A Gospel Glass, Treatise · Chapter 36
CHAP. XXXVI. Their miſcarriages towards Sinners.
1 MAy not too much familiarity with profane wretches be juſtly charged upon Church-members? Church-members aſſociating with the Profane.I know man is a ſociable creature; but that will not excuſe Saints as to their careleſsneſs of the choice of their company. The very Fowls of the Air, and Beaſts of the Field, love not Hererogeneous company: Birds of a Feather flock together. I have been afraid, that many, who would be thought eminent, of an high ſtature in grace and godlineſs, yet ſee not the vaſt difference there is between Nature and Regeneration, Sin and Grace, the Old and the New Man, Whence? From not believing the enmity that is in the feed of the Serpent againſt the feed of the Woman. Pſal. 14.4. Prov. 28.15. Iſa. 51.20. Pſal. 22.12. Mat. 7.6. Ezek. 2.6. Prov. 4.16.ſeeing all company is alike unto them. And is it not thus with thee? Is it not all one, whether thou art with a Child of God, or with a Child of the Devil? Are not thoſe fit Companions for thee, who ſlight and rebel againſt God every day?
O! How few conſult and believe the Scripture's ſetting forth the enmity of wicked men against Gods people? The Scripture tells us, They eat up Gods people, as bread, which implyes a ſtrange inclination in them to devour the Saints, and that they take as great delight therein, as an hungry man in eating, and that it is natural to them to moleſt them: The Scripture compares them, for their hurtful qualities, to Lyons and Bears, to Foxes for ſubtilty, to wild Bulls, to greedy Swine, to Scorpions, to Bryars and Thornes, (grievous and vexing things.) The Scripture repreſents them as induſtrious and unwearied in their bloody Enterprizes, they cannot ſleep without doing miſchief: Herodias had rather have the blood of a Saint, than half of a Kingdom: Haman would pay a great Fine to the King, ſo the ſcattered Jews (who keep not the Kings laws) may be cut off. Wicked men will run the hazard of damning their own Souls, rather than not fling a dagger at the Apple of Gods eye: though they know, what one word (Aha) coſt; yet they will break through all natural, civil, and moral obligations to ruine Gods people: The Holy-Ghoſt calls them implacable men, 2 Tim. 3.3.fierce and headſtrong: they are like the hot Oven for fury, like the Sea for boundleſs rage: yet who hath believed this Scripture Report?
Did we believe what Enemies all wicked men are unto all Saints, Evidences thereof.We ſhould not lean to our own prudence and diſcretion to ſecure us from any danger by theſe men: we would get an Ark to ſecure us from the deluge of their wrath: If at any time we be caſt among them and delivered, we would bleſs God with the three Children, that the hot fiery Oven did not conſume us: we would not wonder, when we hear of any of their barbarous cruelty; but rather wonder at Gods reſtraining them every day: we would be ſuſpicious of receiving hurt, when caſt among light and frothy Companions: we would ſhun their company, as we do Lyons and Scorpions: we would never commit any truſt or ſecret into their hands: we would not be light hearted, whilſt in their Society: we would not rely on their promiſes any more than we would on the promiſe of the Devil, their Father: we would long for Heaven to be delivered from the tents of Kedar: we would not count any of the Saints ſecured from danger, though related to any great wicked man: we would not twiſt our ſelves with them by matching our ſelves or Children to theſe Sons and Daughters of Belial: neither would we make choice of Devils to be our Servants
How few do believe what a quarrel God hath with wicked men? From not believing Gods quarrel with them. Act. 2.40.And that not only with the looſe; but the formal and hypocritical alſo? If we did, we would tremble as much to be among them, as to be in an houſe, that is falling: we would endeavour to ſave our ſelves from this untoward generation. The Apoſtle would not ſo have adjured them, ſo charg'd, ſo intreated them, had he not known the danger of wicked company. Pſa. 7.11.God is angry with the wicked every day; his bow is bent, his arrows are on the ſtrings, the inſtruments for their ruine are all prepared. And is it ſafe to be there where the Arrows of God are ready to fly about our ears? How was the Apoſtle afraid to be in the Bath with Cerinthus? Numb. 16.26.Depart (ſaith God by Moſes) from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, leſt you be conſumed in all their ſins, How have the baskets of good figs ſuffered with the bad! Is it not prejudicial to the gold to lye with the droſs? Lot had been ruined by his Neighbourhood to the Sodomites, if God had not wrought wonderfully for his deliverance. Will you put God to work miracles to ſave you from your ungodly company? It is dangerous being in the road with thieves, whilſt Gods hue and cry of Vengeance is at their backs. Prov. 13.20.A Companion of fools ſhall be deſtroyed. The very beaſts may inſtruct you to conſult better for your ſecurity, the very Deer are afraid of a wounded chaſed Deer, and therefore for their preſervation thruſt him out of their company.
How few believe their own experiences, From not believing that they have ſuffered from them.what they have ſuffered by the company of the Ungodly? It had been better we had gone to the Peſt-houſe, and eat and drank with perſons infected with the Plague, even whilſt the ſoar and botch was running on them, than to accompany with wicked men: our bodies would have been endangered only by the one; but our Souls are by the other. Is not the poyſon of Aſps under their tongues? Doth not the Devil act them? Eph. 2.2.Doth he not work effectually in the Children of diſobedience? Doth he not inform them? Is there any breath, that is not infections, coming from their lips? How ſoon could Joſeph rap out an Oath by living with Pharaohs Courtiers? It was not long time, that Peter was (…nneceſſarily, without a Call) in the High-Prieſts Hall, and how quickly do we hear him Curſe and Swear, and deny his Lord and Maſter? We are inſenſibly inſnared, and defiled, by wicked men, as we are black'd and diſcoloured by lying long under the hot and ſcortching Sun-beams. Do not we yet know and feel how a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, and that one ſinner deſtroys much good, and that thoſe that were mingled among the Heathen, learned their wayes? Have not you found after ſuch company-keeping, how your hearts have been dead, dull, ſtraitned, loth, and unwilling to come into Gods preſence? It is difficult (ſaith a late ingenious Writer) even to a miracle to keep Gods Commandements, and evil company too. How ſuddenly after your Soul-refreſhments in your Cloſet Communion have you loſt all your heats, and ſpiritual fervencies, which you had in ſecret, and have inſtantly cooled by going forth into cold and corrupt air? When a Saint hath been in private raviſhed with the love of God, and the joys of Heaven…, and afterwards meets with company, which neither doth, nor can ſpeak one word of ſuch matters, what a damp is it to him? What a quenching (as it were) of the Spirit of God in him? Nay is not that true which one ſaith, that the people of God do generally loſe more by worldly men (that are of a blameleſs converſation before men) than they loſe by wicked and profane men? O! how oft hath communion with carnal men been at leaſt an occaſion of blotting your evidences? and of your ſuſpecting the truth of your own graces, whilſt you have omitted the duties of admonition and reproof, when there was a call thereto? O! how oft have you ſaid, If I cannot ſuffer ſuch a mans frowns and diſpleaſure, and therefore have omitted my duty to their Souls, and durſt not appear for God againſt their ſins, how ſhall I deny my ſelf in greater matters? How ſhall I ſuffer at a ſtake for Chriſt? How ſhall I reſiſt to blood, fighting againſt ſin? You hold the Wolfe by the Ear, whilſt among them: If you reprove them, you get a blot; if not, you fear, you are too cowardly to be inrolled among the Saints. I will acquaint you with an Obſervation of mine: When I have ſeen a Chriſtian fall into an intimacy with vain and erroneous company, I have counted it a mark of a back-ſliding heart, and have found it ſo too too oft: And no wonder; for we our ſelves count it a diſgrace to us to accompany with them, who aſſociate with people ſuſpected for uncleanneſs and diſhoneſty, and ſo doth the Spirit of God, who will not partake in the ſcandal of ſuch Aſſociation: Verily, He will not be a Partner with you, when you are not choice of your Fellowſhip.
How few conſider, From not conſidering, how hereby they harden them in their wickedneſs.how they harden wicked men, by an intimacy with them, Whereas withdrawment from them, might be a means to make them aſhamed? Whilſt we are merry and jovial with them, we make them believe their condition is not deplorable, their danger is not great; whereas, if we ſhunned them, as we would a Bowed-Wall, whilſt they remain enemies to the Lord, this might do them good, for the ſtartling of them, and rouzing of them, out of their unhappy ſecurity, and ſtrong deluſions, wherein they are held.Not diſcharging Duty in their company,
Secondly, May not neglect of diſcharging the Duties owed to wicked men, whilſt in their company, be alſo juſtly charged upon Church-Members? Profeſſours careleſsneſs of the periſhing condition of the Souls even of the vileſt, is a ſin much to be lamented. It is an Iron Age we live in, and mens hearts are ſtrangely hardned, as to any pitty they ſhew to the multitudes, who are in a natural and damnable condition. Me-thinks you ſhould reflect on the miſery of an unconverted ſtate, whilſt you your ſelves were ſo lately in it.
Are not you convinced, Several weighty Conſiderations, to perſwade Profeſsors to be treating with Souls about their eternal Eſtate, what-ever company they are in.that thoſe with whom you converſe daily, have reaſonable, immortal Souls, capable of eternal life or miſery? Have not they the ſame common Nature with you? Are there not (at leaſt) many civil bonds, wherein you ſtand related to them? Doth not their miſery call aloud for your compaſſions? Are they not in the gall of bitterneſs, and bonds of iniquity? Have they yet any part or fellowſhip in the pardon of their Sins? The endeavouring to heal the back-ſlidings of Chriſtians, though a very neceſſary work, is not ſo neceſſary (for they will ſurely be pardoned and healed, they are not in ſuch hazard of damnation) as to endeavour to open the eyes of theſe poor blind wretches, and to turn them from the power of Satan unto God. Would you not make more haſte to cure a man, that is taken with a ſwooning fit, than one that hath a little ſwelling in his ſinger? I wonder you are no more affected with the miſeries that attend your Unregenerate Friends and Acquaintance, who muſt ſuddenly be Converted, or Damned: Me-thinks you ſhould pitty them the more; becauſe they pitty not themſelves. Me-thinks the value that Chriſt hath put upon Souls, by bleeding for them, the ranſome that he hath given for miſerable man, and the unwearied pains he takes for the reducement of fall'n man, ſhould teach us to open our lips, to give ſome directions and counſels to them, who are within a ſtride of Hell, but a breath between them and eternal ruine: And yet how are Gods people ſtraitned towards theſe forlorn and miſerable, undone, condemned Creatures? Though they are under the curſe of the Law, though the ſentence of death be paſt againſt them, and is ready to be executed every moment; yet you exhort them not to flye from wrath to come: If they will periſh, they may periſh, for any ſpiritual contribution that you will afford them. It grieves me ſometimes, to ſee how Gods people eat up their own and others time, with vain, frothy and unſavory words: When they ſhould be ſpeaking ſome rouzing, ſtartling words of Hell and Damnation, of the neceſſity of Regeneration, of Eternity, of the fooliſh choice men make in preferring the pleaſures of ſin, which are but for a ſeaſon, before eternal joyes; of the deceits of the heart, of the cheats of the Devil, of the malignity of ſin, of the curſe of the Law, &c. they are talking of this faſhion, or of that, they are perhaps cenſuring one another, but endeavouring nothing for the undeceiving their deluded Companions. You cannot but know what advantages you have by your intimacies with them, to deliver that to them, which they will receive from you, when Satan perhaps hath imbittered them againſt their Miniſters, ſo that all Pulpit-counſels and reproofs are loſt upon them. Beſides, You are in private with them, and you know by your ſelves, how loth, how backward you were, to apply the truths of God to your own Souls, but you, as Nathan to David, may goe and ſay, Thou art the Man, thou the Woman: You may hear their pleas for themſelves, and ſo have an opportunity to confute them; whereas they are reſerved to their Miniſters, though they have been friendly, earneſtly and frequently invited to a Chriſtian conference: And yet how do you neglect all theſe Opportunities of ſerving the Neceſſities of your Friends: You pretend love unto them; but how can ye ſee the blind before your eyes tumbling into the Lake of Hell, and yet not call on them to return and live? It is admirable, that you ſhould think you have the Divine Nature within you, and yet be void of compaſſions to theſe miſerable Objects, who lye wounded before you, where-ever you goe or come. O! Me-thinks, when you enter the houſe of an Unregenerate, you ſhould thus meditate, Now have I an opportunity to ſave a Soul from Hell, to have a greater conqueſt than Caeſar or Alexander could boaſt of: Now may I ſhew my ſelf a Friend of God, by pleading his right to the Creature: Now may I have an occaſion to make all the Angels of Heaven laugh and ſing, and all the curſed Devils to roar, by ſaving a loſt Son.
And will you ſee theſe wounded in your way, and paſs them by with an unmerciful Spirit? If you ſee your Brother have need of outward things, (much more if needing Grace, the Image of, and Peace with, God) and you ſhut up your bowells of compaſſion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in you? You have ſome pitty left, when you ſee a man fall'n under his horſe, or ſtrugling for life upon the waters, or in an houſe fired, your bowells are turned within you; But alas! here are they that are dropping into the Lake of Fire every moment, that are dragged up and down, from one Luſt to another, by the Devil, (a ſorer bondage by farr) and yet you do not pitty them. O! Pitty them, pitty them; Goe over to Macedonia, and help them. It is a grief to my Soul, to conſider, how dull, how uſeleſs Chriſtians are, in the Towns and Villages, where Providence hath caſt them: If they meet with a man, they will not ſo much as ask, whether he be bound for Heaven, or Hell? whether he knows the neceſſity of the new Birth, yea or no? whether he hath left Sin, as his greateſt burden, whether he be willing of Chriſt, and Salvation by him, upon his own terms? Nay, Profeſſours will not ſo much as counſel them to read a good Book, or lend them one, if they are poor and unable to buy: they will be at no coſt to ſave a Soul, that is really of more worth, than a World. How is it, that you account your ſelves Chriſtians, whilſt you have no higher eſteems of Souls? Or how can you have any aſſurance, that you hate Sin, whilſt you labour not the removal of it, in whomſoever you find it? If you ſee men trifling away their time, why do you not put them upon redeeming their time? If you find them lovers of pleaſures, why do you not invite them, and preſs them, to look after cordial joy and mirth, and the true pleaſures, that are at Gods right hand? If you are the Subjects of Chriſt, how can you endure Treaſon againſt him, and not ſuppreſs it? I'le never believe, that man ever mourned for ſins of his own, that doth not for ſins of others; or that he ever hated ſin in himſelf, that doth not endeavour to ruine it in others Souls, as well as in his own. Be aſhamed at your pretenſions, as if you had hearts of fleſh, when you have hearts of ſtones, the hearts of Tygers, the hearts of Infidels, or elſe you would pitty the miſerable unconverted Souls. And what, if they deſire not your help: the more need you have to pitty them: the leſs awakened they are out of their curſed ſecurity, the more miſerable and dangerous is their ſtate. O! Put on the bowells of Jeſus Chriſt: carry not your ſelves in an high, proud way, in a lofty, magiſterial way, towards theſe poor Souls: Do not think thou haſt diſcharged duty towards them, by running into a corner, and backbiting them for blindneſs, hardneſs, contempt of Chriſt, &c. but rather help them to ſome of your eye-ſalve, that they may ſee. Conſider you have Tallents, and account you muſt for them, and be-think your ſelves, whether you may not give a better account, by endeavouring to reduce theſe poor Souls, that are ſtraying to Hell, than by letting them alone to damn themſelves: Conſider ſadly what anſwer you will make, when Chriſt ſhall ariſe and plead with you, when Chriſt ſhall ſay, Where is thy Brother? Will Cain's anſwer ſerve? Am I my Brothers keeper? Will not Chriſt reply on you? Did not I come from Heaven on purpoſe to redeem theſe periſh Souls? Did not I charge you to exhort one another daily? to do good to all? Did not I furniſh you with wiſdome and experience, that you might be able and ready to help others? Did not I by wonders of Providence prolong your dayes, that you might be uſeful? Did not I give you an intereſt in the affections of your Neighbours, that you might be as the Dew, and as the Rivers of Waters to the parched ground? that you might be the Light and Salt of the Earth? Nay, did not I remove the Miniſtry, (among other weighty grounds) to try your affections to periſhing Souls? And is this your anſwering all my deſigns and expectations, to rail at them, as the ungodly party, and not to endeavour to make them better? O! Conſider how ſad your caſe will be, if the blood of thouſands of Souls ſhall be lain at your doors, for your neglects, for your careleſsneſs, for your being worſe than Balaams Aſs; for he once reproved, perhaps you have never. How do you know, but a few words of yours might be as forcible as Jonah's to Nineveh, as the Samaritan woman's was to the City? Is this to love thy Neighbour as thy ſelf? Do'ſt love thy ſelf, and not regard thy Soul? And canſt thou love thy Neighbour, and not endeavour to ſave him from periſhing? to pull the brand out of the fire? Have you ſo learned Chriſt? When our Lord dwelt in fleſh among us, was he dumb before ſinners, as you are, when he ſaw the multitude wanting bread, did not he deal forth the bread of life to them? did not he prefer this work before his meat and drink? had not he compaſsion for the ignorant? did not he enlighten poor ignorant Souls? and reprove the Hypocriſie of others? When he went into the Publicans houſes, did not he preach of the Kingdome of God unto them? And hath not he given you an enample, that you ſhould do as he hath done? Should not you make it a matter of Conſcience to write after ſo great, ſo ſafe, ſo glorious a Copy? to follow ſo worthy a Leader and Pattern? Add withall, what ſtumbling blocks you have laid in the wayes of ſinners? how many have been offended by your converſation? And will you ſend ſo many hundreds to Hell, and not endeavour the converſion of ſome? You pretend the want of parts: But alas! you want bowels, you want affections, you have not a real ſight, and deep ſenſe of eternal matters: If you had, you would with tears in your eyes beſeech your Neighbours to mind their periſhing Souls. Have not you ſo many parts as to ſay to your Neighbours, Repent, and Pray, if perhaps your ſins may be forgiven. Go into thy Cloſet, Profeſſour, and there mourn over thy hard heartedneſs, and unmercifulneſs to the Souls of thouſands, of whom thou might'ſt have been an inſtrument of Converſion, if thou hadſt but attempted it. Or could you not have gone and beſeeched your Miniſters to lay to heart the periſhing eſtate of ſuch a man or woman? Or might you not have entreated thoſe Souls to conſult ſome Miniſter about their Everlaſting State? You have not done what you could: you pretend you cannot convert them; but you will not, you will not try whether you can work them over from ſin to God. You ſay they are dead in ſins and treſpaſſes, they have hearts of ſtone, as inſenſible as ſtones, as ſtupid, as blockiſh, as impenetrable as ſtones: And waſt not thou ſo ſome years ago? Haſt thou forgot the rock, out of which thou waſt hewn? Nay, is there not too much ſtone in thy heart, that thou canſt ſee thy God ſo diſhonoured, Chriſt ſo reproached by thoſe, who are baptized in his Name, and wear his Livery,, and yet not endeavour to pull them out of the fire? Thou relieveſt thy ſelf with the mercy thou ſheweſt to the bodies of the poor, that beg at thy door: when thou ſeeſt their ſoars, their lean cheeks, and naked ſhoulders, thou ſuccoureſt them, there things thou oughteſt to do; but not to lay aſide the Spiritual Almes, that were due unto them: thou ſhouldſt have counſelled them, admoniſhed them, enlightned them; and now if they periſh in their ignorance, will not their blood be required at thy hands? O! tremble at your blood-guiltineſs. The Lord of Heaven and Earth, who layes his claim to Souls, All Souls are mine, hath charged thee, not to hate thy Brother in thine heart, not to ſuffer ſin to reſt upon him, but to reprove him: And yet thou letteſt him alone, to periſh in his iniquity. You are ſo taken up with your own temporal or eternal good, that you little regard what becomes of others to all eternity. How do ſome hope to ſlink to Heaven alone? Perhaps they ſeek their own profit; 1 Cor. 10.33.but not the profit of many, that they may be ſaved. O that men would caſt their eyes abroad (ſaith one) the very dumb inanimate Creatures would teach them better; every Creature aſsimulates, Fire turns what is near it into Fire, Earth converts into Earth, Flowers will be ſcattering of their ſeed and ſcent. How canſt thou hope the bleſſing of the new Creation reſts upon thee, when thou doſt not increaſe and multiply? O that you would be prevailed with, to help, counſel and direct others to Heaven! If you have found the way thither, be pleaſed to ſhew others the way to life, the way to glory. O! Pitty them, as Chriſt pittied you; Chriſt hath led you out of the wilderneſs of ſin and trouble, Be you eyes to the blind, direct them the right way to the Land of Promiſe, tell them what courſe you took, declare unto them what God hath done for your Souls. Do not you ſee how induſtrious Chriſts enemies are to diffuſe their poyſon? Do not Turks and Papiſts endeavour to proſelyte? Will they not compaſs Sea and Land to ſpread and diffuſe their Leaven? Do not all people (beſides you) labour to win to their Gods? Do not unclean perſons and drunkards entice others to the ſame wickedneſs? ſhall Satans Vaſſals be filling Hell? and will you not labour to fill Heaven? Is it not your Honour to bring many Sons and Daughters unto God? What will become of the next Generation? How few Servants (if any) will Chriſt have, if others take no more pains, than you do, to convince, to allure, to convert? I fear Chriſt will take up the old complaint, Mat. 8.20.The Foxes have holes, and the Birds have Neſts, but the Son of Man will not have where to lay his head. Conſider how oft your poor Miniſters have beſeeched you to enter on this work, leſt other-mensſins prove your damnation; and yet how hath a dumb Devil poſſeſſed you? O that yet you would commune with your own hearts, whether you are willing that thouſands ſhould periſh, and go to Hell? and if they anſwer, No, Ask them a ſecond queſtion, why do not you uſe the means to prevent it, Namely Exhortation, Reproof, and Counſell? You have covered over your want of Zeal and tenderneſs with a pretence that you have not the gifts of Miniſters, you cannot ſo exhort as Miniſters, &c. But have you not been told that God can work by ſmall means, as well as by great, and that by things that are not God can confound the wiſdome of the fleſh, and bring to naught the things that are? Is not this like the pretence of not being eloquent? Do you not know, have you not heard, that the iſſue, and event depends on the bleſſng of the Lord, rather than on the work it ſelf? Is it not all one to the Lord, to wound by a ſhort, as by a long ſword? Cannot God bleſs a few words in thy mouth, as he did in Chriſts, and the Apoſtles? Can'ſt not thou ſay, follow Chriſt? and may not preſently a Matthew, a Publican leave his ſinfull courſes and embrace the Chriſtian faith? Can'ſt thou not ſay, Repent and Believe, that your ſins may be blotted out? and may not God concur with thee, as he did of old times? Is the Lords hand ſhortned, that it cannot help? If Iſrael be not gathered, yet thy reward is with the Lord, if thine heart were upright, and could teſtifie that night and day thou haſt not ceaſed to warn, to rebuke, and counſel. Certainly your memories are not ſo bad, but you muſt remember the weight of ſin, and of the wrath of God: you have ſeen the wonders of the Lord in the deeps: you, that have eſcaped to ſhoar, can tell of the Rocks and Shelves, and Storms, which you have been delivered from; and will you ſet other Shipwrack their Souls, rather than hold out your light unto them, … may avoyd their ruines? What ſhall I ſay to humble you? There is more … in Hell, than you can afford: Bluſh, bluſh, and be aſhamed to have leſs zeal, love, and pitty, to periſhing Souls, than Dives in Hell had, he would have his Brethren ſaved from the Valley of Hinnom. Your ſilence will make others think that Hell is a tollerable place, that ſin is not ſo evil and bitter a thing, that to lye under Gods wrath is not ſo great a miſery, whilſt you are ſo ſlow and backward to warn your Friends and Acquaintance that they ſlee from theſe, and take Sanctuary in the true City of Refuge, the Lord Jeſus Chriſt. O! If you know the worth of a Soul, pitty the multitude, with whom the day is not broke, whoſe forlorn Souls are under a continual Maſſacre from the bloudy Butcher of Hell: Beſmear your Souls no longer with the guilt of their bloud: Let them not ſtarve for want of bread, whilſt you have to give them. I ſhall bleſs God for ever and ever, if this your negligence of the Souls of thoſe, whom you may account without, may be cordially bewailed, and you for the future double your diligence for their converſion. Miniſters cannot convert without the Concourſe of Omnipotency, neither can you. Though Satan and thy own lazy heart hath told thee, thou art unfit to ſet upon this work, yet better do it meanly, than wholy omit it. God (like Parents on earth) loves to ſee his Children lift at thoſe duties, which are too hard for them, and then he ſteps in and is a Co-worker with them. What God did by illiterate Fiſhermen, by Priſcilla, he can do by thee. The Lord pardon thy former unmercifulneſs to the Souls of men; But if thou continue careleſs and cruel, if thou wilt not by Prayers for them, and counſels to them, ſeek their reducement, as ſure as thou art reading, the voyce of thy Brothers blood is crying againſt thee from the earth. By your example before (if not ſince) Profeſſion, you have been the cauſe of the deſtruction of Souls, of how many who can tell. And, as Jeroboam made Iſrael to ſin many years after he was rotten in his grave, ſo your ſin, your wicked examples may propagate the trade of ſin from generation to generation, until Chriſt ſhall come to Judgement. Tremble, tremble at the thoughts of it, if thou haſt not the heart of a Beaſt in thee. O! how many Souls are crying in Hell againſt thee, curſing the day they knew thee, or their Anceſtours knew thee; for that by thee they learned to ſin the more, and were ſtrengthned in their wickedneſs by thy tongue, and by thy life? And now are not you bound to do your utmoſt to make reſtitution? to labour to ſave them that be alive? Is it not reaſonable that you ſhould labour to win Souls to Gods, as you have to the Devils, ſervice? and to have many bleſſing God in the Heavens for you, that ever they were in the company of ſuch an active zealous Chriſtian, who by word and life was inſtrumental to bring them to the knowledge of themſelves, and of their God? And is it not a glorious work, to hold forth ſuch Light to the World, that they ſeeing your good works, may glorifie God, and you may be Propagators of Zeal and Holineſs, from Generation to Generation, till Chriſt ſhall appear to judge the World, and to reward you for all the ſervices you have done to his Name? O! how welcome ſhall that man be to Heaven and Chriſt, who hath fed the Souls, and clothed the Souls, and viſited the Souls, which he hath purchaſed with his own precious blood? Chriſt will own thee for his Benefactour.