2. They are also very Credulous. When Fear is up, any Suggeftion takes place. As fufpitious Incredulity is an effect of Joy, (the Difciples at first hearing that Chrift was rifen, for Joy believed it not) fo fufpitious Credulity is the effect of Fear. And we shall obferve feveral things in the Servants of God, that fhew a ftrange Inclination, as it were a Natural aptitude to believe the evil of their Spiritual Estate which Satan fuggefts to them. As 1.There is a great forwardness, and Precipitancy in the Heart, to close with evil Thoughts raised up in us. When jealoufies of God's Love are injected, there is a violent Haftiness, forthwith (all calm deliberation being laid afide) to entertain a belief of it. This is more than once noted in the Pfalms. In this cafe, David acknowledgeth this hafty Humour; I faid in my hafte, Pfal.31. 22. and Pfal. 116.11. This hafty forwardness to determine things that are against us, without due examination, Afaph calls a great weakness; This is my Infirmity, Pfal. 77.10. 2. There is obfervable in those that are under Spiritual Troubles, a great kind of Delight, (if I may fo call it) to hear Threatnings rather than Promifes; and fuch Difcourfes as fet forth the mifery of a Natural State, rather than such as speak of the Happiness of the Converted: Because these things, in their apprehenfion, are more fuitable to their Condition, and more needful for them, in order to a greater measure of Humiliation, which they fuppofe to be neceffa ry. However, thus they add fuel to the Flame. 3. They have an aptitude to hide themselves from Comfort, and with a wonderful nimbleness of Wit and Reasoning, to evade, and anfwer any Argument brought for their Comfort; as if they had been Volunteers in Satans fervice, to fight against themselves. 4. They have also so great a blasting upon their Understanding, that Satan's tempting them to doubt of their good Eftate, is to them a fufficient reafon to doubt of it; and that is Ground enough for them to deny it, because Satan questions it. 3. Thefe Fears make all Satan's fuggeftions ftrike the deeper, they point all his Arrows, and make them pierce (as it were) the Joynts and Marrow; they poyfon and envenom them to the great increase of the Torment, and binderance of the Cure; they bind the Objections upon them, and confirm them in a certain belief that they are all true. We have now viewed Satan's Engines and Batteries against the Servants of the Lord, for the defluction of their Joy and Peace, by Spiritual Troubles; but these are but the the beginnings of forrows, if compared with those distresses of Soul, which he fometimes brings upon them. Of which next. CHAP. IX. Of his fourth way to hinder Peace, by Spiritual Diftreffes. 1. The Nature of thefe Diftreffes, the Ingredients and Degrees of them. Whether all diftreffes of Soul arife from Melancholy 2. Satan's method in working them, the Occafions he makes use of, the Arguments he urgeth, the ftrengthening of them by Fears. 3. Their Weight and Burthen explained in feveral Particulars. Some concluding Gautions. He laft fort of Troubles by which Satan overthrows the Tpeace of the Soul, are Spiritual Diftreffes; these are more grievous Agonies of Soul,under deepest apprehenfions of Divine Wrath,and dreadful Fears of everlafting Damnation, differing in nature and degree, from the former forts of Troubles; though in these Satan observes much what the fame General Method, which he used in Spiritual Troubles laft mentioned. For which caufe, and also that these are not fo common as the other, I fhall speak of them with greater Brevity. Herein I fhall fhew, 1. Their Nature. 2. Satan's Method in working them. 3. Their Weight and Burthen. 1. The Nature of Spiritual Diftreffes will be best discovered, by a confideration of those Ingredients of which they are made up, and of the different degrees thereof. 1. As to the Ingredients, there are feveral things that do concur for the begetting of thefe violent Diftreffes. As, 1. There is ufually a Complication of several kinds of Troubles. Sometimes there are outward Troubles, and inward difcompofures of Spirit arifing from thence; fometimes Affrightments of blafphemous, thoughts long continued, and ufually Spiritual Troubles (in Eee which any which their State or Condition have been called to queftion) have gone before. Heman (who is as famous an Inftance in this cafe, as any we meet withal in Scripture) in Pfal. 88. feems not obfcurely to tell us fo much; his Soul was full of troubles, ver. 3. And in ver. 7. he complains that God had afflicted him with all his Waves: And that these were not all of the fame kind (though all concurred to the fame end) he himself Explains, ver. 8,18. where he bemoans himself for the unkindness of his Friends: Thou hast put away mine Acquaintance; Lover and Friend haft those put far from me. 2. Thefe Troubles drive at a further end than of the former; for their defign was only against the present Quietness and Peace of God's Children, but thefe defign the ruine of their hopes for the future; they are troubled, not for that they are not Converted, but for that they expect never to be Converted.This is a trouble of an high nature, making them believe that they are eternally Reprobated, cut off from God for ever, and under an impoffibility of Salvation. 3. Thefe troubles have the consent and belief of the Party. In fome other troubles Satan difquieted the Lords Servants, by impofing upon them his own cursed suggestions, violently bearing in upon them temptations to Sin and Blafphemy, or objections against their ftate of Regeneration, while in the mean time they oppofed and refused to give confent; but in these Satan prevails with them, to believe that their cafe is really fuch as their Fears reprefent it to be. 4. They are Troubles of a far higher degree than the former, the deepeft Sorrows, the fharpeft Fears, the greatest Agonies. Heman, Pfal. 88. ver. 15, 16. calls them Terrours even to distraction: While I fuffer thy Terrours, I am distracted; thy fierce Wrath goeth over me, thy Terrours have cut me off. 5. There is alfo God's deferting of them in a greater meafure than ordinary, by withdrawing his Aids and Comforts. Treat. of De- And (as Mr. Perkins notes) If the withdrawing of Grace be joyned fertians. with the feeling of God's Anger, thence arifeth the bittereft Conflict, that the Soul of a poor Creature undergoes. 2. As to the different degrees of Spiritual Diftreffes, we muft obferve: That according to the concurrence of all, or fewer of thofe Ingredients (for they do not always meet together, though moft frequently they do) and according to the higher, or lower degrees in which thefe are urged upon the Confcience, or apprebended and believed by the troubled Party; thefe Agonies are more or lefs, and accordingly we may diftinguith them variously. Asger 1. Some 1. Some are defperate Terrours, of curfed Reprobates under defperation. These terrours in them, are in the greatest Extremity, the very Pit of Mifery, of the fame nature with thofe of up to the Damned in Hell, where the Worm that never dies, is nothing elfe Ames cafes of but the dreadful vexation and torment of an accufing Confci- Confc. lib. 1. ence. They are commonly accompanied with Blafpheming of cap. God, and an utter rejection of all means for Remedy; and though they fometimes turn to a kind of secure defperation, by which (when they fee it will be no better) they barden themfelves in their Mifery, and feek to divert their Thoughts) as Cain did, betaking himself to the Building of Cities. And Efau, when he had fold his Birth-right, despised it, and gave himfelf the pursuit of a Worldly intereft; yet fometimes thefe Terrours end in Self-Murther, as in Judas, who being fmitten with dread of Confcience, went and hanged himfelf. We have many fad Inftances of thefe defperate Terrours. Cain is the firft we read of, and though the account the Scriptures give of him be but fhort, yet 'tis fufficient to let us fee what his condition was, Gen. 4.11. to 16. Firft, He was curfed from the Earth. Of this part of his Curfe; there were two Branches; 1. That his labour and toyl in Tillage fhould be great, and greatly unfuccessful; for thus God himself explains it, ver. 12. When thou tilleft the Ground, it fhall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. The Earth was curfed with Barrennefs before to Adam, but now to Cain it hath a double Curfe. 2. That he fhould be a Man of uncertain abode in any place; A Fugitive and a Vagabond shalt thou be in the Earth: Not being able to ftay long in a place, by reafon of the terrours of his Concience. His own interpretation of it, ver. 14. fhews, that herein lay a great part of his Mifery; Thou haft driven me out this day from the face of the Earth. By which it pears, that he was to be as one that was chafed out of all Society, and as one that thought himself safe in no place. Secondly, He was hid from the Face of God; that is, he was doomed to carry the inward feeling of God's Wrath, without any expectation of Mercy. Thirdly, His mind being terrified under the apprehenfion of that Wrath, he crys out, That his Sin was greater than it could be pardoned; or that his Punishment was greater than be could bear. (For the word in the Original, fignifies both Sin, and Punishment.). Take it which way you will, it expreffeth a deep horrour of Heart. If in the former fenfe, then it figni Eee 2 ap fics עין Lightfoot fies a Conviction of the greatness of his fin to Defperation; if in the latter sense, then 'tis no less than a blafphemous Reflection upon God, as unjustly Cruel. Fourthly, This horrour was fo great, that he was afraid of all he met with, fufpecting every thing to be armed with Divine Vengeance against him; every one that findeth me, fhall flay me. Or if that speech was a defire, that any one that found him might Kill him, (as fome interpret) it fhews that he preferred Death before that life of Mifery. It seems then, that God fmote him with fuch Terrour and Confternation of Mind, and with fuch affrightful Trembling of Body, for his bloody Fact, that he was weary of himself, and afraid of all Men, and could not stay long in a Place. By these Tokens (or fome other way) God fets his Mark upon him, as upon a curfed Miscreant, to be noted and abhorred of all. Such another Inftance was Lamech, of whom the fame Chapter speaks. 1. The fting of Confcience was fo great, that he is forced to confefs his fault: (The interpretations of thofe, that take it Interrogatively; Have I flain? Or, If I have, what is that to you? &c. are upon many accounts improper; much more are those fo, that take it Negatively). Which, whether it were the abomination of Poligamy, (as fome think) by which Example he had destroyed more than Cain did; or if it were Murther in a proper fenfe (as the Words and Context plainly carry it) 'tis not very material to our purpose; however God fmote him with Horrour, that he might be a witness against himself. 2. He accufeth himself for a more grievous Sinner, and more defperate Wretch by far than Cain: If Cain (ver. 24.) shall be avenged Seven-fold, truly Lamech feventy and feven-fold. Which is as much as to fay, that there was as much difference 'twixt his Sin and Cain's, as betwixt feven, and feventy feven. 3. It feems alfo by his Difcourse to his Wives, that he was grievously perplexed with inward fears; fufpecting (it may be) his very Wives (as well as others) might have private Combinations against him, for the prevention whereof, he tells them by Cain's example of God's avenging him. These two early examples of Defperation the beginning of the World affords, and there have been many more fince, as Efau and Judas. Of late Years we have the Memorable Inftance of Francis Spira, one of the clearelf and most remarkable Examples of Spiritual Horrour, that the latter Ages of the World were ever acquainted with; yet I fhall not dare to be |