A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

AFFLICTED CONSCIENCES. 63horrible wound by a humble, sincere, ' universal turningunto the Lord " while it is called to-day." For assuredlyin the mean time, all the sins they have heretofore committedin thought, word, or deed ; at any time, in anyplace, with any company ; or to which they have been anyways accessary, are already upon record before the pureeye of that high and everlasting Judge, written exactly bythe hand of Divine justice in the book, of their conscienceswith a pen of iron, with a claw of adamant, with the pointof a diamond ; or, if you can name any thing which makesa stronger, deeper, and more lasting impression : and therethey lie like so many lions asleep, and giants refreshingwith wine, gathering much desperate poison and stingingpoints, that whensoever hereafter they shall be effectuallyand finally awakened by God's angry hand, they may tormentmost ragingly, and tear their woful souls in pieces everlastinglywhen there is none to help.JN'ow we may see and observe many times one little sin(at least in the world's account, and conceit of carnal men)to plunge a guilty conscience into the depth of extremesthorror, and a very hell upon earth ; as I have heard of andknown in many. One, for a sudden unadvised imprecationagainst her own soul, in case she did so or so ; another, fora thought conceived of God, unworthy so great a majesty;another, for covetously keeping a thing found, and notrestoring it, or not inquiring after the owner ; another, foran adulterous project without any actual pollution ; another,by concurring with a company of scoffing Ishmaels onlyonce, and ere he was aware, by lifting up the hands andcasting up the eyes in scorn of God's people. Yet afterwards,they sadly revising these miscarriages in cool blood,some of them, some five or six years after, God beingthen pleased to represent them with terror, and their nativeslings, were cast into that affliction of conscience and corifusionof spirit that their very bones were broken, theirfaces filled with ghastliness and fear, their bodies possessedwith strange tremblings and languishing distempers, theirvery vital moisture turned into the drought of summer. Inwhich dreadful perplexity they were in great danger of destroyingthemselves and of being swallowed up of despair.If the guilty sense then of one sin, when God sets it onand says unto it" Torment," draws so many fiery points ofstinging scorpions after it, charges upon the excellency ofthe understanding with sucli hideous darkness, rends theheart in pieces with such desperate rage, grinds into powderthe arm and sinews of ail earthly succour, melts, like dewbefore the sun, all those delights and pleasures which the