thy self to Dangers and Robbers who lie in wait for thee saying God hath forsaken him for his Sins persecute and take him because there is none to deliver him Who shall defend thee from the many Calves and the sat Bulls that have beset thee round if thou art not in my keeping All the Beasts of the Wood will hasten to thy Destruction unless they perceive that I am thy Keeper Without the Sword shall bereave thee and Terror within thou shall be a Vagabond and a Fugitive upon the Earth Hast thou not considered how Malefactors are afraid who have offended Earthly Kings Verily they rest no where but are afrighted at every noise as at the Shadow of Death considering lest the Officers of the King being offended should suddenly fall upon them Therefore how much more will the fear of Death terrifie thee if thou be without my Protection and be delivered as the Servant of Sin unto thy Persecutors It is a wonder how mad Sinners are who have delivered their Souls into the hands of their Enemies not considering that they want my Strength Return therefore dearly beloved Son unto me thy Keeper and I who have broken the Heads of the Dragons will defend thee I will lead thee through a Desert Land through the waste-houling Wilderness if thou continuest in my fear I will trouble the Princes of Edom and Trembling shall take hold on the mighty Men of Moab whilst thou passest through the way of Life under my Protection Return with all thy Heart unto me thy Keeper and Guide not seeking the weak Helps of the World and its Followers And I only will be thy Guide and I will be unto thee as the Eagle teaching her young ones to fly and fluttering over them and thou shalt know by experience that one day in my Courts and Protection is better than a thousand elsewhere And in the time of distress I will deliver thee because thou hast set thy Heart on me guarding it with a most firm Perswasion of my Goodness and Mercy CHAP. VII Concerning the Loss of Divine Grace which the Sinner falls into ALL the Treasures of the World compared with my Divine Grace are Dust and Ashes and are accounted as things of no value For so great is the Height the Dignity and the Beauty of my Grace that it stirs up great Admiration in the Minds of them that rightly conceive thereof Whereby it comes to pass that my Servants having their Eyes enlightned are moved with inward Grief and Compassion for their Neighbours when they fall into any dangerous Sin Which if thou my Son shouldest well consider of thou woulded suddenly return unto me being moved with the Greatness of the Calamity which thou hast faln into by Sinning Thy Soul was my most pleasant Bride in Cloathing of Gold and in Raiment of divers Colours whose Beauty the Sun and Moon did admire So great was its Grace whilst it remained faithful to the Covenant of its Espousals that it wonderfully delighted my Eyes The Daughter of Jerusalem was adorned with Jewels beautiful as a Dove shining very brightly and endued with a very lovely Comeliness She was conform to her Pattern in comparison of whom the Morning Stars do not shine She was greatly enriched with the true Riches of my Vertues which neither Rust nor Moth can corrupt But from the Daughter of Sion all her Beauty was departed when she had sinned and she fell from so great Felicity into so extream Calamity that the Heavens were astonished at this Change For my Son so great is the Filthiness and Shamesulness of Sin which thou hast committed that thou art become a Leper searful to look upon because of thy intolerable Rottenness and Meat for Worms that are crawling out upon thee What is this How is the Pleasantness of my Paradice vanished and the fruitful Land turned into Barrenness for the Wickedness of them that dwell therein How hath thy Soul departed from me contrary to the Covenant of thine Espousals and hath been defiled with many Lovers who have corrupted her Return therefore my Son unto my Grace and Friendship and unto the Light of my Countenance neither be so foolish as to desire to live any longer in so great Misery and Want Put on the precious and white Wedding-Garment that thou mayest be acceptable to me and sit down at the Great Supper with my dearly beloved Elect. I counsel thee to buy of me without Silver the Royal Apparel that thou mayest walk through the Street of the Holy City cloathed in Purple amongst the famous Sons of Sion who are cloathed with the fine Gold of my Love CHAP. VIII Concerning the Communion of Saints which a Man loseth by Sinning WO to him that is alone for if he fall he hath none to help him up But blessed is the Man who enjoys the Communion of all that fear and love Me and keep my most pleasant Commandments Verily he that is united unto me by Grace continues also united unto all my Members who live the Heavenly Life of my Grace than which nothing more lovely is found in the Land of the Living My Angels and Holy Men joyned to me by Grace are most faithful Friends of all Men that love me And then my Son when thou didst the things that please me thou hadst these Consolations and Priviledges of the Righteous which are more precious than all Gold Thou wast joyned to my Saints whose Names are written in the Book of Life and all their Goods belonged unto thee being my living Member And I the Head of the Church my Spouse did influence thee with lively Motions of my Love wherewith I move the Hearts of them that love me and seek my Face For my Spirit pressed thee forward and stirred thee up and inslamed thee with ardent Desire of the eternal Enjoyments wherewith my wearied Souldiers coming from the Earth are satisfied But now thy Visage through Sin is become black as a Coal and thou lyest down in Destruction which thou hast procured to thy self being deprived of the Society of the Saints which is the utmost Calamity What friends wilt thou find my Son if my Friends favour thee not What Society will profit thee whilst thou wantest the Society of Angels and Saints Who will comfort thee in Distress if thou dwellest with Scorpions and art not at Agreement with Heaven Return my Son return unto the Fellowship of the Citizens of Jerusalem my City and to the Feasts that are celebrated with the Communion of most pleasant Love that thou mayest live happily the remainder of thy mortal Life and afterwards mayest pass unto the Communion of the Church triumphant where there will be most sweet Peace and a full and perfect Union Depart from the Tabernacles of the Wicked who love not thee nor themselves for he that loves Iniquity hates his own Soul It will be much more profitable and delightful to thee my Son to associate thy self with my living Members and chosen Vessels that thou mayest
I handled unhappy Judas my Disciple as a loving and faithful Man but after that he resisted my sweet Words and Inspirations and hardned his Heart against me I sent him away so that he becoming like a Devil hanged himself and burst asunder in the midst and all his Bowels gushed out What then dost thou expect my Son who hast sinned and departed from Me Wherefore dost thou continue in the State of Damnation hardning thy Heart lest it should be overcome with my infinite Sweetness and Patience Shall I for ever knock at the Gate of thy House that thy Wildness may be tamed Return O Son unto thy right Wits neither cast thy self into extream Danger so as to make thy Wound uncureable Hast thou not heard that it will be ill with a hard Heart at last and that a Sinner is held with the Cords of his Sins Beware my Son of this great Evil and consider what I require of thee When a Sinner cometh into the depth of Sins he despiseth it but before he despises it he is touched and moved with the inward Inspirations of my Goodness but afterwards by degrees he waxes cold and hath less sense of my Impulses until his stony Heart becoming unsensible he regards not my Admonitions but as an untamed Horse he runs through the Meadows of the World hastening to eternal Fire Wo to thee unless thou return speedily to Me Remember thy Salvation and my Glory which I have prepared for those who repenting in sincerity wash their Garments in my Blood Use now the Remedies of Mercy lest thou be hardned and delivered up to a reprobate sense If thou shalt hearken to me I wilt melt the Ice of thy Heart and my Wind shall blow and the Waters of Compunction shall flow with which thy Fllth shall be washed away Embrace this wholesom Counsel of thy Redeemer who is ready to spare thee and to amend thy Condition If thou return to me I will imprint a sense of Contrition and Love in thy inward Parts and thou shalt rejoyce in the Renovation of thy Heart as Conquerors rejoyce in taking of the Prey and thou shalt celebrate thy Regeneration and being made whole thou shalt sing of my invincible Mercies that are sweeter than the Honey CHAP. XII Concerning Desperation which a Sinner sometimes falls into Consider my Son that there is no other name under Heaven by which thou must be saved but mine Be not deceived in putting thy Trust in the King of Egypt who is a broken Reed upon which if any Man leans it will pierce through his Hand I have overcome the World Death and Hell and therefore he that offends Me and seeks Refuge in the Favour and Delights of Men who are not Partakers of my Victory falls into Dejection of Mind which is a very bitter Punishment He wants my Grace which begets the hope of eternal good things and seeing that he does nothing sutable to the hope of eternal Life he is broken and weakened so that he falls into a most grievous Desperation which resembles the State of the Damned This is the fruit of Ambition which seeks the Honours of Men that are written in the Earth This is the fruit of Covetousness which with an unsatiable desire lays up Treasure in the Earth This is the fruit of Luxury which is drunk with the Pleasures of the Flesh and cares not for the most pure Joys of my Spirit This is the fruit of Anger which makes the feet of Men swift to shed Blood and cares not for being reckoned amongst my meek Servants who shall possess the Land of the Living Moreover this is the fruit of all Sins when Wickedness increaseth and the Soul abhors Good by which Men come to eternal Life What dost thou then my Son Why lyest thou in the lamenble State of Enmity to Me which brings forth the fruit of Desperation hastening Death and Damnation How is it that thou dost not pity thy own Soul which languishes for want of Strength Consider thy Dissoluteness and Madness which makes thee run into Hell-fire and to take no care of eternal Salvation as if thou hadst no hope Thou dost foolishly my Son in despairing and not considering that I am omnipotent and can in a moment deliver thee from the horrible Pit and the miry Clay Cast away from thee the Filth and Weights of Sin which bow thy Back and drive thee to Despair and breath after Me the Author of thy Hope and Redemption and thou shalt be delivered from the grievous Bondage wherewith thou art oppressed and thou shalt be sweetly refreshed with the Breathings of my Spirit Return to me by timely Repentance which begets a Godly Sorrow and also rejoyceth the Soul that is renewed in Me and receives from Me the Pledge of the eternal Inheritance So thou shalt hope and thy troubled Soul sailing through the great Sea shall be kept safe by casting the Anchor of a most firm hope which I have purchased for thee by my most precious Blood and unconceiveable Love CHAP. XIII Concerning Vnbelief which a Sinner is in danger to fall into I The Son of the most high God am the Light of the World and with just Judgment punish a Sinner who hates me with inward Darkness wherewith the Understanding is darkned Which Evil is so grievous and formidable that sometimes an unhappy Sinner by multiplying his Faults departs so far from true Light that he falls into Unbelief He hath departed from Me and loved Earthly good things more than Me Whereby it come to pass that his Will being depraved so corrupts the true Judgment of the Understanding that at length he loses the Catholick Faith So thou mayest see my Son what hath happened unto many Sinners who when they had first believed in me by aggravating the Sins of Covetousness Pride Gluttony or Luxury have erred from the Faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows Wo to those that hate my most pure Light whereby the eternal and unchangeable Good is known and preferred before created good things It had been better for those Men if they had not been born For it is extream Unhappiness to err from my Faith and to cast away my Yoke with a darkned Understanding And thou therefore my Son considering what hath happened unto others like thy self return unto me lest perhaps being weary of my immaculate Law thou begin to have hard Thoughts of my Goodness and giving loose reins to thy Heart through the Love of Temperal things thou give thy self up to wicked Doings and ungodly Lusts unto the prodigious denying of my Faith My Son look whither thou art going whilst thou ceasest not to sin be not cruel to thy self in running swiftly to Destruction take heed lest thou despise my Admonitions with which I instruct thee stop not thy Ears being seduced with carnal Love which drowns multitudes of Men into Perdition The time is short traffick till I come to reward thee with eternal Life or with everlasting Fire If
made to him in those great Afflictions yet since that time I have had clear Evidences that I did not call upon God in vain After my Father had upon his Cost maintained me two or three Years I travelled into England where I suffered Poverty several Years and did often eat Bread of Affliction and drank Water of Affliction Yet in that time I had some sweet Intervals of Divine Consolation when I had Opportunities occasionally to preach in the days of King Charles the Second For it was a great Joy to me at that time that I had Opportunities to serve Christ Jesus though I suffered sometimes Persecution But one of the things that greatly allayed my Sorrows and Discontents was the Comfort and Divine Consolation I received by having heard sometimes occasionally that great Minister of Christ Thomas Cole who died a while since For in hearing him preach at sometimes such Beams of Divine Light did shine forth upon my Soul such glorious Manifestations of the Love of God did over-shadow me that it made many Miseries that I then and since have endured to become light and easie For in the strength of those Discoveries of the Love of God in Christ Jesus I have walked many days in the Light of God's Countenance But because I have been guilty of some Infirmities through violent Temptations wherewith God hath suffered Satan to assault me some if they are not of a charitable Spirit may think these things are Hypocritical Dreams und Chimerical Imaginations but I know him whom I have believed But these things I have publickly declared that none of those that fear God may be ashamed for my sake If you ask the cause why I have given this Book the title of Motives to Godly Mourning and Rejoycing This is one Cause thereof because Godly Sorrow is the Seed of Godly Joy and Rejoycing as the Saints have often found by their Experience to whose Experience I may appeal Another Cause is this Because I desire that wicked Wretches who have lived without God in the World be convinced that if they will heartily apply themselves to Godliness they will find that Joy and Pleasure in the Ways of God not only in the World to come but also in this World which will greatly surpass all the Joys and Pleasures that they have found in the Ways of Sin and in their Estrangement from God Verily I wonder wretched Sinner that has lived in Enmity to God how thou canst eat or drink or sleep in Peace when the Sword of Vengeance hangs over thy Head and there is but a step between thee and Hell and everlasting fire But after thou hast returned to God by repentance and shelter'd thy self by Faith under the Wings of Christ Jesus then thou mayest have just cause of Rejoycing I have therefore published this Book to awaken thee and stir thee up to Repentance and to fly to Christ the Refuge of Sinners that thou mayest have much Joy and Peace in believing in this World and enter into everlasting Joys and Felicity in the perfect Enjoyment of God and Christ in the World to come MOTIVES to Godly Mourning and Rejoycing or CHRIST JESUS his Kind Invitation to Sinners to Repent CHAP. I. Concerning the Grief of Jesus Christ lamenting the Stubbornness of a Sinner I THE Only begotten Son of God the Power and Wisdom of God do cry in the Streets and lift up my Voice in the midst of the People for I have nourished and brought up the Sons of Men but they have despised me O Man I have written the sweet Law of my New Testament in thy inward parts and have planted it in the midst of thy Heart And yet thou hast had no desire to my immaculate Law which converts the Souls of Sinners neither hast thou regarded the saithful Testimony of my Eternal Love Thou hast went far away from me with the Transgressour Adam thy Father and thou hast hid thy self from Me thy most gracious God and Saviour when I walked in the Garden in the cool of the Day What meaneth this thou estranged Son Whither flyest thou from the Face of thy most merciful God and Redeemer Am I a cruel Lord because thou flyest speedily away from me and seekest to find a better Master Consider what thou dost and how far thou goest from thy own Salvation for without cause thou hatest thy most precious Remedy and Liberty Thy unhappy Soul is become as a Widow which if thou wouldest close with Divine Grace might remain faithful to the Covenant of her Espousals and enjoy the Priviledges of my most Sweet Love And yet she hath abhorred me her most faithful Lover and her Enemies have been enriched with her Spoils How is the Gold of my ancient Love become dim the bright-shining Colour of a good Conversation is changed the Stones of my Temple and Sanctuary are scattered upon the top of every Street Thou didst not delight in the Habitation of my City Jerusalem which I have loved and thou hast been reckoned among the Citizens which my Soul hates Wo to the Soul that departeth from me for the Terrors of Death will set themselves in aray against it and the Pains of Hell will take hold of it The Lion's Whelps will rage against it and roar after it that they may snatch it and take it for Meat thrown to them by God For since thou didst set up the Darkness of Sin instead of the Light of my Grace and there came upon thee a most dismal night of my Anger all the Beasts of the Insernal Wood pass by and make haste with open Mouth to devour thy Apostate Soul Therefore at least from this time call unto me and say Thou art my God and my Guide and now I will no more fly from thee O most gracious God! I have wandered being a Vagabond like Cain out of thy sight and I have served other Gods in whom I have no Salvation nor Deliverance Behold I return unto thee from a grievous Bondage I seek for thy most lovely Light from the Darkness and Shadow of Death which hath terrified me I know of a truth being convinced by Experience that there is no good thing out of thee the Son of the most amiable and most high God to whom I consecrate my inward Parts CHAP. II. Concerning the Sweetness of Jesus Christ calling a Sinner to Repentance I Wish my Son that thou wouldest prize my Friendship which is better than Gold and that thou wouldest hearken with the Ears of a contrite and humble Heart unto my still Voice whereunto the Rocks are moved O Ephraim I as a nursing Father take care of thee and my great and most faithful Mercy strives with the Hardness of thy stony Heart Thou according to thy Hardness and impenitent Heart resistest my Spirit which is sweeter than the Honey and I according to the Riches of infinite Goodness endeavour to mollify thy inward parts with my secret and innumerable Inspirations Thou flyest from me who am pursuing
thee not for Hatred but for design of thy Salvation And I meet thee flying away as it were by lying in wait that I may embrace thee with stretched forth Arms and may overcome thy Cruelty with my Infinite Mercy For which cause the Heavens and the Earth wonder at the Clemency and Sweetness of their Creator who watcheth so carefully over a most unthankful Sinner who is not willing to take my sweet Yoke upon him How long shall thy hard Heart kick against the Prick of my most strong Love Wilt thou always resist the unconceivable Love of thy God I could have damned thee by my Justice because thou didst wickedly and brakest my Yoke and saidst I will not serve And yet I suffered thee in much Patience and desire of thy Eternal Life if perhaps thou wouldest turn unto me and be reconciled to my most merciful Father Why then dost thou tarry most beloved Son Why delayest thou from day to day to return unto my most sweet Peace and Love Suffer me my Son suffer me to dissolve thy Ice with the hot burning Fire of my Love and to renew thy Deformed Soul according to the Pattern of the only begotten Son of God O Off-spring of Adam how long shall I suffer you O wonderful thing hidden from the Wise and the Prudent of the World who have shut their Ears least they should hear my Heart-warning Speech I the Son of the most High stand at thy door and knock desiring to enter in and fill thy House with unspeakable good things and yet it seems grievous to thee to give Entertainment to God thy Redeemer and Friend Verily if thou shouldest once knock at the Gate of my House I would hasten to open to thee at the first Knock as I opened to David my Servant when he groaned at the Rebuke of Nathan my Prophet Therefore my dearly beloved Son let my Counsel please thee and with seasonable Repentance return unto me thy peaceable King and I will love thee as a most tender-hearted Mother and will embrace thee and nourish thy Infancy with my most pleasant Milk CHAP. III. Concerning the Goodness of God and his Readiness to forgive WHither flyest thou dearly beloved Son who hast grievously offended me Have I been a barren Wilderness unto thee because thou sayest in thy Heart I have departed and I will no more return unto thee Will a Virgin forget her Attire or a Bride her Nuptial Ornament Why then hath thy Soul which I have espoused unto my self with the price of my Blood forsaken me and forgotten me days without number I am Goodness it self which with its Sweetness feedeth all Creatures than which nothing more lovely can be conceived and yet through thy great Folly thou seekest Good out of me My Son consider my Goodness wherewith Rocks are softned and be thou mollified Neither believe the false Prophets who foretel false Joys besides me Verily if I am the chief Good of necessity whatsoever thou seekest out of me is not good for thee though thou alone shouldst possess all the Kingdoms of the World and all things desirable unto carnal Eyes It is commonly said Good is that which all design and yet thou being led aside by a great Error art enticed with the pleasure of things that have the false appearance of Goodness but the true eternal and unchangeable Good thou foolishly forsakest O that thou wert wise and hadst Understanding to consider thy Latter-end O Son follow not strange Gods for surely they will turn thy Heart away from true Wisdom Thou shalt look for Light and not see it neither shalt thou behold the Dawning of the Day Let my pure Law cleave unto thy inward Parts and hearken unto the whispering Voice of my Secret Teaching and the Catholick Faith with which I have inlightned thee Behold thou believest with a sincere Faith that I am Infinite Goodness Beauty and Wisdom with which only the Heart of Man can be satisfied Whither then hastnest thou whilst thou offendest me but unto Infinite Wickedness Filthiness and Folly with which thy Soul will be defiled Is it not greater Wisdom to adhere unto me and to be illuminated and satisfied with the Breasts of my Consolation than to be so Hunger-starved as not to have a full Meal of the Husks of Swine in the midst of my Vagabond and Fugitive Enemies Return O prodigal Son unto thy rest and I will embrace thee when thou returnest from a far Country and I will say unto my Servant as soon as I see thee Bring hither speedily the best Robe put a Ring upon his Hand and Shooes upon his Feet For my Bowels will yern upon my dearly beloved Son whom I have begotten and I will rejoyce at thy Conversion as he that findeth much Spoil For I delight in shewing Mercy and by reason of the Greatness of my Goodness my Soul melteth at the Groans of Repenting Sinners and at the Misery and Sighing of the Poor Son remember how tender-hearted I am whereby thou mayest learn how great is the Multitude of my Goodness and Sweetness Read my holy Scriptures and thou wilt wonder at my Readiness to show Mercy and to forgive Sinners and to comfort the Afflicted Whereby thou wilt understand that I am a good Lord and wilt fear to depart from me as Death useth to be feared I never lifted up my Spear against the Man that was willing to serve my most gracious Father though he had sinned most grievously Once David groaned saying I have sinned and immediately I put away his Sin The Publican who had greatly offended me accused himself with a few Sighs and presently he went down to his House justified and joyful in Heart The wicked Servant owed me Ten thousand Talents who falling down craved Mercy of me and I sent him away free and forgave him all the debt The Woman that was taken in Adultery stood in fear and was instantly accused in my sight And I answering her very sweetly delivered her from Condemnation I shewed a loving Countenance to Magdalen the Sinner and presently forgave her so that the Pharisee who had invited me wondred The Thief that was crucified with me melted my Heart with one word and immediately was made Partaker of my Kingdom Wherefore then is not my Goodness which is evidenced by so many Proofs acceptable to the Sons of Adam but they seek strange Consolations Shun O my Son the Societies of Sinners and by True Repentance seek my Face CHAP. IV. Concerning the Wisdom of God from which a Man by Sinning departs O How foolishly hast thou departed from me my Son with Adam thy Father who endeavoured by the forbidden Tree to become like God knowing Good and Evil This is not the way of my Wisdom which savours very sweetly to the Palate of the Heart I Wisdom who have proceeded from the Mouth of the most High am a most beautiful Light who do illuminate with everlasting Brightness the Minds of little ones who willingly commit themselves to
thou shalt take away from the midst of thee thy Sins and thy Idols and return and call upon Me thy God and Redeemer and Preserver I will enlighten thine Eyes lest at any time thou sleep the Sleep of Death I will preserve thee and my Candle shall shine upon thine Head And thou shalt rejoyce in my most pleasant and most blessed Light wherewith I will direct thy Paths in the night of the mortal Life leading thee to my bright-shining Glory in the ways that lead to eternal Life I will open thy Eyes with the Beam of my infinite Light and thou being awaked as it were out of a heavy Sleep shalt wonder how in the by-past time thou didst walk in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death And thou shalt love Me thy Deliverer with all thy Heart and shalt honour Me with the Sacrifice of perpetual Praise Arise speedily my dearly beloved Son arise from the Darkness and Horror of Hell where thou lyest and receive the Light of Heaven which will rejoyce thee before the last night come which will be the last Punishment of Sinners who despise my present Inspirations and Mercies Meditate on these things in the inner Chamber of thy Heart and cast thy Eyes upon Me the Sun of Righteousness who am desirous to enlighten thee and to fill thy dearly beloved Soul with the bright-shining Glory of the Saints of Light CHAP. XIV Concerning the unhappy Death of a Sinner THE Sinner whilst he lives runs through the Fields of the World like an Ox satted for the Slaughter The miserable Man considers not that he will be taken by Death as a Highway-Man lying in wait That being bound in the Chains of Hell he may pay unto the utmost Farthing He drinks he eats he plays he laughs he swears and blasphems and in the very time whilst he is sinning without restraint Sickness and Death comes suddenly upon him and he is called to Judgment O how bitter a Grief is it to be called to Death O how great Trembling and Horror takes hold on the Sinner when he sees that by a most grievous Death he is separated from all things which he dearly loved O how lamentably saith he in that distress the Sorrows of Death have compassed me and the Pains of Hell have taken hold upon me Wo to the wicked Man when he dies upon whom all the Billows of Sorrow and Afflictions do suddenly rush that he may have a fore-taste of the Torments of Hell who did not breath after eternal Consolations Now the riotous Banquets are passed away now the ungodly Games are gone Now Kinsmen and Friends have failed Now Riches profit not and whatsoever was delightful is turned into Matter of Desolation and Despair The unhappy Soul which despised my Inspirations is afraid to go out of the Body into everlasting Flames and flys back as far as it can if so be it may find any that can comfort it in that distress But it resists in vain because the hour of Death is at hand and the time of its giving up all its desireable things which it had in the days of old when it transgressed my most sweet Law All its Sins as a terrible Army are set before it that it may see how sad and bitter an end follows the by-past Joys The Devils like ravenous Dogs stand in expectation of their Prey which is tyed with innumerable Chains of its own Sins that it may be dragged to Punishment The foolish Man when he had time took no care to be reconciled unto Me and in the last hour he hath not any whom he may look to for help All his Persecutors over-take him between the straits and desire cruelly to suck up his Blood and then the Sentence of my Justice being pronounced the Vessel of Wrath fitted for Destruction is halled to Torments This is the Lot of an unrighteous Man whom Evils do overtake in Destruction What thinkest thou then my Son who hast sinned What dost thou expect Is not thy Mind terrified at the hearing of these things which a Sinner dying suffers against his Will Turn then to thy God who can deliver thee from the Wrath to come and comfort thee when thou art going out of this Life by his infinite Grace and his unconceiveable Mercy Be greatly afraid of my Wrath and Justice whilst thou art alive that at thy Death thou mayest find my Fatherly Compassion For they that in their life time fear me as a severe Judge in their Death they find Me as a most bountiful Father Blessed are they who observe my Ways with all their Heart being mindful of their latter end They shall not be afraid of the Terror of the Night when they shall speak with their Enemies in the Gate to wit when they shall pass out of this Life After which will follow the eternal Night of Sinners or the eternal Light of the Righteous whom I have loved Follow me my Son and let my Law cleave to thy inward Parts and the Torment of Death shall not seize upon thee but thou shalt rest in a joyful and delightful Peace FINIS