Daily in the Word

Hello all, our Good Friday fellowship in March went well with lots of good preaching.

We have started a new course called Daily in the Word on Wednesday nights. Our goal is to train and mentor our new believers in the way of the Lord and to train everyone how to disciple and train new believers.

We are excited to see what the Lord has done in our church so far and anticipating what the Lord will do in the future.

We are starting a series of Christian appologetics for our devotionals for Friday night youth night. We are looking at what makes up a Bible believing Christian. Our youth night is currently at 6:30 PM on Friday evening at the Winterburn elementary schoo gym. We play floor hockey followed by a devotional. Hockey sticks and other equipment are provided. While this activity is geared towards the youth we have several adults playing and welcome all who would like to join. Our floor hockey season comes to an end in mid May and will probably be replaced by outdoor soccer. Please call myself at 914.5016 to confirm that hockey is on before coming out for hockey as we have some weeks in which the gym is not accessible. We are very appreciative to the Winterburn elementary school for the use of the gym.

Take care,

Minister Medic

Whats happening at New Testament Baptist

Hello all,
Its been a little over a month since I wrote last.

We've done a lot of things as a family over this last little while and a lot of exciting things have happened at NTBC as well.

My family and I went on a little trip into the Seattle, WA area for a wedding making a stop at some friends on the way. It was a good trip overall but we did encounter many problems on the way (eg. Clara throwing up on the table at the wedding reception, car troubles 1500 km from home, myself coming down with the stomach flu, etc). Having said all that it was still a great trip.

I have been working hard between my job, studying for messages at NTBC and my Bible college correspondence course from Crown College, and trying to make family time. Emily has been a great help to me trying to assist wherever she can. We did, however, have a 2 week period where our whole family was sick with chest colds, stomach flues or both so that put a few things on hold. Now we are all doing great and things are getting back to normal.

At NTBC we are gearing up for our annual Welsh Memorial Good Friday Fellowship. It should prove to be a great day of preaching and fellowship.

We've really had some blessings in the last little while. James solidified his salvation at Chill-out and was baptized last Sunday. Donny and Crystal got saved last Sunday morning after Mrs.Coldwell went through the plan of salvation with them. Donny was baptized in the evening service after Pastor Coldwell was able to talk about salvation and baptism. Praise the Lord!!

We had a sound system donated to NTBC back in the fall but were unable to get it going as neither Pastor Coldwell or I know how to set up sounds boards, etc. A couple days ago a friend named Harry came and set it up for us. This will really be a blessing for some of the older folks that could use a little extra bit of wattage to hear the preaching :)

Well, I had better get going and get ready for church. Hope to see you out!

Minister Medic

Church Covenant Courses

Hello all,

Just a little reminder that we are having Church Covenant Courses again this Wednesday evening. Please try remember to bring your copy of the Covenant.

Its good to go over the Covenant and church constitution to make sure we are all on the same page and to reaffirm our beliefs.

I recommend that everyone make their best effort to be out for the service

Please be thinking about what prayer requests you should bring before the church. There are so many people to pray for. Its easy to forget about their needs and consequently forget to pray for them.

Take Care,

Minister Medic

Getting caught up

Hello all,

We had a great Christmas and New Years. We tried hard to keep Christ high during the holidays.

We really enjoyed the Christmas party that New Testament had over at the Vaals house. It was nice to have another chance to get to know eachother a little more in a social way.

We also enjoyed the New Years Service that was over at Victory. A number from New Testament went over and took in the service. Some went on the hay ride that was early in the afternoon. I was unable to go to the sleigh ride as I worked a little later.

This season was nicer than some in that we were a little more organized in having people over for dinner and going over to others for dinner. It was a time of renewing friendships.

Now that the holidays are done we are looking forward to turning our full attention to the ministry again. We have Hockey night starting back up on Friday night. We are looking forward to that and hope to see some from the community come out to that.

We hope that you had enjoyable holidays.

Take care,

Minister Medic

Chrismas Party - Dec. 14.07

Hello all,

Just a reminder to all the folks from New Testament Baptist about the Christmas party that will be at the Vaal's house on Dec. 14.07. It will be at 6:30pm.

We will have games (Pictionary, etc), a Chinese gift exchange, Christmas songs, a Christmas devotional and a Christmas story reading.

Feel free to invite your friends and family.

What to bring

1. A wrapped Christmas present worth approx. $10 for the Chinese gift exchange.

2. Some holiday snacks/appetizers/desert items.

If you have any questions email Greg at greg@newtestamentbaptist.ca

Minister Medic

Lack of knowledge

Hello all,

I have recently been meditating on Hosea 4:1 - 6. God talks about how His people have a lack of knowledge of Him in their land. He goes on to talk about the wickedness that is in the land and how His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. We may think that the wickedness we are experiencing right now is all new, it really isn't.

I think the most disheartening part of this passage is not that the people have a lack of knowledge of God because we could remedy that by getting the gospel out there. The really saddening thing is where God says in verse 6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee..."

People don't want to have a knowledge of God. They are too busy for Him. This lack of a desire to have a knowledge of God is what is destroying our people today, just like it was back in Hosea's day.

If people have a desire to learn about God He will meet them wherever they are and reveal Himself to them. It doesn't matter if they are in the furthest, darkest corners of a rain forest. If they want to find Him He will be found. But, if people don't want to find Him He will hide himself from them and their destruction will be great.

Even though the majority of people in our country do not want to have a knowledge of God we still need to get it out there for those that do have a desire to learn and for any hardened hearts that God has been working on.

Must go. Have a good day.

Minister Medic

The ready Christian

Today I was reading about Ezra the "ready scribe". I was impressed with his attitude and doubly impressed with how the Lord blessed him for his attitude.

Ezra 7:6 says "This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him"

Compare that verse with verse 10 of the same chapter.

Ezr 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

The blessings that Ezra received at the hand of God was in response to him being a ready scribe and because he "prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statues and judgements". The word "ready" in this context means "quick, skillful and diligent". Ezra was diligent as a scribe and had prepared his heart to seek the Lord.

Those that have trusted the Lord as their personal savior can only be really successful in the work of the Lord when they have a ready and diligent mind to study the Lord's Word and when they prepare their heart to serve Him.

Thats all for now.

Have a great day today,

Minister Medic

Monday Nov. 12.07

Hello all,

We had a great day in church yesterday. We had three new visitors come out to the services. We had a special prayer and moment of silence for the veterans.

Pastor Colwell and myself went out on visitation. Praise the Lord for the good weather! We met a few people that we would like to follow up on in the future.

Don't forget about the Church membership course that Pastor Coldwell is going to be starting the next Wednesday evening (Nov. 14,07). Basically this course is going to cover is "How can you benefit from the church and how can the church benefit from you".

Be sure to invite others out to Floor Hockey on Friday night. We have had a good season so far and with some good turnouts.

Take care,

Minister Medic

Remembrance Day

Hello all,

The church membership courses were postponed until Wed. Nov. 14.07 This course is sure to be a blessing to all.

Pastor Coldwell and I were privileged to be able to go to a church planting seminar put on by Earl Jessup at Victory Baptist Church. The methods that Brother Jessup uses are both Scriptural and practical. We are searching the Lord's will about using these methods in starting an Independent Baptist Church in St.Albert in the next couple years.

We are looking forward to the service tomorrow (Nov.11.07) We will be having a special Remembrance Day service. Lord willing we will be doing some door knocking in between services so if you are able to join in passing out John and Romans that would be much appreciated.

Take Care,

Minister Medic

Church memership courses

I just wanted to remind everyone that Pastor Coldwell is going to be starting a series of messages for the next 3 or 4 weeks on church membership. These start this next Wednesday Nov. 07,07.

These are courses that are valuable to those who are considering church membership and those who are already members. It is good to be reminded from time to time of the role of the church and our roles within it.

Please make every effort to make it out to these messages and then join us for prayer after the study.

Minister Medic

Sunday Nov.04,07

Hello all,

We had a great service yesterday at New Testament Baptist.

We had Jeremy and Amanda Johnson missionaries to South Africa in our Morning Worship Service. They presented the ministry that they believe that the Lord would have them do there. They highlighted the number of people in South Africa with HIV/Aids. One statistic is that one in three pregnant women are HIV positive. The average life expectancy is 43 years. The number of orphans in South Africa is in the neighborhood of 20% of the entire population. That is so unbelievably sad. On of the saddest things is that if the younger generations aren't brought up to learn about God they will follow in their parents footsteps and these problems with be perpetuated. We need to get the gospel out to these people.

Jeremy Johnson preached on the duty of every believer to reach their mission field and talked about some of the things that we allow to get in our way of witnessing to the lost.

In the afternoon we had some that went out on visitation, passing out John and Romans and trying to talk to people about the Lord. Lets pray that the Lord's Word will get into the hearts of some of the people in the Spruce Grove area.

We looked at Philippians 2:1 - 4 for the evening message. The main thrust of these verses is that Christians need to focus on each other and not on themselves. We need to attempt to work together in the ministry in unity. As humans we all have so many different ideas on which way a church should go but as Christians we need to focus on finding God's will for our church and doing these things in unity. We need to have one mind as Philippians 2:2 says.

Please pray for the Coldwells with their needs for utilities for their trailor. These utilities are coming but some of them could come sooner than later given the temperatures that we have right now and the temperatures that we are likely to have soon.

Please pray for the communities around us that the Lord will shed abroad the light of the gospel in the hearts of the people in these communities. So many people have blinded their eyes to the truth.

Remember that there is a missions conference on this week at Victory Baptist (www.victorybaptist.ws). I am planning on going Monday and Tuesday evening in addition to the seminar on Tuesday morning on church planting by Earl Jessup.

Don't forget about Floor Hockey at the Winterburn Elementary School Gym at 6:30pm on Friday evening. All ages are welcome.

Talk to you later.

Minister Medic

Catching up

I haven't been on this blog for some time. I thought I should write and share some of the highlights of our spring and summer.

Most reading my blog would probably already know that we had a second child on April 24,07 - Clara Catherine. She is now 6 months old and doing great.

Life is going well for us. We have had some large decisions to make this year. We believe that we successfully found God's will in these areas.

We are now members of New Testament Baptist Church. We were sent out of our old church, Victory Baptist Church to serve at New Testament. I am serving as the Assistant Pastor there. Our goal is to be there for upwards of 2 years. We have wondered if the Lord would have us start an Independent Baptist Church in St. Albert. I have personally have had a burden for that community for a number of years. The question is - are we the one's called to that town? In the interim period we want to be faithful and "give our best to the Master" at New Testament Baptist Church.

We are involved with the youth group at New Testament. We have floor hockey every Friday night during the school year. This is held at the Winterburn Elementary School Gym. We are very fortunate to have access to this gym right now as there are many sports teams that are struggling to have a place to practice.

We are also active in the neighborhoods around us door knocking and sharing the gospel. Please pray that the Lord will open the hearts of people that we come in contact with and that we might see some souls saved.

We are amazed at how the Lord has provided for our church. We had been planning to grade the field behind the church for a sports field. We had hoped to do it this year but thought that we weren't going to be able to do that as we had other needs that were more pressing. The Lord directed a developer to donate hundreds of dump truck loads of dirt to the church. This developer has also agreed to grade the land after the dirt is moved around.

The Lord also blessed with the donation of a comprehensive sound system that will help the seniors in our congregation hear much better. The Lord saw our need and met it - Praise His name!

Emily and I were blessed to be able to go to the National Pastors Conference hosted by Pembina Valley Baptist Church in Winkler, MB. in Sept of this year. As always, we heard some really good preaching and had our souls stirred for the Lord.

The list of blessings could go on and on but suffice it to say the Lord has been good to us.

Till next time.

Minister Medic

Prophesies of Christ and their fulfillment 2

Here is a second prophesy of Christ and its fulfillment

2.Christ is the promised Seed of Abraham.

Prophesy

Genesis 18:18 “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Fullfillment

Acts 3:25 “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.”

Don't we have an awesome God? None of His prophesies have failed. We can trust Him to be true and faithful.

-MinisterMedic

Prophesies of Christ and their fulfillment

I am doing a study on the prophesies of Christ and their fulfillment. I thought I would share one of these promises with the corresponding fulfillment each day.

1. Jesus Would be the “Seed of a woman”

Prophesy
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Fulfillment
Gal. 4:4 :But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” (Luke 2:7, Rev. 12:5)

Stay tuned for more prophesies of Christ in the following days.

MinisterMedic

Bible Institute at Victory Baptist Church

Hello all, I just wanted to let you know that we have started posting Pastor Harness' Bible Institute on the web. We are putting it there for anyone to listen to but in particular for those that are in the course that are unable to attend a particular class. The address to these files is as follows. (You can either copy and paste this into your browser or click on the link "Bible Institute" under the links section.)

http://www.archive.org/details/BibleInstitute

Look for the grey box on the top right/center of the screen. Click on the desired file. This will stream the file to you. If you are on dialup or satellite you can go to the bottom of the site and download the file to your computer and listen to it offline.

If you have any questions let me know.

Greg

Seeing the Lord

Seeing the Lord



It appears that Moses' spiritual life isn't recorded prior to the event with the burning bush on Mount Horeb recorded in Exodus 3. The Lord supernaturally caused this bush to burn without it being consumed. It is interesting that after the Lord revealed himself verbally to Moses he was afraid to look at the Lord. Exodus 3:6 records God as saying "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God."

We know that no man ever has or ever will behold the full glory of God while in the flesh. John 1:18 says "No man hath seen God at any time". Moses knew that he could not look on God and survive. It is very likely that Moses' relationship with God was quite minimal at that time and that he had not spent much time communing with God or even at all. As you read Exodus 3 and 4 you see instances of serious doubt in Moses' mind. He even asks the Lord in Exodus 3:13 "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?" He wasn't even sure what to call God. God answers him with simply but powerfully with "I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

It is intriguing to see that later in Moses' life, after he has seen the Lord work many mighty deeds, that he asks God in Exodus 33:18 "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." Now he has come to the place where he knows God. He has a personal relationship with Him. God has told Moses that "I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight." It isn't that Moses is cocky now. No, he now appreciates God for who He is and craves His glory. We know that God grants him his request but protects him by only allowing him to see as much as his frail human body could handle by only showing him His hinder parts and by shielding him with His hand.

As we are in a different dispensation we don't expect God to deal with us the same way He did with Moses and the other patriarchs. We can, however, view God with our spiritual eyes. As we grow closer to the Lord we should desire to "see" his attributes more and more, and we won't fear what we will "see". II Corinthians 3:18 says "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." The previous verses in this passage speak of the vail that Moses had to put over his face after seeing the glory of God because the children of Israel were not able to look on him. Their eyes were (and still are) blinded, but we can look with "open face" upon His glory. Our lives will be so enriched when we view God as He really is, as we look for His goodness, His faithfulness, His Holiness, His longsuffering, His tenderness and many more such attributes. Take steps in your daily lives to behold the "glory of the Lord."

Minister Medic

Clean hands

Here is a devotional from Pastor Paul Chappel that I really liked and thought I would pass on. Too many people like to get too close to sin and think they will be okay.

CLEAN HANDS

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

2 Corinthians 6:17

One of Susannah Wesley’s daughters came to her one day wishing to do something which was not altogether bad but which was not right. When she told her daughter not to do it, her daughter was not convinced.

It was late and Susannah and her daughter were sitting beside a dead fire. Her mother said to her, “Pick up that bit of coal.” “I don’t want to,” said the girl. “Go on,” said her mother. “The fire is out, it won’t burn you.” “I know that,” said the girl. “I know it won’t burn me, but it will blacken my hands.” “Exactly,” said Susannah Wesley. “That thing which you wish to do won’t burn, but it will blacken. Leave it alone.”

The Bible tells us not to even touch the unclean thing. Even if we do not think it is so terribly wrong, we must understand that it will blacken our hands.

God wants us to live pure and holy lives. Is there something that is blackening your life? Give it to God and let Him cleanse you. If we wish for revival to come, we must each examine our own lives and make sure we are right with God.

Paul Chappel

April 9.06

Hello all,

I have been quite negligent of late with this blog but alas I am back.

I don't know about you folks but my life has been quite hectic as of late. We have been down a couple medics at my work due to sickness and injuries so I have worked a fair amount of overtime. At the same time my wife and I have been working on home renovations. We started what we thought was going to be a cheap (maybe $50) project of tiling the countertop in our bathroom. The people that had our house before us painted over a very 70's looking countertop but stains started coming through the countertop so we had to do something about it. After all the costs were factored in we were told that it would cost us about $200 to tile the countertop. We decided that was not the cheap fix we were looking for and instead bought a countertop for $72 and put that up. Now I just have to finish form fitting it to our mildly bumpy wall. We also put new taps, towel racks (x2), and toilet roll dispensor in. We painted the upper part of the wall a moss green and are putting up wainscotting which we are going to paint a cream color. We plan to put new lino down too. Anyway, enough about the renos.

Our little baby has a cold right now so she is fairly miserable which does have a trickle down effect to the rest of us but its not too bad.

Talk to you later,

MinisterMedic

Jan. 23.06 - Daily musings

Hello all, I hope you all had a great Sunday. Ours was enjoyable. We were in our own church this Sunday. We might be ministering next Sunday in the other church that I have mentioned in previous posts.

In my devotions today I came across a number of good verses. One of them was in Prov. 2:17 which talks about the strange woman.

It reads "Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forsaketh the covanent of her God.'

I am sure this is a familiar verse to many. It got my mind thinking. I am guessing that part or all of this covanent could be referring to chastity. God has commanded chastity many times throughout scripture. However I am curious to learn more about this covanent that Solomon is referring to. As you know, a covanent is something that is made between two or more parties. With God's covanents there is either a blessing or a curse to be had if one does or does not fulfill the covanent. Here are some more verses on the subject that refer to the covanent but that do not answer what the covanent precisely is.

Ezekiel 16:8, 59. 60 "[8]Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covanent with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. [59] For this saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covanent. [60] Nevertheless I will remember my covanent with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covanent."

I realize that this is referring allegorically to the children of Israel but I think there is an application to individual people. So what exactly is this covanent? There is probably a scripture that does detail it. Secondly, is this covanent one that has to be agreed upon by both parties, namely God and us individually or is is one in which God has laid the ground rules and if we break it we are in breach of this covanent? If you have some insight and some scripture on the subject feel free to mention something under comments. Please note: I would appreciate it if all comments could be Bible based and not based on personal opinion.

Talk at you later.

- Minister Medic

Jan 23.06 - Sinners in the hands of an angry God

Below I am posting a sermon of Jonathon Edwards titled "Sinners in the hands of an angry God". This sermon has been an insipiration to believers and has been convicting for nonbelievers.

"SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD

by Jonathan Edwards

-Their foot shall slide in due time- Deut. xxxii. 35

In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained (as ver. 28.) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. The expression I have chosen for my text, Their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following doings, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.
That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm lxxiii. 18. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction."
2. It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm lxxiii. 18, 19. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!"
3. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.
4. That the reason why they are not fallen already, and do not fall now, is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.
The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment.
The truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.
1. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands.-He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?
2. They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" Luke xiii. 7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.
3. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John iii. 18. "He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John viii. 23. "Ye are from beneath." And thither be is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.
4. They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell.
So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.
5. The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke xi. 12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should perrnit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.
6. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. lvii. 20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;" but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.
7. It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expence of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked nian, at any moment. All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world, are so in God's hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case.
8. Natural men's prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or the care of others to preserve them, do not secure them a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do also bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world, and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death: but how is it in fact? Eccles. ii. 16. "How dieth the wise man? even as the fool."
9. All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.
But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell ever to be the subects of that misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself: I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief: Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then suddenly destruction came upon me.
10. God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant.
So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.
So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of, all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.

APPLICATION

The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ.-That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of, there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his band, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.
The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart,
by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you, see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. And consider here more particularly
1. Whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. xx. 2. "The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: Whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul." The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke xii. 4, 5. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
2. It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isaiah lix. 18. "According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries." So Isaiah lxvi. 15. "For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And in many other places. So, Rev. xix. 15, we read of "the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is "the fierceness and wrath of God." The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehovah! Oh, how dreadful must that be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them! But it is also "the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. Oh! then, what will be the consequence! What will become of the poor worms that shall suffer it! Whose hands can be strong? And whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this!
Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger, implies, that he will inflict wrath without any pity. When God beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment to be so vastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will God then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you shall not suffer beyond what strict justice requires. Nothing shall be withheld, because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. viii. 18. "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them." Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock," Prov. i. 25, 26, &c.
How awful are those words, Isa. lxiii. 3, which are the words of the great God. "I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." It is perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, vis. contempt, and hatred, and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard or favour, that instead of that, he will only tread you under foot. And though he will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he will not regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you, in the utmost contempt: no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that end, that he might show what that wrath of Jehovah is. God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that would provoke them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego; and accordingly gave orders that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it. But the great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. Rom. ix. 22. "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endure with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" And seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. xxxiii. 12-14. "And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites," &c.
Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. lxvi. 23, 24. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."
4. It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"
How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell? And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quiet and secure, should be there before to-morrow morning. Those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportuniry to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at Suffield*, where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?
Are there not many here who have lived long in the world, and are not to this day born again? and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they have lived, but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, sirs, your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Do you not see how generally persons of your years are passed over and left, in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy? You had need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God.-And you, young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?
And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now harken to the loud calls of God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favours to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days; the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down and cast into the fire.
Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation: Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed."

*A town in the neighbourhood."

Let me know what you think.

- Minister Medic