Ails 2, 37 that befor,e was·hard as flint, now begins to relent, and foftcii, and break in pieces : l;low fo? it is God's Spirit that prtc~ the hMrr, and this prickingfoftens it; Dnm p~<ngit, ungit, faith Jeromc; Compunchon foftens and fupples the heart,fo that be it never fo fiony, ptefently tt becomes an heart ofjlejh; you know thofe that arc apt to weep, or yern, or forrow, ;ve call them ttnder-hearted; you may be fure then, he that is prick!, till his heart bleed inwardly, he that weeps blood (whtch (very heart doth that is prickt 011 this manner) fure.his heart ts tender tndeed; I fay, troder, for as the very word in+· ports, ~'"'·'~ d.,.a "' x.>.~N) hts heart weeps, why? hts heart is brokfn; D avid joynes thefe Pfa!SI. 17 t;{l.gether, Abrok§n andcomriteheart, OGod, tho11wilt liotdefptfe, Pfal.51. , 7 , And no wonder ifan heart that is broken, and rent, and wounded, and prickt, falls a weep– ing blood; well might David fay when he was broken, Pftelm38.8. I have wept (nay mpre) I have roaredfor the very grief(or difquietneffe) of myheart : and again, Mj (o11l (or hty heart) melteth or droppeth) for very heavineffe. Not that his heart dropt indeed, Pf•l- 11 9• ~ 8 but becaufe the tears which he fhed, \l'ere not drops ofwater running onely from his .eyes, (an onion may caufe fo much) but iffuing from his heart; which heart being grie ved, and fore grieved, it is faid te be wounded; and fo his teares commg from it, they may be called no leffe,than very blbod, drops of blood if{uing from a wo,nded heart. Thus it is, with the man now labouring in his new birth, his heart grieves, his eye weeps; whence-the 'Proverb, The way to heaven is by weeping <rojfe; the way toGods Kingdom is to·ory like children coming into the world; the way to be netv born is to feel throws (as a woman labouving ofchilde) and fo is Chrill: formed in us. Can a man be b, .., a,7,ai» without bitterneffe of foul? no, if ever he come to a fight of fin, and that Gods fan<'tify· um. 3• 49·S' i!Jg_Spirit work in him forrow for jinne, his foul will mourn till he may fay with 'Je>;emy, M ine eye droppeth without flay;-.-Mine eye breab,sth my hear•, b<eanfe of all the da~tghtersofmyCity, becaufeof allthefinsofmy foul, Lament, 3· 51. True it is, as fome infants are born with more pain to the mother, and fome with lefs: fo m:ty. the mw man be .regenerated in fome with more, in fome with leffe a:nxiety of travel; but mora or Jeffe., it cannot be fo' little, but the man that labours in thefc pangs fhallmourn, and mourn; There jhallbe agrrat mourning, as the mourning of Hadadrimmoninthevalley ofMegiddon, Zach. 12. 11. What elfe? Hecannot look 7.<cb. 1 '· 11 ' on a,Saint, that failed not firit through the Ocean of tears, and therefore he falls on his face with Abraham, he wrell:les with God like 'Jacob, he roars out of his grief with Job, be pours out of his foul with Hanna, he weops rivers of tears with David, he Gen. 17. 17 Gen. ~2. 24 l•~ 3· 1 S.. m. I· I~. P(al 119· 136 Ill. 3S. q. mourns as a Dove with Hcz.ekiah, yea, ,l£k.§ a Crane, or a Swallow, [o tloth he chatter, Ifa. 0 8. ,q .. 0 the bitter pangs and fore travel of a man, whenhe mufl: be born ag am . . , The. fourth fl:ep· is,r Scckjng rightly for ct511ifort.. He runs not to the world, or flefh,•. or Devil, miforable comforters'all; but to Scripture, to Prayer, or to the Mi– nifl:ery of Gods Word; if he find comfort in Scriptures , he meets with in t the Gofpel; not the Law, but the Gofpel ( faith the Apoll:le) is the power of God t9 fqlvation, to every one that believeth·, Rom. 1. 16. The Law is indeed the Mini– 'ti.ex ofle•Jir ftery of dnuh and damnation, 2 Cor: 3· ver. 7· but the Gofpel is the glad t)'dings j;t.;;,,";w~~,. offalv.ztion, Luke 2. 10. The Law fhewes a man his \vretched efl:ate, but fhewes him lium P'""" ,.,. no remedy; and yet we abolifh not the Law, in afcribing this comfort to the Gofpel medium. Aug. 6ne!y; though it be no•caufe of it, yet is it the occafion of it: thofe doleful terrours, rrall J?, i11 and fears of confcience begotten by the Law, may be in their own nature the very gates ]oh. Rom. ' · &·do\vnfalto the pit of hell; yet I cannot·deny bnt they arc certain occafions of receiv- ~5Cor. 3 . 7 ing grace; and Jf it ,pleafe God thatthcman, now labouring itr his pangs of the nm l ukc ,, , z binh, db bnnightly.Cettl~ his· thoughts on the Gofp'cl of Chrifl:, no doubt but thence he'may fuok the fweetefl: comforts and delights that ever were revealed to man. Or if he.fiud comfort in prayer (to which he ever and anon repairs in every of thefc fl:eps) then is it by Chrill:,in whofe name only he approacheth to that heavenly throne of·grace: t\o fuotterohad the King of Ninevehhumbled himfelf, but his 'Proclamation runs, Let ''za" and.bedjl be covered with fac~cloth, and cry mig htily unto God.--Who can tell' ifGod will mrn and rep~nt ::> and turn. awajfrom hisfierce ang er, that we perifl; not l and ,)onah, 3. 8 · 9 thus the man now wrefl:ling with the grievous afflictions and terrors of his confciente, who can.tell (faith he) if God will tllrn arvay his fier<·e anger ? let me then.cry mightity unto th e Lord of heaven, .letmecry, andcontinuecrying, .tmtil the Lord of mercy do in mercy look upon me; and if for alLthis.God giv,e him a repulfe, .for rcafons befl: known to himfclf,, ifat the firfl:, fecond, third, fourth; .or<lt many n1ore times, he feem to havecric,flin vain, atla/1: he flyes to the Minifl:cry of the. Word, and if he may have . his
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