Oyl of Angels But to pass by that exploded conceit or rather deceit as a groundless Fiction But whether the Soul be in Heaven or Hell for a third place the Scripture owns not it is in a stated condition which Eternity it self cannot alter and our Tears nothing avail to the one or to the other In Heaven there can be no augmentation of Glory for how can they have more than fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore What can they have more than the Beatifical Vision of God and Fruition of Glory than rivers of pleasures at God's right hand for evermore Communion with and Enjoyment of God blessed for ever And can your Tears procure greater Glory Here is the maximum quod sic the highest Pinacle of Glory as much as sâ—â—ll Creatures are capable of at present and at the Resurrection Soul and Body being reunited their Glory shall be compleat yea everlâ—â—â—â—â—g Joy in the Presence of God And had you your wish for her it would fall a thousand times shorter than her real Enjoyment And what cause is there of Tears unless it be in those that envy her Happiness Now on the other side miscarrying Souls can have no diminution of their Torments by the Tears of their Friends in their life-time Prayers and Tears to God in their behalf had been sit Physick but when Death comes 't is too late let the Papists say what they will to the contrary As the tree falleth so it lyeth and as Death leaves us so Judgment shall find us Their own Tears can then do them no good though they should weep as much Water as there is in the Sea There is a time when God will be found and there is a time when he will not be found The Rich Glutton could not in Hell procure one drop of Water to cool his Tongue There is no Redemption out of Hell and there is no other place for miscarrying Souls but Hell the Tormentors will not be bribed nor the fire quenched with Tears Their worm dyeth not and their fire never goeth out Tophet is ordained of old even for the King it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a river of brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30.33 So that 't is evident immoderate Mourning for deceased Friends either needs not or boots not those that dye well are set out of the reach of Danger and those that miscarry out of the reach of Recovery But I desire you further to consider were your Daughter sensible in Heaven what sorrow you have for her on Earth which is a thing too hard for me to determine what thanks think you would she return We may imagine she would speak to you in the Language our Saviour Christ used to the Women thâ—â— lamented him upon the Cross Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves for the misery that is like to come upon you Yoâ— may sigh away your Comfort and sob away youâ— Health and weep away your precious time and disable your self for your present Duty but if you mourn all the days of your Life and weep till Dooms-day you would find your self where you began and to have gotten no ground It is your Duty to do what you can for your Children while they live as David fasted and prayed for his Son but when dead say as he I shall gâ— to her she shall not come to me Or as Job Thâ— Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. God will not be perswaded by all your Tears and Complaints to alter his Eternal Decrees to fit your Humour though you should drench your self in Sorrow and drown your self in Tears yet 't is all one you may as well mourn that God will not give you Power to resist the Tide when it comes in in its strength or resist the universal Darkness that comes upon us at the Sun 's setting or stop the Sun and Moon in their courses or remove the Pillars of Heaven or the Foundations of the Earth as this for you cannot alter his Decree or preserve the Life of one that he hath appointed to dye He doth not only appoint that all Men shall dye but the number of their Months are with him and he appoints their Bounds that they cannot pass the time when the manner how the Instrument by whom are all known to him and by immoderate mourning at the execution of his Will you seem to mourn that you are not God or not able to resist him or that he made you not of his Counsel when he decreed your Daughter's death which is so absurd that no Heathen could in plain words own it And doth not Experience convince you your Tears are vain Was there ever any that by mourning brought a Soul out of Heaven or Hell or got any benefit by it And will you think you shall be the first I know some have been raised from the Dead by the mighty Power of God who had determined it should be so for the confirmation of the Gospel But what is this to your case Let your Grief therefore never exceed the bounds of Moderation for it will never do you good or any one else But suppose it were possible to prevail with God in such a Request and he should give her her choice to go or stay you would be never the better you would never prevail with her to return There was indeed such a Petition made to Abraham for Lazarus to come back into the World but it was refused and Lazarus had met with such hard Measures in the World that he was not fond of the Journey and doubtless she would not be perswaded with all your Arguments to leave the Bosom of Christ and the sweet Embraces of her dear Redeemer to accompany you for a while for long it cannot be before a separation must be made again for this is no continuing City and truly to wish her to leave the perfection of Glory and to embrace an estate of Sin and Misery and subject her self again to Drudgery and Slavery Pain and Sickness Dread and Danger Persecution and Affliction argues more of Self-love than of true Affection to her and I believe when the Passion is over upon consideration you would not do it If a poor Beggar 's Daughter going from door to door were affected and beloved by some Mighty Prince who should take her cloath and adorn her marry her and make her his Queen and after this her Mother should perswade her to leave her Crown and Dignity her Husband Honour and Preferment and Pleasure and go along in her hand as before a begging it would be hard to perswade her The Application is easie and the Condescension far greater in this case than in that to leave Heaven to converse with you on the Earth and were it in your power would you expose her again to Sin and Suffering and to
She is dead also And would there not be another separation if she survived We are in this Life like Men in a croud almost thronged to Death and he that first gets out is best at ease and would you wish her again in the midst of the throng Now if you say as I believe you will these are not your desires to have her back Why then all these Tears these Sighs these Sobs if you imagine she is better than you This looks as if you envied her Happiness and would have her bear part of your Burden Nay immoderate Sorrow signifies that you have hard thoughts of her condition for who can mourn for those he thinks happier than himself Who mourns for his Childrens Advancement especially if he knew they were out of Danger this would look more like Envy than Love to mourn for another's Welfare If Galeacius that Italian Marquess when he was offered great Riches if he would renounce his Religion cryed out Let their Money perish with them that hold all the Wealth in the World worth one day's Communion with Christ How much more may a glorified Saint say so if he were tempted by the World's Splendour to leave his Coelestial Enjoyment that City of Pearl that Mansion of Glory the Beatifical Vision the Enjoyment of Christ those Rivers of Pleasures to come and make his abode in the World for any earthly Greatness how scornfully would a glorified Saint entertain such a Motion And how little would these Promises affect him The Martyrs that had comparatively but a little taste of Christ yet disrelished all things else in comparison of him and forsook all for him Yea loved not their lives to the death but laid them down at the Stake for his sake and in his cause But now they enjoy him in Glory what value think you they put upon him The greatest cause of sorrow for a dead Child is when we fear their miscarrying and are conscious of the neglect of our Duty to them in reference to their Salvation This we may mourn for and it may be a corrosive to our hearts and it should make us careful for the time to come But to mourn for those immoderately that we believe are translated into Glory and have the highest pitch of Happiness we could wish for them is our weakness or our sin or both Such Tears will neither glorifie God nor benefit us or our Relations living or dead but are spent in vain And seeing weeping cannot prevail with God nor with our departed Friends to return let us dry up those Tears and make no more such wast but turn them into a right Channel and mourn for sin which is the cause of their Death and of our Trouble 5. The last Consideration I shall commend unto you is to consider your own Condition the uncertainty of your Life and the hast that Death makes to post you after her yea you are following your lamented Daughter at the very heels For when your Part is play'd you will march off the Stage How soon a parting blow will be given to divide you from your other Relations you know not how soon Death will enter into your Lodgings had your Daughter lived 't is not likely you would have continued long together You have lived a considerable time the most People in the World die younger why then take it you so ill that your Daughter is stept over the Stile before you when you your self are ready to tread upon her heels and to tread out her foot-steps Yet a few years and then I shall go whence I shall not return Job 16.22 And your place will know you no more Job 7.10 The thread of your Life will soon be cut which can never be pieced and your Glass run out which will never be turned and the Day be over which will never dawn again Such Meditations of Death did always run in Job's mind he is much upon this Subject and had Death always in his Eye And the like would do you no hurt but much good O remember that my life is wind mine eye shall no more see good The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more Thine eyes are upon me and I am not As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more He shall return no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more Job 7.7 c. Let me alone that I may take comfort a little before I go hence whence I shall not return even to the land of darkness and the shâ—dow of death Job 10.20 21. He knew that he had not long to trouble the World and therefore desired he might not meet with much Trouble in the World Death whether it strikes you or your Relations gives a parting blow and which ever goes first the other will not stay long behind Now is it worth the while to spend your days in sorrowing for your dead Daughter when she hath drunk that Health that you your self must so quickly Pledge Or to wish her again for so short an Enjoyment when one of these days you will enjoy her to Eternity when she shall be much more lovely than here she was If you place your Happiness in the Enjoyment of your Relations in this Life 't is a short-liv'd Happiness and you will shortly have occasion to say as one about to leave the World Spes fortuna vale te Farewel Hope and Comfort for ever But sure while God is present a Christian need not care much who is absent If we could be as sensible of the with-drawings of God from the Soul as of the departure of Friends and Relations it would prove our greater trouble If our hopes were only in this life we should of all men be most miserable Indeed there is cause of sorrow if they die unconverted and breath out their Happiness with their Lives But for the Godly they cannot only say Dum spiro spero While there is Life there is Hope but also Dum expiro spero I have Hope in Death it self Prov. 14.32 Death it self is a Door of Hope to give them entrance into the Paradice of God but to the Wicked a Trap-door to let them into Hell Both Godly and Wicked shall change their Place but not their Company for they shall have such Company they delighted in here Those that must leave all their Comforts behind no wonder if they are unwilling to depart Never had Adam more cause to be unwilling to leave Paradice or the Jebusites the strong Holds in Sion or the unjust Steward to leave his Office or the Devils to go out of the Demoniack when they knew they should never enter there again than a wicked Man hath to leave the World Solomon calls the Grave our long Home Man goeth to his long home Eccles 12.5 And well he may some haply may sleep there Six Thousand Years before the Resurrection but Heaven and Hell may be
is the Key of God's Treasury those that have it and know how to use it may fetch out what they please Job will trust God though he kill him though by Affliction he crush â—he very breath out of his Body yet will he not â—oose his hold he shall not be so short of him Dum spiro spero saith a Believer nay Dum exâ—iro spero The Righteous Man hath hope in his Death The Woman of Canaan would not be beaten off with two or three repulses like Jacob she wrastled with God till she got the Blessing Grace â—s to the Soul as Ballast is to the Ship it makes â—t more steady when otherwise it would be â—luctuating and wavering A Gracious Man like Caleb follows God fully and keeps himself unspotted in the World Grace keeps the Heart from desponding under the darkest Dispensations of Providence though Trouble hang long on â—et he that believeth will not make hast This â—â—ke a Skilful Physician will extract Soveraign Antidotes out of the rankest Poison David got good by Affliction If there be no help in the World Faith will make a Journey to Heaven and fetch help thence and engage God himself in the Quarrel or sue him on his own Bond. Thou hast said saith Jacob thou wilt do me good deny it if thou canst therefore I expect thou shouldst make good thy Promise Grace is the whole Armour of God wherewith we grapple with Sin the World and the Devil Ephes 6.13 The Shield that beats back the fiery darts of Satan A Catholicon an Universal Medicine against all Maladies of Soul or Body And as it helps us to bear all Burdens so 't is a qualification without which we are fit for no Relations no Offices or Places in Church or Common-wealth nor to perform any Duty to God or Man Though Grace cannot fit every Man for every Office Ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius yet 't is such an Ingredient without which a Man is fit for no Place neither can he perform the Relative Duties of any such an Oâ—ye cannot Preach nor Pray Read nor Meditate as he ought or perform any Ministerial Function he is neither fit to be Magistrate Minister Husband Wife Parent or Child Master or Servant for without Grace he can never do the Duties of these Relations for all these Relations require Grace Now Grace being so necessary in the whole course of our Lives let us above all gettings get Grace 2. Consider if Grace be so necessary in the Affairs of this Life then doubtless 't is much more useful in the concerns of another when nothing else can stand us in stead If it will fit us to live it will much more fit us to dye and to leave the World it will bear up the heart under the direful Apprehensions of Death it self it will defend the heart against the venemous Darts thereof and keep the heart from desponding under the apprehensions of it When Gold and Silver Gemms and Jewels will do little good a Man armed and fortified with Grace will dare to meet this Enemy in the Field and treat him as the Apostle doth 1 Cor. 15.55 O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory c. The bravest Challenge saith one that ever rang in Death's Ear for when the Heart is defended with this Shield of Grace no venemous Dart can ever pierce it the sting is to such taken out and they may put the Serpent into their Bosom 't is a conquered Enemy lying prostrate at their Feet or rather an Enemy to Nature but a Friend to Grace the same blow that kills the Body sets the Soul at Liberty Now he that hath his Soul garnished with Grace and his Conscience purged from dead works He that hath assurance of the Pardon of his Sin and an Interest in Christ in Heaven and Glory he will not be dash'd out of Countenance with the rugged looks of Death He that hath on the Wedding-Garment needs not fear when he is called to the Supper He that hath Oyl in his Vessel as well as a Lamp in his Hand needs not fear the coming of the Bridegroom nor the Servant that is watching when his Lord comes home Death may kill a Godly Man but cannot hurt him the worst it can do is but to send him to his Father's House the sooner Then Baca shall be turned to Baracha Sighs into Songs and Misery into Majesty then shall the singing of Birds be come then shall they take Possession of their Purchased Inheritance and those Mansions of Glory prepared for them John 14.2 Then they come to Age and shall receive their Kingdom the thoughts of this will comfort the heart of a dying Man and make him say with Old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace c. Luke 2.29 And with Paul Phil. 1.23 I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ He that had been in the third Heaven no wonder if nothing would content him on Earth Some clusters of Canaan's Grapes we meet with in the Wilderness which makes us long to go over Jordan 'T is true no Man loves Death for its own sake neither can he it is an Enemy to Nature but when a Believer knows the only way to Paradice is under Death's Flaming Sword and the only way to be freed from all Sorrow is to suffer a little Pain that one blow will free him from Sin and Sorrow the Devil's Temptations and the World's Allurements and set him out of the reach of all his Enemies even in the Bosom of Christ himself Who would be afraid of such a blow Or who would fear the time when his loving Father should send a Messenger for him out of a troublesome World into Eternal Happiness to wipe all Tears from his Eyes and drive all Sorrow from his Heart Can those that really believe there is a reward for the righteous and that they are of that number fear the time when they shall enjoy it Can the Mariner after a dangerous Storm fear to enter into the desired Port or a Prisoner to enjoy his Liberty or a Sick Man his Health or a Weary Man his Rest Let those that enjoy their Pleasures Treasure and Promotions only for term of Life fear the Expiration of their Lease whose Lives do only defer their Torments Let those I say fear Death and well they may and did they but know the sequel it would send them trembling to their Graves But I fear many that yet have honest Hearts yet live at such uncertainty that they would willingly spin out the thread of their lives to a great length before they were willing to dye though it were accompanied with many Troubles many of them under pretence they are not yet prepared the more shame for them is not their main Work done Why then do they not set about it What have they done all this while If God should add Twenty Years more yet to their days will not this be their
Excuse then also And think you God will be thus put off And is it not a sad thing that the main Concern should be neglected and time found for every thing else But for wicked Men there is no cause why they should desire Death nay great reason why they should dread it as the worst of Evils they leap but out of the Frying-pan into the Fire out of a Temporal Misery into Eternal Torments and by hastning their Death out-run their Happiness and fall into endless Misery which comes fast enough without hastning But many of those mind no more their Eternal Concerns than the Ox that perisheth These Men either think Repentance is not necessary or else that they have time enough to repent in but ere long they will be sadly convinc'd of their mistake Many hasten Death by their Intemperance which yet they fear more than God himself But to let these pass I would have Believers be better acquainted with Death than to fear it for it cannot separate them from the love of Christ and those that have the Riches of Assurance cannot fear Death greatly knowing when this earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved they have a building of God a house not made with hands but eternal in the heavens And who will not part with Rags for Robes with a Cottage for a Crown and with a handful of Muck for a handful of Angels Now this Assurance is the Top-Gallant of Faith the Triumph of Trust and the Sweet-meat of the Feast of a good Conscience where there are many dainty Dishes but this is the Banquet 't is Heaven upon Earth and such a Jewel no wicked Man upon Earth can know the worth of it any more than Aesop's Cock did of the Precious Jewel When the love of Christ warms the Heart it raiseth the desires of stricter Union and Communion with him and a fuller Enjoyment of him which will never be satisfied till the full fruition in Glory He that loves God better than Father and Mother c. will part with these for his sake If we hate Hell we shall not so earnestly desire to live in the Suburbs of Hell We complain of Sin and well we may it being the cause of all our Misery but did we hate it as we ought to do we should be willing to dye that we might be rid of it for when we enter through this strait Passage and narrow Way we shall leave this and all other Burdens behind us We pretend we would serve God without Distraction and shall we fear the time and place when and where it can only be done But till Grace be in the Heart Heaven it self cannot be desirable the Employment the Company and Society cannot please a Wicked Man But Grace enables a Man to see that Death it self cannot break the Marriage-Contract between Christ and the Soul but then the Marriage will be fully consummate and when the Soul is separated from the Body it shall by the Angels be carried into the Bosom of Christ where sin and sorrow shall be no more Those that are sufficiently satisfied of the vanity of the World the emptiness of the Creature the fulness of Christ and the worth of Heaven we cannot rationally imagine but they will be willing to part with one to enjoy the other in Earth we shall never meet with Content or Satisfaction in Heaven we shall meet with no Disappointment Troubles or Vexations will a Wise Man choose a Prison or a Pest-House for his Habitation if he might have a Palace Or any but a Mad-man dwell among the Tombs The World is all this and much more He that looks upon the World as an Enemy and the Body but a Skreen between God and the Soul will not be unwilling to have both removed Will not a sick Man desire his Health and an hungry Man his Meat a Captive his Liberty and a Souldier the Victory the Husband-man the desired Harvest and the Labourer his Wages And why then should not Christians long for the time when they shall receive at God's hand the promised Reward for all they have done and suffered for the sake of God Shall those that have done and suffered so much for Heaven now be unwilling to have it when offered The Assurance of Eternal Life may make us willing to leave these our Temporal Enjoyments Well then you see though a small measure of Grace cannot overcome all Difficulties yet there is nothing else but Grace can fit us for Death or enable us to grapple with it And therefore above all gettings get Grace 3. Consider Grace is such a Qualification that without it we can neither please God nor enjoy Him who is our Chiefest Happiness Heb. 11.8 Without Faith 't is impossible to please God These are the Ornaments of a Christian the Gems and Jewels that make him lovely in the sight of God the Gold tryed in the Fire the white Raiment the Spiritual Eye-salve which God adviseth Laodicea to buy of him Rev. 3.17 18. greater Riches than the Indies can produce Christ and Grace go together he that hath one will have the other also without Grace all our Duties are worse than nothing abominable Sins for how can pure Water come from a polluted Fountain The Heart by Nature is an Augean Stable full of Filthiness but without Holiness we shall never see God Heb. 12.14 We may fast and pray and give Alms with the Pharisee Mat. 6.1 c. and offer Sacrifices c. with those Isa 1.11 c. and God will not regard us though it be commanded Duties if they proceed from a rotten Heart or be performed for a by end the Sacrifices of the Wicked are an abomination to God The Incense of the Wicked stinks of the Hand that holds it their Good Words are uttered with a stinking Breath though they may be materially good they are formally evil a good Motion cannot proceed from a soul Mouth these men deny in their Lives what they profess with their Lips they are like the Aethiopians black all but the Mouth some of them are fair Professors but foul Livers dicta factis crubescunt their Practice shames their Profession You may see how such Men's Sacrifices are accepted Isa 66.2 3. The Fountain must be cleansed or the Streams cannot be sweet the Tree must be good or the Fruit will be bad Whatever proceeds from a Wicked Man smells of the Cask If the Heart be right God accepts of Pence for Pounds Mites for Millions and esteems a Man as good as he truly desires to be Dat bene dat multum qui dat cum munere vultum God loves a chearful giver and esteems the willingness of the Mind before the worth of the Work the more of the heart is in the Sin the worse but the more of it is in the Duty the better God loves no heartless or grumbling Service My son saith he give me thy heart Prov. 23.26 David's intention to build God an House was accepted as if he had
a Prisoner that begs for his Life and is not the life of the Soul of greater value 'T is the Immortal Soul that lyes at the stake while we are playing a Game at Folly God is in earnest his Messengers are in earnest and shall we who are most concerned and who are like to be the greatest losers be in jest Were it our Riches Honours Pleasures or such like that were in danger the matter were not much but 't is the Soul and need not we be in earnest But seeing 't is for Souls I shall back this Exhortation with these following Considerations 1. Consider seriously that we must dye but when we know not 't is our Wisdom to have Death always in our Eye and with the Apostle to dye daily 1 Cor. 15.31 Death comes never the sooner for our Preparation for it neither stays the longer if we expect it not the frequent thoughts of it will put us on to our Duty when the putting far from us the evil day Amos 6.3 will make us neglect it This cursed Security and hope of Impunity is the source of all the Wickedness in the World Because Sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sons of men is wholly set in them to do wickedly Eccles 8.11 But this is not preservation but a reservation to a greater Evil this Forbearance is no Acquittance whatever we think of it Death is stealing upon us tacito pede with a silent foot and how soon he will enter our Lodgings we know not and then the Play is ended and we must march off the Stage This Motive haply may seem needless to mind Men of what they all know already but I think 't is not useless for though all Men will easily confess they must dye yet 't is not easie to make them consider of it or believe their Death is near nay if we look upon most mens Actions and manner of Living 't is easie to conclude that neither God nor Death are in their thoughts Were we but sure that Christ would come to Judgment within a Month whâ—t a Reformation should we see in the World Our Time-wasting Gallants would not then spend so much time in Hawking Hunting Drinking Whoring as now they do Holiness would not then be their scorn nor Religion their reproach and yet who knows whether it may not be within a Week Or could we be assured that Death would then Summon us to render an account of our Steward-ship in so short a time it would make the proudest of us to vail our Peacocks Plumes and entertain other thoughts of Death and Judgment and of Eternity than at present we have and we should not be so prodigal of our time as now we are but spend more of our time in hearing reading meditating and other Religious Exercises than now we do So that 't is the vain hopes of long Life which God never promised to any that encourages many in their wickedness and makes the Godly themselves the more secure 't is good therefore to view our Charter and see what time is granted us and not like the unfaithful Servant say My Lord deferreth his coming c. lest he come unawares and give us a Reward of our Folly the Poet shews these mens Folly that future their Repentance upon hopes of long life Fleres si scires unum tua tempora mensem Rides cum non sit forsitan una dies Many would weep and lament did they know they had but a Month to live that now laugh and rejoyce not having a day to live of this sort was the Rich Man mentioned Luke 12.16 c. O vain World how dost thou cheat us O cunning Devil how dost thou delude us and hide from our Eyes our latter end How dare any Poor Man that hath not made his Peace with his God neither hath any assurance of his Love spend an hour in an Ale-house or a day in Vanity and not know but it is his last We have many Spectacles of Mortality daily before us younger and stronger than we go to the Grave before us and many Monitors of Mortality within us Pains and Aches Griefs and Troubles even gray Hairs to mind us of our Winding-sheets The Lord grant we may know the voice of the rod and of him that sends it The Rich Man Luke 12.16 promises himself a lasting Happiness in the World when he had not a day to live and no doubt we have many such in our Times But alas one Month or one Year for ought we know may make a great and considerable alteration in our Families and haply those may be taken away that thought they had many a fair Year to live and much Worldly Happiness to enjoy Sometimes Death strikes the Child in the Womb when he spares them that stoop for Age there is no Degree Age or Sex that is secure neither Rich nor Poor Noble nor Base Young nor Old Fair nor Foul Religious nor Profane can plead an Exemption from the Arrest of Death for all of us are dust and unto dust we must return Gen. 3.19 Eccles 12.7 Those Houses of Clay wherein we live will ere long moulder into dust about our Ears 2 Cor. 5.1 'T is our Wisdom therefore to look out for another Habitation a building an house not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens whose foundation and builder is God This Life of ours for the shortness and uncertainty of it is compared unto the most fleeting fading perishing things we can name as to Grass to the Flower of the Field a Bubble a Post a Weaver's Shuttle a Thought a Shadow the dream of a Shadow or if any thing be more vain and what manner of men then ought we to be 1 Pet. 3.11 The dimness of our Eyes the deafness of our Ears the rottenness of our Teeth the wrinkles in our Cheeks the feebleness of our Limbs and every decay in Nature warns us of our approaching ends Death shoots many Darts at us and at length will hit us to the heart It was Jerusalem's fault and folly and I wish it be not ours to forget our latter end Lam. 1.9 2. Consid Let us further consider that we have a great deal of Work to do before we can be fit to dye and but a little short uncertain time to do it in and therefore more Diligence is required and 't is work of the greatest Concernment if our time were in our own power and at our own dispose sure and certain or were our Work but a little or of little concern whether it were or no it might be some excuse to us for our Idleness and Time-wasting but this is not our case Were Pleasures the end why we were sent into the World as many of our Gallants of both Sexes seem to suppose then many in our times take an effectual course but endless Pleasures they mind not the way to Heaven will prove a little rougher God sent us into the World