Christ inviting sinners to come to him for rest

The Third Misery.

Thirdly, there is this evil also in the burden of Legal performances that it causes a sinking discouragement; their heart doth sink in exceeding discouragement, after a while they go on in performance of Duties and find nothing comes of it, and they sink under it in discouragement; they think it is in vain to go any further, and they are desirous to cast it off wholly, and think it is the only way for their ease and rest, hence follows, that therefore there is a way open to temptation for the Devil to come and tempt them either to looseness or to despair: it is many times the end of such poor creatures except God be pleased to come ⟨p. 67⟩in and reveal Christ unto them; one of these two is the Conclusion, either they cast off the Duties that before they made conscience of, and so grow to be loose and profane; or otherwise if conscience pursues them more and more they grow to despair, and sometimes upon their sick bed and death bed, come into a raving and raging distemper; as by experience we find that many after they have been a long time under a troubled conscience, and gone on in a Legal way they have grown very profane; there was a time that they durst not neglect Duty in their family and closet, but they come afterward to think that this was but Legal, and now they cast them off, and give themselves to looseness, and then they have nothing to plead for themselves but this, that they were under Legal performances, and they leave them off, and thus they go this way to Rest, but Oh! woeful this is to go to the Devil for Rest, if you had come to Christ you might have had Rest, but these give up their Souls to the Devils Rest, and grow to looseness and are notoriously scandalous in in their lives, I suppose if you will observe it, you need not go far to find examples in this kind: but others that cannot get the Mastery of their consciences, they grow to despair, when they come upon their sick beds their hearts are overwhelmed with despair and so they die; Now Oh! what pity it is to loose such Souls as have gone thus far in the way of Religion. As thus: First, they do the same things that Gods people do for the outward act, they do the same things the Saints do. Secondly, They are very Conscientious of what they do, make conscience of their very thoughts, and of their secret ways.