78 A T reatie o f Gonfcience. Pfal. 1::6. r5 Mat 17 5. Neither do theyfo much queflion thrs as their faith to beleive it ; laying, Lord help our unbelief. 6. Gods children have good reafon to do fo, and to check their own hearts when ever they , do otherwife, hen ever any diflurfl cometh,they fhouidcheck it down, again : when ever any fear arifeth, they !bond fay, What? I fear death ? Which is a thing fo precious? Precious in the fight ofthe Lord is the death of his Saints. Is death precious, andfhall I be fo vain as to fear it ? Thus ye fee an anfwer to the firfi queflion, Whether every child of God that bath true peace of confcience can be defirons to die. II. Quef. Whether a wicked man that hath no peace of confcience may not be defirous to die too ? Anfr. r. The hor- rout of confcience may make a wicked man defirous to die. He may have fo much horrour of confcience as that he may think certainly hell cannot be worfe: (Hell is infinitely worfe; but he may not think fo.) Thus Judas was defirous to die, when he went and hanged himfelf : Thus many in defpair do make away themfelves. I confefl'e force in defpairmay be fearful) to dieras Cain was fearfull to die; it was fear of death made him fpeak -thus unto God,lt Jhall come to pa/e that every one that findeth me /hall flay me Gen. 4, 14. The reafon was, becaufe,thoughhe were in defpair, yet he was not fo fenfible of his horrour as Judas was : for Cain could go and build for all this, and train up his children in mufick and the like for all this; but Judas was in a cafe more fenfible of his mifery. 2. Dolour of pain may make a wicked man delire to die. 7 bus it was with Saul: Saul . had received his deaths wound and was in moll grievous paine: he could not die prefently, neither could he live ; but lying in very great pain between both, defred the Amalekite to hand upon him and flay him,aSam 10.9. (though O/iander think the Amalekice lyed unto David to curry favour with him ; but 7o- fephur and others chink he fpake the truth.) Sure it is, that ma -_ ny wicked wretches having no peace of confcience to fweeten and allay their torments, have been defirous to die : nay force have battened their own death. 3. Malecontentednefle, and flume, and difappointment of their aims may alto make wick- ed
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=