SECT. V. Of ministering to the sick person by the Spiritual man as he is the Physician of Souls. 1. In all cases of receiving Confessions of sick men, and the assisting to the advancement of Repentance, the Minister is to apportion to every kind of sin such spiritual remedies which are apt to mortify and cure the sin; such as abstinence from their occasions and opportunities, to avoid temptations, to resist their beginnings, to punish the crime by acts of indignation against the person, fastings and prayer, alms and all the instances of charity, asking forgiveness, restitution of wrongs, satisfaction of injuries, acts of virtue contrary to the crimes. And although in great and dangerous sicknesses they are not directly to be imposed, unless they are direct matters of duty; yet where they are medicinal they are to be insinuated, and in general signification remarked to him, and undertaken accordingly concerning which when he returns to health he is to receive particular advices. And this advice was inserted into the Penitential of England in the time of Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury, and afterwards adopted into the Canon of all the Western Churches'. 2. The proper temptations of sick men, for which a remedy is not yet provided, are unreasonable Fears, and unreasonable Confidences, which the minister is to cure by the following considerations. Considerations against unreasonable Fears of not having our sins pardoned. Many good men, especially such who have tender Caus. xxvi. q. 7. Ab infirmis. Consciences, impatient of the least sin, to which they are arrived by a long grace, and a continual observation of their actions, and the parts of a lasting Repentance, many times over-act their tenderness, and turn their caution into scruple, and care of their duty into enquiries after the event, and askings after the counsels of God, and the sentences of Doom's-Day. : He that asks of the standers by, or of the Minister, whether they think he shall be saved or damned, is to be answered with the words of pity and reproof. Seek not after new light for the searching into the privatest records of God: look as much as you list into the pages of Revelation, for they concern your duty but the event is registered in Heaven, and we can expect no other certain notices of it, but that it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared by the Father of mercies. We have light enough to tell our duty; and if we do that, we need not fear what the issue will be; and if we do not, let us never look for more light, or enquire after God's pleasure concerning our Souls, since we so little serve His ends in those things where He hath given us light. But yet this I add, That, as pardon of sins in the Old Testament was nothing but removing the punishment, which then was temporal, and therefore many times they could tell if their sins were pardoned 1; and concerning pardon of sins they then had no fears of Conscience, but while the punishment was on them, for so long indeed it was unpardoned, and how long it would so remain it was matter of fear, and of present sorrow: besides this, in the Gospel pardon of sins is another thing; Pardon of sins is a sanctification; Christ came to take away our sin by turning every one of us from our iniquitiesi; and there is not in the nature of the thing any expectation of pardon, or sign or signification of it, but so far as the thing itself discovers itself. As we hate sin, and grow in grace, and arrive at the state of holiness, which is also a state of Repentance and imperfection, but yet of sincerity of heart and diligent endeavour; in the same degree we are to judge concerning the forgiveness of sins: for indeed that is the Evangelical forgiveness, and it signifies our pardon, because it effects it, or rather it is in the nature of the thing; so that we are to enquire into no hidden records: Forgiveness of sins is not a secret sentence, a word or a record; but it is a state of change, and effected upon us; and upon ourselves we are to look for it, to read it, and understand it. We are only to be curious of our duty, and confident of the Article of Remission of sins; and the conclusion of these premises will be, that we shall be full of hopes of a prosperous Resurrection; and our fear and trembling are no instances of our calamity, but parts of duty; we shall sure enough be wafted to the shore, although we be tossed with the winds of our sighs, and the unevenness of our fears, and the ebbings and flowings of our passions, if we sail in a right channel, and steer by a perfect compass, and look up to God, and call for His help, and do our own endeavour. There are very many reasons why men ought not to despair; and there are not very many men that ever go beyond a Hope, till they pass into possession. If our fears i Acts iii. 26. * Est modus gloriandi in conscientia, ut noveris fidem tuam esse sinceram, spem tuam esse certam.-S. August. in Psal. exlix. have any mixture of hope, that is enough to enable and to excite our duty; and if we have a strong hope, when we cast about, we shall find reason enough to have many fears. Let not this fear1 weaken our hands; and if it allay our gaieties and our confidences, it is no harm. In this uncertainty we must abide, if we have committed sins after Baptism: and those confidences which some men glory in, are not real supports or good foundations. The fearing man is the safest, and if he fears on his death-bed, it is but what happens to most considering men, and what was to be looked for all his life-time: he talked of the terrors of death, and death is the King of terrors; and therefore it is no strange thing if then he be hugely afraid: if he be not, it is either a great felicity, or a great presumption. But if he wants some degree of comfort, or a greater degree of hope, let him be refreshed by considering, 1. That Christ came into the world to save sinnersTM. 2. That God delights not in the confusion and death of sinners". 3. That in heaven there is great joy at the conversion of a sinnero. 4. That Christ is a perpetual Advocate P daily interceding with His Father for our pardon. 5. That God uses infinite arts, instruments, and devices, to reconcile us to Himself. 6. That He prays us to be in charity with Him, and to be forgiven. 7. That He sends Angels to keep us from violence and evil company, from temptations and surprises, and His Holy Spirit to guide us in holy ways, and His servants to warn us and remind us perpetually and therefore since certainly He is so desirous to save us, as appears by His Word, by His oaths, by His very nature, and His daily artifices of mercy; it is not likely that He will condemn us without great provocations of His Majesty, and perseverance in them. 8. That the Covenant of the Gospel is a Covenant of Grace and of Repentance; and, being established with so many great solemnities and miracles from Heaven, must signify a huge favour and a mighty change of things; and therefore, that Repentance, which is the great condition of it, is a grace that does not expire in little accents and minutes, but hath a great latitude of signification and large extension of parts, under the protection of all which persons are safe, even when they fear exceedingly. 9. That there are great degrees and differences of glory in Heaven; and therefore if we estimate our piety by proportions to the more eminent persons and devouter people, we are not to conclude we shall not enter into the same state of glory, but that we shall not go into the same degrees. (9.) That although forgiveness of sins is consigned to us in Baptism, and that this Baptism is but once, and cannot be repeated; yet forgiveness of sins is the grace of the Gospel, which is perpetually remanent upon us, and secured unto us so long as we have not renounced our Baptism: For then we enter into the condition of Repentance; and Repentance is not an indivisible grace, or a thing performed at once, but is working all our lives; and therefore so is our pardon, which ebbs and flows according as we discompose or renew the decency of our Baptismal promises; and T |