hath been filled with Unrighteousness and Deceit; and having known the Judgment of God, that they who commit fuch things are worthy of death, hath not only done the fame, but hath had pleasure in them that do them! Is there yet Mercy in ftore for fuch a Rebel? Will God be yet intreated? Then, I chearfully renounce the Devil, and all his works. O God, to whom Vengeance belongs, fhew thy felf. Arife, Lord! let all thine Enemies be scatter'd, even my Sins; as Smoak is driven away, fo drive them away; as wax melteth before the fire, even fo let my Sins perish at the presence of God. I know the World will laugh at me for this Refolution, but I'll give them leave to mock; if I can but get into yonder bleffed and everlafting Manfions, laugh on ye Mad-men,, I have a God will honour me. If there be a future Judgment, and Men fhall be rewarded according to their Works, and God will be fo fevere against flubborn Sinners, as he hath threatned, (and indeed he cannot be God without it; to be God, and not true to his Word, implies a contradiction) then fure I am, the rich, the voluptuous, the carnal Men of this World, that make fuch provifion for the Flesh to fulfil the Lufts thereof, muft certainly be in a more miferable condition than I. Methinks I fee how they tremble before the Throne. They thought it below them here on Earth, to make Religion their bufinefs; methinks I fee how afhamed they are of their Folly, how the Wretches blush to fee, that God hath chofen the foolish things of this World to confound the wife: Methinks I hear them cry out to Rocks

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and Mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the Face of him that fits on the Throne, and from the Wrath of the Lamb. O how their Thoughts at that time will be all changed, and all their Triumphs be turned into Funerals? Methinks I fee how Herod is confounded to fee the humble Baptift advanced above the Kings and Princes of this Word, even that Baptift whom he valued not half fo much as he did a Strumpet, whom for Sport's fake, he could Behead and deprive of Life, to fave his Reputation among Flatterers and Sycophants! Methinks I fee how the bloody Nero ftarts, to fee Paul the Prifoner deck'd with Robes of eternal Light; that Paul, who fell a Sacrifice to his Pleasure, and whom he would have difdained to fet with the Dogs of his Flock! I quake at the difmal fight! My thoughts are filled with horror! I'll be wife before it be too late, I'll not hazard my Soul as moft Mendo. O how I blame my felf for ferving Sin and the World thus long! Had God fnatched me away in that difmal Service, how dreadful would my Wages have been? Bleffed be God, who hath been thus patient with me; I'll trefpass no longer upon his long-fuffering. Come ye Minifters of the Gospel, tell me what I muft do to be Saved lead me, direct me, I'll follow, and neither Men nor Devils fhall draw me away. Teach me to fing the Songs of Zion. Inftruct me how to prefer Jerufalem above my chief Joy. Shew me the Path of Life, leave not my Soul in Hell. Pull it out of the Fire; I have made a folemn Choice of God for my Portion. Let me know

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how I must love him: I'll obey your Counsel, I'll act according to your Directions. Be not afraid of me, I will not turn back in the Day of Battel. Ihave done with thefe ftolen Waters; I fee no Felicity that arifes from bathing in those dangerous Streams; they may lull and charm for a while, but leave the Soul empty. If any Man had reason to find Satisfaction in them, Solomon had, who had Riches, and Power, and Lust enough to range where he pleased; yet when he had walked through the whole Garden of fenfual Pleasures, cropt the choicest Flowers, fed upon the most lufcious Fruits, left nothing unattempted to know the utmost reach of that Fool's Paradise, fearch'd all the by-places and corners where they faid the Treafures of Satisfaction lay, unravell'd all the fecret Intrigues of Sin, ranfack'd all the hidden Mysteries of it: When he had thus wander'd up and down, and almoft loft himself in that unhappy Labyrinth, the Verdict he gives of all is this, Vanity of Vanities, mighty Nothings, perfe&t Trouble and vexation of Spirits; and then protests, That the only Satisfaction that's folid, and like to laft, lies in fearing God, and keeping his Commandments. That's it, I fee, Men are forced to confefs at laft, and too often when it is too late. I fee moft Men are of another mind when they come to die, to what they were in the time of their Strength,and Health, and Liberty; and that Serioufnefs they formerly derided, they then wish for, when the Sentence is paffing upon them, Cut them down, why do they cumber the Ground? The Pearl they might formerly have had at a reasonable Price, E 2

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and would not, they now would purchase with ten thousand Worlds, if they had them, and cannot. This it is, to turn the Grace of God into Wantonnefs, to play with the Glorious Meffage fent to them by the great Bridegroom of their Souls, and to make light of Invitations to the Supper of the Lamb. O Folly! O Madness! O monftrous Stupidity! O my Soul, come not thou into their Secret, unto their Affembly, mine Honour, be not thou united. I'll take warning by these fad Examples. Their Imprudence thall make me wife; their Indifcretion fhall make me take another courfe. I fee there are Snares laid for my Soul, I am befet with Temptations. If I tremble at the main Öcean, a shallow Puddle is offered me to drown my self in. What should make the Devil fo bufie, fo earnest, so induftrious, to draw my Soul away from the Fountain of Living-Waters? Without all peradventure he sees what Happinefs it's capable of, even of a Happiness which knows neither measure nor end. He fees how careful the Angels are of it, how they follicit it to avouch the Lord for its God. He was once in Heaven, and knows that holy Souls fhall poffefs the Seats of the Apoftate Spirits, and that what he loft, they fhall enjoy; the Dignity he and his dismal Affociates forfeited, they fhall inherit; and the Thrones he and his Crew did once triumph in, fhall fall to their fhare. He fees how fair a Soul redeemed with the Blood of Chrift ftands for this high Preferment: He fees the Inclinations and Propenfions it hath to take up with God alone; and, to divert the Stream, he dreffes out Sin in feveral

Garbs,

Garbs, that if one will not tempt me, another may. But, Omy God, Sin fhall infinuate into my favour no more; it shall creep into my Bofom no more; I'll avoid all familiarity with it; I'll hug the Monster no more; I'll take it no longer for a harmless Thing, it fhall be my Darling, my Benjamin no more; my Eyes fhall be no longer pleased with viewing of it; my Tongue fhall commend and praise it no more; I'll open my Door to the fatal Gueft no more: My faint Oppofitions fhall be turned into stronger Refiftances: I'll call up my Blood and Courage to withstand its Juggles; I have refolved, and my Heart fhall be carried out after this Idol no more. Come, my Soul, awake to higher Thoughts, and Hopes, and Labours. Away with thy fluggish Wishes, and with thy dull Endeavours. Are thefe fit for feeking eternal Joys? Doth a Creeping Pace befeem a Man that is refolved for Eternity? The Voice of the Lord is powerful, the Voice of the Lord is full of Majesty, the Voice of the Lord breaks the Cedars, the Voice of the Lord thakes the Wilderness. And art thou the only Creature whom it cannot shake? It's done; mine Eyes are open, and I am refolved. It was Refolution made the three Men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, adventure in a fiery Furnace. It was Refolution made St Paul ready, not to fuffer only, but to die at Jerufalem for the Name of Jefus. It was Refolution made David's Worthies enter into the Camp of the Philistines, and draw Water out of the Well of Bethlehem. It was Refolution made Ignatius despise Fire, and

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