years Ps 9. 10. Also before your time which probably you had lotted on and which men too often do promise themselvs Such as upon any awakenings of Conscience and Calls to Repentance delay put it off while in their Youth it is upon a promise of repenting when they are old and how many in that sense die before their time And here for your further awakning observe the Lord in his Providence making good another dreadful word upon you viz. that bloudy and deceitful men shall not live out half their dayes Psal 55. 23. Thus you are a son of Death God and man have said to thee Oh wicked man thou shalt surely dye 4. Your time is numbred and almost finished Indeed God has numbred all our times Yearâ— and the number of our months is with him Job 1â— 5. But the number of your I cannot say monthâ— but dayes is with your self you your self may number your own dayes The Lord teach you to apply your heart unto wisdom while numbering them Psal 90. 12. You are just now upon the very brink of the Pit the Grave is ready for you upon the very Edge of Eternity are you I say eminently you now walking will be within the line of it very speedily Job could say when a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return Cap. 16. 22. But you may say Before 4 dayes are come gone I shall be gone to the place from whence I shall not return till the very heavens be no more It made Belshazzar's Countenance to be changed the joints of his loins to be loosed and his knees to knock one against another to see the Hand-Writing upon the wall Dan. 5. 6. and we may imagine or at least one would think you whose very case it is may imagine how his thoughts within him were troubled when the Interpretation laid that dreadful doom upon himself that his Kingdom was numbred finished by God and it was meant of his life All which was lost that night v. 27. 30. It 's true we have none of us any lease of our lives we cannot say what may befal us this night and yet O amazing Madness Folly how apt are we if not to boast of yet to lot upon tomorrow How ready to promise to our selvs many years as the Fool in the Gospel did Luc. 12. 20. who well deserved the name of Fool had it been for that one evidence of it only But for your part you have your bounds set told you beyond which you cannot pass you know at the utmost the Date of your life and Day of your Death you may die sonner but you must not live longer your end is in your view you have but a few steps thither and had not need take any vain unprofitable or false ones You seem to bewail your sin of Sabbath-breaking well know that you shall never have another Sabbath to break The Lord help you to keep this as you ought I cannot pass this particular without once more commending it to your serious Consideration O chew upon it dwell upon it that a few hours hence you shall cirtainly dye It 's a very awful thing to us to look upon you a person in your Youth Health and Strength Breasts full of milk and Bones moisâ—ned with marrow and then to think that within so many daies this man tho' in his full Strength must dy and methinks it should be much more awful to you 5. Your Death will not expiâ—te your Offence in the sight of God nor cause the Turning away of His Anger from you It s true the shedding of your bloud will take away the Sin from the Land that it shall noâ— ly there else innocent bloud should be imputed to the Land but this doeâ— nothing towards the Satisfaction of Gods Justicâ— in order to the Removal of his wrath from the Murderer Punishment makes no amends for Sin unless it be that which was inflicted upon Christ as he stood in the capacity of a Surety in behalf of the Elect and so bare both their sin and their punishment but otherwise Hâ—ll torments don't satisfy God's Justâ—ce nor quench the fire of his wrath muchless can any bodily suffering do it tho it be the highest even death it self Do not then deceive your self Say not I have sinned its true but am now to suffer the Law and that being undergone I shall then be quitt It is so indeed as to any thing that men can do to thee but thy death does not at all deliver thee out of the hands of Divine Justice Nay rather Sixthly If you get not this Sin and all the rest of your sins done away and so the Anger of God removed your approaching Death will be but the beginning of Sorrows to you However sensually or like a Beast or worse you have lived you shall not dye as Beasts dye so as that there shall be an end of you and all your sufferings together No no such matter Your precious immortal soul must live forever and if you get not the fire of God's Anger put out Know that there is a Fire kindled in his anger that shall burn to the lowest Hell. Without Repentance â—â—to life which is the gift of Christ and for your Comfort I tell you in the midst of all these bitter things I have been speaking to you he is freely willing to give it even to you Oh look up to Him heartily for the same I say unless you get this Repentance unto life your death is but an In-let to the Second death No sooner shall your guilty soul be forced out of your wretched body but it shall appear before God that gave it there to receive another manner of Sentence of Condemnation than what you have already heard from man by which you were condemned to dye but there was room for a Lord have Mercy on your soul to be annexed whereas in that Sentence there will be no mercy upon your soul for your soul is the principal subject of the 2nd death Separating your soul and body asunder was the aim and will be the â—ssue of this Sentence but the death everlasting utter loss of your soul for which nothing can be given to God in Exchange Mat. 16. 26. will be the meaning of this Sentence Theâ— shall your soul be committed into left in the hands of the Devil your master whom you have served that great Murderer Lyar who was so from the beginning and is the father lord of such to be dragged down by him into the place where your fellow-Murderers and fellow-Lyars and fellow-Drunkards are viz. into the lake that burns with fire brimstone which is the second death Rev. 21. 8. there to be tormented with the Devil his angels where the Worm never dyeth and the fire never shall be quenched Marc. 9. 43. 44. You have a scareing vision Rev. 6. 8. of one whose name was Death
for being wicked over much There is hardly any sort of Wickedness which you have not wallowed in-That sin particularly which you are now to die for is a most monstrous Crime I can't possibly describe or declare the sins whereby you have made your self an astonishing Example of Impiety punishment Mor. O Sir I have bin a most hellish sinner I am sorry for what I have bin Min. Sorry you say well tell me which of all your sins you are now most sorry for which lyes most heavy Mor. I hope I am sorry for all my sins but I must especially bewail my neglect of the means of grace On Sabbath dayes I us'd to lye at home or be ill imploy'd elsewhere when I should have bin at Church This has undone me Min. And let me seriously tell you Your Despiseing of Christ is a most dreadful sin indeed You have for whole years together had the Call of Jesus Christ to seek an Interest in him you would now give all the world for that interest but you would take no notice of him The Jews of Old put him to a worse death than yours will be this afternoon and by your contempt of Christ you have said the Jews did well to do so How justly might he now Laugh at your Calamity And for these sins of yours besides the direful woes plagues that have already come upon you you are now expos'd unto the Vengeance of eternal fire You are in danger of being now quickly cast into those exquisite amazing Torments in comparison of which the anguishes which your body ever did feel or shall feel before night or can ever feel are just nothing at all and these dolorous torments are such as never have an End as many sands as could lie between this earth the Stars in Heaven would not be near so many as the Ages the end-less Ages of these Torments Mor. But is there not Mercy for me in Christ Min. Yes and its a wonderful thing that I have now further to tell you Mind I entreat you The SON of GOD is become the Son of Man the Lord Jesus Christ is both God man in one Person he is both sufficiently able willing also to be your Saviour He lived a most righteous life and this was that such as you I might be able to say before God Lord accept of me as if I had liv'd righteously He died at length a most cursed death and this was that we might be able to say unto God Lord let not me die for sin since thy Son has died in my room This glorious Redeemer is now in the highest heaven pleading with God for the Salvation of His chosen ones And He pours out his Spirit continually upon them that do believe on him might you then be enabled by his grace to carry your poor guilty condemned enslaved ignorant soul unto Jesus Christ and humbly put your trust in him for deliverance from the whole bad state which you are brought into Oh then his voice is to you the same that was to the penitent Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Mor. Oh that I might be so Sir I would hear more of these things I think I can't better fit my self for my death than by hearkning to these things Min. Attend then The never-dying spirit that lodges within you must now within a few minutes appear before the Tribunal of the Great GOD in what or in whose Righteousness will you then appear will you have this to be your Plea Lord I experienced many good Motions Desires in my soul many Sorrows for my sin before I dy'd or will you expect to have no other Plea but This Lord I am vile but thy Son is a Surety for the worst of sinners that believe in him for his sake alone have MERCY on me Morg. I thank God for what He has wrought in my Soul Min. But be very careful about this matter if you build on your own good Affections instead of Jesus Christ the only Rock if you think they shall recommend you to God He that made you will not have mercy on you Mor. I would be clothed with the Righteousness of JESUS CHRIST Min But you can't sincerely desire that Christ should justify you if you don 't also desire that He should sanctify you those 2 alwaies go together Is evry lust that has hitherto had possession of your heart become so loathsom to you that it would fill your soul with joy to hear Jesus Christ say I will subdue those Iniquities of thine I will make a holy heavenly a spiritually minded person of thee Mor. I would sin against God no more Min. But I must deal plainly with you You have made it sadly suspicious that your repentance is not yet as it ought to be when men truly throughly repent of sin they use to be in a special manner watchful against that Sin which has bin their chief Sin one of your principal sins which has indeed brought you to the Death of a Murderer is Passion unmortifi'd outragious Passionateness Now I have been this day informed that no longer since than the last night upon some Dissatisfaction about the place which the Authority hath ordered you by and by to be buried in you did express your self with a most unruly Passionateness Mor. Sir I confess it and I was quickly sorry for it tho' for the present I was too much disturbed 'T was my folly to be so careful about the place where my body should be laid when my precious SOUL was in such a Condition Min. Truly you have cause to mourn for it Secure the welfarre of your soul and this now pinion'd hang'd vile body of yours will shortly be raised unto glory glory forevermore And let me put you in mind of one thing more I doubt you han't yet laid aside your unjust Grudges against the Persons concerned in your Conviction Condemnation You have no cause to complain of them and you are not fit to pray much less are you fit to dye till you heartily wish them as well as your own soul if you die malicious you die miserable Mor. I heartily wish them all well I bear Ill-will to none What a lamentable thing is this Ah this is that which has brought me hither Min. What do you mean Mor. I over-heard a man mocking scoffing at me when I stumbled just now he does very ill I have done so my self I have mock'd scoff'd like that man and see what it hath brought me to he may come to the like Min. The Lord forgive that foolish hard-hearted creature But be not too much disturbed Mor. Yonder I am now come in sight of the place where I must immediately end my dayes Oh what a huge Multitude of people is come together on this occasion O Lord O Lord I pray thee to make my Death profitable to all this Multitude of People that they may not sin
A SERMON Occasioned by the EXECUTION of a man found Guilty of MURDER Preached at Boston in N. E. March 11th 1685 / 6 Together with the Confession Last Expressions solemn Warning of that Murderer to all persons especially to Young men to beware of those Sins which brought him to his miserable End. By INCREASE MATHER Teacher of Church of CHRIST The SECOND EDITION Deut. 19. 20. 21. And those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such Evil among you â— 21. And thine eye shall not â—…ity but Life shall go for Life Eye for Eye c. Prov. 28. 17. A man that doth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit let no man stay him Boston Printed by R. P. Sold by J. Brunning Book-seller at his Shop at the Corner of the Prison-Lane next the Exchange Anno 1687. To the Reader THe Sermons emitted herewith both that of mine and that also delivered by my Son are published to gratify some who have been perhaps too importunately desirous to have it so The Person that occasioned the Preaching of them is now uncapable of receiving Benefit by them Whether they were blessed for any saving Good to his Soul the Lord knowes and it becomeâ— us to leave Secret things with GOD. Late Repentance is seldom true There are who think that many who perished in the Floud were by means of that Judgment brought to true Repentance To this sense some interpret that Scripure 1. Pet. 4. 6. otherwise we read not of more than one man in all the Book of God that was brought home to Christ but a few hours before his death Nevertheless the Lord knows how to make the woful death as to his Body of a great Sinner to occasion the Conversion and Salvation of many Souls If any be awakned by this sad Example to turn from those sins which proved the ruin of a miserable man and if these Sermons such as they are may be a meanes to further the work of Repentance towards God Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in any that shall read them the Design of this Publication will be attained As for the Exhortation annexed to these Discourses it was delivered on the same day with that Sermon preached by my Son whom the Lord Jesus hath fixed in the same Church to which I am related but in the after part of the day The Reverend and worthy Author has not had time to transcribe his whole Sermon only that part of it which concerned the then Condemned Malefactor Many have earnestly desired that it might in this way be made publick And because it is most suitable that the Best should come last it is in this Publication added to the other Sermons The Lord prosper his Truth by whomsoever spoken or written for the Good of Souls Increase mather March 26. 1686. NUMB. XXXV 16. And if he smite him with an Instrument of Iron so that he die he is a Murderer the Murderer shall surely be put to DEATH A Great part of this Chapter is taken up in declaring who should have benefit by the City of Refuge and who might not expect advantage thereby There are Two sorts of Man-slayers 1 One may kill his Neighbour Accidentally tho he had no design of Hurt to him nor any Displeasure against him The City of Refuge was for such 2. A Man may in Hatred or in Passion kill another and then then the City of Refuge could not secure or save him from the hand of Justice To intimate which is the Scope of the Words which have been now read wherein we have two things 1. A Criminal 2. The Punishment to be inflicted on such a Criminal 1. A Criminal He is a Murderer There are three Particulars mention'd which if they concur the Person is guilty of Murder 1. If he smites another man h. e. if he does so not accidentally but designedly 2. If the Instrument which he smites him with be of Iron that makes the Murder to be the more evident In the Verses following it is added That if he smite him mortally with a Stone or with Wood he shall be accounted a Murderer The Jewish Writers tell us (a) v. Grotium Ainsworth in loc That if a man were slain there was diligent enquiry made concerning the Instrument whereby he was killed If it was with a Stone or with Wood they examin'd whether the stone or wood were of that Bigness as that the dead man might probably receive his Deaths Wound thereby But they say If it were with an Instrument of Iron no enquiry was made as to the greatness of it because the least nail of Iron might easily kill And it is to be presumed that a man will not strike another with an Instrument of Iron except Blood and Murder be in his Heart 3. If the Wound prove mortal then the Striker is guilty of Murder Tho a man should smite another and that with an Instrument of Iron if Death does not follow he is not guilty of that high degree of Murder which the Text speakes of but if he smite his Neighbour so that he dye then he is a Murderer 2 Here is the Punishment to be inflicted on such a Criminal The Murderer shall surely be put to death Only Gods Order was to be observed he was to be put to death in a Judiciary way Amongst the Jews the Avenger of blood was to be the Executioner as the 19th ver in this chapter shews where it is said that the Avenger of blood himself shall slay the Murderer The Hebrew word for the Avenger pf bloud is GOEL which is sometimes translated a Redeemer The word properly signifyes one that is near a kin The next Kinsman had right to Redeem he also was to be the Avenger of blood Only before Execution could be done the Magistrate was to pass a Judgment The Man-slayer was sent from the City of Refuge whither he fled unto the place where the Fact was done there to have his Tryal If the Magistrates of that Place found him not guilty he was returned to the City of Refuge there to be in safety till the death of the High Priest and then to be set at Liberty But if he was found Guilty of Murder he was to be put to death publickly by the hand of Justice The DOCTRINE then before us as suited to the present Occasion is That Murder is a Sin so great heinous as that whoever shall be found Guilty of it must be put to death by the hand of publick Justice The Explication and Confirmation of this Doctrin may be set before us in 3 Propositions Prop. 1. Murder is when a man does voluntarily unjustly take away the Life of another person So that there are 3 Things implied in Murder 1. The Object slain must be one of Man-kind To take away the Life of another Creature is not Murder The Sixth Commandment saith Ye shall not kill The Hebrew words are
LOTâ—RTZACH i. e. Thou shalt not Murder It was a â—ain Opinion of the Manachees whom Austin That the Life of no Creature might be taken away because the Commandment of God saith Thou shalt not kill God has given express leave to all the Sons of Noah i. e. to Mankind that they should take away the Lives of other creatures as they should see cause only Man being a more Divine Creature his Life is to be Sacred it may not be medled with except in cases where the Great Soveraign God who has an absolute power of Life and Death hath appointed 2. Capital Murder is wilful There is a difference between Murder and casual Homicide or accidental Manslaughter If a man shoots an Arrow or throws a stone or the like not thinking that any one will be hurt thereby in case it should happen to kill a man it is not Murder If he did it ignorantly unawares and no way sought the harm of the slain man he is not to be punished as a Murderer This we see in the Context ver 15. to 26. The City of Refuge was for such an one Deut. 19. 4. 5. And this is the case of the slayer which shall flee thither that he may live whosoever killeth his neighbour ignorantly whom he hated not in time past as when a man goes into the Wood with his neighbour to hew wood and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the Ax to cut down the tree and the head slippeth from the helve lights upon his neighbour that he die he shall flee unto one of those cities and live Not but that a man may be guilty of Murdering his Neighbour tho he did not intend to kill him namely If he did smite him in Anger or intend to harm him as the expression is in the 23. ver of this Chapter And it is here expresly declared not only that he who shall lye in wait or watch for an opportunity to destroy his Neighbour or that did formerly hate him shall be judged a Murderer but if he smite him in emnity that he dy v. 21. i. e. in an hostile way tho he had no quarrel with him before if he fall out with him and in his passion smite him a mortal Blow he hath murdered his Neighbour and is guilty of death This is presumptous Murder the heart was in it nor can it be said to be done ignorantly There is another clear Scripture which proves that if persons fall out and in the strife one shall strike the other a deadly blow life shall go for life Ex. 21. 14 21 22 But then 3dly In Murder the Life of a man is taken away unjustly In some cases it is lawful to take away the Life of another Yea Matters may be so circumstanced as it would be a great sin not to do it There are Three cases wherein the Life of a man may be taken away and yet no Sin no Murder committed 1. In case of a Just War. There is a great difference between blood shed in war and in a time of Peace Joab was guilty of Murder because he shed the blood of War in peace 1. King 2. 5 had he killed Abner Amasa in the war-time before David had made peace with him he had not bin guilty of Murder but because he shed blood after a peace was concluded he was a Murderer Somtimes in War they that take away lives do an acceptable service to God. Abigal told David that God would certainly bless him because he fought the Battles of the Lord. 1. Sam. 25. 28. And we know that Abraham was blessed after he returned from the Slaughter of the Kings with whom he had a just war. Heb. 7. 2. In these cases the not shedding of blood may possibly expose to a Curse Jer. 48. 10 Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully and cursed be he that keeps back his sword from blood 2. They that are in Civil Authority may and ought to take away the Lives of men that shall commit Crimes by the Law of God worthy of Death The Apostle therefore saith concerning the Magistrate He is the minister of God to thee for good but if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he â—eareth not the sword in vain for he is the minister of God a Revenger to execute wrath upon him that does Evil. Rom. 13 4. Private Reveng is evil but publick Revenge on those that violate the Laws of God is good The Magistrate is God's Vice-gerent As none can give life but God so none may take it away but God or such as He has appointed It is their work to see that the Lives of men be taken from them when God has said that they shall surely be put to death Hence David speaks as in Psal 101. 8. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land that I may cut off all the wicked Doers from the City of the Lord. God had put the Sword into his hand for that end that so he might clear the Land of Malefactors who were worthy of Death and he was resolved to see Justice done But private Persons are not to arrogate to themselves that which is the Magistrate's proper work Men must have lawful Authority for what they do else in taing away Life they become guilty of Murder Suppose a person to have committed never such Capital Crimes if a private person or one that has no Legal Authority shall take away his Life he is guilty of Murder Except 3. In case of a man 's own just Defence So a private person may take away the life of another The light of Nature teaches men Self-Preservation If a Murderer assault him he may kill rather than be killed We cannot say that Abner was guilty of Murder when he slew Asahal in his own defence (b) Alsted Theol. Cas Cap. 15. p. 350. If a man be coutrary to Justice invaded or set upon by another in an hostile manner and there he no other way for him to preserve his own life but by killing the Assailant the Law of Nature and of all Nations acquit him from the guilt of Murder But he that has shed blood causless or that has avenged himself is a Murderer 1. Sam. 25. 31. Propos 2. Murder is an exceeding great Sin. It 's an expression in the Scriptures he is as if he slew a man Isa 66. 3. Implying that to slay a man is a thing most horrid hateful it is indeed the greatest Sin against the 2nd Table of the Moral Law and is therefore set in the first place amongst negative Precepts therein God forbids the greatest sin in the first place It is a Crying Sin The Lord said to Cain The voice of thy brothers blood cryeth to me from the ground Gen. 4. 10. In the Original the word is in the Plural Number the voice of thy brothers bloods Every drop of Abel's blood had as it were a voice a tongue in it crying for vengeance
against his brother that had murdered him But that This is a grievous sin is manifest 1. In that it is a most unnatural thing Creatures of the same kind are not wont to destroy one another Naturalists observe concerning Wolves that though they be cruel creatures they will never kill one another therefore if Men do so they are worse than Wolves Tygers so that Murder is an unnatural and a monstrous Wickedness 2. The Vengeance which is wont to follow this Sin proves that it is an horrid and hainous Transgression There is a peculiar Vengeance that does pursue this sin at the heels of it The Gentiles had the motion of this fix'd in their minde hence those Barbarians could say No doubt this man is a murderer whom tho' he escaped the seas yet Vengeance suffereth not to live Act. 21. 4. ‖ Ethnici Dicen tanquam deam filiam Jovis colebant in Plut. l. de ser a vindict Dice daemon dicitur The Heathen esteemed dike the word there used for Vengeance as a Deity that would not suffer great Sinners and in special Murderers to go unpunished Temporal Vengeance pursueth this Sin. Hence they that have been guilty of it seldom live long in quiet Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days Psal 55. 23. Either they are cut off by the Sword of Civil Justice or if their Murders happen to be undiscovered a secret Curse of God follows them Often times they are themselvs Murdered as both Divine and humane Records do abundantly declare Nay tho men should truly repent of this sin and are then thro' the Merit of Christ saved from everlasting Punishment yet not from Temporal Judgment I cannot tell whether ever any man that was found guilty of this sin did escape Temporal Judgment at last When David had caused Vriah to be Murdered he did repent of it most deeply and unfeignedly yet God punished him severely as to outward Judgments he saw but few comfortable dayes after that the Sword never departed from his house I have read of a man that fought a Duel and murdered his Adversary who afterwards was very penitent and for several years an eminent instance of exemplary piety but at last he was smitten by the immediate hand of God so as that Blood gushed out of all the passages of his Body and he dyed suddenly The Relator notes upon it that tho' God forgave him as to eternal yet not as to temporal Vengeance But especially Spiritnal Vengeance follows this Sin The Murderers Soul is filled with hellish horrour of heart so that he is as it were Damned above ground and in hell whilst he is yet alive The avenger of blood pursues his soul Murderers have confessed that as soon as ever they had commited the bloody fact they felt the flames of Hell fire in their consciences and this we see in Cain therefore after he had murdered his Brother he cried and roared out that his sin was greater than could be forgiven his punishment greater than could be endured And some think that the mark which the Lord set upon Cain was a gastly guilty Countenance that he had Hell Horror in his countenance as well as in his Conscience And without Repentance everlasting vengeance will follow that Sin. It s said No murderer has eternal life 1. Joh. 3. 15. that is without true Repentance And if he has not eternal life then I am sure he has eternal death and Damnation If the Murderer were only to have the life of his body taken from him tho' in a painful shameful accursed way that were a light matter but there is an eternal Curse a weight of everlasting vengeance heavier than Mountains of Lead that shall press his Soul to death world without end Murder then is a fearful sin Propos 3. The Murderer is to be put to death by the hand of Publick Justice And this confirms the former Propositions concerning the greatness of this Sin. Men may not pardon or remit the Punishment of that Sin. Among the Jews there was no City of Refuge for a wicked or wilful man-slayer and it is said in the 31 verse of this Chapter You shall take no satisfaction for the life of a Murderer which is guilty of death but he shall surely be put to death This sin shall not be satisfyed for with any other punishment but the death of the Murderer There are some Crimes that other punishment less than Death may be accepted of as a Compensation for the wrong done either by some Mulct or Fine in their Estates or some other Coporal Punishment less than death but in case of Murder no Fine or Imprisonment or Banishment or corporal punishment less than death can be accepted You shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer And indeed Equity requires this by the law of Retaliation it is meet that men should be done unto as they have done to others and that as limb should go for limb so Life for Life But besides that there are two Reasons mentioned in the Scripture why the Murderer must be put to Death Reas 1. That so the Land where the murder is committed may be purged from the guilt of Blood. For Murder is such a sin as does pollute the very Land where it is done not only the person that has shed blood is polluted thereby but the whole Land lies under Pollution until such time as Justice is done upon the Murderer Thus in the 33. v. of this Chapter this is given as the Reason why no Satisfaction might be taken for the life of a Murderer so shall ye not pollute the land wherein you are for blood it defileth the land and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him that shed it One Murder unpunished may bring guilt a curse upon the whole Land that all the Inhabitants of the Land shall suffer for it So that Mercy to a Murderer is Cruelty to a People Therefore it is said concerning the Murderer Thine eye shall not pity him but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee If the Murderer be not punished it may go ill with the Whole all may fare the worse for it if the sin be not duly punished there is a partaking in the guilt of it Reas 2. Because man is made in the Image of God. This reason is mentioned Gen. 9. 6. Whosoever sheddeth mans blood by man i. e. by some man in Authority proceeding in an orderly way of Judicature as the Hebrew Expositors do rightly interpret the words shall his blood be shed for in the Image of God made He him Hence there is Sacrilegious Guilt in this Sin. Amongst the Romans (d) Sueton in Tiber. cap. 58. if a man did but strike his Servant near the place where one of their Emperours lay he was to dye for it because that was look'd upon as
take heed of those sins as they love their Lives or Souls I know not but that it may be for Edisieation and tend to God's Glory if I should read in this great Assembly what I received in Writing from this dying distressed Creature It s this which followeth I James Morgan being Condemned to dye must needs own to the glory of God that He is righteous and that I have by my sins provoked Him to destroy me before my time I have bin a great sinner guilty of Sabbath-breaking of Lying and of Uncleanness but there are especially two Sins whereby I have offended the great God one is that Sin of Drunkenness which has caused me to commit many other Sins for when in Drink I have been often guilty of Cursing and Swearing and quarrelling and striking others But the Sin which lies most heavy upon my Conscience is that I have despised the Word of God and many a time refused to hear it preached For these things I beleeve God has left me to that which has brought me to a shameful miserable death I do therefore beseech warn all persons young men especially to take heed of these Sins lest they provoke the Lord to do to them as He has justly done by me And for the further peace of my own Conscience I think my self obliged to add this unto my foregoing Confession That I own the Sentence which the Honoured Court has pass'd upon me to be exceeding just in as much as tho I had no former Grudge and Malice against the man whom I have killed yet my Passion at the time of the Fact was so out-ragious as that it hurrâ—â—d me on to the doing of that which makes me justly now proceeded against as a Murderer Thus does this miserable man confess But how many are there in the Congregation that this may strike terror trembling into their souls O Lord how many are there in this great Assembly who have lived and do live in those very sins for which this Man confesseth that God has been provoked to destroy him Let sinners hear take warning this day This man now that the Terrors of God have awakned his soul bitterly complains of two Sins especially one is that of Drunkenness And indeed Drunkenness has bin a bloody sin it has bin the cause of many a Murder The man here who is now flying to the Pit confesseth that in his Drink he was wont to Curse Swear and to quarrel and strike those near him and he acknowledged to me that he had made himself grievously drunk the day before he was left of God to commit the Murder which he now must dye for yea and that he had that very night bin drinking to excess and that he was not clear of drink at the time when he did the bloody Fact. And does not the Scripture say Who has wo who has sorrow who has contentions who has babling who has wounds without cause They that tarry long at the Wine c. Prov. 23. 29 30. Wicked men when they are in drink will fall to Quarrelling words will bring on blows and those blows will cause wounds and those wounds may perhaps prove mortal and then what Woe Sorrow followes O how many have by means of this sin been guilty of Interpretative Murder â— They have caused others to dye by making them drunk There has been an horrible thing done in this place some wicked persons who they are God knows have given or sold strong Liquors to the Indians and made them drunk also and several of them have dyed in that condition Let such know that the Lord will judg them yea He will judg 'em as Men that have shed blood shall be judged they must answer for the blood of Souls and Bodyes too Most wicked and miserable Creatures they are that to gain a few pence will bring upon themselvs the guilt of the blood of Souls of Bodies too And this bloody sin of Drunkenness has bin the cause of many a Self-Murder how many have made themselvs the woful Martyrs of Bacchus thereby By Drunkenness Intemperance they have brought their Bodies to the Grave and their Souls to Hell before their time It is an unhappy thing that of later years a kind of Strong †Reverend Mr Wilson once said in a Sermon there is a sort of drink come into the country which is called Kill Devil but it should be call'd Kill men for the Devil Drink kath been common amongst us which the poorer sort of people both in Town Country can make themselves drunk with â—â— cheap easy rates They that are poor and wicked too Ah most miserable Creatures can for a peny or two pence make themselvs drunk I wish to the Lord some remedy might be thought of for the prevention of this evil It 's a very sad thing that so many Bodyes Souls should be eternally ruin'd and no help for it How few are there that if once they be addicted to â—his vice do ever truly repent of it or turn from it There was a Man who hearing that his Son took evil courses and that he followed such a vice well said he I hope he 'll leave that and that he was given to another vice I hope said he he 'll leave that too but it was told him that his Son was given to Drunkenness also Nay then said he I have no hope of him I will not say as he did There is no hope that ever a Drunkard should repent but I say there have been but few such Instances in the world How rarely have any of you known a man that has been addicted to this Body-destroying and Soul-murdering Iniquity that has truly repented of it or turned from it again O then Let Men that have any love for their Lives or Souls beware of this bloody Sin. But the other Evil which this undone Man does especially cry out of and which now that he seeth his Soul going into Eternity he saith lies most heavy upon his Conscience is his Despising the Word of God. I do not wonder to hear him speak so for I have known several Condemned persons who have made the same out-cry O nothing terrifies our Consciences like the thought of This that we have neglected the Means of grace And what think you of Sinners in Hell who are wayling for this with tears of blood for ever ever whose doleful and bitter cry is O the Sermons which we once heard or might have heard but would not Ten Thousand worlds would we give for an opportunity to hear one of those Sermons again with any hope of finding Mercy with God. O you that have lived under the Gospel but despised it think of this Verily I say unto you all the sins in the world will not damn like this Suppose a man to have bin guilty of Adultry or Murder or the most horrid Transgressions against the Law of God these will not damn his Soul
man as most in the World who when he came to dye thus expressed himself to a Minister that treated with him about his Soul I said he never knew what Fear meant tho' I have bin amongst drawn Swords and before the Cannons mouth I feared not death but now you tell me of a Second Death it makes my Soul to shake within me That 's a Death the Thoughts whereof may make the soul of the stoutest Sinner in the world to tremble for that 's a death which is ETERNAL The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are ETERNAL The death of the Body that 's seen and is soon over but what becomes of the Soul when a Sinner dyeth they that stand by him do not see but if he dye impenitent the Death which is not seen takes hold on him and it is eternal The God against whom he has sinned liveth for ever to punish him And a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the ever-living God. O run not into the mouth of the Second Death into the wide Mouth of the fiery Pit which has devoured Millions of Millions of immortal souls and know you for certain that if you die impenitent your Damnation will be no ordinary one for you have not only transgress'd against the Law of God with a high hand but sinn'd against the Gospel too The Sermons which you have heard formerly or might have done will be as so many witnesses against you before the Judgment seat of Christ the 3 Sermons which have bin preached to you in publick since your Condemnation the pains that has bin taken with you in private by one or other of the Lords Servants all these will aggravate your Condemnation when you shall be judged again before all the world at the last Day if you dye impenitent Consider 3. There 's yet a Possibility that your soul may be saved Notwithstanding all that has bin spoken to you don't despair repent but do not despair I would not have you say as Cain did My sin is greater than can be forgiven The Lord is a merciful God. Tho' Men cannot forgive you God can and He will do it if you unseignedly repent believe on the Lord Jesus There is infinite Merit in the Death of Christ if your bloody soul be wash'd in his blood it shall be made whiter than the Snow That Sin which you must now dye for God has forgiven to others upon their true Repentance Manasseh filled the streets of Jerusalem with innocent blood but when he humbled himself and besought the Lord for Mercy God was entreated of him O therefore Repent and then though your Body must dye your Soul shall live and not dye I have but two words more to say to you and then I shall take my leave of you for ever 1. Be sure that you be sincere in your Repentance Many times men under Fears will seem very penitent whenas they do but flatter God with their mouths and lye unto him with their tongues Thus it was with Pharoah and with many a sinner whose hard heart was never broken nor changed we see often that sinners on sick beds when they behold Death Eternity before their eyes will confess their sins and promise Reformation but if the Lord spare restore them they are the same that they were before And we have known Instances among our selvs of men that when they have bin Captive and in Turkish Slavery they have pretended to a sense of those sins which provoked the Most High to bring that misery upon them and have written seemingly pious penitent Letters to their Friends but now God has delivered them they are as vain as profane as ungodly as ever in their lives before nay some of them worse For the Truth is if men be not humbled and converted by such signal Dispensations many times they are judicially everlastingly hardned They never leave sinning until they have sinned themselvs into Hell past all hopes of Mercy or Recovery To come nearer to you I have known some more than one or 2 or 3 that have bin condemned to dye and whilest they remained under that Sentence they seemed very penitent but they were pardoned for they had not bin guilty of Murder as you have and since that have bin as wicked as ever O then look to your self that you do not dissemble with GOD and Man and your own Soul too And let not the Fear of Punishment only but the Sense of Mercy break your heart 2. In this way of sincere Repentance Betake your self to the City of Refuge Go to Christ for Life The wilful man slayer had as you heard but now no benefit by the City of Refuge so shall impenitent Sinners have no Salvation by Christ but they that have a real sight of their Sins and flee from the Avenger of blood unto Christ for life He is ready to succour them Poor man has the fiery Serpent stung thy soul then look unto the Brazen Serpent look unto the Lord Jesus that you may live and not dye forever Build your hopes of Salvation on Christ His Righteousness alone Don't think you shall be saved only because good men have pray'd for you or for the Confession of your sins which you have now made or for the sake of any thing but CHRIST And I pray the Son of GOD to have Compassion on you The Last Expressions solemn Warning of James Morgan As they were in Short-hand taken from his Mouth at the Place of Execution Mar. 11. 85 / 6. I Pray God that I may be a Warning to you all and that I may be the last that ever shall suffer after this manner in the fear of God I warn you to have a care of taking the Lords Name in vain Mind have a care of that sin of Drunkenness for that sin leads to all manner of sins and Wickedness mind have a care of breaking the sixth Commandment where it is said Thou shalt do no Murder for when a man is in Drink he is reaready to commit all manner of Sin till he fill up the cup of the wrath of God as I have done by committing that sin of Murder I beg of God as I am a dying man and to appear before the Lord within a few minutes that you may take notice of what I say to you Have a care of drunkenness ill Company and mind all good Instruction and don 't turn your back upon the Word of God as I have done When I have bin at meeting I have gone out of the meeting-house to commit sin to please the lust of my flesh Don't make a mock at any poor object of pity but bless God that he has not left you as he has justly done me to commit that horrid sin of Murder Another thing that I have to say to you is to have a care of that house where that wickedness was commited where
I have â—in partly ruind by But here I am and know not what will become of my poor soul which is within a few moments of eternity I have murder'd a poor man who â—â—d but little time to repent and I know not what is become of his poor soul O that I may make use of this opportunity that I have O that I may make improvement of this little little time before I go hence and be no more O let all mind what I am a saying now I 'm going out of this world O take warning by me and beg of God to keep you from this sin which has bin my ruine His last words were O Lord receive my spirit I come unto thee O Lord I come unto thee O Lord I come I come I come THE CALL OF THE GOSPEL APPLYED Unto All men in general and Vnto a Condemned Malefacto in particular In a SERMON Preached on the 7th Day of March. 1686. At the Request and in the Hearing of a man under a just Sentence of Death for the horrid SIN of MVRDER By COTTON MATHER Pastor to a Church at Boston in N. E. The SECOND EDITION Psal 89. 1. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever with my mouth will I make known thy Faithfulness to all generations Nulla species Peccati tanta est qua non sit Superior JESUS Orig. Printed at Boston by Richard Pierce 1687. To the Reader ALtho' my Consent to the Publication of the ensuing Sermon had no small Objections to Encounter with for First The short time allow d me for Preparation after I was by the littleexpected dying Desire of a poor man diverted from my spending the whole of the Sabbath with a bereaved Congregation to which my help was promised and Next the Regard to be had unto the Administration of the Lords Supper which now in the Absence of an Honoured Relation that kindly answered my Engagement elsewhere I was to keep some Eye unto both necessitated me to want in this Discourse that Accuracy that full pertinency which might recommend iâ— unto the Iudicious Nevertheless so long as among all the Faults in it I found not this That it was not dâ—signed to do good and so long as among all the Pleas which in a curious captious age my love to my own râ—pose brought against â—he omitting of it I never met with this That It was impossible any good should be done by it I have at the urgent Importunity of others ventur'd to deliver it into the Hands of as many as shall think themselves concerned to peruse it Praying that it may reach touch the hearts of them to whom a Christ should be a Pearl of great Price till they LOOK unto HIM and be SAVED Cotton Mather The CALL of the GOSPEL unto All the Ends of the Earth Apply'd especially unto a poor man under the just Sentence of Death for the Crying Sin of MVRDER Isai XLV 22. LOOK unto Mâ— and be ye SAVED all the Ends of the Earth THESE Words give unto us the most Joyful Sound that ever the Children of Death had the favour of Some of us doubâ—less can with a most Distinguishing and Experimental Relish profess concerning this Oracle of God as some other persons have concerning some other Passages in the Sacred Pages â—â—e would not have had this Sentence left out of our Bibles for the riches of both the India's Yea who among us all at the reading of these glad â—ydings unto us can forbear joyning with the Rapturous shouts of Heaven with that Angelical and Evangelical Out-cry in Luc. 2. 14. Glory to God in the â—â—gâ—est on earth peace Good-will towards men Behold the Saviour of the world is this day speaking unto you ye Congregation of the Lord Arrayed in His white garments He looks thro the Windows of His bright Ivory Palace and â—tereth an Invitation to you which Blessed are your ears that hear this day This 45 th Chapter of that which we may not ineptly â—â—st the Gospel according to Isaiah seems the Close of a Sermon begun at the 40 th chapter of that admirable Book whose Gospel-strains are so abundant that in the New-Testament some have counted perhaps about threescore Quotations from it and good old Ambrose hence advised Austin unto a peculiar frequency in the Reading of it Isaiah signifies the Salvation of God now that very thing especially in the more promissory Conclusion of his Prophecy is very much the Subject of his Ministry The Princely Prophet is predicting perhaps about 200 years before the Accomplishment thereof the Reduction and Redemption of the captiv'd Jews from Babylon together with the very name of the Persian Emperor Cyrus who should be the â—â—â—â—rument thereof and thereupon he assigns the several reasons of this stupendions Dispensation One ground thereof laid down is that the Nations of the world far and near might be brought to abandon their Lying vanities and to acknowledge the Only true GOD with Jesus Christ whom He hath sent At the mention of this there immediately falls in the gracious invitation to those Nations which we have now to insist upon wherein we may observe 1. The Subjects which are call'd upon These are all the ends of the earth even the Gentiles in all quarters of the world whose Vocation is here foretold The poor souls whose natural Distanse from the Church of God and whose moral Distance from the Love of God was exceeding deplorable 2. The Object propounded for these to converse withal This by that Expression Me is determined to be the Lord Himself But who Truly it is God the Saviour it is the Lord Jesus Christ a Devotion to whom should come instead of the Homage which men had bin wont to yeild unto their other Images of God and Deliverance by whom is the Antitype of what the Lords people had of old by other â—â—viours To confirm this Interpretation I find the Chaldee Paraphrase rendring this Me by My Word using the Term of Meemar which belongs to the 2nd Person in the adorable Trinity 3. The Act to be applyed hereunto This is to Look namely with an Eye of faith of repentance In this Clause there seems to be an Allusion to the Looks that the ancient Israelites had bin wont to give unto the Brazen Serpent which if that great Reformer Hezekiah had not made meer brass of it might for ought I know be still abus'd to vain vile Superstitions among ' em 4. The End of the Whole T is said Be ye saved and the intent of that is Double it is both be desireous that ye may be saved it is be assured that ye shall be saved The two fold End both finis Operis and finis Operantis both the Design the Event is to be Salvation Salvation SALVATION but what a Word is That It is a word that does contain more than any man can conceive From hence then This Doctrin of GOD your Saviour does challeng
Appendix to those more studied sermons which the Lord put into the heart of other of His Servants to preach For his sake that is gone and publish for the good of others that survive The good Lord follow the whole with his blessing and grant that all Israel may hear fear so that there may no more such great wickedness be done in this our Land. Joshua Moody VVHat I have to say to the poor condemned Prisoner shall be under these I we Heads viz. Something 1. By way of Conviction and Awakning 2 By way Encouragement and Counsel First To begin with Matter of Conviction Awakening and tho' I understand he is already somewhat considerably affected concerned yet more of that may be useful for him And here I shall use all Plainness and Freedom taking it for granted that dying men are past all expectation of Flatteries or Complements and that plain dealing which will do most Good will find best Acceptance 1. Thou standest here before the Lord and his People at this Time as a solemn Example of that sacred Text Numb 32. 23. You have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out This day is this Scripture awfully fulfilled upon you You have owned under your hand that you have lived all your dayes in those abominable sins of Cursing Swearing Lying Drunkenness and Sabbath-breaking such sins as that the least of them however you have made a light matter of them without deep Humiliation sincere Application to the Bloud of Christ iâ— enough to exclude you forever from any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven 1. Cor. 6. 9 10. And those that have been acquainted wiâ—â— you think you have not wrong'd your self iâ— that Confession Besides all the other evils thâ— your own heart is privy to and many more which the All-seeing God has observed in you I speak not this to upraid you but further to humble you and withal to tell you that you glorify God by this Confession Thus you say you have liv'd and these sins you traded in till now at last the Lord has left you to commit that great horrendous Sin of Murder in the doing of which you have even fill'd up your measure and all the rest of your sins do in this one sin find you out and light upon you You may look at this sin as part of the punishment of your former and other sins And it is one of the Lord 's most righteous but withal most tremendous waies of punishing Sin viz. with Sin or by Sin Lesser sins are punished by leaving men to greater sins Thus did the Lord punish the Gentiles Rom. 1. 18 c. the Apostle there calls it the Revelation of the wrath of God from heaven when for their Unthankfulness Vanity c. He gave them up to vile Affections and Actions among which Murder is mentioned as one v. 18. 32. Solomon tells us Prov. 13. 21. that Evil pursueth sinners and it is true of the Evil of Sin and the Evil of Punishment both that they do pursue sinners tho there that of Punishment is properly intended as appears by the Opposition unto the Good which shall be repaid to the righteous You have bin pursuing the evil of Sin and the evil of Punishment hath been in the mean time pursuing you and now you are overtaken seized thereby 2. The Great terrible God is dreadfully angry with you for this sin for all the rest that that have bin previous thereunto The only Subject upon which that fearful thing the Anger of God falls is Sin and Sinners for Sin. All His own works are good his Creatures good so owned pronounced in Gen. 1. 31. and therefore the Lord is pleased with them SIN only that is the Devils work Man's work God is angry with You have heard something e'en now of the nature of God's Anger but who knowes the Power of it Psal 90. 11. And you are the person against whom this inconceiveable Anger is enkindled O let this word sink down into the bottom of thy Heart and pierce thy very soul Say to thy self I am the man with whom the eternal GOD the Soveraign of the whole World is angry Think on that Text let thy heart meditate terror the while Psa 7. 11. God is angry with the wicked every day While thou wert Cursing Swearing Drinking to excess c. God was angry with thee even every one of those dayes was he angry while thou wert wickedly transgressing living in a course of open Transgression He was angry all the while Thou wert conceiving Sin and God was conceiving Anger which is now brought forth tho thou tookst no notice of it nor hadst any dread of it before Especially He is severely angry with thee for this execrable Sin of Murder for which there is no expiation but by the death of the Murderer whereof that Reason is given Gen. 9. 1. because man was made in God's Image so that the Killing of a man is the Destroying of the image of God. Murder is a Sin against the light of Nature and so hainous that the Barbarians who had no knowledg of the true God yet concluded that Vengeance followed the Murderer up and down so that tho' he may escape for a while however at length it would not suffer him to live Act. 28. 4. Know then that this is the main thing thou hast to think on this is the most terrible thing before thee not so much the pain or shame of the death thou art speedily to undergoe as the Anger of God that comes with it This is the great Concernment of every man at all times and of thee principally at this time How stand matters between God and thee how is He affected is He angry or pleased Why I tell thee That God whose favour is life and whose Wrath is Death He is angry with thee That Anger of God at which the Heavens shake the Earth moves the Hills quake the Rocks rend Hell it self trembles is now upon thee The Devils believe that there is a God and tremble Jam. 2. 16. do thou believe that and further that God is angry with thee and tremble at it 3. You are by the Law of God and man for this Sin declared to be a person whom the earth cannot bear The Creation groans under you as a common Enemy to mankind and one who by the positive and indispensable Command of God must fly to the pit and no man must stay you Prov. 28. 17. This is the Decree of God and the righteous Sentence of man concerning you You are yet but a young man and according to ordinary course might have lived many years in this world had not your over-much Wickedness brought you to dy before your time as Eccles 7. 17. Not before God's time but before your time i. e. before that time which is usual for man whose dayes are reckoned threescore and ten and sometimes four score
sitting on a pale horse that vision is now before you and it cannot but be very terrible and affrighting but the main terror lies in what comes after Hell followes it Hell followes Death hard at the heels Death is but the door between the two worlds that lets the soul of a Christless sinner out of this world into Hell. The Second Death after the first is the misery of the first and the first would be compartively but a small matter were it not for the second 7. Finally Consider you have no time to get sin pardoned wrath turned away if it be not done already but between this and Death into the very Borders and under the Sentence of which you now are In the grave there is no repentance no Remission Eccl. 9. 10. Before 4 dayes more pass over your head and Oh how swiftly do they fly away you will be entred into an Eternal unchangeable state of weal or woe and of Woe it will be if speedy and thorough Repentance prevent it not Thus far by way of Conviction Awakning My 2nd Word is principally by way of Counsel Unto which I shall promise a Word of Encouragement lest what has bin said may seem to harsh and severe to a man in his Condition But the Wound must be opened searched before the Plaister be laid on and there is a Plaister as large as the sore the Lord in mercy make it stick Know then That notwithstanding all that has bin spoken there is Hope in Israel concerning this thing There is a way found out reveal'd by God for the Turning of His Anger even from such sinners The bloud of Jesus can wash away the guilt of the sin of sheddng man's blood for which no Ransome may be taken by man yet God haâ— found out a Ransome and does now graciuosly offer thee the benefit of it Paul was a Murderer and yet pardoned Manasseh made the streets of Jerusalem to swim with innocent bloud and yet was forgiven Nay the greatest Murderers that ever were in the world even those that imbrewed their wicked hands in the bloud of the Son of GOD were many of them converted reconciled to God and are now in heaven beholding the Glory of that Christ whom they Crucifyed Act. 2. And several others who were under the same Condemnation were exhorted in the following Chapter to repent to be converted and were thereupon promis'd that their sins should be blotted out ver 29. It is true that no murderer hath eternal life 1. Joh. 3. 15. and that Drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1. Cor. 6. 10. and yet the next words say ver 11. such were some of you but you are washed sanctifyed justifyed If all Sins and Blasphemy against the Son of Man may be forgiven Mat. 12. 31. 22. then this Sin against one of the sons of men may be forgiven too God can pardon great sins yea therefore or the rather pardon them because great Psal 25. 11. And He does delight where Sin has abounded to make Grace super-abound Rom. 5. 20. And so I come to my word of Counsel And Oh let my Counsel be acceptable to thee before thou be driven out from among men put beyond all possibility of hearing or taking counsel 1. See be yet more affected with this deplorable condition and let thy soul be afflicted at the thoughts of it and especially at thy sin that has brought thee into it I urge this again because thou canst not be too much concerned thereabout 2. Look upon all thy life past let this solemn hand of God upon thee bring all thy sins to Remembrance Consider how thou hast walked in a Course of sin from step to step and let all thy Actual sins lead thee back to the Sin of thy Nature the evil Fountain from whence all these bitter streams have issued and let all put together make thee vile in thine own eyes and make thee to abhor thy self for the same 3. Beg hard for a broken heart that may unfeignedly mourn for sin that being burdened with it thou mayst most bitterly weep and sigh groan under it Such sins as thou standest Convicted of call for the deepest Humiliation Contrition It s the bane of multitudes of Sinners in the world that their Convictions of Sin were but sleighty and their Humiliation superficial and so their Conversion not real God will prick thee to the heart yea and break thy Heart all to pieces for thy sin if ever he pardon thee Also bemoan thy self for all thy Prophanness Loosness Sensuality which has exposed thee to this great sin at last Bewail all those evils which the holy God has to charge thee with thy Rending His Sacred name by Curses Oaths wronging His Truth by Lying Abusing his good Creatures to Excess Making thy Belly thy god and sacrificeing the Lord's Blessings thereunto which he lent thee for His own Use and Service And especially for thy rejecting of his Gospel of which great and horrible sin thou art convicted out of thy own mouth while thou wert profaning his Sabbaths neglecting to give thy Attendance on the publick Worship and so turning away thine Ear from Hearing the joyful sound by which thou mightst have been forever blessed Let all these be remembred and be as Gall and Wormwood to thy soul 4. Acknowledge an Holy Righteous hand of God in leaving thee to this great Transgression Confess what thou hast done and give glory to God for what He has done Say He is just for I have sinned Yea and glorify him for this that He can make even this Sin at least the punishment Attending it a means to bring thee to Repentance for all the rest of thy sins which else thou mightest have gone on securely in unto endless Perdition This prodigious sin of Murder together with thy being brought to Condign Punishment for the same may through the Soveraign Grace of God who can bring good out of evil be an occasion by its loud cry of blood in thine ears to awaken thee out of that sleep from which thou mightst else have never awakned till everlasting burnings had awakned thee The Lord blessed Manasseh's being brought into Chains to put him upon seeking the God of his Fathers and the same God can bless this Chain with which thou art now bound as a means to bring thee to everlasting Liberty It 's one of the Lords wayes of Dealing with men to bring them to good viz. when they are bound in Fetters and holden in Cords of Affliction to shew them their work and their Transgression that they have exceeded in and then to open their ears to Discipline and to command them to return Job 36. 8. 9. 10. Yea and he can cause them to return by Sealing Instruction at such a Time and in such a way Thus can the Lord bring back thy soul from the pit tho' thy body must go thither It is I confess a strange