againfi the wiles of thedevil. 145 (when the paffage feems fo flop't, that nocomfort can begot down otherwife) to drop a little hope into the foule, to keep the creature alive from falling into utter defpair; famehave been revivedwith this,when next door to hell in their own feares.gis- yid/ fin was great, -yet found mercy; Peter fell foully, yet now in heaven. Why limit thou here, 0 my foul, under the hatch.; es of defpair ? up and call upon thy God for mercy, who bath pardoned the fame to others. Thirdly, God bath a Oefign in fuffering Satan to trounce Come of his Saints by temptation, to train them up into a fitneffe to fuccour their fellowbrethren in the like condition : he fends them hither to Ichool, (where they are under Satans ferular and lafh) that his cruel hand over them may make them Rudy the Word and their own hearts, by which they get experience of Satans policies, till at laft they commence Mafteis in this Art of comforting tempted foules. It is an Art by it felf, to freak a word in feafon to the weary foule : 'tis not ferving out an Ap- prenticefhip to humane Arts will furnifh a man for this : great Doors have proved very dunces here, knowing no more how to handle a wounded confcience then a Rultick the Chirurgi- , ons inftrument in diffeaing the body when an Anatomy-Le- ' &ire is tobe read. 'Tis not the knowledge of the Scripture (though a man were as well acquainted with it, as the Apothe- cary with his pots and glaffes in his fhop, able to go direly to any promife on a fudden,) will fuffice. No, not grace it felfe, except exercifed with thefe buffetings and foul. conflitIss Chrift hiinfelf we finde trained up in this fchool, lfa. 50.4. He waken- eth mine eare to heare as the learned. Even as the Tutor calls up his Pupil to reade to him ; and what is the Le6ture which is read to Chrift, that he may have the tongue of the learned to (peak a word in feafon to the weary foule ? fee, verf 5 . The Lord bath opened mine eare, and I Was not rebellious, neither tormed 1 away my back, I gave my back to thefmiiers. &c. His fufferings (which were ail along mingled with temptations ) were the Le- -elute from which Chrift came out fo learned, to refolve and com- fort diareffed foules. So that the devil had better have let Chrift alone, yea, and his Saints alfo, who do, him but the grocer differvice in comforting others; none will handle poor foules fo gently as thofe, who remember the fmart of their owne heart - U
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