XIII. against their prayers, the billows of his wrath CHAP. passing over them; yea, he seems to deal with them in a hostile manner, counts them as his enemies, writes bitter things against them, puts their feet in the stocks, sets a print upon their heels, the arrows of the Almighty are lodged in them, the poison whereof drinks. up their spirit, and the terrors of God set themselves as in array against them. For all these are the very words of scripture; see Isa. viii. 17. Psal. x. 1. xxx. 8. xxii. 3. lxxxviii. 16, 17. Job. xiii. 14. vi. 4. The famous Tuckney, elegantly observes in the place lately quoted, "that, notwithstanding that previous remission or justification, following sins, bring on particular guilt, in itself deserving eternal wrath, and so overwhelming the justified man, that it stirs up the fatherly anger of God against him and makes : him though, not a son of wrath, yet a son under wrath." XV. man and XV. I confess indeed, that Job, Heman, Job, Heand other holy men, did not always set pro- others did per bounds to their complaints: none, how- not always set just ever, will affirm this to me, that they had no bounds to cause at all for such great complaints, at least ther complaints: but their complaining was not rebellion. yet they did though it be disagreeable to examine their not com And plain withseveral expressions, and to weigh them in the out cause. balance of the most accurate perfection, yet they all show under what vehement indignation of their heavenly Father, the justified themselves may sometimes fall. CHAP. XIII XVI. Sin does much hurt XVI. So far is it from being true, that sing do them no harm. For, besides that on their account, they deserve to be in all respects forsaken of God, and disinherited; in the very even to the act, they disturb peace of conscience, take justified. away the boldness and the full persuasion of faith, lessen the joy of salvation, grieve the Spirit of grace, hurt the spiritual life, greatly diminish the habits of Christian virtues, as to the facility and promptitude of acting, and semetimes bring on a vehement swooning of the soul, which would choke the very principle of spiritual life, unless the guilt being removed by the blood of Christ, his quickening Spirit graciously repelled their deadly influence. As I am not averse to inculcate that there are no sins of the justified which can bring them into condemnation, so I would wish, with no less seriousness to put the justified in mind, that the power of sin is pestilential, which they themselves will sometimes find; not indeed unto death, but to sickness, nigh unto death, and to torments similar to those which arise from the breaking of the bones. XVII. Chamier quoted. XVII. Chamier against the calumnies of Bellarmine thus explains the opinion of the orthodox church, Panstrat, vol. iii. book xv. chap. ii. sect. 12. "We say that all sins hurt, even these which are forgiven, yea, that they are not forgiven, except they hurt. They do not indeed prevent the obtaining of salvation; as blasphemy, lying, and adultery did not cause, that Paul, Peter, and David should be XIII. damned: because forgiveness intervened. CHAP. But to say that they do no hurt, is madness. For there is no evil which does not hurt: because it would not be evil, if it did not hurt. But sin, even when forgiven, is an evil; and it would not be forgiven, except it were evil: therefore, sin' is hurtful, even when forgiven. This Paul knew: that Paul, who, according to the papists themselves, was assured of the forgiveness of his sins; at least he himself professed so. "But I obtained mercy," says he, yet he cried out, " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?" Could he be wretched, if sin did him no harm?" prayers to new sins, are sary to the XVIII. Neither indeed is it true, that the XVIII. Grief, peni justified have no need of grief, repentance, tence, conconfession, and prayers, in order to obtain the fession, and pardon of sins, which are of daily infirmity, obtain the as Tertullian speaks; or also, of atrocious pardon of crimes, if they are committed. For though I as- very necesserted above, that all sins are pardoned at once, justified. in the first justification; yet that general pardon contains its more special periods and degrees. Hence it is, that that universal sentence is applied to particular cases by the Spirit of God. himself, without which the mind, conscious of recent guilt, is in a storm: hence it also is, that the heavenly Father sometimes removes the heavy rod of correction; and laying aside his indignation, re-ad mits the confessing sinner into familiar fellowship. These things are every where in scripture called the remission XIII. CHAP. of sins; which all scripture, together with the perpetual experience of believers, teach not to be attainable, except in the way of repentance, confession, and frequent prayer. XIX. XIX. Yea, I would wish this also to be Yea, and to obtain the considered, that pious men, and such as in pardon of the exercises of their devotion, were under the old sins, though for- Singular direction of the Spirit, have sought given long the forgiveness, not of recent sins only, but ago. have also, by repeated confession, put God and themselves in remembrance of their oldest sins, committed in their childhood, that what sins they had believed, and experienced to be pardoned of old, these they may now again. perceive to be truly forgiven them, by the renewed tokens of the Divine favour. Which is excellently observed by Calvin, Instit. Book iii. chap. xx. sect. 19. where quoting David's prayer, in which he asks, that God would not remember the sins of his youth, Psal. xxv. 7. he thus goes on: "Where we also see, that it is not enough, that every day we call ourselves to account for recent sins, unless they which might seem to have been long ago forgotten, return to our memory. For the same prophet having elsewhere confessed one grievous offence, returns, on this occasion, even to his mother's womb, wherein he had long ago contracted the infection: not that he might extenuate his guilt from the depravity of nature, but that heaping up all the sins of his life, he might find God the more easy to be intreated, by how much he was severer in condemning himself." CHAP. XX. An answer to XX. I know that there is a certain humiliation and melting of heart into the sweetest opposite ar tears of repentance, arising from a sense of guments. Divine love. But I know also, that there is a humiliation and a melting, which are previous to that sense. I know that none of these is to be reckoned among meritorious causes or conditions; or, as if by their own powers they obtain remission. But on that the controversy does not turn. It is not sufficient, that God pre-requires them in man, yet not without his grace, previous to the grant of further grace: I know that they cannot please God, except they proceed from faith. But I know this also, that something may be of faith, which is not from the assurance and sense of pardon already obtained. He also acts from faith, who, believing that there is the fullest remission of sins in the satisfaction and merits of Christ, betakes himself thither, that he likewise may obtain to his own salvation, what he hath learned from the gospel, is promised to all believers. In fine, I know that the word of the gospel is the surest foundation of our certainty of the remission of sins. But I know this also, that sincere penitence is to us a certain evidence, that that word of grace pertains to us. For none knows this, but he who repents of his sins. XXI. I conclude this chapter with the XXI.We warmest wishes, that these detestable words should ab stain from |