Helps againft 'Dejpair. 357 heed left there be any fu prophane among yott <If to fit [o li;,ht by the b!rf!ingr of the Gojpel evrn Cbrijt and life ettrnaU M to part rvith them for a bafe lu(f or tranfitv~y thi11g, a1 Efm that {et more by " mor[tlof meat tban by hi1 birth-rigbt : For let thlm_be {iere that the time .rviU come (even the t~me nztn– tionedbyChri/f,Matth. 25·10, II· whe_ntbedoor Wjhut and the Lord u come) when they wtll dearlj . epent it andthenar it wM with Efau when the b!e.ffin7. wa1 gone, fo it will be witb them when their bteffing it/gone, Repemallce.an_d crie~ and tt.1rs will be too lat~: Fo_r r?e G_ofpd hatb its juftice and ter_rorJ 111 well aJ the Law. Thts tS al.hn the Text; bur there IS no mumauon that our day of Grace IS as fhort as E[uu's hope of the bl<fi<ng was. §. 1 S· Obj. +· Saul bad but hi< time, which whtn he lojl he waiforfak.!n ofGod. Ob·. {• Anfw. S;u/'siin provoked God to reje/1 him from being King of Ifi"ael, and to appoint another in .A~[w. his fiead : But if Saul had Repented he had been faved after that, though not rellorcd to the Crown : And its true, that as God withdrew from him the fpirit of Gov~rnmenr, fo many before death by the greatnefs of their fins, caufe Go~ to forf,_ke them ~o far as t,J Withhold ~hofe motions and conviCti– ons and fears and difquietments m fin wh1ch fomet11ne they had, and to giVe rhem over to a reprobate ,.;. 1 ind, Rom. 1 , 28. to commit all uncleannrjiwithgreedincfi, and glory in it as being paft feeling, Eph. 4 • 1 8, I-9· If it be thus with you, you would be no httter, you would 11111 be recovered, you think fin is beft for you, and hate all that would reform you. .. . . 9· 1 6. Obj. S· It i< faid, 2 Cor. 6. 2. Brhold now" the accepted tmze, behold"""' u the day of [alva- Obj. 5• va 1 ; 0 , 1 • And Hcb.3. 7, 12, 13. 1odayifye will he.Jr huvoiccb.~rden not y Jurbe.Jrtt-- Lt[i any of yo11 be bardmed b;/the dmitfulnefr of fin. . . . . Anfw~ This fatrh uo more tha~ that_rhe prc[ent tmlC IS the hejl, yea the only cn·tam ttme ; and we An[w~ are noc {ure that the day of falvatton wtll cqnrmue any longer, bccaufc death may cut us off; But if it do nor, yet fin is a hardening thing, and the longer we tin the more it hardencth ! yea God may withhold the motions of his fptrir, and leave us eo our fdves, to rhc hardnefs of our hearts: and rhus he doth by rhoufands of wicked perfons, ":'ho a1e left in impenicency and hatred of the truth : But mofi: certainly if thole men Repented they m1ght be favcd, and <he very reafon why they have . not Chrij! and life is fi.ill becaule they will not confent. . . . . , 9· 17· Direct. 6. Vnderf!aud by what help andjl>·ength zt u that the Obedunce to the Gofpel mu]! be Drrel/. 6. performed: not mwly by yoz<r ewn Jlrengtb, but by the help of grace and ftrength of Chrif! : If he have but made you willing, l~e wiU help you ta perfurm. the rrjt. You are not by th1s Covenant to be a Saviou.,. andfannifier to your (elves ; but to Con{tnt that Cbrijl be your Saviour, and the Holy Spirit your Sanai· fin·. You might elfe defp1ir indeed if you were left to that which you are utterly unable to do. Though you mufl WJrlt Mt your own[alv.ztion·lJJith fear and trembling, it.Uhe that work.,eth in you to wiU andtodoof hi<goodpleafure, Phil.z. I3• . 9· 1 8. Direct. 7· VnderftandweUthedifference between mortal finrand btfirmitier, tb!Jt you may not Direa. 7 • think._ tbat every {111 U a jign ofdeath orgracelefnrji ~ but m~y kJtow the differtnce betwevt tboft fins which {hould makeyou thinJtyourfilvuunjuflificd, and thojejin1 whzcb o;rly call for p~rticul&r h1tmiliation, being fJ,cb a1 the ju)lified them[elves commit. Though in the Po~ifh fenfe we take no fin to be venial, that is, which in it felf is properly nJ fin, nor dc[erveth de&tb accordmg to the Lawof works; yrt the diO:ind:i~ on between Mortal and ~e11i~l fin, is of very gr~at nec~ffity =. that is, between fins wh~ch .J!rove a mm De u:t vide in a fiate of death, or un)uf\1fied, and fins wh1ch confifl WJth a !late of Grace and JU{hhcation : be~ Tr:tl Rab. tween fins which the Gofpel pardoneth not, and thofc which it pudoneth, that is, all that fh.nd with Baro4ii 0( true Repentance. There are fame tins which every one that Repemethof them, doth fo forfake as to Mor~al f,~d ceafe committing them: And there are fome 1~1fet fins, which they that Repent of tbem du hate indeed, Vema-l m. but yet frequently renew, as our defective degrees in the excrcife of Repentance it [elf,faith, love, trujf, fear, obedience: our vain thoughts and words; fome finful paffions; omiflions of many duties of thought, affection, word or deed towards God or man ; fame minutes of time over-flip us; prayer and other duties have a finful coldnefs or rernifsntfs in them, and fuch like. Many fuch fins are fitly called Infirmitiu and Venial, becaufe they confill with Life and arc forgiven: It is of great ufe to the peace of our Confcicnce; to difcern the ditference between thde two, for one fort require a Converfion io another }fate, and the other require bnt a particul.~r repentance, and where rhey are unk._nown are forgiven without part-icular repentance , becaufe our general repmtance is virtHally though not af1ua£) particular a; to them. One fort are caufc of judging our felvcs un.gudly ; and the other fort are only caufe of filial humiliation ; Any one may fee the great need of difcerniog the difference; but yet it is a matter of very great judgement dofrrinally to difiinguHh them, much more actually to difcern them in every infiance in your felves. The way is to know firfi what is the conditi~n.of the New:covenant and of abfolute neccffify to falvation or jutlifica~ tion :and then every fin that IS mconliflent with that condition is mortal, and the refi that are conftfient a11d do confttl with it are veni~l, or but infirmitirJ: As Vtnial fignifieth only that fort of [l1t which U pardonable and may confift with.true grace, fo a Vettiat fin may be in an unfand:itied perfon materially, where it is not pardoned; that ts, e. g. his wandering thought, or palli.on, is a fin of that lOrt that jn the Godly is confitlent with true g.race: But as Venial fignifierh a ji11 that Mpardoned, or pardiJnable without a regmeration or coifvfrjion t~to aftate of life from & ]late of deatb, fo Venial fin is in ho tinregenerate unjufiified perfon, but IS only rhc InfirmitieJ of the S1ints; and thus I here fpeak of it• ._In a WOid, that fin which .:ztrU..1~ confifteth w~tb h:tbit~.ll rcpenta?ce, and wit/) the hatred of it fo far that you had rather be free from tt than commit or k.,tep ll, and winch crmfij!eth witb aJt zmfeig;:cd ccmfent to the Covenant> that God be your Fatbet, Saviour and Sanftifier a11d with t}Jt LQVC of God above a.U, is but
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