washed his hands before the multitude saying I am innocent of the bloud of this just man Matth. 27 24 Matth. 27.24 but alas did Pilate so favour him as to free him no he fears to condemn him being innocent and yet dares not absolve him being so envyed as he was by the Iewes what then can a little water what can Iordans floods what can rivers of wine and oile do towards the washing of those hands that had power to release him and would not he knew they had delivered him of envy Matth. 27.18 Matth. 27.18 he confesses I find no fault in this man Luk. 23.14 Luk. 23.14 he tells him that he had power to crucifie him and he had power to loose him Iohn 19.10 Joh. 19.10 and yet fondly would he wash away the guilt of his unjust sentence with a little water on his hands no Pilate that ceremony cannot wash away thy sin that sin I mean which thou and the Gentiles in thee committed in delivering of Jesus to the will of the Iewes Luk. 23.25 But if delivered to the Iewes sure it is well enough he is their Country-man Kinsman of the stock of Abraham of the Tribe of Juda of the Family of Ioseph but this rather aggravates then allaies his misery that his own people should degenerate into Traitors not a Gentile but a Jew to be his Executioner what torment had not been a lenitive and a recreation in comparison of this Daniels Den the three Childrens Furnace Esays wooden Saw Israels fiery Serpents the Spanish Inquisition the Romish Purgatory are all as far short in torture as the last of them in truth to the malice of a Iew witness our Saviours death when they all conspired not onely to scourge him mock him buffet him slay him but to slay him in such a manner as to hang him on nailes and to make the Cross his Gibbet But what no comforter amongst them all do the Gentiles condemn him will the Jewes crucifie him and is there none to pity him Yes what say we of his Disciples that heard him followed him Luk. 10.1 and were sent of him by two and two into every City and place whether he himself should come Would you think that these seventy Luk. 10.17 for they were so many in number which for a time did his Embassage with joy would now have forsaken him yes if you mark it many of them went back Joh. 6.66 and would walk no more with him some stumble at his Doctrine others at his passion but all were offended as it is written I will smite the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered Matth. 26.31 Matth. 26.31 Yet if the Gentiles reject him they do but like Gentiles who were ignorant of God if the Iewes hate and maligne him Matth. 23.31 it is but their old wont of killing the Prophets if the Disciples that are weaker faint and waver in faith Matth. 8.26 it was no more then was said of them O ye of little faith but what say we to the twelve Apostles those Secretaries of his mysteries stewards of his mercies almners of his bounties will they also go away and leave him comfortless alone no can Peter say Master to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternall life Ioh. 6.68 Joh. 6.68 or if he will have deeper protestations I am ready to go with thee saith Peter into prison and to death Luk. 22.33 Luk. 22.33 to death yes though I die with thee I will not deny thee and thus said all his Disciples Matth. 26.35 Matth 26.35 and yet like Ionas Gourd when the Sun beates hottest how soon are they all gone and vanished away loe one betrays him another forswears him all run from him and leave him alone in the midst of all his enemies And yet if his Apostles leave him what say we to Mary his mother and other his friends these indeed wait on him seeing sighing wailing weeping but alas what do those tears but increase his sorrows might he not justly say with Paul What mean yee to weep and to break my heart Act. 21.13 Acts 21.13 Pity and of all other feminine pity it is the poorest helpless salve of misery but howsoever it was to others this was so far from any salve to him as 't is one of his greatest tenderest sores about him Luk. 23.28 Daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and your children O see the wonder of compassion which he bears to others in his passion he hath more care of the women that follow him weeping then on his own mangled self that reels along fainting and bleeding even unto death the tears that drop from their eyes is more to him then all the bloud in his veins and therefore careless as it were of his own sacred person he turns about his blessed bleeding face to the weeping women Luk. 23.38 affording them looks and words too of compassion of consolation weep not for mee but weep for your selves and your children But O blessed Saviour didst thou flow unto us in showrs of Bloud and may not we drop a tear for all those purple streams of thine yes Lord thou dost not here forbid us weeping onely thou turnest the stream of our tears the right way that is to say homewards into our own bosomes pointing us to our sins the truest cause of thy sufferings But as for comfort to our Saviour whence trow ye may it come if we compass the earth the Gentiles Iewes his Disciples Apostles Mary his own Mother and all other his friends they are but as Iobs miserable comforters all but let us go up into heaven John 16.2 and there if any where be his comforters indeed alas what comforters If you imagine the Angels it is true they could attend him in the Desart and comfort him in the Garden but when he came to the main act of our Redemption not an Angell must be seen how not seen no they must not so much as look through the windows of heaven to give him any ease at all nor indeed were it to any purpose if they should for who can lift up where the Lord will cast down O yee blessed Angels how is it that your Hallelujahs cease that your songs which you warbled at his birth are finished at his death that your glorious company which are the delight of happy souls is denied to him who is the Lord and Maker both of you and them why thus it must be for our sakes I am full of heaviness said our Saviour in his type and I looked for some to take pity but there was none and for comforters but I found none Psal 69 20. Psal 69.20 And yet if the Angels be no comforters he hath a Father in heaven that is nearer to him Ioh. 10.30 I and my father are one saith our Saviour and it is my Father that honoureth mee Ioh.
that it might shine in heaven But this was but the beginning of his dayes now they are past they have been Go a little further we left him at school but how learned he Christ 1. Cor. 2.2 Psal 8.2 and him crucified this was the knowledge taught him by the Spirit of God in a wonderfull manner Out of the mouthes of babes and sucklings hast thou O God ordained strength To consider again his religious words his upright actions his hearty devotions his fear of God all then concluded as they did of John Luke 1.66 What manner of child shall this be No question the grace of God was with him If I should instance in any of these his frequencie in prayer his reading of Scripture his reasoning with others to get knowledge to himself we may wonder at Gods power in this childs poor weakness Excuse me whiles I tell nothing but truths and I hope they will tend to our own instruction In the morning he would not stir out of doors before he had poured out his prayers at noon he would not eat any meat before he had given the Lord thanks at night he would not lie down on his bed before he had kneeled down on his knees we may remember those times when sometimes that he had forgotten this dutie no sooner had he been in bed but up he would have got again and so kneeling down on his bare knees covered with no garment but his linens he would ask God forgiveness for that sinne of forgetfulness neither have his brothers escaped without his reprehension for had they eat any meal or meat without a grace his check was usuall Dare you do thus unless God be mercifull unto us this bit of bread might choke us The wise sentences the religious words which often dropt from his mouth like honey can we remember them and not grieve at the death of him that spake them What comfort had we in those dayes What sorrow have we to think those dayes are done Surely we cannot speak it without bitterness of soul they are gone they have been Thus he lived will you know how he died First a lingring sickness seized upon him against which to comfort him one tells him of possessions that must fall to his portion And what are they said he I had rather have the Kingdome of Heaven then a thousand such inheritances Thus he minds Heaven and God so minding him presently sent him his sickness that should summon him thither And now how should I repeat his words with the life that he spake them dying No sooner had God struck his body with that fatall sickness but he asks and needs would know his souls estate I have heard of the soul said he but what is the soul the mind he questions and questioning answers better I fear then many too many gray headed amongst us but the answer given how the soul consisted of the Will and the Understanding he sayes he is satisfied and now understands better then he did before Another comes to him and then he begins another question now he knows the soul he desires yet to know further How his soul may be saved O blessed soul how wisely couldst thou question for thine own souls good The answer given by faith applying Christs merits he heard it and had it anon telling them who before had taught it him Resolved in these questions he questions no further but will now answer them that go about to question him One asks him whether he had rather live or die he gives the answer and not without Pauls reason I desire to die said he that I might go to my Saviour O blessed Spirit bow didst thou inspire into this child thy wisdome and goodnesse This done his pain begins again to afflict him and this occasions another thus to question him whether he would rather still endure those pains or forsake his Christ Alas said he I know not what to say as a child for these pains might stagger a strong man but I will strive to endure the best I can Upon this he presently calls to mind that Martyr who being in prison Thom. Bilney the night before his burning put his finger in the candle to know how he could endure the fire O said he had I lived then I would have runne through the fire to have gone to Christ Sweet resolution of a silly child who can hear and not wonder wonder and not desire to hear that he may wonder still Blessed child hadst thou lived that we might have wondred at thy wisdome but his daies were determined and now is the number turned to this poor cypher they are not they have been I cannot leave him yet his sicknesse lasts long and at least three dayes before his death he prophesies his departure and how strange a prophecie not onely that he must die but fore-telling the very day On the Lords day said he look to me Neither was this a word of course which you may guesse by his often repetition every day asking till the day came indeed What is Sunday come At last the lookt-for day came on and no sooner had the Sun beautified that morning with his light but he falls into a trance What think ye meant his blessed soul whilest the body it self used such an action his eyes were fixed his face chearfull his lips smiling his hands and arms clasping in a bow as if he would have received some blessed Angel that there was at hand to receive his soul but he comes to himself and tells them how he saw the sweetest boy that ever eyes beheld and bids them Be of good chear for he must presently go with him One standing near as now suspecting his time of dissolution bids him say Lord into thy hands I commend my spirit Psal 31.5 Yes said he Into thy hands Lord I commit my spirit which is thy due for why thou hast redeemed it O Lord my God most true Who will not believe this child now sings in Heaven that so soon had learned this Davids Psalm on earth I cannot hold my self nor will I hold you long but how may I omit his heavenly ejaculations Beloved I beseech you pardon me whilest I speak his words and I will promise you to speak no word but the very same formally which were his own Pray pray pray nay yet pray and the more prayers the better all prospers God is the best Physician into his hands I commend my spirit O Lord Jesus receive my soul Now close mine eyes forgive me father mother brothers sister all the world Now I am well my pain is almost gone my joy is at hand Lord have mercy on me O Lord receive my soul unto thee Where am I whilest I speak these words Blessed Saint now thou singest in Heaven God hath bid thee welcome the Angels are hugging thee the Saints rejoyce with thee this day is the Crown set on thy head this day is the Palm of victory in thy hand
every corn of your field neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of the harvest How not reap it not gather it what then why Thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the stranger I am the Lord your God Levit. 19.9 Lev. 19.9 10. When Ruth came to glean in the fields of Boaz that good Master commands his servants Ruth 2.15 Let her gather among the sheaves and do not rebuke her Had this Worldling been so pitifull to the poor his barns might have stood himself might have lived his soul have been saved But now what a strange lot happens on him his Halls Houses Barns Buildings all runne round in a dance of Death before his eyes Fourthly his house and friends both left him when death came The Parable is common Ex Damasceno A man hath three friends two whereof he loved most entirely the third he made no account of this man being sent for to come before his King he desires his first friend to go with him but he could not onely he would give him something for his journey He desires his second friend to go with him but he would not onely he would bring him a little piece of his way When both these forsook him he goes to the last which before he esteemed least and this friend was the party that went with him to the King and answered for him in all his causes This is the case of every man dying the King our Judge sends death his Serjeant to summon you to your judgement Come to your first friends I mean your riches alas they cannot go with you but give you a sheet as necessary for your journey Come to your second friends I mean your acquaintance alas they wil not go with you but bring you to your graves and there leave you to your selves Come to your last friends which you now least think of I mean your Consciences and you shall find that is the truest friend that will go with you to the Judge answer for you to the King and either acquit you or condemn you bring you to the gates of heaven or deliver you to the goal of hell Have a care of your Consciences if you mean to speed well at this day how blessed a man had this Worldling been if onely a good conscience had accompanied him to the Judge of heaven but now when death summons him there is no friend to solicite no Advocate to plead no man to speak one word in his souls behalf it is his bad conscience keeps him company and though all others leave him he can devise no means to shake this from him Fifthly there is a jewell irrevocable of which this sudden death robs him I mean his time and what a losse was this all his goods grounds barns buildings were they more worth then the world it self yet were they not able to restore one minute of his time if this could be purchased what a rate would he give for a little respite nothing is now so precious as a piece of time which before by moneths and years he lavishly mis-spent they that passe away time with mirth and pastime shall one day see to their grief what a losse they have now we revell it out dally it away use all means and occasions to make it short enough but when this golden showre is gone and those opportunities of salvation lost by negligence then we may wish and wish again Oh had we a little time a little space to repent Imagine that this worldling whom now you must suppose to lie frying in hel flames were dispenced with for a little time to live here again on earth amongst us would but the Lord vouchsafe him one hour of a new triall a minute season of a gracious visitation oh how highly would he prize how eagerly would he apprehend with what infinite watching praying fasting would he improve that short time that he might repent him I know not how effectually this may work an your hearts but I am fully perswaded if any damned creature had but the happinesse to hear this Sermon you should see how his very heart would bleed vvithin him bleed said I nay break and fall asunder in his breast like drops of vvater Oh vvith vvhat inflamed attention vvould he hear and listen vvith vvhat insatiable grasping vvould he lay hold on Christ vvith vvhat streaming tears vvould he vvater his cheeks as if he vvould melt himself like Niobe into a fountain Blessed God! hovv fond are foolish men that never think of this till their time be lost vve that are alive have onely this benefit of opportunity and if vve neglect it a day vvill come vve knovv not hovv soon that vve shall be past it and cannot recover it no not one houre if vve vvould give a thousand ten thousand vvorlds for it What can I say reflect on your selves you that have souls to save you have yet a little time and the time present is that time vvhat then but so use it novv as vvhen you are gone you need not vvith grief vvish you here again Sixthly yet more losse and that is the losse of losses the losse of his soul his riches lands houses friends time and all were nothing to his soul This is that Paragon Peere Rose and Spouse of our well-beloved Christ How many a teare shed he to save it what grones cryes prayers teares and bloud poured he before God that he might redeem it from the jawes of Satan and is this lost notwithstanding all this labour O sweet Jesu what a losse is this thou wast born lived died and that a shamefull death the death of the cross and all this suffering was to save poor souls yet see a soul here lost and the bloud of God though able not effectuall to redeem it Whose heart would not melt into bloud that but knew this misery Suppose you could see the soul of this wretched worldling no sooner had it left the body but immediately was it seized on by infernall fiends now lies it on a bed of fire tortured tormented scourged and scorched in those furious flames there his conscience stings him his sorrow gripes him his pain so handles him that he cryes and roares Woe woe and alas evermore Who now for shadows of short pleasures would incur these sorrows of eternall pains In this world we can weep and wail for a losse of trifles an house a field an Oxe took from us is enough to cruciate us but how shall we bewail the losse of a soul which no sooner plunged into that pit of horrour but it shall feel a punishment without pity misery without mercy sorrow without succour crying without comfort torment without ease a world of mischiefe without all measure or redress Such is the losse of this mans silly soul whilest he was cheering it with an home-bred solace Soul thou hast much goods layd up for many years God whispers in his eares and tells him other newes What of his soul
brought us all those things are passed away as a shadow or as a Poste that passeth by Look on this man as he lies on his bed of death here is neither smile nor dimple All the daughters of musick are brought low Eccles. 12.4 His voice is hoarse his lips pale his cheeks wan his nostrills run out his eyes sink into his head and all the parts and members of his body now lose their office to assist him Is this the merrie man that made such pastime Sweet God! what a change is this Esa 3.24 In stead of sweet smell there is a stench in stead of a girdle a rent in stead of well-set hair baldness in stead of beauty burning in stead of mirth mourning and lamentation weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Must not sadnesse seize on that soul which incurs this doom Here is a malefactour stands at bar indited by the name of Fool charged with the guilt of treason condemned by the Judge of heaven and this night the saddest that ever he saw is that fearfull execution that his soul is taken And yet more horrour It was a night of sinne and this doth encrease the sorrow Psal 116.13 How dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints and we may say on the contrary How abominable in the sight of the Lord is the death of the wicked Was not this a grief to be took thus tripping in his wickedness even now whilest he was busily plotting his ease and pastime death stands at his door and over-hears all his plots and projects It was a death to his soul to be took in his sinne hear how he roars and cries O that I had lived so virtuously as I should had I embraced the often inspirations of Gods blessed Spirit had I followed his Laws obeyed his Commands attended to his will how sweet and pleasant would they now be unto me We and alas that I had not fore-seen this day what have I done but for a little pleasure a fleeting vanity lost a Kingdome purchased damnation O beloved what think ye of your selves whilest you hear this voice you sit here as senseless of this judgement as the seats the pillars the walls the dust nay as the dead bodies themselves on which you tread but suppose and it were a blessed meditation you that are so fresh and frolick at this day that spend it merrily use it profanely swearing revelling singing dancing what if this night while you are in your sin the hand of death should arrest you Could I speak with you on your death-beds I am sure I should find you in another case how but sorrowing grieving roaring that your time were lost and these words not heeded whiles the time well served how would you tear your hair gnash your teeth bite your nails seek all means possibly to annihilate your selves and can nothing warn you before death seize on you take heed if you go on in sinne the next step is damnation It was the Apostles advice Rom. 13.11 Now it is high time to wake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer then when we believed Rom. 13.11 If this wretched man had observed the present time how happy had he been this hour of his departure But as Officers take malefactours drinking or drabbing so is he nearest danger when deepest in the mire of pleasure Look at all those that are gone before us and which of them thought their end so near while they lived so merrie I must needs tell you there is a fire a worm a sting a darkness an hell provided for all wicked wretches and there most certainly must you be this night if you die this day in your naturall state of sinne Lord that men should be so strangely bewitched by the Prince of the air as for the momentarie enjoyment of some glorious miseries bitter-sweet pleasures heart-vexing riches desperately and wilfully to abandon God and to cast themselves headlong into the jaws of Satan Such a prodigious madnesse seized on this Worldling he sings he revels he dallies Plin. l. 7. c. 23. then dies Thus greatest euils arise out of greatest joyes as the ears vvith vehement sounds and the eyes vvith brighter objects so many by felicity have lost both their sense and being Gallus dies in the act of pleasure 2 Sam. 4.7 Num. 11.33 Ishbosheth dies in the middest of sleep the Israelites die in their day of lust this Worldling dies in that night of sinne even then on a sudden his soul is taken And yet more horrour it vvas a night of death and this vvas the vvorst of all the darkness drowsiness sadness sin all vvere nothing to this all nothing in themselves if death had not follovved Aristot lib. 3. mor. cap. 6. this is that most terrible of all terribles all fears griefs suspicions pains as so many small brooks are svvallovved up and drovvned in this Ocean of misery Novv rich man vvhat saiest thou to thy barns buildings riches lands Do these pleasure thee in this thy extreme and dying agonie Thou liest this night on thy departing bed burthened vvith the heavie load of thy former trespasses the pangs come sore and sharp upon thee thy brest pants thy pulse beats short thy breath it self smels of earth and rottennesse vvhither vvilt thou go for a little ease or succour vvhat help canst thou have in thy heaps of gold or hoord of vvealth Discip de temp serm 118. ex Hum. in tract de septuplici timore should vve bring them to thy bed as vve read of one dying commanded that his golden vessels and silver plate should be set before him which looking on he promised to his soul it should have them all on condition of his stay with him but the remedie being silly at last most desperately he commends it to the Devil seeing it would not stay in his body and so gave up the ghost Alas these trifling treasures can no more deliver thee from the arrest of that inexorable Serjeant then can an handfull of dust Wretched men vvhat shall be your thoughts vvhen you come to this miserable case full sad and heavie thoughts Lord thou knovvest you may lie upon your beds like vvild buls in a net full of the furie of the Lord In the morning thou shalt say would God it were evening and at even thou shalt say would God it were morning for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see Deut. 28.67 Deut. 28.67 Here is the terrour of that night of death vvhen you may vvish vvith all your hearts that you had never been born if the Lord once let loose the cords of your conscience vvhat account vvill you make of crovvns of possessions all these will be so far from healing the wound that they will turn rather into fiery Scorpions for your further torments Now now now is the dismall time of death what
will you do whither will you go to whom will you pray the Angels are offended and they will not guard you God is dishonoured and he will not hear you onely the Devil had your service and onely hell must be your wages Consider this ye that forget God Psal 50.22 lest ye be torn in pieces and there be none to deliver you It is cruel for your souls thus to suffer to be torn and torn in pieces and so torn in pieces that none may deliver you Better this Worldling had been a worm a toad an adder any venomous creature then so to live and thus to have died yet hither it is come his sickness is remediless his riches comfortless his torments easeless still he must suffer and there is none to deliver he is torn torn in pieces and none may deliver him What need you more now we are come to this period his glasse is run his Sunne is set his day is finished and now this night the verie night of Death his soul is required and received of him Lo here the dismall dreadfull terrible time of this mans departure it was in the night a night of darkness drowsiness sadness sinne death and destruction Vse 1 Who will not provide each day against this fearfull night howsoever we passe away our time in sinne we must of necessitie ere it be long lie gasping for breath upon our dying beds there shall we grapple hand to hand with the utmost powers of death and darknesse what should we do then but sow our seed while the seed-time lasteth we have yet a day and how short this day is God onely knows be sure the night cometh wherein none can work Joh. 9.4 and then what a fearfull time will come upon us I know there be some that dream of doing good in another world or at least will deferre it longer till some time hereafter such vain hopes of future performances hath undone many a soul I must work the work of him that sent me Joh. 9.4 while it is day saith our Saviour The way-faring man travels not in darknesse but while the day shines on him then he knows he is under the protection of the Laws the light of the Sunne the blessing of heaven Joh. 11.9 Are there not twelve hours in the day if any man walk in the day he stumbleth not because he seeth the light of this world but if a man walk in the night he stumbleth because there is no light in him Do good then and lay hold of every season which may get you to heaven Let the whole course of your life be a conscionable preparative against death Suppose every day your last as if at night you should be called to account before that high and great tribunall in a word whatsoever you think or speak or do say thus with your self Would I do thus and thus if I knew this night to be my last Who is it would sinne if he thought at that instant he must go to judgement Vse 2 But if we neglect the day be sure the night will come to our condemnation where be those wonders that so dazled our eies while the day shone on them Where is Absaloms beautie Jezabels paint Sauls personage nay where is this wretched Worldling he had a day to work out his own salvation and that being lost at last came night before he had gone two steps toward heaven Joh. 12.35 O beloved walk while yee have light that ye may be children of the light You may be sure the meanest soul that hath the work of grace upon it death is to him no night but the day-break of eternall brightnesse This may make us in love with the sincerity of religion this may make us to labour and never cease labouring till we have gotten out of the state of nature into the state of grace O that I could say of every one of you as Paul of the Ephesians Ye were once darkness but now are ye light in the Lord. Ye were once carnall but now are ye spirituall ye were once unregenerate Ephes 5.8 but now are ye a first-fruits dedicated to God If it were thus with you then to your comfort upon your dying beds you should meet with a glorious troop of blessed Angels you should feel the glorious presence of the sweetest comforter you should see the glorious light of Gods shining countenance you should have a night if it were night turn'd all into a mid-day Now the Lord give you such a day whensoever you dye through Christ our Lord. You have heard the time of Deaths arrest This night Now for the party wee 'll make a privy search and if we stir one word we shall finde him at next doore it is thy soul Thy Soul THe party under arrest is the rich mans Soul no warranty could prevail no riches satisfie no strength rescue death now demands it and there 's none can redeem it therefore This night they will have his soul Every man hath a jewell better worth then a world Observ and the loss of this is so much more dear by how much it is more precious What profits it a man to gain a world and to lose his soul said our Lord and Saviour Mat. 16.26 Mat. 16.26 Nay what are a thousand worlds when the soul is valued Give me leave to ope the cabinet and you shall see the jewell that is arrested it is the Soul The Soul what 's that Substantia creata invisibilis incorporea immortalis Deo similima imaginem habens creatoris sui Aug. in lib. de definitione animae Dicearchus it is saith Austin a substance that is created invisible incorporeall immortall most like to God as bearing the image of its Creator Please you that we illustrate this description and you shall see how every word shews forth some excellencies as the glorious lustres of this glorious pearle the Soul First if you ask what is the Soul 't is a substance How fond were the opinions of some Philosophers one would have it to be nothing vox praeterea nihil and how many of us are of this opinion Doe not we live as if we had no souls at all The epicure is for his belly the ambitious for his body but who is he that provides for his soul Sure we imagine it to be nothing valuable or how should our estimation of it be so grosse and vile to prefer the body to neglect the soul There were other Philosophers vvent a pace yet further and they gave it a being Galen but vvhat no better then an accident that might live or dye vvithout death of the subject this they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 humorum a certain temper composed of the elements or nothing but the harmony of those humours in the body Is this the soul then of all creatures are men say vve 1 Cor. 15.19 of all men are we saith the Apostle most miserable most unhappy
Matth. 24.28 Wheresoever the dead carkasse is thither saith our Saviour will the Eagles resort and wheresoever a damned soul is thither with a lacrity will these spirits come O how they fly and flutter round about him what fires do they breathe to enkindle them on his soul what clawes do they open to receive her at the parting and what astonishment is that poor soul in that perceives these Sergeants even ready to clasp their in her burning armes See O Cosmopolite what thy sin hath caused lust hath transported thine eyes blasphemy thy tongue pride thy foot oppression thy hand covetousness thy heart and now Death and Devils they are the Sergeants that require thy soul Vse Reflect these thoughts on your own souls and consider with your selves what may be your cases it may be as yet thou standest upright without any changes hitherto thou hast seen no days of sorrow but even washed thy steps with butter and the rock hath poured thee out rivers of oyle Deut. 32.13 14. Alas was not this the case of this wretched worldling yet for all this you see a night came that paid for all and so may it be with thee a day an hour Casaub Dies hora momentum c. a moment is enough to overturn the things that seem to have been founded and rooted in Adamant who can tell whether this night this storm may fall upon thee art thou not strangely nailed and glued unto sence art thou not stupidly senceless in spirituall things that for pelf vanity dung nothing wilt run headlong and willfully into easelesse endlesse and remediles torments Yet such is thy doing if thou beest a worldling to get riches to thy body and let death and devils have thy soul O beloved consider in time and seeing you have such a terrible example set before you let this worldling be your warning We have done with the Sergeants but what 's their office to beg to sue No but to force to require thy soul is required How requried is any so bold to approach his gates and make a forcible entry Yes God hath his speciall Bailiffs that will fear no colours riches cannot ransome castles cannot keep hollows cannot hide hills nor their forts protect Sits Herod on his Throne there 's a Writ of Remove and the worms are his Bayliffs is Dives at his Table Death brings the Mittimus and Devils are his Jaylours sits Lazarus at his gates the King greets him well we may say and Angels are his keepers poor rich good bad all must be served at the Kings suit no place can priviledge no power secure no valour rescue no libertie exempt with a non omittas propter aliquam libertatem runs this Warrant 2. Sam. 22.5 O rich man what wilt thou now do The sorrows of death compasse thee and the flouds of Belial make thee afraid What no friends to help no power to rescue is there no other way but yield and die for it O miserie enough to break an heart of brasse again Imagine that a Prince a while possessed some royall City where if you walk the streets you may see peace flourishing wealth abounding pleasure waiting all his neighbours offering their service and promising to assist him in all his needs and affairs if on a sudden this city were besieged by some deadly enemie who coming like a violent stream takes one hold after another one wall after another one castle after another and at last drives this Prince onely to a little Tower and there sets on him what fear anguish and misery would this Prince be in If he looks about his holds are taken his men are slain his friends and neighbours now stand aloof off and they begin to abandon him were not this a wofull plight trow you even so it fares with a poor soul at the hour of her departure the body wherein she reigned like a jolly Princesse then droops and languishes the keepers tremble Eccles 12.3 the strong men bow the grinders cease and they wax dark that look out at the windows no wonder if fear be in the way when the arms the legs the teeth the eyes as so many walls wherein the soul was invironed are now surprized and beaten to the ground her last refuge is the heart and this is the little Tower whither at last she is driven But what is she there secure no but most fiercely assailed with a thousand enemies her dearest friends youth and Physick and other helps which soothed her in prosperity do now abandon her what will she do the enemy will grant no truce will make no league but night and day assayls the heart which now like a Turret struck with thunder begins all to shiver here is the wofull state of a wicked soul God is her enemy the Devil her foe Angels hate her the earth groans under her hel gapes for her the reason of all sin struck the alarm and death gives the battel it is but this night a minute longer and then will the raging enemie enter on her Death is no beggar to entreat no suiter to wo no petitioner to ask no soliciter to crouch and crave a favour she runs raging Quaque ruit furibunda ruit ruling charging requiring hark this rich mans arrest thy soul shall be required It shall yes the word is peremptory what be required yes it comes with authority Here 's a fatall requiring when the soul shall be forced by an unwilling necessitie and devils by force hurrie her to her endless furie Adieu poor soul the Writ is served the Goal prepared the judgement past and Death the Executioner will delay no longer This night thy soul shalt be required of thee Vse 1 But to whom speak I Think of it you miserably covetous that joyn house to house and call the lands after your own names You may trust in your wealth and boast your selves in the multitude of your riches but none of you call by any means redeem his brother no nor himself Psal 49.6 Psal 49.6.7 When Death comes I pray what composition with the Lord of heaven could ever any buy out his damnation with his coyn howsoever you live mirrily deliciously go richly yet Death will at last knock at your doors and notwithstanding all your wealth honours tears and groans of your dearest friends will take you away as his prisoners to his darkest dungeon Your case is as with a man who lying fast asleep upon the edge of some steep high rock dreams merrily of Crowns Kingdoms Possessions but upon the sudden starting for joy he breaks his neck and tumbles into the bottome of some violent sea Thus is your danger every hour Sathan makes you a bed lulls you asleep charms you into golden dreams and you conceive you are wallowing in the Sea of all wordly happiness at last death comes against which there is no resistance and then are you suddenly swallowed up of despair and drowned in that pit of eternall death and
Sam. 18.33 would God I had died for thee O Absolon my sonne my sonne But where be any friends so respective of this Worldling He wants a Ionathan a David upon a strict enquirie we find no friend no father no sonne neither heirs nor assignes to whom he may bestow his lands But what if he had friends as near to himself as himself no man can die or another Psal 49.7 8. or as the Psalmist No man may deliver his brother nor make agreement unto God for him for it cost more to redeem their souls so that he must let that alone for ever Should the poor man beg the old man pray his servants kneel his friends lie at deaths feet and all these offer up all their lives for this rich mans recovery all were but vain it is thy Soul is arrested and it is thy self that must yield it Of thee it is required You see there is no way but one with him to conclude then wee 'l bid him his farewel this is the last friendship we can do this rich man and so wee 'l leave him The hour is come and the dawning of that dreadfull day appeareth now he begins to wish that he had some space some piece of time to repent him and if he might obtain it O what would he do or what would he not do Releive the weak visit the sick feed the hungry lodge the stronger cloath the naked give half his goods to the poor and if he had done any wrong restore it him again seven-fold but alas all is too late the candle that but follows him cannot light him to heaven a sudden death denies his suit and the increasing of his sickness will give him no leasure to fulfill those duties what cold sweats are those that seiz upon him his senses fail his speech falters his eyes sink his breast swels his feet die his heart faints such are the outward pangs what then are the inward griefs if the body thus suffers what cares and conflicts endures the soul had he the riches of Croesus the Empires of Alexander the robes of Solomon the fare of that rich man who lived deliciously every day what could they do in the extremity of these pangs O rich man thou couldst tell us of pulling down barns and building greater but now imagine the vast cope of heaven thy Barn and that were large enough and all the riches of the world thy grain and that were crop enough yet all these cannot buy a minute of ease now that death will have thy body hell thy soul O dark dungeon of imprisoned men whose help wilt thou crave whose aid wilt thou ask what release canst thou exspect from such a prison the disease is past cure the sickness wants remedie alas what may recover now the heart strings break asunder thy date exspires thy last breath goes and now is thy Soul and Body required of thee I have hitherto with Nathan beat sinfull David on a strangers coat You must give me leave to take off the mask and shew you your own faces in this glass Believe thou O man who readest this that shortly there will be two holes where thine eyes now stand and then others may take up thy skull and speak of thee dead as I have done to thee living how soon I know not but this I am sure of Thy time is appointed thy moneths are determined Job 14.14 Job 14.5 Psal 90.12 John 11.9 thy dayes are numbred thy very last hour is limited And what follows but that thy bodie lie cold at the root of the rocks at the foot of the mountains Go then to the graves of those that are gone before us and there see are not their eyes wasted their mouths corrupted their bones scattered where be those ruddy lips lovely cheeks sparkling eyes comely nose hairy locks are not all gone as a dream in the night or as a shadow in the morning alas that we neglect these thoughts and set our minds wholly upon the world and its vanity we are carefull fearfull and immoderately painfull to get transitorie riches like children following Butter-flies we run and toyl and perhaps misse our purpose but if we catch them what is it but a flie to besmear our hands Riches are but empty and yet be they what they will be all at last will be nothing Saladine that great Turk after all his conquests gets his shirt fastened to his spear in manner of an Ensigne this done a Priest makes Proclamation Knolls Turkish History pag. 73. This is all that Saladine carryes away with him of all the riches he hath gotten Shall a Turk say thus and do Christians forget their duties Remember your selves ye sons of earth of Adam what is this earth you dote on be sure you shall have enough of it when your mouths must be filled and crammed with it and as your souls desire it so at that day shall your bodies turn to it O that men are thus given to gasping greediness there is a generation and they are too common amongst us that we may preach and preach as they say our hearts out yet will not they stirre a foot further from the world or an inch nearer unto God but could we speak with them on their death-bed when their consciences are awaked then should we hear them yell out those complaints What hath pride profited us or what good hath riches with our vaunting brought us Wisd 5.8 Assure your selves this day or this night will come and imagine I pray that the ten twentie thirty fourty years or moneths or dayes or hours which you have yet to live were at an end were you at this present stretched on your beds wearied with struggling against your wearied pangs were your friends weeping your Physicians parting your children crying your wives houling and your selves lying mute and dumb in a most pitifull agony Beloved Christian whosoever thou art stay a while I pray thee and practise this meditation Suppose thou now feeledst the cramp of death wresting thy heart-strings and ready to make that rufull divorce betwixt thy body and thy soul suppose thou lyest now panting for breath swimming in a cold fatall sweat suppose thy words were fled thy tongue struck dumb thy soul amazed thy senses frighted suppose thy feet beginning even to die thy knees to wax cold and stiff thy nostrils to run out thine eyes to sink into thy head and all the parts of thy body to lose their office to assist thee upon this supposall lift up thy soul and look about thee O I can tell thee if thou livest and diest in sinne there would be no where any comfort but a world of terrour and perplexity look upwards there shouldst thou see the terrible sword of Gods justice threatning look downwards there shouldst thou see the grave in exspectation ready gaping look within thee there shouldst thou feel the worm of conscience bitter gnawing look without thee there shouldst thou see good and evill
grones and suddain cryes the fire slakes not the worm dies not the chains loose not the links wear not revenge tyres not but for ever are the torments fresh and the fetters on fire as they came first from their Forge What a strange kind of torture falls upon the wicked they are bound to fiery pillars and Devils lash at them with their fiery whips Is there any part of man scapes free in such a fray the flesh shall fâ—â— the blood boil the veins be scorcht the sinews rackt Serpents shall eat the body furies tear the soul this is that wofull plight of Tares which he bound in Hell The sick man at Sea may go from his ship to his boat and from his boat to his ship again the sick man in his bed may tumble from his right side to his left and from his left to his right again onely the Tares are tied hand and foot bound limme and joynt their feet walk not their fingers move not their eyes must no more wander as before loe all his bound O these manacles that rot the flesh and pierce the inward parts O unmatchable torments yet most fit for Tares sin made them furious hell must tame their Phrensie the Judge thus commands and the Executioners must dispatch fetter them fire them Bind them in bundles to burn them I have lead you through the Dungeon let this fight serve for a terrour that you never come nearer To that purpose for exhortation consider Alas all hangs on life ther 's but a twine thread betwixt the soul of a sinner and the scorching flames who then would so live as to run his soul into hazard the Judge threatens us Devils hate us the bonds exspect us it is onely our conscience must clear us or condemn us Search then thy waies and stir up thy remembrance to her Items hast thou dishonoured God blasphemed his name decayed his image subduing thy soul to sin that was created for heaven repent these courses ask God forgiveness and he will turn away thy punishments I know your sins are grievous and my soul grieves at the knowledge many evills have possessed too many drunkenness and oathes and malice and revenge are not these guests entertained into all houses banish them your hearts that the King of glory may come in Ezek. 33.11 As I live saith the Lord I desire not the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Would God bestow mercy and should we refuse his bounty as you love heaven your souls your selves leave your sins Vse 2 And then here is a word of consolation the penitent needs not fear hell Gods servant is freed from bonds yea if we love him who hath first loved us Ephes 5.2 all the chains and pains of hell can neither hold nor hurt us Vse 3 O then ye Sons of Adam suffer a reproof what do ye that ye do not repent you of your sins is it not a madness above admiration that men who are reasonable creatures having eyes in their heads hearts in their bodies understanding like the Angels and consciences capable of unspeakable horrour never will be warned untill the fire of that infernall Lake flash and flame about their eares Let the Angels blush heaven and earth be amazed all the Creatures stand astonished at it I am sure a time wil come when the Tares shal feel what now they may justly fear you hear enough such weed must be bound thus straight is the Lords command Binde them in bundles to burn them But all is not done Chains have their links and we must bring all together Sinners are coupled in hell as Tares in Bundles But of these when we next meet in the mean while let this we have heard Binde us all to our duties that we hear attentively remember carefully practice conscionably that so God may reward accordingly and at last crown us with his glory The tares must be bound up in bundles but Lord make us free in Heaven to sit with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in thy blessed kingdome In bundles THe command is out what Bind whom them how in bundles The tares must on heaps which gives us a double observation Generall Speciall In the generall it intimates these two points the gathering of the weed and its severing from the wheat both are bound in bundles but the wheat by it self and the tares by themselves as at that doom when all the world must be gathered and severed some stand at the right hand others at the left so at this execution some are for the fire and others for the barn they are bundled together yet according to the difference of the severall parties each from the other Observ 1 First the tares must together Woe is me saith David that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech Psal 120.4 and if David think it wofull to converse with his living enemies then what punishment have the wicked whom the Devill and damned the black angels and everlasting horrour must accompany for ever The tares must be gathered and bundled and the more bundles the more and more miseries Company yields no comfort in hell fire nay what greater discomfort then to see thy friends in flames thy fellowes in torments the fiends with flaming whips revenging each others malice on thy self and enemy It was the rich mans last petition when he had so many repulses for his own ease to make one suit for his living brethren he knew their company would encrease his torment to prevent which he cries out I pray thee father Abraham Luk. 16.27 28. that thou wouldest send Lazarus to my fathers house for I have five brethren that he may testifie unto them lest they also come into this place of torment Why it may be God will hear him for them especially making such a reasonable request as this was that Lazarus might onely warn his brethren of future judgment no but to teach you if you sell your souls to sin to leave a rich posterity on earth you shall not onely your selves without all remorse and pity be damned in hell but your posterity shall be a torment to you whilest they live and a greater torment if they come to you when they are dead To converse with Devils is fearfull but altogether to accompany each other is a plague fit for tares In this life they flourished amongst the wheat Let them grow both together corn and tares untill the harvest But the harvest come God will now separate them both asunder and as in heaven there are none but Saints so in hell there are none but reprobates to encrease this torment as they grow together so all their conference is to curse each other Moab shall cry against Moab father against son son against father what comfort in this company The Devill that was authour of such mischiefs appears in most grisly forms his angels the black guard of hell torture poor souls in flames there live swearers
Beza in loc Tert. ad Mar. l. 5. to bring man from nothing Exinanivit se hath made himself nothing or of no reputation Phil. 2.7 Phil. 2.7 How nothing yes saith Beza He that was all in all hath reduced himself to that which is nothing at all and Tertullian little less Exhausit se He hath emptied himself or as our translation gives it He hath made himself not of little but of no reputation Lo here those steps the Scripture lighting us all the way by which our Saviour descended he that is God for us became an Angell a man a Serving-man a poor man a sheep a lamb a worm a nothing in esteem a man of no reputation Vse 1 Let every soul learn his duty from hence what should we do for him who hath done all this for us There is a crew of unbelievers that hear and heed not all the sufferings of our Saviour cannot move them a jot either towards God or from sin and is not this a wofull lamentable case I remember a passage in Cyprian how he brings in the Devill triumphing over Christ in this manner As for my followers I never dyed for them as Christ did for his I never promised them so great a reward as Christ hath done to his and yet I have more followers then he and they do more for me then his doe for him hear O heaven and hearken O earth Was ever the like phrensie The Devill like a roaring Lion seeks ever and anon to devour our souls and how many thousands and millions of souls yield themselves to his service though he never died for them nor will ever do for them the poorest favour whatsoever but pay them everlastingly with pains and pangs death and damnation On the other side see our Saviour God Almighty take on him the nature of a man a poor man a sheep a lamh a worm a nothing in esteem and why all this but onely to save our souls and to give them heaven and salvation yet such is the condition of a stubborn heart that to choose it will spurn at heavens crown and run upon hell and be a slave to Satan and scoffe at Christs suffering yea and let out his bloud and pull out his heart and bring him a degree lower then very beelzebub himself rather then it will submit to his will and march under his banner to the kingdome of heaven Hence it is that the Devill so triumphs over Christ As for my followers saith he I never died for them as Christ did for his no Devill thou never diedst for them but thou will put them to a death without all ease or end Think of this yee unbelievers me thinks like a thunderbolt it might shake all your hearts and dash them into pieces But a word more to you of whom I hope better things let me exhort the Saints that you for your parts will ever love and serve and honour and obey and praise the Lord of glory for this so wonderfull a mercy I pray have you not cause had your Saviour onely sent his creatures to serve you or some Prophets to advise you in the way of salvation had he onely sent his Angels to attend you and to minister unto you or had he come down in his glory like a King that would not onely send to the prison but come himself to the dungeon and ask saying Is such a man here or had he onely come and wept over you saying Oh that you had never sinned all these had been great mercies But that Christ himself should come and strive with you in mercy and patience that he should be so fond of a company of Rebels and Hel-hounds and yet we are not at the lowest that he would for us become a man a mean man a lamb a worm a nothing in esteem O all ye stubborn hearts too much stubborn are we all if judgement and the hammer cannot break your hearts yet let this mercy break you and let every one say O Iesu hast thou done all this for me certainly I will love thee and praise thee and serve thee and obey thee as long as I live Say so and the Lord say Amen to the good desires of your hearts To whet this on the more remember still it is you that should have suffered but to prevent this it is he that was humbled it is he that was crucified it is he that was purged what needs more John 18.5 I am he said Christ to the Iews when they apprehended him He what he I know not what but be he what he will he it is our Saviour Redeemer Physician Patient VVho had by himself purged our sinnes Thus far we have measured his steps downwards and should we go up again the same stairs we might bring him as high as vve have placed him lovv but his asscent belongs rather to the words following my Text for after he had purged then he sate down on Gods right hand on high Come we then to the next words and as you have seen the Person so let us look for a companion This may in miserie yield some comfort if but any society bears a share in his misery But me thinks I hear you say to me as the Athenians said 〈◊〉 32. to Paul We wil hear thee again of this matter another time By himself THe Time and Physician have prepared a Purge but who is the Patient to receive it it is man is sick and it is man must purge or otherwise he dies without all remedie or recoverie but alas what Purge what Purgatory must that be which can evacuate sinne Should man take all the virtue of herbs and mineralls and distill them into one sublime and purest quintessence yet impossible were it to wash away sinne or the least dregs of its corruption Not Galen nor Hippocrates nor all the Artists or Naturalists that ever lived on earth could find out or invent any remedie for sinne this must be a work of Grace and not of Nature yea and such a grace as neither man nor Angel could afford Behold then who it is that both administers and takes the receipt prepared it is man that sinned and God is become man that so being both he might administer it as God and receive it as man the same Person being Physician and Patient Compounder and Purger But what a wonder is this Are we a-dying and must he purge for it can Physick given to the sound heal the party that is sick It was the saying of our Saviour Matth. 9.12 The whole need not the Physician but they that are sick and Christ Jesus for his part is whole indeed No fault in this man saith Pilate Luke 23.14 Matth. 27.19 and he is a just man said Pilates wife of him to what end then should he purge that is whole and we escape it that are sick O this is to manifest the dearest love of our Soul-Physician our endeared Saviour the whole indeed need not the
here disposing of Paradise at the same time when he hung on the Crosse even giving up the ghost he is dealing Crowns and Kingdoms to a poor penitent soul thus like a glorious Sun that breaks through the watrie clouds ere it appear unto us our Saviour the Sun of Righteousness shoots forth his rayes of Majesty through all his sufferings on a dejected sinner Two malefactours suffer with him the one railes on him saying If thou be Christ save thy self and us but the other prayes to him Lord remember me when thou comest to thy Kingdome in the midst of his thraldome he proclaims his Kingdome and whom he sees a Captive he believes a Lord Lord remember me is it not strange that through so many such thick clouds of misery this dying thief should behold his glory but where grace aboundeth what marvel is it 1. Cor. 2.15 The Naturall man knoweth not the things of God but he that is spirituall discerneth all things No sooner was this penitent thief converted a Christian but on a sudden even on the very rack of torture he confesseth himself a sinner and Christ his Saviour and therefore desires to be remembred of him when he comes to heaven Thus pouring out his soul in prayer the Bridegroom that became an Harp saith Bernard his Crosse being the wood himself stretcht on it the strings and his words the sound heark how he warbles the most heavenly musick that was ever chanted to a departing soul To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The words are a Gospel such as the Angels brought to the Shepherds Luke 2.10 Luke 2.10 Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy here is tidings good tidings joy and great joy the greatest happiness that could ever befall a mortall now waits on a malefactour at that time when the execution was a doing death approching and the horrours of hell laying hold upon him when a word of comfort would have been most seasonable like apples of gold in pictures of silver Prov. 25.11 then comes our Saviour as a messenger with a pardon and he bids him be of good chear there was happiness towards him when to day what thou shalt be with me where in Paradise Not a word but speaks comfort to the afflicted soul be he howsoever afflicted for the present yet there shall be a change and the more to sweeten it Here is the Celerity to day Certainty thou shalt be Societie with me Vbi or place where all joy is enjoyed in Paradise These are those four heads that issue out of Eden may God give a blessing to the watering that you may bear good fruit till you are planted in that garden whereof it is spoken To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise We begin with the certainty of this promise Thou shalt be c. Thou shalt be TO this purpose was that asseveration Verily verily I say unto thee Nor is it enough that he affirms it but he assures it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou shalt be Will and shall is for the King and what is he lesse that bestows Kingdomes on his servants here was a poor man desires onely to be remembred of him and in stead of remembring him he tells him he shall be with him how but as a coheir of his Kingdome Blessed thief that had such a gift and that made unto him with such assurance as this was It is the promise of our Saviour who to put him out of all doubt he tells him it shall be so Thou shalt be with me in Paradise Whence observe That Salvation may be made sure to a man Observ If you would needs know the means howsoever it was true in this thief it is not by any immediate suggestion or revelation Christ is now in heaven and the holy Ghost works not by enthusiasmes or dreams Fidelium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non nititur revelatione sed promissionibus Evangelii The assurance of our salvation depends not upon revelation but on the promises of the Gospel there then must we search and see and if our hearts be rightly qualified thence may we draw that fulness of perswasion with Abraham who staggered not at Gods promises being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able to perform Rom. 4.21 Rom. 4.20 21 This doctrine we have confirmed by David Psal 35.3 Psal 35.3 Say unto my soul I am thy salvation By Peter in the 2. Pet. 1.10 2. Pet. 1.10 Make your election sure By Paul in the 1. Cor. 9.26 1. Cor. 9.26 I therefore so run not as uncertainly From all which we may argue David would never pray for that which could not be nor would Peter charge us with a dutie which stood not in possibility to be performed nor would Paul serve God at randome uncertain whether he should obtain any good or prevent any mischief no but as one that was sure that by so doing he should attain everlasting life and without so doing he could not avoid eternall death We may then be sure if conditions rightly concur and seeing this is a point we would be all glad to know that we are sure to be saved I shall beg others help Gods assistance and your patience till we have opened the windows and given you a light of the lodging Cant. 1.7 where securely our souls may rest at noon day Some lay the order thus that to assure us of heaven we must be assured of Christ and to assure us of Christ we must be assured of faith and to assure us of faith we must be assured of repentance and to assure us of repentance we must be assured of amendment of life Others tell us of more evidences and we shall reduce them to these heads The testimonie of our spirits and the testimonie of Gods Spirit It is not our spirit alone nor Gods Spirit alone makes this Certificate but both concurring and thus Paul tels us Rom. 8.16 Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth witnesse with our spirit that we are the children of God 1. Our first assurance then is the testimonie of our spirit and this witnesseth with Gods spirit two wayes By Inward tokens Outward fruits Inward tokens are certain speciall graces of God imprinted in the spirit of a man as godly sorrow desire of pardon love of righteousnesse John 5.10 faith in Christ for he that believeth on the Sonne of God hath the witnesse in himself saith the Apostle Outward fruits are all good deeds holy duties new obedience and hereby we are sure that we know him if we keep his Commandments 1. Joh 2.3 1. John 2.3 To say then we are sure of heaven and to live a life fitter for devils what a fond saying is this no if we have a true testimony we must be of good lives it is our holinesse and justice and mercy and truth that will be our best assurance 2. Pet 1 10. and so the Apostle assures us If