WHO LOSE THE SAINT'S REST. 107 Why doth the rich man complain to Abraham of his torments in hell? or thy dying companions lose their courage, and change their haughty language? Why cannot these make as light of hell as thyself? Didst thou never see or speak with a man under despair? how uncomfortable was his talk ! how, burdensome his life! nothing he possessed did him good: he had no sweetness in meat or drink the sight of friends troubled him : he was weary of life, and fearful of death. If the misery of the damned can be endured, why cannot a man more easily endure these foretastes of hell? What if thou shouldest see the devil appear to thee in some terrible shape; would not thy heart fail thee, and thy hair stand on an end? and how wilt thou endure to live for ever, where thou shalt have no other company but devils and the damned ; and shalt not only see them, but be tormented with them and by them ? Let me once more ask, If the wrath of God be so light, why did the Son of God himself make so great a matter of it ? It made him sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. The Lord of life cried, My soul is exceed- ing sorrowful even unto death. And on the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Surely if any one could have borne these sufferings easily, it would have been Jesus Christ. He had another measure of strength to bear it than thou hast. Woe to thee, sinner, for thy mad security ? Dost thou think to find it tolerable to thee, which was so heavy to Christ ? Nay, the son of God is cast into a bitter agony and bloody sweat, only under the curse of the law ; and yet thou, feeble, foolish creature, makest nothing to bear also the curse of the gospel, which requires a much sorer punishment.(g) The good Lord bring thee to thy right mind by repent- ance, lest thou buy thy wit at too dear a rate! 18. And now, Reader, I demand thy resolution! What use wilt thou make of all this ? shall it be lost to thee? or wilt thou consider it in good earnest? (g) Heb. x. 29.
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