It will be more tolerable in Hell for Devils than for any of you if you die in Unbelief for Christ died not to save them nor was he ever offer'd to them as he is to you Will you chuse Sin and Death rather than Christ and the Life of Pardon Grace and Glory because the Devil would have you do so What Evil have you heard of the Son of God that rather than have him you would be tied to a stake yea dragged in pieces yea lose Life rather than have it if you must have him for it Oh! the Prejudices Strangeness and Enmity of the World against Christ and his ways of Salvation But will you live and die without a Saviour And walk in that Faction of Men against God which hath the Devil in the Head of them You should turn out of all the Paths of the Devil for he brought in Sin and Death by Sin into the World If you come to Christ and have him with his Merits and Benefits with his Fathers Love and Spirits Grace and Comfort you shall have a Christian's Life in Heaven but if not you must take what Follows the Life of a Sinner which is a Slave's Life upon Earth and a Devil's Life in Hell Precious and Beloved Soul whoever seriously reads and is moved with any of these things take these Advices and Directions following and the Lord give you a Heart to follow them 1. Do not carelesly lay by the Book and the Thoughts of what is written together If one Eye be opened to see somewhat of your Case close it not up to sleep upon it but open both to see the true state of your Soul as to Life and Death If you are prickt in the Heart receive more Pricks and fear not to be wounded for sin for Christ can heal thee and give thee Life 2. Do not receive the Word upon my Credit and do not reject it for any Prejudice against me but go to the Word of God it self Read the Text and recieve it as it is the Word of God for so it becomes effectual 1 Thess 2.13 3. Dread a slight Work upon thy Heart The Son of God finished his Work and left nothing undone that was to be done It lay heavy upon him yet he did it till all was finished Be faithful to thine own Soul to thine own Life in working out thine own Salvation with fear and trembling with a wise care and diligence fearing to fail and miscarry And when you are heartily and seriously engaged to work out your Salvation Take these Directions 1. Study well with reading hearing praying the Word of Grace and Salvation As you shall pass from Death to Life in your Justification so you must have a new Principle of Life and be changed from Death to Life in Regeneration and Sanctification How was the Apostle changed The Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus Christ hath made me free from the Law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 The Gospel is the Ministration of Life 2 Cor. 3.6 and by it we are changed while we behold the Glory of the Lord the Son Jesus Christ with open face as in a glass v. 18. 2. As you are dead and can never be saved but by Christ the Saviour so you can never be quickned nor believe nor have Christ but by the Holy Spirit We are changed from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 It is the real effectual Work of the Spirit of the Lord and it is so done as to demonstrate the Finger of God to be in it 3. Rest not in outward Performances and Acts of Devotion but wait upon God in all his Ordinances as appointed means for Salvation Pray for the Spirit of the Lord to work in you a sincere Separation from sin Satan and Self and to implant you in Jesus Christ to work your Hearts to believe and joyn you to him in love that you may have him for all those kinds of Life that have been spoken of 4. Rest not in Wishes that you had Christ but by humble Applications with great earnestness of Soul by the quickning Assistance of the Holy Spirit come to Jesus Christ himself for Himself and Life You must have Christ himself therefore come to him directly and see that no overloved Creature or Sin whatever lie in the Heart like a Stone between the Grass and the Tree to hinder a closure Idols and Harlots must be shaken off or there will be no Marriage-Union between the Son and you And now the God of all Grace supply what I am wanting in and give Life with his Son to whom be Glory for ever A Narrative of the Occasion of Preaching and Printing this Discourse and of the Behaviour of those two condemned Criminals from their Condemnation to their Death submitted to the charitable Judgment of Pious Readers THE last day of the Assizes at Even which ordinarily was in Lent but then put off I received a Message at my House to desire me to visit a Woman a meer Stranger to me as was her Father also condemned for the Murder of a Child Next Morning I waited on the Lord Chief Justice Pollixfen on the Road towards Rutland being but two Mile from my House to desire the favour of a Reprieve for some convenient Time for me to use my endeavours with her His Lordship told me he had reprieved her not being satisfied in the Proof that the Child was born alive He entertained me with very Divine Discourse and proper for me and the Woman and obliged me to give him an account of her at his return from the Circuit that if there were good hopes of her leading a Life answerable to Repentance he might procure her Pardon and his last Words to me deserve my remembrance Pray Sir do it sincerely Her Name was put into the Pardon by his Lordship and expected to come the next Assizes but came not then as was expected The next Assizes I waited upon his Lordship and staying there giving what Assistance I could to the most afflicted good Father of the Woman Mr. Samuel Dudley my kind Friend came to me and told me He was shortly to come and settle in Town and was resolved to make it his business to visit the Prisoners and desired my Assistance which I promised when desired and had opportunity The Afternoon after the Woman was ordered to be Executed being condemned two years before and the Man received his Sentence Mr. D. sent for me into the Prison where he was performing his Visit to these poor condemned Criminals After we had privately discoursed them as fully as time would give us leave the Honoured Thomas Catesby Esq the High Sheriff was desired to give us leave to preach to them before Execution which was readily granted with Thanks for our willingness to take pains with them They had but about a Week to live we agreed That one of us should preach the Wednesday following
from him in all that have him Life is first in God So often the great Evangelical Dr. Sibs Expos on the 4 c. 2 Ep. to the Corinth So in the Excellency of the Gospel above the Law p. 418. c. then in Christ Mediator and then in us who believe All our Mercies Blessings Comforts of all kinds and degrees from Election to Glorification are first in Christ and from him to us Therefore in having him you have all as in a Fountain as large as an Ocean running in a full stream to Eternity O what a thing is this life It is everlasting life begun in Faith in Christ and Regeneration running up hill a marvellous cross and hard passage against mighty and unwearied opposition of Satan and the VVorld and our indwelling Corruption labouring to choak it at the very mouth of it in our Sanctification till it run into the vastness of immeasurable Eternity Mark what it is called It is Life it is a life of Sentence as the Reverend Dr. Sibs often calls it or Absolution from the Sentence of the Law and Death It is a life of Grace from Christ by his Spirit kindled in a dead Nature and this is the Spring of Heavenly Glory The least Beam of the light and life of Grace has more Glory in it than all the VVorld on this side Heaven can shew It is for the Excellency of it called The life of God Ephes 4.18 And the life of Jesus 2 Cor. 4.10 11. For we which live are alway delivered unto unto Death for Jesus sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal Flesh Nature teacheth Men to prize life above all things therefore life whether of Sense or Reason is the best thing in Nature's Orb But for the life of Grace and Glory Grace teacheth Faith which is called a wise Grace by that named Divine teacheth a gracious Man who is the best of Men to lose his life for Grace and eternal life For we which live are always delevered unto Death for Jesus sake c. And will not this move you to have Christ the Son and life with him VVhat do you stick at Do you know that if you have the Son he must have you and that you must forsake your Sins and all the World at his Call And will you stick at these things O what an Act of Grace Mercy Pity and love is it in Christ to receive and have you If Christ have you not the Devil will and your Enemies shall and will have you What should I speak of Sin and the pleasures of Sin and all the Vanities under the Sun Will you stick at these And not part with them at the first word that you may have Christ and Life I will only say to you if every Hair of your Head were a life of Pleasure Wit Mirth Diversion Riches and Honour you should part with them all for this life of Grace and Glory Christ paid more for your Redemption for life than all the lives in the whole World are worth If you will not forsake Sin your loathsom Disease for life and spiritual Health If you will not deny your selves in your Vanities for Christ and the hopes of Glory how many drops of Blood would you have shed for your own Redemption if such a price had been set upon your own Souls Now Christ and Life are offered you for having how cruel and merciless are you to your precious Souls that will not have them And O! how happy for ever shall you be if you have life and that more abundant more abundant in duration and confluence of all things to make you fully and for ever happy Hearken again That which is to be had is life eternal it is the life of life who can describe it This life is but a Vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away James 4.14 It fleeth as it were a shadow Job 14.2 The natural life is sustained by corruptible earthly matter The spiritual life is a noble Heaven-born life but encumbred with a mixture of much evil while upon Earth A life rooted in Christ or it could not continue a life of continual Contention and Warfare much clouded and distracted with vain Thoughts Doubts Fears Unbelief Cares for the body for the Morrow and things of this life It hath its good days and times foresights and foretastes of Heaven in Communion with God and Christ by the Spirit in Ordinances it hath its Victories Peace Increase Comforts and Supports by the way But when Time is run out into Eternity and the new Man grown into a perfect Man then life will appear to be life indeed That life is a life all of Grace and Holiness without one dark or vain thought or indwelling Sin A life like God's in conformity to him a life of Vision perfect Union and Communion A life free from any thing that shall cause Trouble and Repentance A life without Care for what we shall eat or wherewith we shall be clothed Immortality and Glory shall be our Clothing and the living God that is a full infinite Fountain shall be our life A life full of God Goodness Holiness Light Peace Joy and satisfaction for ever It is happy now to walk with God and to be under Grace O what will it be to be for ever with the Lord When Adam took his Death by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil he would have made his way to the Tree of Life but that he was kept off by a Flaming Sword But all that have Christ shall live upon him as upon a Tree of life which will yield all manner of Fruit and satisfie every blessed one with blessedness Have Christ and you shall have eternal life immediately upon your believing in Christ your Head Your Soul shall enter into eternal life upon your Dissolution and Body as well as Soul shall have eternal life at the Resurrection Q. But some may desire to know How they may come at this Eternal Life A. The Text is your Direction for that Have the Son and you have Life Q. But how shall I come to have the Son 1. A. The original and first Cause of our having the Son and so the first way by which we have him is by God's gracious Act of giving us his Son As he gave him for us to be a Saviour so he gives him to every Soul prepared by Grace and that is the Work of the Holy Ghost and so we have him The Spirit of Grace gives to every one that hath Christ understanding to know him and a heart to receive him and when we receive him Whatsoever is wrought in Man it is by the Spirit all comes from the Father as the Fountain and through the Son as Mediator but whatsoever is wrought it is by the Holy Ghost in us Excel Dr. Sibs as before p. 579. Grace is in the Father as a Fountain in Christ as Treasurer in the Spirit as
Matth. 20.28 Oh! what an inestimable Ransom is that 3. The Nature of Christs Mediation His Work was not so easie and cheap as the Socicinians make it They make our Mediator to be a Messenger sent from God to make known his Will to the World Catech. Racov. de prophetico Christ munere or an Interpreter of his Mind But to what End doth the Apostle add this Who gave himself a Ransom for all if that was all But he who is that One and only Mediator between God and Man gave himself a Ransom for those who could never have redeemed their own Lives who lay under the Sentence of Death and Condemnation Let it not be tedious to you to read and ponder Heb. 9.14 15. How much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God The Offerer or Priest was Christ the Offering or Sacrifice was Himself Body and Soul even unto Death and Blood that which gave Efficiency and Power to the Offering was the eternal Spirit or Divine Nature he to whom it was offered was God who in Justice required and in Mercy accepted it for them who believe and repent to purge Conscience from Guilt and Pollution vers 15. And for this Cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament that by means of Death for the Redemption of the Transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called may receive the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance Here we have the Reason or Cause of Christ's Mediatory Office He is a middle Person dealing between both Parties God and Men and for both To God he gave himself a Ransom Nam ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 officium non minus pertinent hominum vice apud Deum fungi quam Dei vice apud homines Grot. de Satisfactione Christi p. 172. which is a Satisfaction for Sin and sinful Men For them that are called he procured the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance the means by which he obtained Pardon for the sins of the Hebrews under the First Testament whereof Moses was a Typical Mediator and the eternal Inheritance for them who are called and believe was his Blood the Blood of Attonement And this great Work of Christ was performed by him as a Priest and so he is a Mediator in his Priestly Office and procures Peace and Reconciliation as a Priest and therefore as a Priest he is Mediator As a Priest he offered up himself to God in our sted and for our Good so he stood between us Sinners and the offended God and made Attonement and as Priest he appears for all that believe in him for he is an Advocate and makes intercession which he could not do if he were not the Propitiation for our sins 1 John 2.2 And so he is a Mediator between both for both for he is the Mediator of the New Testament having satisfied by his Death and Obedience for the Violation of the first Covenant made with Adam in the Guilt of which all Mankind are involved and for the sins of the Hebrews under the first Testament made with their Fathers which no Sacrifice could expiate or satisfie for All the Mercy and Goodness of God is conferred upon them that are called and brought to believe and obey him by a Testament or Covenant and all that Man is obliged to as Duty and Obedience is required in that Testament whereof Christ is Mediator And therefore some judicious Divines put this into the Description of the Office of Christ Mediator that Christ is the Person God-Man who doth confederate God and Man in the same Covenant of Grace Christianus Schotanus Disput 19. De Mediatore Thess prima Le Blanc Thess 1. An Christus sit Mediator secund utramque naturam p. 109. Tileni Syntagma de Incarnatione Fil. Dei Disput 1. Thess 4. and make them one again The whole Work of Christ as Mediator may be reduced to two Heads 1. To satisfie for the Breach of the first Covenant and redeem sinful Men from the Curse of it 2. To bring God and Man into another Covenant the Covenant of Grace and to make them one To this end it was necessary 1. That he should be a Mediator of Redemption and Reconciliation 2. That as God is one there should be one Mediator and so there is one and but one 1 Tim. 2.5 3. This one Mediator is said to be Man in this Text but not meer Man nor Mediator as Man only excluding the Divine Nature but the Man Christ Jesus He addeth to the Nature Man the Names Christ Jesus which contain the Nature and Person of the Son of God and signifie that wonderful Person Pet. Martyr administros Regn. Polonici L. Com. p. 1113. our Lord Jesus Christ The Words do not shew according to which Nature Christ is Mediator but that the Mediator is Man and that Jesus Christ is Man who bringeth us to God It is usual in Scripture to speak of the Person of our Mediator Jesus Christ by one of his Natures Genevenses Thes Theol. de Christo Med. Thes 27. p. 49. Centur. 1. not excluding the other from the Unity of the Person So by the Man Christ may be understood that Person who hath that Nature which is truly called Man and that for divers Reasons 1. That the Apostle would encourage us to put our Trust and Confidence in him Reverend Mr. J. Ball of the Covenant p. 269. as being our Elder Brother 2. To encourage us in the Duty of Prayer through the Mediator to which we are exhorted as knowing the greatness of that Power and Authority which Christ hath with his Father residing in our Nature 3. That it might appear that our Mediator was the same Christ or Messiah which was promised from the Beginning as the only Restorer of miserable Sinners the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.14 4. That no man to whom the Gospel is preached Nequis igitur se torqueat ubinam ille quaerendus Mediator aut qua via ad ipsum perveniendum hominem nominans propinquum imo contiguum nobis esse admonet quandoquidem caro nostra est Calvin Instit l. 2. c. 12. S. 1. 2. of any Condition or Quality whether in Authority or under Authority high or low rich or poor should be discouraged or terrified from seeking and accepting that Salvation which by the Gospel is proposed and offered to all Conditions of men seeing there is one Mediator for all as there is one God over all and good to all and that one Mediator is the man Christ Jesus who is near to us and bound not only by the bond of Nature as Man but by Office and Undertaking as Mediator Redeemer and Reconciler to save all that come unto him Now if you have cause to fear everlasting Destruction for want of a Mediator and Redeemer nor for want of Tenderness of Compassion or
largeness of Heart towards you as well as Power to save you Your Destruction is of your selves your Ignorance of him your Unbelief and neglect of great Salvation None of you doubt of the All-sufficiency of Jesus Christ to save you because he is but one one Mediator and one Man And how can one save miriads of men so many as are past number from their sins which are numberless and infinite in respect of the Object against whom they are committed If that Antichristian Cavil of Socinus should come by the Suggestion of Satan Johan Maccovii Anti-Socinus c. 2. to be a doubt in the Heart of any To help you against that Temptation and to answer the Cavil of that Man that hath mudded and and disquieted the pure Water of Life flowing from Jesus Christ take these Considerations 1. It must be acknowledged that all the men in the World cannot satisfie for the Sins of any one man or redeem any one Soul much less can any one meer man give a Ransom for all But the man Christ Jesus our Lord is such a man as gave himself a Ransom and it was accepted for all therefore it was all-sufficient It deserved not to be called a Ransom if it were not sufficient nor accepted But it is called a Ransom for all in common all that shall be saved are saved by vertue of the same Mediator and the same Ransom therefore it was sufficient If the Ransom had not been sufficient Christ could not have been Mediator and Saviour but he is Mediator and Saviour therefore his Ransom was sufficient for all 2. The man Christ is not a particular Person an Individual as humane Persons are but the Son of God took the Humane Nature existing in that one Soul and Body unto Union with his own Divine Person and taking the entire humane Nature he is not a particular man subsisting himself but truly the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 and so an Head of all that shall be saved as Adam was the Head of all that died in him 3. The singular Humane Nature of Jesus Christ was never alone and separated from the Infinite Person of the Son of God but was assumed into Personal Union with him in the instant of his Conception and Creation and so he was always the Son of God and the Son of God paid the Ransom and it was of infinite Value equal to the Offence of man and the Justice that required it 4. Mark that the Apostle saith there is one God and one Mediator as certain as there is one God so certain there is one Mediator between God and man and this said long after the Mediator had paid the Ransom and offered himself without Spot to God and had obtained the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance If he had failed in his Undertaking and not performed all things required for our Redemption he had been no Mediator and by consequence there had been no Covenant of Grace between God and man nor had there been any Advocate with the Father nor any Promise of the eternal Inheritance and it must have been as the Apostle argues If Christ be not risen our preaching is vain and our Faith vain and we had been still in our sins But there is a Mediator a Covenant of Grace an Advocate with the Father even Jesus Christ the Righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins therefore the ransom which he paid was satisfactory for all that are saved and by consequence tho Christ be but one Mediator he is sufficient for all These things being thus explained I shall draw up the rest into a little room I. The Son of God whom you must have that you may live is by Nature God and man two distinct Natures infinitely distant one from another in themselves are united in one Person to perform the Office of a Mediator and Redeemer that by his Mediation and Redemption he may be a Saviour As the Son of God he is a middle Person in the Trinity being the Second As the Son of God in the Flesh he is a middle Person appointed by God and by his own voluntary Consent transacting between God and sinful man for the Glory of God and Salvation of them that believe Thus he is wonderfully sitted for that wonderful work In him the Godhead and Manhood are one by personal Union As God he is concerned to repair the Honour of God as Man he is concerned for men for all that are given him by the Father to be saved He is distant from both from man as he is God from God as he is man Reverend and judicious Ball of the Covenant and yet with both by the Personal Union of the Divine and Humane Nature He is Emmanuel God with us God-man There is no other Mediator but him for there is none fit for the Work but him What was inconsistent with the infinite Perfection of God he did and suffered for God's Glory and in man's stead and for his good in the Humane Nature what was above the ability of the Humane Nature to perform and obtain he was enabled to do as God The Son of God carried him as man and as Son of man through all the Difficulties of his Work 2. The Son of God performed his Office of Mediator or Redeemer in a threefold Capacity or he executed his great and general Office in a three-fold Office of Prophet Priest and King and in each of these he acted and acteth as Mediator between God and man and for both And from these particular Offices he is called Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is his Name is as a Saviour Mat. 1.21 Christ as the Messiah anoynted by the Holy Ghost fitting ting him for his Offices that he might save his People and Lord as he is our supream King Ruler and Defender as Prophet he reveals to us the Will of God by his Word and Spirit and so he saves us from our Ignorance and Folly As Priest he made Attonement satisfied the Justice of God and delivered all that believe from the Curse and makes continual Intercession and so we are saved from the guilt of Sin and Condemnation and obtain the remission of Sin by him As King we are subdued and converted to the Obedience of God governed and preserved to his everlasting Kingdom and so we are saved from the power of Sin and the hand of all Enemies In short we are taught and perswaded effectually to come to God we are reconciled justified and accepted we are converted and subdued preserved governed and kept by him through Faith to Salvation The necessity of knowing him the Excellency of this Knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord and the Honour due to his Name who hath a Name above every Name hath kept me thus long upon this Branch of this Excellent Subject and yet I leave out many things This is the Son Now followeth the next Particular What it is to have the Son This Word to have is often used to express
not the Knowledge of it and Wisdom in themselves to come to Christ And the Father draweth No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him John 6.44 2. The Son calls and puts out a mighty quickning Voice and raiseth the dead senseless Sinner to come to him for Life and he outwardly inviteth and draweth also Mat. 11.28 Come to me all ye that labour and are heavy laden c. He draweth objectively all Men to come unto him and all that come are drawn by him effectually John 12.32 And as all that the Father giveth him come unto him so he receiveth them and will in no wise cast off any that come unto him And then the Holy Ghost convincing the ignorant senseless lost miserable Sinner of Sin and Damnation and of Christ Righteousness and Salvation by him worketh Faith and the Heart to consent and receive and take Christ and so we come to have him The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Faith 2 Cor. 4.13 and the Cause of our Union For by one Spirit we are baptized into one Body and into Christ the Head of that one Body who puts Life and Spirit into every living member of it 1 Cor. 12.12 13. 3. The outward means of this Union are The Word of God and the Ministry of it I have espoused you unto one Husband that I may present you as a chaste Virgin to Christ 2 Cor. 11.2 If you desire to know yet further how you have Life The Answer is ready In or by having the Son Christ you have Life You have it in having him who hath received it and hath it for you You have it in him who is the Author Purchaser and Giver of Eternal Salvation He is our Life as the meritorious Cause as the Conservator and Fountain of it as the efficient Cause and Giver of it You have Life and Deliverance from Death Eternal by the Grant of Pardon and Righteousness You have the Life of Grace and Holiness by Union and Influence from him and there is a fulness of habitual Grace to supply you John 1.16 You have the Spirit in you Rom. 8.9 10. and you have the Life of Glory in the Bud Principle First-Fruits Promise and Hopes of it What shall I say You have Life in having Christ as a Branch in a Vine hath Sap and Vertue by being in the Vine as a Member of the Body from the Head as a Spouse hath all that she is endowed with by being espoused and married to the Husband All the incomparable Benefits of Christ come from Union with him As we have Christ now so we have Life now that is such Communications of Grace and Blessings as are convenient for our present state and in the Life to come a Crown of Life All All an incomprehensible All This Union doth not stand only in relation to Christ tho in every relalation there is some kind of Union but it is such an Union tho spiritual and mystical as these Terms are contradistinct to Corporal and Natural as a third one doth result from it But he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 That one Spirit which our Lord received not by measure that he might be the Head of his Body the Church The Mystery of our Union with Christ consisteth mainly in this That the self-same Spirit which is in him as in the Head is so derived from him into every one of his true Members that thereby they are animated and quickned to a spiritual Life The most reverend Ushers Sermon before the House of Commons 1620. p. 20. Lyford's Senses exercised 127. The same Spirit which was the immediate Conveyor of Grace to the Humane Nature of Christ is so to us Mr. Charnock 2 Vol. p. 134. is that one and same Spirit which teacheth guideth ruleth in and sanctifieth all and every one that by Faith are joyned to the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God To be one Spirit is to be united in the highest degree of Union The Union of one Believer to another is very near and close as of one Member of the same Body to another And this Union of every single Believer to the Body of the Catholick or Universal Church is by the Grace and Operation of the holy Spirit quickning and regenerating and all these living Members make one Body in Christ Christ the Head of the whole Body and the Head of Influence from whom they all receive spiritual life and growth and they who are joyned to him are one Spirit and from that one Spirit we have Grace to consent with Christ to will the same and to love and hate the same things to aim at the same End the Glory of the Father and to be govern'd by him against all Distractions and Oppositions that hinder us It was an entire and comfortable happy Union of the Primitive Church an Example to all succeeding Churches Acts 4.32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one Heart and one Soul neither said any of them that ought of the things he possessed was his own but they had all things common They were all of one Heart aimed all at one common Good in one common Action without any private Ends. This was a close Union of Hearts but the Expression of this Conjunction comes far short of that Spiritual real tho not essential Union between Christ and his gracious regenerate sanctified Members made One Spirit It was much to be of one Heart and Soul but it is more to be one Spirit This is the closest Union of all except the Essential Union of the Persons in the Godhead or the Hypostatical or Personal of the Second Person with the Humane Nature For one Believer doth not derive his Spiritual Life and Being from another nor depend upon one another for it but all receive it from their Head Christ and depend upon him for it although their being knit together is a means of their Growth Col. 2.19 And not holding the Head from which all the Body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God Our Union with Christ the Head is the closest because from him we all receive our Life and have nourishment ministred that we may increase with the increase of God And because our Union with Christ is most inward and strict therefore it is shadowed out under the Similitude of the streightest natural Union Cum itaque nostra cum Christo unio sit arctissima ea propter in Scriptura sub figura utriusque illius unionis nobis quasi adumbratur c. Cameronis Myrothec in Evang. Jo. 6.56 p. 149. of both See the excellent B. Reynolds Life of Christ and Mr. Polhil's Answer to Dr. S. of the Knowledg of Christ c. 4. s 1. p. 162. c. and his Treatise of Spiritual Union There is no stricter Union in the World than that of Christ to Believers 't is therefore compared to all kind
Dispenser Excellent Charn made known and offered to us then we have him God shines in our hearts 2 Cor. 4.6 The God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory giveth the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him Ephes 1.17 Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me John 6.45 This is the way by which we come to the Son and have him 2. But the meaning of the Question may be What must I do What means may I use Or what manner of Man must I be that I may have the Son And then I answer in this general Sentence or Rule Then a man may have the Son when he is made heartily glad to have him on any Terms that is according to the Son 's own Proposals Here mark We do not mean by the Word Terms Condition Propositions any Bargain or Exchange Price or Commodity of our own We receive all from Christ being nothing to him in consideration whereof we have Christ We find in him all fulness riches and honours But what have we of our own but Baseness Poverty and Misery This Misery contracted by sin is the Dowry Cameron as above-cited in Myrothecio The Son as the Son of God gets nothing by us nor doth our Union which he affecteth bring any gain or happiness to him but by much loss and many Sufferings he obtained it But respectu nostri omnia candida we receive from him nothing but good and magnificent and only such things Hoornb ubi supra p. 797. which we bring to our Husband Christ I say again then are you prepared to have Christ when you would gladly have him with all your Soul with all that he requireth of you He hath set down the Terms your Hearts consent you subscribe to them all as the VVritings are drawn by the Spirit in the Gospel you desire no new Articles nor abatement of any but stand to his Mercy and Grace And well you may for he is VVisdom and Love Goodness Mercy and Compassion and will enable you to do and suffer all that you bind your self unto Q. But when is the Sinner made glad to have him A. Then when he seeth there is but one way for him if he have him not that is when he is under actual strong Apprehensions and Convictions that he must perish and die for ever a Death of Privation of the enjoyment of God in Heaven yea and in Earth also when he is humbled and poor in his own Sense when he feels himself sinking into the bottomless Pit under the Burden of his Sin and Guilt 2. VVhen he finds all Creatures Helps and Confidences in the Flesh fail him Phil. 3.4 When he looks upon his right hand and upon his left hand and there is no Helper nor Intercessor that can save him when he believes for certain there is Salvation in any other Acts 4.12 Oh how formidable and terrible doth Hell look with its Flames and utter Darkness How wonderful doth Salvation appear to such a Soul 3. When he cannot think of being damned without Horror and not of being saved without Wonder and Astonishment And then when he hears of the Grace of God in Christ and of the graciousness of Jesus Christ his Fulness his Fitness his Compassions his Kindness his willingness to save every one that comes unto him O how glad is the miserable humbled Soul to hear of his Offers his Invitations to come to him and his Promises to them that come and have him Those Jews who were pricked in their Hearts gladly or willingly received the Word of Advice and Grace in their extremity and soreness of heart And they who gladly received the Word of Salvation were baptized They by Baptism a sign of their having him put on Christ and had him They who are sick will gladly have the Physician and the Soul that is poor desolate lost a Syrian ready to perish will most gladly have Christ for a Covering of their Eyes for their Head and Husband when they hear the Record and Testimonies those high Characters and Reports that are given of him Mark a condemned Prisoner When we behold our selves in our Blood O how comfortable is that word of Grace and Mercy Live that fears the Execution and lies under the terror of Death will most gladly receive his Life at the hands of his Gracious Prince and serve him as his Prince with the hazard of Life What will not a Man do for Life How much for eternal Life Q. But how may I be brought to this to be made glad and willing to have the Son for my Saviour 1. You must awake out of your Sleep and Dreams And will not the Alarum of Death and Wrath hastning towards you awake you Will not a Cry at Midnight rouze you The last Enemy and the last Trump stir you The Drowsiness of this Generation is a fearful Sign and Forerunner of a Spirit of Slumber and a dead Sleep You then that have Ears to hear hear and then we shall shew you how you may have Life Eternal 2. Hear read and ponder upon the Word of God The more you know and seriously consider of these things the better it will be I say ponder the things and the drift of them and do not lay them up as Notions and Historical Passages in a careless Head 1. Understand how the case of Mankind stood before the Fall 2. How it is with all Mankind under the ruins of that Fall how we are under Guilt Sin Satan and the Curse how great our Darkness is how we are all out of the way what our Enmity is against God and true Holiness what our Impotency is to turn to God as without Strength to help or recover our selves 3. How we must be restored by Jesus Christ alone Rom. 5.8 9 10 12. c. 4. What the Gospel declares to be our Duty Knowledge Faith Repentance Love Obedience Active and Passive Obedience and Self-denial when our Lord calls for us to forsake all and suffer for him 5. None of these things are called for as a price or Mony as the Prophet speaks Isa 55.1 2. The great main thing that is required of you is your rational deliberate free Consent Will you have me That 's the great Question say understandingly and sincerely you will and you have him who is infinitely worth your having 6. Study the invaluable worth of your precious Souls and of your great Saviour the Son of God and the Life of your Souls Know that one thing needful Luke 10.42 and the first thing to be sought Mat. 6.33 And tho the Gate be strait you will enter because it is unto Life 7. Think not much of the way of Salvation but submit to be led into every step of it It is the Invention of infinite Wisdom out of Grace and Mercy 8. No Man is excluded from Eternal Life but he that will not believe and have the Son John 6.37.9 Understand
the Reign of Darkness and Unbelief whatever their outward Condition is in the World high or low rich or poor young or old they lie under the heaviest and most intolerable necessity in the VVorld 1. They want Life and are under Death and what Pleasure can they take in Pleasures Riches Honours or the Glory and Enjoyment of all the Delights of the Sons of Men if they had them all as long as they have not Life VVhat ungrateful things should Musick and Songs and Revellings Banquettings Masks Dancings wanton Fashions the Fooleries of vain Minds be to a condemned Man VVhat Pleasure could you take in fulfilling any sinful Desire gratifying any Lush tho in the most secret retirement if you thought the Devil the Executioner of God's Sentence of Death stood at the Door or Stairs-foot to have you away You are condemn'd already and have no Pardon no Life 2. They need Jesus Christ for Life 3. They need Faith for having Christ Here 's nothing but want and misery 2. VVhat should be the first and chief endeavour and purpose of every one of our Souls but to be first out of the Danger of the greatest Loss and in the way of supplying the greatest want Therefore apply your selves to free Grace without delay pray and cry mightily to God for Life The Life is more than Meat and the Body than Raiment but this Life is more than Meat Raiment Body or the present Life pray and labour for it 3. If this be the sad case of Unbelievers then let us learn what should be the great study and work of Ministers Oh! Is our state any better than other Mens No not at all yea we are in danger of being further from Salvation than other Men because we are more apt to conceive and hold Errors concerning Spiritual Death Adam's Guilt and our own concerning Christ and Faith in Christ than other Men. The greater Men's Parts are without true Light and Grace the more apt to err and to flourish out their Errors and Sophistically to defend them How should we study for our own Life and for the Life of as many Souls as we are to watch over O! how should we labour to save our selves and them that hear us To have Christ for our own Life and Salvation and then to preach Christ and to draw others to have him for their Life There are three great Points to be studied by us 1. Christ the Son of God and what is written of him How necessary profitable and delightful is the study of Christ who is all in all See that excellent Sermon of the great Preacher Bp. Reynolds at an Ordination call'd the Preaching of Christ Printed at the request of those who were ordained 2. The only true way of having him for Life the Benefits of Christ and the way of partaking of them his Communication of himself and Benefits and our Reception of them and Duties towards him How offensive and troublesom should all those Notions and Books be to us which detract from the Glory of Free Grace in Christ and bring in another Gospel and speak vain Words of Spiritual Union and Communion the Nature and Office of Faith and work of the Holy Ghost upon the Hearts of Men 3. The state and condition of Souls what they need what way they must be saved what loseth and what saveth Sinners As they have or have not Christ so it must be with them for ever I cannot pass by this use when I consider how faithfully and plainly Moses dealt with Israel Behold this day I have set Life and Death Life and Good Death and Evil before you Deut. 30.15 And when I see the same Spirit of Light and plain-dealing in the Divine John How can we honour Christ It had been sufficient to say that all should seek to Christ for Life but lest any should turn aside out of the way he shuts out all from the hope of Life that seek it not in Christ Calvin on the Eph. and be faithful to Souls that do not preach as he wrote How can we deal faithfully with Souls if we have not some spiritual insight into that by which precious Souls are saved or lost O how faithful and plain should we be who have so great Arguments to treat upon as Christ and the Life and Death of Souls And hence will also follow under this Head that no Man should be ignorant of but all desirous to learn the way of Eternal Life and Death and to see in what way they are whether in the narrow way to Life and Salvation or in the broad way of Ignorance Carelesness Impenitence and Ungodliness which leadeth to Destruction But still remember when we speak of the Terror of the Lord and say to the wicked that they shall die if they turn not and receive Christ for Salvation that it may be to perswade Men to be willing to pass from Death to Life 2 Cor. 5.11 4. If he who hath not the Son hath not Life then in what case are all they that are ignorant and without Spiritual Sense of their Spiritual Death Unrighteousness Guilt and Condemnation by the Law for transgressing it and that are ignorant of Christ save by the Sound or Letters of his Name they know him not as the Son of God or how he is so nor as he is Mediator between God and Man to bring us to God as well as to make Reconciliation and procure forgiveness of sin nor how he came to be Mediator nor to what end nor how he performeth the Part and Office of a Mediator nor what it is to believe in him so as to have him for their Life Many will sometimes say that he died for them and hope he will be so good as to save them But do they know indeed the Nature Efficacy and Office of Faith which they should know for if they have him not they shall die in their Iniquities 2. In what case are they who neglect him and make light of him Mat. 22.5 They neglect their own Lives that neglect him Heb. 2.3 3. What will become of all them that refuse him John 5.40 And ye will not come unto me that ye may have Life How shall we escape if we refuse him who speaketh from Heaven See Heb. 12.25 5. Seeing God himself hath already determined this great Point and answered this Question Who shall and who shall not be saved it is every Man's Wisdom and should be his great business to submit to this Sentence of God concerning every Mans final state and as many as have any desire and knowledge of eternal Life or Apprehensions of eternal Death should apply themselves to the means of Grace that they may be drawn and brought to Christ When Men are sure that there are other things more worthy of their Care and Pains than the Life of their Souls let them lay aside the Care of their Souls till they are filled with their Vanities which will never be But Man hast
Son seeing that is no less than to put off the having of Life Who would run his Life upon such an Hazard seeing their are so many Enemies that seek our Damnation and work it by gaining the time of our delaying Can any Business or Pleasures in the World be thought of that Consequence as for them to venture the loss of eternal Life Many Men given much to the Pleasures and Vanities of Life have cast them off and fallen to the study of the Law or to follow their Business when but some Branch of their Estates have been in Question much more when the whole was in Danger Oh! how diligent and wise for the World and careless for a World to come are Men Put on Consideration and know for certain that the greatest matters of care and diligence meet in this one Life for this Life comprehends in it the whole of a Man's Estate He who hath not Life hath lost all in one and both these inestimable things and both these inestimable things an everlasting Kingdom an Heavenly Treasure a Crown of Life and Glory and that Life in the possession whereof the blessed Saints shall rejoyce for ever and in the privation of which the miserable and damned shall weep and lament for ever And this Punishment of Privation of Life will be the more intolerable when it shall come upon the Unbeliever for this Cause of his not having the Son For not having the Son who is the Son of God's love infinitely amiable and dear to all that love their own Nature for he is the Son in our Nature and now in our Nature glorified All Men think themselves honoured in the Honour of their Blood and Kindred and esteem the Person that is advanced But such is the Nature of Unbelief that it moves to no Estimation or Love to our Lord in Glory who hath promised Glory to all that believe and follow him and can see no excellency in him who is highly exalted and hath a Name that is above every Name The not having of the Son is upon Refusal and Contempt in Deeds if not in Words And because this Privation of Life is for Unbelief and Refusal the loss will be the greater for the Punishment of Unbelief must needs be great because Unbelief is a great sin and we need not go further than this Text to prove it Unbelief and not having is the undervaluing neglecting and refusing the only two things that cannot be valued the Son of God and everlasting Life O that I could say something that may enter and stick to the Heart Hath God been pleased to make manifest the Mystery of Redemption by Jesus Christ which hath been hid from Ages Col. 1.26 and now will ye not look into it but reject the Counsel of God as the Lawyers did against themselves Luke 7.30 Hath God so loved the World that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish and now he is sent to you who have as much need of him as any in the World will you not have him Is there Salvation in no other and will you not have him Do you no more value the Grace and Love of God in his Son Christ Nor the love of Christ in humbling himself unto Death even the Death of the Cross for you And now he is at the Right Hand of God in possession of his Kingdom and is able to save all that come to God by him and will you not have him and Life by him Oh then you must perish Then you must have no part in the Tokens of God's everlasting Love no Saving Benefit of all the Cost our Lord hath been at to redeem you no Joy or Consolation by the Spirit no Communion with Saints in Glory nor Light Rest Peace in your own Souls for ever No pardon of Sin or Peace and Comfort by it nor any other Blessing of Grace Obj. But some may say If I have not Life then I shall die A. So you shall But you hope you shall be extinct and be no more but that shall not be eternal Death will not be like the blowing out of a Candle which shall never be lighted again No if you are Unbelievers and Atheists of that sort the everlasting Pain and Torment shall convince you of your wicked Error and of the loss of not having Life And this should be a 2. A Second effectual Motive to have Christ and Life for else you shall not have Life but enough of Death the first moment Oh! how bitter and dreadful will it be to Eternity All they that hate me love Death Prov. 8. vers ult They love the way and the sins which deserve it This shall be the Punishment of all Unbelievers Oh! who would make light of Christ and Life that shall be condemned if they have him not to Death Eternal Death A word containing innumerable and endless Evils The loss of God and Heaven will be a Death The sight of Hell and Devils with Millions of Workers of Iniquity under Condemnation will be Death Death not an End of the Sinner but of his Happiness If the Flames shall never be quenched as they shall not as Christ hath declared whose word is true Mat. 25.41 And this everlasting Fire is called everlasting Punishment vers 46. If the Punishment shall be everlasting it will follow that they who are punished must live in it and endure it for ever And Men may as well say that the blessed of the Father shall not go into everlasting Life as that the wicked shall not go into everlasting Punishment As long as the Punishment shall endure they shall endure that have deserved it and shall be condemned to it Oh! what a cursed Death will this be Oh! how miserable will an immortal Body be with an immortal Soul All the Miseries of the Damned are set forth by the Name of Death Every drop of the Rivers of Brimstone every Spark of the unquenchable Fire every Tear that the Damned shall drop every Gnash of their Teeth every Bite of the Worm will be a Death O Death How full of Stings This Death will be a Death of Separation from God and Good When Christ shall bid the wicked depart from him then all presumptuous Thoughts all fond Imaginations all vain Hopes all carnal Confidences and all that ever they deceived themselves withal shall depart from them and under this Death they shall weep and roar for ever Now if the Life everlasting with God in Heaven were no better than a Prisoners Life upon Earth or of a Persecuted Protestant kept from Sleep and tortured by Dragoons the Devils black Regiments and bare-fac'd Wolves the Consideration of this fearful Death should make all Men that have any Consideration desire and prefer the Son's Grace before the whole World But when the Life that is entail'd upon Believers is a Son's Life in the Kingdom of God an Heirs of Life what desperate Folly and Madness is it for any
and the other the Friday Mr. D. preached the Wednesday after I had been in private with the Prisoners clearing some necessary things to them for their Profit as we had good reason to hope they were not unprofitable Hearers after hearing that Sermon When I came about the time appointed on Friday I did not a little wonder to see so many stand in the Street before the Prison-Gate and a Crowd within and the Room in which I did intend to preach as my Brother had done so full that there was no getting in As soon as I came within the Gate the Mistress of the House in her Husbands Absence desired me shewing a great Concern in her Speech 〈◊〉 Countenance that I would preach in the Seâ— house for the Crowd was too great for the 〈◊〉 I foreseeing what Offence some would 〈…〉 that new thing and how I should be censuâ—… 〈◊〉 offered to preach in the Prison-yard or in any other convenient place The Officers of the House press'd me to preach in the Sessions-House for the Debtors stood in need of and would be glad of a Sermon as well as others and they could easily and safely bring all of them into the Bar there being a Vault to convey the Prisoners from the Prison to the Bar up a Trap-door Being overcome by their Reasons and Earnestness I consented to that which was most convenient and safe for the House the Auditory and for me tho it was a large place And to this day I know not how otherwise to have done so well nor had I any ways to avoid it either by refusing to preach because the Assembly was so great or desiring them to depart and go about other business If either of these had been suggested to me at that time I hope I should have rejected the Temptation I foresaw not the Auditory nor desired the place It was not my Zeal nor my Vain-glory that led me to the first occasion of visiting nor to this of preaching And this may satisfie my Friends and those others that they did wisely forbear to give us trouble for this Service for which we had Authority sufficient to have born us out The Reasons for Printing this plain Sermon enlarged are not to vindicate my self nor condemn others but purely for the Excellency of the Subject the very Sum of the Gospel and pertinency to all praying that God would pardon its Defects and make it profitable to many more than those that heard it several of whom desired a Copy of it and I could not deny their Request and some of my Fellow-labourers and Brethren hearing what the Subject was have perswaded me to print it But the prevailing Reason is taken from God's Glory alone and desire of saving Souls I have nothing to say to any particular Man But why so angry Why so troublesom to themselves What Evil had I or my Fellow-Servant done Know ye not yet what Spirit ye are of I should be glad if this Evil Spirit were cast out for its own sake I was very much taken with a Story I read of Mr. John White a very Judicious Divine He liv'd a while in a House that was haunted his Maid-Servant complained much of the trouble in the House He chid her for going near the haunted Chambers and bad her keep within the compass of her own business One Night the Spectre after Mr. White was laid down in his Bed came to his Beds Feet opened the Curtains and looked upon him to which the fearless Minister said If thou hast nothing else to do stand there and I will go to sleep Was ever poor Ghost more blew'd So I would say to this restless Spirit If thou wilt not go to rest and hast nothing else to do I am resolv'd to do my Masters Work as well as I can when call'd unto it and not be scared or frighted from it by thee I trust that he who was a Shield to me from Dangers in Evil Times will do as much for me in better times He who walketh uprightly walketh surely And so good Night Judge charitably of the Success of our Endeavours which in short was as followeth And first of the Woman We might have looked for better Fruit from a Branch of that Stock from which she sprang had her Parents lived to have seen her past the years of dangerous and foolish Youth Her Parents left her young with other Children and her Friends gave 60. l. with her to a Trade in the Exchange There the old Deceiver and Murderer would soon find her out and draw out her Inclinations to suitable Actions and bring her such Confidents and Acquaintance as could serve his Designs upon her When she came to set up she came into the Country and followed the Calling of a Milliner travelling with Horses Her Husband went about as a Bedder he had married and buried a Sister of a Family that for Estate might live reputably at home but delighted in the rambling course of Gipsies and this Man had learn'd the Cant and followed that kind of Life with his Relations Some of her Friends betrayed her to this Marriage as she said and others were against it and she and her Family were so well known that they were constrained to go a great way before they could be married Because of this Marriage and meeting sometimes with the Gipsies in their Travels and being present when as she constantly affirmed to her Death the Gipsie her Husband's Brother-in-law kill'd the Inn-keeper she was counted one of that Crew but she constantly affirmed that she understood not their Cant nor their way of living and could never endure that her Husband should have any Familiarity with them She had a ready Wit and Speech a great stout Spirit but too little knowledge she was more apprehensive than the poor Fellow was but came short of a preparedness to die After that we had opened the Nature and Desert of Sin in general we came to those particular Sins for which they were condemned and when I aggravated their Sins from the Ignominy of the Punishment that such Offenders were thought unfit to live among Men she stomach'd the Expression and cried bitterly through Pride and the sense of the dishonour of the Death she was condemned to and slew out in angry Expressions at her Prosecutors We gave way to her Passion and made as good use of it as we could for her Consideration of the shamefulness of sin and a far worse End to come without Repentance I laboured to convince her of the Truth of what I had said and went on to other things She confessed freely she had been a great Sinner but not guilty of several sins which she named nor of that for which she was to die altho Mr. D. told her he was sent for while he left us by some Persons of Quality upon the Grand Jury who remembred the Evidence against her and looked upon her as a very ill Woman yet she persisted in the Denial of the
Murder to the last as I said before We opened to her the ways whereby she might participate in the Guilt but still she denied all saving that she stood at a distance when her Husband 's Brother-in-law stabb'd the Man and when he had done the Fact he told her Husband in their Cant that he had kill'd the Man and threw away the Knife The next time I came I found her very much humbled in Spirit bewailing that she had been a very great Sinner and with many Tears and loud Cries for sin she seemed glad that she should go out of a sinful World in which she desired to live no longer What said Mr. D that you may sin no more Yes yes that I may sin no more against a merciful God The World said she was a sinful World And how are you reconciled to the manner of your Death said I Said she I could bear it I can suffer it tho all the Friends I have in the World look'd on I judg'd this to be a considerable degree of Humiliation remembring how high she was before While Mr. D. was preparing to preach I was preparing them for it and did explain and enlarge upon some things which I was afraid they understood not she apprehended me and her Knowledge grew I remember I told her That she should not think the way to obtain Pardon was to diminish her Sin in Number Nature and Aggravation and that Pardon extended even unto Blood to all penitent Believers that the Blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth from all Sin and therefore besought her to acknowledge her sin of Blood-guiltiness She received my Words with meekness and sense but persisted as before At Prayer and Sermon she behaved her self with Attention and Reverence and we hope it was not in vain she promised to observe our Direction in our absence Her Demeanour at my Sermon was very attentive and with Signs of inward Affection After we had done Mr. D. desired them to remember what was preach'd and to retire and that we would come again to them that night When we thought it most convenient we repaired to them there were several others in the Room well employed but she was at Prayers at her Bed-side Her Heart was so full that she could not refrain from speaking out the Language of her own Heart with good words and matter Flames of Fervency and then with Silence When she rose up she thanked us for our Pains and said She blessed God now she understood how it was and must be with her She understood her Case and found her self willing to die and tho she had been a great Sinner she hoped she should find Mercy She now knew the way she told us she was not afraid to see her Coffin which was brought into the Room She desired to live no longer to sin in a sinful World Next Morning we came betimes and adjusted several matters of Reckonings as Offences that nothing might be a stop in her way She reproved some and counselled others She reproved an old Man for flouting at me when I was wont to visit There comes or there goes your Soul-saver which we took not well but she spake well While we were busie with the poor Fellow she the Room filling fell on her Knees to secret Prayer and continued a good space taking no notice of any thing that might interrupt her When the Officer came to unlock her Irons she wept bitterly and roar'd sorrowing and rejoycing at her end I applied my self as pertinently as I could to that occasion upon which she was very quiet and well composed After a preparatory Preface concerning Prayer as the last Exercise of the Thief upon the Cross one of us praid in the Prison I told her I would attend her to the place and bad her if any Doubt or Fear should arise that she should let me know it She went along weeping praying confessing and counselling one that held her by the Arm. When once I turned from her to speak to the Fellow she turned quick and said O Sir do not leave me When she came in sight of the Tree she burst out into more Tears and said O yonder is the place yonder is the place but I am to suffer nothing for my Sins in comparison of what my Saviour suffered for me for my Sins and was much upon that till we came to the place of her End There one of us pray'd and she went up the Ladder without Fear or Boldness spake little she desired them all to reverence and hearken to the Ministers of God confessed she had been a great sinner and being ask'd about the Murder she denied it as before she prayed a little while and went off to Eternity The Fellow had disobediently ran away from his Master and Father who knew not what was become of him He gave himself to Thieving and other Sins maintained by his Theft He was arraigned the foregoing Assizes and burnt in the Hand before my Lord Chief Justice Pollixfen who shewed by his Countenance and Carriage an unwillingness to condemn him to die but that he feared there was no hope of his amendment that would not carry his Warning in his Hand so lately given him We found him grosly ignorant in the three Forms of Religion the Lords Prayer Ten Commandments and Creed he could not repeat them without help He was ripe in Sin but slow to take in what was good He had the same pains taken with him which the other had if not more for he stood in need of more His Face was covered with shame exceedingly dejected and he was penitent something he spake of Pardon of Sin Repentance and Mercy but understood nothing of Jesus Christ as Mediator and Salvation by him or Faith in him We instructed him in those things and had some weak Hopes concerning him but we had cause to fear all would be lost the morning of his Dying Day Then we instructed him in the knowledge of Christ the Mercy and Grace of God in the Nature of Repentance Confession of Sin that his Repentance and Confession might be full that God might be glorified and others might be warned and called from the Evil of their ways We pressed him to detect his Complices and acknowledge the Injuries he had done and to ask Pardon who could not restore or compensate Mr. D. told him he was at Coventry when he and others had broken into several Houses when they were going towards Ireland Here all the signs of Ingenuity and Goodness fell flat and went in again An horrid sullen paleness and dulness of Spirit seized him We told him his Detection would be no accusation of any we should make no ill use of what he told us to endanger any Man's Life but if it lay in our Power to warn them and call them from the way of Death to Life and break the Knot and Combination We applied our selves to him with Mercy and Judgment we told him of the