to be any thing, that I could not be thus: now take thy soul on this side, and hear the best part: as it is with a man's hand and the staff, I compare the promise to a staff, you know the back of a man's hand cannot take hold of the staff, but let him turn the palm of his hand to the staff, and then he can take it: so turn thou the right side of thy soul to the promise, and then thou mayst take it; but we turn the backside of our hearts to the promise, when the soul saith, O my stubbornness is great, and mine inabilities and corruptions are many; this is the wrong side of thine heart, and this will ever hinder thee from taking hold of the promise: But thy soul hates these, and is weary of them; this is the right side of the heart, turn that to the promise.  
Secondly, 
Rule 2.  Labour to have thy conscience settled and established in that truth which now out of the Word thou hast gotten, to bear witness of the work of grace in thee; for if there be any want of the assurance of God's love, and if the evidence of the work of grace come not powerfully in upon thy heart, but there is some guilt of sin still remaining, than conscience will breed new broils, and continually nip and disquiet the heart; therefore as we must have our judgement informed by the Word that there is some good in us, so we must get conscience persuaded of it, that conscience may speak for us: as the debtor, if he be indebted to many creditors, he must agreed with all; for if he agreed with all save one, that one may imprison him as well as all the rest: So it is with the poor distressed soul that lies at the mercy of the Lord, and is so deep in arerages that he cannot help himself, he must labour to still conscience, that it do not accuse him, but be on his side.  
The want of this is the cause why new suits and new bills are daily put up against us, only because conscience is not pacified; take a poor sinner that hath all his doubts and objections answered, come to him, and say, Are all these all your doubts and objections? yes: and are they all answered? yes: and have you now any thing to say against that which hath been made known unto you: no not now: Say to him again, Did your conscience say to you, it is a sin to say you have no grace? Now here he demurs and stays, and saith, Not I dare not say so, but I rather say the contrary. Mark this, all the books are crossed, and all objections answered, and yet conscience puts in a new plea, because it was not satisfied.  
Now come to him again, and say, You are sometimes captived by sin, but you are willing to be at God's disposing, and that he should pluck away all those corruptions, are you not?  
O saith the poor sinner, I must needs yield to that; then I affirm to thy soul this is a work of true grace: therefore let conscience be fully satisfied, and cancel all selfe-accusations; this will clear the heart, and cast out all cavillations love was made sure to us.  
Thirdly, 
Rule 3.  we should strive mightily to have our heart's overpowered with the evidence which reason and conscience makes good to us, that so we may quietly receive it, and calmly welcome it, and yield and subject our hearts to the truth. But here we all stick, for there are three things in the soul of a man which maintain these quarrels and oppositions against the evidence of the Word: 1. Reason objects: 2. Conscience accuseth: 3. The Will of man will not submit: and we find it in experience that when a man hath stilled conscience, and answered all reasons, yet the stubbornness of the heart maintains a gainsaying against the truth, and keeps the old quarrel that hath been answered long ago, and that a man would think had been buried long since. It is in this case with a poor sinner, as it is with a man that hath a contentious adversary; happily the cause that they two have in hand hath been tried in all the Courts of England, and at last comes to Chancery, and there it is concluded against him, so that all things are settled and ended, as a man would think, and an honest man would sit down and be quiet: but the other being a quarrelsome fellow will not yield yet, but to the old law he will again, and he will cell all he hath but he will have his will; till at the last the Judge comes to take notice of this man, and casts out the cause, and puts him in prison, and saith, These things were all answered, and the cause ended long ago.  
Just so for all the world is it with the heart of a gracious man that is humbled in some measure, and could be content to yield to the credit of God's word, and to the witness of his conscience, and saith My condition is better than I thought it was, but there is an old proud self-willed heart that will not be quiet, but still is quarrelsome, and maintains the old quarrel; Though reasons are all confuted, and conscience bears witness against him, and every Minister casts out the cause; yet observe it, a poor distressed sinner will keep the old objections, and though they were answered the night before, yet he will have them fresh the next morning, and the next month, even when a man would think he should not dare to come in Court; and the mischief lies even here, in a proud self-willed heart that will not yield. Therefore labour to get thy heart so fare overpowered with the authority of the truth, whatsoever it is that God reveals to thee for thy good, and do not reject the evidence which God makes known and passeth upon thy soul for thy everlasting welfare, do not (I say) reject it: and because thou hast not that comfort that thou wouldst, therefore thou wilt have none at all: it is not properly because thou canst not, but because thou wilt not receive the promise, that so wracks and torments thy spirit: this is it which breeds the quarrel: and hence it is that when reason is satisfied, and conscience convinced, ask the soul this question, and say, Are you persuaded that the Lord hath done you good, and will show everlasting mercy to your soul? no (saith he) all the world shall not persuade me of that; Ministers are merciful, and Christians are charitable, and are loath to discourage me, as I should do to them, but did they know me indeed they would never think thus of me, certainly I shall never find it so: What I grace? all the world shall never persuade me to it. Mark what I say, this is merely thy pride and selfe-wildnesse that will not receive that good which God is willing to give thee; this hellish and devilish pride of thine will cost thee dear one day.  
Object. But will some say, How is it pride? we are ever complaining and condemning ourselves, this cannot be pride.  
Answ. Yes I say it is abominable pride, against the Majesty of heaven; and that, I will show these two ways: First for a man to follow his own conceits and selfe-wildnesse against the truth, and the force of reason, and the witness of the servants of GOD, and his own conscience, is not this pride?  
Secondly, thy pride appears in this, namely, because thou hast not what thou wouldst, and in that manner and measure thou desirest, and hast not that sweetness of grace and conquest over corruption that thou wouldst have, therefore thou flingest away all God's kindness; this is infinite pride: That measure of mercy which God hath already showed thy soul, is incomprehensible, and yet because you cannot have what you would, you will have nothing at all. As a man that hath the Law on his side, and his estate settled on him, yet because his evidences are not written in great huge letters, and in large paper, he throws them all away: so you have no grace, because you have not so much as you would have; you have no humility, because you have not so much humility: O pride, pride, in the highest degree.  
Labour therefore to bring thy heart to this blessed subjection to the truth of God, and make it thy duty as well to receive comfort when God offers it upon good grounds, as to do a duty commanded, and know that it is a sin to reject mercy when God offers it, as to kill a man which God hath forbidden; and therefore you Saints of God that have been pestered thus, and have been enemies to yourselves, when your hearts begin to slide away thus, take your hearts and reason thus with your souls, and say, Good Lord, this is the proud stubborn distemper of this vile heart of mine; what would I have? is not God's word clear, and my conscience satisfied? do not the Ministers of God affirm my state to be good? and shall I thus dishonour God?  
Object. But what saith the poor soul again, Must I eat mine own words, and say I have grace, when before I said I had none?  
Answ. Yes, and be thankful to God that thou mayst say so too; it is better for you to cross your own humours, than cross God's Spirit: take notice of it, and fear for ever, jest that proud and stubborn soul of thine, which now refuseth consolation when God offers it, be forced to eat thy flesh, and come upon thy knees, and never get comfort to thy dying day; and though God save thee in the end, yet thou shalt be as it were in hell upon earth.  
One would have thought it had been humility in Peter to refuse to let Christ wash his feet, but it was nothing but pride, and therefore Christ takes him up for it sharply, (which is indeed the only way to cure this distemper) If I wash thee not thou hast no part in me: 
joh. 13.8, 9  if you will needs have your own humours, and will not be persuaded, you may get you down to hell with them: Peter paused with himself a while, but at last when his stomach came down, then, Lord, not only my feet, but my hands & heart and all. It is humility of heart to take what God offers. Most Christians think they are humble-hearted, but they are so fare proud, as they give leave to this distemper: therefore labour to overmaster this gainsaying heart of thine, with the authority of the word of God, and learn to receive mercy when God offers it, jest he take away the comfort of his Spirit from you, and make you go howling and roaring to your graves. Though he bring you to heaven in the end, yet you may have a hell before you come thither.  
The last Rule is this, 
Rule 4.  Maintain the good word which thy heart hath submitted to, and keep it as the best treasure under heaven; and when thou hast obtained certain evidence that thy estate is good, hear nothing against it, but stick fast to the same, regard nothing but out of the word of God, against that comfort and evidence of thy salvation, which thou hast been persuaded of by the word; if Satan or carnal reason have any thing to say against thee, let them bring Scripture, and then yield to it, but without the word hear nothing. Look as it is with a man that is at law for lands, if he have his adversary on the hip, and have gotten some advantage against him, he will keep him there, and hold him to the point. If a man will follow every wrangling Lawyer at every impertinent out-straying, he will never have any good success; it is the fashion of many Attorneys rather to breed quarrels, than to end them; and therefore hold to the main point. Deal with Satan as with a subtle adversary that is full of wiles and fetches. It is the cunning of the enemy to lead you out, and he will have many vagaries, but be sure to hold to that truth which you have received from the evidence of the word, and the witness of conscience. When a man hath gotten some comfort, than the devil gins to play the Lawyer in this manner.  Satan. 
Dost thou not see how weak and poor thou art? how destitute of all saving grace, and how contrary thou walkest to God?   

How the soul being tempted may answer Satan's accusations.  Sinner. 
It is true (saith the soul) yet it is as true that he that confesseth and forsaketh his sin, shall have mercy.  Satan. 
But (saith the devil) dost thou not see that thou art full of pride and weakness, and secretly unwilling to come to duties?  Sinner. 
It is true (saith the soul) I am so, yet I hate and desire to forsake this, therefore shall find mercy, the word saith so.  Satan. 
But (saith the devil) are you of God's counsel, secret things belong to God?  Sinner. 
Indeed (saith the soul) I know not what Gods secret will is, yet this I know, that the word saith, He hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but invites such daily to come unto him.  Satan. 
But (saith the devil) many cousin themselves, mercy is a great thing, and few obtain it, and why may not you be cozened as well as others?  
But (saith the soul) the Lord will not cousin me, 
Sinner.  and the Lord knows my heart, & the word knows what the Lord knows.  Satan. 
But (saith the devil) may not you be deceived in the word; the word is true indeed, but how know you that you rightly apply it, and that the word and your heart doth suit together?  Sinner. 
Why (saith the soul:) I desire as earnestly to have my sin purged, as I do to have it pardoned. I know my heart by the word, and to the word I repair, and the Lord knows that I hate all sin inwardly, and reform it outwardly, and therefore I know I shall find mercy: show me a place of Scripture that saith I do not rightly apply the word, and I will believe it; but I will not believe thee, for thou art a deluder and a liar.  
Thus hold to the word, and the devil will be tired, and go away: keep you here, for if he catch you a wand'ring after sense and feeling, you are gone. 
Psal. 119.98.  Thou through thy Commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies, saith David, for they are ever with me. Satan is wise; and the flesh, and carnal reason, and the world are wise, but blessed be our God that makes every poor ignorant servant of his wiser than all these: but how? the word must be ever with them; you must keep the word with you daily, and that will make you not know only what is amiss, but get ground against whatsoever hinders your peace.  
Satan deals in this with the soul, as the enemy deals in war: when joshua defeated the men of Ai, 
Iosh. 8.19.  he got them out of the City, and then they that lay in ambush went and took it in, and burned it with fire: so the devil doth: Our Castle or City is the promises, and the word, and ordinances of God: now if the devil can but get you out of this Castle, he hath you where he would; if you will look after every bird that flies, and listen after every carnal reason and temptation, you are gone; if he once get you from the pro●●●●…   

Means to obtain an interest in the Promises.  
Now I will show you some means whereby a man may so improve his time, that at last he may obtain this blessed estate; which are four; but before I do begin with them, you must be advertised of thus much, that we may use the means, but there is no means under heaven alone will do it, yet you must wait upon God in the use of the means, for it is not the means that will work faith, but the Spirit of God in the use of the means; and therefore the Text saith, To you it is given to believe, for faith is the free gift of God; it is God that must do it, and yet he will not do it without us, because we are reasonable men and women. The Lord affords us means, and therefore we are to wait upon him in the use of those means; let the Lord do what he will, and let us do what we should: we must not think when we have the means than we can get faith presently, for as Paul saith, The same power that raised up jesus from the dead must make us able to believe, 
Eph. 1.20.  or else all the Angels in heaven, and all the Ministers on earth, and all the help that men and means can do thee, will do thee no good: the means are diverse, as hearing and prayer, which are the Conduits whereby God communicates faith; but I let those pass, and only fasten upon those which are needful for feeble Christians to bring them into this blessed state, and those are these.  
First, we must, 
1. Means.  as much as in us lies, labour to pluck away all those props that the soul leans upon, and all those outward succours, and whatsoever outward contentment it is, which a poor sinner doth repair and betake himself to for relief and help, that when all these are taken from us, we may be forced to go for secure there where it is to be had. It is that which remains in the nature of man, and that which is natural to us all even from our first Parents, that we would have the staff in our own hands, and support our own souls, and supply all those necessities that lie upon us.  
Now the way to make the soul lean upon CHRIST, is, to pluck away all other props; for the last thing that we come to is the promise, and if we could find good any where else, we would never go to Christ; God hears last of us, and therefore we should do with ourselves as the enemy doth with a City besieged, when he would make them yield, the only way is to famish them, cut off all provision, and stop all passages that none may come to relieve them, and then they will be forced to yield themselves to the mercy of the enemy; so it is with our nature, we are still trusting to our own strength, and relying upon something of our own; therefore famish thy heart, and cut off all the means and comfort whereby thy heart may be succoured, and thy conscience quieted, and when thy heart is famished, it will then seek out to a Saviour, and lie there, because there is no other thing to support it.  

Mar. 5.26, 27.  The poor woman in the Gospel had spent all her goods upon the Physicians, and if she had had but a little means left, yea, but one farthing token, for any thing I know she would never have gone to Christ; but when all these failed, than she was forced to seek to Christ, that was ready and willing to do any thing for her distressed nature: so our souls must have something to support themselves upon, for they cannot live without some support. Now therefore when all our carnal hopes are taken away, we must needs stay upon the promise, because we have nothing else. It is not required that a man should cast away those outward comforts that GOD affords him, but only this, that though you have all, yet labour to get your heart to see and acknowledge the emptiness of all these, and let not the heart seek too much content in them, for these are all but lying vanities, & broken staves, which will not only cousin a man, but pierce him too.  
Now when the soul seethe these things cannot secure him, but lay him in the dust, than he will be content to have his heart severed from them. It is with the soul as it was with Noah's Dove, when the Ark began to rest upon the Mountain of Arraret, Noah sent out the Dove, but the Dove found no rest for the sole of her foot: Not question there were many dead carcases, but the dove, found no rest till she came to the Ark again; so when a man finds no rest in any thing the creature affords, and can get no footing for the soul to stay itself upon them, than it betakes itself to Christ, and goes home to the promise, and rests there, and expects from thence what is needful; as in the Art of swimming, he that will swim must pluck his feet from the bottom, and commit himself to the stream to bear him up; so we must pluck our hearts from these things, & them from us; and though we have honour and preferments, yet we must not put any confidence in them, but learn by our believing to commit ourselves wholly to the power of the promise, and receive comfort from thence only.  
Let not the gods of this world, honour, and profit, and pleasure deceive thee; did the pride of Pharaohs heart deliver him? did the riches of Dives save him? did Herod's applause that he had, deliver him? did these gods secure them? nay, have they not left them in the lurch? therefore let us take our hearts off from these things, and have a base esteem of them, and see a vanity, and emptiness, and insufficiency in them, that we may be forced to seek to Christ, and say as David said, Help Lord, for vain is the help of man. Labour therefore to see the privy pranks of thine own heart, and hunt out all those mazes, and turnings and windings of thy spirit, for it is wonderful to see how the soul is ready to hung her comforts upon every hedge, and shifted and shark in every by-corner for comfort: Now when thou seest thy heart thus seeking to settle itself, pluck away that prop, and see the emptiness of it, and then thy heart will be fit and ready to go unto Christ.  
Now when this is done there is a little way made that the promise may come to the soul, 
2. Means.  therefore labour in the second place to have your hearts possessed throughly, and persuaded effectually of the fullness of that good which is in the promise, and of that satisfactory mercy and freeness of the grace of God in Christ, that so the soul may be established with that full content which is to be had in the riches of the promise. But mark what I say, persuade your heart of it, and content not yourselves that you are able to dispute somewhat fully of the excellency of the promise and of the riches of Gods free grace; What is this to the purpose that the heart knows this, and yet is forestalled that it comes not to the promise? therefore leave not thy heart till it come to make that account of the promise, that the word saith it is worth; I say leave not thy heart till thou see the promise of grace most beautiful in thy eye, and that thy heart may gain some earnest touching the goodness of God, and the riches of his grace towards thee; and bring thy heart to know and see, that the promise is better than all the riches & honours that thou canst have, or the world can bestow, 
Psal. 9.10.  They that know thee will trust in thee, for thou Lord hast never failed them that seek thee: This kind of knowledge ever breeds confidence and resolution, and persuades the heart; We dare trust a friend whose faithfulness we have tried; and rest upon that which we know by experience. The promises are of a tried truth; seek from one end of the heavens to the other, turn all the Bible over, and see if ever any man leaned on the promise, and the Lord did not perform that which he had promised for the good of his soul? 
Psal. 119.92.  Except the Lord had been my delight, I should have perished in my troubles (saith David.) My flesh faileth and my heart also, 
Psa. 73.26.  but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. Here lies a great weight, and it is a work of marvellous difficulty and great necessity, and therefore that thy heart may sit down satisfied in the sufficiency of the promise, I will propound three rules how you may improve the promise for your uttermost benefit.  
First, 
How to improve the promises for our benefit.  labour daily to present to thy soul a greater good in the promise than thou canst see any where else: It is a man's skill, and it should be his endeavour daily to dog his heart, and to look what it is that the heart desires most, and present a greater good to thy soul therein, than in all things thou canst have elsewhere. We should deal with our hearts as a man would do with a corrupt Justice, when he would have him to be on his side, the only way is to bribe him; (though that is sinful) yet it is good to bribe the corrupt heart with the goodness of the promise, that the heart may cleave to it, and long after it. Do honours, or riches, or the applause of men, or any earthly pleasures offer thee content and satisfaction? then persuade thy heart there is a greater worth and excellency in the promise than can be had in all the world. Here is an exceeding weight of glory, he that hath this promise shall be made a King, and shall have glory that will never vanish: doth thy heart hanker after earthly joy and mirth? thou shalt find a grea●… 〈…〉 promise', then in 〈…〉 ●●●…ing of these thorns, 〈…〉 so I may say of any thing else) Doth thy heart hanker after riches? then tell thy heart that there are unsearchable riches in Christ, and through him we have title to all the promises of this life and a better; we know he that offers most for the bargain hath it: therefore we should observe the doings out of our hearts, and what offers itself to give us most content, and present our souls with a greater good in God then in all things else.  
O the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the 〈…〉 passeth 〈…〉 consideration of 〈…〉 as it works a longing after Christ, and the promises, so it should fill our faces with shame and confusion, that ever we should set light by such riches of mercy, and walk unworthy of so great salvation. Can we comprehend the unmeasurable dimensions of God's love and goodness revealed in his word, how would our hearts be inflamed towards him? When the sinner thinks thus with himself, I that have done all that I could against so good a God, that my heart even bleeds to think of it, there 〈…〉 under heaven 〈…〉 in pieces but Gods 〈…〉 his wounds, and life, a●● heartblood I have rend and torn a thousand times. Nay, there was no command in the world that my soul so much despised, as the command of the Lord Jesus. There was no spirit that ever spoke to me, which I so much resisted as the Spirit of the Lord. O how many sweet motions hath the Lord let into my soul, thereby to pluck me from my base courses & sinful practices! By how many mercies hath he alured me, by how many gracious promises hath he invited me, to forsake 〈…〉 turn 〈…〉 but I have 〈…〉 the face of his ers and blessed spirit, and rejected all terms of reconciliation. If I had lain in a dungeon, and been plagued with torments all my life time, yea, though I had another world full of misery to live in, I should count it infinite mercy, so the Lord would pass by my sinful miscarriages, and pardon these inward rebellions.  
But that God should sand his dearest Son to love me, and that so incomparably, so inconceivably, that I could not possibly hate him, so much as he loves and affects me, I could not so exceed in unkindness towards him, as he hath exceeded in tender compassion towards me? Were it not righteous with God, never to speak comfort more to my soul, that have so lightly esteemed his promise and word of comfort? Had it not been just with GOD to take advantage against me? Was it not just that I which lived in sin, should have perished in my sin? Had it not been just that I who have so much loved corruption, should have reaped the bitter fruit of it long ere this? But that the Lord should find an enemy, and not slay him; nay, that he should give his beloved Son out of his bosom to save him; is love not to be expressed. O the height of this mercy beyond my desire. O the breadth of this mercy without all bounds. O the length of this mercy beyond all times. O the depth of this mercy beyond all sin and misery!  
Labour therefore to have access to the promise with thy soul, and speak a good word for it, and say, Stand by profits, and pleasures, and preferments, room for the Lord Jesus Christ, and put a wonderful price upon the promise; this is an everlasting rule, whatsoever the soul doth account as best, that it will choose and leave all others for it. I would have the soul outbid the world, and labour to out-shoot the devil in his own bow, and those things which the devil casts in thy way, for hindering thy soul from coming to the promise, let those things be as means to usher-in the promise. As thus, when thou seest thy heart look after friends, let those friends usher the way to think on the infinite love and favour of God in Christ; and when thy heart would fain hunt after wealth, let this usher a way to the promise, and say, If the heart find such content in riches, what would it find in the riches of God's grace in Christ? thus present a greater good in the promise then in any thing else.  
The second rule is, Labour to convince thy heart of this, that all the things in the world without the promise are not good, and hadst thou all that the earth can afford without a promise, they were rather a curse to thee then a blessing. 
Heb. 11.1.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, it gives a kind of being and substance to all; there is no substance in honour and riches if they be not in faith; they are clogs & snares to a man, except saith give a title thereunto and a blessing therewith; all our prayers have no substance in them, but are poor and empty words without faith in the promise to have what we pray for: the most broken and mean prayer, when a poor creature can scarce utter four words with any sense, yet if it be mingled with faith, is a very powerful prayer; and the substance of all your hearing, and my preaching lies in faith, otherwise they are but lost labour, for faith is it that gives a kind of being to whatsoever we speak or do.  
The third rule in this second means, is this, Labour to acquaint thy heart with the goodness of the promise, before carnal reason comes and possesses thy heart, how that the promise is most sure, and will come when it is most seasonable, and is best for thee, and when God sees it most fit we shall certainly have it; 
Heb. 4.16.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive comfort and mercy in time of need; not when I see it fit, but when God sees it fit, this is it which carries away many poor sinful hearts from resting upon the promise of God; sometimes the heart is a little affected with the excellency of the riches of God's grace, and seethe what great things the Lord hath done for his soul, and saith, O that I were such a one, and let me die the death of the righteous; but when it comes to pass that he hath not present ease and comfort, than he casts away the good promise of the Lord, and the devil prevails wonderfully with these poor creatures: Therefore saith the Prophet, When the fig tree shall not blossom, 
Hab. 3.17.  neither shall the fruit be on the Vines, when the labour of the Olive shall fail and yield no fruit, then will I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation. Saith the Prophet, Comfort from the promise, and from the Lord Jesus Christ is then seasonable, when I have most need and may receive most good thereby; then shall I be sure to have the promise so to surprise my heart, that it may be possessed with the alsufficiency of it.  

3. Means.  In the third place see that thou expectest all the good which thou needest and canst desire from that sufficiency of the promise; do not think to bring any good with thee to the promise, but go to the promise for all good; there are all the cords of mercy that must draw thee, and there is the alsufficiency that can supply all thy wants, look for all from thence, and expect power from the promise to enable thee to do whatsoever thou wouldst, and to make thee able to believe the promise.  
Object. It is a weak plea for a man to say, I dare not look to the promise, I cannot believe, if I could than I might expect some good.  
Answ. Thou shalt never believe upon these terms, thou must not first have faith and then go to the promise, but thou must first go to the promise, and from thence receive power to make thee able to believe the promise, O Lord remember thy word to thy servant, 
Psal. 119.49.  wherein thou hast caused me to trust. When men are enlarged in love to a man, and make fair promises, this persuades the heart to trust to them, and to rely upon them for good; therefore a man doth use to say, I durst not have thought it, nor expected, if you had not promised it; so the promise of God made to the soul, makes the soul to rest upon it.  
To expect faith without a promise, is all one as if a man should expect a crop without seed, for the promise is the immortal seed of God's Word, whereby the Spirit breeds this faith in the hearts of all that are his. 
joh. 5.25.  The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear it shall live: It is spoken of raising of a dead man from the grave of sin. First, there is the voice of Christ to the soul, before there can be an Echo again of the soul to Christ; so the power of the promise must come to the soul, and we must hear the voice of God in the promise before we can return an Echo again to the Lord; The Lord saith, Come to me, and the soul saith, I come Lord. When thou seest much deadness and unfitness of heart, do not thou go away, and look off from the promise, and say, Thus I am, and so it is with me; but rather go to the promise, and say, Whatsoever frailties I find in myself, yet I will look to the Lord, and to his promise, for if I want faith, the promise must settle me more and more therein, I must not bring faith to the promise, but receive faith from thence, and therefore I will wait till the Lord please to work it.  

4. Means.  Lastly, labour to yield to the equal condition of the promise, and make no more conditions than God makes; now the promise requires no more of a man, but that he should come and lay hold on mercy; therefore do thou require no more than God in the promise requires; there is enough in the promise to do thee good, therefore expect all good from it, and be content to go to the promise, and take of God whatsoever he hath therein offered. Buy without money; 
Esay 55.12  This is the condition that God offers mercy upon, buy wine and Milk, that is, grace and salvation without money, that is, without sufficiency of your own; if a man should go running up and down to borrow money before he come to buy, he may famish before he come; so the Lord offers Christ's mercy and salvation, and saith, Come take it without money, and we run up and down to borrow money of prayer, and duties, and power against corruption, but you may be starved before you buy, if you go this way to work.  
Therefore make Gods commodities no dearer than God himself makes them, for this is the cause why many a poor soul is kept from coming to the promise: O, saith one, if I were able to master my sins and distempers as such a one can do, than I would believe; this is to bring money; but art thou content to have Christ, and that Christ may have thee, and rule thee, and supply thy wants, and reveal thy sins, and heal thy corruptions; then go to the promise, & the Lord thereby will supply thy wants, and master all thy sins and corruptions; but that must come afterwards; 
Ezek. 16 8, 9  When I passed by thee, and saw thee in thy blood, (saith the Lord) and behold the time was as the time of love, and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness; yea, I entered into a covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine; (that is, you were content that GOD should marry you in all your rags) and washed thee with water, yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and anointed thee with oil, I clothed thee also with broidered work. First, he marries the Church to himself, and then he gives grace, and passeth over his estate to his Spouse. Were it not a wonderful great folly if some great King should make love to a poor Milkmaid, and she should put it off, and refuse the match till she were a Queen, whereas, if she will match with the King, he will make her a Queen afterwards; so we must not look for sanctification, till we come to the Lord in vocation; for this is all the Lord requires of thee, to see thy sins, and be weary of them, and be content that the Lord Jesus shall reveal what is amiss, and take it away, and that the Lord should give thee grace, than the Lord will bring thee to himself, and thou shalt receive mercy from him, and then all thy corruptions shall fall to the ground. To sum up the point briefly thus:  
First, when we have plucked away all carnal props, there is way made for the promise to come to us.  
Secondly, when our hearts are possessed throughly of the sufficiency of God's promise and grace, than the promise draws near to the soul.  
Thirdly, when we expect all from the promise, even power to come to the promise, than the promise lays hold upon us.  
Fourthly, when we are content to yield to the equal conditions of the promise, than the promise carries us quite away.  
Thus we have seen the hindrances removed, and the means propounded, and now, that we may be moved and persuaded importunately to seek after this blessed grace of God, let us consider thus much; if you once get this grace, you get all other graces with it; it is a ground of comfort to set a man a ●●●…ke, when in the doing of one work he may do another, nay, all works; so it is in the work of faith, it should encourage us to labour for faith, because if we get this we get all: men that are wise to provide for themselves, and to lay out their money in a purchase for the best advantage, if they see it well wooded & watered, especially if there be some golden Ours, all their mind will be upon that, because if they have that they have all with it; so it is here, get grace and get all, strengthen this and all is strong, want this and want all, once get this, and you need not seek for 〈◊〉 semidome, 
Faith to be laboured for above all graces.  for faith will m●●● you wise to salvation, and you need not labour for patience, for faith will make you patiented, & faith will bring holiness wit● it to purge you, for faith brings all grace. Now the Saints of God endeavour with much pains to get grace, and to subdue their corruptions; but yet they are feeble & weak therein, because they take not the right way.  
Many a poor soul mourns and cries to heaven for mercy, and prays against a stubborn hard heart, and he is weary of his life because his vile heart remains, and yet ●… wou●● 〈…〉 you go th● 〈…〉 for if you would 〈…〉 grace you must first of all get faith, and that will bring all the rest; buy the field, and the Pearl is yours; you must not stand struggling and striving with your own hearts, and think to master a proud heart, that will not do it, but let saith go to Christ, and there is meekness patience, humility and wisdom, and faith will fetch all these to the soul. Brethrens, if you set such a price upon any of those graces, than labo● 〈…〉 ●aith, get that 〈…〉 〈…〉 glass, the 〈…〉 ●●…rd, are changed into the same Image from glory to glory. The Lord Christ is the glass, and the glorious grace of God in Christ, is compared to the glory of the Lord; therefore first we must behold the grace in Christ by faith, before we can receive grace; first, see humility in Christ, and then fetch it there; first see strength and courage to enable thy weak heart, and then fetch it. Would not you be content to have a meek, gracious and 〈…〉 heart? dare un●●●●… 〈…〉 of you, 〈…〉 think it 〈…〉 that ever you 〈…〉 you say, O th●… 〈…〉 once see that day, 〈◊〉 this proud heart of mine might be humbled. If I could see the blood of my sins, I should think myself happy, and desire to live no longer; then get faith, and so buy the whole, for they go all together; you must not think to have patience & meekness, without faith, but buy faith and you shal● have all together: Would you have the glory of God, and be more heavenl● minded, then look 〈…〉 〈…〉 ●●en you shall 〈…〉 hold you there 〈…〉 this will increase all your graces, to your everlasting peace & comfort. When men use to make a purchase, they will reckon up all, and say, There is so much wood worth so much, & so much stock, worth so much, and then they offer for the whole, answerable to all the parcels: so there is Item for an heavenly mind, that is worth thousands and Item for an humble heart, that is worth millions. And are these graces 〈…〉 so much? what is faith