"First we must distinguish between a soul's being foiled through his own infirmity, and his enemy’s stability and power over-matching him, and another, who through a false heart doth voluntarily prostrate himself to the lust of Satan; though a general will show little pity to a soldier that should traitorously throw down his arms and run to the enemy, yet if another in fighting receives a wound and be worsted, it will be no dishonor for him to express his pity and love, no, though he should send him out of the field in his own coach, lay him in his own bed and appoint him his own surgeon. God doth not encourage wickedness in a saint, but pities weakness. Even when the saints fall into a sin in its nature presumptuous they do not commit it so presumptuously as others; there is a part true to God in their bosoms, though overvoted."
"Verily, verily I say unto you, ALL sins and blasphemies will be forgiven men..." -Jesus
September 23, 2008
Despair (from William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armour)
"Despair robs God of his infinitude and ascribes it to sin: by it the creature saith his sin is infinite and God is not: too like those unbelieving Israelites Psa cvi 7 ‘They remembered not the multitude of his mercies, but provoked at the sea, even at the red sea; they could not see enough in God to serve their turn at such a strait they saw a multitude of Egyptians to kill, and multitudes of waters to drown them, but could not see multitude enough of mercies to deliver them Thus the despairing soul sees a multitude of great to damn but not an infinitude of mercy in the great God to save him."
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