Evan. Then (faid Evangelift) ftand Still a little, that I may fhew thee the words of God. So he stood trembling. Then (faid Evangelift) * See that ye re- * Heb. 12. fufe not him that speaketh; for if they 25. efcaped not who refufed him that fpake on Earth, much more shall not we efcape, if we turn away from him that Speaketh from Heaven. He faid more-s over,* Now the juft fhall live by faith; Chap. but if any man draws back, my foul 10. 38. fhall have no pleasure in him. He alfo did thus apply them, Thou art the man that art running into this mifery, thou haft began to reject the counsel of the most high, and to draw back thy foot from the way of peace, even almost to the hazarding of thy perdition. Then Chriftian fell down at his foot as dead, crying, Woe is me, for I am undone: at the fight of which Evangelift Matth. 12. caught him by the right hand, faying, Mark 3. all manner of fin and blafphemies fhall be forgiven unto men; be not faithlefs, but believing; then did Chriftian again a little revive, and ftood up trembling, as at first, before Evangelist. Then Evangelift proceeded, faying, Give more earnest heed to the things that I shall tell thee of. I will now fhew thee When Chriftians unto carnal Men give ear, thee who it was that deluded thee, and who 'twas alfo to whom he sent thee. The man that met thee, is one Worldly-Wifeman, and rightly is he fo called; partly, * because he favoureth only the *1 John Doctrine of this world (therefore he 4. 5. always goes to the Town of Mortality to Church) and partly because he † Gal. 6. loveth that Doctrine beft, for it faveth 12. him from the Crofs; and because he is of this carnal temper, therefore he feeketh to prevent my ways, though right. Now there are three things in this mans counsel that thou must utterly abhor. 1. His turning thee out of the way. 2. His labouring to render the Crofs odious to thee. 3. And his fetting thy feet in that way that leadeth unto the administration of Death. First, Thou must abhor his turning thee out of the way; yea, and thine own confenting thereto : because this is to reject the counsel of God, for the fake of the counsel of Worldly-Wifeman. The Lord fays, * Strive to enter in at the ftrait gate, the gate to which I fent thee; †for Strait is the gate that leadeth unto life, a and * Luke 13. 24. Mat. 7. 13, 214. 25, 26. + Mark 8. 35. John 12. 25. and few there be that find it. From this little wicket-gate, and from the way thereto hath this wicked man turned thee, to the bringing of thee almost to destruction; hate therefore his turning thee out of the way, and abhor thy felf for hearkening to him. Secondly, Thou must abhor his labouring to render the Crofs odious * Heb. 11. unto thee; for thou art to *prefer it before the treasures in Egypt: befides, the King of Glory hath told thee, † that he that will fave his life. fhall lofe it and he that comes after * him, and hates not his father and mother, Mat. 10. and wife, and children, and brethren, and fifters; yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my Difciple. I fay therefore, for a man to labour to perfwade thee, that that shall be thy death, without which the truth hath said, thou canst not have eternal life. This Doctrine thou must abhor. 39. * Luke 14. 26. Thirdly, Thou must hate his fetting of thy feet in the way that leadeth to the miniftration of death. And for this thou must confider to whom he sent thee, and also how unable that perfon was to deliver thee from thy burden. He He to whom thou waft sent for ease being by name Legality, is the fon of the *Bond-woman which now is, and *Gal.4.21, is in bondage with her children, and is 22, 23, 24, in a mystery this Mount Sinai, which 25, 26. 27 thou haft feared will fall on thy head. Now if the with her children are in bondage, how canst thou expect by them to be made free? This Legality therefore is not able to fet thee free from thy burden. No man was as yet ever rid of his burden by him, no, nor ever is like to be: ye cannot be justified by the Works of the Law; for by the deeds of the Law no man living can be rid of his burden: therefore Mr. Worl dly-Wifeman is an alien, and Mr. Legality acheat: and for his own Civility, notwithstanding his fimpering looks, heisbutan hypocrite, and cannot help thee. Believe me, there is nothing in all this noise, that thou haft heard of this fottish man, but a defign to beguile thee of thy Salvation, by turning thee from the way in which I had fet thee. After this Evangelist called aloud to the Heavens for confirmation of what he had faid; and with that there came. words and fire out of the Mountain under which poor Christian stood, that made |