A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

:370 INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMFORTINGthe soul of any son or daughter of Adam been saved. Itwas not the glory and treasures of the whole earth, notany streaming sacrifices of purest gold, not the life of menand angels ; no, not the power and prostration of all thecreatures in heaven and earth, or of ten thousand worldsbesides, could have prevailed, satisfied, and served theturn in this case. Either the "heir of all things" mustdie, or we had all been damned. Is the heart then of anymourner in Zion heavy and ready to break for sorrow becausehe hath lost the light of God's face, feeling of hislove, and consolations of grace ; so that the darkness of hisspirit thereupon frights him with repossession of his pardonedsins, temptations to despair, and fears lest he be forsaken 1O then let him hie and have speedy recourse unto this heavenlycordial, when our Lord and our love felt the curse ofour sins and his Father's hottest wrath coming upon himin the garden, without any outward violence at all, onlyout of the pain of his own thoughts, bled, through the fleshand skin, not some faint dew, but even solid drops ofblood ; and afterwards in the bitterness of his soul criedout upon the cross, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsakenme " 1 And none of all this for himself; for no stainat ail did cleave to his sacred soul ; but all this (the leastof which we can no more express than we could undergo)for thy sake and salvation alone, who lovest our Lord JesusChrist in sincerity. And therefore ground upon it as uponthe surest rock, even in the height of thy heavy-heartednessand depth of spiritual desertion, that those depths of sorrov\^,whereof our thoughts can find no bottom, throughwhich he waded in his bloody sweat, cry upon the cross,and painful sufferings in soul, did most certainly free theeeverlastingly from the guilt, venom, and endless vengeanceof all terrors of conscience, agonies of spirit, temptationsto despair, and damnations of hell. The righteous Judgeof all the world will never expect or exact at the handsof any of his creatures double payment, a double punishment.Our dearest Saviour hath satisfied to the utmostwith his own blood the rigour and extremity of his Father'sjustice in thy behalf ; and therefore it is utterly impossiblethat thou shouldst ever finally perish. Inward afflictionsand troubles of mind may for a tim.e press thee so sore,that thou mayest be ready to sink for chastisement, trial,prevention of sin, perfecting the pangs of the new birth,example to others, &c. But in despite of the united rageand policy of all infernal powers, thou shalt in due time beraised again by that victorious and triumphant hand which" bruised the serpent's head" and burst the heart of hell