giving Nor in not forgiving never forgetting how the wicked uncompassionate Servant in the Parable was delivered by his Lord to the Tormentors Thou wilt strive and labour against sinful [w] Mr. Latimer having in a Sermon at Court in Henry the Eighth's daies much displeased the King he was commanded the next Lord's-Day to preach again and make his Recantation He coming prefaced to his Sermon with a kind of Dialogism in this manner Hugh Latimer Do'st know to whom thou art this day to speak to the high and mighty Monarch that can take away thy Life if thou offend therefore take heed how thou speakest a Word that may displease his Majesty But as recalling himself Hugh Hugh saies he do'st know from whom thou comest and upon whose message thou art sent even the great and mighty God that is able to cast both Body and Soul into Hell-fire for ever and therefore take heed to thy self that thou deliver thy message faithfully and so came to his Sermon and what he had deliver'd the Day before confirmed and urged with more vehemency than ever The King that day called for him and taking him off from his Knees embraced him in his Arms saying he blessed God that he had a Man in his Kingdom that durst deal so plainly and faithfully with him Mr. Newcomen's Serm on Heb. 4.13 p. 37. Fearfulness and not be drawn to do any Evil or omit any Good against clear and full Light of Conscience for Fear of any outward Trouble or Danger recollecting in thy Thoughts that the ‖ Rev 21.8 Fearful shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone Thou wilt be ready (*) Mat. 10.28 Luke 12.5 to set the Fear of God and the Fear of Hell against all carnal Fear of Men or of any temporal Evil whatsoever As the Primitive Martyrs did who when they were solicited by Heathen Emperours to sacrifice to their Idols with these Arguments That then they should save their Houses and Lands and Liberties and Lives but should otherwise lose all They put off all with this Answer [x] Da veniam Imperator tu carcerem minaris ille gehennam Pardon us O Emperour you threaten a Prison to us but God threatens Hell to us So Biblis as [y] Eccl. Hist l. 5. c. 1. Eusebius relates the Story a Woman who having fainted before and renounced her Profession of Christianity out of fear of suffering Persecution and being brought to the Place where the Christians Bodies were burnt to Ashes that others might be drawn from their Profession by means of her expected publick blasphemous Denial and Recantation was at the very Hour of Suffering thoroughly awaken'd as out of a dead Sleep by the sight of those Flames which were the Instruments of the Martyrs Torments to consider the intolerable eternal Torture of Hell-fire which she must unavoidably suffer if she should dishonour Christ and his Religion and asperse the innocent and unblameable Professors of it And thus expelling the lesser Fear by the greater and happily returning unto her self she disappointed her Persecutors Expectation and by being faithful unto Death obtain'd the Crown of a Martyr of Jesus and animated others to endure the Cross with Christian Fortitude and the Patience of the Saints Fix thy Cogitations on the Infernal Flames and this will make thee resolve and determine to chuse rather to do or suffer any thing here than to suffer the sad and bitter Pains of Hell hereafter Concluding that the Pains and Difficulties of Duty are no way comparable to the troublesome uneasy Condition and piercing raging Pains of Hell yea that the Suffering of Martyrdom here is a light Affliction to the dreadful Suffering of Hell-fire hereafter The serious frequent Meditation of the exquisite Punishments and dolorous Torments of Hell will moreover powerfully perswade thee to be far from [z] De horribili eorum exitio admoniti fideles praesentem illis sortem non invideant Calv. envying the greatest Prosperity of wicked Men who shall one day change their present Felicity for extream Want and utmost Misery lose the Presence of God and Christ and the full Fruition of endless Pleasures in Heaven and suffer an Eternity of distracting Pains and racking heart-renting Torments in Hell for a few bitter-sweet transient Pleasures here on Earth Yea this will help thee to bear any outward Affliction patiently and quietly to accept of any temporal Punishment of thy Iniquity considering thou deservest Hell it self and that all thy present Straits and Sufferings are nothing to the Wants and Losses the Pains and Miseries of damned Persons That eminent Pattern of Christian Patience the holy [a] His Life among Mr. Clark's Lives of ten em Div. p. 178. Mr. Jeremy Whitaker did humbly adore God's Goodness in the midst of his sorest sharpest Sufferings and violent excruciating racking and grinding Pains which were caus'd and continued by a complication of acute Diseases the Stone Ulcer Gangrene and expressed himself with marvellous Meekness in such Words as these Lord thou givest me no occasion to have any hard Thoughts of thee O who would not even in Burnings have honourable Thoughts of God Blessed be God there is nothing of Hell in all this Again This will throughly awaken and quicken thee to take heed of beginning the Hell here which will be compleated and consummated hereafter of being now of an hellish frame and temper of Mind of departing from and living without God and Christ which is not only Man's Sin but Misery which is a very Hell upon Earth and will be a great part of the future Hell of contracting and strengthning vicious habits here and of exposing thy self to the Misery that naturally arises from Sin to the Rebukes and Upbraidings of a guilty Conscience Considering with thy self that an hellish Temper and Disposition if thou livest and diest in that Condition will surely continue and be confirm'd in the other World and that an hellish State will prepare thee for and bring thee to the place of Hell This will also engage thee to bless God for Christ for giving his only begotten Son to * 1 Thess 1.10 deliver thee from the Wrath to come by suffering Tribulation and Anguish for thee and †5 9. not appointing thee to Wrath but to obtain Salvation by Jesus Christ. And to be truly thankful to Jesus Christ who condescended to be forsaken of God that thou mightst not be totally deserted and eternally forsaken of him and endured the Fire of God's Wrath that thou mightst be perfectly freed for ever from Hell-fire This will provoke thee by Faith and Repentance and bringing forth Fruits * Mat. 3.7 8. meet for Repentance * Mat. 3.7 8. to flee from the Wrath to come and to seek to escape the Damnation of Hell And this will cause thee to hate and abandon the cursed Arts and wicked Waies of †23.15 making others the Children of Hell to dread the
wilfully wicked and impenitent have reason to determine that you have not long to live How can you hope that God should put another Talent and trust a new Stock of time in the Hands of such Prodigals as you have been That he should give such Rebels longer Time to affront and dishonour him That he should suffer you to live who know not how to live and care not how you live who do not understand or consider for what it was you came into the World That he should allow you one Day more who never yet knew how to spend and improve any one Day as ye ought You have Ground enough to expect that the continuing and lengthening out of your Sins will extremely diminish and lessen curtail and shorten your Daies You have reason to fear every Hour the Loss of your Lives and of all Possibility of Repentance that you shall be removed and room made for worthier Persons to stand up in the Places which you so unprofitably and perniciously take up in the World Our Time is short and therefore let us lay present hold upon that small Remnant of [o] Cum celeritate temporis utendi velocitate certandum est velut ex torrente rapido nec semper casuro cito hauriendum est Sen. de brev vit cap. 9. hasty Time which posteth away whether we work or play Let 's take with us Words and say to God with the devout Herbert [p] Repentance O let thy Height of Mercy then Compassionate short-breathed Men. Oh! gently treat With thy quick Flow'r thy moment any Bloom Whose Life still pressing Is one undressing A steady aiming at a Tomb. Let 's daily prepare to die by earnest importunate Pleading with God for Pardon of Sin and Sanctification and Sence of Pardon and of our fitness for Heaven and Happiness that so we may certainly die safely and comfortably And by the Help of God let 's double our Diligence and Activity and endeavour to do a great deal of Work in a little Time You know Nature at the Approach of Death usually acts a double Part and puts forth all its Strength Bells when about ceasing strike thicker than before A Stone the nearer it comes to its Center the faster it moves When Night draws on the Traveller mends his Pace Considering we have but a few Daies let 's labour to live them all to lose none of them So to lead our Life that we may be able to enjoy our past Life by making sweet and comfortable Reflections upon it which is in a manner to [p] Ampliat aetatis spatium sibi vir bonus hoc est Vivere bis vitá posse priore frui Epigrammatograph Latin enlarge our Age and after a Sort to live twice [q] Nemo quà m bene vivat sed quam diu curat cùm omnibus possit contingere ut bene vivant ut diu nulli Sen. ep 22. in fine Quomodo fabula sic vita non quà m diu sed quà m bene acta sit refert Id. ep 77. Discendum quà m bene vivas refrie non quà m diu Id. ep 101. We have but a little while to live let us therefore study and strive to live well Our Life is just like a Comedy saies Seneca it matters not so much how long as how well it is acted [r] Let us account that the oldest Life which is most holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch conjol ad Apollon A long Life is not the best but a good Life As we do not commend saith he him that hath playâ—d a great while on an Instrument or made a long Oration but him that hath played and spoken well and as we account those Creatures best that give us most profit in a short Time and every where we see maturity preferred before length of Age so it ought to be among our selves They are the worthiest Persons and have lived longest in the World who have brought the greatest Benefit unto it and made the greatest Advantage of their Time to the Service of God and of Men. Let our Conscience therefore be the Ephemeris or Diary of our Life Let us not reckon by the Almanack but by the Book of God how much we live And let us account that he who lives Godly lives long and that other Men live not at all D. Patrick's Div. Arithm. p. 34 35. He lives long that lives well who in a few Years is very useful and serviceable unto God and geatly profitable and beneficial to the World The Author of the Book of Wisdom says concerning Enoch who was the shortest liv'd of the Patriarchs before the Flood but an eminent Pattern of Piety and a rare Exemplar of walking with God that he being perfected or consummated in a short Time fulfilled a long Time Chap. 4. Vers 13. For as the same Author a little before does well express it Vers 8 9. Honourable Age is not that which standeth in length of Time nor that which is measured by Number of Years But Wisdom is the gray Hair unto Men and an unspotted Life is old Age. Lucilius having in an Epistle to Seneca sadly lamented the immature untimely Death of Metronactes the Philosopher who might and in his Conceit ought to have lived longer The grave Moralist seasonably checks his causeless unjust Complaint of [s] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apud Poctas Minor p. 513. Providence and takes Occasion in his Answer to discourse usefully and excellently in this manner [t] Octoginta annis vixit nisi fortè sic vixisse eum dicis quomodo dicuntur arbores vivere Quemadmodum in minorâ— corporis habitu potest homo esse perfect us sic in mâ—nore temporis modo potest esse vita perfecta Qâ—aeris quod sit amplissimum vitae spatium Vsque adsapientiam vivere qui adâ—â—â—m pervenit attigit non longissimum sinem sed maximum Nem tam multis vixit annis quà m potuit Et paucorum versuum liber est quidem laudandus atque utilis Sâ—n. ep 93. Multis ille bonis slebilis occidit Horat. carm l. 1 Od. 14. de morte Quintilii Our Care should be saies he not to live long but to live enough Life is long if it be full What good do eighty Years do him that spends them all idly such a Person did not live but only linger in Life nor did he die late but was a long Time dead But you make your moan that he died young and green yet he performed the Offices of a good Citizen a good Friend a good Son he was deficient in no part that properly belonged to him Though his Age was imperfect his Life was perfect He liv'd yea he was here eighty Years unless you will reckon he liv'd no otherwise than Trees are said to live I pray thee my Lucilius let us endeavour says he that as precious Things so our Life though it be not of any great Extent and Length yet may be of much Weight and Worth Let us
in the Grave or Hell or in any Place of the separated Soul's abode What is to be done of this Nature do now or never Act now with the greatest Care and Diligence Life and Vigour As Zeuxis a famous Painter once said Pingo Aeternitati I limn for Eternity So let us do every Thing now for Eternity and be sure to be very exact in our Actions because they must stand upon Record for ever and lay the Foundation of our Happiness or Misery to all Eternity In Time let us make Provision for Eternity We are careful to provide convenient handsome Lodgings here but consider where shall I dwell to all Eternity Remember that a serious Life of Faith and Repentance Grace and Holiness here is the only Way to an happy heavenly eternal Life hereafter That it is in vain with * Num. 23.10 Balaam to wish we might die the Death of the Righteous if we refuse to live the Life of the Richteous As Euchrites foolishly desired to be Croesus vivens Socrates mortuus Croesus while he liv'd and Socrates when he was dead CHAP. V. The Vse and Application of the Doctrine Ought we to redeem the Time Then 1. Let not the Men of this World think strange that serious and conscientious Christians do not lose their Time as desperately as they do Good Men know the Worth of Time and understand the great Consequences and weighty Concernments of well or ill husbanding of it Vse 2 Let us all examine our selves and see whether we have redeem'd our Time or no bewail and bemoan our loss of Time 3. Vse A seasonable sharp Reproof of several Persons who are grossly guilty of mis-spending their Time 1. A Reproof of those that mis-spend their Time in Idleness and Lasiness Idleness a Sin against our Creation against our Redemption against our own Souls against our Neighbour and an Inlet to many other Sins 2. Such Persons are justly censurable who mis-spend their Time in excessive Sleep and Drousiness which wasts not only much of our Time but the best of our Time too Immoderate sleeping nought on any Day but worst of all upon the Lord's-Day 3. Many mis-spend their Time in impertinent Employments 4. Many lose much precious Time in vain Thoughts 5. In wain Speeches 6. In vain Pleasures in using unlawful or abusing lawful Recreations either using them unseasonably or else immoderately 7. In excessive immoderate worldly Cares 8. Some Persons are to be reproved for mis-spending their Time in Duties 1. By performing them unseasonably 2. By doing them formally Time lost in Duties by unseasonable Performance two Waies 1. When one Duty thrusts and justles out another and so the Duty is mis-timed 2. When Duty is perform'd at such a Time when we are most unfit for 't I Have done with the Reasons of this Duty and now proceed to the Vse and Application of this Doctrine 1. By way of Caution 2. Examination 3. Reproof And lastly Exhortation The first Vse by way of Caution Ought we to redeem the Time Then let not the Men of this World * 1 Pet. 4.4 think strange that serious and conscientious Christians do not run with them into the same Excess of Riot and lose their Time as desperately as they do There 's good Reason why the sober considerate Christian does not slightly and carelesly sling away his Time with others For as [a] Neque enim quicquâm reperit dignum quod cum tempore suo permutaret custos ejus parcissimus Sen. de brev vit cap. 7. Seneca speaks of an excellent and eminent good Man he does not meet with any Thing worthy to be accepted in exchange for his Time and therefore he keeps and reserves it to be employed to useful and prositable Purposes and is very saving and sparing of it The Children and Servants of God do sufficiently know the Worth of Time and plainly understand the gteat Consequences and weighty Concernments of well or ill husbanding of it If they were wanting by an early fore-handed Care to secure and improve any part of the Time that is past Their former prodigal lavishing out their Time is the present Burthen of their Spirits and Sadness of their Souls And they are resolv'd by a timely Diligence in a spiritual Manner to redeem the Time for the future They often seriously think with themselves that to lose the Remainder of their Time is to lose eternal Happiness and to incur eternal intolerable Misery Rather follow and imitate them than judg and censure them If you won't forbear reproaching and reviling them know that the Time is coming when you shall give an Account * 1 Pet. 4.3 4 5. not only of your Excess of Riot but even of your hard Speeches top If any in the Family if any in the Neighbourhood be more strict exact and careful to redeem the Time than your sevles take heed you do not speak ill of them for it Do not wonder that they do not do as you do But as you love your Souls and as you would give an Account of your Time with Joy and not with Grief labour with the holiest and precisest in the Places where you live to walk circumspectly not as Fools but as Wise redeeming the Time because the Daies are evil The second Vse by way of Examination Is it the Duty of a Christian to redeem the Time Then let us examine our selves a while and see whether we have discharg'd our Duty herein Let us all look back on our former Lives and bewail and bemoan our Loss of Time [b] Vanitas est longam vitam optare de bonit vita parùm curare A Kempis l. 1. c. 1. n. 4. How vainly have we wish'd oftentimes for a long Life and yet alwaies neglected a good Life May we not apply that of [c] Exigua pars est vitae quam nos vivimus ex Ennio Omne spatium non vita sed tempus est Sen. de brevitate vitae cap. 2. Non est quod quemquam propter canos aut rugas putes diu vixisse non enim ille diu vixit sed diu fuit non ille muliùm navtagavit sed multum jactatus est ld de brev vit c. 8. Doce nonesse positum bonum vitae in spatio ejus sed in usu posse fieri imò saepissime fieri ut qut diu vixit parùm vixerit Id. ep 49. Seneca to our selves It is but a small Part of Life that we live The Space we wear out is not Life but Time We have been a long Time in the World but can we affirm and prove we have liv'd long Can we be said to have sail'd much to use the Similitude of that most practical Moralist because we have been tossed very much in the Sea of this World Can we be said to have truly liv'd because some Cubits are added to our Stature because some Hair is grown upon our Chin or because we have married Wives and gotten Children and it may
of it but fail in the Principle and Manner of the Duty and never look to the [g] The end of all Exercises of Piety and Devotion is more and mine to dispose our Hearts to the Love and our Wills to the Obedience of our blessed Creatour and Redeemer And busying our selves in any of them without this Design may well be counted in the Number of the fruitless and unaccountable Actions of our Lives Thus to do is prodigally to waste and mis-spend our Time as the Jews were upbraided by one of their Adversaries with doing upon the account of their Sabbath saying They they lost one Day in seven Dr. Fowler 's Design of Christianity pag. 186. End of the Duty have no real Design and hearty Intention to please and glorify God thereby and to gain and encrease in true Holiness of Heart and Life If you act not out of a Principle of Love and inward Life and Liking but only out of some external respect If you perform your Services not out of a filial ingenuous Disposition but merely out of a Slavish Fear of being beaten or of losing the Wages you expect for your Work If you use only a careless and supine Devotion If you matter not at all how little you do for God or what is the Frame of your Minds and Hearts in what you do If you give way to vain Thoughts in holy Duties If you be not intent in your religious Services but instead of using the World as if you used it not you use good Duties as if you did not use them observe the Lord's-Day as if you observ'd it not confess and repent as if you did no such thing hear as if you heard not and pray as if you prayed not If you pray only out of Custom and do not mind and well consider what you say nor are affected with what you speak nor desire what you ask If you pray and reade and hear only because you are brought up so to do and have taken up such a Practice or because you would satisfy natural Conscience and have the good Opinion and Word of all in your Families and be commended by your Neighbours for religious Persons and do not pray to this necessary End that so you may enjoy Communion with God and get and obtain Pardon and Grace and Strength from God nor reade the Scripture and good Books and hear the Word preached that so you may know your Duty in Order to the Practice and Performance of it all the Time that is thus spent in Duty is in a manner Time lost and mis-spent in so doing you lose your Duties and you lose your Time too But especially if any shall dare to do nothing but whisper and talk and laugh to mock and jeer at the Word and the Minister of it to be undecent and rude and profane in their Carriage and Behaviour in a Christian Assembly in the Time of Divine Worship in the [i] Vae mihi quia ibi pecco ubi peccata emendare debeo Bernard de interior Domo c. 33. Presence of the great God and in the Sight of the holy * 1 Cor. 11.10 Angels This is to lose the Time of publick Duty if it be to be lost at all This is to lose the Time of Duty with a Witness And so I have done with the third Vse namely of Reproof and Rebuke to several Sorts of Persons who are guilty of the Loss the lamentable Loss of their precious Time and unvaluable Opportunities CHAP. VI. The fourth and last Vse is of Exhortation to Magistrates Ministers the People in general Six quickening Motives to press the Duty of Redemption of Time 1. Consider how notably Jesus Christ redeem'd the Time when he was here in the World 1. He redeem'd the Time to save us 2. He redeem'd the Time to be an Example to us 2. Consider further that as Christ did once redeem the Time to save us So the Devil does daily redeem the Time to destroy us 3. Consider how very notably many of the Saints and Servants of God have improved and redeemed their Time 4. Consider that it is an Act of spiritual Wisdom to rodeem the Time and mere Madness and gross Folly not to redeem the Time 5. Consider that if now thou losest and squanderest away thy Time thou wilt at last be forced thy self to condemn thy foolish Neghgence and to justify the Care and Diligence of others that were wiser for their own Souls then thy self 6. Consider that do what we can to redeem our Time we shall never repent at last of any Care we have had to redeem it but shall certainly blame and find fault with our selves for being so careless of our Time so negligent of good Opportunities as we have been Serious considerative Christians do blame themselves for their Loss of Time even in their Life-time but they are especially sensible of it and exceedingly ashamed of themselves for it at their Death THe fourth and last use shall be of Exhortation to put you upon the Duty of Redeeming Time Let Magistrates vigorously redeem the Time in the faithful Execution and impartial Administration of governing Justice and in being active and zealous bold and couragious in the Cause of God and Goodness * Rem 13.3 in being a Terrour to Evil and not to good Works and in acting for the †i Pet. 2.14 Punishment of Evil-doers and for the Praise of them that do well in repressing Vice and checking Profaneness and daily dashing Sin out of Countenance and in countenancing and encouraging nourishing and cherishing Sobriety and Temperance Vertue and Godliness Holiness and Religion Let Ministers industriously redeem the Time in ‖ Acts 20.27 not shunning to declare to the People all the Counsel of God in urging Truths upon their own Hearts and pressing and enforcing them upon others Souls in labouring abundantly in the Lord's Vineyard in (*) Verse 28. taking heed unto themselves and (†) 1 Tim. 4.16 to their Doctrine and to all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made them Over-seers in feeding the Church of God with the wholsome Food of sound Words in (‖) Heb. 13.17 watching for Souls as they that must give Account in [*] Acts 20.31 daily warning Sinners with Tears in perswading Men with Earnestness and Importunity as those that well [†] 2 Cor. 5.11 know the Terrour of the Lord in endeavouring to [‖] 1 Tim. 4.16 save themselves and them that hear them to () Jude 23. save some with Fear pulling them out of the Fire in taking all possible Care lest they [] 1 Cor. 9.26 beat the Air and * Gal. 2.2 Phil. 2.16 run in vain and labour in vain left their Peoples †Ezek. 3.18 Blood be required at their Hands and lest when they have preached to others they themselves should become * 1 Cor. 9.27 Cast-aways in discharging their Duty so painfully and faithfully that though
to oblige him to Industry and Activity But when the Gospel-revelation does give thee Assurance of the Perpotuity and endless Duration of this Felicity the due Consideration of so great and infinite a Reward will have a more forcible powerful Influence upon thee It greatly raised and much affected David's Heart to be able to say to God ‖ 2 Sam. 7.19 thou hast spoken of thy Servant's House for a great while to come How then is it likely to spirit and encourage thee to consider that God has spoken of an heavenly Happiness to be bestowed upon thee that shall last as long as Eternity it self that shall last as long as God himself 2. The serious Thoughts of a perfect heavenly State of eternal Bliss will quicken and encourage thee not only to do but to [q] Nihil crus sentit in nervo quando anmus est in coel Tertul. suffer any thing for God and Christ and the Gospel to chuse * Heb. 11.25 26. with Moses rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season esteeming the Reproach of Christ or for Christ far greater Riches than any Worldly Treasures out of a respect unto the Recompense of the Reward And with Christ for †12.2 the Joy that is set before thee to endure the Cross and despise the Shame ‖ 1 Pet. 4.13 To rejoice to be a Partaker of Christ's Sufferings that when his Glory shall be revealed thou maiest be glad also with exceeding Joy To be ready to (*) Heb. 10.34 35 36. take joyfully the spoiling of thy Goods knowing in thy self that thou hast in Heaven a better and an enduring Substance But of this I shall speak more under the next Head That is the first The serious Consideration and earnest Expectation of a vast and ample Reward in Heaven will encourage and enable thee not only to do but to suffer for Christ Jesus 2. The Consideration of a future perfect heavenly Happiness will help and enable thee to resist and repel both the fair and furious Temptations of Satan By Meditation put on for an Helmet the Hope of Salvation and that will defend thee against the Assault and will ward off the Blows of the Devil It will 1. Enable thee to answer and oppose the subtil and powerful Temptations of Satan when he fairly promises any pleasing Good to thee The consideration of what God offers thee will make thee reject and disdain whatever Satan for the present proffers thee because he can make no proffer valuable and considerable equal and answerable to what God has made in the Gospel to thee This Sun will presently put out the Light of all his twinkling Stars As Saul said to his Servants to keep them from falling away to David * 1 Sam. 22.7 Will the Son of Jesse give every one of you Fields and Vineyards and make you all Captains of thousands and Captains of hundreds So thou wilt say to thy considering self are the Devil and the World able to afford me those Honours and Dignities Riches and Treasures Delights and Pleasures and to entertain me with such a Paradise as God hath prepared for me and promised to me Are the Devil and the World and all the Pleasures of Sin which are slight and short and last but for a Season ever able to make me amends if I make a refusal of God's Kindness Are they ever able to countervail and make up the Loss of God and Christ and the heavenly Kingdom to me What 's all the outward Splendor and Glory of this World to the incomparable unconceivable Glory of Heaven What are these Meats and Drinks here below to the celestial Food and the full Satisfaction of all my spiritual Desires What signify all the filthy impure Pleasures here to the Enjoyment of the Society of immaculate Angels and the glorious Presence of the immaculate Lamb hereafter How are all the Pleasures of Sin put in the Ballance against the Joys of Heaven but as a Feather against a Mountain How poor and beggarly are all the Riches on Earth to the vast and sure Treasures laid up for me in Heaven How mean a Cottage what a very Dunghil is the most sumptuous Building and stately Habitation here to the beautiful spatious glorious heavenly Palace What vile Weeds and sorry Rags are the costliest Garments and richest Apparel here to the white Ornaments and glorious Robes of Saints triumphant in Heaven How contemptible and despicable is all Honour with Men in comparison or Honour with God and Angels any secular Preferment and worldly Power in respect of the heavenly Crown and Kingdom What Invitation or Inducement is this carnal Company to me that I should so covet and fondly embrace their Society to the Loss and Forfeiture of all blessed Fellowship with God and Christ with Saints and Angels to all Eternity Shall I ever become such a meer Bedlam and humane Beast as to slight and undervalue a perfect State of heavenly Glory and to place my Happiness in Sensuality and Flesh-pleasing Further 2. The Meditation of the high and heavenly Felicity and Glory will serve to counterpoise the heaviest Temptation when Satan or his Initruments shall terribly tempt thee and sharply assault thee by threatning any great and grievous Evil to thee If Satan threaten thee with Persecution with the Loss of thy Estate or of temporal Life it self this will instruct thee to tell him what Christ himself hath told thee that * Mat. 5.10 11 12 Blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven That blessed art thou when Men shall revile thee and persecute thee and shall say all manner of evil against thee falsely for Christ's sake that then thou must rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is thy Reward in Heaven That †19.29 every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for Christ's Name 's sake shall receive an hundred-fold and shall inherit everlasting Life That ‖ 16.25 whosoever will save his Life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his Life for Christ's sake shall find it It will enable thee to tell the Devil what the great Apostle of Christ has told thee That (*) 2 Tim 2.12 if thou sufferest thou shalt also reign with Christ and be glorified with him but if thou deniest him he also will deny thee That thou (†) Rom. 8.17 18. reckonest that the Sufferings of this present Time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in thee That thy (‖) 2 Cor. 4.17 light Affliction which is but for a Moment not only worketh but [*] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worketh out for thee a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory This will cause thee to be [†] Phil. 1.28 in nothing terrified by thy Adversaries the Agents
employed by the great and mighty Monarch of the World To yield your Members as Instruments of Unrighteousness unto Sin instead of yielding your selves to God and your Members as Instruments of Righteousness unto God 2. To delay the Redemption of our Time is hazardous and dangerous as well as unworthy and disingenuous For 1. The Time of our Life is very uncertain Seriously consider that if thou dost not take the present Time Time with thee may quickly be no more [f] Subito tollitur qui diu toleratur Gregor Hom. 12. in Euang. He that is long forborn is often snatcht away of a sudden * Job 21.13 Thou maiest go down to the Grave in a Moment Thou maiest be dead and buried thy Body be rotten in the Grave and thy Soul grievously tormented in Hell long before the Time comes which thou didst fix and set for thy Repentance and the amendment of thy Life [g] Maxima vitae jactura dilatio est Illa primum quemque extrahit diem illa eripit praesentia dum ulteriora promittit Maximum vivendi impedimentum est expectatio quae pendat excrastino Quò spectas quò te extendis omnia quae ventura sunt in incerto jacent protinus vive Sen. de brev vit cap. 9. Delay saies Seneca is the greatest Loss of humane Life It deprives us of that which is present while it Promises that which is future The greatest hindrance of living well saies he is Hope of living to morrow But it is a noted Saying of St. Gregory [h] Qui poenitenti veniam spopondit peccanti diem crastinuninon promisit Greg. Hom. 12. in Euang. He that hath promised Pardon to him that repents he has not promised to morrow to repent in And if God has not promised it to us we have no reason to promise it to our selves for 't is a Rule in Civil Law [i] Nemo potest promittere alienum No Person can promise that which is anothers He spake prudently and piously who when he was invited to come to morrow to a Feast returned this Answer I have not had a morrow for these many Years It was good Counsel which a wise Rabbi gave his Scholar that he should be sure to repent one Day besore he died But if you delay to be penitent and pious holy and religious the present Day you may never have the Benefit and Advantage of another Young Men too commonly lavish out the present in hope of redeeming the future Time But they build their Hope upon the greatest Vncertainty in the World [k] Quis est tam stultus quamvis sit adolescens cui sit exploratum se ad vesperum esse victurum Quinetiam aetas illae muliò plures quà m nostra mortis casus habet Faciliùs in morbos incidunt adolescentes graviùe aegrotant tristiùs curantur Ità que paùci veniunt adsenectutem Cicero in Cat. Maj. sen de Senect Young Men as Tully brings in Cato discoursing in some respects are in greater danger of Death than Old Men They fall into Diseases more easily sicken more violently and are cured more hardly and therefore there are but very few that reach to an Old Age. The Jews tell of Ben Syra yet a Child as [l] Dr. Stoughton's Heavenly Conversation p. 81 82. Dr. Stoughton relates the Story that he begged of his Master to instruct him in the Law of God who defer'd it and put him off saying he was too young yet to be entred into Divine Mysteries then he replied But Master said he I have been in the Church-yard and perceive by the Graves which I have lain down by and measured and find shorter than my self that many have died younger than I am and what shall I do then and if I should die before I have learned the Law of God what would become of me then Master The consideration of our short Life saies that worthy Doctor should cause us to [m] Ad haec quaerenda natus aestima quà m non multum acceperit temporis etiamsi illud totum sibi vendicet cui licèt nihil facilitate eript nihil negligendo patiatur excidere licèt horus avarissimè servet usque in ultimae aetatis his manae terminos procedat nec quicquam illi ex eo quod natura constituit fortuna concutiat tamen homo ad immortalium cognitionem nimis mortalis est Sen. de Otio sap c. 32. make haste to learn to know and serve God and to think we cannot begin to study that Lesson too soon that can never be learned too well And withal to use all Speed and Diligence lest as Children have usually torn their Books so we have ended our Lives before we have learned our Lessons * Joh. 9 4. Work while it is Day the Night cometh when no Man can work †12.35 Yet a little while is the Light of this Life with you walk while ye have the Light lest Darkness come upon you Do not carry your selves like idle Boies who play away their Candle and then are forced to go to bed in the dark Thy Life is uncertain and therefore with Apelles that curious Painter let no Day go without some Stroke or Line drawn to the Life Let no Day pass without dispatching some lawful Business without performing some good Work and doing some laudable vertuous Action Do every Day the Work of that Day Make Religion thy business every day of thy Life 2. Delaies and Prorogations are very dangerous because many other things are exceeding uncertain as well as our Lives Thou dost not know but that by some Disease thou maiest quite lose the use of thy Reason and the natural right Exercise of thy Rational Faculties and so become in a manner dead even while thou livest Or if still thou retainest the free use of thy Reason yet thou maiest be deprived of the means of Grace and helps to Salvation * Isa 30.20 Thy Teachers may be removed into a Corner Thou maiest be pinch'd with a †Amos 8 11 12. Famine of hearing the Word of the Lord and be ready to ‖ Prov. 29.18 perish for want of Vision Or through Sickness or some sad Providence thou maiest be hindred and detain'd from making use of those common Means which others comfortably and profitably enjoy Or if thou hast Liberty to attend on the outward means of Grace thou maiest (*) 2 Cor. 6.1 receive the Grace of God in vain not (†) Luk. 19 42. know and understand in this thy Day the things that belong unto thy Peace Thou maiest have a (‖) Prov. 17.16 Price in thy hand to get Wisdom and be such a Fool as to have no heart to it Thy Mind may become more unprepared and thy Will more indisposed to receive the Truth and embrace the Goodness of the Word Thou maiest be ready to * Acts 7.51 resist the working of the Spirit in the great Ordinances of the Gospel and maiest
a kind and merciful Providence has restored them all that look'd so lively and lovely has quite vanish'd and come to nothing these fairly promising hopeful Penitents have afterward fallen to their old Biass prov'd as vile and vicious as bad and worse than ever they were before And it may be thou thy self hast been in the like case and done as much heretofore as now and hast reason to remember thy false deceitful treacherous dealing with God in former Instances on the like Occasions how many of thy own Purposes and Promises have fail'd and been quite lost and hast cause enough to suspect and question the Truth and Goodness of all the present fairest shews and goodliest Appearances of thy Repentance And here this great Difficulty will at last unavoidably lie before thee whether thou dost not seek return and enquire after God only because he now begins to * Ps 78.34 slay thee in good earnest Here will be the doubt and dispute How thou wilt be able to determine that the Confession of thy Sins and Condemnation of thy self thy Resolutions and Promises of better Obedience in case of longer Life are not all the meer effect of slavish Fear and only the product of trouble of Mind and terrour of Conscience rather than the genuin proper issue of a vehement hatred of Sin for the Turpitude and Unreasonableness of it of a strong Affection to God and his Laws and a hearty Love to Holiness when thou hast no time to make sufficient Proof and due Trial of the Truth and Sincerity of thy Faith and Repentance And what comfortable joyful security canst thou have that God will certainly and infallibly save thee by an act of extraordinary Grace and Favour in the want of the Actions of a vertuous and holy Life which he requires in the Gospel as ordinarily necessary to Salvation It is here but a may be a peradventure †Mat. 20.15 It is lawful indeed for God to do what he will with his own but the possibility of an extraordinary Grace is not likely then to bring thee that clear and full Light of sweet Peace and solid spiritual Comfort which an early diligent Improvement of the Grace of God ordinarily vouch-safed in the course of thy Life and time of thy Health and Strength would in all probability have produced If therefore thou wouldst wisely provide for thy Peace take no encouragement to delay the Redemption of thy Time from the Instance and Example of the Thief upon the Cross who was sincerely converted to Christ and fully ascertain'd of Salvation by the infallible Oracle of the Mouth of his Saviour in the very close of his Life the final and ultimate Hour before his Departure Obj. But some or other may be ready and apt to say Alas I have deferr'd so long already that though I entertain some serious Thoughts of redeeming the Time and use my honest Endeavours yet I fear do what I can it is now too late for me to obtain Eternal Salvation Answ I answer Hast thou made very long Delaies spent and wasted a very considerable part of thy Life the most of thy precious Time in the Service of Sin and Satan Why truly thou hast reason to be so much the more humbled the more sorry for it the more ashamed of it the more penitent at present and the more obedient for the future great cause to purpose and intend to give unto God the whole remainder of thy Time And though thou hast but a small Time but a few Years more to live here in this World yet let this be the Frame and Temper the setled Disposition and invincible Resolution of thy Soul that if God should prolong thy Life beyond thy expectation that if thou hadst never so much Time to spend upon this Earth thou wouldst by the help of God compose and set thy self to the study of knowing and an endeavour of doing the Divine Will to a Renunciation of thy past Life and Actions and a Conformation of thy Affections and Manners to the Rule and Prescript of the Gospel of Christ that thou wouldst employ thy whole Time expend and lay out all thy Strength in the Service and to the Glory of God only And here consider for thy Comfort that there are to be found several sorts and degrees of late Penitents and there is so much the more Hope for thee that thou art not of the lowest rank and form of all Indeed if thou wert a death-bed Penitent though I will not say thy case would be absolutely hopeless utterly helpless and altogether desperate yet because it is so seldom and rare a thing that so late Repentance proves sound and serious thy Condition would be exceeding [l] Poenitentia quae ab infirmo petitur insirma est Paenitentia quae à moriente tantùm petitur timeo ne ipsa moriatur Aug. de Temp. serm 57. dubious and very dangerous and thy spiritual Comfort extreamly uncertain if not ordinarily impossible and supposing thou wert to begin thy Repentance upon a Death-bed I should .... 2 occurences found not much wonder if thou shouldst almost begin thy Hell there But as [m] Vis te de dubio liberare vis quod incertum est evadere age poenitentiam dum sanus et Si enim agis viram poenitentiam dum sanus es invenerit te novissimus dies fecurus es Ergo curre ut reconcilieris si sic agis securus es Quare securus es quia egisti poenitentiam eo tempore quo peccare potuisti Si antem vis agere poenitentiam ipsam tune quando peccare non potes peccati te dimiserunt non tu illa Aug. Tom. 10. de verè poenitentibus Hom. 41 ex 50. Amb. exhortat ad Poenitentiam St. Austin discourses wisely and judiciously if now thou for sakest thy Sins and turnest to God while thou dost enjoy some measure of Health and Strength and chusest to serve God when yet thou couldst serve Sin and Satan if thou couldst here is some room and place for strong Comfort such as may quiet the troubled Mind and satisfy the afflicted Conscience of a Sinner Though thou beast but a late Penitent yet if thou couldst be an older Sinner and wilt not if thou art willing to break off from Sin when thou hast yet some Time to sin and Strength to sin and Occasions of Sin offer'd thee and Temptations to Sin lying before thee and pressing upon thee When thou art invited and it may be provoked to it and thy Faculties are not yet so weaken'd and disabled but that thou mightest several waies with Pleasure sin if thou wouldst if now thou refusest and wilt not it is a sign thy Repentance though late Repentance yet is true Repentance for all that Thou who couldst go over thy old Sins again if thou dost heartily cast them off when thou couldst commit them afresh If thou deliberately leavest thy Sins before thy Sins leave thee If thou