A69449:59
The doctrine & directions but more especially the practice and behaviour of a man…The doctrine & directions but more especially the practice and behavior of a man…
The doctrine & directions but more especially the practice and behaviour of a man in the act of the new birth A treatise by way of appendix to the former. By Isaac Ambrose, minister of Christ at Preston in Amounderness in Lancashire.The doctrine & directions but more especially the practice and behavior of a man in the act of the nevv birth A treatise by way of appendix to the former. By Isaac Ambrose, minister of Christ at Preston in Amounderness in Lancashire.
London: printed by J.F. for Nathanael Webb and William Grantham, 1650
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
and now having got some quiet, his cursed Companions set upon him again, Refresh (say they) your soul with some of your ancient dalliance, &c. To this and the like Temptations of Satan, he ⟨p. 15⟩listens again, and then he begins to follow his old sins, perhaps with more violence and eagerness then ever he did before; and now is another twist broken likewise.
3. If so, then Conscience that was a Monitor and Accuser, now turns Executioner. The first Proposition admonished, the second accused, if neither of these prevail, then Conscience concludes, Thou must to execution, thou shalt perish everlastingly. And now Conscience cries, Monitions or Accusations could not prevail with this man; Come, come ye damned ghosts, and take away this Drunkard, this Blasphemer, this Adulterer, and throw him headlong into the pit of Hell; he would not be amended, let him be condemned, he would not be humbled, therefore let him be damned. The man hearing this, then he is amazed, and thinks himself past hope, past help, past cure: Did you ever see or hear a tormented Conscience in these pangs? Now he calls, then he cries, Lo where Devils stand, the Heavens frown, God is incensed, Hell-mouth is open: And now a Minister is sent for, who displays to this despairing soul, the Mercy and Grace of God in Christ Jesus; O (replies he) this is my bane, my damnation, if I had never heard of Mercy, if I had never lived under the Gospel, and the means of Salvation, then had I been an happy man: Alas! it is Mercy I have neglected, it is Salvation I have contemned, how then should I be saved? O the persuasions of the Lord that I have had! the Lord hath even wept over me, as he did over Jerusalem, O that thou hadst known the things belonging to thy peace! yet all these persuasions have I contemned, and therefore certainly to Hell I must go. The Minister replies, Truth it is, you have done thus, but would you do so still? is it good now to be drunk, or to blaspheme, or to rail on Gods Saints, or contemn Gods Ordinances? O no, no (saith he) I now find what the end of those wicked courses will be: Gods Word could not prevail with me, the Minister could not persuade me; O the good Sermons that I have heard, the very flames of Hell have even flashed in my face, the Minister hath spent his pains, and would have spent his blood for the good of my poor soul! But alas, I despised the Word, and mocked the Minister: Woe, woe unto me for ever; now my Conscience gnaws, and tears, and terrifies my soul here, and I shall to Hell hereafter, and perish for ever and ever. The Minister replies again, The truth is, you have done