his conscience could not be quieted, the throbs of it could not be eased: How many lie under the troubles of an accusing conscience,Nothing can ease a troubled conscience but Gods speaking to the heart. and have the throbs and bitings of a guilty spirit, because they have been back-sliders from the truth; and though they come to Sermons, one after another, & hear the Cove∣nant of grace opened to them in the fulnesse of it, & the riches of Gods good∣nesse set before them in the beauty of it, yet they goe away without com∣fort, why the words come to the eare, God all this time speaks not to the heart; sometimes it pleases God to take but the hint of a truth, and dart it upon the heart of a troubled sinner, that he feeleth it at the heart, and sayes, Well, this day God hath spoken to my heart, so he goes away rejoycing, eased, comforted, pacified; when as perhaps such an one had heard a hun∣dred Sermons before, wherein there were blessed and glorious truths presen∣ted to him, and it did no good untill Gods time; and when the time of Gods love is come, some little hint of a piece of a truth God darteth to the hearts and that doth the thing. God shews hereby that it is not in the word of man to comfort an afflicted conscience.Hence an expression Luther hath in his Comment upon Genesis,Multo dif∣ficilius est conscienti∣am afflict∣am censola∣ri quam martuos excitare. Luther. It is far harder to comfort an afflicted conscience, then to raise the dead; you think it is nothing to Apostatize from the Lord, you thinke it is easie to re∣ceive comfort, you will find it is not so easie, you will find it as easie to raise the dead as to comfort your afflicted consciences. But you told us before, how rich the grace of God was, that God tooke advantage from the great∣nesse of our sins, to shew the riches and greatness of his mercy: grant it, let the grace of God be never so rich, but till this grace be applyed to the heart, till God be pleased to speak himself to the heart of a sinner, it will not do. I remember a story of one who had made profession of Religion, and after∣wards Apostatised and made little of it, when his acquaintance told him that those things he now did he would smart for one day, he thought because he had some knowledg in the Gospel, that it was but to believe in Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ came to pardon sinners, &c. when he came upon his sick bed, he was in great torment of conscience,False ap∣plying comfort will not hold. and grievous vexation, and cryed out bitterly of his Apostacy, there came some of his acquaintance to him, and spake words of comfort, and tells him that Christ came to save sin∣ners, and he must trust in Gods mercy, &c. At length he begins to close with this, and to apply this to himself, and to have a little ease, upon which his companions began to be hardned in their ways, because they saw after so ill a life it was so easie a matter to have comfort; but not long before he dyed, he brake out roaring, in a most miserable anguish, O! (saith hee) I have prepared a plaister, but it will not sticke, it will not sticke: wee shall find though the grace of God be rich, and the salve be a soveraign un∣lesse God be pleased to make it stick by speaking to our hearts, nothing can be done. From hence further, learn this note.As when God speaks comfortably to his people,Obs. he speaks to their hearts: so Gods Ministers, when they come to speak in Gods name, should labour 0