splitting his soul upon one of these two rocks, but a sound knowledge of the severity of the law.

He is in danger, I say, of slighting the penalty. This is seen by the practice of all the profane in the world Do they not know the law? Verily, many of them can say the ten commandments without book. But they do not know the severity of the law; and therefore when at any time awakenings come upon their consciences, they strive to drive away the guilt of one sin, by wallowing in the filth of another.

But would they do thus, if they knew the severity of the law? They would as soon eat fire. The severity of the law would be an intolerable, unsupportable burden to their consciences. It would drive them, and make them fly for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them.

Or, if he slights not the penalty, he will seek to make amends to it, by doing good works, for the sins he has committed. This is manifest by the practice of the Jews and Turks, and all that swerve on that hand, namely, to seek life and happiness by the law. Paul also was here before he met with Jesus in the way. This is natural to consciences that are awakened, unless also they have it given to see the true severity of the law. The which that thou mayest do, if my mite will help, I will cast in for thy conviction. these four things:

1. The law charges thee with its curse, as well for the pollution of thy nature, as for the defilements of thy life; yea, and if thou hadst never committed sinful acts, thy pollution of nature must stand in the way to life, if thou comest not to God for mercy by Christ.

2. The law takes notice of and charges thee with its curse, as well for sinful thoughts, as for vile and sinful actions. The very "thought of foolishness is sin," though it never breaks out into act, and will as surely merit the damnation of the soul, as will the greatest transgression in the world. 3. If now thou couldst keep all the commandments, that

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will do thee no good at all for life, because thou hast sinned first: "And the soul that sinneth, shall die." Unless then thou canst endure the curse, and so in a legal way, overcome it, for the sins that thou hast committed, thou art gone, if thou comest not to God by Christ for mercy and pardon.

4. And never think of repentance, thereby to stop the mouth of the law. For the law calleth not for repentance, but life; nor will it accept of any, shouldst thou mourn and weep for thy sins till thou hast made a sea of blood with tears. This, I say, thou must know, or thou wilt not come to God by Christ for life. For the knowledge of this will cause that thou shalt neither slight the severity of the law, nor trust to the works thereof for life. Now when thou doest neither of these, thou canst not but speed thee to God by Christ for life; for now thou hast no stay; pleasures are gone, all hope in thyself is gone. Thou now diest, and that is the way to live; for this inward death is, or feels, like a hungerbitten stomach, that cannot but crave meat and drink. Now it will be as possible for thee to sleep with thy finger in the fire, as to forbear craving mercy, so long as this knowledge

remains.

Fourthly, As a man must know himself, the emptiness of this world, and the law of God; so it is necessary for him to know that there is a hell, and how insupportable the torments of it are for all threatenings, curses, and determinations to punish in the next world will prove but fictions and scarecrows, if there be no woful place, no woful state, for the sinner to receive his wages in for sin, when his days are ended in this world. Wherefore this word, saved, supposeth such a place and state. "He is able to save" from hell, from the woful place, from the woful state of hell, them that come unto God by him.

Christ therefore often insinuates the truth of a hell, in his invitations to the sinners of this world to come to him: as where he tells them, they shall be saved if they do; they

As if he had said, There

shall be damned if they do not. is a hell, a terrible hell, and they that come to me I will save them from it; but they that come not, the law will damn them in it. Therefore, that thou mayest indeed come to God by Christ for mercy, believe there is a hell, a woful, terrible place. Hell is God's prison; he hath made it deep and large! the punishments are by the power of his wrath, which will issue from his mouth like a stream of burning brimstone, ever kindling itself upon the soul. Thou must know this by the word, and fly from it, or thou shalt know it by thy sins, and lie and cry in it.

I might enlarge, but if I did I should be swallowed up; for we are, while here, no more able to set forth the torments of hell, than we are, while here, to set forth the joys of heaven. Only this may and ought to be said, that God is able, as to save, so to cast into hell: and as he is able to make heaven sweet, pleasurable, and glorious, beyond thought; so he is able to make the torments of hell so exquisite, so hot, so sharp, so intolerable, that no tongue can utter it, no, not the damned in hell themselves.

If thou lovest thy soul, slight not the knowledge of hell, for that, and the law, are the spurs which Christ useth to prick souls forward to himself withal. What is the cause that sinners can play so delightfully with sin? It is that they forget that there is a hell for them to descend into for their so doing, when they go out of this world. For here usually he gives a stop to our sinful course; we perceive that hell hath opened her mouth before us. Lest thou shouldst forget, I beseech thee another time, to retain a knowledge of hell in thine understanding, and apply the burning-hot thoughts thereof to thy conscience. This is one way to make thee gather up thy heels, and mend thy pace in coming to Jesus Christ, and to God the Father by him. Fifthly, It is also necessary, that he that cometh to God by the Lord Jesus, should know what death is, and the un

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certainty of its approaches upon us. Death is, as I may call it, the feller, the cutter down. Death is that which puts a stop to a further living here, and that which lays man where it finds him if he is in the faith in Jesus, it lays him down there to sleep, till the Lord comes: if he be not in the faith, it lays him down in his sins, until the Lord comes. Again, if thou hast some beginnings that look like good, and death should overtake thee before those beginnings are ripe, thy fruit will wither, and thou wilt fall short of being gathered into God's barn. Some men are cut off like the tops of the ears of corn, and some are even nipped by death in the very bud of their spring: but the safety is, when a man is ripe, and shall be gathered to his grave, as a shock of corn to the barn in its season.

Now, if death should surprise and seize thee before thou art fit to die, all is lost. For there is no repentance in the grave; or rather, as the wise man has it, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."

Death is God's sergeant, God's bailiff, and he arrests in God's name when he comes, but seldom gives warning before he clappeth us on the shoulder. And when he arrests us, though he may stay a little while, and give us leave to pant, and tumble, and toss ourselves for a while upon a bed of languishing, yet at last he will prick our lungs, and let out our life, and then our soul will be poured upon the ground, yea, into hell, if we are not ready and prepared for the life everlasting. He that doth not watch for, and is not afraid lest death should prevent him, will not make haste to God by Christ. What Job said of temporal afflictions, such a one will death be, if thou art not aware: "When I looked for good, evil came. The day of affliction prevented me." If thou lookest, or beginnest to look for good, and the day of death shall cut thee off before thou hast found that good

thou lookest for, all is lost, soul, and life, and heaven and all. Wherefore it is convenient that thou conclude the grave is thy house, and that thou make thy bed once a day in the grave: also that thou say unto corruption, "Thou art my father; and to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister." I say, be acquainted with the grave and death. The fool puts the evil day far away, but the wise man brings it nigh. Better be ready to die seven years before death comes, than want one day, one hour, one moment, one tear, one sorrowful sigh, at the remembrance of the ill-spent life that I have lived. This then is that which I admonish thee of, namely, that thou know death, what it is, what it doth, when it comes; also that thou consider well the danger that death leaves that man in, to whom he comes before he is ready, and prepared to be laid by it in the grave.

:

Sixthly, Thou must also be made by thy awakenings to see what Christ is. This is of absolute necessity for how can or shall a man be willing to come to Christ, that knows not what he is, what God has appointed him to do? He is the Saviour: every man will say so. But to sense, smell, and taste, what saving is, and so to understand the nature of the office and work of a Saviour, is a rare thing, kept close from most, known but by some. Jesus of Nazareth is the Saviour, or the reconciler of men to God, in the body of his flesh, through death. This is he whose business in coming from heaven to earth was to save his people from their sins. Now, as was said, to know how he doth this, is that which is needful to be inquired into: for some say he doth it one way, some he doth it another; (and it must be remembered, that we are now speaking of the salvation of that man, that from new or first awakenings is coming to God by Christ for life.)

1. Some say he doth it by giving us precepts and laws to keep, that we might be justified thereby.