A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

AFFLICTED CONSCIENCES. 145sottish disacquaintance with themselves, with their miserablesinful uatural state, and their gross ignorance in the lawand word of God, they only cry out in the general they arevery grievous sinners ; but to descend to any competentexamination of the conscience, search of their souls by thesight of the law, particular survey of their sins, and so tospecial repentance, because of their spiritual blindness theyare utterly unable. Nay, many in this case are so destituteof matter of humiliation for sin, that they can scarcelytell you what sin is. At the most they have not learned, orthink that there is any other breach of the iei^^xi/i commandment,but the gross acts of uncleanness ; that there is anysin against the nintli, but giving in false witness againsttheir neighbours in open court. They look no further intothe sixth commandment, but unto actual murder by thehand ; into the third, but to blasphemy and swearing ; andso proportionably in the other commandments. For theother also, although they have heard much of Jesus Christ,and if he be talked of, pretend a very foolish and false presumptionof having pan in him ;yet to the knowledge ofhis person, offices, excellency, sweetness, effectual ministry,and of his whole mystery, they are mere strangers. And so,when they should now upon this occasion of trouble -ofmind, be brought by knowledge and application of the lawand gospel, through the pangs of the new birth into theholy path, they are to begin to learn the very first principlesof religion ; in which they have not so much skill (1speak a reproachful thing) as I could teach a child of five orsix years old in a few days. Now when the old red dragonhath drawn them into the lists, armed with all the powerand policy of hell, and furnished with all his fiery darts,they are so far from ability to put on and manage the wholespiritual armour with dexterity and wisdom, that they arestark idiots and infants in the very speculative knowledgeof the nature and. use of every piece thereof. They haveno skill at all at that excellent, invincible weapon, " thesword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," by whichJesus Christ foiled that foul fiend in the most hideous andhorrible temptations that were ever suggested to the mindof man ; and therefore he doth bring them too often thusbUndfolded and baffled to perish in a most desperate manner,both temporally and eternally.The Pharisees, papists, and our ordinary ignorants, areall foully faulty this way. They love and labour to inquireand look no further into God's law than to the grossacts and greatest transgressions only. If they find themselvesfree from these, they, out of a most absurd and sot-O