A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

:AFFLICTED CONSCIENCES. 263men's good turns and offices of love turn many times to ourgood and benefit, to our advancement, profit, prefermentbut our "well-doing extendeth not unto God" (Psalmxvi, 2). That infinite essential glory with which the highestLord, alone to be blessed, adored, and honoured by all forever, was, is, and shall be everlastingly crowned ; canneither be impaired by the most desperate rebellions, norenlarged by the most glorious good deeds, " Can a man,"saith Eliphaz to Job, " be proifitable unto God : as he thatis wise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleasureto the Almighty that thou art righteous? Or is it gain tohim that thou makest thy ways perfect? If thou sinnest,what doest thou against him ? Or if thy transgressions bemultiplied, what doest thou unto him ? If thou be righteous,"^what givest thou him or what receiveth he of thine hand?Thy wickedness may hurt a man, as thou art ; and thyrighteousness may profit the son of man " (Job xxii, 2, 3 ;and XXXV, 6, 7, 8). Were all the wicked men upon earthturned into human beasts, desperate Uelials, nay, incarnatedevils ; and the whole world full of those outrageousgiants of Babel, and those also of the old world ; andall with combined force and fury should bend and bandthemselves against heaven, yet they could not hurt God." The Lord is king, be the people never so impatient; hesitteth between the cherubim, be the earth never so unquiet."Or were all the sons of men Abrahams or angels,and as many in number as the stars in heaven; and asshining both with inward graces and outward good deedsas they are in visible glory ;yet could they make no additionunto that incomprehensible Majesty above ; they couldnot confer so much as one drop to that boundless andbottomless sea of goodness, or the least glimpse unto thatAlmighty Sun of Glory. " All nations before him are asnothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing,and vanity" (Isa. xl, 17). Our sins hurt him not; ourholiness helps him not. It is only for our good, that Godwould have us good. No good, no gain accrues unto himby our gcodness. For what good can come by our imperfectgoodness to that which is already infinitely good ? Whatglory can be added by our dimness to him, which is alreadyincomprehensibly glorious ? Every infinite thing is naturallyand necessarily incapable of addition ;possibility of whichsupposed, implies contradiction, and destroys the nature ofinfinity. If it be so then, that good turns do good untomen, and yet out of their ingenuousness they most esteemgoodwills, true-heartedness, kind affections, and can wellfind in their hearts to pass by failings where there is heart