་་

་

ber on our death beds what we have done, and how hốly we have been in obedience to God, and by the grace of Chrift; yea, we may go further, and defire God to remember us concerning them, Neh. xiii. 22. Remem*ber me, O my God, concerning this alfo, and fpare me according to the greatnefs of thy mercy:' Nehemiah had done many good offices to the church of God, and he defires God to remember him in respect of them, Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all I have done for this people,' Neh. v. 16. Yet we are not to boast of them, to truft in them, or expect a reward of them, it is not propter, but fecundum, not for all I have 'done, but according to all I have done :' As Chrift will reward his faints according to their works, Matth. xvi. 27. So Nehemiah prays, Lord think upon me according to all I have done, as being the best witness of my in ward righteousness, but not what I have done,' as if { fhould merit heaven by my juft defervings. Our Saviour tells us, When we have done all we can do, that still we must fay, we are but unprofitable fervants,' Luke xvii 10. How? unprofitable; this title is given to evil fervants, Caft ye the unprofitable fervant into utter darkness, Matth. xxv. 30. And they are unprofitable, there is none that doth good, no, not one,' Rom. iii. 12. Certainly this fhews what our merits are, if God fhould be fevere, ⚫ Can a man be profitable unto God? If thou be righteous, what giveft thou him? or what ' receiveth he at thy hand?' Job xxi, 2. Take heed then of refting on, or trufting to any righteoufnefs or works of thy own, they are no caule of heaven, and therefore not to be confided in..

6

6

3. Roll we ourselves on Chrift, and Chrift alone for life and falvation. Bellarmine could fay, after all his dif putes for relying on works, on faints, or angels, Tutius eft, &c. The fafeft way is to rely on Jefus Chrift; works, faints, and angels, may be fome comfort in their way, and at the time of death.' I would have an efpecial eye to angel protection, of which afterwards; yet I must needs fay, that faith is not content with the prefence and affiftance of an angel, except the Lord Jefus Chriftbe there

himfelf. When God promised to fend an angel with his people to drive out the Canaanites, the Ifraelites mourned, and no man put on his ornaments,' Exod. xxxiii. 4. They put on blacks, like a loving wife that would have her husband: what do you tell her of sending a trusty fervant with her? Nothing will content her but her hufband: fo when our faith is fet on work, it makes us but fick to tell us of an angel, except we may have Christ Jefus alfo, him or none, he is our righteoufnefs, and he will be fure to be our strength: At what time I am a'fraid, faith David, I will truft in thee,' Pfal. Ivii. 3. Indeed all the faints are taught the fame leffon, to renounce their own righteoufnefs, and to expect all from the pure mercy of God in Chrift, which act of faith is fo pleafing to God. that fuch a foul fhall never be ashamed. A heathen could fay, when a bird scared by an hawk flew into his bofom, I will not betray thee unto thy enemy, feeing thou comeft for fanctuary unto me;' How much lefs will God yield up a foul unto its enemy, when it takes fanctuary in his name, faying, Lord, I am troubled with fuch and fuch a temptation, but I truft in thee, I rest upon thee for life and for falvation : O take me into the bofom of thy love for Chrift's fake! O caft me into the arms of thy everlasting ftrength! I have no confidence in myself, or any other, into thy hands I commit my cause, my life, my foul, or whether I live or die, here will I flick, and here will I abide for ever.' Oh bleffed foul, that thus avoids Satan, and rolls itself on Chrift, and Christ alone for its eternal happiness.

BUT

SECT. V.

Of the Alfault of Despair.

F

UT Satan (it may be) takes another course, if men will not prefume, he endeavours with might and main to drive them to defpair; this is the gulph that swallows up fouls, and therefore Satan makes fure, if he can but prevail in this affault; and to that end, he fets. before. their eyes all the grofs fins which ever they committed, and all the judgments which thofe fins have deferved thefe he writes (as it were) on the curtains of their beds, and endeavours as much as he can to keep their eyes upon

N

them,

them, q. d. Read here the bloody characters of thy fin, pe ufe the greatnefs, the multitude, the heinoufness of thy tran greffions, the word is, that no unclean thing fball enter int the kingdom of God, Rev. xxi. 27. and canft thou hope with all thy fins to pass thro' thofe golden gates? there fhall in nowife enter into them any thing that defileth, neither whatfoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; and ftandeft not thou guilty of all thefe fins? What hope then to enter thro' thofe gates into the city; Come, defpair and die, expect nothing but the wrath of the judge, and the wages of fin, viz. Death eternal, both of body and foul,

Thus Satan tempts, he knows that he must now or never prevail, for if their fouls once go to heaven, he shall never vex nor trouble them any more.

SECT. VI.

Of our wrestling with Satan as to this last Affault.

O this laft affault of defpair, I have fpoken before in Chap. III. Sect. V. which in this cafe may be reviewed; yet a few confiderations I fhall add here, and then I have done.

1. Confider, it is as eafy with God, upon true repentance to forgive the greateft fin as the leaft, and he is as willing to forgive many, as to pardon one, and his mercy fhineth more in pardoning great finners than fmall offenders; as appears in the examples of Manaffes, Magdalen, Peter, Paul, &c. Moreover the law entered, that the of fence might abound, and where fin abounded, grace did much more abound, Rom. v. 20. O bleffed word!

2. Confider, that Chrift is the remedy appointed by God the Father to fave finful fouls; if then Satan tells us we are miferable finners, and muft defpair, we may anfwer, Chrift came into the world to fave finners, Mat. ix. 13. Ifa. liii. 5. 2 Cor. v. 21. Thus bleffed Mrs. Katha rine Stubbs wrestled with Satan, as appears in that dialogue: How now Satan, what makeft thou here? art thou come to tempt the Lord's fervant? I tell thee thou hellhound, thou haft no part nor portion in me, nor by the grace of God ever fhall have; I was, now am, and fhall e the Lord's for ever; yea Satan, I was chofen an elect

of

of Chrift unto everlasting falvation, before the foundation of the world was laid, and therefore thou must get thee packing, thou damned dog. But what doft thou lay to my charge thou foul fiend? Ah that I am a finner, and therefore fhall be damned! I confefs indeed that I am a finner, and a grievous finner, both by original fin, and by actual fin, and that I may thank thee for; and therefore Satan, I bequeath my fin to thee, from whence it first came, and I appeal to the mercy of God in Chrift Jefus, Chrift came to fave finners (as he himself faith) and not the righteous: Behold the Lamb of God, faith John, that taketh away the fins of the world; the blood of Jefus Chrift, doth cleanfe us from all fins. And therefore I conftantly believe my fins are washed away in the precious blood of Jefus Christ, and shall never be imputed to me any more. But what fayeft thou now Satan? doft thou afk me how I dare come for mercy? I tell thee Satan, I am bold to come unto him thro' Chrift, being affured and certain of pardon and remiffion of all my fins for his name's Sake: For doth not the Lord bid all heavy laden with the burden of fin to come to him and he will eafe them; Christ's arms were fpread wide open upon the crofs, to embrace me and all penitent finners, and therefore I will not fear to prefent myfelf before his footstool, in full affarance of his mercy for Chrift's fake: What more Satan? doft thou fay, it is written, That God will reward every one according to his deferts? So it is written again, thou deceitful devil, that Chrift's righteoufnefs is my righteoufnefs, his works my works, his merits my merits, and his precious blood a full fatisfaction for my fins: Obut God is a juft God (thou fayeft) and therefore in juftice must needs condemn me: I grant Satan, that he is a juft God, and therefore he cannot in jufticè punifh me for my fins, which he hath already punished in his own Son; it is against the law of juftice to punifli one fault twice; I was, and am a great debtor unto God the Father, but Jefus Chrift hath paid the debt for me, and therefore it flands not with the justice of God to require it again; and therefore avoid Satan, avoid thou fire brand of hell, and tempt me no more, for he that is with me is mightier than thou, N 2

even

even the mighty and victorious lion of the tribe of Juda, who hath bruifed thy head, and hath promised to be with his children to the end of the world: Avoid therefore thou Daftard, remove thy fiege, and yield the field won, and get thee packing, or I will call upon my grand Captain Jefus Chrift, the valiant Michael who beat thee in heaven, and threw thee down to hell, with all thy hellish train, and devilish crew-She had fcarcely pronounced these laft words, but the fell fuddenly into a fweet fmiling laughter, faying, Now he is gone, now he is gone, do you not fee him fly like a coward, and run away like a beaten cock? he hath loft the field, and I have won the victory, even the garland and crown of everlafting life, not by my own power and strength, but by the power and might of Jefus Chrift.

3. Perufe the evidences which in former times we have gathered and kept for such a time as this; have not ma ny faints avoided Satan thus, and got the victory? I fhall inftance in that one recorded in Mr. Calamy's ark, who reports of her thus, I knew, faith he, a very godly wo man, who in her life time had taken a great deal of pains to compose and write down her evidences for heaven, and who alfo kept a diary of her life, and wrote down how fhe spent every day, it pleafed God to withdraw himself from her for a while, and to let the devil loose, who tempted her to despair, told her the was an hypocrite, and formalift, and had no true grace in her; fhe fent for me, made her bitter complaint to me, and fadly bewailed her condition; then he told me (which before I knew not) how the had spent her life, how careful she had been in fearching her ways, in obferving how the spent every day, and how exact in collecting evidences for heaven: the book was fent for, I read a great deal of it to her, and took much delight and content in what I read, and it pleafed God to come to her with comfort in the reading of it; fhe fhewed her ftaff and her bracelets, and there by quenched the fiery darts of the devil.

4. Improve the comforts and precious promifes which are molt fuitable to our conditions; I fhall inftance in thefe: Behold Satan hath defired to have you, that

• he