be bidden to walk unto Christ he thought of the waters Bid me to come to thee on the waters he thought not on the winds which raged on those waters or if he thought of a stiff gale yet that tempestuous and sudden gust was out of his account and expectation Those evils that we are prepared for have not such power over us as those that surprise us A good water-man sees a dangerous billow coming towards him and cuts it and mounts over it with ease the unheedy is overwhelmed O Saviour let my haste to thee be zealous but not improvident ere I set my foot out of the ship let me foresee the Tempest when I have cast the worst I cannot either miscarry or complain So soon as he began to fear he began to sink whilst he believed the Sea was brass when once he began to distrust those waves were water He cannot sink whilst he trusts the power of his Master he cannot but sink when he misdoubts it Our Faith gives us as courage and boldness so success too our Infidelity lays us open to all dangers to all mischiefs It was Peter's improvidence not to foresee it was his weakness to fear it was the effect of his fear to sink it was his Faith that recollects it self and breaks through his Infidelity and in sinking could say Lord save me His foot could not be so swift in sinking as his heart in imploring he knew who could uphold him from sinking and being sunk deliver him and therefore he says Lord save me It is a notable both sign and effect of true Faith in sudden extremities to ejaculate holy desires and with the wings of our first thoughts to fly up instantly to the throne of Grace for present succour Upon deliberation it is possible for a man that hath been careless and profane by good means to be drawn to holy dispositions but on the sudden a man will appear as he is what-ever is most rife in the heart will come forth at the mouth It is good to observe how our surprisals find us the rest is but forced this is natural Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh O Saviour no evil can be swifter then my thought my thought shall be upon thee ere I can be seized upon by the speediest mischief at least if I over-run not evils I shall overtake them It was Christ his Lord whom Peter had offended in distrusting it is Christ his Lord to whom he sues for deliverance His weakness doth not discourage him from his refuge O God when we have displeased thee when we have sunk in thy displeasure whither should we fly for aid but to thee whom we have provoked Against thee onely is our sin in thee onely is our help In vain shall all the powers of Heaven and Earth conspire to relieve us if thou withhold from our succour As we offend thy Justice daily by our sins so let us continually rely upon thy Mercy by the strength of our Faith Lord save us The mercy of Christ is at once sought and found Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him He doth not say Hadst thou trusted me I would have safely preserved thee but since thou wilt needs wrong my power and care with a cowardly diffidence sink and drown but rather as pitying the infirmity of his fearfull Disciple he puts out the hand for his relief That hand hath been stretch'd forth for the aid of many a one that hath never ask'd it never any ask'd it to whose succour it hath not been stretched With what speed with what confidence should we fly to that sovereign bounty from which never any suitour was sent away empty Jesus gave Peter his hand but withall he gave him a check O thou of little faith why doubtedst thou As Peter's Faith was not pure but mixed with some distrust so our Saviour's help was not clear and absolute but mixed with some reproof A reproof wherein there was both a censure and an expostulation a censure of his Faith an expostulation for his Doubt both of them sore and heavy By how much more excellent and usefull a grace Faith is by so much more shamefull is the defect of it and by how much more reason here was of confidence by so much more blame-worthy was the Doubt Now Peter had a double reason of his confidence the command of Christ the power of Christ the one in bidding him to come the other in sustaining him whilst he came To misdoubt him whose will he knew whose power he felt was well worth a reprehension When I saw Peter stepping forth upon the waters I could not but wonder at his great Faith yet behold ere he can have measured many paces the Judge of hearts taxes him for little Faith Our mountains are but moats to God Would my heart have served me to dare the doing of this that Peter did Durst I have set my foot where he did O Saviour if thou foundest cause to censure the weakness and poverty of his Faith what mayest thou well say to mine They mistake that think thou wilt take up with any thing Thou lookest for firmitude and vigour in those Graces which thou wilt allow in thy best Disciples no less then truth The first steps were confident there was fear in the next Oh the sudden alteration of our affections of our dispositions One pace varies our spiritual condition What hold is there of so fickle creatures if we be left never so little to our selves As this lower world wherein we are is the region of mutability so are we the living pieces of it subject to a perpetual change It is for the blessed Saints and Angels above to be fixed in good Whilst we are here there can be no constancy expected from us but in variableness As well as our Saviour loves Peter yet he chides him It is the fruit of his favour and mercy that we escape judgment not that we escape reproof Had not Peter found grace with his Master he had been suffered to sink in silence now he is saved with a check There may be more love in frowns then in smiles Whom he loves he chastises What is chiding but a verbal castigation and what is chastisement but a real chiding Correct me O Lord yet in thy judgment not in thy fury O let the righteous God smite me when I offend with his gracious reproofs these shall be a precious oyl that shall not break my head XXIV The Bloudy issue healed THE time was O Saviour when a worthy woman offered to touch thee and was forbidden now a meaner touches thee with approbation and â—ncouragement Yet as there was much difference in that body of thine which was the Object of that touch being now mortal and passible then impassible and immortal so there was in the Agents this a stranger that a familiar this obscure that famous The same actions vary with time and other circumstances and accordingly receive their dislike or
shall be close the match gainfull it will be long ere I get so much by my service if I fare well for the present I shall shift well enough for the future Thus secretly he claps up another bargain he makes a covenant with death and with Hell an agreement O Judas didst thou ever hear ought but truth fall from the mouth of that thy Divine Master Canst thou distrust the certainty of that dreadfull menace of vengeance How then durst thou persist in the purpose of so flagitious and damnable a villany Resolved sinners run on desperately in their wicked courses and have so bent their eyes upon the profit or pleasure of their mischievons projects that they will not see Hell lie open before them in the way As if that shameless man meant to outbrave all accusations and to outface his own heart he dares ask too Master is it I No Disciple shall more zealously abominate that crime then he that fosters it in his bosome Whatever the Searcher of hearts knows by him is lock'd up in his own breast to be perfidious is nothing so he may be secret his Master knows him for a Traitour it is not long that he shall live to complain his fellows think him honest all is well whilst he is well esteemed Reputation is the onely care of false hearts not truth of being not conscience of merit so they may seem fair to men they care not how foul they are to God Had our Saviour onely had this knowledge at the second hand this boldness had been enough to make him suspect the credit of the best intelligence Who could imagine that a guilty man dared thus brow-beat a just accusation Now he whose piercing and unfailing eyes see things as they are not as they seem can peremptorily convince the impudence of this hollow questionist with a direct affirmation Thou hast said Foolish Traitour couldst thou think that those blear eyes of thine would endure the beams of the Sun or that counterfeit slip the fire was it not sufficient for thee to be secretly vicious but thou must presume to contest with an Omniscient accuser Hast thou yet enough Thou supposedst thy crime unknown To men it was so had thy Master been no more it had been so to him now his knowledge argues him Divine How durst thou yet resolve to lift up thy hand against him who knows thine offence and can either prevent or revenge it As yet the charge was private either not heard or not observed by thy fellows it shall be at first whispered to one and at last known to all Bashfull and penitent sinners are fit to be concealed shame is meet for those that have none Curiosity of Knowledge is an old disease of humane nature besides Peter's zeal would not let him dwell under the danger of so doubtfull a crimination he cannot but sit on thorns till he know the man His signs ask what his voice dare not What law requires all followers to be equally beloved Why may not our favours be freely dispensed where we like best without envy without prejudice None of Christ's train could complain of neglect John is highest in grace Bloud affection zeal diligence have indeared him above his fellows He that is dearest in respect is next in place in that form of side-sitting at the Table he leaned on the bosome of Jesus Where is more love there may be more boldness This secrecy and intireness privileges John to ask that safely which Peter might not without much inconvenience and perill of a check The beloved Disciple well understands this silent language and dares put Peter's thought into words Love shutteth out fear O Saviour the confidence of thy Goodness emboldens us not to shrink at any suit Thy love shed abroad in our hearts bids us ask that which in a stranger were no better then presumption Once when Peter ask'd thee a question concerning John What shall this man doe he received a short answer What is that to thee Now when John asks thee a question no less seemingly curious at Peter's instance Who is it that betrays thee however thou mightest have returned him the same answer since neither of their persons was any more concerned yet thou condescendest to a mild and full though secret satisfaction There was not so much difference in the men as in the matter of the demand No occasion was given to Peter of moving that question concerning John the indefinite assertion of treason amongst the Disciples was a most just occasion of moving John's question for Peter and himself That which therefore was timorously demanded is answered graciously He it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it And he gave the sop to Judas How loth was our Saviour to name him whom he was not unwilling to design All is here expressed by dumb signs the hand speaks what the tongue would not In the same language wherein Peter asked the question of John doth our Saviour shape an answer to John what a beck demanded is answered by a sop O Saviour I do not hear thee say Look on whomsoever I frown or to whomsoever I doe a publick affront that is the man but To whomsoever I shall give a sop Surely a by-stander would have thought this man deep in thy books and would have construed this act as they did thy tears for Lazarus See how he loves him To carve a man out of thine own dish what could it seem to argue but a singularity of respect Yet lo there is but one whom thou hatest one onely Traitour at thy board and thou givest him a sop The outward Gifts of God are not always the proofs of his Love yea sometimes are bestowed in displeasure Had not he been a wise Disciple that should have envied the great favour done to Judas and have stomacked his own preterition So foolish are they who measuring Gods affection by temporall benefits are ready to applaud prospering wickedness and to grudge outward blessings to them who are uncapable of any better After the sop Satan entred into Judas Better had it been for that treacherous Disciple to have wanted that morsell Not that there was any malignity in the bread or that the sop had any power to convey Satan into the receiver or that by a necessary concomitance that evil spirit was in or with it Favours ill used make the heart more capable of farther evil That wicked Spirit commonly takes occasion by any of Gods gifts to assault us the more eagerly After our Sacramentall morsell if we be not the better we are sure the worse I dare not say yet I dare think that Judas comparing his Master's words and John's whisperings with the tender of this sop and finding himself thus denoted was now so much the more irritated to perform what he had wickedly purposed Thus Satan took advantage by the sop of a farther possession Twice before had that evil Spirit made a palpable entry into that leud heart First
and Spirits respites the utmost of their torment He might upon the first instant of the fall of Angels have inflicted on them the highest extremity of his vengeance he might upon the first sins of our youth yea of our nature have swept us away and given us our portion in that fiery lake He stays a time for both though with this difference of mercy to us men that here not onely is a delay but may be an utter prevention of punishment which to the evil Spirits is altogether impossible They do suffer they must suffer and though they have now deserved to suffer all they must yet they must once suffer more then they do Yet so doth this evil Spirit expostulate that he sues I beseech thee torment me not The world is well changed since Satan's first onset upon Christ Then he could say If thou be the Son of God now Jesus the Son of the Most high God then All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me now I beseech thee torment me not The same power when he lists can change the note of the Tempter to us How happy are we that have such a Redeemer as can command the Devils to their chains O consider this ye lawless sinners that have said Let us break his bands and cast his cords from us However the Almighty suffers you for a judgment to have free scope to evil and ye can now impotently resist the revealed will of your Creatour yet the time shall come when ye shall see the very masters whom ye have served the powers of darkness unable to avoid the revenges of God How much less shall man strive with his Maker Man whose breath is in his nostrils whose house is clay whose foundation is the dust Nature teaches every creature to wish a freedome from pain The foulest Spirits cannot but love themselves and this love must needs produce a deprecation of evil Yet what a thing is this to hear the Devil at his prayers I beseech thee torment me not Devotion is not guilty of this but fear There is no grace in the suit of Devils but nature no respect of glory to their Creatour but their own ease they cannot pray against sin but against torment for sin What news is it now to hear the profanest mouth in extremity imploring the Sacred Name of God when the Devils do so The worst of all creatures hates punishment and can say Lead me not into pain onely the good heart can say Lead me not into temptation If we can as heartily pray against sin for the avoiding of displeasure as against punishment when we have displeased there is true Grace in the soul Indeed if we could fervently pray against sin we should not need to pray against punishment which is no other then the inseparable shadow of that body but if we have not laboured against our sins in vain do we pray against punishment God must be just and the wages of sin is death It pleased our Holy Saviour not onely to let fall words of command upon this Spirit but to interchange some speeches with him All Christ's actions are not for example It was the errour of our Grandmother to hold chat with Satan That God who knows the craft of that old Serpent and our weak simplicity hath charged us not to enquire of an evil Spirit Surely if the Disciples returning to Jacob's Well wondred to see Christ talk with a woman well may we wonder to see him talking with an unclean Spirit Let it be no presumption O Saviour to ask upon what grounds thou didst this wherein we may not follow thee We know that sin was excepted in thy conformity of thy self to us we know there was no guile found in thy mouth no possibility of taint in thy nature in thine actions Neither is it hard to conceive how the same thing may be done by thee without sin which we cannot but sin in doing There is a vast difference in the Intention in the Agent For as on the one side thou didst not ask the name of the Spirit as one that knew not and would learn by enquiring but that by the confession of that mischief which thou pleasedst to suffer the grace of the cure might be the more conspicuous the more glorious so on the other God and Man might doe that safely which meer Man cannot doe without danger Thou mightest touch the leprosie and not be legally unclean because thou touchedst it to heal it didst not touch it with possibility of infection So mightest thou who by reason of the perfection of thy Divine nature wert uncapable of any stain by the interlocution with Satan safely confer with him whom corrupt Man predisposed to the danger of such a parly may not meddle with without sin because not without peril It is for none but God to hold discourse with Satan Our surest way is to have as little to doe with that Evil one as we may and if he shall offer to maintain conference with us by his secret temptations to turn our speech unto our God with the Archangel The Lord rebuke thee Satan It was the presupposition of him that knew it that not onely men but Spirits have names This then he asks not out of an ignorance or curiosity nothing could be hid from him who calleth the Stars and all the hoasts of Heaven by their names but out of a just respect to the glory of the Miracle he was working whereto the notice of the name would not a little avail For if without inquiry or confession our Saviour had ejected this evil Spirit it had passed for the single dispossession of one onely Devil whereas now it appears there was a combination and hellish champarty in these powers of darkness which were all forced to vail unto that almighty command Before the Devil had spoken singularly of himself What have I to doe with thee and I beseech thee torment me not yet our Saviour knowing that there was a multitude of Devils lurking in that breast who dissembled their presence wrests it out of the Spirit by this interrogation What is thy name Now can those wicked ones no longer hide themselves He that asked the question forced the answer My name is Legion The authour of discord hath borrowed a name of war from that military order of discipline by which the Jews were subdued doth the Devil fetch his denomination They were many yet they say My name not Our name though many they speak as one they act as one in this possession There is a marvellous accordance even betwixt evil Spirits That Kingdome is not divided for then it could not stand I wonder not that wicked men do so conspire in evil that there is such unanimity in the broachers and abetters of errours when I see those Devils which are many in substance are one in name action habitation Who can too much brag of unity when it is incident unto wicked Spirits All the
and went What was the issue As they went they were healed Lo had they stood still they had been Lepers now they went they are whole What haste the Blessing makes to overtake their Obedience This walk was required by the very Law if they should have found themselves healed what was it to prevent the time a little and to doe that sooner upon hopes which upon sense they must doe after The horrour of the Disease adds to the grace of the Cure and that is so much more gracious as the task is easier It shall cost them but a walk It is the bounty of that God whom we serve to reward our worthless endeavours with infinite requitals He would not have any proportion betwixt our acts and his remunerations Yet besides this recompence of Obedience O Saviour thou wouldst herein have respect to thine own just Glory Had not these Lepers been cured in the way but in the end of their walk upon their shewing to the Priests the Miracle had lost much light perhaps the Priests would have challenged it to themselves and have attributed it to their prayers perhaps the Lepers might have thought it was thy purpose to honour the Priests as the instruments of that marvellous Cure Now there can be no colour of any others participation since the Leprosie vanishes in the way As thy Power so thy Praise admits of no partners And now methinks I see what an amazed joy there was amongst these Lepers when they saw themselves thus suddenly cured each tells other what a change he feels in himself each comforts other with the assurance of his outward clearness each congratulates other's happiness and thinks and says how joyfull this news will be to their friends and families Their society now serves them well to applaud and heighten their new felicity The Miracle indifferently wrought upon all is differently taken All went forward according to the appointment toward the Priests all were obedient one onely was thankfull All were cured all saw themselves cured their sense was alike their hearts were not alike What could make the difference but Grace and who could make the difference of Grace but he that gave it He that wrought the Cure in all wrought the Grace not in all but in one The same act the same motives are not equally powerfull to all where the Oxe finds grass the Viper poison We all pray all hear one goes away bettered another cavils Will makes the difference but who makes the difference of wills but he that made them He that creates the new Heart leaves a stone in one bosome puts flesh into another It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that hath mercy O God if we look not up to thee we may come and not be healed we may be healed and not be thankfull This one man breaks away from his fellows to seek Christ Whilst he was a Leper he consorted with Lepers now that he is healed he will be free He saith not I came with these men with them I will goe if they will return I will accompany them if not what should I goe alone As I am not wiser then they so I have no more reason to be more thankfull There are cases wherein Singularity is not lawfull onely but laudable Thou shalt not follow a multitude to doe evil I and my house will serve the Lord. It is a base and unworthy thing for a man so to subject himself to others examples as not sometimes to resolve to be an example to others When either evil is to be done or good neglected how much better is it to goe the right way alone then to erre with company O noble pattern of Thankfulness what speed of retribution is here No sooner doth he see his Cure then he hasts to acknowledge it the Benefit shall not die not sleep in his hand Late professions of our obligations savour of dulness and ingratitude What a laborious and diligent officiousness is here He stands not still but puts himself to the pains of a return What an hearty recognition of the blessing His voice was not more loud in his suit then in his thanks What an humble reverence of his Benefactour He falls down at his feet as acknowledging at once beneficence and unworthiness It were happy for all Israel if they could but learn of this Samaritan This man is sent with the rest to the Priests He well knew this duty a branch of the Law of Ceremonies which he meant not to neglect but his heart told him there was a Moral duty of professing thankfulness to his Benefactour which called for his first attendence First therefore he turns back ere he will stir forward Reason taught this Samaritan and us in him that ceremony must yield to substance and that main points of Obedience ought to take place of all Rituall complements It is not for nothing that note is made of the Countrey of this thankfull Leper He was a Samaritan The place is known and branded with the infamy of a Paganish mis-religion Outward disadvantage of place or parentage cannot block up the way of God's Grace and free election as contrarily the privileges of birth and nature avail us nothing in spirituall occasions How sensible wert thou O Saviour of thine own beneficence Were there not ten cleansed but where are the nine The trouping of these Lepers together did not hinder thy reckoning It is both justice and wisedom in thee to keep a strict account of thy favours There is an wholsome and usefull art of forgetfulness in us men both of Benefits done and of Wrongs offered It is not so with God Our injuries indeed he soon puts over making it no small part of his style that he forgives iniquities but for his mercies there is no reason he should forget them they are worthy of more then our memory His favours are universal over all his works there is no creature that tasts not of his bounty his Sun and Rain are for others besides his friends but none of his good turns escapes either his knowledge or record Why should not we O God keep a book of our receits from thee which agreeing with thine may declare thee bounteous and us thankfull Our Saviour doth not ask this by way of doubt but of exprobration Full well did he count the steps of those absent Lepers he knew where they were he upbraids their ingratitude that they were not where they should have been It was thy just quarrel O Saviour that whilst one Samaritan returned nine Israelites were healed and returned not Had they been all Samaritans this had been faulty but now they were Israelites their Ingratitude was more foul then their Leprosy The more we are bound to God the more shamefull is our unthankfulness There is scarce one in ten that is carefull to give God his own this neglect is not more general then displeasing Christ had never missed their presence if their absence had
Blessed Mother that a sword should pierce through her Soul but alas how many swords at once pierce thine Every one of these words is both sharp and edged My Soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death What humane Soul is capable of the conceit of the least of those sorrows that oppressed thine It was not thy Body that suffered now the pain of body is but as the body of pain the anguish of the Soul is as the soul of anguish That and in that thou sufferedst Where are they that dare so far disparage thy Sorrow as to say thy Soul suffered onely in sympathy with thy Body not immediately but by participation not in its self but in its partner Thou best knewest what thou feltest and thou that feltest thine own pain canst cry out of thy Soul Neither didst thou say My Soul is troubled so it often was even to tears but My Soul is sorrowfull as if it had been before assaulted now possessed with grief Nor yet this in any tolerable moderation changes of Passion are incident to every humane Soul but Exceeding sorrowfull Yet there are degrees in the very extremities of evils those that are most vehement may yet be capable of a remedy at least a relaxations thine was past these hopes Exceeding sorrowfull unto death What was it what could it be O Saviour that lay thus heavy upon thy Divine Soul Was it the fear of Death was it the fore-felt pain shame torment of thine ensuing Crucifixion Oh poor and base thoughts of the narrow hearts of cowardly and impotent mortality How many thousands of thy blessed Martyrs have welcomed no less tortures with smiles and gratulations and have made a sport of those exquisite cruelties which their very Tyrants thought unsufferable Whence had they this strength but from thee If their weakness were thus undaunted and prevalent what was thy power No no It was the sad weight of the Sin of mankind it was the heavy burthen of thy Father's wrath for our sin that thus pressed thy Soul and wrung from thee these bitter expressions What can it avail thee O Saviour to tell thy grief to men who can ease thee but he of whom thou saidst My Father is greater then I Lo to him thou turnest O Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Was not this that prayer O dear Christ which in the days of thy flesh thou offeredst up with strong crying and tears to him that was able to save thee from death Surely this was it Never was cry so strong never was God thus solicited How could Heaven chuse but shake at such a Prayer from the Power that made it How can my heart but tremble to hear this suit from the Captain of our Salvation O thou that saidst I and my Father are one dost thou suffer ought from thy Father but what thou wouldst what thou determinedst was this Cup of thine either casuall or forced wouldst thou wish for what thou knewest thou wouldst not have possible Far far be these mis-raised thoughts of our ignorance and frailty Thou camest to suffer and thou wouldst doe what thou camest for yet since thou wouldst be a man thou wouldst take all of man save sin it is but humane and not sinfull to be loth to suffer what we may avoid In this velleity of thine thou wouldst shew what that Nature of ours which thou hadst assumed could incline to wish but in thy resolution thou wouldst shew us what thy victorious thoughts raised and assisted by thy Divine power had determinately pitched upon Nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt As man thou hadst a Will of thine own no humane Soul can be perfect without that main faculty That will which naturally could be content to incline towards an exemption from miseries gladly vails to that Divine will whereby thou art designed to the chastisements of our peace Those pains which in themselves were grievous thou embracest as decreed so as thy fear hath given place to thy love and obedience How should we have known these evils so formidable if thou hadst not in half a thought inclined to deprecate them How could we have avoided so formidable and deadly evils if thou hadst not willingly undergone them We acknowledge thine holy fear we adore thy Divine fortitude Whilst thy Mind was in this fearfull agitation it is no marvell if thy Feet were not fixed Thy place is more changed then thy thoughts One while thou walkest to thy drouzy Attendents and stirrest up their needfull vigilancy then thou returnest to thy passionate Devotions thou fallest again upon thy face If thy Body be humbled down to the earth thy Soul is yet lower thy prayers are so much more vehement as thy pangs are And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of bloud falling down to the ground O my Saviour what an agony am I in whilst I think of thine What pain what fear what strife what horrour was in thy Sacred breast How didst thou struggle under the weight of our sins that thou thus sweatest that thou thus bleedest All was peace with thee thou wert one with thy coeternal and coessential Father all the Angels worshipp'd thee all the powers of Heaven and earth awfully acknowledged thine Infiniteness It was our person that feoffed thee in this misery and torment in that thou sustainedst thy Father's wrath and our curse If eternal death be unsufferable if every sin deserve eternal death what O what was it for thy Soul in this short time of thy bitter Passion to answer those millions of eternal deaths which all the sins of all mankind had deserved from the just hand of thy Godhead I marvell not if thou bleedest a sweat if thou sweatest bloud If the moisture of that Sweat be from the Body the tincture of it is from the Soul As there never was such another Sweat so neither can there be ever such a Suffering It is no wonder if the Sweat were more then natural when the Suffering was more then humane O Saviour so willing was that precious bloud of thine to be let forth for us that it was ready to prevent thy Persecutours and issued forth in those pores before thy wounds were opened by thy Tormentours Oh that my heart could bleed unto thee with true inward compunction for those sins of mine which are guilty of this thine Agony and have drawn bloud of thee both in the Garden and on the Cross Woe is me I had been in Hell if thou hadst not been in thine Agony I had scorched if thou hadst not sweat Oh let me abhor my own wickedness and admire and bless thy Mercy But O ye blessed Spirits which came to comfort my conflicted Saviour how did ye look upon this Son of God when ye saw him labouring for life under these violent temptations with what astonishment did ye behold him bleeding whom ye adored In the Wilderness after his Duell with Satan ye