Lord;" James v. Lies and false history are the devil's way, by which he deceiveth most of the world. It is little thought by the readers how much history is false. Turks and heathens think odiously of Christians; and Papists of Protestants, and by multitudes of lies, cherish hatred and bloodguiltiness in their followers. Pity the liars, alas! it is they that are the sufferers, that by this are hardened in mortal sin. O what a blessed day is at hand, when all these slanderers will change their tone, and God will openly justify his servants!

And in the mean time the wicked will believe the father of lies, and we cannot help it. But the faithful honour upright men not the less, but the more for calumnies which they endure, and had they not been prone to over-honour them, holy days and relics had not been used as they are.

Let it be your care to give the liars no occasion by your sin; and then mourn for the success of satan, but joyfully wait for the judgment of God.

CASE X.

Vexatious, strong Temptations of Satan, especially to Melancholy

Persons.

Another case that needeth patience is, molesting, strong temptations of satan, especially to afflicted, sad, discontented and melancholy persons. As to alluring temptations to sinful love and pleasure, it is abhorrence, and watchfulness, and fear, that are more necessary than patience. But vexing temptations, which would draw men to murmuring, anger, malice, fear, hurtful grief, and such other sins, must be overcome by patience and watchfulness conjunct. But because against this I have written a treatise of "The Cure of Melancholy and overmuch Sorrow," and another of “The True Method of Peace of Conscience," I will here only say this little following:

1. God did not think meet to keep innocent Adam and Eve, no nor Christ himself, from being tempted. This life is appointed for trial and conflict, in order to a better. Not to be tempted, were not to be men on earth. There is no crown of glory, but to them that overcome; and no victory where there is no fight or strife. It is not force, but temptations, by which satan conquereth the world, and which all must conquer that will be saved. Yea, Christ was tempted to the

most odious crime, to worship the devil. But to be tempted is no sin of ours: resist and conquer, and it increaseth our acceptance with God, and (which some call our merit) our fitness for the reward. It may be an advantage to our own confirmed, rooted faith and holiness, and contribute to our greater glory in heaven.

2. Satan is a conquered enemy: Christ our Head was tempted that he might overcome him for us. And as he said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world;" so we may believe and rejoice, that he hath overcome the devil, that we might overcome him. "He was tempted, that he might succour them that are tempted;" Heb. ii. 18.

3. All that are in heaven (that had the use of reason) came thither by overcoming of temptations on earth. And would you go a way different from them all?

4. The tempter cannot do what he will, but what God permitteth him, who hath promised to restrain him, that he may not overpower us; "There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it;" 1 Cor. x. 13.

6. But alas! we commonly are guilty of giving the tempter his advantage against us. We provoke God by sin to turn him loose upon us, and we give him entertainment by long parleys with him, and by thinking over all that he hath against us, and leaving his imaginations open to his access, and oft also our eyes and ears to feed them. In these cases true repentance is needful to our deliverance from temptations. Yea, and our own mistakes, corruptions, discontents, impatience and sinful passions are the very strength of the tempter, and he findeth within us the fire which he bloweth In this case the cure must be mostly wrought upon

up.

ourselves.

7. Strong love and resolution rejoice to conquer strong ,temptations: as strong men love not to be tied to the work of children and women, but would have such as exerciseth their strength. It is the joy of friendship, to undergo much for a friend: "Love is strong as death; many waters cannot quench it, nor the floods drown it;" Cant. viii. 7. If you would give all the substance of your house for love, it would

be utterly contemned. Jacob will serve long and patiently for love. And when satan sheweth his malice against Christ and us, strong love will do as Samson and David by the Philistines, go out against them in God's strength, and overcome them. And though we are weak, God's grace is sufficient for us, and his strength is manifested in our weakness. 8. Remember who the tempter is, that you may meet his temptations with hatred and abhorrence. God in mercy put an enmity against devils into our natures, as soon as the devil's enmity had conquered man, that so we might abhor whatever we know to be from them. What if the devil appeared to you in some shape, and persuaded you to despair, or to blaspheme God, or to doubt of the life to come, or to any other sin or mischief? Would it not be a sufficient preservative to know that it is the devil that makes the motion? I do not think that the present forward servants of the devil would obey him as they do, if they saw him to be the tempter. If he brought the cup to the drunkard in a known apparition and shape, sure it would go down with terror, if at all: if he brought a harlot to the whoremonger's bed, it would cool his lust: if he appeared and persuaded the malignant to hate, deride and persecute men for obeying God, it would sure abate their rage. And why should it not work alike in troubling temptations, when you know they come from him, (which the nature and fruit of them may make you know)?

9. Let temptations move you to study their confutation. Know every snare, and the remedy: God hath furnished you in Scripture with armour against all, if you will use it.

10. Long for the blessed day when the tempter and troubler shall be cast out, and never more molest the faithful soul with any motion against God or comfort.

CASE XI.

Settled Doubts of Sincerity and Salvation. Temptations to

Despair.

But it is yet a heavier affliction, when a soul is in a settled doubtfulness of its sincerity, justification and salvation, yea, and strongly persuaded that he hath no grace, nor ever shall have, and hath little hope left of mercy and salvation; and the more he examines and thinks of it, the more he believeth this sad conclusion.

For an ungodly man to know that he is ungodly, is the

most hopeful preparation to his recovery, and not to be stifled or made light of; but if it be a sincere person,

1. Before I tell you how far patience is useful in this case, I must tell you that on pretence of patience, the cure must not be neglected, nor contempt or senselessness indulged. Sin is it that bringeth men into this dark, uncomfortable state; and it is present sin in which it doth consist: search therefore what guilt of former sin was the cause, and see that it be truly repented of: and then search how much present sin doth cherish it. Usually there is much ignorance in it of the covenant of grace; and a great defectiveness in our sense of the infinite goodness of God, and of the wonders of his love in Christ, and of the ocean of mercy continued in the work of man's redemption. And there is much unbelief or distrust of God and our Redeemer, and of the promises of grace and salvation; and too little trust to the strengthening and comforting help of the Holy Ghost. And there is too little care to cure men's sinful fears and passions; and sometimes too little care to forbear renewing the wounds of conscience by yielding to temptations, and renewing guilt. And where these are the causes, they must first be resisted, and partly overcome.

:

2. And while the soul sincerely repenteth and striveth against that sin (especially distrust of God and Christ), it must be considered that God giveth not all his grace at once. Infants are not strong: faith, hope, love and comfort are weak before they are strong, and usually are long in getting strength and weak faith hath always unbelief joined with it; and every weak grace is clogged and clouded by its contrary sin. And while grace is weak, and sin thus cloudeth it, it cannot be expected that the soul should have certainty of sincerity and salvation, or be free from grief, and fears, and doubting. But patient waiting upon Christ in the use of his appointed means, may in time bring faith and every grace to greater strength, and so the soul to more as

surance.

3. A man that hath not attained to a certainty of salvation, may yet have more cause of hope and joy, than of fear and sorrow, upon the mere improbability of his damnation. I have oft instanced thus: It would torment a good Christian, if he believed he should ever commit but such sins as David and Peter did (to pass by Solomon), and no Chris

tian ordinarily is sure that he shall not commit as great sin : and no wise man that by God's grace is resolved against it, should torment himself with such a fear.

No wife is certain, but she may hate or forsake her husband, or he may hate and murder her; nor any child, but that the father or mother may murder it. And yet it is so unlikely, that it is folly to be sad with such a fear. The old fathers, who thought that no ordinary Christian (but a few confirmed ones) can be certain of perseverance or salvation, and those Lutherans and Arminians that are of the same mind, did not yet live in terror for fear of apostacy and damnation, but rejoiced in the comfort of probable hope.

4. If your fears be, whether you are true Christians, presently become such, and so end those fears. It may be it is too hard for you to know whether you have been such till now; but you may presently resolve it for the time to come : do but understand the baptismal covenant, and consent to it, and that work is done. Present consent, that is unfeigned, is true Christianity. If you can say, that now you are truly willing that Christ with his grace and glory be yours, and you his on his Gospel terms, that is, your Priest, Prophet and King, you are true Christians.

Your concluding that the day of grace is past, and God will never give you grace, nor pardon you, while he is daily entreating you to be reconciled to him, and accept his grace, is an abusive suspicion that God is not sincere, and a contradiction to the tenor of his word and instituted ministry. When he bids us go to the highways and hedges, and compel (even the basest) to come in, for a willing soul to suspect that God is unwilling, is abusively to give him the lie; but if you are unwilling yourselves, why complain you? It is an odd sight, to see a beggar in the cold entreated to come to the fire, or a man in the sea entreated to come into the ship, and he will not come, and yet cry and complain that he shall never be taken in; that is, because he will not.

5. It is a great mercy of God that you have hearts so far awakened, as to be troubled with care and fear of your everlasting state, which you see the stupid, dreaming world so little regard. And here are two comfortable evidences appear in most Christians in these troubles. First, your fear of punishment hereafter sheweth that you have some belief of the word of God, for you believe his threatenings; else