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The Sad Effects of Sin. A True Relation of the Murder Committed by DAVID WALLIS, On his Companion Benjamin Stolwood: On Saturday Night, the first of Au­gust, 1713. With his Carriage af­ter Condemnation; His Confessi­on and Dying Speech at the Place of Execution, &c.

To which are added, The Sermons Preached at the Lecture in Boston, in his Hearing, after his Condem­nation; And on the Day of his Execution, being Sept. 24. 1713.

Boston, N. E. Printed by John Allen, for Nicholas Boone, at the Sign of the BIBLE in Cornhil. 1713.

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The Unhappy Circumstances of a Young Man, whose Name was Da­vid Wallis, give the Occasion for this Publication.

THIS Young man [...] at Boston- [...] near [...] rough, and had such a Re­ligious Education, as [...] more frequent there, [...] in many other Places▪ When he was about Four­teen Years of Age, he broke away to a [...] faring Life, in which he very much Lost [...] Good Impressions of his Earlier [...].

On Saturday, 1 d. 6. m. 1713. [...] the hours of nine [...] ten at night, [...] board the Ship [...], to which he [...] (then in Boston Harbour, [...] all the Day without any [...] well perhaps, if without any Drink [...] he was angry because Benjamin Stolwood [...] not [...].

Benjamin Stolwood, was at this [...] in the place of [...] for the Ship, and be­ing ask'd, readily gave a good piece of raw Beef to them that came a board, Wallis (having his knife in his hand to cut the [Page ii] Meat into slices) ask'd him. Why he had got no Victuals for him? Stolwood made a proper and modest Answer; but such as Wallis was not pleas'd withal: For he laid aside his Knife, and struck Stolwood divers blows with his Hand, and bid him, Be gone out of the Cook [...]. Stolwood returned nothing but a Gentle Answer; intimating, That he would forgive him, on the score of his being a [...] his A [...]es. Hereupon (as was [...] one of the Witnesses,) Wallis told [...] he would not be gone, he would Stick him with his Knife. And then immediately struck his Knife at his open Breast (as is de­posed by two more,) before the Lad could well make any Escape; he standing with his Back against the Bulk-head; the Knife entred [...] his Left pap, with such a mortal stroke, that the poor Boy cried out, I am kill'd; and removing his hand from the Wound, which at first he stopped with it, the Blood plenti­fully gush'd out, his Countenance chang'd, and in a few minutes he died. One of the Witnesses hereupon telling Wallis, That he had killed Stolwood, he only answered, If I have, I must answer for it. Next day, the Co­roner's Inquest Charg'd Wallis with the M [...]r­der of Stolwood.

He was Tried at a Special Court of Assize, Held at Boston, on Wednesday the Twenty Sixth of August; When the Jury found him Guilty, and so Sentence of Death was passed upon him. The Judges, with the Jury. be­stow'd a most serious Consideration upon [Page iii] the matter. The Law of our own Province is [...] for [...] Mur­der [...]. They [...], this the [...], I will stick you with [...] before the stroke, was a sufficient [...] of [...]. When [...] proceeds to Killing [...] a Tool adapted for the purpose it cannot [...] suppose a criminal [...]. And the Threatning [...] yet [...] Evidently [...]roclaime it. It was considered, That it [...] a miserable [...], if our Lives might [...] Mercy of ever, Murderer, c [...]ncer [...] [...] it cannot be [...], that he had some day [...] before declared his [...] to commit hi [...] [...]. They considered how far also the Nature of a Fact will make it Legally pass [...]; and how far the Quality of [...] which a strike is intended [...] pass in the Law [...] of God and [...] for a Wilful Murder. They consider [...] Divine Direction; [...] XXXV. [...] to him with an [...], he is a Mur­der [...] to Death. [...] Direction of the [...], says, ‘To the [...] Killing Men on [...] is in the Time [...] or Displeasure, [...] contrary to the Common [...], may be restrained [...] every [...] who shall [...], that [...] not [Page iv] then any Weapon [...]. So as the Person so Stabbed or Thrust shall thereof Dye within the space of six Months then next following, altho' it cannot be proved, that the same was done of Malice Fore-thought [...] the party so offending, shall suffer [...].’ They considered, That be­sides the Direction to be fetch'd by Christian Nations, from the Judicial Laws of Moses, con­cerning what is to be Esteemed a Capital Murder, Long before those Laws, there was [...] Law of God, given unto Man­kind Gen. IX. 6. Whoso sheds Mans Blood, by Man shall his Blood be shed; for in the Image of God, made he Man: A Law Anteriour and Superiour to all Humane Laws, and forever & every where in Force, whatever may be the Humane Laws. And so the Sentence proceed­ed.

The Honourable Judges, that they might Extend all possible Clemency to him, fixed not the Time of his Execution until the Twenty fourth of September. In this Time, His Excellency the Governour had some occasion to consider, how [...] might be proper to propose the Prisoner as an Object for the Queens Mercy. But upon the most Mature Deliberation with Persons of understanding, and as Mercifully disposed as any, but not for such Tender Mercies to some as would prove Cruelties to all; the Nature of the Crime appeared such, as to bring the Crimi­nal within the Statute of Heaven, Prov. XXVIII. 17. A man that doth Violence to the [Page v] Blood of any Person, shall flee to the Pit, let no Man stay him.

The poor Young man, before as well as after his Trial, was in such a pensive Conditi­on, as was agreeable to one under the Expec­tation of what was now coming upon him. And he Expressed himself upon this purpose, That he had sinned, and he deserved to suffer, and he expected it; It belonged unto him; and he should patiently submit unto it; If he might [...] get into good Terms with Heaven before he died, this was all that he had to be concerned about.

In this Time, the Ministers of the Town, with all suitable Compassion and Assiduity, Visited him, and Instructed him, and Pray'd with him; and not only used more private Endeavours to prepare him for his Death but also pursued the same Intention [...] publickly, when he had Liberty which was readily granted him, to attend in our publick Assemblies.

Under these Cultivations, he was brought unto such Thoughts and Frames, and he took his opportunities to declare such Things, as the Reader will find related in the Ensuing Sermon. He also declared, That he could not without wonder now Look back on a ve­ry odd thing in his former Life; which was, ‘That he had abundance of Times, when only sporting with the Young man, he had [...] Murdered, let fall these words to him, [...] I shall one day be hang'd for [...]; God [...] me for saying [...] [...] could give no [...] of the Impression; but now found [Page vi] himself Extreamly astonished in the Accom­plishment.

The Twenty fourth day of September arrived, when the poor Young man, having been first instructed with a most Pertinent and Excellent Sermon, on Psal. LI. 14. Deliver me from Blood [...]tiness, O God, Thou God of my Salvation was between the Hours of Two and Four in the Afternoon, carried unto his Execution.

A Minister of the Town, so far gratified the Importunity of his desire for it, as to [...] him, for his Assistance in these last Minutes of his Life.

The Young man Express'd all the pious and proper Frames, that his best Friends [...] have wished for him; and such as I hope, were a good Harvest, of the Pains and Prayers and Tears, wherewith Good men had been Labouring for his Welfare.

I will single out only Two or Three Pas­sages, of what occurr'd in the Conversation, (which could not be much) by the way.

The Minister asking him; With what Frame [...], poor David, with what Frame, dost thou [...] this grievous Afternoon? He answer­ed: I Bless the Lord, I find my Soul full of Sub­ [...]ssion to the will of God.

Another time, the Minister asking him, Child what shall be Reported unto your poor Fa­ther, if the grievous Tidings of this Afternoon [...] sent unto him? He answered; Eat [...] [...]ow, that I Dye full of Hope of the [...] my [...].

[Page vii] Another time, the Minister asking him, Is not the Terror of the Death just now before you, too hard for you? He answered, No, not at all; my Hope in the Mercy of God has overcome it.

He also declared, That his Hope was founded in the Blood of his Great Saviour shed for him, & in the Wonderful Mercy of God which allowed and invited the chief of Sinners, to plead this Blood, & the Wonderful Mercy of the Saviour, who will cast out none of those that come to him: And that the Effect of this Hope in him was, Hatred of all Sin more than ever, & a Desire to do all the good that was possible.

He likewise declared, That the nearer he drew to his End, the more he grew in his Hope.

Arriving at the Fatal Place, when the Noises produced on such occasions in the vast confluence of People, were a little over, the Minister said unto him, ‘The desire of a Dying Man has brought me, what perhaps nothing else would have done, to be pre­sent at this uneasy Spectacle, And now, David, you are come to those last Minutes, which must be employ'd unto the best Ad­vantage. You have had set before you, the Nature and Desert of your Sins, and parti­cularly of that Crime for which you are now to suffer: And the contrition of Soul, with which you are to acknowledge them. You have had the Tidings & the Tenders [...] an Admirable Saviour, who is Able and [...] to relieve you. You have been ad­vised [...] to Place your Faith in that [...], & then how to prove it in an [Page viii] Hatred of Sin, and a Zeal for the Service of God. What remains is, That you now Re­new your Flight unto your Saviour; And, Oh! What a Lively Flight in a Dying Hour! And that you testifie to the People of God, who have so much desired it, the Repentance that God has [...] you: My poor [...], I put thee over into those Gracious Hands that will save thee to the uttermost. Oh! May the Glorious Grace of God shine forth on this mournful occasion!’

He then made a short Speech unto the Peo­ple, wherein he Justified both God and Man [...] all that was come upon him; and [...] all the Spectators, to beware of ungovernment Passion, & Sabbath-breaking, & Profane Swea [...] [...] Hard Drinking, and ever doing any thing [...] should be grievous to their Parents, which things, he said, had brought him to this [...] what he spoke at all times, was usual­ly pertinent enough; yet he was all along, [...] but very few words. And so they [...] but few words, which he now uttered, [...] very audible: To supply this, [...], That a paper, which he had given [...] days before unto the Minister, might be [...]; which was done accordingly.

Desiring to leave behind me some Ex­pressions of the [...] with [...] the World; I do first of [...] the [...] which has Condemned [...] [Page ix] Tho' I had not Lodging in me a Long Ha­tred and Malice against the Young man whom I have Murdered, nor a Long purpose of Killing him; yet my Wicked Passion was raised unto such an Heighth at the Time of the Murder, and I had so much Intention of mischief to him, tho' it was but sudden, that I freely acknowledge, I deserve to Dye for what I have done. And I would Earnestly warn all People, to beware of giving way to their Passion, and Rage, when they are provoked. They see, by sad Experience, they know not what it may bring them to.

I give Thanks to all that have Expressed their good Will to me in my sad Condition; and particularly, to the Honourable Judges, who have given me so Long a Time to pre­pare for my Death, when I gave so Little to my poor Brother, to prepare for his.

I would admire the Providence and Com­passion of God unto me, for casting me into a Place, where I have enjoy'd such Won­derful Means and Helps, to carry on the work of Repentance. And I hope the Lord hath blessed Endeavours for my Good. I have some Hope of his Pardoning Mercy, and some Hope that the Holy Spirit of Grace [...] Visited me in my Prison, and has drawn [...] to my Saviour. I have given up my self as well as I can, to my only Saviour, and begged that His Blood may Cleanse me from all my Sin, and that he would give me a New Heart, and bring me home unto God. I cast my self into his Merciful Hands; and my Hope [Page x] of his Mercy Encourages me to do all I can for the Good of others. I would warn all people to beware of an ungodly Life; which I now find to be more bitter then Death. And I would warn Young people especially to beware of Disobedience to the Instruction of their Parents, and of doing any thing that may be grievous to their Parents. Nothing is now more grievous to me, than my not minding the Word of God & the Calls of the Gospel in my Youth. I wish that my Ex­ample may provoke Young people to come in­to such a Life of Godliness, as I would now give a thousand Worlds, that I had sooner-chosen.

And Oh, the bitterness of Soul, with which I now wish, that I had never tramp­led on the Name of the Glorious God, by the Profane Oaths, which my wicked Mouth has utterd; and that I had never allowed my self in the Dangerous Wickedness of Drunkenness; and that I had never polluted my self with vile Unchastities. For such things my poor Soul is wounded & bleeding to Death. And I cannot have Peace in my Soul, without warning and begging all the People, as they Love their own Souls, to be­ware of such Iniquities. Let them not go on in them, lest such miseries as they Little think of come upon them.

And now, O my Saviour, the chief of Sinners, [Page 11] Leaves himself in thy Merciful Hands, for thy great Salvation.

David Wallis,
Signed by David Wallis, declaring every clause of it to be from his Heart, in the Presence of us.
  • Seth Smith.
  • Robert Petton.

A Deputy Sheriff then demanded of him, whether he owned this Instrument, & would have it. Look'd upon, as truly Expressing the sentiments of his Heart. He replied, with a certain Air of Alacrity, Yes, with all my Heart! Or, to that Effect.

Hereupon the Minister proceeded unto such a Prayer, as the occasion called for a ‘Wherein after the horrid Things done in every Sin, were confessed and bewailed, the Justice of the Holy God, in all the evil that, had come, or could come upon any of us, was acknowledged, and very particularly [...] if that worst of Evils, To be left unto [...] Sin, had been our Misery. It was [...] unto the case of the poor Malefactor; and, at the same time, it was deplored, That an Heart full of Murder, set us all, in some sort, on the Level with him, tho' we had not, been left unto the Capital Acts of it; where­in the Free-Grace of Heaven was to be won­dred [Page 12] at: And it was desired, That if any of us had any Malice or Hatred in his Heart against his Neighbour, such Tendencies and Approaches towards Murder, might be heartily Repented of, and Graciously Pardoned. The Divine Proclamation of a Pardon, for the chief of Sinners, was then laid hold up­on; and the Fountain open for Sin and for Un­cleanness, was repair'd unto. The Dying Young man was carried thither. Thanks were given to the Glorious God, for the comfortable Symptoms, which we saw, of a genuine Repentance produced in him; And that the People of God, who had with such fervent Supplications been concerned for him, had Hope that God had heard the voice of their Supplications It was importunately begg'd, That it might be found a Real, Thorough, Saving Work, and an Hope that will not make ashamed; and the several Arti­cles of it, were particularly, and with some Importunity insisted on. The Compassion of good Men for the Young man, was expres­sed; and it was declared, that Obedience to the Law of the Holy God, which forbad any Satisfaction to be taken for the Life of a Murderer, was that which [...] brought on the sad Work of [...] Afternoon. But it was pleaded, That tho' there was no Par­don to be had for this Life, yet the Young man might be Pardoned for a Better Life. And since there is Joy in Heaven among the Angels of God over a Repenting Sinner, it was pray'd, that this might be found such an [Page 13] one, and presently fall into the Hands of good Angels Rejoycing over him, and Glo­riously Triumphing in What Sovereign Grace may fetch from Dungeons & from Gibbets. And since our dear Saviour said unto a Malefactor on the Day wherein He died, that He would not only Remember him when He came in His Kingdom, but also give him to be That Day in Paradise, it was pray'd, that the Soul of this Youth, might This Day Enter into an Heavenly Place and Rest; now the Sorrows of Death compassed him, and the Pains of Hell threatned to get hold on him and he called on the Name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, Deliver my Soul! It was pray'd, That his poor Father might be supported under the Heavy Trial, if he should Live, to hear of what had befallen [...] of his Family. And, Finally, it was pray'd, That the numerous confluence of People there, and especially the Young people, might be Effectually warned by the awful [...] before them, to shun the pathes of the De­stroyer. & not by persisting in Sin, provoke the Holy one to Leave them unto such things, as they now little imagined.’

These and some other such things, were in that prayer insisted on; which had not been here at all mention'd if the mention thereof had not been by some desired.

After this, the Young man himself [...] down in the Cart, upon his Coffin, and made a short, but pertinent and pathetick prayer; confessing the demerit of his Crimes, com­mitting [Page 14] himself into the Hands of his only Saviour, and Expressing his Hope of the Mercy of God unto him.

He then rose up, and the Execution was proceeded in; wherein, and from the Begin­ing, to the End he Express'd the least Reluc­tancy, that has ordinarily been seen in Cir­cumstances like to his; and a Desire of Death, rather than an Horror of it. People at a distance, interpreted it as a sort of Stupidity; but unto them who were better acquainted with his condition, it seem'd the Effect of a better principle. There is good Ground for Hope, that the means of Good which he had enjoy'd, were not lost upon him; and that he now Sings the Righteousness and Benignity of God the Saviour, who may have delivered him from [...] guiltiness:

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The Curbed Sinner. A DISCOURSE Upon the Gracious and Wondrous Restraints Laid by the PROVIDENCE Of the Glorious GOD, On the Sinful Children of Men, to Withold them from Sinning against Him. Occasioned by a Sentence of DEATH, passed on a poor YOUNG MAN, for the Murder of his Companion. With some Historical Passages refer­ring to that Unhappy Spectacle.

By Cotton Mather, D. D.

Job XXXVII. 14. Hearken to this;—Stand still, and Con­sider the Wondrous Works of God.

Boston, N. E. Printed by John Allen, for Nicholas Boone, at the Sign of the BIBLE in Cornhil. 1713.

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Restraints Merciful & Wonderful. Boston-Lecture, 10. d. 7. m. 1713.

Gen. XX. 6.I With-held thee from Sinning a­gainst Me.

A Most astonishing Favour of Heaven! Too little acknowledged, not near enough Celebrated, a­mong the Sinful Chil­dren of Men. We have many Calls to take a thankful Notice of a Mercy, wherein we are so highly [...]avoured; Very mighty Calls, when we see what horrid and bloody Sin, some of our [Page 2] Brethren are Left unto; What fear­ful Ruine some have brought upon themselves, by the Sin which they have been Left unto. 'Tis what the Lamentable Object we have now be­fore us doth very Loudly Call us to; 'tis the most proper Use to be made of such a Spectacle!

It is a strange Occurrence that my Text refers unto. The Father of the Faithful, once and again falling into the Errors of Unbelief. His Life was filled with Trials; But in them all, the Faithfulness of the Glorious God unto His Promises, was marvellously illustra­ted. The Blessed God, had once and again promised, That He would be a God unto the Offspring of Abraham. And yet this famous Patriarch, did [...] and again after some sort Alie­nate the Promises, and by his own Act, exposed his Wife to such Hazards, that he had lost the Fulfilment of the Pro­mises, if God had not in a way of So­vereign Grace marvellously stept in for his Deliverance. Formerly in the [Page 3] Court of Egypt, and now in the Court of G [...]rar, our Patriarch dissembled his Relation to his Wife, apprehending that his Life might be in danger among so debauch'd a people, if it had been known, how he was related unto her▪ It is not now a Time, nor is it here a Place, to declare at large, the Judg­ment which the Ancients, as well as the Moderns, have passed upon this Action of Abraham; an Action Look­ing so like a prostitution; how severe­ly some have Condemned it, how plau­sibly some have Defended it. Were [...] Empannel'd on the Jury, I should not consent that either the one or the o­ther draw up the Verdict; with my Consent, my dear Calvin should [...] Foreman, tho' I am aware, how [...] Jesuits reproach him for his Verdict upon it, which after all the Cand [...] he can use, yet says, When we had done all, we must own, [...], he was really Guilty of [...] Unbelief, not relying so much on the Providence of God, in a way of plain [Page 4] dealing, as he should have done. The Compassion of God unto His Poor, Frail, Distressed Servant on this occa­sion was wonderful! Had the Inten­tion of Abimelek to Marry this Lady, been accomplished, he had been plun­ged into a Criminal Adultery; A Crime whereof, as much a Pagan as he was, he yet own'd, It would have been a Great Sin upon him, and upon his Government. But while the Sin was yet only intended, and under the al­leviating Circumstance of, A mistake of the Person too, God smote Abime­lek with a Fit of Illness, and his Court also with Plagues which had in them something Extraordinary. While he was in much concern about these things, God in a Dream informed him of the Cause why these Plagues were come, & of the way to remove them. In the XXXIII Chapter of Job, you have a large Paragraph, concerning a Dream wherein God withdraws a man from his purpose; And I suspect, that this His­tory of Abimelek might be therein re­ferr'd [Page 5] unto. The only Clause of the History, now to be insisted on, is, that Passage in the Speech of God, unto the Awakened Soul of the Prince now in a Dream, wherein He spoke once, yea, twice unto him; He says, I with-held thee from Sinning against me. It is men­tioned as a Singular Kindnss, a Speci­al Kindness of God unto him. The Trouble that he suffered, was it seems a vast Kindness, in that it with-held him from Sinning, against the Glorious God▪ It was, as Elihu speaks, in the Text I told you of, To keep back his Soul from the Pit, and his Life from perishing by the Sword.

The DOCTRINE then before us, will be this;

The most Gracious God, in an excellent manner displays his Grace towards the Sinful Children of Men, in with-hold­ing them from Sinning against him.

To be preserved from Sin, 'tis to en­joy [Page 6] a preservation, that, my Brethren, we cannot be too Thankful for.

Two things now demand a most af­fectionate Consideration with us; First the Method, and then the Mercy, of this Happiness, I with-held thee from Sin­ning against me.

I. The Method of our Good God, in With-holding us from Sinning against him; This is various, and curious, and has many Wonders in it. We will take the Surprizing Subject into our Con­templation.

First; Our Good God With-holds the Temptations and Occasions of Sin; This is one Method in which He with­holds us from Sinning against him There is an Army of Evil Spirits, united un­der one Leader, for which cause they all go under the single Name of, Sa­ran, or, The Devil. The Design of these Evil Spirits, is to Tempt us unto Sin, that so they may by their Temptations bring us under their Condemnation. Our Tempter, the Devil, goes about, seeking [Page 7] whom he may Deceive into Sin, & by Deceiving Devour them. As our Lord said, Luk. XXII. 31. Simon, Simon, Sa­tan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you: So may it more or less be said, about every man in the World; Sinner, Sinner, Satan the Tempter hath desired, that he may have thee, to Tempt thee unto some undoing Wickedness. In­deed Satan must have the permission of God for it, before he can fall upon us. But now our God very often does not permit Satan, to Tempt us with such Fury, and such Success, as he would otherwise assault us withal. Our God has the Tempter in a Chain; He holds in the Ty-'Dog. He with­holds the Tempter from Ensnaring of us, and thereby He witholds us from falling into the Snare of the Wicked. There are People set upon mischief. 'Tis very strange that they do no more. 'Tis because God Chains up the Devil, and won't let him suggest unto them, what they may do. Our Indians had else done a thousand times more mischief, [Page 8] than they have, to our Plantations. This World is also full of those Things, which are the Occasions, the Incentives, the Inducements of Sin. The Stumbling Block: of Iniquity do even fill the World. But our God with-holds us from Sin, by with-holding from us, those things that would provoke us to Sin. He takes the Stumbling-blocks out of our way, & so witholds us from Falling into Sin upon them. Our God witholds us from the exorbitant Out-breakings of the Lust of the Flesh, and the Lust of the Eye, and the Pride of Life, by with­holding from us the Objects, that are the Fuel of them. We say, 'Tis oppor­tunity that makes a Thief. Our God witholds many a man from many a Th [...]t & other Sins by this; He won't give him an Opportunity. He won't give Riches to one man; and so the man is witheld from the Denying of God. He won't pinch another man with Poverty; and so the man is witheld from Taking the Name of God in vain. If God should order for man, some, Conditions, & some [Page 9] Employments, & some Companions, which He witholds from them, Verily, they would be drawn into abundance of Sin, more than they are.

Secondly, The Diverting of us from Sin, by the Good Hand of God, this is one Method used by our Good God in witholding us from Sin. We should Sin more than we do, but our God witholds us, by finding something else for us to do. One gave this agreea­ble Account [...] how he kept his Inno­cency; The Devil don't find me at Lie­sure, to do what he would have me to do. Infuriated Saul would have Embrued his hands in the Blood of a Servant of God, but God call'd him off! We read, 1 Sam. XXIII. 27. There came a Mes­senger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come away:—You know for what. Many such a Messenger comes unto us from God, that calls us another way, when we are just upon some sinful perpetrations. The Flood seems to have been as notable, as General, an Example of this Observation. The [Page 10] Curse of the Flood, is in this turn'd in­to a Blessing on the World. The more fructifying mould of the Earth, has been so damnified by the Flood, that men live now with more Difficulty than they did before. No man that knows the Heart of man, will deny, that a Flood of Wickedness is prevented in the World, by mens being so ne­cessarily taken up how to Live in the World. What infinite Wickedness would men be hatching every where, if they had nothing else to do! If the World had nothing but Fruitful Plains in it, it would soon be an Entire Sodom, and fit for nothing but a Conflagration. In­deed our God witholds us from Sin, when he Compels us to Work. For the most part, our God plunges us into such indigent Circumstances, that the most of our Thought, and our Time, goes to the Earning of our Bread. By Engaging us in our daily Occupati­ons, without which we and our Fa­milies would starve, Our God with­holds us from Sinning against Him. And [Page 11] sometimes when our Vocations are not enough to Engross our Care, and withold us from Sin, our Vexations must; God finds out for us Vexati­ons that shall. One man is hamper­ed with such a Malady; another man is Embroiled with such an Enemy; a third man is taken up with such an Inconvenience. Why so; The Voice of the All-wise God unto us in these things is, Thus I witheld thee from Sinning against me!

Thirdly; Interest, Interest; That is a Surprising Method of God; That is a strong sort of a Curb, where­with our God Witholds us from Sin­ning against Him. The Metal which the Curb is usually made of, is well known in the World. We say, In­terest will not Ly; tho' it will often make men do it. Every man is True to that, which he takes to be his In­terest. This is a most Exquisite Poli­cy of Heaven, as I may call it, in the Government of the World. Humane Society, would be Damaged, yea, Dis­banded, [Page 12] if some Sins were not become very odious, which yet men are natu­rally enough prone unto; It is Interest that has made them Odious; men feel 'tis for their Interest that they should be so. God makes the Transgressors feel that word; Hab. II. 9, 10. Wo to him that Coveteth an Evil Covetousness; Thou hast consulted shame to thy self. God makes men see, that by such and such Sins, they shall bring a Mischief on themselves; This witholds them from Sinning against Him! There is a De­testable Generation of men, who go under the Name of Deists. These Dangerous Wretches pretend unto a kind of Moral Vertue; Their Moral Vertue is this; A man expects the Ci­vilities of his Neighbours; his Condi­tion would be insupportable should his Neighbours count him unworthy of their Civilities. Now, that a man may not Lose the Civilities of others, he must then treat them with Civilities. These are all the Bonds of a Good Be­haviour, that these Baptised Infidels [Page 13] are sensible of. This is all, that keeps the Dangerous Monsters, from Steal­ing, and Lying, and Murder. Our God witholds men from Sin, by making them see, that their Neighbours will else withold their Civilities from them▪ Tis the Hope of Gain, by their show of some Godliness, that witholds many men from the Grossest Efforts of Un­godliness.

Fourthly. There is the Method of Conscience; Our God witholds us from Sin, by the Controul of Conscience, which He has placed as His Deputy in our Souls. Men durst not Sin as they would, because of what the Candle of the Lord shows unto them; they can't Sin except they put out this Candle. A Conscience which tells them, That they who do such things are worthy of Death; The Conscience which causes a Wicked man, to do what no other man could bring him to; Act. XXIV. 25. To Trem­ble at the Thoughts of a Judgment to come. That stands in the way of ma­ny a man, like an Angel with a Fla­ming [Page 14] Sword, and stops him, when his Way is perverse before the Lord.

And our God, by ordering a Good Education for us, keeps our Conscience in a more Wakeful and Active Plight; so that we cannot get over the Checks which it gives unto us. This Light within, tho' it be so darkened that it is not a sufficient Guide unto Life, yet it shows us, many Fair Things, and like a Fire it scalds us if we do any Foul ones. The Supream Governour of the World holds the World in order by this Golden Engine, & witholds men from very much of the Disorder which else they would rush into. Many a man would Murder his Parents, De­stroy his own Wife, Debauch his Neighbours, Blaspheme God, Burn down the Town, and run a muck a­mong the people, if some Conscience did not withold men from Sinning at such a rate of Outrageous Madness. The men who proclaim it, that they have shaken off the Regards of Con­science, and suppressed & smothered [Page 15] its Admonitions, they are but so ma­ny Beasts of Prey let loose upon the World; It is from the Curse of God, when such Increase and Multiply.

Fifthly, and Finally. I can show you a more Excellent Way, than all of this. There are those whom a Good God Witholds from Sin, by infusing in­to their Souls a Principle of Grace, which is contrary to Sin; A Principle under the power whereof, men cannot Sin like other men. A Principle of Piety does God shower down from Heaven, into the Souls of some; [...] Principle of Respect unto all the Holy and Just and Good Laws of Heaven. By such a Principle the Dispositions to Sin in the Hearts of Good men are Mortified; & the Considerations which deter from Sin, are Entertained, with a most Lively Efficacy. Under the force of such a Principle, a man can­not but hate Sin, and Loath Sin, and refuse to Sin; and if he be pressed unto: Sin, he will say, Gen. XXXIX. 9 [...]. How shall I do this Wickedness, and [Page 16] Sin against God? O admirable way of being Witheld from Sin! To be inspi­red with an Antipathy to every known Sin. The New Nature in a Child of God says to him, No, Thou shalt not Sin; Oh! Do not the Abominable Thing, which is hated by the Soul of God! This lays a Glorious Restraint upon him. Oh! that we were more commonly Restrained so! But now,

II. The Mercy of our Good God, in thus Witholding us from Sinning against Him; This is what we are to won­der at; and what exceedingly bespeaks our Praises unto Him. This will ap­pear immediately. For,

First. We shall fall into Sin, yea, into all manner of Sin and Blasphemy, and such as would never be Forgiven too; if our God Withold us not. We are every one of us Depraved with Original Sin; and this our Original Sin is the Original of Every Sin; it contains in it a propensity to every Sin. We must every one of us all confess, Behold, I was [...]hapon in Iniquity. We must every one of us make that Con­fession, [Page 17] The whole Imagination of our Heart is only Evil continually. Our First Pa­rents whom God justly made the Repre­sentatives of all Mankind, were made Mutable. And it was no unjust Thing in the Sovereign One to make them so: Immutability is the Prerogative of none but the Infinite GOD. These our Pa­rents, abused their own Liberty, and brought upon themselves a most Sinful Pravity; which cannot but be derived now unto us their Unhappy Children [...] A Seed of Evil Doers, Children that are Corrupters! We are born with Hearts whereof we read, Matt. XV. 19. There proceed out of them, Evil Thoughts, Mur­ders, Adulteries, Fornications, Thefts, False witness, Blasphemies. There is no Heart among us, but if God should not withold it, rapid streams of Sin would burst from it, and whole Torrents of I­niquity. Bring in a Catalogue of all the Crying Sins found any where among the Children of men, there is no Heart a­mong us, but what would soon carry us into the worst of them all, if God With­held us not. And if God should allow Satan to fill this Heart, an Heart that is of it self so desperately wicked, no man alive can imagine to how a desperate a [Page 18] Degree of Wickedness we should be car­ried, and with how vehement an Impe­tuosity! An Evil Spirit not forbidden by God, will go forth, and perswade an Aha [...], an [...] prevail also, to any thing in the World. If God should not With­hold our Adversary from hurting of us, his Devices would soon be too cunning for us: The Charms and Chains of Hell would soon bring the last Confusion up­on us.

Secondly. We are very Unworthy that God should withold us from Sinning against Him; our Frequent Sinning has Left us in the greatest Unworthiness of such a Mercy! By our former Sins, we deserve to be left unto further Sins. The punishment of Sin with Sin, is no un­common proceedure in the tremendous Dispensations of God. Men Sin with Delight; They signalize their Love of Sin, their Choice of Sin. The Justice of God then passes this Doom upon them, Let them go on to Sin! They be not wil­ling to be hindred! When people will not Hearken to the Voice of God, it is but a Righteous Thing with him, To give them up unto the Lusts of their own Hearts, and let them walk in their own Counsels, which you may be sure, will [Page 19] he bad enough The Righteousness of God never shines brighter than in that black Event of wilful Sinning; Rom. I. 26. For this cause, God gave them up to vile Affections. If we are witheld from any Sin, that ever [...] fell into, we must say, Lord, This is [...] not worthy of! Tis, Mercy, Mercy, that witholds us from Sin; for we can plead no Merit of our own for such a Blessing. In begging to be witheld from Sin, our Style must be that; God be merciful to­me a Sinner! Tis to be very Merciful­ly, that is to say, Undeservedly dealt withal.

Thirdly, Tis a Great Mercy sure, to be Witheld from the Greatest Evil; If we are not Witheld from Sinning against God, we fall into the Greatest Evil in the world. Sin, tis the Greatest Evil. Our Saviour, who is the Good One, has call'd it, Joh. XVII. 5. The Evil. A [...] Escape from some Extream [...] of perishing, we so with a shud­dering Horror, look back upon it. We give a start, when the Thought of it sud­denly darts into our minds; We almost [...] away, when we Think what we [...]. My Friend, When [...] Witheld from Sin, 'tis an Es­cape, [Page 20] which thy Soul may be well ama­zed in Reflecting on. Thou ma [...]st with a Transport of Joy cry out, My Soul is escaped, as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler: Oh! the Mercy, Oh! the Mer­cy of it! When our God says, I have witheld thee from Sinning against me, He does in Effect say, I have witheld thee from throwing thy self into many Sorrow [...]; I have witheld thee from wronging thy own Soul; I have witheld thee from the worst thing that could have befallen thee. To Sin, Tis to Deny the God that is A­bove. Tis a sad Thing to be left unto so vile a Thing. To Sin, Tis to do that for which the Wea [...]h of God comes. To be Witheld from Sin, 'tis to be witheld from stepping over a dismal Precipice; from tumbling down into a Devouring Fire, and Everlasting Burnings. O thou Saved of the Lord, Witheld from Sin, thy Song may be that; Lord, Thou de­liveredst my Soul from Death, my Eyes from Tears, and my Feet from Falls. The Mercy cannot be too highly spoken of!

APPLICATION.

I. There are some Occurrences in the World, that are very much to be won­dred [Page 21] at; But we now see the Reason of those Wondrous Occurrences. I will en­tertain you with the Mention of Two or Three Things, whereof we must now say, These are the Doings of the Lord, and they are marvellous in our eyes. If there were not a Good God, who witholds men from Sinning against Him, the World would not have such a Res­pite from such Wonderful Miseries, which I shall now tell you of.

First. We may Wonder that some Destructive Wickednesses are not ever now and then done in the World, by people that are Wicked enough to do them. There are people, who have nothing within them, to withold them, from such Things as are too horrible to be spoken of. People there are, who would Stick at nothing, that they could see themselves able to do, that they may ruine others, and Enrich themselves. People there are, who if it came into their Minds, what they are capable of doing, and yet might Ly Concealed af­ter all, and it may be Roast their own Eggs into the Bargain, would soon be the Actors of direful Tragedies! Many an honest man, is aware of Wayes to do incredible Mischief, which if some [Page 22] Wicked men should be as much aware of, they would be more perilous Crea­tures, than the Dragon of Hetruria, whereof Dion tells us, that after he had made fearful Devastations, he was kil­led with a Thunderbolt. The men are Devils, and very cunning and subtil De­vils too; but they have Chains of Dark­ness upon them. They don't see what they can do: And would if they saw it. Prudence will direct, that I should not go too far in Explaining my self.—But this I may say; There are People that would make a very Light matter of a Perjury; they would make nothing for a small matter to Forswear themselves. Tis a wonder, that no more Naboths are Sworn out of their Lives, or at least out of their Vineyards, by them that have no Yoke upon them. Tis very strange! And so is another thing, that I will ven­ture to speak of. He that is willing to throw away his own Life, may easily be master of Another mans. And yet, you have known many people set upon throwing away their own Lives. But you scarce ever knew one of these des­perate Suicides disposed unto the killing of any besides themselves. What is the Reason of this? Our Good God has [Page 23] acquainted us; I witheld them!

Secondly. We may wonder, That this World is not an entire Acelde­ma, and that it Swims not with Blood, even up to the Horse-bridles. There are cursed Fires Latent in the Souls of men; Fires that have some­times broke out, and burnt all round about, burnt unto the very Foundati­ons of the Mountains, burn't down all before them. A very Little Thing will serve sometimes, to blow up these Fires; Maxima odia ex Levissimis cau­sis! And then a whole Nation becomes a formidable Volcano; no more habi­table than a Vesuvie. Our Apostle speaks, as if every man had the Heart of a Murderer in him; and Rom. III. 15, 16. Feet swift to shed Blood; De­struction and Misery in their wayes. We see some Commit bloody Mur­ders. Why don't they grow as com­mon, as they did a little before the Final Catastrophe on Jerusalem! The Venemous Hearts of Men, have in them the Root, which all Murders grow upon. Sometimes a Cup of poi­son to be trembled at, has been put into the Hands of Nations; Then the Intoxicated Nations have run mad; [Page 24] have been furiously set upon destroying one another; have sheathed their Swords in one anothers bowels, with a Rage that has reached up to Heaven. The Passions have been of old called; The wild beasts of the Soul. if those Wild Beasts are once let loose, they make fearful Depredations▪ they turn Populous. Regions into a Wilderness! When a Kingdom is divided against it self, what Ad [...]nyes, what Opiates are they, that keep under the worst of all Phrensies, that would soon bring all to Desolation! When Distracted People think themselves oppressed, what is it that keeps under the Massanello's, or keeps things in the Calm, which tis said, the French Salvages told a greater than themseves, was the thing which of all they had seen, they most admired at? Who is it that Stills the Noise of the Seas, and the Tumult of the People? Our Good God has acquainted us with the Reason of this; I witheld them!

Thirdly. We may wonder, That there is any True People of God Left in the World; and that the Burning Bush is not Consumed. Our Lord-Redeemer has thro' all Ages, a Church visibly Ex­isting on the Face of the Earth; His Wil­ling, [Page 25] and His Holy People. The Genera­tion of them that seek Him: A Genera­tion which Condemns the World, and Offends it, and [...] it, and must not marvel, if it be [...] of the World Satan, who is the God of this World, and the Spirit that works in the Chil­dren of Disobedience, fills his Children with an implacable Aversion and An­tipathy for this People of God. They will grant not only Liberties, but al­so Preferments, to Devils Incarnate [...] yea, tho' they may differ very much among one another. But they will turn every Stone, that the Children of God may be Discouraged, and even Exterminated. The Persecution of Dis­senters, has been in all Ages carried on; Always with most Unreasonable Barbarities, and sometimes, to an Ex­tremity of cruel Dissipations; even such an Extremity, that the Dioclesi­ans on the Thrones of Iniquity, have boasted, of a, Superstitione Christiana de­leta; That there was no more Chris­tianity [...]eft in the World. But still the Church of our Lord, Our-lives the Attempts of all its Adversaries, yea, gains ground, grows great, & improves by those Attempts; and having Ob­tained [Page 26] Help from God, it continues to this Day. The Song of the Church in all Ages hath been that; Psa. LXXVI. 10. Surely, The wrath of man shall praise thee, the Remainder of that Wrath shalt thou Restrain. We can hardly tell whence it is, That tho' the Wolves bring forth many more at a Littter, than the Sheep; and we seldom hear of a Wolf kill'd, when the Sheep is e­very day Led into the Shambles; yet there are a thousand times more Sheep known in the World than there are of those ravening Devourers. But I now propound a much stranger thing than this. The Faithful People of God, are Counted like sheep for the slaughter all the Day long. They are but a Little Flock, a very Little Little Flock; The Wolves, they, as it was of Old said about a Syri­an Herd of them, Fill the Country. Now, Whence is it, that the Church is not ut­terly cut off; & the Name of it, no more had in Remembrance! Why have no Dayes of Purim, and of Bartholomew, nor Irish Massacres totally Extinguished it? Our Good God has acquainted us with the Reason of it; I witheld them. Oh! Let us now Give to our Good God, the Glory of such Wonderful Dispensations.

[Page 27] II. A Lesson of Wondrous Thankful­ness is to be now taught unto those, whom God has Witheld from Sinning a­gainst Him. Sirs, You are Thankful, no doubt, that you have been Witheld from Things that would have brought Sicknes­ses upon you, or Things that would have wounded you with incureable Reproach­es; That you have been Witheld from Wants and Straits, by which your Lives would have been Embittered; That you have been Witheld from grievous Deaths, by frightful Accidents which have threat­ened them. You are very much to Blame, if you are not very Thankful for such Deliverances; Unholy, if Unthank­ful! But are you Thankful that you have been Witheld from Sinning against the Glorious GOD? This, O Redeemed Ones, This is a greater Cause for Thanks­giving, than any of the rest. It may be, some of you have been all your Dayes hitherto upheld, and witheld from doing any Thing, of a Scandalous Aspect; Like the Young man in the Gospel, You have been kept from your Youth up, from every Thing that may be called, Scandalous. Oh! Be very Thankful, for so rare a Mercy; so rich a Mercy! Or, if not so, [Page 28] yet you have been witheld from such Scandals as you have seen Others fall in­to. God has not Left you to make your selves Prodigies of Sin; God has not hang'd you up in Chains, among the Mo­numents of his Wrath; Others no worse by Nature than you, have been so. E­ven in This, you have Ground of Thank­fulness. Tis a Mercy of God; And a meer Mercy it is! Yea, My Hearers, I believe there are very few of you, but what may call to mind, that you have been at some Time or other, just upon the point of doing some very horrible Thing! You have been very violently push'd on, to do some horrible Thing, which if it had been done, you had been the most Undone Things in the World; Undone for Both Worlds! You may make that Report; Psal. LXXIII. 2. As for me, my Feet were almost gone, my steps had will-nigh, slipt. But God stept in, and saved you. O fall down before the Lord, and thankfully admire so obliging a Mer­cy; and say, Bless the Lord, O my Soul; I bless thee, O my God, for thou hast deli­vered my Soul, in delivering my Feet from the Falls I have been so near unto!

I will make Two Remarks on the Gratitude which is now called for. The [Page 29] One is this; In this thing it may so fall out, that you may give a shining Demonstration of your Sincerity before the Lord. It may be, 'tis by some sore and sharp Affliction upon you, that God has Witheld you from Sinning against Him. Well, Can you now so far heartily give Thanks to God for this Affliction; and can you heartily say, Lord, I bless thee, that thou woul­dest rather, bind me in Affliction and Iron, and bring down my Heart with Labour, then let me run Loose in the broad way that Leads unto Destruction! He was a Saint of God, who could say; Psal. CXIX. 67, 71. Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I have kept thy Word. It is good for me, that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy Statutes. O Thou Sin-hating Soul; This would be a mark of Sincerity, that would have no less than on Evi­dent Token of Salvation in it. The O­ther is this; You must not fall into a Dream, that a Negative Religion, will be enough to secure your Blessed­ness. Many men, because they have been Witheld from such Things as ma­ny others are chargeable withal, they fancy they have Religion enough. They [Page 30] can say, I am not as other men, or as this Publican, and they fancy here is Religion enough to put them in Good Terms with Heaven. A very Grand Mistake! You read; Matth. III. 10. E­very Tree that brings not forth Good Fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the Fire. Tis not enough, that you bring not forth Evil Fruit; You must bring forth Good Fruit; and by a Regenera­ting Work of God upon you, be made Good Trees in order to it; You must not only be Witholden from Sin, but also be Converted from Sin; else you go into a Fire to be trembled at! Not only Sins of Commission, but also Sins of Omission, will expose you to it.

III. Certainly, it becomes us to do what we can, that Others as well as Our selves, may be Witheld from Sinning a­gainst the Glorious God. This is very plain; If the Mercy of God be great, in Witholding men from Sinning against Him, Then they who Seduce or Invite others to Sin, are the worst Enemies they can have in the world. Yea, 'tis a Mercy to be Delivered from such Unreasonable men; to be kept out of the Paths of such De­stroyers! I will first say this; My Son, [Page 31] If Sinners Entice thee to be and to do like themselves, Oh! Consent thou not; Fly from them, as thou wouldest from the worst of Enemies; Make no Friend­ship with them, lest thou Get a snare to thy Soul. But O you, Enticers, what will be your Doom from God? What shall be given to you, or what shall be done to you, or, What shall be said of you. O ye Mischievous Ones? An Apostle of God once fixing his Eyes on one of your Tribe, said, O Full of all Mischief, Th [...] Child of the Devil! Were such a Man of God now to speak, he would surely tell you, Wretches, The Devil is your Fa­ther; you do his work. You shall be punished with your Father, and they who will Curse the Day th [...] ever they [...] you, will give a dread [...] Aggravation to your punishment. On the other side; Shall not we do what we can, to With [...]ld Others from Sin? Tis God-like: A most amiable Imitation of God; And, Oh! how acceptable to the Holy Lord! But what shall be done? Publick Officers may do very much in the Execution of their Offices. These are Masters of Re­straint. And Oh! that all such would [...] themselves to think, What may I do, [...] Sin may be more discountenanced? [Page 32] God forbid, they should fall under that Blame, They have overpassed the Deeds of the Wicked. But Private Christians may also do much by their Faithful and Lo­ving Admonitions. Oh! Let us Call upon one another, & Exhort one another daily, lest any be hardened, thro' the De­ceitfulness of Sin. Our Warrant, it is unquestionable; Lev. XIX. 17. Thou shalt Rebuke thy Neighbour, and not suffer Sin upon him. And, if we all owe this Duty to one another,; if none but the Children of Gain will say, Am I my Bro­thers keeper? O Parents, How much do you owe this Duty unto your own Chil­dren, To Withold them from Sinning a­gainst God? Those Children of yours, [...] like the Wild Asses Colt, & as Wild and M [...]d, into what Sin will they run headlong, and headstrong, if you do not Withold them? And can you bear to see them Sinning against your God, and Theirs, and as Possessed Ones keep cutting & wounding themselves among the Mo­numents of the Dead? Oh! Be concer­ned for them. Instruct them; Advise them; Lay the Charges of God upon them; Enquire into their Manners; Do not suffer them in any Evil Manners; nor with Companions that may Corrupt [Page 33] their Good Manners. Have you forgot the Vengeance of God, on the House of Eli, when his Children made themselves Vile, and he Restrained them not! If they do any Vile Things, from which you can Withold them, Verily, you make their Guilt your own; and be it known to you, God will do such Things upon both of you, as your Ears might well tingle at the hearing of. I will now say but this; If the Children must go on as Children left unto themselves, and you will not Withold them, they will bring you to Shame, and themselves to Hell, and your Indulgence that will not allow you to make them sensible, that it is an Evil Thing and a Bitter, to Sin against God, will be found, Bitterness in the Latter End.

IV. But what if we have not been Witheld from Sinning against the Holy God, who is of purer Eyes than to behold Evil, and who cannot Look upon Iniqui­ty? On! Let us then mourn exceeding­ly before the Lord, and not withold our Tears upon on Occasion so very deplora­ble! My Brethren, Let us look back on what is past, and Con [...]ider our Wayes. It may be, we shall find, that we have grie­vously, [Page 34] and heinously, perhaps notoriously Miscarried, in our Time What shall we now do, but Walk softly all our Days in the Bitterness of our Soul, from the Remembrance of our past Miscarriages. We would not have the Holy One to do it against us, but let us Remember against our selves, our Former Iniquities; and upon the Review thereof, Let our La­mentations be those; Lam. III. 19, 20. Remembring the Wormwood and the Gall, my Soul has them still in Remembrance, & is humbled in me. Have we been Left unto such as I may call. Sins of Distincti­on? It is a most humbling Remark that we have to make upon it. Other Deal­ings of God with us, be they never so Bitter Ones, may be but Paternal Chas­tisements after all. But when God leaves us to Sin against Him, This looks as if he dealt more Vindictively with us, Alas, Herein▪ He has wounded us with the wound of an Enemy, and with the Chastisement of a very Angry One. O dreadful, O dread­ful, Indignation of God! We may now cry out, O Lord, Thou hast rebuked me in thy wrath; with wounds that stink & are corrupt, because of my Foolishness. The Wise man says concerning the Sins of Unchastity; They are the Abhorred of the [Page 35] Lord, that fall into them! I may say un­to you, Sirs, To be given up to Sin, 'tis a plague for a Devil! Oh, Plague a thou­sand times more horrible than the Pes­tilence that is the Terror of the Night: How can we be free from Ter [...]or, when we see our selves thus horribly plagued, and in so hot a Displeasure of God!

And now, What remains to be done in this most Lamentable Case? What, but this? We must make our Flight un­to our Great Saviour, and His Great Sa­crifice, and for the Pardon, of our Sin, plead that Blood which Cleanses from all Sin. This must be done with a Repent­ing Soul: A Soul full of Contrition for Sin; full of Indignation against our selves for our Sin; full of Resolution to watch against all Return to our Sin. We must not lay the least Blame on the Holy God, for not Witholding us from Sin, but with an unspeakable Remorse blame our selves for not Looking up unto Him to With­hold us. This Repentance must never be Laid aside; it must be often Renewed; it must be always Maintained; it must Live to the Last; never be laid aside until we Die. The Penitential Psalms, and the Records of our Sins, that call for our Penitentials, the very Curtains [Page 36] of our Death-bed, as I may say, should have these written upon them. We must hereupon Study to Excel in such Vertues, and such Vertuous Actions, as are very directly contrary to the points wherein we have more Egregiously Sin­ned. We should set our selves to think; What Good Thing shall I labour to be and to do, that I may Glorify God, in the way that is most contrary to that wherein I have dishonoured Him? Upon this, All our past Sins will [...]e before the Lord, as if they had never been at all. A God ready to pardon, will now say of us, I will Remember their Sins no more. However, with us they should not be so. We should always Remember them. I am now preparing, A Treacle out of a Viper. Since we have not been Witheld from some very Enormous Out-breakings of Sin, by this very [...]ing, we may and should be Witheld from One Sin which is very offensive to the most High God; such an Offence, that He knows them, & throws them afar off, and makes Reject­ed Lepers of them that are under the power of it; PRIDE is that Sin. It may be, our Pride caused our Fall; And now our Fall may cure our Pride. It may be of Use to Withold Pride from [Page 37] us. It may inspire into us, a most Aba­sing, a most Beautiful Humility. After we have so fallen, methinks, we should never be Lifted up with Pride any more. If a proud Thought begin to rise in our Minds, we should presently retund it, with such a Stroke upon it; What! Such a Wretch as I, ever be proud of any thing! When we meet with any Con­temptuous Treatment among our Neigh­bours, we should now bear it very pa­tiently. Think, My Sin has made me a Contemptible Creature! And let this Thought produce a perfect work of Pa­tience in us; Being Reviled, now Re­vile not again. And, when we see o­others Overtaken with a Fault, with what Compassion, with what [...], with what Clemency, should we [...] dulcify the Reproofs, which we [...] give unto them! Considering our selves, how we have been Tempted! Here the Riddle of, Meat out of the Eater, will be accomplished admirably!

But I see one in this Auditory, who has very peculiar cause to be Atten­tive unto these Things; and I suppose, he does give such an Attention, as can be expected from no one else in this Congregation of God. A Young man, [Page 38] who has not been witheld from a Sin, for which now he must not be witheld from the Pit; he must hasten to the Pit, and [...] one may stay him. This Youth has with some Expression of Amazement at it, signified unto me, some sense of the Strange Wayes, which the Holy One takes to bring home his Elect unto Himself. Had he not been Left unto the Capital Crime for which he is now to Dy, he thinks he had probably gone on Sinning, and Stupid, and Secure, and Slept himself into a Damnation that Slumbreth not. But his Capital Crime has bro't him into such Awakening Circumstances that [...] he shall be Effectually bro't [...] unto God. Ah, poor David; [...] I wish, We all pray, That thou [...] find it so! I need not now Re­p [...]t unto you, the Directions for a Sound Repentance, which the Ministers of God in this Town, are charitably and continually inculcating upon you. There was a David, who had the Guilt of Innocent Blood upon him; With the Strains and the Cries, and the Tears, of the Fifty first Psalm, he found Mer­cy with God. I know something of the price you set upon that admirable Psalm. [Page 39] Do so still; and present before God, the Blood of a dear JESUS, for the Expiati­on of your Bloody Murder, and of all the Sins, which have so provoked the Holy One, that He has not witheld you from it. That Blood is an Open Foun­tain; yea, Open for a Menasseh, and for a Murderer! A Country-man of yours, Executed for Murder, after his Flight unto that Soul-cleansing Blood, went chearfully to his Execution; and often used those words; God is a Great For­ver! God is a Great Forgiver! Verily, A Repenting David will find Him so.

I will inform the Auditory. This poor Young man tells me; He uses all his power to turn unto God; but he finds he has no power, in himself; He looks up to God for power, and owns himself un­worthy that God should give it him. He tells me, He sees his Heart full of Cor­ruption, and his Life all Iniquity; but he looks on all Sin as most odious, because it is an Offence unto God. He tells me, That a Saviour appears to him, the best thine in the word; & an Interest in Him worth a thousand worlds. He tells me, That he desires the Saviour to Reconcile. God unto him, and also to humble him, [Page 40] and give a New Heart unto him, & fill his Heart with the Love of God. He tells me, That the Hope he has of Mercy from God, breaks his Heart for him; & makes him think, What he shall do for God. Particularly, He desires, that his Sins may be known to all the World; & that all the World may be warned from him, and witheld from Sinning against God. If all this be Hearty, 'tis well. Repentance in Distress, is often so De­ceitful, that, Young man, you cannot be too jealous of your own Heart, in yours. But, I shall proceed unto ano­ther Article of work, that is now pro­vided for me.

V. Learn where to go, Learn what to do, that we may be Witheld from Sinning against our God. Oh! Tis a Mercy, no Tongue is able to declare how Desirea­ble; more to be Desired than Gold, than much fine Gold! And one may shake to think, what they who are not very De­sirous of it, may be Left unto.

There are especially Three Counsils, which I am now to tender you.

First. You must not be too Confident; you must beware of rash Confidence. Don't Confidently presume upon it, That [Page 41] there is any One Sin, from which you can Withold your selves. I tell you tru­ly, There is no One Sin more certainly, and more awfully corrected, by a mans being Left unto some very flagrant Sin, than this Vain Presumption. The best Advice that can be given us, is that; 1 Cor. 10. 12. Let him that thinks, he stands, take heed lest he fall. When we see any one fall into the most Atrocious Crimes that can be found among the Sons of Men, whose Hearts are fully set in them to do Evil; it becomes us to Reflect with one of the pious Ancients; Ille he­ri, Ego hodie, Tu cras. He fell yesterday, because Left unto himself; I shall fall To Day, and, you, my Brother, will fall To morrow, if God Leave us, as He di [...] that Fallen Sinner. Don't say within your selves, (I use the Term within your selves, because few have so little Wit, as to speak it audibly;) Well, I am sure, I shall never do so Base a Thing, as I have seen done by such a man. Man, my Heart akes, to hear thee say so. When David had his Heart smiting him, for a small Disrespect shown unto a Father-in-law, had any one told him, Sir, You shall one Day fall into very filthy Adulteries, and when you have done so, instead of taking [Page 42] an easie way to cover them, you shall fly to treacherous and barbarous Murders for the Covering of them, and the whole world shall in all Ages be astonished at what you'll be Left unto! Doubtless, he would have derided the praediction; He would have said, It is impossible! When Peter was told, that he would within a few Hours, Deny, Renounce, Forswear the Lord, whom he thought, he lov'd above a thousand Worlds; did he believe a word of it? But all the World have with Astonish­ment seen the Consequences! David Wallis once thought as little as another man, that he should ever come, to what we now see him come to. Oh! Work out your own Salvation with fear & trem­bling, of what you may be Left unto.

Secondly. Prayer to God, with Faith in the only Saviour, who is Able to keep you from falling; This is a most necessary Course, that you may not Fall to the breaking of your Bones; Fall into the hor­rible Pit. Our dear Saviour, has under­taken to keep His people, from the Falls into Sin, that might Separate them from the Love of God. All the Grace that is needful to keep us from any Falls, 'tis Lodg'd and Laid up in our dear Saviour for us. When we come into the Cove­nant [Page 43] of Grace, 'tis with a Consent, That our Saviour shall be our Keeper: This incomparable Nazarene. We say to Him, Lord, thou art He that keeps my Soul! And we Lay Hold on that word, The Lord shall preserve thy Soul. But then, frequent must be our Supplications unto the Lord. Supplicate at that rate; Oh! Let not my Heart be inclined unto any Evil Thing! Supplicate at that rate; Oh! Do thou hold me up and I shall be safe; and I shall have Respect unto thy Statutes continually! Supplicate at that rate? Consider me, O Lord my God, Le [...]t my Enemy say, I have prevailed against him! Tis a most suitable petition for you; Psal. CXIX. 116. Lord, Uphold me, according to thy Word. Souls, you are not so much urged unto that Prayer, Lord, Withold me from a state of Pover­ty: For one may be poor in this▪ World, and Rich in Faith. You are not so much urged unto that Prayer, Lord, Withold me from a Disgraced or a Despised Name. For one may have their Honour here Laid in the Dust, and yet have a Name written in Heaven. You are not so much urged unto that Prayer, Lord, Withold me from Sicknesses; For one may be Sick, and yet be one whom Jesus loves. But [Page 44] this, this is the Prayer I urge you to; Lord, Withold me from Sinning against thee. Think a thousand times on that word, Wo unto them, when I depart from them!

Thirdly. Take the Warnings of such as have not been witheld from Sin; Be warned, Be warned, against Sin, when you see what their Sin has brought them to.

Especially, Let our Young People now take heed, that they do not slight the warnings of God. Methinks, I over­hear the merciful God, saying over the Young People in this Place, How shall I give them up! And He therefore mul­tiplies unto them those warnings, on which every one might Reasonably say, Surely, They will now fear God, and receive Instruction, that so they may not be cut off. Among those whom God has employ'd for the warning of the Young People in this Place, that they may be witheld from Sinning against Him, here is a poor Young man before you, that is just going to the Dead. God is this day holding up a Young man in Chains, that all the Young People of New-England, [Page 45] may take warning from him, and be witheld from Sinning against the God of their Fathers. When Asahel had been smitten by Abner, we read, 1 Sam. II. 23. It came to pass, that as many as came to the Place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still. Behold here a poor Young man smitten to Death; You are come to the place where a Young man falls down and dies, in the Violent pu [...] suit of many Sins. Young men, won't you stand still at this Bleeding Spectacle By a Young man thus Lying in his Blood, [...]e witheld from going on any [...] in such Sins, as you now hear hi [...] [...] with the Groans of a Deadly Wounded Man complaining of! He desires [...] and it is a Token for Good upon his that he does so; To make use of [...] Tragical Example, for the saving [...] others, from such Sins, as have destroy [...], and Murdered him, and [...] brought him unto the Death [...]. I am to tell you, [...] Things that Ly Heavy upon [...] he is the more willing [...] [Page 46] have them told, because he hopes, a merciful Saviour who has called such Heavy-Laden Sinners unto Him, has taken off the heavy Loads: The sad causes of Heaviness.

First; His Disregard unto Parental Instructions; This Troubles Him. He was bred in a Family, that had in it the Exercises of Piety, and he was there Instructed in his Catechism. These Early means of Good, had no Impressi­on on him: And so he proves one, whose Father has no Joy. [Good God, [...] thou and support his Distressed Fa­ther, when the Tidings of this Day arrive unto him.] The Trouble for such unfruit­fulness makes [...]ow a great Impression on him. We read of some who had been well counselled by their Father, but proved vitious Young men: I pray, what came they to? We read, 1 Sam. II. 25. They hearkned not unto the voice of their Father, because the Lord would s [...]ay them. Children, Hearken to this, Your Parents give you their counsils, To Converse much with the word of God, [Page 47] and, To uphold the Religion of the Closet, and, To shun Wicked Company. Won't you Hearken to them? Tis because the Great God has a dreadful Thing to do upon you. You now make nothing of Troubling your Parents. Be assured, God will Trouble you for your Impiety. And when you are in your Troubles, your outcry will be, How have I not o­bey'd the voice of my Teachers, nor inclined my Ear to them that instructed me! It is a Thing, which I wish you would more think upon; Very few come to the Gallowes, but what make that outcry there; My undutiful carriage to my Pa­rents, has Laid the Foundation of all the Confusion that is come upon me! And the more of a Religious Education the Chil­dren have had, the more it may be ex­pected, that the Holy God will appear as a swift Witness against them, if they do not answer it. I suppose there are many Young men, who have been more Extravagant and Rebellious Prodigals, than this Young man; who yet has been Bad enough. But no doubt, his Edu­cation, [Page 48] This has hastened the Judgments of God upon him, has Ripened him for the Judgments of God. Children of a Good Education, If you do Wickedly, the Judgments of God, will cut you off, more fearfully, and speedily, than any in the World.

There is another thing, that this Young man very much layes to Heart; that is, Ungoverned passion, Inordinate passion: This at last, brought a Stab­bing Fury upon him; You see what it has cost him. The Discretion of a man, will defer, and abate and allay his Anger. Cholerick People, will be In­discreet; cannot but often speak and act very Indiscreetly. Passion will be­tray the wisest Men, into inexcusable Folly. They are first Blind, then Mad, that are under the furious conduct of it. A Moses himself in a Passion, will break both Tables of the Law. If the Angry Children of Dan will not run upon me, I would advise them; When you find a fit of Anger come upon you, present­ly think, There will nothing be so well [Page 49] spoke or done in Anger, but what would be much better out of it. Presently think, The Wrath of Man won't work the Righteousness of God. Utter not a word, until you have lift up your Hearts to God; O my God, let me have the Meekness of Wisdom now adorning of me! Unbridled Anger, will certainly hurry you on to Things, that must be Repented of. I must Entreat you par­ticularly to beware of Rash Words in your passion; God hears them; & those words may return in Wounds upon you, which you little think of. This Young man who now stands before you, too often, & very rashly in his former vain Conversation used that Expression, I'll be hang'd if—not so and so. Tis im­possible for him to Express the pain of Soul with which he now looks back upon it. I will go on to tell you, If there be Hatred, if there be Malice, in­venoming of your Anger; if you really wish Ill to them that you are Angry with; I must say, Cursed is the Anger, for it is raging, it is Hellish; and the [Page 50] Wrath, for it is Cruel, it is Devillish. There is a Murder in it: It it a Mur­der in the Egg of the Cockatrice. It will render a Man, that Murderer whom Eternal Life does not belong unto.

The Young man mourns for another Thing, which too often breaks out, as the smoke of the Bottomless Pitt, from a a Soul raging in his Folly. Tis this; Be­cause of Swearing his Heart mourns: The profane Swearing and Cursing, wherewith sometimes he struck at the Glorious & Fearful Name of GOD. This now re­coils upon himself; Tis a Dagger at his Heart, now God has made his Plagues Wonderful. A most Senseless Iniquity! All the sense of it, is, to declare, an o­pen Defiance of GOD. The Transgression of the Wicked Swearer,serves only to declare, That there is no Fear of God before his Eyes. The Great GOD, who is the Creator, and Preserver, and Go­vernour of the whole World, of all Worlds; and on whom we all have our continual Dependance for every [Page 51] thing; For an insolent worm, to count it a Decency, and a Bravery, in him, to [...] Contempt on this Almighty GOD! A Senseless Villian, that has no­thing to plead for this outrage of Wick­edness! There can be neither pleasure nor profit in it. It is a Daughter of the Devil disposed without any Dowry! Christians, we have too Light Thoughts of it. If the Fear and Love of GOD had not very much left the World, the Fine for this Crime would be much greater than it is, and it would be more Zealously Executed; and they that are in it, would be so [...] to us, that we should even disdain to look upon them. A famous King in France punished Blas­phemers by Searing the Lips of the Blasphemers with an hot Iron. It was Executed on a rich Citizen in Parts, for which they cried out upon him a [...] a Tyrant; which when he heard of he made this Reply; I would to God, that with Searing my own Lip [...], I could banish all Blasphemers, and all Wick [...] Oathes, [...] of my Kingdom. It will sig­nifie [Page 52] Little, for any of your Ministers to say, We could be content never to speak any more, if that would purchase a Silence for that Hellish Language that is often heard among us. But this I will say, A Tongue b [...]ed with an hot Iron, would be a less Evil than a Tongue so set on Fire of Hell. Whither are you Travelling, O you that have learn'd the Language of Fiends; It cannot but be down to the Torment of Fiends: A Torment where such a Tongue will be gnaw'd for Pain, and a Drop of water to Ease the Scorches of it, will in vain be roared for. I bring that passage of the Divine Ora­cles, What Man is he who desireth Life, & Loveth many Days! Keep thy Tongue from Evil. Alas! I bring it with a Lively Commentary; I must say, with a Deadly Commentary!

There is yet another Introduction to all mischief, which this Young Man does now in sober sadness bestow his [...]ears upon. I cannot hear that he was a Common Drunkard; but if he had no [...] been somewhat in Drink, at the [Page 53] Time of it, (which he had been, alas, at other times) it is probable he had never done the Fact for which he sees the cutting off of his Days, and is depri­ved of the Residue of his Years. Nor is he the only one, that has been Execu­ted in this Place, for things done by them, when Strong Drink had Enraged them. Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Holy One, I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; That Lying proverb, A Drunken man gets no Harm. I thought, you had seen Harm, enough to follow upon Drunkenness, in the Ig­nominy, which it fixes upon them that wallow in it; Harm enough, in the wast of Substance that arises from such Beastly Living; Harm enough in the Diseases, in the Dis [...]sters, in the un­timely Deaths which it Leads unto: And, what? No Harm in the Wounds which the Slaves of the Bottle bring upon all the Faculties of their Souls▪ Truly, tis a very great Significancy, which I find in the Language of [...] ­doustan; [Page 54] Tis a copious Language, and yet it uses but one word for A Drun­kard, and A Madman. But if this be not enough, certainly, to be brought to the Gallows is Harm enough. O Lovers of Strong Drink, There is Death in that Pott, that Cup, with which you are intoxicated. Never give over cry­ing to God, until he has delivered you, from the Vice, which thus drowns you in Perdition.

But I am informed of one thing, which will perfectly Shock every Sober Christian that shall hear of such a thing. I remember our Tertullian, in his Apo­logetick relates, how severe the Ancient Romans were, against their Women, if any of Them were found hankering af­ter Strong drink. I suppose, he took his Relation out of Pliny. And in­deed he, and Cicero, and some other Roman Writers, report such severities used on that occasion, that I do not care to mention them, lest abused Hus­bands under their irritations take too much Advantage of it. So much I will [Page 55] say; Drunkenness in a Woman, was as Criminal among them as Adultery. But now, it is said; That there are Women in this Place who are no Strangers to the Sin, and Trade of Excessive Drin­king. The Town has had cause to know the Truth of this; Ah! Miserable Women: The Blemish of their Sex: And such as the Countrey may call, as one did his Daughter, the Ulcers of it! I can tell the Name of a Pious Woman, who was unjustly suspected of being in Drink. That Handmaid of the Lord, in her Vindication cried out, No, I should be a Daughter of Beliel, if I should be guilty of such a thing. To them who cannot so well Vindicate themselves as Hannah could, I will say; How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy Strong Drink from thee! If thou art a Woman of a sorrowful Spirit, instead of pouring in Strong Drink, Oh! Much rather, pour out thy Soul unto the Lord.

I think, the Young man is willing, that I should from him also tell you, That when a Man comes to Dye, the [Page 56] Sins of Unchastity, will be Felt as more bitter than Death unto him. One of old who had Experience enough, Pro­nounced them so. I can at this Hour show you another, who does it. Sins they are, that leave Cursed stings be­hind them. There is one thing which I have more than once or twice ob­served; and I have heard that the fa­mous Mr. Perkins, also, who dealt much with Condemned Prisoners, observed it. Adultery was Capital in the old Law of Israel, and is so at this Day in the Law of some other Nations. Tis not so in our Law; yea, This Adulte­rous Generation makes a Trifle of it. But very many of them who come to a Capital Execution for other things, cry out, God has set my secret Adulteries in the Light of His Counte­nance; my Secret Adulteries, I see God has known them, and been a Witness of them. O you that pursue any Un­lawful Amours, Give over; God will Judge you, if you go on any further in them. Let the Harlots of this [Page 57] Place also be afraid, and fearfulness surprize the Lewd Women of the Town; The Houses where some of them dwell, are too well known; Bruitish Ones, You are going to dwell with a Devour­ing Fire, with Everlasting Burnings.

One thing more: My poor Young man does Lament the Temptations, & the Wretchednesses of the Sea-fa­ring Life exceedingly. He ran to Sea Ten years ago, when he was about fourteen Years of Age, without and against the mind of his Father; Tho' he has been since Reconciled unto his Father, yet he has found the Ill Effects of so leaving him. The Sea, that e­ver that Element should be so poiso­ning, so polluting! Truly, Our Sea-faring Tribe, do call for a most extra­ordinary Concern and Pity from us!

You, Our Brothers, are under many Obligations to be the Best of men. But I hear that you are much otherwise, & I partly believe it. Yea, It is commonly Reported, That the Sailours are sensi­bly degenerated in the Last Ten or a [Page 58] dozen years; Tho' God knows, there was Little Reason for their Degenera­cy! Ah, What shall we Do for you? We Love you, We Value you, we Re­joice in you, we Pray for you, we wish you well, our So [...]ls are Travailing for your Welfare. We long to see your Vessels a sort of Little Churches for the Worship of God practised in them, and for the Abhorrence & Avoidance of every Wicked Thing aboard. We Long, we Long, to have it said of our Mariners, The Men fear the Lord ex­ceedingly. Others have given you ma­ny Solemn Calls, to Repent, and Re­turn, and become a Generation that may comfortably look for the Bles­sings of God. Behold, One of your own Tribe, in his Fetters here calling upon you; Oh! Take warning by me; Live Religiously; Ly no longer in the Gall of Bitterness, and Bond of Iniquity [...] God grant, that these Calls may not be Lost upon you. Few of you Live to be Old; some of you Dy in your Sins, and for your Sins, and very mi­serable. [Page 59] Oh! That you, yea, and all this Auditory, would now come to this Conclusion; Lord, I have thought on my wayes, and I have turned my Feet unto thy Testimonies.

But the vast Body of Young People in this Auditory, and throughout the Country, are those who are once again, to be moved with Fear in hearing the Tremendous Warnings of God. God has here taken another YOUNG-MAN & Exhibited him for all the Young Peo­ple in the Countrey to tremble at the Spectacle. Herein, Lo, God sends out His Voice, and that a mighty Voice! The Youth also from his Chains, does utter his Cries; Oh! Look on me, Young People, and Learn of me, what will become of you, if you so disoblige the Glorious God, that He shall not withold you from Sin­ning against Him! That so many of our Young People, after all the Warnings, which the Great God has given unto them, continue still Unconverted un­to God, and Serious Piety, and Go on still in their Trespasses by which they [Page 60] bespeak the Wounds of His Irritated Wrath; Tis, a Lamentation, & it will be for a Lamentation. There are Mul­titudes of Young People, who remain Strangers unto Conversion to their Sa­viour, and unto the Religion of the Clo­set, wherewith a True Conversion al­ways begins, and is for ever accompa­nied. And there are some who aban­don themselves unto the most abomi­nable Courses, in which they fortify themselves by the Force of Evil Com­pany. I am verily perswaded, There is an Oracle of the Great God, which many of our Young People are very deeply concerned in. Hearken to it, O Children of Incorrigible Folly; Hearken to what is from the Sacred Place of Thunder to be now uttered a­mong you; Hear attentively the Noise of the Voice of God, and the Sound that goes out of His mouth; and Let your Hearts also tremble at it. It is that; Prov. XXIX. 1. He that being often re­proved, hardeneth his Neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without Remedy. [Page 61] I am afraid, I am afraid, I am afraid, That before many Months are Expiredan [...] God, will no longer Extend His [...] Patien [...], but single our some Young people, [...] accomplish this terrible word upon them. How happy would it be, for some of our Young people, if an Hand of Heaven would condescend so far, as to appear unto them, and Write that Sentence on the Wall before their Eyes! It were well if it could be [...] written on the Walls of those Houses, I [...] say, those Pest-Houses, where they resort, for Gaming, and for Drinking, or for B [...]dy Entertainments, and all the purposes of Evil Company. But, whether the Sentence be [...] those Walls or no, it stands Written by the Hand of Heaven in the Book of God. Me­thinks, it should make your looks Change, your Thoughts to Trouble you, and your Knees [...] smite one against another [...] For it will be [...] fully accomplished! It is a remarkable pas­sage; Heb. VI. 8. The Earth which bears Thorns and Briars, is nigh unto Cursing, its End is to be Burned: That is to say, The End of the Briars and Thorns that grow upon it: The Children of Belial, whereof David long ago said, They shall utterly be consumed with Fire. Mark what I say; New-England is a Field of God. Many Good, Rich, sweet Fruits have grown in this Field; and being bound up in the Bundle of Life are Transplanted unto the Celestial Paradise. O Children of New-Eng­land, If you prove Degenerate Things; [...] and Thorns, and Lothsome Weeds, and hurtful [Page 62] [...] in this Field; you are Nigh unto Cursing: The Curse is not yet Executed on you; God waits one year after another, to see what you will prove. But the Execution of the Curse, it is Nigh, it is Nigh, to you; The Day is [...]ear, it is near, and it hastens Greatly. God will make a Quick Work of it. It won't be long before you are thrown into the Fires for which the Tares are to be burned. An End­ [...]e [...]s Fire will be the End of such Briars and Thorns; and the End is very Nigh to them, when their secure Souls do least of all ima­gine it, and put far away the Evil Day. O Children of New-England, Be a fraid of coming to such an End.

The first Counsil to you, must be that, which if you take it not, no Good Counsil will take any place upon you. Tis, Forsake the Foolish and Live. Tis, Do not sit with vain Persons. Tis, Break off your Familiarity with such wicked Creatures, as you may perceive by their Shibboleths, their Mocking at Religion, their Scoffing and Railing at the Ministers of God, their not bridling of their Tongue, to be the Children of Wickedness. It was an Imperial Sentence, Malas consociationes putamus proximas esse Criminibus; Evil Companions will soon bring Men to Evil Practices. Oh! Take your leave of them, in those Terms; Psal. CXIX. 115. Depart from me, ye Evil Doers; for I will keep the Commandments of my God. A Person of Quality, who Ended his Days at the Gal­lowes on Tower-hill, used those Pathetical words; If I had hearkened unto the Hundred and [Page 63] nineteenth Psalm; and the Hundred and fifteenth Verse, I had never come to this. That I will say to you, If you will not hearken unto the Hundred and nineteenth Psalm, and the Hundred and fifteenth Verse, no man can say, what you will come to: To no Good, you may be sure of it. But if this point be gain'd, Then I hope, you will go on to Embrace your only Saviour, and study His Beaut [...]es & obey His Commands, and say unto Him. O Lord, I am thy Servant! I am thine, Save me. I hope, I leave you all, in the Frame that you find Exemplified; Psal. CXIX. 57. Thou art my Portion, O Lord, I have said, That I would keep thy Words.

But unto you, O poor Young man, who are now to Dye in Youth, because your Life has been among the Unclean; and to Dye before your Time, for having been▪ especially in one point, Wicked overmuch, all that now remains for me to add, after all the many Instructions which the Servants of God have bestow'd upon you, is this. Tho' your Sins are what they have been, yet Return unto me, saith the Lord. You are a Prisoner of Hope, to find Mercy with that God, who says to the Re­turning Sinner, I will have Mercy, and I will abundantly Pardon. In the Proverbs of Israel, [Chap. XXXI. 6.] We read about, Giving Wine to them that are of heavy Hearts, because ready to perish. Accordingly among the Jews, there was that which they gave unto Crimi­nals going to be Executed. It may be called by Amos, The Wine of the Condemned; and some think, it is what is called by David, [Page 64] The Wine of Astonishment: [...]. Man; I am not going to bring unto thee, a potion to Stupify thy Senses; No, I give thee the most Solemn Caution in the World; Awake, Awake, O Soul on the Brink of Eternity: And be afraid of nothing so much as a Stu­pified Soul; be afraid of nothing so much, as l [...]st a Spirit of Slumber sieze upon thee, after the Serpent has bitten thee, and lest a Deceived Heart in thee take up with a Defective Re­pentance. But I bring thee a Cordial of that Wine, which, O Soul ready to peri [...] thy Heavy Heart may justly esteem above a thou­sand Worlds. I have known a poor Male­factor, here Executed for a Murder, but [...] some hopeful Appearance of Repentance [...] that word, for his last, and [...] Dye withal; A word that I [...] leave with you, for you in your Dying Moments to Live upon; That is a faithful saying, and worthy of all Acceptation: [...] Christ Jesus came into the World, to Save Sinners; of whom I am Chief.

THE Hainous Nature O …
[Page]

THE Hainous Nature OF THE SIN OF Murder. AND The Great Happiness OF Deliverance from it. As it was Represented in a SERMON at the Lecture in Boston, [...] 1713. Before the [...] one David Wallis.

By Benjamin Colman, [...] a Church in Boston.

[...] N. E. Printed by John Allen, [...] Boone, at the Sign of [...] BIBLE in Cornhil. 1713.

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The Hainous-Nature Of the SIN of Murder: And the great Happiness of Deliverance from it.

Psalm LI. 14.Deliver me from Blood-guiltiness, O GOD, thou God of my Salvation: And my Tongue shall Sing aloud of thy Righteousness:

THIS Psalm, as it was Composed by One of the [...] of Saints, upon one of the most Sad Oc­casions that was ever known; So it breathes the most Consummate Repentance; Expressing in the most [Page 4] lively colours, and in the most affecting manner, the A [...]iction and Distress, Hu­miliations, Fears and Desires of a Re­penting Soul. David had been guilty of one of the foulest Acts of Wickedness in the matter of Ur [...]ah, which Sin he here bitterly bewails; ‘and as a Testimony of his unfeigned Sorrow, and that he might be as notorious an Instance of true Repentance, He sends this Hymn to the Master of Musick in the Taberna­cle, to be there perpetually used.’ In the Text, he names the very fact and bloody guilt, which was Murder; that Enormous Crime, the Guilt of Blood, shed in a very base and barbarous manner; for he Slew Uriah with the Sword of the Children of Ammon. He cries to God for Mercy, and makes his Supplication to his Judge for Pardon.

Deliver me from Blood-Guiltiness: i e. ‘Let me not Ly under the Guilt and Condemnation hereby contracted, but let it be pardoned to me, and let me never be l [...]t unto the like again. De­liver me from the punishment due un­to this Crying Sin: And Lord ever prevent and keep me from it any more, by thy Restraining Grace.’ This Prayer he addresses to GOD, who only [Page 5] can Forgive Sin, or Keep us from Sinning. He eyes him as the God of his Salvation; his Prayer being for Salvation from the Dominion of Sin, & from the Condem­nation due thereunto. You may observe also a great Vehemency and Earnestness in this his Supplication; he prays in the most ardent, fervent manner.

Finally. HE Makes his solemn Vow and Promise, that God should have the Glory both of the Pardoning Mercy, and Renewing Grace: My Tongue shall sing aloud of thy Righteousness. Righteousness is here used for Grace, Mercy, Clemen­cy, Truth and Faithfulness. This he would Sing of, Confess, Laud and Cele­brate in Songs of Praise, Thansksgiving and Blessing. And he would sing aloud of it; in the most publick manner he would proclaim the Infinite Goodness & Faithfulness of God to Returning Sin­ners.

GODS Righteousness is often out for his Grace in the great business of a Sin­ners Justification and Sanctification. They meet together herein. This the Penitent comforts himself in, and there­fore Sings of it. And this he sings aloud of, to acquaint and affect others there­with [...].

[Page 6] There are two or three things to be observed in the words. 1. The hainous Guilt of Murder. 2. That Deliverance from it is to be earnestly sought of God. 3. That God must have the Glory of such Preservation and Deliverance.

I. That Murder is a Sin of a very hai­nous and heavy guilt. So the Text speaks of it; Blood-guiltiness, or the guilt of Blood. A deep Stain, & a deep Wound; whereby the Conscience is gashed and defiled.

I will only look into the Law of God, and observe to you how it is forbidden and condemned therein. It cries from the Ground, and brings down Vengeance from Heaven. Cain was the first Mur­derer after the Devil, who was so from the beginning. He was of that Wicked One, and slew his Brother. Then God the Soveraign Judge said to him; What hast thou done? the voice of thy brothers blood crieth to me from the Ground; and now thou art cursed from the Earth, which has open'd her mouth to receive thy bro­thers blood from thy hand, Gen. 4. 10, 11. ‘Murder is a Crying Sin; it cries in the dying words of Zachariah, The Lord look upon it and require it: Or in those [Page 7] words of the Souls under the Altar; How long Lord, Holy and True? The Heavens reveal this Iniquity, and the Earth rises up against it, Lamech was one of Cains Accursed Race, and it should seem of the same bloody and barbarous Disposition: Whether he had Murer'd any of the Holy Seed or no, yet certainly he owns himself to be a very fierce and cruel man; and he glories in this his shame, as such fierce and bloody people use to do:’ with a haughty Impenitence he presumes on, and challenges the Protection of Pro­vidence. He had a gall'd but an unhum­bled Conscience: I have slain a man to my wounding, & a Young man to my hurt.

See how severely the Law of God for­bids Murder, & makes it Capital. Gen. IX. 5, 6. And surely your blood of your lives will I require: at the hand of every beast will I require it; and at the hand of man, at the hand of every mans brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sh [...]d­deth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the Image of God made he man. Numb. 35. 31, 33. Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he [...] surely put to death. So ye shall not [Page 8] pollute the land wherein you are: for blood defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Exo. XXI. 14. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour to s [...]ay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine Altar, that he may die. Prov. XXVIII. 17. A man that doeth violence to the blood of any Person, shall flee to the Pit, let no man stay him.

These Texts need no Comment; they utterly forbid the Concealment or the Protection of a Murderer among a people; the Government may not Par­don this Sin, nor People interceed for it; It may not be bought off by any Price or any Favour, on the pain of Guilt on the Publick: Gods Altar may not shelter him, and much less any Humane Power or Pity.

Let no man think that this looks Cruel or Inhumane: The Justice of God has so fix'd it; Yea, his tender Mer­cies to Mankind do account for this His Righteous Law and Judgment. Let us not presume to arraign the In­finite Wisdom and Mercies of God, in a partial respect to any natural ten­derness or compassion of our own: [Page 9] We shall, so invade and sacrifice all Law, both Humane and Divine to our own weakness.

No Humanity or Law of Mercy will allow us to desire or endeavour the saving the life of him that is Convict of Murder. It is a wrong to Humane Nature in the highest manner; and the mercy and protection of Humane Nature is utterly forfeited; yea, the Revenges thereof are incurred.

Murder is the greatest wrong to God; at whose Image the Stab is, and at His Dominion. Life is the most preci­ous of all the good gifts of God ▪ He is the absolute Lord of it, and has re­served the disposal of it intirely to Himself.

The Magistrate is the Minister of God, and the Avenger to Execute wrath upon him that does Evil; God has put the Sword into his hands, to cut off Evil-doers from the Inheritance of the Lord, and he must not bear the Sword in vain. Government among Man­kind, is for this reason of the last ne­cessity, and one of the great Goods to the World. But for any Private Per­son voluntarily to take away his Neigh­bours Life, whether in Clandestine man­ner, [Page 10] or by Open violence, is the ex­treamest Injury to our Neighbour, and one of the highest Offences against Humane Society.

A mans Life is Invaluable to him, and it is not to be repaired, there is nothing equal to it; not all a mans precious Substance. Skin for Skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his Life. Self-love, and Self-preservation, are an Invincible Principle, and Law, implanted by God in the hearts of all men.

But then moreover, to take away the Life of any one, fixes his Soul for Eterni­ty in an Unchangeable State of Happi­ness or Misery: and so (as one says) not only is all Temporal Good hereby at once ravished from a man, but his Soul incurs infinite hazard, and it may be damage.

And as to Humane Society, the Sin of Murder strikes at the very Being, and all the Comforts hereof. For there were no more living in any quiet or safety, if this might be allow'd, then there might be among the wild and savage Beasts of the Woods, where the stronger and fier­cer prey upon the weak and mild. So that Societies must disband, and all the [Page 11] Rules as well as [...] of it dissolve to­gether, if the Crime of Murder, were not held Capital, [...] unpardonably so among men. As Jacob said of his two Sons, and all his Fatherly Goodness could not reconcile him to them, nor cover their bloody Stain: Gen. 49. 5, 6, 7. Simeon and Levi are brethren: instruments of Cruelty are in their habitations. O my Soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their as­sembly, mine honour be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce: and their wrath, for it was cruel.

Murder ordinarily comes of cruel & cursed passion. This does not excuse the Fact; for the Law is made to govern mens passions, or to punish the Enor­mous Outrages of them; 1 Tim. 1. 9. Knowing this, that the Law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless & disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for man sla [...]ers.

There were two things in the Law of Moses, that were high Expressions of the Hainous Nature of Man-slaughter in the Account of God: The one was, that [Page 12] he that kill'd a man by Accident or Un­awares was obliged to flee to some City of Refuge, where he must remain in Ba­nishment from his own House and Pa­trimony, and in a kind of Prison there, until the death of the High Priest. By which it is certain that God meant to teach us to conceive a dread and horror of the Guilt of Blood; in that tho' the Fact were not Voluntary, nor done de­signedly; tho' it were but Chance-med­ly, and Homicide per Infortunium, yet that the Man-slayer must incur so much danger, inconvenience and confinement. The other Argument of the Criminalness of Murder was, that if a Brute Creature happened at any time to kill a man, it was to be slain by the Hand of Justice, Exod. 21. 28, 29. If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die, then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten: but the owner of the ox shall be quit. But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his Owner: and he hath not kept him in: but that he hath killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and his Owner also shall be put to Death. Here was another high Instance of Gods Care of the Life of Man, and of his Detesta­tion [Page 13] of the Sin of Murder. And indeed this was according to that more Catho­lick Law given unto Noah; The Blood of your Lives will I require of every Beast.

To Conclude, Natural Conscience has the highest resentment and horror a­gainst the Sin of Murder; it is an uni­versal and irresistible Principle in the Hearts of all men. And famous to that purpose was that Law of the Com­mon-wealth of Athens, quoted by Mr. Hales of Eaton, and since by Dr. Tow­erson; that if only a Wall had by chance fallen down and killed a man, the Judges of that Place were to Sit up­on & Arraign it, & upon Conviction, to throw the Stones thereof out of the Coun­try. By this they gave the utmost Tes­timony, how sacred a thing they esteem­ed the Life of Man to be, and with what horror they look'd upon the shedding of his Blood.

The most Barbarous People and Pla­ces have a Conscience of the Vengeance due to, and pursuing Murd [...]rers; wit­ness what we read of the People of M [...] ­lita, who when they saw the Viper fast­ning upon the Apostles Hand, cried out, No doubt this man is a murderer; whom [Page 14] though he hath escaped the sea, yet Venge­ance suffereth not to live.

And now to look back on all that has been said of the Hainous Nature of the Sin of Murder; It should be improved by all that are here present, to deter them from all Approaches, or tendencies towards this Crying Guilt; and People should be warned against indulging the least appearance of it in Will, or Wish, or Word; and also of all wicked passions or Customs that may but tend to draw on the Fact, or provoke God to leave us to it.

At the same time you see the Govern­ment justifyed in their righteous Care to Purge the Land of this Guilt; nor can they answer it to God, or their People, to do otherwise: It is their Obedience to the Divine Law, and their Fidelity and Tenderness to Humane Society, that constrain them to the Condem­nation and Execution of a Murderer.

And now let me with a Bleeding Soul Beseech you the poor Condemned Person here present, to lay to heart the Greatness of this your Sin, for which you are this Day to Die: O what Great Penitence does such a Great [Page 15] Sin committed by you, call for! How heavy should it Ly on your Consci­ence! With what Tears of Blood should you confess it, and bewail it! I think you have been bowed down in Soul un­der the Weight of it. And Blessed be God who has not left you desti­tute of the outward signs and expres­sions of Penitence, Affliction and Sor­row for this Hainous Fact; from the day (I think) that you committed it. You have in words and signs been in some measure Mourning after Christ, af­ter Repentance, Pardon and Salvati­on; Be you excited and encouraged to do so more and more, to the last of that few remaining Moments of your Life: And the Lord glorify his Renewing and Pardoning Mercy on you.

II. I pass unto the Second Thing to be observed from the Text, which is, That Deliverance from this crying Guilt of Blood is to be earnestly sought of God. This is the very Petition in the Text, Deliver me from Blood-guiltiness. So then there is Deliverance from it; and we should be very earnest in Prayer for it unto God.

[Page 16] 1. There is Deliverance from Blood-guiltiness to be obtained from God. And that of two sorts. 1. To be kept from the Bloody Guilt. 2. The Pardon and Forgiveness of it when contracted.

1. We may by the Divine Restraining Grace be kept from the Commission of the Sin of Murder; and this is a bles­sed Deliverance from Blood-guiltiness. We are thro' Grace all of us (I trust) one only excepted, free of this Guilt; and ever shall be so. But then it is God that has kept, prevented and deli­vered us from it; and He must here­after keep us, or we shall fall into it. For we are Incident to it thro' the horrid Corruption that is in our Na­ture; and the very best of us are by no means our own Keepers. There is no Sin, but what the vile and cursed nature of man is prone to, and capa­ble of; and the same vile Nature is common to us all. Esau had Murder in his heart, when he came out against his Brother Jacob; and so had Josephs Brethren, when they cast him into the Pit; but God kept them however from it. GOD left David to fall into it, to shew him the wickedness that was in his heart. GOD left Simeon and Levi, [Page 17] Joab and Absalom, and others to fall into it, on one temptation or another. Are we Better by Nature than they? No, but God has kept us from their Tempta­tions, or Restrained us when tempted. When the Prophet of the Lord told Ha­zael the Syrian of the Murders, Cruel­ties and Barbarities which he would in time commit against Israel; He answer­ed with detestation, But what? is thy Servant a Dog, that he should do this great thing? such abhorred & enormous wick­edness: Yet he did it afterward; like a dog he rent and tore and devoured; He prov'd as much a brute and beast of prey, how impossible soever he before-hand tho't it of himself. And indeed the An­gers, Passions, & Wraths of men are so violent; that it is a wonder of the Di­vine Restraining Grace, & a marvellous Instance of the Power and Providence of God that there are not many Murders to one committed in the World. How does Madness and Rage and mortal Ha­tred glare out in mens looks, and words, and gestures? How easily do they grow Outrageous, and strike or draw? From whence come blows Fightings, & Duels, and Stabbing (more base and cruel than all the rest) but from mens lusts which [Page 18] war in their Members? So that the Sin is in our Nature; though by the Divine Mercy so few are left to it.

We see a Miserable Person present, whom God has left to the great Sin of Murder, while you and I are kept from it? but who maketh thee to differ? Art thou better than he? Is not thy Nature as bad as his? Have not thy Passions been as violent as his? How often in thy Rage hast thou also been on the Brink of this Sin? But God has had Mercy on thee, & not suffered thee to act thy own cursed Will. O adore the Soveraign Providence of God! Behold, the Good­ness and Severity of God! to him that is fallen, Severity, but to thee Goodness! Is he a greater Sinner, than some of us? I tell thee nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.

Other great Sins do expose and lead to this of Murder; by debauching, harden­ing and searing the Conscience; and by provoking God to give people up to their own [...] and passions. But to return, It is a blessed deliverance from Sin to be kept from it; to have the guilt and the sorrows of Repentance prevented; and [Page 19] the present Shames, Miseries and Ruin that do sometimes attend it.

2. There is Deliverance from Blood-guiltinses after it is Contracted, by the Commission of Murder: i. e. The Merci­ful God has admitted Sinners to Repen­tance, even in this Case: And there is forgiveness of it, and cleansing from it, through the Blood of Christ. It has been repented of we see in our Text, & it has been pardoned, 2 Sam. XII. 13. And David said unto Nathan, I have sin­ned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Manasseh was a great Sinner and Murderer; he fill'd Jerusalem with the Innocent Blood which he shed; yet was he afterward an Emi­nent Penitent, and obtained Mercy.

The Mercies of God are Infinite, Free and Soveraign. He has mercy on whom he [...] mercy. The Merits and Vertue of the Blood of Christ are also Infinite, and have purchased Pardon for the greatest Sinners upon their Re­pentance. [...] of Renewing Grace is infinites. Almighty Grace [...] it can change the hearts of the greatest Sin­ners, and is [...] Worst. The [...] of Mercy [...] the [Page 20] Gospel, its Calls and Promises are unli­mited; to all, even the Chiefest Sinners. Mat. 12. 31. All maner of Sin and Blas­phemy shall be forgiven unto men. Isai. I. 18. Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord,: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: tho' they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 1 Tim. I. 15. This is a faithful say­ing, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Thus we read again; that the Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord cleanses from all Sin; and that whosoever cometh to Him, He will in no wise cast out.

Here is Comfort for thee, O miserable Malefactor, and Prisoner of Hope! and how should it revive and chear thy sad and wounded Soul, and cause thee to ad­mire and adore the Riches of the Mercy of God thro' Christ, his Grace abound­ing to the chief of Sinners▪ There is Deliverance from Blood-guiltiness. There is pardon and forgiveness with God, e­ven for thee, if thou dost believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and with a repenting, bleeding Soul for this and all thy other Sins, dost find Grace to fly unto His [Page 21] Blood: I may then, and now do promise you in the Presence, and in the Name of Christ, My Great Lord and Master, our Common Saviour and Judge, the free and full Remission of all your Sins, how many or great soever they have been.

O that it might please God to give thee, together with the most affecting sense of the Hainous Nature of thy bloo­dy Crime; to apprehend the freeness & fulness of his Mercies by Christ Jesus; and thy Saviours Alsufficiency and readi­ness to bestow both Repentance and Par­don on thee.

Hear it, and be astonished; hear it, and be thou ravished with the Grace of God: God gave the Life of his own Son, Christ the Son of God gave his own Blood, for the Redemption even of Murderers up­on their Repentance. He died even for his own Murderers, for them that with wicked hands crucified and slew him the Prince of Life: and therefore the Apo­stle Peter calls even upon them to Re­pent, that their Sins might be blotted out, who had themselves denied the Holy One, and the Just, and desired a Murder­er to be granted to them.

So then Christs Blood can wash away [Page 22] the Guilt of Blood; and Faith in the Blood of Christ can both purifie and pa­cifie the polluted wounded Soul of a Murderer. It is true that St. John tells us, That no Murderer has Eternal Life a­biding in him. But the Apostle there is speaking of him that hates his brother, & has a malicious murderous frame of spi­rit within him: Such an one abideth in death; and has no seed or principle of Spiritual Life, no beginning of Eternal Life within him. How many such Mur­derers, haters of God and one another, there are among us, under a more dread­ful sentence then a present bodily death; He knows that searches the hearts of the Children of men. But he that has tru­ly repented of all his Sins, and believeth on the Son of God, though he may have been a Murderer, yet he has Everlasting Life, and shall not enter into Condemnati­on in the World to come; but is passed from Death unto Life. Thus then there is Deliverance from Blood-guiltiness. This was the first Thing.

2. We should be very earnest in Prayer unto God for this Deliverance: That He would keep us from it: that He would save us from the Condemnation due to it.

Let every one he [...] present before the [Page 23] Lord, Pray to Him to be kept and preser­ved by Him from this & all [...]other great Transgressions. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me: So shall I be innocent from the great Transgression. It is an ex­cellent and needful part in our Litany; From Envy, Hatred and Malice, and all Uncharitableness (& so from Mur­der one frequent cursed Effect of them;) Good Lord deliver us.

But who is there that will not wish and pray to be kept from this Sin of Mur­der! who would not deprecate the being left to it, if it were only in regard of their Temporal Life? Surely we ought But then be sensible that thou needest the▪ Divine Keeping: Be sensible that thy heart is deceitful above all things, & des­perately wicked: Be sensible of the vio­lence of thy own Lusts and Passions: Be sensible that these (even all thy causeless wraths and angers) render thee as a Murderer in Gods sight: Yea, let the Best remember with the Apostle, Tit. III 3. For we our selves also were some­times foolish, disobedient, deceived, serv­ing divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

[Page 24] Remember that the Devil is a Mur­derer, and will not the malicious Spirit inspire and stir up as he is able his own Venome and Malignity in thy Soul? to make thee as like himself, and as odious to God, and contrary to Goodness as he can? Remember that this Sin of Mur­der was the first Enormity and flagitious Act after the Fall: The Devil hurried wretched Cain into This; He was of that Wicked One, and slew his Brother. Thou art of that Wicked One, and on­ly hatest thine, and art unreasonably an­gry on every petty occasion: O fear, lest some time or other he push thee into the Overt. Act of Murder. Beg of God to keep thee.

And now I turn me again unto the Wretched Spectacle before us, whom God has suffered to fall into this Crime. And need I call upon thee, O miserable Da­vid, to Pray earnestly to God for the Pardon of This thy Sin. Every one of Us should this Day Cry to God for the Forgiveness of all our Angers and Pas­sions; The pardon of our Malice and Hatreds. But O with what anguishes of Soul, and agonies of Grief should You be Lying at the Feet of Mercy, Crying [Page 25] incessantly for Pardon. I hope you have been doing so day and night, [...] the Fact, and now you have but [...] hour more to do it in. O do it [...] more Fervently in thy last Agonies. O with what care and fear, [...] what vehemence and importunity, [...] you wrestle now! and we in Prayer to God for you. The Blood of [...] Murdered Brother cries against [...] from the Ground, but the Blood [...] Christ which is the Blood of [...], and speaketh better things than the Blood of Abel, Cries aloud for Mer­cy upon all Repenting Sinners. Wilt not thou go now unto that Blood of the Covenant, the Blood of the Great Sacrifice for Sin, and [...] Blood of Intercession; and by Faith therein, Cry unto God in Prayer for thy own Soul? Wilt not thou Cry [...] God and Saviour; Deliver me from this Guilt of Blood, O God thou God of my Salvation.

And here let me tell thee; that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, the Crucified Jesus, is the God of thy Salvation; neither is there Salvati­on in any other. He [...] only Savi­our [Page 26] of Sinners, and He is an Alsuffi­cient One. He is a City of Refuge, a [...] of Salvation for thy poor Soul to [...] unto, and be safe from the Aven­ [...] of Blood, the Avenging Justice of [...]. O flee for Refuge to the Hope [...] is set before thee. There is now [...] Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Look to the Crucified [...], and Beg of Him to Remember [...] and Receive thee to His Kingdom. [...] he say to thee, as he did once to the Malefactor by him on the Cross: This day shalt thou be with me in Para­dise.

You have [...] hope been passing your last Week [...] Prayer for the Life of your Precious and Immortal Soul. Now Die doing so. It is for your Life, and an Infinitely better One, than this, which your Sin [...] have lost. Be found now Ly­ing at the Feet of Christ, washing them with your Tears, and wiping them with the Hair of your Head. There ly with almost Grief and Self-loathing for your Scarlet Sins; there ly Confessing and giving Glory to the Justice of God; There Ly Admiring Free Grace, and trusting in Christ, [...] able to Save unto [Page 27] the uttermost, all that come unto God by Him. While the Sorrows of Death compass thee, and the Pains of Hell [...] hold on thee, and thou findest sorrow and trouble; Then Call thou upon [...]he Name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my Soul. Gracious is the Lord and Righteous; yea, our God is Merciful. There is Deliverance from Blood-guiltiness, and it is earnestly to be sought after, from the God [...] our Salvation.

Which was the Second Thing observ­ed from the words.

III. And Lastly, the Last Observati­on is, That God must have the Glory and Praise of this Preservation and Delive­rance. My Tongue shall sing aloud of thy Righteousness. Thy Mercy, Compassi­on, Grace and Faithfulness.

If God prevent and keep us from fal­ling into Sin, the Glory and Praise is to be Ascribed to his Preventing Grace: It is the Lords Doing, and should be M [...]rvellous in our Eyes. So it will be, if we are sensible of our own Desperate Wickedness. It is the Greatest Good, kindness and Benefit that God can do [Page 28] us in this Life, next to his bestowing Sanctifying Grace upon us. Yea, in [...] respects the Prevention of Sin is a Greater Mercy than the Pardon of it upon Repentance. As Angels who ne­ver Sinned, are more happy and blessed for this reason, then Sinners and Saints are, whom the Angels Rejoice over in their Repentance.

Moreover, God Owes us not his Grace, but it is what we have coutinually been forfeiting, and by the wicked a­buse of it provoked him times with­out number, to take it from us.

If then God has kept us from any one, even the worst Transgression, to His Name [...] the Glory, Psal. CI. 5, 7. The Lord is thy Keeper: The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The Lord shal [...] preserve thee from all evil: he shall pre­serve thy Soul. 116. 7, 9. Return unto thy Rest, O my Soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. St. Jude. verse 24: Now unto him that is a­ble to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His [Page 29] Glory with exceeding Joy: To the only wise God our Saviour, be Glory and Ma­jesty, Dominion and Power, both now and Ever. Amen. Thus let us Sing aloud of Gods Righteousness, because that he has graciously kept us from Blood-guiltiness.

AND now David, If it may please God to Deliver thee from the Guilt of that Blood which thou hast shed, thou wilt for ever Praise and Sing of his Par­doning Mercy.

O the Glory of Divine Grace in par­doning such Guilt as thine is! O the Glory that may redound to GOD for ever in thy Salvation! The Glory of free Electing Love unto the Chief of Sinners! The Glory of Christ the Sa­viour, thro' whom it is that the Grace of God is thus Magnified [...] Sinful Man! The Glory of the Divine Ho­liness in the Forgiveness of Sin thro' the Blood of Christ, the Justice of God having received full Satisfaction there­by; So that God can be Just, and yet the Justifier of all them that Believe! The Glory of the Power also of Re­newing Grace, whereby God is able to subdue all things to himself; and to [Page 30] Soften, Sanctifie, & Change thy Heart! And finally, the Glory of Gods Holy, Wise and Terrible Providence, and yet most tender to thee and merciful, [...] whatever Methods it may use, and make them Effectual Means of thy Conversion and Salvation! Ah, If thy very Sin may bring thee unto Christ, and into the way of Divine Awakenings, Instruction & Conviction; how shoul­dest thou in thy very Chains, and on the Gibbet Sing aloud of Gods Righte­ousness.

If thou hast any Hope that God has pardoned thy Sin, I'm sure thou must needs adore and bless, extol and mag­nifie the Mercy of God in Christ. O cherish Admiring Thoughts of free Grace in pardoning great Transgres­sions; and let them arise from the [...]ight of the Greatness of thy own Sins. Let Christ be Glorious, Admirable, Ex­cellent and Precious to thy Soul. But O beware of [...] hopes in, and Reliance on the [...] Mercy Let thy hopes there [...]crease in [...]nitely in thee [Page 31] Humiliation, Sorrow, Abasement and Self-Abhorrence for thy Sins. [...] Astonishment it should beget [...] thee to think of finding Mercy with the Holy God! How humbly should you hope for it! How should it bre [...] thy Heart, and melt thy Soul within thee! And while it does this,—how should it raise, ravish and transport thy [...]ject­ed Soul.

Let me then Call upon [...] [...]his day, and in this last hour of thy [...]ife, My Son, Give Glory to the Lord God of [...], and own publickly his Righteous­ness and Justice in th [...] thy [...] End. Make Confession of thy Sins to God and man; justifie [...]: Take shame and confusion of [...] thy self; for thou hast sinned against both: Wilt thou not fear God under thy [...] nation, and say with the [...] on the Cross, and I indeed justly, [...] receive but the due desert of thy [...]. God is Holy in judging thus: His throne is spotless; thou [...] before him must be speechless [...] Confess then [Page 32] his Righteous and terrible Providence, and fly to his Mercy, Say with re­penting David in the Context. v. 2, 3, 4. W [...]sh me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I ac­knowledge my transgressions: And my sin is ever before me. Against thee, [...] only have I sinned, and done [...] evil [...] sight: That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when the judgest.

Again, give Glory to God by warning others. Preach to them in thy D [...]ing words, in more affecting [...] than I can speak to thee. God can help the to do so; for who has made mans [...] Have one word for God before thou diest! Warn Young people of [...], and call on careless profane Sinners to learn by thy Example to fear God and turn to him, that so Iniquity may not be your ruine. How knowest thou but that before thou diest thou may [...]st be instrumental to turn some one from the Error of his way, and save a Soul from Death and cover a multitude of [Page 33] Sins; or to prevent to some or other the like Sins and the like Temporal Destruction. God grant thy Sufferings may be Sanctified thus for saving Good to others. So shalt thou teach Trans­gressors Gods ways, and Sinners shall be converted unto him. The Lord in Mer­cy open thy lips, and thy mouth shall shew forth his Praise,

To Conclude, Give Glory to the Righteous and Faithful God, by laying hold on his Free Grace in Christ Jesus. God and his Righteous­ness are Glorified in Christ. God has Glorified his Son Jesus, to be a Prince and Saviour. Thy Faith in Christ shall Glorify God in the best manner that a Sinner can do it. So [...] Ma­lefactor on the Cross turned [...] face to his Crucified Saviour, and said, Lord, Remember me. So do thou look unto Jesus, the Author of thy Salvation. And God grant thee a Sight of him, at the Right hand of God, and Faith to Cry to Him, Lord Jesus receive my Spirit.

[Page 34] O that God would Purge thee and Pardon thee; and make thee to hear the voice of Joy and Glad­ness, that thy broken bones might rejoyce! That He would hide his face from thy Sins and blot out [...] thine Iniquities! That He would create in thee a clean Heart and re­new a right Spirit within thee! The Lord cast thee not away from his presence; nor deny his Holy Spi­rit to thee! The Lord give thee the Joy of his Salvation, and uphold thee with his free Spirit!

The Lord Enable thee to Expire in suitable apprehensions and prai­ses [...] Righteousness and Mercies thro' Christ to all penitent Sinner [...] And God, the God of thy Salvation, bring the [...] to Sing thereof for ever among Redeemed Souls in a better Life.

FINIS.

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