The works of George Swinnock, M.A

I must tell thee that a perilous time, a day of extremity, an hour of trouble and anguish is hastening upon thee; which thou canst no more escape or avoid, then thou canst fly from thy self; when the pleasures, and delights, and honey, and beautiful countenances of those Scorpions, thy fleshly lusts will all be past and gone, but the sting remain ⟨p. 873⟩to pierce and torment thee, when those dreggy waters in which thou bathest thy self now will all be dried up; when all thy possessions, and preferments, and friends, and relations will serve thee, as women their flowers when they are dead and withered, who throw them away; or as sinking floors that will fail men when their weight is on them. And then, O then what wilt thou do? Thou wilt wish that religion had been thy business, and call, and cry to it as the Elders of Gilead to Jephthah, when the children of Ammon made war with them. Come thou and be our Captain, and save us from our enemies. Come thou and be my Captain, to save me from the curse of the law, the terrors of my guilty conscience, the wrath of the Infinite God, and the torments of the eternal fire. But godliness will answer thee as Jephthah did them; Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my Fathers house? & why are ye come unto me now ye are in distress? Didst not thou hate me, and expel me out of thy heart and house? didst thou not deride, and jeer, and persecute me, against all the commands, and threatenings, and promises, and entreaties of God, and his word? and why art thou come to me now thou art in distress? I must tell thee, thou wilt then weep, and howl, and lament to God, as the Israelites did in their extremity, Deliver us only we pray thee this day. Lord help me, Lord save me, Deliver me this day from the jaws of the roaring Lion; Lord, let not hell shut her mouth upon me. Who can dwell in everlasting burnings? who can abide devouring flames? But thou mayst expect the same answer which God gave them, Go and cry to the gods which ye have chosen, let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. Go to the flesh, and the world; ⟨p. 874⟩Go to thy riches, and honours, and sinful delights, which thou hast chosen and preferred before me, and let them deliver thee in this time of thy tribulation. Where are those gods, the rocks in which thou trustedst? Let them rise up, and help thee, and be thy protection, Judg. 11. 6, 7