CHAPTER XXVII.
HOW SHALL ONE MAKE USE OF CHRIST AS THE LIFE, WHEN WRESTLING WITH AN ANGRY GOD BECAUSE OF SIN?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall,
1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper.
2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people.
3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case.
4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and,
5. Add a word or two of caution.
As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper:
1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as they shall cry out, "Our sin is ever before us," Psal. li. 3, and say, as it is, Psal. xc. 8. "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance;" and so cause them see the Lord contending for sin, as the church did, Isa. lix. "We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves. We look for judgment but there is none, for salvation but it is far off from us; for our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them," &c.