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out his golden fceptre to thee, and will not fuffer his gate to be fhut against theee: wilt thou provoke him to do it? Confider of what I fay; to thee it fhall be opened na. more for ever, Job xxxvi. 14, 18. Pf. ix. 7. Ifa. lxvi. 15. "If thou fayeft thou shalt not fee him, yet judg ment is before him; therefore truft thou in him. Yea, because there is wrath, beware left he take thee away with his ftroke; then a great ransom cannot deliver thee. Will he esteem thy riches? No, not gold, nor all the forces of ftrength. He hath prépared his throne for judgment; for he will come with fire, and with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and rebukes with flames of fire." Therefore, O Manfoul, take heed, left, after thou haft fulfilled the judgment of the wicked, juftice and judgment fhould take hold of thee. Now, while captain Judgment was making this oration to the fown of Manfoul, it was obferved by fome, that Diabolus On hearing this trembled. (a) But he proceeded in his fpeech, Diabolus fpeech, and faid, 'O thou woful town of Manfoul! wilt thou not yet fet open the gate to receive us, the deputies of the King, and those that would rejoice to fee thee live? Ezek. xxii. 14. thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the day that he fhall deal in judgment with thee?" I fay, canft thou endure to be forced to drink, as one would drink fweet wine, the fea of wrath that our King has prepared for Diabolus and his angels? Confider, betimes confider.'

trembles.

"Cari

Then

(a) Judgment without mercy is referved for devils; but juftice and mercy are made to harmonize in extricating finners from ruin.What an inestimable bleffing, that such foul revolters as we are, can be reconciled, through the blood of the cross, to an infinitely holy God! That this God "can be juft, and yet the juftifier of the ungodly, who believeth in Jefus!" Rom. iii. 26. O my foul, may thy gratitude, for fuch amazing condefcenfion and goodness, be teftified by thy walking in love and holy obedience, to the glory of fuch a precious Saviour!

1

Then stood forth the fourth captain, the Captain Execu- noble captain Execution, and faid: "O town tion's fpeech. of Manfoul, once famous, but now like the fruitless bough; once the delight of the high ones, but now a den for Diabolus: hearken alfo to me, and to the words that I shall speak to thee in the name of the great SHADDAI. Behold, "the ax is laid to the root of the tree; every tree therefore, that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down, and caft into the fire," Matt. iii. 7-10.

Thou, O town of Manfoul, haft hitherto been this. fruitless tree; thou beareft nought but thorns and briers, Deut. xxxii. 32. Thy evil fruit forefpeaks thee not to be a good tree: thy grapes are grapes of gall, thy clusters are bitter: Thou haft rebelled against thy King; (a) and lo we, the power and force of SHADDAI, are the ax that is laid to thy roots. What fayeft thou? Wilt thou turn? I fay again, Tell me, before the first blow is given, wilt thou turn? Our ax must first be laid to thy root, before it be laid at thy root; it must first be laid to thy root in a way of threatening, before it is laid at thy root by way of execution; and between these two is required thy repentance, and this is all the time thou haft. What wilt thou do? Wilt thou turn, or fhall I fmite? If I fetch my blow, Manfoul, down you go: for I have commission to lay my ax at, as well as to, thy root; nor will any thing, but yielding to our King, prevent doing of execution.

What

(4) God is dethroned from his place in the hearts of all natural men: they render him no fervice, either by calling upon him, or thanking him for any of his numberless mercies: they reject his bleffed Self, faying, "Depart from us, for we defire not the knowledge of thy ways," Job. xxi. 14. This their enmity to God is attended with a love of fin; fo that they become fpiritual idolaters, and make a league with hell.- -May the good Lord break the horrid confederacy, and fet up the kingdom of Chrift, which is righteoufnels, peace, and joy, on the ruins of that of fin and Satan

What art thou fit for, O Manfoul, if mercy preventeth not, but to be hewn down and caft into the fire and burnt?

O Manfoul! patience and forbearance do not act for ever: (a) a year or two, or three, they may; but if thou provoke by a three years rebellion (and thou haft already done more than this), then what follows, "but cut it down?" nay, after that," thou fhalt cut it down," Luke xiii. 8. And doft thou think that these are but threatenings, or that our King has not power to execute his words? O Mansoul, thou wilt find in the words of our King, when they are by finners made little or light of, there is not only threatening, but burning coals of fire.

#

Thou haft been a cumber-ground long already, and wilt thou continue fo ftill? Thy fin has brought his army to thy walls, and fhall it bring in judgment to do execution to thy town? Thou haft heard what the captains have said, "but as yet thou fhutteft thy gates: speak out, Manfoul, wilt thou do fo ftill; or wilt thou accept of conditions of peace?'

Thefe brave fpeeches of these four noble captains, the town of Manfoul refused to hear; yet a found thereof did beat against Ear-gate, though the force thereof could Manfoul defires not break it open. In fine, the town detime to make fired a time to prepare their answer to these demands. The captains then told them, that if they would throw out to them one Ill-pause, that was in the town, that they might reward him according

anfwer.

to

(a) Happy event, when an affecting fenfe of the goodness and tender mercy of God leads finners to repentance and the throne of grace! God would not invite, woo, and beseech as he does, if falvation and happiness were not of infinite importance, and the lofs of them inconceivably great: though through much tribulation the godly enter into the kingdom of God, yet their worst things, becaufe fanctified, are preferable to all the delights of the wicked: for they enjoy the favour of God here, and are heirs of an inheritance above, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for them.

Upon what Conditions the captains would give them time.

to his works, then they would give them time to confider: but if they would not caft him to them over the wall of Manfoul, then they would give them none: for, faid they, we know, that fo long as Ill-pause draws breath in Man- » foul, all good confiderations will be confounded, and nothing but mischief will come thereon. (a)

Diabolus inter

Then Diabolus, who was there prefent, rupts them, and being loth to lofe Ill-paufe, because he was fets Incredulity his orator (and yet be fure he had, could the to answer them. captains have laid their fingers on him), was refolved at this inftant to give them anfwer by himself; but then changing his mind, he commanded the then lord mayor, the lord Incredulity, to do it; faying, My lord, do you give thefe renegades an answer, and speak out, that Manfoul may hear and understand you.

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So Incredulity, at Diabolus's command, His fpeech. began and faid, Gentlemen, you have here, as we do behold, to the disturbance of our prince, and moleftation of the town of Manfoul, encamped against it: but from whence you come, we will not know; and what you are, we will not believe. Indeed, you tell us in your terrible fpeech, that you have this authority from SHADDAI; but by what right he commands you to do it, of that we fhall be yet ignorant."

You

(a) Ill-paufe, he is rightly named. Giving ear to the whisperings of corrupt and carnal reafon, is too frequently a means of preventing the foul from clofing with Chrift. Reafon is no judge of these matters. It is the duty and in tereft of all, to fuffer the word of exhortation: to give implicit credit to God, who cannot err or deceive, for his tef timony concerning us, as recorded in the scriptures of truth, and wait in a way of duty for the fulfilment of it to our comfort, which will come in due time: "Wait, I fay, on the Lord," Pf. xxvii. 14. O that finners would meekly fit at the feet of Jefus for inftruction! then would he enable them to hear and believe the word of eternal life, which is able to Save their fouls,

You have alfo, by the authority aforefaid, fummoned this town to defert her lord, and for protection to yield up herself to the great SHADDAI your king flatteringly tel. ling her, that if fhe will do it, he will pafs by, and not charge her with, her paft offences.

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Further, you have alfo, to the terror of the town of Manfoul, threatened with great and fore deftruction to punish this corporation, if the consents not to do as your wills would have her.

of unbelief.

Now, captains, from whencefoever you The true picture come, and though your designs be ever fo right, yet know ye, that neither my lord Diabolus, nor I his fervant Incredulity, nor yet our brave Manfoul, doth regard either your perfons, meffage, or the King that you fay hath fent you: his power, his greatness, his vengeance we fear not; nor will we yield at all to your fummons. (a)

As for the war that you threaten to make upon us, we must therein defend ourselves as well as we can: and know ye, that we are not without wherewithal to bid defiance to you. And in fhort, (for I will not be tedious,) I tell you, that we take you to be fome vagabond runagate crew, who, having thaken off all obedience to your king, have gotten together in a tumultuous manner, and are ranging from place to place, to fee if, through those flatteries you are fkilled to make, on the one fide, and threats wherewith you think to fright on the other, you can make fome filly town, city, or country, to desert their place,

(a) This and the foregoing is the real language of unbelief: it arms all the powers of the mind against the important truths of the gofpel like thofe of old, modern unbelievers do in effect fay," We will not have THIS MAN to reign over us," Luke xix, 14. Thus rejecting Chrift, and all happiness in him, through an unbelieving heart, blind mortals prefer the vanities of time and sense to the riches and joys of eternity, a falle paradife, to "heaven below, for heaven enjoyed above." May the Lord take away this incredulous and tony heart, and give an heart of flesh! as promised Ezek. xi. 19.

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