.,. Chap.8. Sea.6. )Jlf)enttatton. that I may f~e it with zeal, anger, and holy jealoufie; that I may fee it with loathing , and with a repentance not to be repented of; 0 my God, how fame would I fhake hands with fin, and hell, and bid adieu for ever? Surely thou madell: me for thy fclf; 0 let me never undo my fclf eternally by my own mifcarriagcs ! 4Confejfion. , , " Thus I wifh; but did not Balaamwifh as well as I ? it is not a co!d, faint wifh that will keep a foul out of eternal flai?es; if wifhes wo~ld deliver them that now are in' prifon, /believe there would be no wa~t of w1fhes, 1t IS ufually fa~d, hell ts fuU ofgood wijl~es and heaven is full ofgood work_s; 1f I Wlfh to purpofc, lmuft put to endeavours, I muft watch, and pray, and labour, and love the Lord with all my foul and ll:rcngth• • But alas Lord, without thee I cannot do this ; 0 I finde it an hard work to climbe up_ the nil! · but the defcent of hell is very eafie, and fuitable tO nature : in every puddle of fin I ~m ready to link, why Lordfave me or I perijh. 'i· Petition. . 199 0 my.God! the price ofmy foul is in this Petition; and therefore whiles I live l beg, and 1will beg ~t thy hands, 0 fave me that I perijh not. ls not my foul thy darlmg? was not agreat pnce laid down for the purchafe ofit? d1d not the eternal fon o'f God come down from heaven, and die that curfed death of the croffc, to deliver my foul from eternal flames? is not my Jefus now intercediug for me in heaven, ~hat I may not fuffer eternally in hell? 0 let the blood of Chri{l:, the merits of Chr_ill:, and the interceffions of Chrifl: be effectual for me! 0 favc my foul from th1s eternity! 0 deliver my foul from the nethermofl: hell! And not onely from hell, but Lord fave me from ,_ my fins; it is faid of Chri!t, that his name is Jefus, for he jha/1 fave hzs pe~ple from thezr Mattb. 1. " ' '· fins; Surely fin is the worft of evils, there is no hell but for fin; fin firll: kmdled rhe fire of hell, fin fewcls it; take away fin, and that tormenting flame goes out; 0 then deliver meas from hell, fo from fin; good Lord I pray as Chrift hath taught me, 0 lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil, from the evil of finne, and from the evil of eternalfufferings. 6. Confidence, And this, 0 my God, I am perfwaded thou wilt do ; for thou hall: given me a fhare in the blood ofChrift. Pliny tells us, that nothing in the world willJojoonquench fire a& fait and blood: and therefore in many countries where they can get blood, they ufe it rather then water, .to quench their fire. 0 my Lord, what ifeternal fire be in hell, yet the blood of Chrift will quench thofe flames, that none of them fhall fcorch my foul; and hafl: thou not faid, that the blood of Chrifl: was fhed for me, and for the remiffion of my fins? hafl: thou not affured me of it in the Sacrament ?and have I not received that blood, and drunk that blood, and bathed my foul in that bloody fountaine, that takes away all fin; and all uncleannelfe? why Lord I believe,helptho'"'tJ"nbelief. Some evidences thou hafl: given me of thy Spirit, and ofholinelfe, and of the graces of thy Spirit : is there not a· light in my mind ? is there not fome meafure of life in my will and affections? hav'e I not fometimes feen the loathfomnefs of fin, and the excellency of grace ? have I not fometimes felt the burthen of my own corruption , and thirll:ed after more and more ·grace; that I might be enabled in every thing to pleafe my God? and hall thou not faid, there is no condemnation to them that are in Chrift Jefos, that walk.. R.0111, 8. r; not after rh_c jlefh, bm after the Spirit. I have read of a godly miniftcr, who having been under a fp,_nt of bondage for many years,and now even ready to dye inthat condition, when the e1ghtchapter of the Ron!ans was read a little before his !aft gafpe, fiopping at the firft verfc, now the-teis no condemnation to them that are in Chrift JefJtS, &c. Stay (faId ?e) I never (aw fo muchm thofnvords, inmy days tU now, though I read them ofun. Methmks I am othis mind,upon a ferious review, I would not part with this oneu~t of Smpture for a world of gold : Methinks afte.r all my tremblings in this meditation of the eter~uy of hell, I can now with an holy comfort, and humble triumph think upon death, JUdgment, hell, and thofe endlefs torments · and why? if I am but in Chrift and am gUided by the Spirit of grace, and fancbfic;tion, there is no condemnation'can fide,zconme; Jhavethe witnefs both of: b!oodnndwnter, anirhmfore I jha/twQtbe amned. · Conclujion,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=