<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=461147" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>A Postscript unto the Reader</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">And now good Reader, I return again<br>To talk with thee, who hast been at the pain<br>To read throughout, and heed what went before;<br>And unto thee I'le speak a little more.<br>Give ear, I pray thee, unto what I say,<br>That God may hear thy voice another day.<br>Thou hast a Soul, my friend, and so have I,<br>To save or lose; a Soul that cannot die,<br>A soul of greater price than God and Gems;<br>A Soul more worth than Crowns and Diadems;<br>A Soul at first created like its Maker,<br>And of Gods Image made to be partaker:<br>Upon the wings of Noblest faculties,<br>Taught for to soar above the Starry Skies,<br>And not to rest, until it understood<br>It self possessed of the chiefest good.<br>And since the Fall, thy Soul retaineth still<br>Those Faculties of Reason and of Will,<br>But Oh, how much deprav'd, and out of frame,<br>As if they were some others, not the same.<br>Thine Understanding dismally benighted,<br>And Reason'd eye in Sp'ritual things dim-sighted,<br>Or else stark blind: Thy Will inclin'd to evil,<br>And nothing else, a Slave unto the Devil;<br>That loves to live, and liveth to transgress,<br>But shuns the way of God and Holiness.<br>All thin Affections are disordered;<br>And thou by head-strong Passions are misled.<br>What need I tell thee of thy crooked way,<br>And many wicked wand'rings every day?<br>Or that thine own transgressions are more<br>In number, than the sands upon the Shore:<br>Thou art a lump of wickedness become,<br>And may'st with horrour think upon thy Doom,<br>Until thy Soul be washed in the flood<br>Of Christ's most dear, soul-cleansing precious blood.<br>That, that alone can do away thy sin<br>Which thou wert born, and hast long lived in.<br>That, only that, can pacifie Gods wrath,<br>If apprehended by a lively Faith,<br>Now whilst the day and means of Grace do last,<br>Before the opportunity be past.<br>But if O man, thou liv'st a Christless creature,<br>And Death surprize thee in a state of nature,<br>(As who can tell but that may be thy case)<br>How wilt thou stand before the Judge's face?<br>When he shall be reveal'd in faming fire,<br>And come to pay ungodly men their hire:<br>To execute due vengeance upon those<br>That knew him not, or that have been his foes?<br>What wilt thou answer unto his demands,<br>When he requires a reason at thy hands<br>Of all the things that thou hast said, or done,<br>Or left undone, or set thine heart upon?<br>When he shall thus with thee expostulate,<br>What cause hadst thou thy Maker for to hate,<br>To take up Arms against thy Soveraign,<br>And Enmity against him to maintain?<br>What injury hath God Almighty done thee?<br>What good hath he with-held that might have won thee?<br>What evil, or injustice, hast thou found<br>In him, that might unto thine hurt redound?<br>If neither felt, nor feared injury<br>Hath moved thee to such hostility;<br>What made thee then the Fountain to forsake,<br>And unto broken Pits thy self betake?<br>What reason hadst thou to dishonour God,<br>Who thee with Mercies never cease to load?<br>Because the Lord was good, hast thou been evil,<br>And taken part against him with the Devil?<br>For all his cost to pay him with despite,<br>And all his love with hatred to requite?<br>Is this the fruit of Gods great patience,<br>To wax more bold in disobedience?<br>To kick against the bowels of his Love,<br>Is this aright his Bounty to improve?<br>Stand still, ye Heav'ns and be astonished,<br>That God by man should thus be injured!<br>Give ear, O Earth, and tremble at the sin<br>Of those that thine Inhabitants have bin.<br>But thou, vile Wretch, hast added unto all<br>Thine other faults, and facts so criminal,<br>The damning sin of wilful unbelief,<br>Of all Transgressors hadst thou been the chief;<br>Yet when time was, thou might'st have been set free<br>From Sin, and Wrath, and punishment by mee.<br>But thou wouldst not accept of Gospel Grace,<br>Nor on my terms Eternal Life embrace.<br>As if that all thy breaches of Gods Law<br>Were not enough upon thy head to draw<br>Eternal Wrath: Thou hast despis'd a Saviour,<br>Rejected me, and trampled on my favour.<br>How oft have I stood Knocking at thy door,<br>And been denied entrance evermore?<br>How often hath my Spirit been withstood,<br>When as I sent him to have done thee good?<br>Thou hast no need of any one to plead<br>Thy Cause, or for thy Soul to intercede:<br>Plead for thy self, it thou hast ought to say,<br>And pay thy forfeiture without delay.<br>Behold thou dost ten thousand Talents owe,<br>Or pay thy Debt, or else to Prison go.<br>Think, think, O Man, when Christ shall thus unfold<br>Thy secret guilt, and make thee to behold<br>The ugly face of all thy sinful errours,<br>And fill thy Soul with his amazing terrours,<br>And let thee see the flaming Pit of Hell<br>(Where all that have no part in him shall dwell)<br>When he shall thus expostulate the case,<br>How canst thou bear to look him in the face?<br>What wilt thou do without an Advocate?<br>Or plead, when as thy state is desparate?<br>Dost think to put him off with fair pretences?<br>Or wilt thou hide and cover thine offences?<br>Can any thing from him concealed be,<br>Who doth the hidden things of darkness see?<br>Art thou of force his Power to withstand?<br>Canst thou by might escape out of his hand?<br>Dost thou intend to run out of his sight,<br>And save thy self from punishment by flight?<br>Or wilt thou be eternally accurst,<br>And bide his Vengeance, let him do his worst?<br>Oh, who can bear his indignation heat?<br>Or bide the pains of Hell, which are so great?<br>If then thou neither canst his Wrath endure,<br>Nor any Ransom after death procure:<br>If neither Cryes nor Tears can move his heart<br>To pardon thee, or mittigate thy smart,<br>But unto Hell thou must perforce be sent<br>With dismal horrour and astonishment:<br>Consider, O my Friends, what cause thou hast<br>With fear and trembling (while as yet thou may'st)<br>To lay to heart thy sin and misery,<br>And to make out after the Remedy.<br>Consider well the greatness of thy danger,<br>O Child of wrath, and object of Gods anger,<br>Thou hangest over the Infernal Pit<br>By one small thread, and car'st thou not a whit?<br>There's but a step between thy Soul and Death,<br>Nothing remains but stopping of thy breath,<br>(Which may be done to morrow, or before)<br>And then thou art undone for evermore.<br>Let this awaken thy Security,<br>And make thee look about thee speedily,<br>How canst thou rest an hour or sleep a night,<br>Or in thy Creature-comforts take delight;<br>Or with vain Toyes thy self forgetfull make<br>How near thou art unto the burning Lake?<br>How canst thou live without tormenting fears?<br>How canst thou hold from weeping floods of tears,<br>Yea, tears of blood, I might almost have sed,<br>If such like tears could from thine eyes be shed?<br>To gain the world what will it profit thee,<br>And loose thy Soul and self eternallie?<br>Eternity on one small point dependeth:<br>The man is lost that this short life mispendeth,<br>For as the Tree doth fall, right so it lies;<br>And man continues in what state he dies.<br>Who happy die, shall happy rise again;<br>Who cursed die, shall cursed still remain,<br>If under Sin, and Wrath, Death leaves thee bound,<br>At Judgment under Wrath thou shalt be found:<br>And then wo, wo that ever thou wert born,<br>O wretched man, of Heav'n and Earth forlorn!<br>Consider this, all ye that God forget,<br>Who all his threatenings at nought do set,<br>Lest into pieces he begin to tear<br>Your Souls, and there be no deliverer.<br>O you that now sing care and fear away,<br>Think often of the formidable Day,<br>Wherein the Heavens with a mighty noise,<br>And with a hideous, heart-confounding voice,<br>Shall pass away together, being roll'd<br>As men are wont their garments for to fold;<br>When th' Elements with fervent heat shall melt,<br>And living Creatures in the same shall swelt,<br>And altogether in those Flames expire,<br>Which set the Earths Foundations on fire.<br>Oh, what amazement will your hearts be in,<br>And how will you to curse your selves begin<br>For all your damned sloth, and negligence,<br>And unbelief, and gross Impenitence,<br>When you shall hear that dreadful Sentence past,<br>That all the wicked into Hell be cast?<br>What horrour will your Consciences surprise,<br>When you shall hear the fruitless doleful cries<br>Of such as are compelled to depart<br>Unto the place of everlasting smart?<br>What, when you see the sparks fly out of Hell,<br>And view the Dungeon where you are to dwell,<br>Wherein you must eternally remain<br>In anguish, and intolerable pain?<br>What, when your hands and feet are bound together,<br>And you are cast into the Lake for ever?<br>Then shall you feel the truth of what you hear,<br>That hellish pains are more than you can bear,<br>And that those Torments are an hundred fold<br>More terrible than ever you were told.<br>Nor speak I this, good Reader, to torment thee<br>Before the time, but rather to prevent thee<br>From running head-long to thine own decay,<br>In such a perillous and deadly way.<br>We, who have known and felt Jehovah's terrours,<br>Perswade men to repent them of their errours,<br>And turn to God in time, e're his Decree<br>Bring forth, and then there be no Remedee!<br>If in the night, when thou art fast asleep,<br>Some friend of thine, that better watch doth keep,<br>Should see thy house all on a burning flame,<br>And thee almost inclosed with the same:<br>If such a friend should break thy door and wake thee,<br>Or else by force out of the peril take thee:<br>What? wouldst thou take his kindness in ill part?<br>Or frown upon him for his good desert?<br>Such, O my friend, such is thy present state,<br>And danger, being unregenerate.<br>Awake, awake, and then thou shalt perceive<br>Thy peril greater than thou wilt believe.<br>Lift up thine eyes, and see Gods wrathful ire,<br>Preparing unextinguishable fire<br>For all that live and die impenitent.<br>Awake, awake, O Sinner, and repent,<br>And quarrel not, because I thus alarm<br>Thy Soul, to save it from eternal harm.<br>Perhaps thou harbourest such thoughts as these:<br>I hope I may enjoy my carnal ease<br>A little longer, and my self refresh<br>With those delights that gratifie the flesh,<br>And yet repent before it be too late,<br>And get into the comfortable state;<br>I hope I have yet many years to spend,<br>And time enough those matters to attend.<br>Presumptuous heart! Is God engag'd to give<br>A longer time to such as love to live<br>Like Rebels still, who think to stain his Glory<br>By wickedness, and after to be sory?<br>Unto thy lust shall he be made a drudge,<br>Who thee, and all ungodly men, shall judge?<br>Canst thou account sin sweet, and yet confess,<br>That first, or last, it ends in bitterness?<br>Is sin a thing that must procure thee sorrow?<br>And woulst thou dally with't another morrow?<br>O foolish man, who lovest to enjoy<br>That which will thee distress, or else destroy!<br>What gained Sampson by his Delilah?<br>What gained David by his Bathsheba?<br>The one became a Slave, lost both his eyes,<br>And made them sport that were his Enemies;<br>The other penneth, as a certain token<br>Of Gods displeasure, that his bones were broken,<br>Besides the woes he after met withal,<br>To chasten him for that his grievious Fall:<br>His own Son Ammon using crafty wiles,<br>His Daughter Thamar wickedly defiles;<br>His second Son more beautiful than good,<br>His hands embreweth in his Brothers Bolld:<br>And by and by aspiring to the Crown,<br>He strives to pull his gentle Father down:<br>With hellish rage, him fiercely persecuting,<br>And bruitishly his Concubines polluting.<br>Read whoso list, and ponder what he reads,<br>And he shall find small joy in evil deeds.<br>Moreover this consider, that the longer<br>Thou liv'st in sin, thy sin will grow the stronger,<br>And then it will an harder matter prove,<br>To leave those wicked haunts that thou dost love.<br>The Black-moor may as eas'ly change his skin,<br>As old transgressors leave their wonted sin.<br>And who can tell what may become of thee,<br>Or where thy Soul in one days time may be?<br>We see that Death ner old nor young men spares,<br>But one and other takes at unawares.<br>For in a moment, whil'st men Peace do cry,<br>Destruction seizeth on them suddenly.<br>Thou who this morning art a lively wight,<br>May'st be a Corps and damned Ghost ere night.<br>Oh, dream not then, that it will serve the turn,<br>Upon thy death bed for thy sins to mourn,<br>But think how many have been snatcht away,<br>And had no time for mercy once to pray.<br>It's just with God Repentance to deny<br>To such as put it off until they dy,<br>And late Repentance seldom proveth true,<br>Which if it fail, thou know'st what must ensue;<br>For after this short life is at an end,<br>What is amiss thou never canst amend.<br>Believe, O man, that to procrastinate,<br>And put it off until it be too late,<br>As 'tis thy sin, so is it Satans wile,<br>Whereby he doth great multitudes beguile.<br>How many thousands hath this strong delusion<br>Already brought to ruine and confusion,<br>Whose Souls are now reserv'd in Iron Chains,<br>Under thick darkness to eternal pains?<br>They thought of many years, as thou dost now,<br>But were deceived quite, and so may'st thou.<br>Oh, then my friend, while not away thy time,<br>Nor by rebellion aggravate thy Crime.<br>Oh put not off Repentance till to morrow,<br>Adventure not without Gods leave to borrow<br>Another day to spend upon thy lust,<br>Lest God (that is most holy, wise, and just)<br>Denounce in wrath, and to thy terrour say:<br>This night shall Devils fetch thy Soul away.<br>Now seek the face of God with all thy heart;<br>Acknowledge unto him how vile thou art;<br>Tell him thy sins deserve eternal wrath,<br>And that it is a wonder that he hath<br>Permitted thee so long to draw thy breath,<br>Who might have cut thee off by sudden death,<br>And sent thy Soul into the lowest Pit,<br>From whence no price should ever ransom it,<br>And that he may most justly do it still<br>(Because thou hast deserv'd it) if he will.<br>Yet also tell him that, if he shall please,<br>He can forgive thy Sins, and thee release,<br>And that in Christ his Son he may be just,<br>And justifie all those what on him trust:<br>That though thy sins are of a crimson dy,<br>Yet Christ his Blood can cleanse thee thorowly.<br>Tell him, that he may make his glorious Name<br>More wonderful by covering thy shame;<br>That Mercy may be greatly magnify'd,<br>And Justice also fully satisfy'd,<br>If he shall please to own thee in his Son,<br>Who hath paid dear for Men's Redemption.<br>Tell him thou hast an unbelieving heart,<br>Which hindereth thee from coming for a part<br>In Christ: and that although his terrours aw thee,<br>Thou canst not come till he be pleas'd to draw thee.<br>Tell him thou know'st thine heart to be so bad,<br>And thy condition so exceeding sad,<br>That though Salvation may be had for nought<br>Thou canst not come and take, till thou be brought.<br>Oh beg of him to bow thy stubborn Will<br>To come to Christ, that he thy lusts may kill.<br>Look up to Christ for his attractive pow'r,<br>Which he exerteth in a needful hour;<br>Who saith, whenas I lifted up shall be,<br>Then will I draw all sorts of men to me.<br>O wait upon him with true diligence,<br>And trembling fear in every Ordinance;<br>Unto his call earnest attention give,<br>Whose voice makes deaf men hear, and dead men live.<br>Thus weep, and mourn, thus hearken, pray and wait,<br>Till he behold, and pitty thine estate,<br>Who is more ready to bestow his Grace,<br>Then thou the same art willing to imbrace;<br>Yea, he hath Might enough to bring thee home,<br>Though thou hast neither strength nor will to come.<br>If he delay to answer thy request,<br>Know that oft-times he doth it for the best:<br>Not with intent to drive us from his door,<br>But for to make us importune him more;<br>Or else to bring us duly to confess,<br>And be convinc'd of our unworthiness.<br>Oh, be not weary then, but persevere<br>To beg his Grace till he thy suit shall hear:<br>And leave him not, nor from his foot-stool go,<br>Till over thee Compassions skirt he throw.<br>Eternal Life will recompence thy pains,<br>If found at last, with everlasting gains.<br>For if the Lord be pleas'd to hear thy cryes,<br>And to forgive thy great iniquities,<br>Thou wilt have cause for ever to admire,<br>And laud his Grace, that granted thy desire.<br>Then shalt thou find thy labour is not lost:<br>But that the good obtain'd surmounts the cost.<br>Nor shalt thou grieve for loss of sinful pleasures,<br>Exchang'd for heavenly joyes and lasting treasures.<br>The yoke of Christ, which once thou didst esteem<br>A tedious yoke, shall then most easie seem.<br>For why? The love of Christ shall thee constrain<br>To take delight in that which was thy pain;<br>The wayes of Wisdom shall be pleasant wayes,<br>And thou shalt chuse therein to spend thy dayes.<br>If once thy Soul be brought to such a pass,<br>O'bless the Lord, and magnifie his Grace.<br>Thou, that of late hadst reason to be sad,<br>May'st now rejoyce, and be exceeding glad,<br>For thy condition is as happy now,<br>As erst it was disconsolate and low;<br>Thou art become as rich as whilome poor,<br>As blessed now, as cursed heretofore;<br>For being cleansed with Christs precious Blood,<br>Thou hast an int'rest in the chiefest good:<br>Gods anger is towards thy Soul appeased,<br>And in his Christ he is with thee well pleased.<br>Yea, he doth look upon thee with a mild<br>And gracious aspect as upon his child;<br>He is become thy Father and thy Friend,<br>And will defend thee from the cursed Fiend.<br>Thou need'st not fear the roaring Lyon's rage,<br>Since God Almighty doth himself engage<br>To bear thy Soul in Everlasting Armes,<br>Above the reach of all destructive harms.<br>What ever here thy sufferings may be,<br>Yet from them all the Lord shall rescue thee.<br>He will preserve thee by his wond'rous might<br>Unto that rich Inheritance in light.<br>Oh, sing for you, all ye regenerate,<br>Whom Christ hath brought into this blessed state!<br>O love the Lord, all ye his Saints, who hath<br>Redeemed you from everlasting wrath:<br>Who hath by dying made your Souls to live,<br>And what he dearly bought doth freely give:<br>Give up you selves to walk in all his wayes,<br>And study how to live unto his praise.<br>The time is short you have to serve him here:<br>The day of your deliv'rance draweth near.<br>Lift up your heads, ye upright ones in heart,<br>Who in Christ's purchase have obtain'd a part.<br>Behold, he rides upon a shining Cloud,<br>With Angels voice, and Trumpet sounding loud;<br>He comes to save his folk from all their foes,<br>And plague the men that Holiness oppose.<br>So come, Lord Jesus, quickly come we pray:<br>Yea come, and hasten our Redemption day.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Michael+Wigglesworth">Michael Wigglesworth</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=461147" data-title="A Postscript unto the Reader de Michael Wigglesworth" data-description="And now good Reader, I return again To talk with thee, who hast been at the pain To read throughout, and heed what went before; And unto thee I'le speak a little more. Give ear, I pray thee, unto what I say, That God may hear thy voice another day..."></div> </div> </div>

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