One Thing is Needful
The source for this document is https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A30168.0001.001
Project Note
This is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.
This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.
Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.
However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.
This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.
Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org
One THING is Needful: OR, Serious Meditations UPON THE Four Last THINGS,
- DEATH, And JUDGMENT,
- HEAVEN And HELL.
Unto which is added, Ebal and Gerizim; OR, The Blessing and the Curse: WITH Prison Meditations.
And a Catalogue of all this Author's Books.
The Third Edition.
By JOHN BUNYAN.
LONDON, Printed for Nath. Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1683.
ADVERTISEMENT.
THIS Author having Publish'd many Books, which have gone off very well: There are certain Ballad-sellers about Newgate, and on London -Bridge, who have put the two first Letters of this Author's Name, and his Effigies to their Rhimes and Ridiculous Books, suggesting to the World as if they were his: Now know, that this Author publisheth his Name at large to all his Books; and what you shall see otherwise he disowns.
A CATALOGUE of Mr. John Bunyan 's BOOKS.
- 1. GRace Abounding, or the Author's Conversion.
- 2. Greatness of the Soul, with the unspeakableness of its Loss.
- 3. Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a damned Soul.
- 4. Instructions for the Ignorant.
- 5. Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
- 6. Water of Life proceeding out of the Throne of God.
- 7. Publican and Pharisee at Prayer.
- 8. I will Pray with the Spirit, and with the Understanding also.
- 9. Law and Grace, or the Nature of the two Covenants.
- 10. The Barren Fig-tree.
- 11. The strait Gate.
- 12. Christian Behaviour.
- 13. A holy Life the Duty of Christians.
- 14. Country Rhimes for Children, upon seventy four things.
- 15. The Fear of God.
- 16. Saved by Grace.
- 17. Election and Reprobation.
- 18. A Map of Salvation and Damnation.
- 19. Good News for the Vilest of Men, or a help for despairing Souls.
- 20. Light for them that fit in Darkness.
- 21. Justification by Jesus Christ; against Doctor Fowler 's, &c.
- 22. Confession of Faith and Reason of Practice in Worship.
- 23. Difference in Judgment about Water Baptism, no bar to Communion.
- 24. Peaceable Principles and True.
- 25. Some Gospel Truths opened.
- 26. A Vindication of that.
- 27. First Day the Christian Sabbath.
- 28. The House of God.
- 29. Advice to Sufferers.
- 30. The Advocateship of Jesus Christ.
- 31. Temple Types, and Service and Building explained.
- 32. Holy City.
- 33. Holy War.
- 34. Pilgrims Progress, the first Part, with Cuts.
- 35. Pilgrims Progress, the second Part, with Cuts.
- 36. Life and Death of Mr. Badman, with Cuts.
- 37. Four last things, Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell, Ebal and Gerizim, with Prison Meditations.
- 38. Resurrection from the Dead, and Eternal Judgment.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE Ensuing Discourse.
I. THese Lines I at this time present
To all that will them heed;
Wherein I show to what intent
God saith,
Convert with speed.
II. For these Four Things come on apace,
Which we should know full well,
Both
Death
and
Judgment,
and, in place,
Next to them,
Heaven
and
Hell.
III. For doubtless, Man was never born
For this Life, and no moe:
No, in the
Resurrection Morn
They must have Weal or Woe.
IV. Can any think, that God should take
That pains, to form a Man
So like himself, only to make
Him here a moment stand?
V. Or that he should make such ado,
By
Justice,
and by
Grace
;
By
Prophets
and
Apostles
too,
That Men might see his Face.
VI. Or that the Promise he hath made,
Also the Threatenings great,
Should in a moment end and fade;
O! No this is a Cheat.
VII. Besides, who is so mad (or worse)
To think that Christ should come
From Glory, to be made a Curse,
And that in Sinners room.
VIII. If nothing should by us be had,
When we are gone from hence;
But Vanities while here, O mad
And foolish Confidence!
IX. Again, Shall God who is the Truth,
Say,
There is Heaven and Hell
;
And shall men play that Trick of Youth,
To say,
But who can tell
?
X. Shall he that keeps his Promise sure
In things both low and small,
Yet break it like a Man impure,
In Matters greatest of all?
XI. Oh let all tremble at that thought,
That puts on God the lie,
That saith Men shall turn into naught,
When they be sick and die.
XII. Alas,
Death
is but as the Door,
Through which all men do pass,
To that which they for evermore
Shall have by
Wrath
or
Grace.
XIII. Let all therefore that read my Lines,
Apply them to the Heart,
Yea, let them read, and turn betimes,
And get the better part.
XIV. Mind therefore what I treat on here;
Yea, mind and weigh it well;
'It is
Death
and
Judgment,
and a clear
Discourse of
Heaven
and
Hell.
Of Death.
1.
DEath,
as a King Rampant and stout,
The World he dare engage;
He Conquers all, yea and doth rout
The great, strong, wise, and sage.
2. No King so great, nor Prince so strong,
But
Death
can make to yield,
Yea, bind and lay them all along,
And make them quit the Field.
3. Where are the Victors of the World,
With all their men of might?
Those that together Kingdoms hurled,
By
Death
are put to flight.
4. How feeble is the strongest hand,
When
Death
begins to gripe?
The Giant now leaves off to stand,
Much less withstand and fight.
5. The man that hath a Lions face,
Must here give place and bend,
Yea, though his Bones were bars of brass,
'It is vain here to contend.
6. Submit he must to feeble ones,
To Worms who will enclose
His skin and flesh, sinews and bones,
And will thereof dispose
7. Among themselves, as Merchants do
The prizes they have got;
Or as the Soldiers give unto
Each man the share and lot,
8. Which they by dint of Sword have won,
From their most daring foe;
While he lies by as still as stone,
Not knowing what they do.
9. Beauty
Death
turns to rottenness,
And Youth to wrinkled Face;
The Witty he brings to distress,
And Wantons to disgrace.
10. The wild he tames, and spoils the mirth
Of all that wanton are,
He takes the worldling from his worth,
And poor man from his Care.
11.
Death
favors none, he lays at all,
Of all sorts and degree;
Both Old and Young, both great and small,
Rich, Poor, and bound, and free.
12. No fawning Words will flatter him,
Nor Threatenings make him start;
He favors none for worth or kin,
All must taste of his Dart.
13. What shall I say, the Graves declare
That
Death
shall Conquer all;
There lie the skulls, dust, bones, and there
The Mighty daily fall.
14. The very looks of
Death
are grim
And gastly to behold;
Yea, though but in a Dead-man's-skin,
When he is gone and cold.
15. How fraid are some of dead-men's beds,
And others of their bones;
They neither care to see their Heads,
Nor yet to hear their Groans.
16. Now all these things are but the shade
And badges of his Coat;
The Glass that runs, the Sythe and Spade,
Though weapons more remote.
17. Yet such as make poor mortals shrink
And fear, when they are told,
These things are signs that they must drink
With death, O then how cold
18. It strikes them to the heart! how do
They study it to shun!
Indeed who can bear up? and who
Can from these shakings run?
19. But how much more then when he comes
To graffle with thy Heart;
To bind with Thread thy Toes and Thumbs,
And fetch thee in his Cart.
20. Then will he cut thy silver Cord,
And break thy Golden Bowl,
Yea, break that Pitcher which the Lord
Made Cabin for thy Soul.
21. Thine Eyes that now are quick of sight,
Shall then no way espy,
How to escape this doleful plight,
For
Death
will make thee die.
22. Those Legs that now can nimbly run,
Shall then with faintness fail
To take one step
Death
's Dart to shun,
When he doth thee assail.
23. That Tongue that now can boast and brag,
Shall then by
Death
be tied
So fast, as not to speak or wag,
Though
Death
lies by thy side.
24. Thou that didst once incline thine Ear
Unto the Song and Tale,
Shall only now
Death
's Message hear,
While he with Face most pale,
25. Doth reason with thee how thy days
Hath hitherto been spent;
And what have been thy deeds and ways,
Since God thee time hath lent.
26. Then will he so begin to tear
Thy Body from thy Soul,
And both from Life, if now thy Care
Be not on Grace to roll.
27.
Death
puts on things another face
Than we in health do see:
Sin, Satan, Hell, Death, Life, and Grace
Now great and weighty be.
28. Yea, now the Sick-man's Eye is set
Upon a World to come:
He also knows too without let,
That there must be his Home.
29. Either in Joy, in Bliss, and Light,
Or Sorrow, Woe, and Grief;
Either with Christ and Saints in white,
Or Fiends without Relief.
30. But oh the sad estate, that then
They will be in that die
Both void of Grace and Life; poor men
How will they fear and cry,
31. Ha! Live I may not, though I would
For Life give more than all;
And die I dare not, though I should
The World gain by my fall.
32. No, here he must no longer stay,
He feels his Life run out,
His Night is come, also the day
That makes him fear and doubt.
33. He feels his very Vitals die,
All waxeth pale and wan;
Nay worse he fears, to misery
He shortly must be gone.
34.
Death
doth already strike his Heart,
With his most fearful sting
Of Guilt, which makes his Conscience start
And quake at everything.
35. Yea, as his body doth decay
By a contagious grief,
So his poor Soul doth faint away
Without hope or relief.
36. Thus while the man is in this scare,
Death doth still at him lay;
Live, die, sink, swim, fall foul or fair,
Death still holds on his way.
37. Still pulling of him from his place
Full sore against his Mind;
Death like a Sprite stares in his face,
And doth with links him bind,
38. And carries him into his den,
In darkness there to lie
Among the swarms of wicked men
In grief eternally.
39. For only he, that God doth fear,
Will now be counted wise:
Yea, he that feareth him, while here,
He only wins the Prize.
40. 'It is he that shall by Angels be
Attended to that bliss,
That Angels have, for he, O he!
Of glory shall not miss.
41. Those weapons and those instruments
Of death, that others fright;
Those dreadful fears and discontents
That brings on some that night;
42. That never more shall have a day,
Brings this man to that rest
Which none can win but only they
Whom God hath called, and blest
43. With the first fruits of saving grace,
With faith, hope, love, and fear
Him to offend; this man his face
In visions high and clear,
44. Shall in that light which no Eye can
Approach unto, behold
The rays and beams of Glory, and
Find there his Name inrol'd
45. Among those glittering Stars of light
That Christ still holdeth fast
In his right hand with all his might,
Until that danger's past,
46. That shakes the world, and most hath dropt
Into grief and distress,
O blessed then is he that's wrapped
In Christ his righteousness.
47. This is the man Death cannot kill;
For he hath put on arms;
Him Sin nor Satan hath not skill
To hurt with all their charms,
48. An Helmet on his head doth stand,
A Breast-plate on his Heart:
A Shield also is in his Hand,
That blunteth every Dart.
49. Truth girds him round the Reins, also
His Sword is on his Thigh;
His Feet in Shooes of Peace do go
The ways of Purity.
50. His Heart it groaneth to the Lord,
Who hears him at his call,
And doth him help and strength afford,
Wherewith he conquers all.
51. Thus fortify'd he keeps the field
While Death is gone and fled;
And then lies down upon his Shield
Till Christ doth raise the dead.
Of Judgment.
1. AS 'tis appointed men should die,
So
Judgment
is the next,
That meet them must assuredly;
For so saith holy Text.
2. Wherefore of Judgment I shall now
Inform you, what I may;
That you may see what 'tis, and how
'Twill be with Men that Day.
3. This World it hath a time to stand,
Which time, when ended, then
Will issue Judgment out of hand
Upon all sorts of Men.
4. The Judge we find, in God's Record,
The Son of Man,
for he
By God's appointment is made Lord,
And Judge of all that be;
5. Wherefore this Son of man shall come
At last, to Count withal;
And unto them shall give just doom,
Whether they stand or fall.
6. Behold ye now the Majesty
And State that shall attend
This Lord, this Judge, and Justice high,
When he doth now descend.
7. He comes with Head as white as snow;
With Eyes like flames of fire;
In Justice clad from top to toe,
Most glorious in attire.
8. His Face is filled with gravity,
His Tongue is like a Sword;
His Presence aws both stout and high,
The World shakes at his Word.
9. He comes in flaming fire, and
With Angels clear and bright,
Each with a Trumpet in his hand,
Cloathed in shining white.
10. The Trump of God sounds in the Air,
The dead do hear his Voice;
The living too, run here and there,
Who made not him their Choice.
11. Thus to his place he doth repair,
(Appointed for his Throne)
Where he will sit to Judge, and where
He'l Count with everyone.
12. Angels attending on his hand
By thousands on a roe;
Yea, thousand thousands by him stand,
And at his beck do go.
13. Thus being set, the Books do ope,
In which all Crimes are writ,
All Virtues too, of Faith and Hope,
Of Love; and every whit,
14. Of all that Man hath done or said,
Or did intend to do;
Whether they fin'd, or were afraid
Evil to come into.
15. Before this Bar each Sinner now
In Person must appear,
Under his Judgment there to bow
With trembling, and with fear:
16. Within whose breast a witness then
Will certainly arise,
That to each Charge will say,
Amen:
While they seek and devise
17. To shun the Sentence which the Lord
Against them then will read
Out of the Books of God's Record,
With Majesty and Dread.
18. But every Heart shall op'ned be
Before this Judge most high;
Yea, every thought to Judgment he
Will bring assuredly.
19. And every Word and Action too
He there will manifest;
Yea, all that ever thou didst do,
Or keep within thy Breast.
20. Shall then be seen and laid before
The World that then will stand
To see thy Judge open every sore,
And all thy evils scan'd.
21. Weighing each sin and wickedness
With so much equity,
Proportioning of thy distress,
And woeful misery.
22. With so much justice, doing right,
That thou thyself shalt say,
My sins have brought me to this plight,
I threw myself away
23. Into that gulf my sins have brought
Me justly to possess,
For which I blame not Christ, I wrought
It out by wickedness.
24. But oh! how willingly would these
That thus in Judgment be,
If that they might have help or ease,
Unto the Mountains flee.
25. They would rejoice if that they might
But underneath them creep,
To hide them from revenging Right,
For fear of which they weep.
26. But all in vain, the Mountains then
Will all be fled and gone;
No shelter will be found for Men,
That now are left alone.
27. For succor they did not regard,
When Christ by Grace did call
To them, therefore they are not heard,
No Mountains on them fall.
28. Before this Judge no one shall shroud
Himself, under pretence
Of Knowledge, which hath made him proud,
Nor seeming Penitence.
29. No high Profession here can stand,
Unless Sincerity
Hath been therewith commixed, and
Brought forth Simplicity.
30. No Mask nor Vizor here can hide
The Heart that rotten is;
All Cloaks must now be laid aside,
No Sinner must have bliss.
31. Though most approve of thee, and count
Thee upright in thy Heart,
Yea, though prefer'd and made surmount
Most men to act thy part.
32. In treading where the godly trod,
As to an outward show;
Yet this holds still, the grace of God
Takes hold on but a few,
33. So as to make them truly such,
As then shall stand before
This Judge with gladness; this is much,
Yet true for evermore.
34. The Tree of Life this Paradise
Doth always beautify
'Cause of our health it is the rise
And perpetuity.
35. Here stands the golden throne of Grace
From out of which do run
Those crystal streams that make this place
Far brighter than the Sun.
36. Here stands Mount Zion with her King,
Jerusalem
above,
That holy and delightful thing,
So beautify'd with love.
37. That as a Mother suckers those
Which of her body be,
So she far more, all such as close
In with her Lord. And she
38. Her gates, her everlasting doors
Will open wide unto
Them all, with welcome, welcome, poor,
Rich, bond, free, high and low,
39. Unto the Kingdom which our Lord
Appointed hath for all
That hath his Name and Word adored,
Because he did them call
40. Unto that work, which also they
Sincerely did fulfill,
Not shunning always to obey
His gracious holy will.
41. Besides this much doth beautify
This goodly Paradise,
That from all quarters constantly
Whole thousands, as the price
42. Of precious Blood, do here arrive,
As safe escaping all,
Sin, Hell, and Satan did contrive
To bring them into thrall.
43. Each telling his deliverance
I'th' open face of Heaven;
Still calling to remembrance
How fiercely they were driven
44. By deadly Foe, who did pursue
As swift as Eagles fly;
Which if thou have not, down thou must,
With those that then shall die
The second Death, and be accurst
Of God. For certainly
45. The truth of Grace shall only here
Without a blush be bold
To stand, whilst other quake and fear,
And dare not once behold.
46. That Heart that here was right for God
Shall there be comforted;
But those that evil ways have trod,
Shall then hang down the head,
47. As sore confounded with the guilt,
That now upon them lies,
Because they did delight in filth,
And beastly vanities.
48. Or else because they did deceive
With hypocritical
Disguises their own Souls, and leave
Or shun that best of all
49. Approved word of Righteousness
They were invited to
Embrace, therefore they no access
Now to him have, but woe.
50. For everyone must now receive
According to their ways,
They that unto the Lord did cleave
The everlasting Joys.
51. Those that did die in wickedness,
To execution sent,
There still to grapple with distress,
Which nothing can prevent.
52. Of which two states I next shall write,
Wherefore I pray give ear,
And to them bend with all your might,
Your Heart with filial fear.
Of Heaven.
1. HEaven is a Place, also a State,
It doth all things excel,
No Man can fully it relate,
Nor of its Glory tell.
2. God made it for his Residence
To fit on as a Throne,
Which shows to us the Excellence
Whereby it may be known.
3. Doubtless the Fabric that was built
For this so great a King
Must needs surprise thee, if thou wilt
But duly mind the thing.
4. If all that build do build to suit
The glory of their state,
What Orator (though most accute)
Can fully Heaven relate?
5. If Palaces that Princes build
[Which yet are made of Clay]
Do so amaze, when much beheld
Of Heaven, what shall we say?
6. It is the high and holy place,
No Moth can there annoy,
Nor make to fade that goodly grace
That Saints shall there enjoy.
7. Mansions for glory and for rest
Do there prepared stand,
Buildings eternal for the blest
Are there provided, and
8. The glory and the comeliness,
By deepest thought none may
With heart or mouth fully express,
Nor can before that day.
9. These Heavens we see be as a scroll,
Or garment folded up,
Before they do together role,
And we called in to sup
10. There with the King, the Bridegroom, and
By him are led into
His Palace-Chambers, there to stand
With his Prospect to view,
11. And taste, and smell, and be inflamed,
And ravished to see
The buildings he hath for us framed,
How full of Heaven they be.
12. Its state also is marvelous
For beauty to behold,
All goodness there is plenteous,
And better far than Gold,
13. Adorn'd with grace and righteousness,
While fragrant scents of love
O're-flow with everlasting bliss
All that do dwell above.
14. The Heav'nly Majesty, whose Face
Doth far exceed the Sun,
Will there cast forth its rays of Grace
After this World is done.
15. Which rays and beams will so possess
All things that there shall dwell,
With so much glory, light, and bliss,
That none can think or tell.
16. That Wisdom which doth order all
Shall there be fully shown;
That Strength that bears the World there shall
By everyone be known.
17. That Holiness and Sanctity,
Which doth all thought surpass,
Shall there in present purity
Out-shine the Crystal Glass.
18. The Beauty and the Comliness
Of this All-mighty shall
Make amiable with lasting bliss
Those he thereto shall call.
19. The presence of this God will be
Eternal Life in all,
And Health, and Gladness, while we see
Thy Face, O Immortal!
20. Here will the Lord make clear and plain
How sweetly did agree
His Attributes, when Christ was slain
Our Savior to be.
21. How Wisdom did find out the way,
How Strength did make him stand,
How Holiness did bear the sway,
And answer just demand.
22. How all these Attributes did bend
Themselves to work our Life
Thorow the Christ, whom God did send
To save us by his Might.
23. All this will sparkle in our Eye
Within the Holy Place,
And greatly raise our Melody,
And flow our Hearts with Grace.
24. The largest thought that can arise
Within the widest Heart
Shall then be filled with surprise,
And pleased in every part.
25. All Mysteries shall here be seen,
And every knot untie'd;
Electing love that hid hath been,
Shall shine on every side.
26. The God of Glory here will be
The Life of everyone,
Whose goodly Attributes shall we
Possess then as our own.
27. By Wisdom we all things shall know,
By Light all things shall see,
By Strength [too] all things we shall do,
When we in Glory be.
28. The Holy Lamb of God also,
Who for our sakes did die,
The holy ones of God shall know,
And that most perfectly.
29. Those small and short discoveries,
That we have of him here,
Will there be seen with open eyes,
In Visions full and clear.
30. Those many thousand acts of Grace,
That here we feel and find,
Shall there be read with open face
Upon his heart most kind;
31. There he will show us how he was
Our Prophet, Priest, and King
And how he did maintain our cause,
And us to Glory bring.
32. There we shall see how he was touched
With all our grief and pain,
[As in his Word, he hath avouchit]
When we with him shall reign;
33. He'll show us also how he did
Maintain our Faith and Love,
And why his Face sometimes he hid
From us, who are his Dove:
34. These tempting times that here we have,
We there shall see were good,
Also that hidden strength he gave;
The purchase of his Blood.
35. That he should stand for us before
His Father, thus we read,
But then shall see, and shall adore
Him for his gracious Deed.
36. Though we are vile, He without shame
Before the Angels all,
Lays out his strength, his worth, and Name,
For us who are in thrall.
37. This is He who was mocked and beat,
Spit on, and crowned with Thorns;
Who for us had a bloody Sweat,
Whose Heart was broke with scorns.
38. 'It is he who stands so much our friend,
As shortly we shall see,
With open face, World without end,
And in his Presence be.
39. That Head that once was Crown'd with Thorns,
Shall now with Glory shine,
That heart that broken was with Scorns,
Shall flow with Life Divine.
40. That man that here met with disgrace,
We there shall see so bright,
That Angels cannot behold his Face
For its exceeding light.
41. What gladness will possess our heart,
When we shall see these things;
What Light, and Life in every part,
Will rise like lasting springs.
42. O blessed Face, and holy Grace,
When shall we see this day,
Lord fetch us to this goodly place
We humbly do thee pray.
43. Next to this Lamb we shall behold
All Saints both more and less,
With whited Robes in Glory roll'd,
'Cause Him they did confess.
44. Each walking in his Righteousness
With shining Crowns of Gold,
Triumphing still in heavenly bliss,
Amazing to behold.
45. Each Person for his Majesty
Doth represent a King;
Yea, Angel-like for Dignity,
And Seraphims that sing.
46. Each motion of their mind, and so
Each twinkling of their eye;
Each word they speak, and step they go,
It is in purity.
47. Immortal are they everyone,
Wrapt up in health and light,
Mortality from them is gone,
Weakness is turned to might.
48. The Stars are not so clear as they,
They equalize the Sun;
Their glory shines to perfect day,
Which day will never be done.
49. No sorrow can them now annoy,
Nor weakness, grief or pain,
No faintness can abate their joy,
They now in Life do Reign.
50. They shall not there, as here, be vext
With Satan, Men, or Sin,
Nor with their wicked hearts perplexed,
The heavens hath cop'd them in.
51. Thus as they shine in their estate,
So too in their degree;
Which is most goodly to relate,
And ravishing to see.
52. The Majesty whom they adore,
Doth them in Wisdom place
Upon the Thrones, and that before
The Angels, to their grace.
53. The Saints of the
Old Testament,
Full right to their degree:
Likewise the
New,
in excellent
Magnificency be.
54. Each one his badge of Glory wears,
According to his place,
According as was his affairs
Here, in the time of Grace.
55. Some on the right hand of the Lamb,
Likewise some on the left,
With robes and golden chains do stand
Most grave, most sage, and deft.
56. The Martyr here is known from him
Who peaceably did die,
Both by the place he sitteth in,
And by his Dignity.
57. Each Father, Saint, and Prophet shall,
According to his worth,
Enjoy the honor of his Call,
And plainly hold it forth.
58. Those bodies which sometimes were torn,
And bones that broken were,
For God's Word, he doth now adorn
With health and glory fair.
59. Thus when in heavenly harmony,
These blessed Saints appear,
Adorn'd with grace and Majesty,
What gladness will be there.
60. The light, and grace, and countenance,
The least of these shall have,
Will so with terror them advance,
And make their face so grave,
61. That at them all the world will shake,
When they lift up their head;
Princes and Kings will at them quake,
And fall before them dead.
62. This shall we see, thus shall we be,
O would the day were come,
Lord Jesus take us up to thee,
To this desired home.
63. Angels also, we shall behold,
When we on high ascend,
Each shining like to men of gold,
And on the Lord attend.
64. These goodly creatures, full of grace
Shall stand about the Throne,
Each one with
Lightning in his face,
And shall to us be known.
65▪ These Cherubims with one accord,
Shall cry continually,
Ah, holy, holy, holy Lord,
And heavenly Majesty.
66. These will us in their arms embrace,
And welcome us to rest,
And joy to see us clad with grace,
And of the Heavens possessed.
67. This we shall hear, this we shall see,
While raptures take us up,
When we with blessed Jesus be,
And at his Table sup.
68. Oh shining Angels! What must we
With you lift up our Voice?
We must, and with you ever be,
And with you must rejoice.
69. Our Friends that lived godly here,
Shall there be found again,
The Wife, the Child, and Father dear,
With others of our Train.
70. Each one down to the foot in white,
Fill'd to the brim with grace;
Walking among the Saints in light,
With glad and joyful face.
71. Those God did use, us to convert,
We there with Joy shall meet,
And jointly shall with all our Heart,
In Life each other greet.
72. A Crown to them we then shall be,
A Glory and a Joy:
And that before the Lord, when he
The World comes to destroy.
73. This is the place, this is the State
Of all that fear the Lord;
Which men nor Angels may relate
With tongue, or pen, or word.
74. No night is here for to eclipse
Its spangling rays so bright,
Nor doubt, nor fear to shut the lips
Of those within this light.
75. The strings of Music here are tuned,
For heavenly Harmony,
And every Spirit here perfumed
With perfect Sanctity.
76. Here runs the Crystal streams of Life,
Quite thorough all our veins,
And here by love we do unite
With Glory's golden Chains.
77. Now that which sweeteneth all will be
The lasting of this state;
This heightens all we here or see
To a transcendent rate.
78. For should the Saints enjoy all this,
But for a certain time,
Oh, how would they their mark then miss,
And at this thing repine.
79. Yea, 'tis not possible that they,
Who then shall dwell on high,
Should be content unless they may
Dwell there eternally.
80. A thought of parting with this place,
Would bitter all their sweet,
And darkness put upon the Face
Of all they there do meet.
80. But far from this, the Saints shall be,
Their portion is the Lord,
Whose face forever they shall see,
As saith the holy Word.
81. And that with everlasting peace,
Joy, and felicity;
From this time forth, they shall increase
Unto Eternity.
Of Hell, and the Estate of those that perish.
1. THus having showed you what I see
Of Heaven, I now will tell
You also, after search, what be
The damned wights of Hell.
2. And oh that they who read my lines,
Would ponder soberly,
And lay to heart such things betimes,
As touch Eternity.
3. The sleepy sinner little thinks
What sorrows will abound
Within him, when upon the brinks
Of
Tophet
he is found.
4. Hell is beyond all thought a state
So doubtful and forlorn;
So fearful, that none can relate
The pangs that there are born.
5. God will exclude them utterly
From his most blessed Face,
And them involve in misery,
In shame, and in disgrace.
6. God is the Fountain of all bliss,
Of Life, of Light, and peace;
They then must needs be comfortless,
Who are deprived of these.
7. Instead of Life,
a living death
Will there in all be found,
Dyings will be in every breath,
Thus sorrow will abound.
8. No light, but darkness here doth dwell,
No peace, but horror strange:
The fearful damning wights of Hell
In all, will make this change.
9. To many things the damned's woe
Is likened in the Word,
And that because no one can show
The vengeance of the Lord.
10. Unto a dreadful burning Lake,
All on a fiery flame,
Hell is compared, for to make
All understand the same.
11. A burning Lake, a Furnace hot,
A burning Oven too
Must be the portion, share, and lot
Of those which evil sow.
12. This plainly shows the burning heat
With which it will oppress
All hearts, and will like burnings eat
Their Souls with sore distress.
13. This burning Lake it is God's wrath
Incensed by the sin
Of those who do reject his path,
And wicked ways walk in.
14. Which wrath will so perplex all parts
Of Body and of Soul,
As if up to the very hearts
In burnings they did roll.
15. Again, to show the stinking state
Of this so sad a Case,
Like burning Brimstone God doth make
The hidings of his Face.
16. And truly as the steam and smoke,
And flames of Brimstone smell,
To blind the Eyes, and Stomach choke,
So are the pangs of Hell.
17. To see a Sea of Brimstone burn,
Who would it not afright?
But they whom God to Hell doth turn
Are in most woeful plight.
18. This burning cannot quenched be,
No, not with tears of blood,
No mournful groans in misery
Will here do any good.
19. O damned Men! this is your fate,
The day of Grace is done,
Repentance now doth come too late,
Mercy is fled and gone.
20. Your groans and cries they sooner should
Have sounded in mine ears,
If Grace you would have had, or would
Have me regard your tears.
21. Me you offended with your sin,
Instructions you did slight,
Your sins against my Law hath been,
Justice shall have his right.
22. I gave my Son to do you good,
I gave you space and time
With him to close, which you withstood,
And did with Hell combine.
23. Justice against you now is set,
Which you cannot appease;
Eternal Justice doth you let
From either life or ease.
24. Thus he that to this place doth come,
May groan, and sigh, and weep;
But sin hath made that place his home,
And there it will him keep.
25. Wherefore Hell in another place.
Is called a Prison too,
And all to show the evil case,
Of all sin doth undo.
26. Which Prison with its locks and bars,
Of God's lasting decree,
Will hold them fast; O how this mars
All thought of being free.
27. Out at these brazen bars they may
The Saints in glory see;
But this will not their grief allay,
But to them torment be.
28. Thus they in this infernal Cave,
Will now be holden fast
From heavenly freedom, though they crave,
Of it they may not taste.
29. The Chains that darkness on them hangs,
Still rattling in their Ears,
Creates within them heavy pangs,
And still augments their fears.
30. Thus hopeless of all remedy,
They dyingly do sink
Into the Jaws of misery,
And Seas of sorrows drink.
31. For being cop'd on every side
With helplesness and grief,
Head-long into despair they slide
Berest of all relief.
32. Therefore this
Hell
is called a Pit,
Prepar'd for those that die
The second Death, a term most fit
To show their misery.
33. A Pit that's bottomless is this,
A Gulf of grief and woe;
A Dungeon which they cannot miss,
That will themselves undo.
34. Thus without stay they always sink,
Thus fainting still they fail,
Despair they up like water drink,
These Prisoners have no bail.
35. Here meets them now that worm that gnaws,
And plucks their bowels out,
The Pit too on them shuts her jaws;
This dreadful is no doubt.
36. This gastly worm is guilt for sin,
Which on the Conscience feeds,
With Vipers Teeth both sharp and keen,
Whereat it sorely bleeds.
37. This worm is fed by memory,
Which strictly brings to mind
All things done in prosperity,
As we in Scripture find.
38. No word, nor thought, nor act they did,
But now is set in sight,
Not one of them can now be hid,
Memory gives them light.
39. On which the understanding still
Will judge and sentence pass,
This kills the mind, and wounds the will,
Alas, alas, alas.
40. Oh, Conscience is the slaughter-shop,
There hangs the Axe and Knife,
'It is there the worm makes all things hot,
And wearies out the life.
41. Here then is execution done
On Body and on Soul,
For Conscience will be bribed of none,
But gives to all their doul.
42. This worm, 'tis said, shall never die,
But in the belly be
Of all that in the flames shall lie,
O dreadful sight to see.
43. This worm now needs must in them live,
For sin will still be there,
And guilt, for God will not forgive,
Nor Christ their burden bear.
44. But take from them all help and stay,
And leave them to despair,
Which seeds upon them night and day,
This is the damned's share.
45. Now will confusion so possess
These Monuments of Ire,
And so confound them with distress,
And trouble their desire,
46. That what to think, or what to do,
Or where to lay their head,
They know not; 'tis the damned's woe
To live, and yet be dead.
47. These cast-aways would fain have life,
But know they never shall,
They would forget their dreadful plight,
But that sticks fast'st of all.
48. God, Christ, & Heaven, they know are best,
Yet dare not on them think;
The Saints they know in joys do rest,
While they their tears do drink.
49. They cry alas, but all in vain,
They stick fast in the mire,
They would be rid of present pain,
Yet set themselves on fire.
50. Darkness is their perplexity,
Yet do they hate the light,
They always see their misery,
Yet are themselves all night.
51. They are all dead, yet live they do,
Yet neither live nor die,
They die to weal, and live to woe,
This is their misery.
52. Amidst all this so great a scare,
That here I do relate,
Another falleth to their share
In this their sad estate.
53. The Legions of infernal Fiends
Then with them needs must be,
A just reward for all their pains,
This they shall feel and see.
54. With yellings, howlings, shrikes, and cries,
And other doleful noise,
With trembling hearts, and failing eyes,
These are their hellish joys.
55. These Angels black they would obey,
And serve with greedy mind,
And take delight to go astray,
That pleasure they might find,
56. Which pleasure now like poison turns
Their joy to heaviness,
Yea, like the gall of Asps it burns,
And doth them sore oppress.
57. Now is the joy they lived in
All turned to brinish tears,
And resolute attempts to sin,
Turn'd into hellish fears.
58. The floods run trickling down their face,
Their hearts do prick and ache,
While they lament their woeful case,
Their loins totter and shake.
59. O wetted cheeks, with-bleared eyes,
How fully do you show!
The pangs that in their bosom lies,
And grief they undergo!
60. Their dolor in their bitterness,
So greatly they bemoan,
That Hell itself, this to express,
Doth echo with their groan.
61. Thus broiling on the burning grates,
They now to wailing go,
And say of those unhappy fates
That did them thus undo,
62. Alas! my grief, hard hap had I
Those dolors here to find,
A living Death, in Hell I lie,
Involv'd with grief of mind.
63. I once was fair for light and grace,
My days were long and good;
I lived in a blessed place
Where was most heavenly food.
64. But wretch I am, I slighted life,
I chose in death to live;
Oh, for these days now if I might,
Ten thousand Worlds would give.
65. What time had I to pray and read!
What time to hear the Word!
What means to help me at my need,
Did God to me afford!
66. Examples too of Piety
I every day did see,
But they abuse and slight did I,
Oh, woe be unto me.
67. I now remember how my Friend
Reproved me of Vice,
And bid me mind my latter end,
Both once, and twice, and thrice.
68. But oh, deluded man, I did
My back upon him turn;
Eternal life I did not heed,
For which I now do mourn.
69. Ah, golden time, I did thee spend
In Sin and Idleness,
Ah, health and wealth I did you lend
To bring me to distress.
70. My Feet to evil I let run,
And Tongue of folly talk;
My Eyes to vanity hath gone,
Thus did I vainly walk.
71. I did as greatly toil, and strain
My self with Sin to please,
As if that everlasting gain
Could have been found in these.
72. But nothing, nothing, have I found,
But weeping and alas;
And sorrow which doth now surround
Me, and augment my Cross.
73. Ah bleeding Conscience, how did I
Thee check, when thou didst tell
Me of my faults, for which I lie
Dead, while I live in Hell.
74. I took thee for some peevish foe,
When thou didst me accuse,
Therefore I did thee buffet so,
And counsel did refuse.
75. Thou often didst me tidings bring,
How God did me dislike,
Because I took delight in Sin,
But I thy News did slight.
76. Ah
Mind,
why didst thou do those things
That now do work my woe!
Ah,
Will,
why wast thou thus inclined
Me ever to undo!
77. My
Senses,
how were you beguile'd!
When you said sin was good!
It hath in all parts me defiled,
And drowned me like a flood.
78. Ah, that I now a being have
In sorrow and in pain;
Mother,
would you had been my grave,
But this I wish in vain.
79. Had I been made a Cockatrice,
A Toad, or such like thing;
Yea, had I been made Snow or Ice,
Then had I had no sin.
80. A Block, a Stock, a Stone, or Clot,
Is happier than I;
For they know neither cold nor hot
To live nor yet to die.
81. I envy now the happiness
Of those that are in light,
I hate the very name of bliss,
'Cause I have there no right.
82. I grieve to see that others are
In glory, life, and well
Without all fear, or dread, or care,
While I am wracked in Hell.
83. Thus-will these Souls with watery eyes,
And hacking of their Teeth,
With wringing hands, and fearful cries,
Expostulate their grief.
84. O set their teeth they will, and gnash,
And gnaw for very pain,
While as with Scorpions God doth lash
Them for their Life so vain.
85. Again, still as they in this muse,
Are feeding on the fire,
To mind there comes yet other news,
To screw their Torments higher.
86. Which is the length of this estate,
Where they at present lie,
Which in a word I thus relate,
'It is to Eternity.
87.
This thought
now is so firmly fixed,
In all that comes to mind,
And also is so strongly mixed
With wrath of every kind.
88. So that whatever they do know,
Or see, or think, or feel,
For ever
still doth strike them throw,
As with a bar of steel.
89. For ever shineth in the fire,
Ever is on the chains;
'It is also in the pit of Ire,
And tastes in all their pains.
90. For ever separate from God,
From Peace, and Life, and Rest;
For ever underneath the Rod
That Vengeance liketh best.
91. O, ever, ever, this will drowned
Them quite, and make them cry,
We never shall get over thy bound,
Oh great Eternity!
92. They sooner now the Stars may count,
Than loose these dismal bands;
Or see to what the moats amount,
Or number up the sands,
93. Than see an end of this their woe,
Which now for sin they have;
O wantons take heed what ye do,
Sin will you never save.
94. They sooner may drink up the Sea,
Than shake off these their fears;
Or make another in one day
As big with brinish tears,
95. Than put an end to misery,
In which they now do roar,
Or help themselves; no, they must cry,
Alas, for evermore.
96. When years by thousands on a heap,
Are passed over their head;
Yet still the fruits of sin they reap,
Among the ghostly dead.
97. Yea, when they have time out of mind
Been in this Case so ill,
For ever, ever, is behind
Yet for them to fulfill.
FINIS.
Ebal and Gerizim ; OR, The BLESSING and the CURSE: Being a short Exhortation to Sinners, by the Mercy and Severity of God.
From Mount Gerizim.
BEsides what I said of the Four last Things,
And of the weal and woe that from them springs;
An After-word still runneth in my Mind,
Which I shall here expose unto that wind,
That may it blow into that very hand
That needs it. Also that it may be scan'd
With greatest soberness, shall be my Prayer,
As well as diligence, and godly care;
So to present it unto public view,
That only truth and peace may thence ensue.
My talk shall be of that amazing love
Of God, we read of; which that it may prove
By its engaging Arguments to save
Thee, I shall lay out that poor help I have,
Thee to entice; that thou wouldst dearly fall
In love with thy Salvation, and with all
That doth thereto concur, that thou mayest be
As blessed as the Blessed can make thee,
Not only here, but in the World to come,
In bliss, which I pray God may be thy home.
But first I would advise thee to bethink
Thy self, how sin hath laid thee at the brink
Of Hell, where thou art lulled fast asleep
In Satan's arms, who also will thee keep
As senseless and secure, as e're he may,
Left thou shouldest wake, and seeit, and run away
Unto that Jesus whom the Father sent
Into the World, for this cause and intent,
That such as thou from such a thrall as this
Might'st be released, and made heir of bliss.
N
••
that thou mayst awake, the danger fly,
And so escape the death that others die;
Come let me set my Trumpet to thine ear,
Be willing all my message for to hear:
'It is for thy life, O do it not refuse;
Woe unto them good counsel do abuse!
Thou art at present in that very case,
Which argues thou art destitute of grace:
For he that lies where sin hath laid him, lies
Under the curse, graceless, and so he dies
In Body and in Soul, within that range,
If God his heart in mercy doth not change,
Before he goes the way of all the Earth,
Before he lose his Spirit and his Breath,
Repentance there is none within the Grave,
Nor Christ, nor Grace, nor Mercies for to save
Thee from the Vengeance due unto thy sin,
If now thou dost not truly close with him.
Thou art like him that sleepeth in the Sea
On broken Boards, which without guide or stay
Are driven whither Winds and Water will,
While greedy Beasts do wait to have their fill
By feeding on his Carkass, when he shall
Turn over-board, and without Mercy fall
Into the Jaws of such as make a prey
Of those, whom Justice drowneth in the Sea.
Thou art like him that snoring still doth lie
Upon the Bed of vain security,
Whilst all about him into burning flame
By fire is turned, yea, and while the frame
And building where he lies consuming is,
And while himself these burnings cannot miss.
Thou art like one that hangeth by a thread
Over the mouth of Hell, as one half dead;
And oh, how soon this thread may broken be!
Or cut by death, is yet unknown to thee!
But sure it is, if all the weight of sin,
And all that Satan too hath doing been,
Or yet can do, can break this crazy thread,
'Twill not be long before among the dead
Thou tumble do, as linked fast in chains
With them to wait in fear for future pains.
What shall I say? wilt thou not yet awake?
Nor yet of thy poor Soul some pity take?
Among the Lions it hood-winked lies;
Oh! that the Lord would open once thine Eyes,
That thou mightest see it, then I dare say, thou,
As half berest of Wits, wouldst cry out, how
Shall I escape? Lord help! Oh! help with speed!
Reach down thy hand from Heaven, for help I need,
To save me from the Lions, for I fear
This Soul of mine they will in pieces tear.
Come then, and let us both expostulate
The Case betwixt us, till we animate
And kindle in our Hearts, that burning love
To Christ, to Grace, to Life, that we may move
Swifter than Eagles, to this blessed prey,
Then shall it be well with us in that day.
The trump shall sound, the dead made rise, and stand,
Then to receive, for breach of God's Command,
Such thunder-claps as these, Depart from me
Into Hell fire, you that the Wicked be,
Prepared for the Devil, and for those
That with him, and his Angels, rather chose
To live in filthy sin, and wickedness,
Whose fruit is everlasting bitterness.
We both are yet on this side of the Grave,
We also Gospel-privileges have,
The Word, and time to pray, God give us Hearts,
That like the Wiseman, we may act our parts,
To get the Pearl of price, then we shall be
Like godly
Mary, Peter, Paul,
and we
Like
Jacob
too; the blessing shall obtain,
While
Esau
rides a Hunting for the gain
Of worldly Pelf, which will him not avail,
When Death, or Judgment, shall him fore assail.
Now to encourage us for to begin,
Let us believe, the Kingdom we may win,
And be possessed thereof, if we the way
Shall hit into, and then let nothing stay
Or hinder us; the Crown is at the end,
Let's run, and strive, and fly, and let's contend
With greatest courage, it for to obtain,
'It is Life and Peace, and everlasting gain.
The gate of Life, the new and living way,
The Promise holdeth open all the day,
Which thou by
Jacob
's Ladder must ascend,
Where Angels always wait, and do attend
As Ministers, to minister for those
That do with God, and Christ, and glory close.
If guilt of sin still lieth at our door,
Us to discourage, let us set before
Our Eyes, a bleeding Jesus, who did die
The Death, and let's believe the reason why
He did it, was, that we might ever be
From death, and sin, from hell, and wrath, set free.
Yea, let's remember for that very end,
It was his blessed Father did him send,
That he the Law of God might here fulfill,
That so the Mystery of his blessed Will
Might be revealed in the blessedness
Of those that fly to Christ for righteousness.
Now let us argue with ourselves then, thus
That Jesus Christ our Lord came to save us,
By bearing of our sins upon his back,
By hanging on the Cross, as on a Rack,
While Justice cut him off on every side,
While smiles Divine, themselves from him did
While earth did quake, and rocks in pieces rent,
And while the Sun as veiled, did lament
To see the innocent and harmless die
So sore a death, so full of misery.
Yea, let us turn again and say all this
He did and suffered for love of his.
He brought in everlasting Righteousness,
That he might cover all our nakedness:
He wept and washed his Face with brinish tears,
That we might saved be from hellish fears:
Blood was his sweat too in his agony,
That we might live in joyful ecstacy:
He apprehended was and led away,
That Grace to us-ward never might decay:
With swords and bills, and outrage in the night,
That to the peace of Heaven we might have right:
Condemn'd he was between two Thieves to die,
That we might ever in his bosom lie:
Scourged with whips his precious body were,
That we lashes of Conscience might not fear:
His head was crowned with thorns, that we might be
Crowned with glory and felicity.
He hanged was upon a cursed Tree,
That we delivered from death might be:
His Father from him hides his smiles and face,
That we might have them in the heavenly place:
He cried,
My God, why hast forsaken me,
That we forsaken of him might not be:
Into his Side was thrust a bloody Spear,
That we the sting of death might never fear:
He went into the Grave after all this,
That we might up to Heaven go, and have bliss:
Yea, rise again he did out of the Earth,
And shook off from him all the chains of death.
Then at his Chariot-wheels he captive led
His Foes, and trod upon the Serpents Head;
Riding in triumph to his Fathers Throne,
There to possess the Kingdom as his own.
What sayst thou? willit not yet unto him come?
His Arms are open, in his Heart is room
To lay thee; be not then discouraged,
Although thy sins be many, great, and red:
Unto thee Righteousness he will impute,
And with the kisses of his Mouth salute
Thy drooping Soul, and will it so uphold,
As that thy shaking Conscience shall be bold
To come to Mercys Seat, with great access,
There to expostulate with that Justice
That burns like fiery flames, against all those
That do not with this blessed Jesus close;
Which unto thee will do no harm, but good,
Because thou hast reliance on that blood,
That Justice saith hath given him content,
For all that do unfeignedly repent
Their ill spent Life, and roll upon free grace,
That they within that bosom might have place,
That open is to such, where they shall lie
In ease, and gladness, and felicity,
World without end, according to that state
I have, nay better than I can relate.
If thou shalt still object, thou yet art vile,
And hast a Heart that will not reconcile
Unto the holy Law, but will rebel,
Hark yet to what I shall thee farther tell.
Two things are yet behind, that help thee will,
If God shall put into thy Mind that skill,
So to improve them, as becometh those
That would with mercy and forgiveness close.
First then, let this sink down into thy Heart,
That Christ is not a Savior in part,
But every way so fully he is made
The All of those, that underneath his shade,
And wing would sit, and shroud their weary Soul,
That even
Moses
dare it not control,
But justifiit, approve of 't, and conclude,
No Man nor Angel, must himself intrude
With such Doctrine, that may oppose the same,
On pain of blaspheming that holy Name,
Which God himself hath given unto Men,
To stay, to trust, to lean themselves on, when
They feel themselves assaulted, and made fear
Their sin will not let them in life appear.
For, as God made him perfect Righteousness,
That he his love might to the height express,
And us present complete before the Throne;
Sanctification too, of his own
He hath prepared, in which do we stand
Compleat in Holiness, at his right Hand.
Now this Sanctification is not
That Holiness which is in us, but that
Which in the Person of this Jesus is,
And can inherently be only his,
But is imputed to us for our good,
As is his active Righteousness and Blood,
Which is the cause, though we infirm are found,
That Mercy and Forgiveness doth abound
To us ward, and that why we are not shent,
And empty, and away rebuked sent,
Because that all we do imperfect is.
Bless God then for this Holiness of his,
And learn to look by Faith on that alone,
When thou seest thou hast nothing of thine own;
Yea, when thy Heart most willing is to do
What God by his good Word doth call thee to;
And when thou find'st most Holiness within,
And greatest power over every sin,
Yet then to Jesus look, and thou shalt see
In him Sanctification for thee,
Far more complete, than all that thou canst find
In the most upright Heart, and willing Mind,
That ever Men or Angels did possess,
When most filled with inherent Righteousness.
Besides, if thou forgettest here to live,
And Satan get thee once into his sieve,
He will so hide thy Wheat, and show thy Brun,
That thou wilt quickly cry, I am undone.
Alas, thy goodliest attainments here,
Though like the fairest blossoms they appear,
How quickly will they lowr and decay,
And be as if they all were fled away,
When once the East-wind of temptations beat
Upon thee, with their dry and blasting heat.
Rich Men will not account their treasure lies
In cracked Groats, and in Four-pence-half-pennys,
But in those Bags they have within their Chests,
In staple Goods, which shall within their breasts
Have place accordingly, because they see
Their substance lieth here: But if that be
But shaken, then they quickly fear and cry,
Alas! 'tis not this small and odd money
We carry in our Pockets for to spend
Will make us rich, or much will stand our friend;
If famine, or if want do us assail,
How quickly will these little pieces fail!
If thou be wise consider what I say,
And look for all in Christ, where no decay
Is like to be; then though thy present frame
Be much in up and down, yet he the same
Abideth, yea, and still at God's right hand,
As thy most perfect holiness will stand.
It is, I say, not like to that in thee,
Now high, then low, now out, then in, but he
Most perfect is, when thou art at the worst,
The same, the very same, I said at first.
This helpeth much when thou art buffeted,
And when thy graces lie in thee as dead,
Then to believe they are all perfect still
In Christ thy head, who hath that blessed skill,
Yet to present thee by what is in him
Unto his Father, one that hath no sin.
Yea, this will fill thy mouth with Argument
Against the Tempter, when he shall present
Before thee all thy weakness, and shall hide
From thee thy Graces, that thou mayest abide
Under the fretting fumes of unbelief,
Which never yielded Christian man relief.
Nor help thyself thou mayest against him thus:
O Satan, though my heart indeed be worse
Than 'twas a wile ago, Yet I perceive,
Thou shalt me not of happiness bereave;
Nor yet of holiness, for by the Word
I find, that Jesus Christ our blessed Lord,
Is made Sanctification for me
In his own Person, where all Graces be,
As water in the Fountain, and that I
By means of that have yet a sanctity,
Both personal, and perfect every way,
And that is Christ himself, as
Paul
doth say.
Now though my crazy Pitcher oft doth leak,
By means of which my Graces are so weak,
And so much spent, that one I cannot find
Able to stay or help my feeble mind.
Yet then I look to Jesus, and see all
In him, that wanting is in me, and shall
Again take courage, and believe he will
Present me upright in his Person, till
He humble me for all my foolishness,
And then again fill me with holiness.
Now if thou lovest inward sanctity,
As all the Saints do most unfeignedly,
Then add to what I have already said,
Faith in the Promise, and be not afraid
To urge it often at the Throne of Grace,
And to expect it in its time and place:
Then he that true is, and that cannot lie,
Will give it unto thee, that thou thereby
May'st serve with faith, with fear, in truth, & love,
That God that did at first thy Spirit move
To ask it to his praise, that he might be
Thy God, and that he might delight in thee.
If I should here particulars relate,
Methinks, it could not but much animate
Thy Heart, though very listless to inquire,
How thou mayest that enjoy, which all desire,
That love themselves, and future Happiness;
But Oh! I cannot fully it express:
The Promise is so open, and so free
In all respects, to those that humble be,
That want they cannot, what for them is good,
But there 'tis, and confirmed is with Blood;
A certain sign, all those enjoy it may,
That see they want it, and sincerely pray
To God the Father, in that Jesus Name,
Who bled on purpose to confirm the same.
Now wouldest thou have a Heart that tender is?
A Heart that forward is to close with bliss,
A Heart that will impressions freely take
Of the New Covenant, and that will make
The best improvement of the Word of Grace,
And that to Wickedness will not give place,
All this is in the Promise, and it may
Obtained be of them that humbly pray.
Would'st thou enjoy that Spirit that is free?
And looseth those that in their Spirits be
Opprest with guilt, or filth, or unbelief,
That Spirit that will where it dwells be chief,
Which breaketh
Sampson
's Cord, as rotten thread
And raiseth up the Spirit that is dead,
That sets the Will at liberty to choose
Those things, that God hath promised to infuse
Into the humble Heart. All this I say,
The Promise holdeth out to them that pray.
Wouldest thou have that good, that blessed Mind,
That is so much to heavenly things inclined,
That it aloft will soar, and always be
Contemplating on blest Eternity.
That Mind that never thinks itself at rest,
But when it knows it is forever blest.
That Mind that can be here no more content,
Than he that in the Prison doth lament.
That blessed Mind that counts itself then free,
When it can at the Throne with Jesus be,
There to behold the Mansions he prepares
For such as be with him, and his co-heirs.
This Mind is in the Covenant of Grace,
And shall be theirs that truly seek his face.
Is godly fear delightful unto thee?
That fear that God himself delights to see
Bear sway in them that love him; then he will
Thy godly Mind in this request fulfill,
By giving thee a fear that tremble shall
At every trip thou takest, lest thou fall,
And him offend, or hurt thyself by sin,
Or cause poor Souls that always blind have been,
To stumble at thy falls, and harder be
Against their own Salvation, and thee.
That fear, that of itself would rather choose
The rod, than to offend, or to abuse
In anything, that blessed worthy Name,
That hath thee saved from that death and shame
That sin would soon have brought thee to, if he
Had not imputed Righteousness to thee.
I will love them,
saith God,
and not depart
From them, but put my fear within their heart,
That I to them may always lovely be,
And that they never may depart from me.
Would'st thou be very upright and sincere?
Would'st thou be that within thou dost appear,
Or seem to be in outward exercise
Before the most devout and godly wise?
Yea, art thou thus when no Eye doth thee see,
But that which is invisible? and be
The words of God in truth thy prop and stay?
And do they in their Conscience bear more sway,
To govern thee in Faith and Holiness,
Than thou canst with thy heart & mouth express?
And do the things that truly are Divine?
Before thee more than Gold or Rubies shine?
And if as unto
Solomon,
God should
Propound to thee,
What wouldest thou have?
how would
Thy heart and pulse beat after heavenly things,
After the upper and the nether springs.
Could'st with unfeigned heart, and upright lip,
Cry, hold me fast, Lord, never let me slip?
Nor step aside from Faith and Holiness,
Nor from the blessed hope of future bliss?
Lord, rather cross me anywhere than here,
Lord, fill me always with thy holy fear,
And godly jealousy, of mine own heart,
Lest I, Lord, should at any time depart
From thy most blessed Covenant of Grace,
Where Jesus rules as King, and where thy face
Is only to be seen with comfort, and
Where sinners justified before thee stand.
If these thy groanings be sincere and true,
If God doth count thee one that dost pursue
The things thou criest after, with thy heart,
No doubt but in them thou shalt have a part.
The next word that I would unto thee say,
Is how thou mayest attain without delay,
Those blessed Graces, and that Holiness
Thou dost with so much godly zeal express
Thy love to, and thy longing to enjoy,
That sins and weakness might thee less annoy.
Know then, as I have hinted heretofore,
And shall now speak unto a little more;
All graces in the person of the Son,
Are by the Father hid, and therefore none
Can them obtain, but they who with him close;
All others graceless are, but only those,
For of his fullness 'tis that we receive,
And grace for grace; let no man then deceive
Himself, or others, with a feigned show
Of Holiness, if Jesus they eschew.
When he ascended to his Father, then
It was that he received Gifts for men;
Faith, hope, and love, true zeal, an upright heart,
Right humbleness of mind, and every part
Of what the word of Life counts holiness,
God then laid up in him, that we redress
And help might have, who do unto him fly
For righteousness, and Gospel-sanctity.
Now if thou wouldest inherent righteousness,
And so Sanctification possess,
In Body, Soul, and Spirit, then thou must
To Jesus fly, as one ungodly, first;
And so by him crave pardon for thy sin
Which thou hast loved, and hast lived in;
For this cannot at all forgiven be,
For any righteousness that is in thee,
Because the best thou hast is filthy rags,
Profane, presumptuous, and most beastly brags
Of Flesh and Blood, which always cross doth lie
To God, to Grace, and thy Felicity.
Then Righteousness imputed thou must have,
Thee from that guilt and punishment to save
Thou liest under, as a sinful man,
Throughout polluted, and that never can
By any other means acquitted be,
Or ever have true holiness in thee.
The reason is, because all Graces are
Only in Christ, and be infused where,
Or into those whom he doth justify,
By what himself hath done, that he thereby
Might be the whole, of all that happiness
The Sinner shall enjoy here, and in Bliss.
Besides, if Holiness should first be found
In those whom God doth pardon, then the ground
Why we forgiven are, would seem to be,
He first found Holiness in thee and me;
But this the Holy Scriptures will refute,
And prove, that Righteousness he doth impute,
Without respect to goodness first in man;
For to speak Truth indeed no goodness can
Be found in those, that underneath the Law
Do stand: For if God Goodness in them saw,
Why doth he once and twice say,
Thers is none
That Righteous be, no not so much as one,
None understandeth, none seek after God,
His ways they have not known, but have abode
In Wickedness, unprofitable they
Must needs appear to be then, every way.
Their Throats an open Sepulcher, also
Their Mouths are full of filthy Cursings too,
And bitterness, yea, underneath their Lips
The Asp hath Poison.
O how many slips,
And falls in Sin, must such poor People have!
Now where's the Holiness that should them save?
Or as a preparation go before,
To move God to do for them, less or more.
No, Grace must on thee Righteousness bestow,
Or else Sin will forever thee undo.
Sweet
Paul
this Doctrine also doth express,
Where he saith,
Some may have a Righteousness,
Though Works they have not, and it thus may stand,
Grace by the promise gives, what the command
Requireth us to do, and so are we
Quitted from doing, and by Grace made free.
Now then if Holiness thou wouldest obtain,
And wouldest a tender Christian-man remain,
Keep Faith in action; let that Righteousness
That Christ fulfilled, always have express
And clear distinction in thy Heart, from all
That Men by Scripture, or besides it, call
Inherent Gospel-holiness, or what
Terms else they please to give it; for 'tis that,
And that alone, by which all Graces come
Into the Heart; for else there is no room
For ought but pride, presumption, or despair,
No love or other Graces can be there.
Received you the Spirit,
saith St.
Paul,
By hearing Faith, or Works? not Works, and shall
No ways retain the same, except you do
Hear Faith, embrace the same, and stick thereto.
The word of Faith unto me pardon brings,
Shows me the ground and reason whence it springs,
To wit, free grace, which moved God to give
His Son to die, and bleed, that I might live.
This word doth also loudly preach to me,
Though I a miserable sinner be,
Yet in this Son of God I stand complete,
Whose righteousness is without all deceit;
'It is that which God himself delighteth in,
And that by which all his have saved been.
When I do this begin to apprehend,
My Heart, my Soul, and Mind, begins to bend
To Godward, and sincerely for to love
His Son, his Ways, his People, and to move
With brokenness of Spirit after him
Who broken was, and killed for my sin.
Now is mine heart grown holy, now it cleaves
To Jesus Christ my Lord, and now it leaves
Those ways that wicked be, it mourns, because
It can conform no more unto the Laws
Of God, who loved me when I was vile,
And of sweet Jesus, who did reconcile
Me unto Justice, by his precious blood,
When no way else was left to do me good.
If you would know, how this can operate
Thus on the Soul; I shall to you relate
A little farther, what my Soul hath seen,
Since I have with the Lord acquainted been.
The word of Grace when it doth rightly seize
The Spirit of a man, and so at ease
Doth set the Soul, the Spirit of the Lord
Doth then with might accompany the Word,
In which it sets forth Christ as crucified,
And by that means the Father pacifi'd
With such a wretch as thou, and by this fight,
Thy guilt is in the first place put to flight.
For thus the Spirit doth expostulate;
Behold how God doth now communicate
(By changing of the person) grace to thee
A sinner, but to Christ great misery,
Though he the just one was, and so could not
Deserve this punishment: behold then what
The love of God is! how 'tis manifest,
And where the reason lies that thou art blest.
This Doctrine being spoken to the heart,
Which also is made yield to every part
Thereof, it doth the same with sweetness fill,
And so doth sins and wickednesses kill;
For when the love of God is thus revealed,
And thy poor drooping Spirit thereby sealed,
And when thy heart as dry ground, drinks this in
Unto the roots thereof, which nourish sin,
It smites them, as the worm did
Jonah
's Gourd,
And makes them dwindle of their own accord,
And die away, instead of which there springs
Up Life, and Love, and other holy things.
Besides, the holy Spirit now is come,
And takes possession of thee as its home;
By which a war maintained always is,
Against the old man, and the deeds of his.
When God at first upon Mount
Sinai
spake,
He made his very servant
Moses
quake;
But when he heard the Law the second time,
His heart was comforted, his face did shine.
What was the reason of this difference,
Seeing no change was in the ordinance?
Although a change was in the manner, when
The second time he gave it unto Men.
At first 'twas given in Severity,
In Thunder, Blackness, Darkness, Tempest high;
In fiery Flames it was delivered,
This struck both
Moses
and the Host as dead;
But
Moses
when he went into the Mount
The second Time, upon the same account,
No fear, nor dread, nor shaking of his Mind,
Do we in all the Holy Scripture find,
But rather in his Spirit he had rest.
And looked upon himself as greatly blest.
He was put in the Rock, he heard the Name,
Which on the Mount the Lord did thus proclaim;
The Lord, merciful, gracious, and more,
Long-suffering, and keeping up in store
Mercy for thousands, pardoning these things,
Iniquity, Transgressions, and Sins,
And holding guilty none, but such as still
Refuse forgiveness, of rebellious will.
This Proclamation better pleased him,
Than all the Thunder, and the Light'ning,
Which shook the Mount; this rid him of his fear,
This made him bend, make haste, & worship there.
Jehoshaphat
when he was sore oppressed
By
Amon,
and by
Moab,
and the rest
Of them that sought his Life, no rest he found,
Until a word of Faith became a ground
To stay himself upon; O! then they fell,
His very Song became their passing Bell.
Then Holiness of Heart, a consequence
Of Faith in Christ is, for it flows from thence;
The love of Christ in Truth constraineth us,
Of love sincerely, to make Judgment thus:
He for us died, that forever we
Might die to sin, and Christ his Servants be.
O! nothing's like to the remembrance,
Of what it is to have deliverance
From Death and Hell, which is of due our right;
Nothing I say like this to work delight
In holy things; this like live-honey runs,
And needs no pressing out of honey-combs.
Then understand my meaning by my words,
How sense of mercy unto faith affords
Both Grace to sanctify, and holy make
That Soul, that of forgiveness doth partake.
Thus having briefly shown you what is
The way of Life, of Sanctity, of Bliss,
I would not in conclusion have you think,
By what I say, that Christian-men should drink
In these my words with lightness, or that they
Are now exempted, from what every day
Their duty is; No, God doth still expect,
Yea doth command, that they do not neglect
To pray, to read, to hear, and not dissent
From being sober, grave, and diligent,
In watching, self-denial, and with fear
To serve him all the time thou livest here.
Indeed I have endeavored to lay
Before your Eyes, the right and only way
Pardon to get, and also Holiness,
Without which never think that God will bless
Thee, with the Kingdom he will give to those,
That Christ embrace, and holy lives do choose
To live, while here all other go astray.
And shall in time to come be cast away.
From Mount Ebal.
THus having heard from
Gerizim,
I shall
Next come to
Ebal,
and you thither call,
Not there to curse you, but to let you hear,
How God doth curse that Soul that shall appear
An unbelieving man, a graceless wretch,
Because he doth continue in the breach
Of
Moses
Law, and also doth neglect
To close with Jesus; him will God reject,
And cast behind him, for of right his due
Is that, from whence all miseries ensue.
Cursed
saith he,
are they that do transgress
The least of my Commandments, more or less:
Nothing that written is must broken be,
But always must be kept unto by thee▪
And must fulfilled be; for here no man
Can look God in the face, or ever stand
Before the Judgment seat, for if they be
Convict, condemned too, assuredly.
Now keep this Law no mortal Creature can,
For they already do as guilty stand
Before the God that gave it, so that they
Obnoxious to the curse lie every day,
Which also they must feel for certainty,
If unto Jesus Christ they do not fly.
Hence then as they forever shall be blest,
That do by faith upon the promise rest;
So peace unto the wicked there is none,
'It is wrath and death that they must feed upon.
That what I say may some impression make
On carnal Hearts, that they in time may take
That course that best will prove, when time is done,
These lines I add to what I have begun.
First, Thou must know that God as he is Love,
So he is Justice, therefore cannot move,
Or in the least be brought to favor those,
His Holiness and Justice doth oppose.
For though thou mayest imagine in thy heart,
That God is this or that, yet if thou art
At all besides the truth of what he is,
And so dost build thy hope for life amiss,
Still he the same abideth, and will be
The same, the same forever unto thee.
As God is true unto his promise, so
Unto his threatening he is faithful too,
Cease to be God he must, if he should break
One tittle, that his blessed mouth did speak.
Now then none can be saved but the men
With whom the God-head is contented, when
It them beholds, with the severest eye
Of Justice, Holiness, and yet can spy
No fault nor blemish in them; these be they
That must be saved, as the Scriptures say.
If this be true, as 'tis assuredly,
Woe be to them that wicked live and die;
Those that as far from Holiness have been
All their Life long, as if no Eye had seen
Their doings here, or as if God did not
At all regard, or in the least mind what,
Wherein, or how, they did his Law transgress,
Either by this or other Wickedness;
But how deceived these poor creatures are,
They then shall know when they their burden bear.
Alas, our God is a consuming fire,
So is his Law, by which he doth require
That thou submit to him, and if thou be
Not in that Justice found, that can save thee
From all and every sentence, which he spake
Upon Mount
Sinai,
then as one that brake
It, thou the flames thereof shalt quickly find,
As scourges thee to lash, while sins do bind
Thee hand and foot, forever to endure
The strokes of vengeance, for thy Life impure.
What I have said, will yet evinced be,
And manifest abundantly to thee,
If what I have already spoken to,
Be joined with these Lines that do ensue.
Justice discovers its antipathy
Against Profaneness and Malignity,
Not only by the Law it gave to men,
And Threatenings thereunto annexed then,
But in as much as long before that day,
He did prepare for such as go astray,
That dreadful, that so much amazing place,
Hell, with its Torments, for those men that Grace
And Holiness of Life, slight, and disdain,
There to bemoan themselves, with hellish pain.
This place also, the Pains so dismal be,
Both as to Name and Nature, that in me
It is not to express, the damning wights,
The hellish Torture, and the fearful plights
Thereof; for as intolerable they
Must needs be found, by those that disobey
The Lord: so can no word or thought express
Unto the full, the height of that distress,
Such miserable Caitiffs, that shall there
Rebukes of Vengeance, for Transgressions bear.
Indeed the Holy Scriptures do make use
Of many Metaphors, that do conduce
Much to the symbolizing of the place,
Unto our Apprehension; but the case,
The sad, the woeful case, of those that lie
As wracked there in endless misery,
By all similitudes, no mortals may
Set forth in its own nature; for I say,
Similitudes are but a shade and show
Of those, or that they signify to you.
The fire that doth within thine Oven burn,
The Prison where poor People sit and mourn,
Chains, Racks, and Darkness, and such others, be
As painting on the Wall, to let thee see
By Word and Figures, the extremity
Of such as shall within these burnings lie.
But certainly, if Wickedness and Sin
Had only foolish toys and trifles been,
And if God had not greatly hated it,
Yea could he any ways thereof admit,
And let it pass, he would not thus have done,
He doth not use to punish any one,
With any place, or punishment that is
Above or sharper than the sin of his
Hath merited, and Justice seeth due;
Read sin then by the death that doth ensue.
Most men do judge of sin, not by the fruits
It bears, and bringeth forth, but as it suits
Their carnal and deluded hearts, that be
With sensual Pleasures eaten up; but he
That now so judgeth, shortly shall perceive,
That God will judge thereof himself, and leave
Such men no longer to their carnal lusts,
To judge of wickedness, and of the just
And righteous punishment, that doth of right
Belong thereto, and will too in despite
Of all their carnal reason, justify
Himself, in their eternal misery.
Then Hell will be no fancy, neither will
Men's sins be pleasant to them, but so ill,
And bitter, yea so bitter that none can
Fully express the same, or ever stand
Under the burden it will on them lay,
When they from Life and Bliss are sent away.
When I have thought how often God doth speak
Of their destruction, who his Law do break;
And when the nature of the punishment
I find so dreadful, and that God's intent,
Yea resolution is, it to inflict
On every sinner that shall stand convict,
I have amazed been, yet to behold,
To see poor sinners yet with sin so bold,
That like the Horse that to the battle runs
Without all fear, and that no danger shuns,
Till down he falls. O resolute attempts!
O sad! amazing, damnable Events!
The end of such proceedings needs must be,
From which, O Lord, save and deliver me.
But if thou think that God thy noble Race
Will more respect, than into such a place
To put thee; hold, though thou his offspring be,
And so art lovely, yet sin hath made thee
Another kind of Creature, than when thou
Didst from his fingers drop, and therefore now
Thy first Creation stands thee in no stead,
Thou hast transgressed, and in very deed
Set God against thee, who is infinite,
And that for certain never will forget
Thy sins, nor favor thee if thou shalt die
A graceless Man; this is thy misery.
When Angels sinned, though of higher race
Than thou, and also put in higher place,
Yet them he spared not, but cast them down
From Heaven to Hell, where also they lie bound
In everlasting chains, and no release
Shall ever have, but wrath that shall increase
Upon them, to their everlasting woe.
As for the state they were exalted to,
That will by no means mitigate their fear,
But aggravate their hellish torment here;
For he that highest stands, if he shall fall
His danger needs must be the greatest of all.
Now if God noble Angels did not spare
Because they did transgress, will he forbear
Poor dust and ashes? will he suffer them
To break his Law? and sin, and not condemn
Them for so doing? let not man deceive
Himself or others; they that do bereave
Themselves by sin of happiness, shall be
Cut off by Justice, and have misery.
Witness his great severity upon
The World that first was planted, wherein none
But only eight the Deluge did escape,
All others of that Vengeance did partake;
The reason was, That World ungodly stood
Before him, therefore he did send the flood,
Which swept them all away, a just Reward
For their most wicked ways against the Lord,
Who could no longer bear them, and their ways,
Therefore into their bosom Vengeance pays.
We read of
Sodom,
and
Gomorrhah
too
What Judgments they for sin did undergo,
How God from Heaven did fire upon them rain,
Because they would not wicked ways refrain,
Condemning of them with an overthrow,
And turned them to ashes: who can know
The miseries that these poor People felt
While they did underneath those burnings melt.
Now these and many more that I could name,
That have been made partakers of the flame,
And Sword of Justice, God did then cut off,
And make Examples, unto all that scoff
At holiness, or do the Gospel slight;
And long it will not be before the night,
And Judgment, painted out by what he did
To
Sodom
and
Gomorrhah,
fulfilled
Upon such sinners be, that they may know
That God doth hate the sin, and Persons too
Of such as still rebellious shall abide,
Although they now at Judgment may deride.
FINIS.
Prison-Meditations, Directed to the Heart of SUFFERING SAINTS AND REIGNING SINNERS: By JOHN BUNYAN, in Prison. 1665.
1. FRiend, I salute thee in the Lord,
And wish thou mayest abound
In Faith, and have a good regard
To keep on Holy Ground.
2. Thou dost encourage me to hold
My Head above the Flood,
Thy Counsel better is than Gold,
In need thereof I stood.
3. Good Counsel's good at any time,
The Wise will it receive,
Tho' Fools count he commits a Crime
Who doth good Counsel give.
4. I take it kindly at thy hand
Thou didst unto me write,
My Feet upon Mount
Zion
stand,
In that take thou delight.
5. I am (indeed) in Prison (now)
In Body, but my Mind
Is free to study Christ, and how
Unto me he is kind.
6. For though men keep my outward man
Within their Locks and Bars,
Yet by the Faith of Christ I can
Mount higher than the Stars.
7. Their
Fetters
cannot
Spirits
tame,
Nor tie up God from me;
My Faith and Hope they cannot lame,
Above them I shall be.
8. I here am very much refreshed
To think when I was out,
I preached Life, and Peace, and Rest,
To Sinners round about.
9. My business then, was Souls to save,
By preaching Grace and Faith,
Of which the comfort now I have,
And have it shall till death.
10. They were no
Fables
that I taught
Devis'd by cunning men,
But God's
own
Word, by which were
caught
Some sinners now and then.
11. Whose Souls by
it
were made to see
The evil of their sin;
And need of Christ to make them free
From death, which they were in.
12. And now those very Hearts, that then
Were Foes unto the Lord,
Embrace his Christ and Truth, like men
Conquered by his Word.
13. I hear them sigh and groan, and cry,
For Grace to God above;
They loath their sin, and to it die,
'It is Holiness they love.
14. This was the work I was about,
When Hands on me they laid,
'Twas
this
from which they plucked me out,
And vilely to me said,
15. You Heretic, Deceiver, come
To Prison you must go,
You preach abroad, and keep not home,
You are the Churches foe.
16. But having Peace within my Soul,
And Truth on every side,
I could with comfort them control,
And at their charge deride.
17. Wherefore to Prison they me sent,
Where to this day I lie;
And can with very much content
For my Profession die.
18. The Prison very sweet to me
Hath been, since I came here,
And so would also hanging be,
If God will there appear.
19. Here dwells good Conscience, also Peace
Here be my Garments white,
Here, though in Bonds, I have Release
From Guilt, which else would bite.
20. When they do talk of Banishment,
Of Death, or such like Things,
Then to me God sends Hearts content,
That like a Fountain springs.
21. Alas, they little think what peace
They help me to, for by
Their rage my Comforts do increase;
Bless God therefore do I.
22. If they do give me gall to drink,
Then God doth sweetening cast,
So much thereto, that they cannot think
How bravely it doth taste.
23. For as the Devil sets before
Me Heaviness and Grief,
So God sets Christ and Grace much more,
Whereby I take relief.
24. Though they say then, that we are Fools
Because we here do lie,
I answer, Goals are Christ his Schools,
In them we learn to die.
25. 'It is not the baseness of this state
Doth hide us from God's Face,
He frequently, both soon and late
Doth visit us with Grace.
26. Here comes the Angels, here comes Saints,
Here comes the Spirit of God
To comfort us in our restraints
Under the wicked's Rod.
27. God sometime visits Prisons more
Than lordly Palaces,
He often knocketh at our Door,
When he their Houses miss.
28. The Truth and Life of heavenly things,
Lifts up our Hearts on high,
And carries us on Eagles Wings,
Beyond Carnality.
29. It takes away those Clogs that hold
The Hearts of other men,
And makes us lively strong and bold
Thus to oppose their sin.
30. By which means God doth frusturate
That which our Foes expect;
Namely our turning the
Postate,
Like those of
Judas
Sect.
31. Here comes to our remembrance,
The Troubles good men had
Of old, and for our furtherance,
Their Joys, when they were sad.
32. To them that here for Evil lie,
The place is comfortless,
But not to me, because that I
Lye here for Righteousness.
33. The
Truth
and
I,
were both here cast
Together, and we do
Lye Arm in Arm, and so hold fast
Each other; This is true.
34. This Goal to us, is as a Hill,
From whence we plainly see
Beyond this World, and take our fill
Of things that lasting be.
35. From hence we see the emptiness
Of
all
this World contains;
And here we feel the Blessedness
That for us yet remains.
36. Here we can see how all men play
Their parts, as on a Stage,
How good men suffer for God's way,
And bad men at them rage.
37. Here we can see who holds
that
ground
Which they in
Scripture
find;
Here we see also who turns round
Like
Weathercocks
with' Wind.
38. We can also from hence behold
How
seeming
Friends appear
But
Hypocrites,
as we are told
In Scripture everywhere.
39. When we did walk at liberty,
We were deceived by them,
Who we from hence do clearly see
Are vile deceitful Men.
40. These Politicians that professed
For base and worldly ends,
Do now appear to us at best
But Machivilian Friends:
41. Though Men do say, we do disgrace
Our selves by lying here
Among the Rogues, yet Christ our face
From all such filth will clear.
42. We know there's neither flout nor frown
That we now for him bear
But will add to our heavenly Crown,
When he comes in the Air.
43. When he our righteousness forth brings
Bright shining as the day,
And wipeth off those stand'rous things
That Scorners on us lay.
44. We fell our earthly Happiness
For heavenly house and home;
We leave this world because 'tis less,
And worse than that to come.
45. We change our drossy Dust for Gold,
From Death to Life we fly:
We let go Shadows and take hold
Of Immortality.
46. We trade for that which lasting is,
And nothing for it give;
But that which is already his,
By whom we breath and live.
47. That liberty we lose for him,
Sickness might take away:
Our goods might also for our sin
By Fire or Thieves decay.
48. Again,
we
see what Glory 'tis
Freely to bear our
Cross
For
him,
who for us took up
his,
When he
our
Servant was.
49. I am most free, that Men should see
A hole cut through mine Ear;
If others will ascertain me
They'll hang a
Jewel
there.
50.
Just
thus it is, we suffer here
For him a little pain,
Who, when he doth again appear
Will with him let us reign.
51. If all must either die for sin
A Death that's natural;
Or else for Christ, 'tis best with him,
Who for the
last
doth fall.
52. Who now dare say, we throw away
Our Goods or Liberty,
When God's most holy Word doth say
We gain thus much thereby.
53. Hark yet again, you carnal Men,
And hear what I shall say
In your own Dialect, and then
I will you no longer stay.
54. You talk sometimes of Valour much,
And count such bravely man'd,
That will not stick to have a tutch
With any in the Land.
55. If these be worth commending, then,
That vainly show their might;
How dare you blame those holy Men
That in
God
's quarrel fight?
56. Though you dare crack a Cowards Crown,
Or quarrel for a Pin;
You dare not on the Wicked frown,
Nor speak against their sin.
57. For all your Spirits are so stout,
For matters that are vain:
Yet sin besets you round about,
You are in Satan's chain.
58. You dare not for the Truth engage,
You quake at Prisonment;
You dare not make the
Tree
your stage
For Christ
that
King potent.
59. Know then true Valour there doth dwell
Where Men engage for God,
Against the Devil, Death and Hell,
And bear the Wickeds rod.
60. These be the Men that God doth count
Of high and noble Mind;
These be the Men that do surmount
What you in Nature find.
61. First they do conquer their own Hearts,
All worldly fears, and then
Also the Devils firy darts,
And persecuting Men.
62. They conquer when they thus do fall,
They kill when they do die:
They overcome
then
most of all,
And get the Victory.
63. The worldling understands not this,
'It is clear out of his sight:
Therefore he counts this world his bliss,
And doth our Glory slight.
64. The Lubber knows not how to spring
The nimble Foot-man's stage;
Neither can Owls, or Jack-Daws sing
If they were in the Cage.
65. The Swine doth not the
Pearls
regard,
But them doth slight for
Grains,
Though the wise Merchant labors hard
For them with greatest pains.
66. Consider Man, what I have said,
And judge of things aright;
When all men's Cards are fully plaid,
Whose will abide the Light?
67. Will
those,
who have us hither cast?
Or
they
who do us scorn?
Or
those
who do our Houses wast?
Or
us,
who this have born?
68. And let us count those things the best
That best will prove at last;
And count such Men the only blest,
That do such things hold fast.
69. And what though they us dear do cost,
Yet let us buy them so;
We shall not count our labor lost
When we see others woe.
70. And let Saints be no longer blamed
By carnal Policy;
But let the Wicked be ashamed
Of their Malignity.
FINIS.