6 A choice Bed of Spices. 219 troubled for his fins, Gods bowels are troubled for Ephraim ; as foon as Ephraim, like a penitent child, falls a weeping at God's foot, God like a tender indulgent father falls a be- moaning of Ephraim. Ephraim could not refrain tivn tears, and God could not refrain from opening his bowels of mer- cy towards him. So /fa. 57. 15. And how-can'the contrite heart be indeed revived and cheered without forgivenefs of fins, without a pardon in the bofotn ? Mela*Cthon makes men- tion of a godly woman, who having upon her death-bed been in much conflia, and afterwards Much comforted, brake out into thefe words': Now, and not till now, did I underfland the meaning of thefe words, Thy fins are forgiven. There is no comfort to that which arifes from the fenfe of forgivenefs, /fr. 40. 1, 2. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, faith your G d; rpeak ye comfortably to Jerufalem, and cry onto her that her ini- quities are pardoned. And why is the mourning foul pronoun- ced the bleffed foul , 5. 4. Blefed are theythatmourn, for they Jhall be comforted) but becaufe the mourning foul is the pardoned foul ? But what is that forrow or mourning for fin, that is a part of true repentance? The refolution of this queflion is very neceffary for the preventing of all foul-deceits and rniftakes, and for the quieting, fetling and fati-sfying of fouls truly penitent ;* and therefore I ,thall 'give thefe eight , following Anfwers - to it. Firf+, It is a forrow or grief that is fpiritual, that is fuper- natural ; no man is born with godly forrow in his heart, as he is born with a tongue in his mouth. Godly forrow is a plant of God's own planting, 'tis a feed of his own fowing, 'cis a flower of his own letting, 'tis of a heavenly off-fpring, Nis from God, and God alone : The fpirit of mourning is from above 'tis from a fupernatural power and principle ; there is nothing that can turn a heart of Bone into flefil, but the fpirit of. God, Etek. 38. 25126. Godly forrow is a F f 2 aift
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