like that of Despising the Word of God. For this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the world and men love Darkness rather than Light. And How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation They that shall be found guilty of neglecting the great Salvation offered in the Gospel cannot escape the wrath of God to the utmost of it And this is true not only concerning such as have lived under the constant Preaching of the Gospel and yet remain and live dye in a natural unconverted estate but of them also that might hear the Word of God but will not concerning Such Christ saith It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah at the day of Judgment than for them Mat. 10. 15. This dying man now that his Conscience is awaken d saith It is a terrour to him to think I might have heard the Word of God preached many a time but refused it He neglected to hear Sermons not only on Lecture dayes but on Lords-Dayes too when he was a Servant he was wont as himself saith on Sabbath-Days to go out into the Fields and there to profane the Lords Dayes at the very time when he might and ought to have bin hearing the Word of God and since he had a Family his custom was to keep at home when others were attending the publick Worship of God. And he told me that he did foolishly please himself in thinking that he had sufficient reason to stay at home because he had not clothes good enough to appear publickly in whenas the mony that he mis-spent in drink would have procur'd him Cloatheing Let others then by his Example be warned against this evil lest they provoke God and feel sorrow for it as he has done I doubt there are very many in this great Town guilty of his sin in this particular perhaps some that are professors of Religion which is dreadful to think on I hear some say that there are many Hundreds nay some Thousands in this place that seldom hear a Sermon preached from one end of the year to the other if that be so it is very lamentable What is like to become of the souls of such profane persons If they that are in place of power be they Superior or Inferior Officers can possibly redress this evil they will certainly do a Service acceptable to GOD and to our Lord JESUS CHRIST But I proceed to the Second Exhortation If Murder be such a Crime as has bin declared then Let whoever has been guilty of this Sin be humbled for it and repent of it As for Interpretative Murder many are guilty of that O how many have by Debauchery Intemperance shortened the lives of themselvs or others let such repent and turn from their sins unto God. But I hope there is none in this vast Assembly that has bin guilty of that Murder which is by the Law of God and of the Land a Capital Crime excepting one man and one such person there is here present unto whom I shall now particularly apply my self Do you then hear that your soul may live This is the Last Sermon that ever you shall hear Time was when you might have heard Sermons but would not and now you shall not hear them tho' you would For as God said to him This night thy soul shall be required of thee so I say to you in His Name This night thy soul shall be taken from thee This night your soul shall be in Heaven or Hell for ever You are appointed to dye this day and after death commeth the Judgment As soon as your Body is dead your immortal soul must appear before the great GOD and Judg of all and a Sentence of everlasting Life or Everlasting Death shall be passed upon you Are you willing when those Chains which are about you shall be taken off that your immortal soul should be hang'd in everlasting Chains Are you willing that when your Body is removed from the Prison your Soul should go to the Spirits that are in prison You have complain'd that you have bin in a Dungeon and had little light there but are you willing to go where you shall never see light Are you willing that when your Body is delivered from this Dungeon your Soul should go into that Dungeon where is Blackness of darkness for ever If not I charge you in the Name of God to hear and obey his Word yea that Word which you have many a time despised I have spoken so often to you in private since your being Apprehended that I shall not need to say much now only a few words 1. Consider what a sinner you have bin The Sin which you are to die for is as red as Scarlet and many other sins hath your wicked life been filled with You have been a stranger to me I never saw you I never heard of you till you had committed the Murder for which you must dye this day but I hear by others that have known you how wicked you have been and you have your self confessed to the world that you have been guilty of Drunkenness guilty of Cursing Swearing guilty of Sabbath-breaking guilty of Lying guilty of secret Uncleanness as Solomon said to Shimei Thou knowest the wickedness which thine own heart is privy unto so I say to you And that which aggravates your Guiltiness not a little is That since you have been in Prison you have done wickedly you have made your self drunk several times since your Imprisonment yea and you have bin guilty of Lying since your Condemnation It was said to a dying man Dost not thou fear God seeing thou art under Condemnation Oh what a sinner have you bin for since you have bin under Condemnation you have not feared God. And how have you sinned against the Gospel What Unbelief what Impenitency have you bin guilty of Consider 2. What Misery you have brought upon your self on your Body that must dye an 〈◊〉 ed death you must hang between Heaven and Earth as it were forsaken of both and unworthy to be in either And what Misery have you brought upon your poor Children you have brought an everlasting Reproach upon them How great will their Shame be when it shall be said to them that their Father was hang'd not for his goodness as many in the world have bin but for his wickedness not as a Martyr but as a Malefactor truly so But that which is Ten Thousand Thousand times worse than all this is That you have without Repentance brought undoing Misery upon your poor yet precious Soul not only Death on your Body but a Second Death on your never-dying Soul. It is said in the Scripture That Murderers shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the Second Death Rev. 21. 8. O tremble at that I remember a Man that was condemned and Executed in this place some years ago that had been a Souldier and as stout a spirited
man as most in the World who when he came to dye thus expressed himself to a Minister that treated with him about his Soul I said he never knew what Fear meant tho' I have bin amongst drawn Swords and before the Cannons mouth I feared not death but now you tell me of a Second Death it makes my Soul to shake within me That 's a Death the Thoughts whereof may make the soul of the stoutest Sinner in the world to tremble for that 's a death which is ETERNAL The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are ETERNAL The death of the Body that 's seen and is soon over but what becomes of the Soul when a Sinner dyeth they that stand by him do not see but if he dye impenitent the Death which is not seen takes hold on him and it is eternal The God against whom he has sinned liveth for ever to punish him And a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the ever-living God. O run not into the mouth of the Second Death into the wide Mouth of the fiery Pit which has devoured Millions of Millions of immortal souls and know you for certain that if you die impenitent your Damnation will be no ordinary one for you have not only transgress'd against the Law of God with a high hand but sinn'd against the Gospel too The Sermons which you have heard formerly or might have done will be as so many witnesses against you before the Judgment seat of Christ the 3 Sermons which have bin preached to you in publick since your Condemnation the pains that has bin taken with you in private by one or other of the Lords Servants all these will aggravate your Condemnation when you shall be judged again before all the world at the last Day if you dye impenitent Consider 3. There 's yet a Possibility that your soul may be saved Notwithstanding all that has bin spoken to you don't despair repent but do not despair I would not have you say as Cain did My sin is greater than can be forgiven The Lord is a merciful God. Tho' Men cannot forgive you God can and He will do it if you unseignedly repent believe on the Lord Jesus There is infinite Merit in the Death of Christ if your bloody soul be wash'd in his blood it shall be made whiter than the Snow That Sin which you must now dye for God has forgiven to others upon their true Repentance Manasseh filled the streets of Jerusalem with innocent blood but when he humbled himself and besought the Lord for Mercy God was entreated of him O therefore Repent and then though your Body must dye your Soul shall live and not dye I have but two words more to say to you and then I shall take my leave of you for ever 1. Be sure that you be sincere in your Repentance Many times men under Fears will seem very penitent whenas they do but flatter God with their mouths and lye unto him with their tongues Thus it was with Pharoah and with many a sinner whose hard heart was never broken nor changed we see often that sinners on sick beds when they behold Death Eternity before their eyes will confess their sins and promise Reformation but if the Lord spare restore them they are the same that they were before And we have known Instances among our selvs of men that when they have bin Captive and in Turkish Slavery they have pretended to a sense of those sins which provoked the Most High to bring that misery upon them and have written seemingly pious penitent Letters to their Friends but now God has delivered them they are as vain as profane as ungodly as ever in their lives before nay some of them worse For the Truth is if men be not humbled and converted by such signal Dispensations many times they are judicially everlastingly hardned They never leave sinning until they have sinned themselvs into Hell past all hopes of Mercy or Recovery To come nearer to you I have known some more than one or 2 or 3 that have bin condemned to dye and whilest they remained under that Sentence they seemed very penitent but they were pardoned for they had not bin guilty of Murder as you have and since that have bin as wicked as ever O then look to your self that you do not dissemble with GOD and Man and your own Soul too And let not the Fear of Punishment only but the Sense of Mercy break your heart 2. In this way of sincere Repentance Betake your self to the City of Refuge Go to Christ for Life The wilful man slayer had as you heard but now no benefit by the City of Refuge so shall impenitent Sinners have no Salvation by Christ but they that have a real sight of their Sins and flee from the Avenger of blood unto Christ for life He is ready to succour them Poor man has the fiery Serpent stung thy soul then look unto the Brazen Serpent look unto the Lord Jesus that you may live and not dye forever Build your hopes of Salvation on Christ His Righteousness alone Don't think you shall be saved only because good men have pray'd for you or for the Confession of your sins which you have now made or for the sake of any thing but CHRIST And I pray the Son of GOD to have Compassion on you The Last Expressions solemn Warning of James Morgan As they were in Short-hand taken from his Mouth at the Place of Execution Mar. 11. 85 / 6. I Pray God that I may be a Warning to you all and that I may be the last that ever shall suffer after this manner in the fear of God I warn you to have a care of taking the Lords Name in vain Mind have a care of that sin of Drunkenness for that sin leads to all manner of sins and Wickedness mind have a care of breaking the sixth Commandment where it is said Thou shalt do no Murder for when a man is in Drink he is reaready to commit all manner of Sin till he fill up the cup of the wrath of God as I have done by committing that sin of Murder I beg of God as I am a dying man and to appear before the Lord within a few minutes that you may take notice of what I say to you Have a care of drunkenness ill Company and mind all good Instruction and don 't turn your back upon the Word of God as I have done When I have bin at meeting I have gone out of the meeting-house to commit sin to please the lust of my flesh Don't make a mock at any poor object of pity but bless God that he has not left you as he has justly done me to commit that horrid sin of Murder Another thing that I have to say to you is to have a care of that house where that wickedness was commited where
against his brother that had murdered him But that This is a grievous sin is manifest 1. In that it is a most unnatural thing Creatures of the same kind are not wont to destroy one another Naturalists observe concerning Wolves that though they be cruel creatures they will never kill one another therefore if Men do so they are worse than Wolves Tygers so that Murder is an unnatural and a monstrous Wickedness 2. The Vengeance which is wont to follow this Sin proves that it is an horrid and hainous Transgression There is a peculiar Vengeance that does pursue this sin at the heels of it The Gentiles had the motion of this fix'd in their minde hence those Barbarians could say No doubt this man is a murderer whom tho' he escaped the seas yet Vengeance suffereth not to live Act. 21. 4. ‖ Ethnici Dicen tanquam deam filiam Jovis colebant in Plut. l. de ser a vindict Dice daemon dicitur The Heathen esteemed dike the word there used for Vengeance as a Deity that would not suffer great Sinners and in special Murderers to go unpunished Temporal Vengeance pursueth this Sin. Hence they that have been guilty of it seldom live long in quiet Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days Psal 55. 23. Either they are cut off by the Sword of Civil Justice or if their Murders happen to be undiscovered a secret Curse of God follows them Often times they are themselvs Murdered as both Divine and humane Records do abundantly declare Nay tho men should truly repent of this sin and are then thro' the Merit of Christ saved from everlasting Punishment yet not from Temporal Judgment I cannot tell whether ever any man that was found guilty of this sin did escape Temporal Judgment at last When David had caused Vriah to be Murdered he did repent of it most deeply and unfeignedly yet God punished him severely as to outward Judgments he saw but few comfortable dayes after that the Sword never departed from his house I have read of a man that fought a Duel and murdered his Adversary who afterwards was very penitent and for several years an eminent instance of exemplary piety but at last he was smitten by the immediate hand of God so as that Blood gushed out of all the passages of his Body and he dyed suddenly The Relator notes upon it that tho' God forgave him as to eternal yet not as to temporal Vengeance But especially Spiritnal Vengeance follows this Sin The Murderers Soul is filled with hellish horrour of heart so that he is as it were Damned above ground and in hell whilst he is yet alive The avenger of blood pursues his soul Murderers have confessed that as soon as ever they had commited the bloody fact they felt the flames of Hell fire in their consciences and this we see in Cain therefore after he had murdered his Brother he cried and roared out that his sin was greater than could be forgiven his punishment greater than could be endured And some think that the mark which the Lord set upon Cain was a gastly guilty Countenance that he had Hell Horror in his countenance as well as in his Conscience And without Repentance everlasting vengeance will follow that Sin. It s said No murderer has eternal life 1. Joh. 3. 15. that is without true Repentance And if he has not eternal life then I am sure he has eternal death and Damnation If the Murderer were only to have the life of his body taken from him tho' in a painful shameful accursed way that were a light matter but there is an eternal Curse a weight of everlasting vengeance heavier than Mountains of Lead that shall press his Soul to death world without end Murder then is a fearful sin Propos 3. The Murderer is to be put to death by the hand of Publick Justice And this confirms the former Propositions concerning the greatness of this Sin. Men may not pardon or remit the Punishment of that Sin. Among the Jews there was no City of Refuge for a wicked or wilful man-slayer and it is said in the 31 verse of this Chapter You shall take no satisfaction for the life of a Murderer which is guilty of death but he shall surely be put to death This sin shall not be satisfyed for with any other punishment but the death of the Murderer There are some Crimes that other punishment less than Death may be accepted of as a Compensation for the wrong done either by some Mulct or Fine in their Estates or some other Coporal Punishment less than death but in case of Murder no Fine or Imprisonment or Banishment or corporal punishment less than death can be accepted You shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer And indeed Equity requires this by the law of Retaliation it is meet that men should be done unto as they have done to others and that as limb should go for limb so Life for Life But besides that there are two Reasons mentioned in the Scripture why the Murderer must be put to Death Reas 1. That so the Land where the murder is committed may be purged from the guilt of Blood. For Murder is such a sin as does pollute the very Land where it is done not only the person that has shed blood is polluted thereby but the whole Land lies under Pollution until such time as Justice is done upon the Murderer Thus in the 33. v. of this Chapter this is given as the Reason why no Satisfaction might be taken for the life of a Murderer so shall ye not pollute the land wherein you are for blood it defileth the land and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him that shed it One Murder unpunished may bring guilt a curse upon the whole Land that all the Inhabitants of the Land shall suffer for it So that Mercy to a Murderer is Cruelty to a People Therefore it is said concerning the Murderer Thine eye shall not pity him but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee If the Murderer be not punished it may go ill with the Whole all may fare the worse for it if the sin be not duly punished there is a partaking in the guilt of it Reas 2. Because man is made in the Image of God. This reason is mentioned Gen. 9. 6. Whosoever sheddeth mans blood by man i. e. by some man in Authority proceeding in an orderly way of Judicature as the Hebrew Expositors do rightly interpret the words shall his blood be shed for in the Image of God made He him Hence there is Sacrilegious Guilt in this Sin. Amongst the Romans (d) Sueton in Tiber. cap. 58. if a man did but strike his Servant near the place where one of their Emperours lay he was to dye for it because that was look'd upon as
years Ps 9. 10. Also before your time which probably you had lotted on and which men too often do promise themselvs Such as upon any awakenings of Conscience and Calls to Repentance delay put it off while in their Youth it is upon a promise of repenting when they are old and how many in that sense die before their time And here for your further awakning observe the Lord in his Providence making good another dreadful word upon you viz. that bloudy and deceitful men shall not live out half their dayes Psal 55. 23. Thus you are a son of Death God and man have said to thee Oh wicked man thou shalt surely dye 4. Your time is numbred and almost finished Indeed God has numbred all our times Yearâ— and the number of our months is with him Job 1â— 5. But the number of your I cannot say monthâ— but dayes is with your self you your self may number your own dayes The Lord teach you to apply your heart unto wisdom while numbering them Psal 90. 12. You are just now upon the very brink of the Pit the Grave is ready for you upon the very Edge of Eternity are you I say eminently you now walking will be within the line of it very speedily Job could say when a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return Cap. 16. 22. But you may say Before 4 dayes are come gone I shall be gone to the place from whence I shall not return till the very heavens be no more It made Belshazzar's Countenance to be changed the joints of his loins to be loosed and his knees to knock one against another to see the Hand-Writing upon the wall Dan. 5. 6. and we may imagine or at least one would think you whose very case it is may imagine how his thoughts within him were troubled when the Interpretation laid that dreadful doom upon himself that his Kingdom was numbred finished by God and it was meant of his life All which was lost that night v. 27. 30. It 's true we have none of us any lease of our lives we cannot say what may befal us this night and yet O amazing Madness Folly how apt are we if not to boast of yet to lot upon tomorrow How ready to promise to our selvs many years as the Fool in the Gospel did Luc. 12. 20. who well deserved the name of Fool had it been for that one evidence of it only But for your part you have your bounds set told you beyond which you cannot pass you know at the utmost the Date of your life and Day of your Death you may die sonner but you must not live longer your end is in your view you have but a few steps thither and had not need take any vain unprofitable or false ones You seem to bewail your sin of Sabbath-breaking well know that you shall never have another Sabbath to break The Lord help you to keep this as you ought I cannot pass this particular without once more commending it to your serious Consideration O chew upon it dwell upon it that a few hours hence you shall cirtainly dye It 's a very awful thing to us to look upon you a person in your Youth Health and Strength Breasts full of milk and Bones moisâ—ned with marrow and then to think that within so many daies this man tho' in his full Strength must dy and methinks it should be much more awful to you 5. Your Death will not expiâ—te your Offence in the sight of God nor cause the Turning away of His Anger from you It s true the shedding of your bloud will take away the Sin from the Land that it shall noâ— ly there else innocent bloud should be imputed to the Land but this doeâ— nothing towards the Satisfaction of Gods Justicâ— in order to the Removal of his wrath from the Murderer Punishment makes no amends for Sin unless it be that which was inflicted upon Christ as he stood in the capacity of a Surety in behalf of the Elect and so bare both their sin and their punishment but otherwise Hâ—ll torments don't satisfy God's Justâ—ce nor quench the fire of his wrath muchless can any bodily suffering do it tho it be the highest even death it self Do not then deceive your self Say not I have sinned its true but am now to suffer the Law and that being undergone I shall then be quitt It is so indeed as to any thing that men can do to thee but thy death does not at all deliver thee out of the hands of Divine Justice Nay rather Sixthly If you get not this Sin and all the rest of your sins done away and so the Anger of God removed your approaching Death will be but the beginning of Sorrows to you However sensually or like a Beast or worse you have lived you shall not dye as Beasts dye so as that there shall be an end of you and all your sufferings together No no such matter Your precious immortal soul must live forever and if you get not the fire of God's Anger put out Know that there is a Fire kindled in his anger that shall burn to the lowest Hell. Without Repentance â—â—to life which is the gift of Christ and for your Comfort I tell you in the midst of all these bitter things I have been speaking to you he is freely willing to give it even to you Oh look up to Him heartily for the same I say unless you get this Repentance unto life your death is but an In-let to the Second death No sooner shall your guilty soul be forced out of your wretched body but it shall appear before God that gave it there to receive another manner of Sentence of Condemnation than what you have already heard from man by which you were condemned to dye but there was room for a Lord have Mercy on your soul to be annexed whereas in that Sentence there will be no mercy upon your soul for your soul is the principal subject of the 2nd death Separating your soul and body asunder was the aim and will be the â—ssue of this Sentence but the death everlasting utter loss of your soul for which nothing can be given to God in Exchange Mat. 16. 26. will be the meaning of this Sentence Theâ— shall your soul be committed into left in the hands of the Devil your master whom you have served that great Murderer Lyar who was so from the beginning and is the father lord of such to be dragged down by him into the place where your fellow-Murderers and fellow-Lyars and fellow-Drunkards are viz. into the lake that burns with fire brimstone which is the second death Rev. 21. 8. there to be tormented with the Devil his angels where the Worm never dyeth and the fire never shall be quenched Marc. 9. 43. 44. You have a scareing vision Rev. 6. 8. of one whose name was Death
thou Psal 51. Let thy heart leap to hear such Language of this blood Goe thy way and spend that little time that is left thee in studying the Vileness of thy sins committed the Misery unto which thou art thereby exposed together with the Excellence and Preciousness of Jesus Christ and Him crucified who is ready to save thee from Sin present and wrath to come And tho' thou art not able to come yet the glorious lifting up of Christ in the Gospel together with the general Invitation unto all that need Him are the means appointed blest by God to draw Men to come Christ would fain have the Honour of saving such a wretched Sinner as thou art and be thou well assured that unless thou add unto that Sin of shedding of Man's Blood the guilt of Refusing and Slighting of Christ's Blood thou shalt not perish All the sins that ever thou hast committed shall not damn thee unless thou add Unbelief to all the rest viz. the wilful rejecting of a tendered Saviour There is Wrath on thee but it shall not be Everlastingly upon thee if thou Believe it is Unbelief only that makes-Wrath abide Joh. 3. ult other Sins do displease but this only can destroy Look up to Him for the gift of Faith. The good Lord open thine Ear that thou may'st be no longer rebellious but help thee so to hear as that thy Soul may live FINIS The Printer to the Reader THe general Vsefulness Acceptableness of this Book together with the speedy sale of the 1st Impression as also some honest gain to my self good to others has enclin'd me to renew the Impression of it But to render it the more compleat I have yet not without hazarding the displeasure of a worthy Friend the Reverend Person who labour'd for the best good of the Prisoner in his last hours procured utterly against his knowledg I entreat him that it may be with his pardon by an innocent Wile the true Copy of the Discourse which pass'd between himself the Malefactor from the Goal to the place of Execution judgeing it would contain things for the profit of the living The last words of dying men being wont to leave no small Impressions on the hearts of the surviving Spectators many having bin captivated convinced at last converted with the blessing of Heaven thereupon by a Speech from an illiterate Malefactor at the Gallows who have broken the sharp shining Swords of an Eloquent Divine and laughed at the Shaking of his threatning Spear and it being upon experience found that the Publication of the Prison-discourses between some other Malefactors their friends has prov'd edifying to the surviving By a harmless Stratagem I have as is said got into my hands a Transcript of the Summ Substance of what was spoken drawn up for ought I know for the Author 's own use or the satisfaction of some of his private friends who I know have ask'd him to do it it is as follows R. P. The DISCOVRSE of the MINISTER with James Morgan on the WAY to his Execution Min. I 'm come hither to answer your desires which just now you exprest to me in the Church that I would give you my company at your Execution Morg. Dear Sir how much am I beholden to you you have already done a great deal for me Oh who am I that have bin such a vile wretch that any Servants of God should take notice of me Min. I beseech you to make this use of it I believe there is not one Christian this day beholding you who would not willingly be at the greatest pains they could devise to save your precious soul How merciful then is that Man who is God as well as man how unspeakably ready is the Ld. Christ to save the souls of sinners that affectionately look unto him The goodness pittifulness of the most tender-hearted man in the world is but a shadow of what is in Him. The compassions of any man compared with the Bowels of a merciful JESUS are but as the painted Sun or the painted Fire in Comparison of the real Mor. Oh that I could now look unto Him as I ought to do Lord help me Min. Well you are now a dying man the last hour or 2 of your life is now running You know your self now to stand just on the brink of Eternity you shall presently be in a state of wonderful happiness or of horrible misery which must endure forever which of those estates do you new count your self stepping into Mor. Oh Sir I am afraid but I am not without hope that God may have mercy on me Min. What 's your ground for that hope O see that your confidences been'â— such as God willby'nd by reject Mor. I don't know well what to say but this I hope is a good sign I have lived in many grieveous sins in Lying Drinking Sabbath-breaking evil Company-keeping God has made now these so bitter to my soul that I would not commit them again might I have my life this afternoon by doing it Min. That 's a great word God grant it may not be a word only the good word of a good pang without a through chang of heart as you must have if you would not perish everlastingly You are not like to have any longer time in this world to try the Sincerity of your Profession Mor. I know it and I beseech you Sir to help me what you can I hope the means used with me since my Condemnation ha'n't been lost Min. I would not have the sense of the pain shame which your Body is about to undergoe any waies hinder your Mind from being taken up about the Soul-matters which I shall endeavour to set before you Mor. Sir as for the pain that my body must presently feel I matter it not I know what pain is but what shall I do for my poor soul I 'm terrify'd with the Wrath of GOD This this terrifyes me HELL terrifyes me I should not mind my Death if it were not for that Min. Now the Lord help me to deal faithfully with â—ou the Lord help you to receive what He shall â—â—able me to offer unto you Mark what I say You were born among the enemies of God you were born with a soul as full of emnity against God as a Toad is full of poison You have liv'd now how many years Morg. I think about Thirty Min. And all these 30 years have you been sinning against the holy God. Ever since you knew how to do any thing you have every day bin guilty of innumerable sins you deserve the dreadful wrath curse of the infinite God. But God has brought you here to a place where you have enjoy's the means of grace And here you have added unto your old Sins most fearful Iniquityes you have bin such a matchless prodigious Transgressor that you are now to dye by the stroke of civil Justice to dy before your time
A SERMON Occasioned by the EXECUTION of a man found Guilty of MURDER Preached at Boston in N. E. March 11th 1685 / 6 Together with the Confession Last Expressions solemn Warning of that Murderer to all persons especially to Young men to beware of those Sins which brought him to his miserable End. By INCREASE MATHER Teacher of Church of CHRIST The SECOND EDITION Deut. 19. 20. 21. And those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such Evil among you â— 21. And thine eye shall not â—…ity but Life shall go for Life Eye for Eye c. Prov. 28. 17. A man that doth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit let no man stay him Boston Printed by R. P. Sold by J. Brunning Book-seller at his Shop at the Corner of the Prison-Lane next the Exchange Anno 1687. To the Reader THe Sermons emitted herewith both that of mine and that also delivered by my Son are published to gratify some who have been perhaps too importunately desirous to have it so The Person that occasioned the Preaching of them is now uncapable of receiving Benefit by them Whether they were blessed for any saving Good to his Soul the Lord knowes and it becomeâ— us to leave Secret things with GOD. Late Repentance is seldom true There are who think that many who perished in the Floud were by means of that Judgment brought to true Repentance To this sense some interpret that Scripure 1. Pet. 4. 6. otherwise we read not of more than one man in all the Book of God that was brought home to Christ but a few hours before his death Nevertheless the Lord knows how to make the woful death as to his Body of a great Sinner to occasion the Conversion and Salvation of many Souls If any be awakned by this sad Example to turn from those sins which proved the ruin of a miserable man and if these Sermons such as they are may be a meanes to further the work of Repentance towards God Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in any that shall read them the Design of this Publication will be attained As for the Exhortation annexed to these Discourses it was delivered on the same day with that Sermon preached by my Son whom the Lord Jesus hath fixed in the same Church to which I am related but in the after part of the day The Reverend and worthy Author has not had time to transcribe his whole Sermon only that part of it which concerned the then Condemned Malefactor Many have earnestly desired that it might in this way be made publick And because it is most suitable that the Best should come last it is in this Publication added to the other Sermons The Lord prosper his Truth by whomsoever spoken or written for the Good of Souls Increase mather March 26. 1686. NUMB. XXXV 16. And if he smite him with an Instrument of Iron so that he die he is a Murderer the Murderer shall surely be put to DEATH A Great part of this Chapter is taken up in declaring who should have benefit by the City of Refuge and who might not expect advantage thereby There are Two sorts of Man-slayers 1 One may kill his Neighbour Accidentally tho he had no design of Hurt to him nor any Displeasure against him The City of Refuge was for such 2. A Man may in Hatred or in Passion kill another and then then the City of Refuge could not secure or save him from the hand of Justice To intimate which is the Scope of the Words which have been now read wherein we have two things 1. A Criminal 2. The Punishment to be inflicted on such a Criminal 1. A Criminal He is a Murderer There are three Particulars mention'd which if they concur the Person is guilty of Murder 1. If he smites another man h. e. if he does so not accidentally but designedly 2. If the Instrument which he smites him with be of Iron that makes the Murder to be the more evident In the Verses following it is added That if he smite him mortally with a Stone or with Wood he shall be accounted a Murderer The Jewish Writers tell us (a) v. Grotium Ainsworth in loc That if a man were slain there was diligent enquiry made concerning the Instrument whereby he was killed If it was with a Stone or with Wood they examin'd whether the stone or wood were of that Bigness as that the dead man might probably receive his Deaths Wound thereby But they say If it were with an Instrument of Iron no enquiry was made as to the greatness of it because the least nail of Iron might easily kill And it is to be presumed that a man will not strike another with an Instrument of Iron except Blood and Murder be in his Heart 3. If the Wound prove mortal then the Striker is guilty of Murder Tho a man should smite another and that with an Instrument of Iron if Death does not follow he is not guilty of that high degree of Murder which the Text speakes of but if he smite his Neighbour so that he dye then he is a Murderer 2 Here is the Punishment to be inflicted on such a Criminal The Murderer shall surely be put to death Only Gods Order was to be observed he was to be put to death in a Judiciary way Amongst the Jews the Avenger of blood was to be the Executioner as the 19th ver in this chapter shews where it is said that the Avenger of blood himself shall slay the Murderer The Hebrew word for the Avenger pf bloud is GOEL which is sometimes translated a Redeemer The word properly signifyes one that is near a kin The next Kinsman had right to Redeem he also was to be the Avenger of blood Only before Execution could be done the Magistrate was to pass a Judgment The Man-slayer was sent from the City of Refuge whither he fled unto the place where the Fact was done there to have his Tryal If the Magistrates of that Place found him not guilty he was returned to the City of Refuge there to be in safety till the death of the High Priest and then to be set at Liberty But if he was found Guilty of Murder he was to be put to death publickly by the hand of Justice The DOCTRINE then before us as suited to the present Occasion is That Murder is a Sin so great heinous as that whoever shall be found Guilty of it must be put to death by the hand of publick Justice The Explication and Confirmation of this Doctrin may be set before us in 3 Propositions Prop. 1. Murder is when a man does voluntarily unjustly take away the Life of another person So that there are 3 Things implied in Murder 1. The Object slain must be one of Man-kind To take away the Life of another Creature is not Murder The Sixth Commandment saith Ye shall not kill The Hebrew words are
an affront put upon his Imperial Majesty so he that shall kill a man that is made after the Image of God puts a Contempt upon the DIVINE Majesty there is Treason against God contained in the bloody Bowels of this Sin. Upon this account it is indeed a greater sin to kill a good man that has the Image of God renewed in him than to kill a wicked man. Nevertheless that also is a Capital Crime for all men have something (e) Calvin Rivet Pareus in Gen. 9. 6. of Gods Image remaining in them not only in that every man has an immortal soul and is in that respect more like the immortal God than any other creature in the world and in that men have a dominion over the Creatures which is one part of Gods Image on that account does the Apostle say that Man is the Image and Glory of God. 1. Cor. 11 7. But also in that the Law is written in the hearts of men by Nature (f) Ames Theol. lib. 1. cap. 14. though God has executed spiritual death upon Mankind for Adam's Apostasy after a dreadful manner yet he has moderated that punishment hence men in a natural estate yet close with some practical principles of Piety Righteousuess as That God ought to be worshiped that Men should do as they would be done by and the like and many natural men yet have an image of Vortue they have something like Grace a shadow of it they hate flagitious Crimes and approve of a morally honest Conversation These things shew that there are some Remainders of the Image of God in men therefore he that shall murder such a creature is worthy of death But thus for the Doctrinal handling of the Truth before us I proceed to make some Application 1. By way of Information 2. For Exhortation Infor. 1. This Doctrin justifyeth the Authority here in respect of the Sentence of Death which has been passed on the Murderer who is this day to be Executed There is a man standing before the Lord and among His people this day who has done just as my Text expresseth he hath smitten his Neighbour and that with an Instrument of lorn too with a cruel Spit made of Iron the thing proved by several Witnesses and the man that was hurt dyed of that wound therfore he that has smitten him is a Murderer and must surely be put to death Tho' for a long time he denied it nevertheless since his Condemnation he has acknowledged it and yesterday he confessed to me that he had in his Rage murdered the man whose death and blood has bin laid to his Charge he told me that the other gave him some ill language whereby he was provoked and that he said to him if he came within the door he would run the Spit into his Bowels and he was as wicked as he said he would be so that he is guilty of Murder Therefore none ought to blame Those in Authority for causing the Murderer to be put to death Conscience to God to the People under their Charge and to their own Souls also has necessitated them to do what they have done in this matter Let every one remember that Scripture Prov. 28. 17. A man that doth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the Pit let no man stay him if he has shed blood to the Pit let him go and flee thither let all convenient Speed be used in the Execution of Justice that so the Land may be cleared from blood and let no man in Authority stay him let no private person solicit for him But let us be thankful to God that we are under such Magistrates as will do Justice and Execute Judgment punish Sin according as the Word of God requires that it should be done Infor. 2. Hence Those Things which have a tendency to and a degree of Murder in them must needs be evil e. g. Rash sinful Anger is an evil thing Murder begins there 'T was said of those Brethren in Iniquity Simeon Levi That Instruments of Cruelty were in their habitations for in their Anger they slew a man cursed be their wrath for it was cruel Gen. 49. 5. 6. And ouâ— Lord Jesus Christ in His Exposition of the Sixth Commandment shews that rash Anger is a degree of Murder Mat. 5. 21 22. You have heard that it was said by them of old time Ye shall not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgement but I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment There is Man's Judgment-seat and GOD's Judgment-seat Murder makes a man be in danger of the former sinful Anger exposes him to the latter Not that all Anger is sinful there is an â—nger that is good when a man is angry in God's cause moved with zeal indignation because God is dishonoured that 's very good and a man may sometimes be angry in his own cause too and yet not sin Be angry and sin not But when men are angry without a just cause that 's Evil. When they are angry more than they have cause for that they are all in a flame for a meer trisâ—e when as one well expresses it a man shall suffer the (g) v. Mâ— Câ—â—â—ocks Supplement cap. 9. p. 368. Becoâ— of his soul to be sit all on â—ire at the landing of every small Boat that 's a foolish and evil thing or when men shall be angry longer than they ought to be an implacable spirit is a vile murderous spirit Anger rests in the bosom of sools Sinful Anger is poysâ—â— which as soon as ever a man has taken it into his mouth he shall spit it out again And when Anger shall break out into Curses and wicked Imprecations that 's wicked Anger This condemned man that stands here confesses that he was wont in his passion to curse all near him He murdered many a man with his bloody tongue before he was left of God to murder any with his hand His mouth was full of Cursing Bitterness before he shed blood And when men in their Rarge imprecate curse themselvs it s a very evil thing there are some that will say They wish they might be hang'd if such a thing be so and many times the righteous Judgment of God brings that very evil upon 'em There is a Printed Relation concerning (h) Sr. Gerv. Elways mention'd by Mr. Howel in his Londinop by Mr. Ball of the power of Godliness l. 4. c. 3. p. 329. by Mr. Leigh in his Body of Divinity Lib. 4. Cap. 16. P. 445. a Person of Quality that was hang'd for a Crime laid to his charge and when he came to dye he confessed that he had been much addicted to that sinful Recreation of Card-Playing and that many times when the Game went otherwise than he wish'd for he would in his passion wish that he might he
place I hope there are no such flinty bowels here as do not yern over you yet the Land must not be polluted by the sparing of you You have slain a man to your wounding a miserable man to your hurt You that have been wont formerly to say of the Sabbath What a weariness is it must not now be permitted to draw your breath until the Revolution of another Sabbath Behold Now is your accepted time Now is your day of Salvation By that time a few swift hours are flown away your pretious and yet perishing soul is to be hurried away into Eternity But O what a a soul gastring word is that ETERNITY ETERNITY If within 4 or 5 days you have not secured the Salvation of your soul â—â— looking unto Jesus Christ your soul that never-dying Soul of yours that Spark of Immortality which yet takes up its lodging in you must be broken in the place of dragons for as many millions of Years as there are stars in the Sky or drops in the Sea or sands on the Shore and yet be no nearer to the end of the Gnawes Scalds that shall overwhelw it than the first moment that they began Some Sips of the cup which is there alwaies in the trembling hands of the Out-cast Ones have before now made a man in this world to say I desire no greater mitigation of my misery than that I might ly in the room of the Back-log behind the fire on my hearth forever Suerly you don't intend to try how you can grapple with such a Damnation as you are now upon the brink and the Borders of Can your heart be strong or can your handâ— endure in the day that I shall deal with you saith the Lord. I am glad for the seemingly penitent Confession of your monstrous Miscarriages which yesterday I obtained in writing from you and which indeed was no more than there was need of But it now remains yet That you give your dying Looks unto the Lord Jesus Christ for Salvation from all your Guilt and from all the Plagues in the flying Roll which that does expose you to The Man-slayer of old had a City of Refuge to befriend him Behold I do this day in the name of Jesus Christ point you to such an one O poor soul LOOK look up and run unto it O don't sit down on this side a full Resignation of your self unto Jesus Christ lest the Everlasting and the ever-burning Vengeance of the Almighty do overtake you in your doing so For your Assistance herein besides what I have more privately said to you since you first writt to me your desires of speaking with me I have now only these Requests to make unto you My first Request unto you is That you would at this hour think of an interest in Jesus Christ as you will quickly at the hour of your death of your judgment Surely when the Executioner is laying the cloth of Death over your eyes the Look with the Shriek of your soul will then say O now a 1000 worlds for an interest in Jesus Christ Surely a few minutes after that when your naked soul shall appear before the Judgment seat of the most High you will again have it over An Interest in Jesus Christâ—s now worth whole mountains of massie gold O let this be now the settled opinion of your awakned heart reckon that if God help you to give one Look unto Jesus Christ it will be a greater merey to you than if not only a life in this world but all the Riches honour pleasures of it were bestowed upon you My next Request to you is That you would look upon Jesus Christ as not only able but willing to be your Saviour It is true that you have murdered your own soul many Thousands of times by leading a life of most horrid Impietyes It is true that after all you have murdered the Body and no thanks to you if not the soul of your Neighbour too Yea It is true and O that the Rock in your bosom might flow with tears at the stroke of such a thought that you have by sin wickedly murdered the Lord Jesus Christ Himself Yet yet is the Lord Jesus Christ from yonder heaven this day pleading with you O look upon Me as one ready to be thine He that saies Look unto me all ye end of the earth also saith Poor man do thou look unto me from thy Dungeon yeaâ— and when thou shalt be at the end of the Town upon thy Ladder also Oh Jesus Christ is that Saviour who said once to a Malefactor in the after-noon wherein he was hang'd This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Christ is that Saviour who made a pardoned Discipile of one from whom he was put to cast out â— devils perhaps as many fiends as your soul has bin the Castle of Multitudes of such bloody creatures as the infamous Manasseh was have been taken under the merciful wings of Jesus Christ O thou Prisoner of hope it is not an utterly impossible thing that Jesus Christ should take from the Gallows unto Glory My Third Request unto you is That your looks unto Jesus Christ may be very humble exceeding sincere and exceeding earnest O while you are looking to Jesus Christ be loathing of your self Abhor and condemn your self as most worthy of all the crushes that you can have in the wine-press of Omnipotent Fury of all the howling Torments between the Mill-stones in the Pit below And let every way of wickedness become hateful yea more bitter than death unto you as rendring you obnoxious hereunto Nay set open the Door of your soul unto the Saviour that is knocking at it for this very thing that he may make it an evil aâ—d a better thing unto you to for sake the Lord for if you go out of the world with any sweet morsel in your mouth or with any harboured beloved lust of which you don 't truly say Lord turn me from it I do most solemnly testify unto you It had bin good for you that you never had been born you shall becomeas a glowing Iron fully possessed by the hot wrath of God you shall be made as a fiery Oven fill'd with his indignation without any Ease without any End. Be also most importunate in your Sighs Cries unto Jesus Christ for such desireable things urge hard tâ—â— for the life of a soul that shall never die If the Court should say to you Beg hard you shall live Oh how aflectionate would you be Soul the Lord Jesus Christ saies that thing to you If thou canst heartily look beg thou shalt not be hang'd up among the monuments of my vengeance in chainâ— of darkness forevermore How can you now be silent or sensless or not strive in prayer or not stir up your self to take hold of such boundless mercy It was indeed the insolent speech of Pilate unto Jesus Christ when he had Him at his Barr
sitting on a pale horse that vision is now before you and it cannot but be very terrible and affrighting but the main terror lies in what comes after Hell followes it Hell followes Death hard at the heels Death is but the door between the two worlds that lets the soul of a Christless sinner out of this world into Hell. The Second Death after the first is the misery of the first and the first would be compartively but a small matter were it not for the second 7. Finally Consider you have no time to get sin pardoned wrath turned away if it be not done already but between this and Death into the very Borders and under the Sentence of which you now are In the grave there is no repentance no Remission Eccl. 9. 10. Before 4 dayes more pass over your head and Oh how swiftly do they fly away you will be entred into an Eternal unchangeable state of weal or woe and of Woe it will be if speedy and thorough Repentance prevent it not Thus far by way of Conviction Awakning My 2nd Word is principally by way of Counsel Unto which I shall promise a Word of Encouragement lest what has bin said may seem to harsh and severe to a man in his Condition But the Wound must be opened searched before the Plaister be laid on and there is a Plaister as large as the sore the Lord in mercy make it stick Know then That notwithstanding all that has bin spoken there is Hope in Israel concerning this thing There is a way found out reveal'd by God for the Turning of His Anger even from such sinners The bloud of Jesus can wash away the guilt of the sin of sheddng man's blood for which no Ransome may be taken by man yet God haâ— found out a Ransome and does now graciuosly offer thee the benefit of it Paul was a Murderer and yet pardoned Manasseh made the streets of Jerusalem to swim with innocent bloud and yet was forgiven Nay the greatest Murderers that ever were in the world even those that imbrewed their wicked hands in the bloud of the Son of GOD were many of them converted reconciled to God and are now in heaven beholding the Glory of that Christ whom they Crucifyed Act. 2. And several others who were under the same Condemnation were exhorted in the following Chapter to repent to be converted and were thereupon promis'd that their sins should be blotted out ver 29. It is true that no murderer hath eternal life 1. Joh. 3. 15. and that Drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1. Cor. 6. 10. and yet the next words say ver 11. such were some of you but you are washed sanctifyed justifyed If all Sins and Blasphemy against the Son of Man may be forgiven Mat. 12. 31. 22. then this Sin against one of the sons of men may be forgiven too God can pardon great sins yea therefore or the rather pardon them because great Psal 25. 11. And He does delight where Sin has abounded to make Grace super-abound Rom. 5. 20. And so I come to my word of Counsel And Oh let my Counsel be acceptable to thee before thou be driven out from among men put beyond all possibility of hearing or taking counsel 1. See be yet more affected with this deplorable condition and let thy soul be afflicted at the thoughts of it and especially at thy sin that has brought thee into it I urge this again because thou canst not be too much concerned thereabout 2. Look upon all thy life past let this solemn hand of God upon thee bring all thy sins to Remembrance Consider how thou hast walked in a Course of sin from step to step and let all thy Actual sins lead thee back to the Sin of thy Nature the evil Fountain from whence all these bitter streams have issued and let all put together make thee vile in thine own eyes and make thee to abhor thy self for the same 3. Beg hard for a broken heart that may unfeignedly mourn for sin that being burdened with it thou mayst most bitterly weep and sigh groan under it Such sins as thou standest Convicted of call for the deepest Humiliation Contrition It s the bane of multitudes of Sinners in the world that their Convictions of Sin were but sleighty and their Humiliation superficial and so their Conversion not real God will prick thee to the heart yea and break thy Heart all to pieces for thy sin if ever he pardon thee Also bemoan thy self for all thy Prophanness Loosness Sensuality which has exposed thee to this great sin at last Bewail all those evils which the holy God has to charge thee with thy Rending His Sacred name by Curses Oaths wronging His Truth by Lying Abusing his good Creatures to Excess Making thy Belly thy god and sacrificeing the Lord's Blessings thereunto which he lent thee for His own Use and Service And especially for thy rejecting of his Gospel of which great and horrible sin thou art convicted out of thy own mouth while thou wert profaning his Sabbaths neglecting to give thy Attendance on the publick Worship and so turning away thine Ear from Hearing the joyful sound by which thou mightst have been forever blessed Let all these be remembred and be as Gall and Wormwood to thy soul 4. Acknowledge an Holy Righteous hand of God in leaving thee to this great Transgression Confess what thou hast done and give glory to God for what He has done Say He is just for I have sinned Yea and glorify him for this that He can make even this Sin at least the punishment Attending it a means to bring thee to Repentance for all the rest of thy sins which else thou mightest have gone on securely in unto endless Perdition This prodigious sin of Murder together with thy being brought to Condign Punishment for the same may through the Soveraign Grace of God who can bring good out of evil be an occasion by its loud cry of blood in thine ears to awaken thee out of that sleep from which thou mightst else have never awakned till everlasting burnings had awakned thee The Lord blessed Manasseh's being brought into Chains to put him upon seeking the God of his Fathers and the same God can bless this Chain with which thou art now bound as a means to bring thee to everlasting Liberty It 's one of the Lords wayes of Dealing with men to bring them to good viz. when they are bound in Fetters and holden in Cords of Affliction to shew them their work and their Transgression that they have exceeded in and then to open their ears to Discipline and to command them to return Job 36. 8. 9. 10. Yea and he can cause them to return by Sealing Instruction at such a Time and in such a way Thus can the Lord bring back thy soul from the pit tho' thy body must go thither It is I confess a strange
way to leave men to undo themselves thereby to prevent their being everlastingly undone But doubtless there have been such Examples in the world of men that have been thus saved and who can tell but thou mayst make one more 5. Heartily bless God and wonder at His Kindness therein that He did not suddenly take thee away with His stroke as He has done many such a sinner as thou hast been Many a Drunkard has staggered and reeled into the Pit has dropt into Hell in a moment and gone full of Drink into the place where there is not a drop of water to cool his tongue Bless Him that he did not choak thee with a Lye in thy mouth or make thee fall down dead as soon as ever thou hast vented it So were Ananias and Sapphiraâ— serv'd Act. 5. 5 10. Bless him that He did not stop thy breath just when some execrable Curse or Oath was out of the evil Treasury of thy filtthy rotten heart crawling up that open Sepulchre of thy throat Bless him that he did not strike thee dead in the place when thou wert profaning of His Sabbaths and for not sanctifying that holy Rest unto God that He did not in the twinkling of an eye send thee to the place where thou should have no rest night nor day O bless him for this time of Patience and Forbearance for a space to repent that Divine Long-suffering has afforded thee Bless Him that He has given thee a longer time of Consideration Preparation for a latter end that that poor wretch had who was by thy cruel hand hurried away into Eternity in a little time When thou gavest him his death's wound Vengeance might have given thee a fatal stroak and sent thee to thy own place before him But he is gone and thou art left and forborn a little tho' but for a very little longer let the Goodness of God lead thee to Repentance 6. See that of thy self thou hast no way left to satisfy Justice or pacify divine Anger Say within thy self Wherewith shall I come before the Lord before whose dreadful Tribunal I must appear within a few hours And then say to thy self I have no thousands of rams nor 10 thousands of rivers of oyl and if thou hadst hear the Lord saying to thee that they would avail nothing no nor would the first-born of thy Body be an expiation for the sin of thy soul All thy confessions prayers tears will not answer for the least of a Thousand of those sins under the guilt of which thy soul is now lying Shouldest thou spend every precious moment of thy short time in Confessing Praying fighing groaning weeping all that would not doe No no Here thou standest a guilty Creature condemned of God man and canst not strike one stroke toward thy own Salvation nor deserve that God should do it for thee God has judged thee and men have judged thee worthy of Death and do thou judge thy self worthy of Damnation too A self-judging and self-condemning frame is a suitable frame for thee to be in this day 7. Humbly heartily like a poor laborious heavy laden perishing shiftless Creature cast thy self down at the Footstool of the Throne of Grace crying and looking for the Mercy of God through the Merits of Christ unto thy Pardon Acceptance And Oh the height and depth and length and breadth of the Grace of God in Christ There 's room for a Curser Swearer Lyar Drunkard yea and a Murderer too to ly at that Footstool with hope Then fly for refuge to lay hold on that hope that is set before thee Heb. 6. 18. Flee away to the City of Refuge and I do assure thee from God that the Door stands ready to receive thee and Oh make haste for the Avenger of blood is at thy very heels The City of Refuge under the Old Testament was only to entertain the Man-slayer not the Murderer him that killed a man unwittingly and unwillingly while the wilful Murderer was by express Command from God to be deliver'd up But herein as in all other things does the Antitype out doe the Type Jesus Christ who was and is the Substance of that shaddow invites Murderer as well as Man-slayer and has declared it to be the Father's Will and his own Resolution that whosoever comes to Him He will in no wise cast out Joh. 6. 37. The same Advice which was given to the Murderers of Christ as has been hinted to thee Act. 3. 20. I do now in the name of the Lord give to thee Repent and receive Christ and thou shalt be saved Thou hast sorely angered God already by all that Course of sin that thou hast lived in and principally by this last great sin that thou art condemned for now do not anger Him yet more by neglecting to embrace his Son. Thou hast done all these Wickednesses now don't add to all the rest that which will be unspeakably more than all the rest the rejectof a Saviour yea of a Saviour thus openly freely heartily offering himself to thee even to thee in particular in this solemn Ordinance and that as verily as really as if He should by an audible voice call to thee by name from Heaven and invite thee to come Set thy heart to these things that from the Lord I am Testifying to thee this day for they are thy life Hearken then as for thy life as for thy last or at least that which is next to thy last And that which I have to say to thee is this Behold Jesus Christ is for thy sake come into this place this day this Sabbath this thy last Sabbath which should therefore be a great Day to thee and here He stands cries to thee that if thy guilty soul be heated scorcht by God's Anger and made thirsty after Righteousness which may put out that flame allay that heat and in which thou mayst be found in that day Lo here it is for thee Open thy mouth wide and He will abundantly satisfy thee Hear Christ saying to thee Thou condemned Malefactor I pitty thy case my bowels do yern over thee and tho' dye thou must by a violent death as to the taking away thy bodily life yet I profess I have no delight in thy destruction I have no pleasure in thy death and tho thou dye Temporally I would have thee live Eternally Again hear the same Lord Jesus asking thee expostulating the case about thy soul What doest thou mean to do with thy soul whither shall it got when it leaves thy body what care hast thou taken about it I 'm afraid but little hitherto Hast thou provided a place of rest for it Why if thou be at a loTs and it is a good step to thy being found if thou dost feel thy self lost if thou art afraid lest the devil should get it at last whose slave thou hast too much bin all thy days and art willing to be effectually eased of
against thee as I have done Min. Amen Amen ten thousand times the Lord GOD Allmighty say Amen to this Prayer of yours It would indeed be an excellent thing if you could now come to receive your death with some Satisfaction of soul in this thought That Much Glory is like to come to God by it I am verily perswaded God intends to do good to many souls by means of your Execution This is a greater honour than you are worthy of After the Discourse had been intermitted about a minute or two by reason of the miery way Mor. I beseech you Sir speak to me Do me all the good you can my time grows very short your discourse fits me for my Death more than any thing Min. I 'm sorry so small a thing as a plashy Street should make me loose one minute of this more-than-ordinary precious time a few paces more bring you to the place which you have now in your eye from whence you shall not come back alive Do you find your self afraid to dy there Mor. Sir If it were not for the Condition that my SOUL must by by be in I should not fear my death at all but I have a little comfort from some of Gods promises about that Min. And what shall I now say These are among the last words that I can have liberty to leave with you Poor man thou art now going to knock at the door of Heaven and to beg cry Lord Lord open to me The only way for thee to speed is to open the door of thy own soul now unto the Lord Jesus Christ Do this and thou shalt undoubtedly be admitted into the gloryes of His heavenly Kingdom You shall fare as well as Manasseh did before you leave this undone and there 's nothing remains for you but the Worm which dyeth not and the fire which shall not be quenched Mor. Sir show me then again what I have to do Min. The voice the sweet voice of the Lord Jesus Christ who was once hanged on a tree to take away the Sting and Curfe of even such a Death as yours unto all that close with him His heavenly voice now is Oh that I my Saving work might be entertained kindly entreated in that poor perishing soul of thine Are you willing Morg. I hope I am Min. His Voice further is If I am lodged in thy soul I 'll sprinkle my blood upon it and on my account thou shalt find Favour with GOD. Do you consent to this Mor. This I want Min. But this is not all that he saith His Voice further is If I come into thy soul I will chang it I will make all sin bitter to it I will make it an holy heavenly soul Do you value this above the proffers of all the World Mor. I think I doe and now Sir I must go no further Look here what a solemn sight is this Here lyes the Coffin which this Body of mine must presently be laid in I thank you dear Sir for what you have already done for me Min. When you are gone up this Ladder my last service for you before you are gone off will be to pray with you But I would here take my leave of you Oh that I might meet you at the right Hand of the LORD JESVS in the last Day Farewel poor heart Fare thee well The everlasting Armes receive thee The Lord JESUS the merciful SAVIOUR of Souls take possession of thy Spirit for himself The Great GOD who is a great Forgiver grant thee Repentance unto Life and glorify himself in the Salvation of such a wounded soul as thine forever With HIM and with His free rich marvellous infinite Grace I leave you Farewell FINIS