possessed did him good: he had no sweetness in meat or drink; the sight of friends troubled him: he was weary of life, and fearful of death. If the misery of the damned can be endured, why cannot a man more easily endure these foretastes of hell?—What if thou shouldst see the Devil appear to thee in some terrible shape? Would not thy heart fail thee, and thy hair stand on end? And how wilt thou endure to live for ever, where thou shalt have no other company but Devils, and the damned, and shalt not only see them, but be tormented with them and by them?—Let me once more ask, if the wrath of God be so light, why did the Son of God himself make so great a matter of it? It made him _sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground_. The Lord of life cried, _My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death_. And on the cross, _My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?_ Surely if any one could have born these sufferings easily, it would have been Jesus Christ. He had another measure of strength to bear it than thou hast. Woe to thee, sinner, for thy mad security! Dost thou think to find it tolerable to thee, which was so heavy to Christ? Nay, the Son of God is cast into a bitter agony, and bloody sweat, only under the _curse of the law_; and yet thou, feeble, foolish creature, makest nothing to bear also the curse of the gospel, which requires a _much sorer punishment_.[260] The good Lord bring thee to thy right mind by repentance, lest thou buy thy wit at too dear a rate! [Footnote 260] Hebrews x, 29.