Spiritual desertions discovered and remedied. Being the substance of divers sermons preached for the…

5. Yet they may be left to grievous sins under these desertions. If God withdraw his assistance from them, and do not afford his wonted influence to the graces of his spirit that are in them, their vigour will fail, their strength will be enervated, and the carnal part in them will woefully prevail over them, and lead them into Captivity, and they shall wound themselves fearfully: Let Peter have never so much love for his Lord, and be never so resolute to stand by and for him, yet if Christ withdraw from him, he shall deny him bitterly, when a temptation offers If God leave Hezekiah to himself, he shall sin provokingly. If David be thus deserted, he shall involve himself in one great sin upon another. Nor can it be named hardly what one sin there is, which they may not fall into, and that unto very grievous aggravating circumstances, bating that one which is unpardonable.

5. Yet they may be left to grievous sins under these desertions. If God withdraw his assistance from them, and do not afford his wonted influence to the graces of his spirit that are in them, their vigour will fail, their strength will be enervated, and the carnal part in them will wofully prevail over them, and lead them into Caprivity, and they shall wound themselves fearfully: Let Peter have never so much love for his Lord, and be never so resolute to stand by and for him, yet if Christ withdraw from him, he shall deny him bitterly, when a temptation offers If God leave Hezekiah to himself, he shall sin provokingly. If David be thus deserted, he shall involve himself in one great sin upon another. Nor can it be named hardly what one sin there is, which they may not fall into, and that unto very grievous aggravating circumstances, bating that one which is unpardonable.

6. And they may be utterly at a loss about their spiritual state. There doth seem to be a greater latitude in those desertions which refer to Comfort, than such as relate to assistance: Gods faithfulness will not suffer him so to withdraw ⟨p. 48⟩from their graces, as to suffer them to be extinguished in them; but it is possible, and consistent with his Covenant fidelity, that sometimes they lose the comfort of their good estate. Not only may the Spirit of God withdraw his Testimony, and refuse to bear his witness to their Sonship; and when he so doth, all the witness of their own Spirits will not satisfy them in the conclusion; but leave them in sad doubts and fears whether there be any thing of truth and sincerity in them; […] a misgiving heart, and tempting Devil setting in, put them upon drawing of sad conclusions against themselves, whilst their own evidences are beclouded, so as they cannot read them, nor produce any argument for themselves which they dare to place confidence in, and so they are enveloped in dismal darkness; and such a condition as this is that supposed in