Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity…

First. The one that belong to the outward man, and here you need no motives, but yet even in these things God will have men to smart many times, that they may know what health is, and what the comforts of our present conditions are, and what abundance of peace and wealth is, for even these things we most esteem, but this is not the thing, for here we need no exhortation.

Secondly, Spiritual mercies, those are they we do not hunger after, we are backward enough to desire them, and therefore we have so few of them: Therefore that which I must press upon you is to desire earnestly these spiritual mercies, if you desire them much you shall have much of them, for you must know before you have them God will teach you to know how precious they are, for if he hath commanded us not to cast pearls before swine, he himself will not cast the riches of his mercy before those that prize, and regard them not.

As for instance, forgiveness of sins, and reconciliation with God, this is a spiritual mercy, this if you would hunger much after, you should have it, yea, and according to the measure of your desires, but when you prize it not, that is it which keepeth it back; you may say the like of all other mercies, therefore prize them much, that is, be sensible of your misery without them, call your sins to remembrance, go over them, sum them up, and let your hearts stay and dwell upon the meditation of them, give not over till you be touched with them, and do this often, we might be more humbled if we would take pains with our hearts, but we slight it, and do it overly as being an exercise needless and tedious; but do it not so, ⟨p. 8⟩labour to get a sense of your sins, that will make you prize the mercies of justification, and reconciliation: for this cause many thousands miss of the forgiveness of their sins, it is not a thing they esteem much, they do not strive and contend with God for it, as a matter of such great moment, whereas it is the preciousest mercy of all other, it is the immediate door that openeth into the favour of God, which is the cause of all other mercies, and then no good thing can be withholden from you, fo it is your sins that keep good things from you, now if your sins were taken away, what need you fear either diseases, or death, or revilings and disgraces for your profession, or imprisonment, or poverty: if you had the forgiveness of your sins you might enjoy the prosperity you have freely, and as for crosses, either you shall be freed from them, or else they shall be as serpents without a sting, or as great bulks without burden and weight, this you should have, if you had the forgiveness of your sins; consider all this, labour to st a price upon it, and so for ll other mercies, work your hearts to this, to esteem the Mercies of God.