Earth to make Religion their business, methinks I see how asham'd they are of their folly, how the Wretches blush to fee, that God hath chofen the foolish things of the World to confound the wife. Methinks I hear them cry out to Rocks and Mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that fits on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. O how their thoughts at that time will all be changed, and all their Triumphs be turned into Funerals?, Methinks I fee, how Herod is confounded to fee the humble Baptift advanced above the Kings, and Princes of this World, even that Baptift, whom he valued not half so much, as he did a Strumpet, whom for fports fake, he could behead, and deprive of life to fave his reputation among Flatterers, and Sycophants! Methinks I fee, how the bloody Nero ftarts to fee Paul the Prifoner deck'd with Robes of Eternal Light, that Paul, who fell a Sacrifice to his pleasure, and whom he would have difdained to fet with the Dogs of his Flock! I quake at the dismal fight, my thoughts are fill'd with horror! I'll be wife before it be too late, I will not hazard my Soul as most men do; O how I blame my felf for ferving fin and the World thus long! Had God fnatcht me away in that difmal fervice,how dreadful would my wages have been? Bleffed be God, who hath been thus patient with me; I'll tref pafs no longer upon his Long-fuffering. Come, ye Minifters of the Gospel, tell me what I must do to be laved; lead me, direct me, I'll follow,

and

and neither Men nor Devils fhall draw me away. Teach me to fing the Songs of Zion. Instruct me how to prefer Jerufalem above my chief joy. Shew me the path of Life, leave not my Soul in Hell. Pull it out of the fire; I have made a folemn choice of God for my portion. Let me know, how I must love him. I'll obey your counsel, I'll act according to your directions. Be not afraid of me, I will not turn back in the Day of Battel. I have done with thefe ftolen waters; I fee no felicity that rises from bathing in those dangerous Streams; they may lull and charm for a while, but leave the Soul empty. If any man had reafon to find fatisfaction in them, Solomon had, who had Riches, and Power, and Luft enough to range where he pleas'd; yet when he had walk'd through the whole Garden of fenfual Pleasures, cropt the choicest Flowers, fed upon the moft luscious Fruits, left nothing unattempted to know the utmost reach of that Fools Paradise, search'd all the by-places and corners where they said the treasures of fatisfaction lay, unravel'd all the fecret Intrigues of fin, ranfack'd all the hidden mysteries of it ; when he had thus wander'd up and down, and almost lost himself in that unhappy Labyrinth, the Verdict he gives of all is this, Vanity of Vanities, mighty Nothings, perfect Trouble and Vexation of Spirit; and then protests, that the only fatisfaction that's folid, and like to last, lies in fearing God, and keeping his Commandments. That's it, I fee, men are forc'd to con

fels

fefs at laft, and too often when it is too late. I see most men are of another mind when they come to dye, to what they were in the time of their strength, and health, and liberty, and that feriousness, they formerly derided, they then wish for, when the Sentence is paffing upon them, Cut them down, why do they cumber the ground? The Pearl they might formerly have had at a reasonable price, and would not, they now would purchase with ten thousand Worlds, if they had them, and cannot. This it is, to turn the grace of God into wantonnels, to play with the glorious Meffage fent to them by the great Bridegroom of their Souls, and to make light of invitations to the Supper of the Lamb! O folly! O madness! O monftrous stupidity! O my Soul, come not thou into their fecret, unto their affembly mine honour be not thou united. I'll take warning by these fad Examples. Their imprudence fhall make me wife; their indifcretion fhall make me take another course. I fee there are fnares laid for my Soul, I am befet with temptations. If I tremble at the main Ocean, a fhallow Puddle is offer'd me to drown my felf in. What fhould make the Devil fo bufie, fo earnest, fo induftrious to draw my Soul away from the Fountain of living Waters? Without all peradventure he fees, what happiness it's capable of, even of a happiness, which knows neither measure nor end. He fees, how careful the Angels are of it, how they follicite it to avouch the Lord for its God. He was once

in Heaven, and knows that Holy Souls fhall poffefs the Seats of the Apoftate Spirits, and that what he loft, they fhall enjoy, the dignity he and his difmal Affociates forfeited they fhall inherit, and the Thrones he and his Crew did once triumph in, fhall fall to their fhare. He fees how fair a Soul, redeem'd with the blood of Christ, stands for this high preferment; He fees the inclinations and propenfions it hath to take up with God alone; and to divert the Stream, he dreffes out fin in feveral Garbs, that if one will not tempt me, another may. But, O my God, fin fhall infinuate into my favour no more, it fhall creepinto my bosome no more, I'll avoid all familiarity with it, I'll hug the Monster no more, I'll take it no longer for a harmless thing, it shall be my Darling, my Benjamin no more, my eyes fhall be no longer pleas'd with viewing of it, my tongue fhall commeud and praise it no more, I'll open my door to the fatal Guest no more. My faint oppofitions fhall be turn'd into stronger refiftances, I'll call up my blood and courage to withstand its juggles, I have refolv'd, and my heart fhall be carried out after this Idol no more. Come, my Soul, awake to higher thoughts, and hopes, and labours. Away with thy fluggish wifhes, and with thy dull éndeavours. Are thefe fit for feeking eternal joys? Doth a creeping pace befeem a man that is refolved for Eternity? The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of Majefty, the voice of the Lord breaks the Ce

dars

dars, the voice of the Lord fhakes the Wilderness. And art thou the only Creature, whom it cannot fhake? It's done, mine eyes are open, and I am refolved. It was refolution made the three men, Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, adventure into a fiery Furnace. It was refolution made St Paul ready not to fuffer, only, but to dye at Jerufalem for the Name of Jefus. It was refolution made David's Worthies enter into the Camp of the Philistines, and draw water out of the Well of Bethlehem. It was refolution made Ignatius despise Fire, and Sword, and wild Beafts, to procure the favour of him whom his Soul did love. It was *Tertullian. Apo- refolution made the Grecian WoLog. c. 50. man endure the Rack, and when prompted by the Executioner to confess her Affociates in the Treafon, bite her tongue in pieces, that the might not be in a poffibility of betraying her Partners in the Confpiracy. It was refolution made * Mutius stand still and unconcern'd, while his right hand burn'd. It was resolution made Empedocles facrifice himself to the flames of Eina. It was refolution made Anaxarchus, when his Bones were crush'd, make sport with his torments, and cry out, Break, break the carkafs of Anaxarchus, but his mind you shall never break. It was refolution made Regulus fling himself into the merciless arms of his Enemies, and fuffer himself to be ftung and prickt to death. It was refolution made Attalus fit down

* Id. ibid.

cheerfully