mans soul There is blood shed and by it pardon of sin and life convey'd unto thee on Christs part Now if there be faith and repentance on thy part and thou accept of Christ as he is offered then thou mayst say I have the Son and as certainly as I have the bread in my hand I shall have life by him This I speak but by the way that the Sun might not set in a cloud that I might not end only in death but that I might shew that there is a way to recover out of that death into which we have all naturally praecipitated our selves by our apostacy from God ROM 6.23 The wages of Sin is death THe last day I entred on the Declaration of the cursed effects and consequents of sin and in general shewed that it is the wrath of God that where sin is there wrath must follow As the Apostle in the Epistle to the Galathians As many as are under the works of the Law are under the curse Now all that may be expected from a God highly offended is comprehended in Scripture by this term Death Wheresoever sin enters death must follow Rom. 5.12 Death passed over all men forasmuch as all had sinned If we are children of sin we must be children of wrath Eph. 1.3 We are then children of wrath even as others Now concerning death in general I shewed you the last time that the state of an unconverted man is a dead and desperate estate He is a slave it would affright him if he did but know his own slavery and what it is that hangs over his head that there 's but a Span betwixt him and death he could never breath any free air he could never be at any rest he could never be free from fear Heb. 2.15 the Apostle saith that Christ came to deliver them that through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage This bondage is a deadly bondage that when we have done all that we can do what 's the payment of the service Death And the fear of this deadly bondage if we were once sensible if God did open our eyes and shew us as he did Belshazar our doom written did we but see it it would make our joynts loose and our knees knock one against another Every day thou livest thou approachest nearer to this death to the accomplishment and consummation of it Death without and Death within Death in this World and in the World to come Not only death thus in gross and in general but in particular also Now to unfold the particulars of death and to shew you the ingredients of this bitter Cup that we may be weary of our estates that we may be drawn out of this death and be made to fly to the Son that we may be free indeed observe that Death is not here to be understood of a separation of the Soul from the Body only but a greater death than that the death of the Soul and Body We have mention made of a first Resurrection Rev. 20.6 Blessed and happy is he that hath his part in the first Resurrection for on such the second death hath no power What is the first resurrection It is a rising from sin And what is the second death It is everlasting damnation The first Death is a Death in sin and the first Resurrection is a rising from sin And so again for all things the judgments or troubles that appertain to this death all a man suffers before It is not as fools think the last blow that fells the Tree but every blow helps forward 'T is not the last blow that kills the man but every blow that goes before makes way unto it Every trouble of mind every anguish every sickness all these are as so many strokes that shorten our life and hasten our end and are as it were so many deaths Therefore however it is said by the Apostle It is appointed for all men once to dye yet we see the Apostle to the Corinthians of the great conflicts that he had in 2 Cor. 11.23 saith that he was in labours abundant in stripes above measure in prisons frequent in deaths oft In deaths often what 's that That is however he could dâ—e but once yet these harbingers of death these stripes bonds imprisonments sicknesses c. all of them were as so many deaths all these were comprehended under this curse and are parts of death in as much as he underwent that which was a furtherance to death he is said to die So we read Exod. 10.17 Pharaoh could say Pray unto your God that he would forgive my sins this once and intreat the Lord that he will take away from me but this death only Not that the Locusts were death but are said to be so because they prepared and made way for a natural death Therefore the great judgments of God are usually in Scripture comprised under this name Death All things that may be expressions of a wrath of an highly provoked God are comprehended under this name All the judgments of God that come upon us in this life or that to come whether they be spiritual and ghostly or temporal are under the Name of Death Now to come to particulars look particularly on Death and you shall see death begun in this world and seconded by a death following the separation of body and soul from God in the world to come 1. First in this life he is always a dying man Man that is born of a woman what is he He is ever spending upon the stock he is ever wasting like a Candle burning still and spending it self as soon as lighted till it come to its utter consumption So he is born to be a dying man death seizeth upon him as soon as ever it findeth sin in him Gen. 2.1 In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye saith God to Adam though he lived many years after How then could this threatning hold true Yes it did in regard that presently he fell into a languishing estate subject and obnoxious to miseries and calamities the hastners of it If a man be condemn'd to dye suppose he be reprieved and kept prisoner three or four years after yet we account him but a dead man And if this mans mind shall be taken up with worldly matters earthly contentments purchases or the like would we not account him a Fool or a stupid man seeing he lightly esteems his condemnation because the same hour he is not executed Such is our case we are while in our natural condition in this life dead men ever tending toward the Grave towards corruption as the gourd of Jonah so soon as ever it begins to sprout forth there is a worm within that bites it and causes it to wither The day that we are born there is within us the seed of corruption and that wasts us away with a secret and incurable consumption that certainly brings death in the end So that in our very
not to terrifie and affright men but by forewarning them to keep them thence For after I have shewn you the danger I shall shew a way to escape it and how the Lord Jesus was given to us to deliver us from this danger But if you will not hear but will try conclusions with God then you must to your proper place to the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone A Lake 't is a River a flaming River as Tophet is described to be a lake burning with fire and brimstone a Metaphor taken from the judgment of God on Sodom and Gomorrah as in that place of St. Jude before mentioned as also in 2 Pet. 2.6 where 't is said God turned the Cities of Sodom into ashes making them an example to all them that should after live ungodly Mark the judgement of God upon these abominable men the place where they dwelt is destroyed with fire and the scituation is turn'd into a lake full of filthy bituminous stuff called Lacus Asphaltites which was made by their burnings And this is made an instance of the vengeance of God and an Emblem of eternal fire therefore said he you shall have your portion with Sodom Nay shall I speak a greater word with Christ and tell you that though they were so abominable that the lake was denominated from them yet it shall be easier for Sodom and Gomorrah than for you if you repent not while you may but go on to despise Gods grace But can there be a greater sin than the sin of Sodom I answer yes For make the worst of the sin of Sodom it is but a sin against nature but thy impenitency is a sin against grace and against the Gospel and therefore deserves a hotter hell and an higher measure of judgment in this burning pit But what is this second death 2. Sure it hath reference to some first death or other going before A man would as it is commonly thought think that this second death is opposed to that first death which is the harbinger to the second and separates the soul from the body but it 's far otherwise That alas is but a petty thing and deserves not to be put in the number of deaths The second death in the Text hath relation to the first Resurrection Rev. 20.6 Blessed and holy is he that hath his portion in the first Resurrection on such the second death shall have no power The first death is that from whence we are acquitted by the first Resurrection and that is the death for that is a kind of death as St. Paul speaking of a wicked and voluptuous Widow saith she is dead while she liveth and the time shall come and now is when they that are dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live And again Let the dead bury their dead So that the first Resurrection is when a man hearing the voice of the Minister is rouzed up from the sleep of sin and carnal security and the first death is the opposite thereunto So that the death of the body is no death at all for if it were then this were the third death For there would be a death of sin a death of the body and a death of body and soul This death of the body is but a flea-biting in comparison of the other two This second death is the separation of the body and soul from God and this death is the wages of sin and God must not will not lye in arrear to sin but will pay its wages to the full All the afflictions a wicked man meeteth withal here are but as Gods press-money and part of payment of that greater sum But when he dies the whole sum comes to be paid Before he did but sip of the Cup of Gods wrath but he must then drink up the dregs of it down to the bottom and this is the second death it 's called death Now death is a destruction of the parts compounded a man being compounded of body and soul both are by this death eternally destroyed That death like Sampson pulling down the pillars whereby it was sustained pulled down the house draws down the Tabernacles of our bodies pulls Body and Soul in sunder A thing which hath little hurt in it self were it not for the sting of it which makes it fearful To dye is esteemed far worse than to be dead in regard of the pangs that are in dying to which death puts an end This temporal death is in an instant but this other eternal whereby we are ever dying and never dead for by it we are punished with an everlasting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Thess. 1.9 and that from the presence of the Lord by the glory of his power Then which piece I have no need to add more for as much as can be said of men and Angels is fully comprehended in it The Apostle terms this a fearful thing indeed Heb. 2.15 whereon if a man but think if he hath his wits about him he would for fear of it be all his life long subject to bondage He would scarce draw any free breath but would still be in bondage and drudgery till he were delivered Thus I have declared the nature of the place and of this second death That I may now go farther know that this Lake and this place is the place that the Lord hath provided for his enemies It is the Lords slaughter-house it s called a place of torments Luke 16. vers 24 28. a place wherein God will shew the accomplishment of his wrath and revenge upon his enemies Those mine enemies that would not have me to reign over them bring them forth and slay them before my face Luke 19.27 Those vessels of wrath those Rebels the King is inraged and his wrath is as the roaring of a Lyon which makes all the beasts of the Forrest to tremble Prov. 19.12 And where there is the wrath of such a King the issue thereof must needs be death Prov. 16.14 The wrath of a King is as a messenger of death How much more fearful is the wrath of the King of Kings God hath sharp arrows and he sets a wicked man as his Butt to shoot at to shew his strength and the fierceness of his wrath See the expression of Job in this case The arrows of the Almighty stick fast in me and the venome thereof hath drunk up my spirits In so few words there could not be an higher expression of the wrath of God First that God should make thee a Butt and that thou shouldst be shot at and that by Gods arrows And then they are not shot by a child but as the man is so is his strength by the Almighty by his bow wherein he draws the arrow to the head And then again these arrows are poyson'd arrows and such poyson as shall drink up all thy soul and spirit Oh what a fearful thing is it to fall into the hands of such a
that very spirit which is in Christ being in us thereby we are united unto him grow in him live in him and he in us rejoyce in him and so are kept and preserved to be glorified with him He is the second Adam from whom we receive the influence of all good things showring down and distilling the graces of his spirit upon the least of all his members That look as it was said of Aaron who was a type of the second Adam and of that holy Oyl representing the graces of his spirit Which did not only run down his head and beard but the skirts of his garment also and all his rich attire about Psal. 133.2 So when I see the Oyl of Christ's graces and spirit not only rest upon the head but also descend and run down upon the lowest of his members making me now as one of them in some sort another man than I was or my natural state could make me by the same spirit I know I am united unto Christ. To this purpose is that which Christ to stands upon in Joh. 6. unto the Jews where speaking of the eating of his flesh and that bread of life which came down from heaven lest they should be mistaken he adds It is the spirit that quickneth the flâ—sh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life So that we see it is the spirit that gives a being to a thing And therefore the Apostle proceeds to shew As many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God Rom. 8.13 That look as Christ is the â—â—ue natural Son of God so we as truly by conveyance of the same spirit into us are his Sons by Adoption and so heirs with God yea and joynt heirs with Christ this he begins to shew vers 13. So that being in this excellent estate they were not only servants and friends a most high Prerogative but they were now the Sons of God having the spirit of Adoption whereby they might boldly call God Father In which Verse the Apostle opposeth the spirit of bondage which doth make a man fear again unto the spirit of Adoption which frees a man from fear Now two things may be observed hence 1. The order the spirit of God keeps e'er it comforts it shakes and makes us fear This the Apostle speaks to Heb. 2.14 where he shews that the end of Christ's coming was That because the children were partakers of flesh and blood he also himself took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject unto bondage The first work then of the comforter is to put a man in fear 2. Here is shewed that until the spirit doth work this fear the heart will not stoop The Obstinacy is great yea so great that if hell gates were open ready to swallow up a man he would not yield until the spirit set in to convince the heart Therefore St. John tells us Joh. 16. That when the spirit it come he will reprove the world of sin that is he will convince and shew a man that he is but a bond-man and so from this sight he makes us to fear No man must think this strange that God deals with men at first after this harsh manner to kill them as it were before he make them alive nor be discouraged as if God had now cast them off as none of his For this bondage and spirit of fear is a work of God's spirit and a preparative to the rest yet it is but a common work of the spirit and such a one that unless more follow it can afford us no comfort But why then doth God suffer his children to be first terrified with this fear I answer That in two respects this is the best and wisest course to deal with us or else many would put off the matter and never attain a sense of mercy First in respect of God's glory Secondly in regard of our good First in respect of God's glory and that first because as in the work of Creation so in the work of Redemption God will have the praise of all his attributes for as in the work of Creation there appeared the infinite wisdom goodness power justice mercy of God and the like so will he in the work of our Redemption have all these appear in their strength and brightness and when we see and acknowledge these things to be in Gâ—d in the highest perfection hereby we honour him as on the contrary when we will not see and acknowledge the excellency of God's infinite attributes we dishonour him yea and I may safely add that the work of Redemption was a greater work than the work of Creation for therein appeared all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge in the conveying of it unto the Church Herein appeared first infinite Wisdom in ordering the matter so as to find out such a way for the Redemption of Mankind as no created understanding could possibly imagine or think of And secondly for the Mercy of God there could be none comparable to this in not sparing his own Son the Son of his Love that so he might spare us who had so grievously provoked him And thirdly there could not be so much Justice seen in any thing as in sparing us not to spare his Son in laying his Son's head as it were upon the block and chopping it off indeed the death unto which he gave his Son was not only more vile than the loss of his head but far more painful and terrible to nature the death on the Cross in renting and tearing that blessed body of his even as the Veil of the temple was rent which was a type of him so was he rent and tore and broke for us when he made his soul an offering for sin This was the perfection of Justice And thus was he just as the Apostle speaks and the Justifyer of him him that believeth in Jesus God would have Justice and Mercy meet and kiss each other and that for two reasons for the magnifying of his Justice and for the magnifying of his Mercy First For the magnifying of his Justice The spirit must first become a spirit of bondage and fear for the magnifying of God's Justice Thus the Prophet David having sinned was driven to this practice Psal. 51.4 Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest Thus he a holy man was brought to confess his sin to give God the glory of his Justice And so to this end that a man might pass through or by as it were the gates of hell unto heaven the Lord will have his Justice extended to the full for which cause lessening or altogether for a time abstracting all sight of mercy he turns the
2. But there are another sort as greatly befool'd as these yea more if more may be and those are they who put it off till the Hour of their Death till the last gasp as if they desired to give God as little of their service as possibly they might who think if they can but cry Peccavi and Lord have mercy on me when their breath departs their bodies they shew a good Disposition and perform such Acceptable service as that God cannot chuse but grant them a pardon But think not all will be surely well because thou hastest to shake hanâ—s with God at thy Journeys end when thou hast not walked with him aâ—l the way Obj. But did not the Thief repent at the last on the Cross and why not I on my Death bed Sol. This is no good Warrant for thy delay for Christ might work This miraculously for the Glory of his Passion Dost thou think when in thy Health and Strength thou hast for several Years despised the Riches of Gods goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering that leads thee to Repentance that assoon as thou art cast on thy Death-bed and ready to breath out thy Soul the Rocks shall be Rent again and the Graves opened to quicken thy Repentance and beget in thee a Saving Faith Trust not therefore on this nor content thy self with good Intentions but set about the business in good earnest and presently Our Death-beds will bring so many disadvantages as will make that time very Vnseasonable Whether we respect 1. External hinderances such as are pangs and pains in thy body which must be undergone and thou shalt find it will be as much as thou well canst do to support thy self under them Every noise will then offend thee yea thou will not be able to endure the speech of thy best friends When Moses came to the Children of Israel and told them God had sent him to deliver them what acceptation found this comfortable message The Text saith Exod. 9.6 They hearkned not through anguish of their spirits See here the effects of Anguish and Grief Moses spake comfortably but by reason of their pains they hearkned not unto him they were indisposed to give attendance So shall it be with us on our death-beds through the Anguish of our Spirits we shall be unfit to meddle with ought else especially when the the Pains of Death are upon us the Dread whereof is terrible How will it make us tremble when death shall come with that Errand to divide our Souls from our Bodies and put them into possession of Hell unless we repent the sooner Now thou art in thy best strength consider what a Terror it will be what a sad Message it will bring when it comes not to cut off an Arm or Leg but Soul from Body Now then make thy Peace with God but that these men are Fools they would through fear of death be all their life-time in bondage It 's the Apostles expression Heb. 2.15 The consideration hereof should never let us be at rest till we had made our Peace with God it should make us break our Recreations and Sports The considerations of what will become of us should put us in an Extasie Nor are these all our Troubles for besides these outward Troubles will then even overwhelm us when a man is to dispose of his Wife and Children House and Lands he must needs be very unfit at this time for the Work of Repentance These things will cast so great a damp on his heart as that he shall be even cold in his seeking after Peace with God 2. But suppose these outward hinderances are removed that neither Pain of Body nor Fear of Death seize on thee neither Care of Wife nor Children Houses nor Lands distract thee but that thou mightst then set about it withal thy might though thou wert in the most penitent condition that might be to mans seeming yet where 's the Change or new nature should follow thy Contrition unless we see this in Truth we can have but little Comfort Shall I see a sinner run on in his ill courses till the day of Death and then set on this work I could not conclude therefore the safety of his soul because it 's the Change of the Affections not of the Actions that God looks after for the Fear of Death may Extort this Repentance where the Nature is not Changed Take an example of a Covetous Man which dotes on his Wealth more then any thing else in the World suppose him in a ship with all his riâ—hes about him a tempest comes and puts him in danger of losing all both Life and Goods in this strait he sticks not to cast out all his Wealth so he may preserve his Life and shall we therefore say he is not covetous No we will account him nevertheless Covetous for all this nor that he loved his Goods the less but his Life the more It 's so in this case when an impenitent person is brought upon his Death-bed he 's apt to cry out in the Bitterness of his Soul If God will but grant me Life and spare me now I le never be a Drunkard Swearer or Covetous Person more Whence comes this Not from any change of his Nature and loathing of what he formerly loved but because he cannot keep these and Life together Fear alters his disposition the Terrors of the Almighty lying upon him I have my self seen many at such a time as this that have been so exceeding full of Sorrow and penitent Expressions that the standers by have even wished their Souls to have been in the other Souls cases and yet when God hath restored them they have fallen into their former Courses again And why is this But because when Repentance comes this way it alters only the outward actions for the Present not the sinful dispositions things that are extracted from a man alter the outward appearance not the Nature Therefore saith the Lord I le go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face In their affliction they will seek me early Hos. 5. last Mark when Gods hand is on them they will seek him And as in the 6. Chap. 1. v. say one to another Come let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up How penitent were they when Gods hand was on them but let it once be removed and hear how God presently complains of them O Ephraim what shall I do unto thee O Judah what shall I'do unto thee For your goodness is as a Morning Cloud and as the early dew it goeth away Mark thy goodness is as a Morning Cloud such a Goodness as is Extorted that is as Temporary as Earthly Dew Another considerable place we have in the Psal. 78.34 When he slew them then they sought him and they returned and enquired early after God Was not this a great
to find by experience what it is What a woful thing is it that many men should take more pains to come to this place of torment then would cost them to go to hâ—aven that men should wilfully run themselves upon the pikes not considering how painful it is nor how sharp those pikes are And this I shall endeavour to my power to set forth unto you This Text declares unto us two things 1. Who they are for whom this place is provided 2. The place it self and the nature of it 1. For whom the place is provided The Text contains a Catalogue of that black Roll though there are many more then are expressed but here are the grand crimes the ring leaders to destruction the mother sins And here we have in the first place the Fearful whereby is not meant those that are of a timorous nature for fear simply is not a sin those that are simply fearful but such as place their fear on a wrong object not where it should be That fear not God but other things more then God Such as if affliction and iniquity were put to their choice will rather choose iniquity then affliction Rather then they will have any cross betide them rather then they will incur the indignation of a man rather then they will part with their life and goods for God's cause will adventure on any thing choosing iniquity rather then affliction Job 36.21 being afraid of what they should not fear never hearing the great and mighty God This is the fearful here meant See how Elihu in Job expresses it Job 36.21 This hast thou chosen This that is iniquity rather then affliction to sin rather then to suffer Christ biddeth us not fear poor vain man but the omnipotent God that is able both to kill and to cast into Hell The man that feareth his Landlord who is able to turn him out of his house and doth not fear God who is able to turn him into Hell this dastardly spirit is one of the Captains of those that go to hell those timerous and cowardly persons that tremble at the wrath or frowns of men more then of God But what 's the reason men should thus stand more in fear of men then of God Why it is because they are sensible of what men can do unto their bodies but they cannot with Moses by faith see what that is that is invisible They are full of unbelief for had they faith they would banish all false fears See what the Lord saith Esa. 41.14 Fear not thou worm Jacob I will help thee saith the Lord. He saith not Fear not ye men or thou man for then perhaps thou mightest be thought to have some power to resist but fear not thou worm A worm you know is a poor weak thing apt to be crushed by every foot yet be this thy case be thou a worm unable to resist the leâ—st opposition yet fear not thou worm Fear not why For I will help thee saith the Lord. Couldst thou but believe in God this would make thee bold and hadst thou faith thou wouldst not fear When word was brought to the house of Jacob that two Kings were come up into the Land to invade it Esay 7.2 it is said his heart was moved as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind But what is the remedy of this fear See Esay 8.12 Fear not their fear nor be afraid that was a false and a base fear sanctifie the Lord in your hearts and let hin be your dread Esay 51.12 there is an object of our faith and comfort and a remedy against fear proposed I even I am he that comforteth thee who art thou that shouldst be afraid of a man that shall dye and the son of man that is as grass What art thou one that hast God on thy side how unworthy art thou of that high favour if thou fear man The greatest man that lives cannot shield himself from death and from a covering of worms and wilt thou be afraid of a man and forget the Lord thy Maker The more thou art taken up with the fear of man the less thou fearest God and the more thou remembrest man the more thou forgettest thy Maker You have seen the Main the Ring-Leaders which are these fearful faithless dastardly unbelieving men Now see what the filthy rabble is that followeth after and they are Abominable Murtherers c. Abominable that is unnatural such as pollute themselves with things not fit to be named but to be abhorred whether it be by themselves or with others They are the abominable here meant such as Sodom and Gomorrah who were set forth to such as an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire Jude v. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such are abominable being given up to unnatural lust Let them carry it never so secretly yet are they here ranked amongst the rest and shall have their portion in the burning Lake After these come Sorcerers Idolaters Lyars Though these may be spoken fairly of by men yet cannot that shelter them from the wrath of God they shall likewise have their part in that lake when they come to a reckoning If there be I say a generation of people that worship these say what you will of them when they come to receive their wages they shall receive their portion in that burning lake with hypocrites Those that make so fair a shew before men and yet nourish hypocrisie in their hearts these men though in regard of the outward man they so behave themselves that none can say to them black is their eye though they cannot be charged with those notorious things before mentioned yet if there be nothing but hypocrisie in their hearts let it be spun with never so fair a web never so fine a thread yet they shall have their portion in the lake they shall have their part their portion c. Then it seems these of this black guard have a peculiar interest unto this place And as it is said of Judas Acts 1.25 that he was gone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to his proper place So long as a man that is an enemy to Christ and yields him not obedience is out of Hell so long is he out of his place Hell is the place assigned to him and prepared for him he hath a share there and his part and portion he must have till he is come thither he is but a wanderer The Evangelist tells us Mat. 23.15 that the Scribes and Pharisees went about to gain Proselytes and when they had all done they made them seven times more the children of hell than themselves filios Gehennae So that a Father hath not more right in his Son than Hell hath in them He is a vessel of wrath filled top full of iniquity and a child of the Devils So that as we say the Gallows will claim its right so hell will claim its due But mistake me not all this that I speak concerning hell is
glory which I had with thee before the World was So that the Admiring beholding and magnifying of Gods glory as much as may be labouring to be like him is our glory and thus much of the glory of God in beginning of this work in us by fear The second thing was to prove that this course was for our good and this appears two ways 1. In our Justification 2. In our Sanctification For the first we are such strangers unto God that we will never come unto him till we see there is no other remedy being at the pits brink ready to starve hopeless of all other helps being frozen in the dregs of sin delighting in our ways as we see in the parable of the prodigal son who would never think of any return to his Father till all other helps fayled him money friends acquaintance and all sorts of food nay if he might but have fed upon husks with the Swine he would not have thought of returning any more unto his Father but this being denied him the text says he then came to himself which shews us that whilest men run on in sinfull courses they are mad men of themselves even as we see those in Bedlam are beaten and kept under and comforts denied them till they come to themselves And then what says he I will arise and go to my father confessing that he had sinned and I will say Father I have sinned c. 15. Luke So is it with us until the Lord humble us and bring us low in our own eyes shewing us our misery and sinful poverty and that in us there is no good thing that we be stript of all help in and without our selves and must perish for ever unless we beg his mercy we will not come unto him As we see it was with the Woman that Christ healed of her bloody issue Luke 8.43 How long it was before she came to Christ she had been sick twelve years she had spent all her substance upon physicians and no body could help her and this Extremity brings her to Christ. So that this is the means to bring us unto Christ to drive us on our knees hopeless as low as may be to shew us where help only is to be found and make us run unto it Thus therefore when men have no mind to come to Christ he sends as it were fiery Serpents to sting them that they might look up unto the brazen Serpent or rather unto Christ Jesus of which it was a type for help so unto others being strangers unto him he sends variety of great and sore afflictions to make them come to him that he may be acquainted with them as Absolom set Joabs Corn on fire because he would not come at him being twice sent for So God deals with us before our Conversion many times as with iron Whips lashes us home turning loose the avenger of blood after us and then for our Life we run and make hast to the City of Refuge Thus God shoots off as it were his great Ordinance against us to make us run unto him Thus John the Baptist came preaching of Repentance in attire speech and dyet all being strong and harsh cloathed with a Camels hair and with a girdle of skin about his loyns his meat Locusts and wild Honey the place was in the wilderness his speech harsh and uncomfortable thundring with his voice calling them a generation of vipers and telling them that now also was the ax laid to the root of the tree that every tree that brought not forth good fruit was hewn down and cast into the fire As also we know in this manner the Lord came Elijah 1 Kings 19.11 First a great strong wind rent the mountains and break in pieces the Rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after that went an Earthquake but the Lord was not in the Earthquake and after the Earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire these were as a peal of great Ordinance shot off to prepare the way shewing the King was a coming and after the fire a still small voice and there the Lord was So the Lord rends tears and shakes our Consciences and rocky hearts many times to prepare the way for him and then he comes to us in the still and soft voice of Consolation Secondly for our Sanctification it is good for us that the Comforters first work be to work fear in us for we are naturally so frozen in our dregs that no fire in a manner will warm and thaw us We wallow in our blood and stick fast in the mire of sin that we cannot stir so that this fear is but to pull us from our Corruptions and make us more holy As we see if a man have a Gangrene beginning in his hand or foot which may spread farther and be his death if it continue so he is easily perswaded to cut it off lest it should go farther So doth God deal by us with this fear of bondage that we might be cloathed anew with his Image in Holiness and Righteousness Now to effect this the sharpest things are best such as are the Law the threatnings of Condemnation the opening of Hell the racking of the Conscience and a sense of wrath present and to come So hard-hearted are we by Nature being as children of the bondwoman unto whom violence must be used Even as we see a man riding a wild and young Horse to tame him he will run him against a wall that this may make him affraid ride him in deep and tough Lands or if this will not do take him up into the top of some high Rock when bringing him to the brink thereof he threatens to throw him headlong make him shake and quake whereby at last he is tamed So deals the Lord by us he gives us a sight of sin and the punishment due thereunto a sense of wrath sets the Conscience on fire fills the heart with fears horrours and disquietness opens Hell to the Soul brings a man as it were to the gates thereof and threatens to throw him in and all this to make a man more holy and to hate sin the more So that you see there must be a strong mortifying and subduing of us by a strong hand to bring us unto Christ for our Sanctification nothing but a fiery furnace can melt away that dross and tin which cleaves unto such corrupt metal as we are See this method excellently set forth in the Prophet Ezek. 22.19.20 Because ye are all become dross behold I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem as they gather Brass and Iron and Lead and Tin into the midst of the Furnace to blow the fire upon it to melt it so will I gather you in mine Anger and in my fury and I will leave you there and melt you Before I proceed farther give me leave to answer an Objection of a troubled soul which may arise hence O may a soul