A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

How360 INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMFORTINGand favour, falling to prayer, vowing better obedience, andpromising upon deliverance much holiness and a happychange. What mighty groans of spirit proceed from thedeserted in such a case, which are the strongest piayers,though in that agony they falsely complain that they cannotpray ! greedy are they of godly conference, counsel,and vcomfort out of the word, days of humiliation, of themost searching sermons, godliest company, presence andprayers of the precisest ministers ! How fearful are they tohear any worldly talk upon the Lord's day ! How sensibleof the least sin, any dishonour of God, and all appearanceof evil ! In a word, how busy are they about that onenecessary thing ! Secondly, Of compassionateness towardsothers. Self-sufferings soften men's hearts towards theirbrethren : personal miseries make them pitiful and painfulto afford all possible help in times of distress. Experienceof our own weaknesses, wants, danger to sink under thewaves of God's wrath, and disability to subsist by ourselves,begets a sweet mildness and gentle behaviour towards ourneighbours, whose assistance, visitation, and prayers wenow see we stand in need of in extremities and evil times.Prosperiiy is apt of itself to beget scornfulness, insolency,self-confidence, and contempt of others ; but God's handupon us, especially in afflictions of soul, teacheth us anotherlesson; to wit, how frail, weak, and unworthy we are.Thirdly, Of self-knowledge. In times of peace and calmness,looking through the false spectacles of self-love andconceitedness, we are ready to over-estimate and outprizeour gifts, to mistake shadows for substances, smallest mitesof virtue for richest talents, the infant beginnings of gracefor tallness in Christ. But remove these deceiving glasses,and let the touchstone of some sorer trial represent ourselvesunto ourselves, and we shall more clearly see our spiritualabilities in their true nature and proportion. Then all unsoundsemblances of self conceited sufficiencies and formerflourishes of unhumble assurance, which, like gilded papersor posts, showing gloriously in the sunshine, and seemingpure gold in outward appearance, will vanish quite awayand come to nothing in the fire of spiritual affliction. Thenthe weakness of our too much vaunted of Christian valourwill be discoveied unto us, and acknowledged by us, whenwe are put to wrestle with the wrath of God, and left tothe horror of some hideous temptation.4. Hear Mr. Hooker, a man of great learning and verysound in this point : I vary some words, but keep the senseentire. " Happier a great deal is that man's case whosesoul by inward desolation is humbled, than he whose heart