Aâ—â—ipathy to God and your Prejudice against all that is Holy and Just and Good So Interminable â—orments and Regrets will become in some sort Essential to your to saken Souls and you will be Confirmed in the Natural Consequents of Enmity to God world without End where the Almighty Coâ—ibet mirabile dictu Aeternam sâ—ammis Glaciem Aeternoque Rigore Ardentes horrent Scâ—puli What Siâ—ius writes about the Top of Burning Aetna Would it 〈◊〉 be a most Irksome Thing to have a perpetual Winter upon us But let all Unregenerates know That it is always winter with them Consider Siâ—s Consider whether you have not the signs of the worst winter in the World upon you The Cold of the winter does make things to become Unactive As â—lâ—â—s and the like Instruments will not Go in the winter even the very Metal of them sâ—metimes is thereby distended so that their Teeth lose their Congruity thus the Owners are sufficiently Listless too And are not you so You can't Come no nor so much as Look to the Lord Jesus Christ for Life tho' the Life of your Souls depend upon it You can't Walk with God or Move with any Activity much less can you Run with an Enlarged Heart in the Way of His Commandments Again The Cold of the winter does make things to become Insensible They who Dy of the Gold after their Hands and Feet are throughly siezed often grow past feeling and fall into a Lethargie Drowsiness wherein and whereof they are like to Dy Irrecoverably And are not you so You don't Hear the Calls of the Gospel tho' the Loudest Thunders are not so loud as the voice of that Silver-Trumpet You don't See the Beauty of you Sâ—â—iâ—ar tho' He be Altogether Lovely You don't fed the â—oad of your Sins tho' that Infinite Load be heavier than Talents and Mountâ—ins of Lead upon your Souls Is there not a Dead Sleep upon yoâ— Once more The Cold of the winter brings Pâ—trefaction with it Tho' whilst Bodies continue Frozen the Cold by arresting those Particles from whose Tumultuary Motions Corruption uses to proceed may keep the Ill Operations of the Cold upon the violated Textures of Bodies from appearing so Dead Bodies in Greenland have been preserved thirty years entire from Rottenness yet when once that is removed they commonly and speedily discover how much their Texture had been vitiated by the Cold. And are you Free from That Why then have you such Rotten Communications and such Rotten Imaginations Why are you so much like Open Sepulchres And now what mean you ye Unregenerates that you are not yet weary of this wretched winter Even solid Marbles have sometimes bin broken by the Cold O let it break thy Rocky Heart when thou thinkest of the Cold wherein it is Bewintered It was the Occasional Reflection of a Young Disciple in a bitter cold Morning See the Life of my Brother Nath. Mather p. 40 Jan. 8. Being about to Rise I felt the Cold in a manner Extraordinary which inclined me to seek more warmth in my Bed before I Rose But so extream was the Cold that this was not feasible whereupon I Resolved to Dress my self without any more ado and so going to the Fire in my Clothes I soon became warm enough Turn this O my Soul into an useful Meditation There is a Necessity of my Rising out of my Bed the Bed of Security which I am under the power of and to Live unto Christ and walk in the Light In order hereunto I must put on my Soul the Garments which are to be had from the Lord Jesus Now to Awaken me out of my Sleep my Security I am to set before me the Sun the Gospel of The Sun of Righteousness doth Enlighten my mind and tell me that I was before mufled up in Darkness and that if I continued therein I should starve and perish I am also taught That when men are Convinced of their miserable Condition they will rather Endeavour to Ease and Comfort and Cherish themselves by something in Themselves than put on the Spiritual Garments which the Lord Jesus Christ has provsded for them An Evil to be by me Avoided O that all our Young Ones would argue at such a rate You think of putting off your Conversion till Old Age. Fond Souls Besides the horrible Danger wherein you are of being like those Who Dy in Youth because their Life is among the Unclean This were just as if you should put off all the Business of the Summer until the Depth of Winter Say now in the midst of winter say vain Youths whether you could subsist if you had no Bread but what this Winter were now to be Sow'd or Planted and no Money but what were now to be Laboured or It must be nothing but A Madness in the Heart that can encourage you to Delay your Conversion till the Winter of Old Age do overtake you O do not so play the Grashopper but hear Counsil and Go to the Ant thou Sluggard For persons to be Cold Key-cold yea Death cold about the matters of their Souls while they are in their Youth and think that they will use more warm Endeavours about those matters in their Age This truly is a far odder thing than the Quality of that Fountain of Debris Frigore qui noctis fervet Calefactus Umbris At Solis friget Radiss Glacialis et Igoi 'T is Cold at High Noon Warm at Midnight And then sure they that are already come to Old Age had need make sure of Conversion before it become altogether too late hopeless helpless unattainable My Fathers you are now got into the winter of your Lives Old Age begins to Snow upon your heads your whole face is that of the earth in winter The Jews generally interr'd their Dead under and Oak see 1 Sam. 31.13 pleased perhaps with some such parallel as this that as the Tree seemingly dead in the winter had every Spring an Annual and Notable Resurrection so the Dry Bones of men shall have a new Sap of Life infused into thâ—m at the Day of Judgment Indeed you that are under the Decays of Age are like the Tree casting of its Leaves in Autumn every thing is now apace dying with you every day youâ—l wither till your being sunk into the ground make it a perfect winter with you You shall have a Resurrection but O t is high Time for you to gain a good Assurance that it shall be The Resurrection of Life and not The Resurrection of Damnation in a word That nothing may succed but An Eternal Spring The Philosopher said Before Old Age my care was to Live well but now under Old Age my care is to Dy well Truly Now winter is come you have nothing else to take any Care about If you have not in all this while Secured a Saving Interest in the Lord Jesus Christ or if you are not yet Purged from your old Sins most horrid and monstrous has
Winter is to be Sweeled away I am sure The Abominable Works of Sin are none of those works which we are to mind when God shuts up our Hands No we should keep our own Hands for ever shut up from such works as those Indeed we spend the Nights of our Winter as a Tale that is told but we should not spend them in such Idle Things as the Telling of Tales nor should we give cause for a poor Tale to be told about our way of spending them Tho' our Winter-Days have not so much Light as Darkness in them yet we should all the Winter long behave our selves as the Children of Light and have no Fellowship with the Unfruitful Works of Darkness 'T is the Advice of the Apostle in Rom. 13.12 13 14. The Night is far spent the Day is at Hand Let us walk Honestly as in the Day not in Dancing and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness not in Strife and Envying But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not Provision for the Flesh Even thus when the Nights come to be Longer than the Days we should still do nothing but what the Day-light of the Gospel Jusâ—ines 't is not the Fire of Lust or of Wrath wherewith we are then to keep our selves in an Heat whatever Winter Garments we get we must not forget to Put on the Lord Jesus Christ that is to have such a Conversation as that every one who sees us may therein behold an Imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ whatever Winter-Provisions we Lay in there must be no Provisions for the Flesh or Gratifications of our sinful Appetires among them all Briefly what is Honestly Gâ—ia'd in the Summer must be but Soberly Spent in the Winter There was one Winter Month in the Year which was call'd Mensis Genialis or the Frâ—liâ—ksome and Voluptuous Month among the Ancient Pagans it was the Month of DECEMBER wherein the Heathen had their Saturnalian Jolli iâ—s Then 't was that they sent their Presents one unto another which our Primitive Authors call by the Name of Saturnalâ—ia and by the Name of Saturnalium Sportulae but they also had monstrous Revels among them whereto Horace refers when he says Age Libertate Decembri None shall take Offence at me for my giving of my own Judgment upon this matte but I hope I may without offence Report the Sentiments of the Great Hospinian who says He did believe that they who observed the feast of our Lords Nativity in the latter end of December did it not as thinking that our I o d was Loâ—n in that Month but because the Saturnalia were then kept in Rome and they were willing to have those Pagan Hâ—lidaves Metamorphosed into Christian And I â—ope 't will be no offence for me to â—eâ—â—â—e the Expressions of Tertullian who iâ— his Book against Idolatry thus Expresseth himself Shall we Christians who have nothing to do with the Festivals of the Jews which were once of Divine hâ—â—â—itâ—tion Embrace the Saturnalla and the Januaria of the Heathen How are we shamed by the Gentiles who are more true to their Religion than we are to ours None of them will observe the Lords Day Lest they should be Christians and shall nâ—â— we then by observing their Festivalls fear lest we be made Ethnicks Nor will I enter into any dispute Whether the Birth of Our Lord were in December tho' they that are versed in Antiquity do understand how divided the Ancients were about it and how late yea how many Hundreds of Years it was e're the December Festival could obtain and how much more probability there is that it rather â—ell ouâ— about the time of the Feast of Tabernacles about the conclusion of September or the beginning of October But I will venture to say thus much That it is well if the World be mended since the famous and pious Bishop made his Complaint That men dishonour the Lord Jesus Christ more in the Twelve Days of CHRISTMAS than in an the Twelve Months of the Year beside And I will venture to say this more That when the Corinthians pray'd the Apostle to answer that Question Whether they might so be with as to do like the Pagans in those Idolatrous Festivities He plainly told them No! Deterring of them with the Example of Israel in the Wilderness who would keep a Feast in Honour of the true God but yet follow'd the Egyptians who in Commemoration of Joseph saving them from Death by Expounding a Dream of Kâ—ne had a sort of On-Worship among them It is said The People sat down to Eat and Drink and Rose up to play and all the World has heard what the Reckoning was But if the mispence of the Winter in Excesseâ— of Eating and of Drinking do deserve a Caution why should not the Mispence of the Winter in GAMING do so too Especially the Games of pure Lâ—t whereof thus much at least may be mentained That it is best for an Christians to abstain from them Altho' moderate Recreations in the Winter are more than a little Healthful and Useful yet there are some Recreations too much used in the Winter which in Truth are never convenient such are the Games of CARDS DICE and those which have nothing but CHANCE to manage them A Lot is a solemn Appeal unto the God of Heaven and hence to play with it seems to break the Thiâ—d Commandment in the Laws of our God Lâ—â—â—ry Lots are by Great and Grave Divines Esteemed Unlawful on the same Score that as our worthy Morton in his Rebuke to the Gaming Humour well Expresses it It would be an Abomination unto any Christian to see a Pulpit a Communion-Table a Font Exposed on a Stage or the Gestures of Worship â—iped by Players In every Lâ—t an Affair is wholly committed unto a Superiour Cause than either Nature or Art Skill and this is a Thing to be done rather Prayerfully than Sportfully even the Rudest Gentiles have counted a Lot A Sacred Thing The Papists themselves will not allow of these Games in Ecclesiastical Persons and the Fathers Reproved them with a vehement Zeal in all manner of persons When the Roman Empire became Christian severe Edicts were made against these James and what Christians are we then that practise them Our Protestant Reformers have branded these Games with an Infamous Character yea â—usty the Orator himselt could produce it as a Reproach unto some Ill men that they were given to these Games For which cause He that will follow VVhatsoever Things are of Good Report will not meddle with such Infamous Things as these In every Indenture for an Apprentice these words are usual At Cards Dice or any other Unlawful and Prohibited Games he shall not Play And shall we that are by Covenant the bound Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ offer to Play at Games that have been so Stigmatized This however you may be sure of There is a Truth in that Observation That all the money got by these
Games is Like the Goods of thâ—â— which Dy of the Plague which commend bring a Fest with them Nor is it altogether unworthy to be considered That the more special Successes of your Tâ—â—rger Gamesters whereupon even â—ome oâ— Themselves do sometimes profanely â—ay 〈◊〉 Devil will make a Gamester of that Young Man do very terribly intimate a peculiar Interest of the Devil in Ruling the Chance of these Games 't is an Observation which my most Honoured Friend the Venerable Baxter has made in the close of his Book about The Worlds of Spirits Pray then have a care And if men may Sin by some sorts of Gaming in the Winter mayn't they do it in some kinds of READING too Not only Books of Debauching Jests and Songs are very unworthy to be our WINTER-ENTERTAINMENTS but the most of Romances too will then but create a Wast of Time to be Repented of And here also that I may not Impose my own Opinion I shall give you the Judgment of two Writers whom the World have not accounted Inconsiderable The One is The Author of The whole Duty of Man who Dehorting of Young Women from the Reading of Romances has these words 'T is very difficult to Imagine what vast mischief is done to the World by the false Notions and Images of things particularly of Love and Honour those Nobler Concerns of Humane Life 〈◊〉 resented in those Mirrours The other is the Incomparable Dr. Tuckney who likewise disswading of young Students from the Reading of Romances has these words Make this Trial whether when you have been Greedy in Reading such Books you have thereby any great wâ—nd to Read the Bible I am sure that when you have been Reading That you will have as little Delight iâ— Reading them as Paul had in the Thorn in his Flesh when he had been before caught up to Paradise All that I shall add is That when the Rules of Sobriety and Righteousness and Godliness are Transgressed Men instead of Knowing the Works of God are Doing the Works of Gods Great Enemy And I am sure The VVinter is not a Leisure for such Odious VVorks But then Secondly we may speak more POSITIVELY and it is to be now affirmed That the Liesure of the Winter is to be Employ'd in such Things as may be called A WISE REDEEMING OF THE TIME It is Enjoyned upon us in Eph. 3.15 16. VValk circumspecily now as Fools but as VVise Redeeming the Time because the Days are Evil. Thus about the VVinter Because the Days are now short and sharp therefore Let us now be so wise as to Redeem our Time in these Days When we have Least to do we should then be Best Employ'd About the Liesure of the VVinter we must own Deus nâ—bis hâ—â—c Otia fecit it is God that has made this Liesure for us and therefore it becomes us to Employ this Liesure for God We never have a Liesure-Day befalling us but we should Eye the Hand and End of God in ordering such a Day and think with our selves VVhy did my God send me this Day what would He have me to do this Day We are not VVise if on our VVinter-Days all such Thoughts as these Ly Frozen in our Minds But How is VVinter-Time to be Redeemed We will particularize I. In the VVinter we have Liesure to Reflect upon OUR OWN WORKS and the God of Heaven does then Expect that we should so Reflect There are some who take my Text in that sense He Seals up the Hand of every man that every man may know his own work We have Liesure in the Winter to fettle our Iemperal Affairs and we may then see whereabout our Work Lies what progress what success we have had in our Work and what further steps we are to take about our works The VVinter-time should accordingly be a Time of much Contrivance with us and a Time to State our whole Business for all the Year about But more than so our Spiritual and Eternal Affairs are those which the Winter gives us the host Liesure for and we should now settle those by Reflecting upon our work It was complaineâ— in Jer. 8.6 No man Repented him saying what have I done In the Winter we have Little to Do well but now 't is a Time for us to Reflect What have I been dâ—ing ever since I came into the World The great work of Self-Examination is â—ods Work 't is the Work whereto our God has called us We have a Precept so it in Hag. 1.5 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your Wâ—â—s We have a Pattern for it in Psal 119.59 I thought on my Ways and I turned my Fed unto thy Testimonies VVe do the Work of God when we thus Try what our own Works have been VVhen the Winter then has driven us into Retirements Let us take Time for this Work even to See and Know what Work we have been doing since our God â—irst let us to work among the â—iâ—ing on the Earth 'T is now a Time for us to Enquire How have I answered the End which I came into the World upon God has Required us to work out our own Salvation well but what strokes have we struck at that more all this while Ask our selves How have I done the works Agreeable to Repentance and. How have I done the works of Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ And herewithal bring we all our works to such an Examination as may discover the Errors and Follies of our Works in order to our thorough Humiliation for them Why should not a Winter-day be sometimes made a PRAYING-DAY yea and a FASTING-DAY before the Lord No man will arrive to very high Attainments in the Grace of God who does not sometimes devote whole days unto a secret Communion with him Now let us have many such Dayes every Winter to Pray and Fast and Humble our Souls before the â—od of Heaven But on such a Day one very proper exercise would be for us to call over the Works of our lives and finding the Obliquity of our Works by Comparing them with the Holy Just Good Commanements of our God Let us then Judg ourselves that we may not be Judged of the Lord Behold a Catalogue of sins against the Commandments of God Reflect now distinctly exactly upon your works and find out whether you have not had such sins in your works Demand of Yourselves QUAESTION I. Have not I grievously forgotten the God that made me And have not I given to the World the Flesh and the Devil the Homage which is due to God alone Or have not let Creatures have the Affection and Obedience which God alone may lay claim unto Quest 2. Have I not Shamefully Neglected the Institutions wherein the Lord Jesus Christ has taught me to mentain a Fellowship with my God and have I not humoured the Superstitions of a Vain Conversation Quest 3. ‑ Have I not Irreverently treated the Names Attributes Hords Works and Ordinances whereby God
the VVind Ezek. 37.19 Lord Let the Breath come from the four winds and breathe upon thy slain people every where that they may Live Dan. 7.2 Lord Let the strivings of the Wind upon the Sea in the Tumults of the Nations produce the Accomplishment of thy Glorious Propheâ—â—â—s Isa 4â— 36 Lord bring not the four winds from 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—tors of Heaven to scatter any part of thy Church toward all these winds Zech. 6.5 Lord Let me have many Heavenly Kindnesses done for me by thine Angels whom thou callest The VVinds of the Heaven Isa 27.8 Lord Let not thy Anger overthrow me but stay thy Rough wind in the Day of the East wind Isa 41.16 Isa 64.6 Lord Let me not be found among those whom the VVind of thy Displeasure shall carry away and the VVhirlwind scatter them and let it not be said of me My Iniquities Like the VVind have taken me away Job 20.15 Lord Let not thy Terrors in sore Calamities be turned upon me Let them not purâ—â—e my Soul as the wind Isa 32.2 Psal 55.8 Lord Let the Blessed JESUS be unto me As an Hiding Place from the wind and a Covert from the Tempest Unto Him Thorough Him Let me hasten my Escape from the windy Storm and Tempest Matth. 7.25 Lord Let me be a Wise Pâ—â—â—â—â— the House of whose Faith and Hope shall be so Founded on the Rich as to stand when the VVinds blow and beat upon it Hof 13.15 Lord Let no Adversary like an East wind come and as the wind of the Lord come up against thy People John 3.8 Lord As the Wind Howeth where it Listeth and we hear the sound thereof but cannot tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth so let me be Born of thy Holy Spirit Eccl 11.4 Lord Let me not so observe the wind as to neglect any Opportunities of Sowing in Acts of Liberality Math 8.27 Lord The Winds obey thy Christ O Let me do so too Psal 18.10 Lord Unto the Saving and Helping of all thy people do thou Fly upon the VVingâ—s of the Wind and let me do so in the Swiftness of my Obedience unto thy Majesty Gen. 8.1 Lord Let that Wind pass over Earth which may carry off the Flood of Ignorance Wickedness and Misery that has Long Overwhelmed it Jon. 4.8 Lord Expose me not unto any such vehement East-wind of Calamity as may cause my Soul to faint Act 27.7 Lord Let me not have cause to complain concerning my Voyage to Glory The VVind would not suffer me Psal 107.25 29. Lord Let not a Stormy-wind be Raised in my Soul but do thou make the Storm a Calm Eph. 4 14. Lord Let me not be like a Child in Religion Tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine Jam. 1.6 Lord Let me alwayes Pray in Faith not wavering like a Wave of the Sea driven with the VVind Jam. 3.4 Lord Let me will mâ—â—tage the Helm of my Tongue when the 〈◊〉 winds are driving of me Job 7.7 Lord cause me duely to Remember that my Life is wind so Transitory and Evanescent I am as the VVind that â—â—sseth away and cometh not again Isa 45.29 Lord Leave me not unto a Dotage upon those Idols which are but VVind and Confusion Hos 8.7 Lord Let me not fall into those Iniquities wherein I shall only Sow the VVind and Reap the VVhirlwind Job 15.2 Job 16.3 Lord Let me not pursue that vain knowledge which does but fill the Belly with the East-wind nor let me use VVords of VVind Jer 5.13 22.22 Eccl 5.5.16 Lord Let not my Expectations become wind and let not the wind Eat up my Comforts Nor let me in my Undertakings Labour for the wind Prov. 25.14 Lord Let me not be a proud Boaster of a False Gift like Clouds and VVind without Rain Isa 7.2 Lord Let me not be overcome with such Fears that my Heart shall be waved as the Trees of the Wood are moved with the Wind. So I Read Cant. 4.16 Depart O Northwind and Come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out The other Meteors that most abound in the Winter are the Aquâ—â—â—â—â—nes rather than the Ignite The whole 〈◊〉 seems to be a Great Vaporary or Alembâ—â— for the Generating of them their Origin is that in Psal 135.7 and Jer. 10.13 God causes the Vapour to Ascend from the Ends of the Earth Well then Of these When the RAIN falls upon us by a Resolution of Raised Vapours into drops of Water Let our wishes be of this Import and we shall have Showers of Blessing indeed both in Summer and in Winter too Psal 11.6 Gen. 19.24 Lord Let me be none of the Wicked upon whom thou wilt Rain Snares Fire and Brimstone and an Horrible Tempest as thou didst of old upon wicked Sodom Jer. 17.6 Lord Let not my Soul be Like the Heath in the Desart that sees not when Good Rain cometh Acts 14.17 Lord Let me humbly Acknowledge the Witness which thou givest of thy Power and Goodness in thy Giving us Rain from Heaven Lev. 26.4 Deut 11.14 and 28.12 1 King 8.36 Psal 68.9 and 65.11 Lord Evermore fulfil thy Promise to thy People I will give you Rain in due Season and when they ask for it Then Teach them the good way wherein they should walk and give Rain upon thy Land and Send plentiful Rains to confirm thine Inheritance when it shall be weary So Let thy Paths the Clouds Drop Fatness upon us Jer. 14 22. see Zech 10.1 Are there any among the Vanities of the Gentiles that can cause Rain Or can the Heavens give showers Art not thou He O Lord our God Therefore we will wait upon thee for thou hast made all of these things Amos 4.7 Lord I would own That it is Thou who causest it to Rain upon one City and causest it not to Rain upon another City Mic. 5.7 Lord Let the Accomplishments of thy Word unto thy Church come like the showrs upon the Grass which tarries not for man nor waits for the Sons of men Math 5.45 Lord As Thou sendest Rain upon the Just and the Unjust So let me do good unto all men even unto my Foes as well as unto my Friends Zech. 14.17 Isa 5.6 Lord Let me not have a Soul without the Rain of Grace or Joy as they have that come not into thy Church to Worship the King the Lord of Hosts Nor let thy Vineyard so offend thee that thou shalt Command the Clouds to Rain no Rain upon it Deut. 32.2 Lord Let thy Word in the Dispensations of the Gospel Drop as the Rain upon my Soul Psal 72.6 Lord Let the Influences of thy Son the Lord Jesus Christ come down upon the World and upon Me in the World Like Rain upon the Mown Grass as the showers that water the Earth Heb. 6.7.8 Lord Let me not be Like the Earth which Drinks in the Rain that comes oft upon it but bears Thorns and Briars and is Rejected and is nigh
unto Cursing Hos 10.12 Lord It is Time for me to seek thee that thou wouldest Rain down Righteousness upon me Isa 44.3 Lord pour Floods of Celestial Water upon my Thirsty Soul pour and shower thy Spirit upon me Ezek. 22.24 Lord Let not our Land be a Land not Rained upon in the Day of Indignation Job 5.9 10 Lord Thou dost Marvellous Things without Number when thou givest Rain upon the Earth Isa 4.6 Lord give me in thy self a Place of Refuge and of Covert from Storm and from Rain Psal 84.6 7 Lord Tho' the Rain fill the Pools yet let me chearfully go thro' Wet and Dry to wait upon thee in the Assemblies of thy Zion Gen 7.2 Lord Rescue me and the World from the Sins that once provoked thee to make it Rain upon the Earth Forty Days and Forty Nights till a Desolating Flood came upon the World Ezr 10.9 Lord Let a great Rain cause me to Tremble at thy greater Judgments Prov 27.15 Lord Send not upon me an Affliction which may be as a continual Dropping in a very Rainy Day Prov 16.15 Lord Let thy Favour in the Favour of my Rulers be to me As a Cloud of the Latter Rain Hos 6.3 Lord Came unto me in a way of mercy As the Rain as the latter and the former Rain upon the Earth Jer. 5.24 Finally Let me now fear the Lord my God that giveth Rain Thus for the Rain But when the SNOW which is Frothed Rain lies about us our Wishes may be thus Formed Isa 55.10.11 Lord As the Snow comes down from Heaven returns not thither but waters the Earth makes it bring forth bud So let thy Word accomplish my being made fruitful before thee Prov. 25.13 Lord As the Cold of Snow or drink Snow-Cold in the time of Harvest is very acceptable so let my Fidelity render Me to all that are concerned in me Job 19.30 Lord help me to Consider that tho' I should wash my self with Snow-Water make my hands never so clean yet much Filthiness would cleave unto me whereby I deserve to be Abhorred Lam. 4.7 Lord let a Work of real Sanctification upon me render me like the Nazarites purer than Snow Numbers 12.10 Lord make me penitently sensible of the Leprosy upon my soul which is a Distemper worse than that Bodily one wherein persons have become Leprous White as the Snow Isa 1.18 Psal 51.7 Lord let my sins that have been like Scarlet become White like Snow by thy Free and Full pardon of them all O wash me in thy Blood of Sprinkling and I shall be whiter than Snow Dan. 7.9 Rev. 1.14 Lord prepare me for and hasten on the World the coming of that Ancient of Days whose Garments are white as the snow and whose Hairs are white as Wool as white as Snow Prov. 26.1 Lord let me not be like one of those Foâ—ls for whom Honour would be unseemly like the Snow in Summer Psal 147.16 18. Lord when thou hast given Snow like Wool thou sendest out thy word and meltest it and wilt not thou melt this heart of mine by thy word into the Resolutions of Repentance Jer 18.14 15 Will a man leave the Snow of Lebanon which comes from the Rock of the Fielâ—â— Would a Thirsty Traveller finding such a Supply of pure water slight it Neither let me Forget thee O my God This for the Snow But when the HAIL which is Frozen Rain Visits us it may Awaken these Wishes in us Hag. 2.17 Lord It was thy Complaint I Smote you with Hail yet ye turned not unto me Let not my Obstinacy in Sin give cause for that Complaint Rev. 16.21 Lord Hasten upon the Antichristian Babylon that Great Hail out of Heaven whereof every â—tone shall be about the weight of a Talent Isa 28.2 Lord Let not thy people be Invaded by any Enemy which as a Tempest of Hail and a Destroying Storm shall cast them down to the Earth Ezek. 13 13. Isa 28.17 Psal 18.12 Lord Let not my Refuges be such as there shall be an Overflowing Shower in thine Anger and Great Hail-stones in thy Fury to consume them Let them not be Refuges of Lies which the Hail shall sweep away Fit me for the Day when I shall see the Descending Jesus Alarum the World with Brightness Hailstones and Coals of Fire Isa 30.30 Lord Let me Tremble at thy Threatnings as they did in the Day when thou didst cause thy Glorious Voice to be heard and Show the Lighting down of thy Arm with Scattering and Tempest and Hailstones Josh 10.11 Blessed be God That He does not cast down such great Stones from Heaven upon us as to make us Dy with the Hailstones Exod. 9.20 The Epyptians being warned of a great Hail such as Feared the Word of the Lord fled into Houses for their Safety Lord Let me so Fear the Hailstorm of thy Judgments as to seek for Safety in the Lord Jesus Christ But it were Endless to Enumerate the Ejaculations of a Devout Mind on these Occasions Thus When 't is FAIR Clear Bright WEATHER how Agreeable were it for us to wish Lord may the Light of thy Countenance be Uplifted on my Soul and May I walk in that Light all the Day Long So when 't is Cloudy Weather how Agreeable to wish Lord When shall the Son of Man come in the Clouds of Heaven and O let it not be with my Soul a Day of Clouds and of thick Darkness The shooting of such Arrows up to Heaven is an Incomparable Exercise for a Soul that Looks to Eternal Invisibles to Invisible Eternals on a Winter-Day and of the man that on a Winter Day so Employs himself I say Blessed is the man that has a Quiver full of such Arrows IV. The Merciful Words of God which provides for our NECESSITIES IN THE WINTER are very manifold and it becomes us to take a most Thankful Notice of those many Mercies When our God Seals up our â—imâ—â— in the Winter He Opens His own Hand in our Literal Supplies for the Winter and we should so Know those Works of God as to be Thankfully Affected with them The Winter it self That is not without much of Mercy in it It is our Winter particularly which for divers Months in the Year 〈◊〉 a better Defence unto us against Forreign Invasions than all the Sconces and Castles wherewith we could be Fortify'd Doubtless the Polanders thought their Cold was a kindness unto them when in an Army of seventy Thousand Turks Invading them Forty Thousand suddenly perished by the Severity of the Cold tho' it were but the Month of November with them Truly in the Month of November the Cold begins none of the least preservatives also for us New-Enâ—â—anders And who can say How many Epidemical Diseases have by our Winter been Extinguished Our Cold precipitates the Vapours which would else Thicken and Poison our Air and by Freezing the Surface of the Earth iâ— keeps in many malignant Steams that otherwise would thence
Fire His Greatness and His Bounty may be seen Sparkling in it Be Thankful and at the same time Let us Entreat of our God That we may be Baptised with the Fire of His Holy Spirit which will make us Fervent in Spirit Serving the Lord. Let us be thankful for Our HOUSES too We are not left now to lodge abroad in the Cold with none but the Ground for our Bed the Snow for our Coverlid and the Sky for our Canopy nor are we obliged unto such Wretched Wigwams as were the best Habitations of the Barbarous Natives that were here before us How well are we lodged in the Winter and neither by Burnings nor by Earthquakes forced out of Doors Be thankful and at the same time let us entreat of our God that we have a Mansion in our Heavenly Fathers house forever The Keenest Winters in the world have been made very tolerable by peoples making some Rooms of their Houses under the Earth and keeping themselves in such subterraneous Rooms But let the Winters which call us to give thanks for our warm Houses on the Earth cause us to be Concerned for An house Eternal in the Heavens And let us be Thankful for our TABLES How many Warm Dishes have we to cherish us whereby we are strengthened against the Cold of the winter And how many Refreshing Draughts to Refocillate our Enfeebled Spirits Be thankful entreat of God that we may be admitted unto His Feast of Fat things full of Marrow and of Wines on the Lees well-Refined the least whereat There will be no taking away We have a Glorious Benefactor in the Heavens by whose Benignity upon Earth we live well all the Winter long and all the Expressions of that Benignity are to be Received with a most hearty Thankfulness I pray let us not be condemned by the very Jewes themselves with whom it has been customary still to make use of their Daily comforts with a Baruk Adonai or Blessed be the Lord. When Job was looking back upon the Good days which he had seen he said in Jâ—â— 29 2.4 O that I were as in membeâ— pasâ— as in the Days when God preserved me as I was in the dayes of my Youth Some render it 〈◊〉 A 〈◊〉 was in the days of my Winter Quarters 〈◊〉 when the Great Commander of the Universe does Command us into our VVinter Quarters He do's then preserve â—s and by his Light we walk thro' the Darkness of the winter And I would now say O that we were so thankful as we should be for such merciful months V. The Works which God his FORMERLY DONE TOWARDS OURSELVES ought always to be Remembred with us and the VVinter is a very proper Season for that Remembrance Here is the werk of God which we are to know when by the winter He sâ—â—ls up our Hand even the whole VVork of God in the whole course of our Life There have been SMITING VVorks of God which ought seriously to be Remembred with us As it is said in 〈◊〉 3.19.20 Remembring my Affliction and my 〈◊〉 the wormwood and the Gall my soul hath them still in Remembrance and is humbled in me Behold a fit work for the winter Have we not sometimâ—â— been in a winter of adversity wherein this and that Sâ—â—â—m of Affliction and misery has been hard upon us Now in the winter let it be part of our work to recount every such work of God Now bring to Remembrance all that VVormwood and Gall but what for Truly to see whether you have been such Gainers by all those Chastisements as you should have been and whether the weeds of the Corruptions in your Hearts and of the Disorders in your Lives have been duely Nipt by the Frest of such a Winter But there have also been SMILING Works of God which ought carefully to be Remembred with us It was the Language of a David in Psal 103.2 Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits To 〈◊〉 God is not the least of the Duties which the Ever blessed God requires of man and all true Davids or men Belov'd by God evermore Love to be Blessing of God If this is to be done At all times as the Psalmist elswhere speaks I am sure it may eminently be done in Winter-times But God is not Really Bless'd or Serv'd if not Heartily and in our Blessing of God the thing is Done to Halves if the whole Soul or all the Powers of the Soul be not engaged in it Indeed such is our Backwardness to the Blessing of God that we had need earnestly to stir and spur and rouse ourselves unto the Doing of it Let us then stir up ourselves till we have got ourselves into an heat at this work in our Winter and know that a Commemoration of Gods Benefits to us is to be one Main Ingredient of Our Thanksgivings to Him Well then Let this be one considerable Stroke of our Winter-work even To run over the Stories of our LIVES by reckoning up the Benefits of God and reflecting on that Goodness and Merry wherewith we have been followed all our Lives What if you should now and then spend whole DAYS OF THANKSGIVING not only when the Authority does usually once in a Winter call the whole Province to observe such a Day but â—lâ—o in secret places before God by yourselves 〈…〉 Children of God have doubtless Enjoyed 〈…〉 upon Earth by Devoting themselves 〈…〉 an Heavenly and Glorious Exercise and a 〈◊〉 to Devoted has 〈…〉 with some observable Mercy of God However 〈…〉 every Winter Set apart our Time to 〈…〉 the many Benefits of God unto 〈…〉 and utter our Just Hallelujah upon 〈◊〉 â—â—ticâ—e in that Commemoration Particularly The FIRST Article in our Commemoration may be The Benefits of God relating to the Protection which attended our FIRST PRODUCTION Our Formation in the Womb and Reception from the Womb. About our being Shaped in our Mothers we may say Lord I wiâ—â— praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully Made And about our being Taken from our Mothers we may say Lord Thou art He who took me cut of the Womb. As for our Bodies 't is impossible for any thing to be better contrived than they are in the whole Make of them What a sid thing would it have been if these had been monstrously Deformed or Defective in any One of all their Members Truly There are Thousands of Mercies and Wonders in one perfect Child And then as for our Spirits They are certainly the most Noble Things that inhabit this Lower World How doleful had been our plight if these had Lost any of their Faculties were we Fools or Mad But indeed we have Souls capable of a very vast Improvement in the Honouring Enjoying of our God! What shall I say That we are Arriv'd Alive among the Living on the Earth is a Thing full of Marvels if not of Miracles What if we had Expired Embryo's whereby all our Opportunities to Glorify God had been Lost
Neighbour and a sensible Jesus will then say I am feasted And the effect of it will be that he will invite you to the Fat things of His House yea to the Delicious Feast which he has in His Eternal Mountain Again This Winter Lodge an Harbourless Neighbour and a sensible Jesus will say I am entertained You will not only like some Entertain Angels unawares but The Lord of Angels Himself Further This Winter clothe a Naked Neighbour and a sensible Jesus will say I have Robes put upon me 'T wil he as if you had Adorned the Temples of God Moreover This Winter Comfort a Sick Neighbour and a sensible Jesus will say 'T is I that am Refreshed So you that have Considered the Poor shall have your own Beds turned by the Lord for you in your own Sickness Finally This Winter come to a Neighbour in Prison and youâ—l come to a sensible Jesus there What you do for the Redemption of Captives will be done to the Great Lord-Redtemer They are the worst of Misers whom such Motives will not we swade unto somewhat of Liberality But behold the Winter it self also comes in as one of our Motives The wise man said in Eccl. 11 2. Give a portion to seven and also to eight for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the Earth Yea but now the winter is coming we do know much of the Evil that will then be upon the Earth and let us therefore give a portion of our Supplies unto as many as we can It would be a sad thing if we should in the winter be driven out of our Habitations Our Lord has allow'd us to deprecate very heartily A flight from our Houses in the winter and for the same cause A fire on our houses in the winter deserves as warm a Deprecation Well the way for us to preserve our Houses is to make Bethesda's of them that is Houses of Mercy to the poor Let our Houses be Alms-Houses and we may hope that inasmuch as we thus Fear God He will neither Cut off our dwellings nor Cut off us from our dwelings Olaus Magnus admires the Lake near the Metropolis of Norway whose veins of Sulphur under it keep it from any Congelation in the Coldest Winter of that Northern Climate may the wonders of that Lake be emulated by the perpetual warmth of our Charity VIII And now to have done Let the Cold of the winter very powerfully warm our hearts to shake of that SINFUL COLD which has gained upon our Hearts To Recover any Frozen part of the Body with safety the way is to Rub it with Snow Give me leave now to rub somewhat of the winter upon you for the Recovery of your Frozen Souls Indeed There is a Coolness of Spirit which would be the wisdom of the man that has it So we read in Prov. 17.27 A man of understanding is of an Excellent Spirit some read it Of a Cool Spirit It would indeed render us The excellent in the earth to have a Spirit free from those Heats which the most of men are by provocations thrown into A Cool Spirit is a meek Spirit and we should Labour for such a Spirit not only under Afflictions from the Hand of God but under Injuries from the Hand of Man also Of such a Cool Spirit was the Great Moses generally under all the Murmurings the Reproaches and the Froward Humours of his Congregation and of such a Spirit I am to tell you T is in the sight of God of great Price But then There is a Coldness of Spirit against which we should be always Awake and particularly in the Cold of the winter be Awakened FIRST There is the Cold of our FORMALITY against which we should now fortify our Souls Formality lies in much Cold mixed with some Warmth it lies in some Kindness for the Thing that Good it over born with predominant Regards unto the world This Lukewarmness is that Abominable Indifferency about The Kingdom of Heaven whereat our Lord says of them that have it I will spuâ— them out of my mouth But it is Required in Rom. 12.11 Be Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord It may be â—endred Be Boiling Hot in it There are some VVell that Boil all the year about and that seem rather Hotter in the winter than in the rest of the year Even so should it be with us as to that principle within us which is A well of water springing up to Everlasting Life There is a Zeal wherewith we should pursue all our Everlasting Interests and as the Fire burns fiercest in the winter so the Cold of the winter should be but adding fire unto our Zeal Our other Occupations are interrupted by the winter yea but let us now be more Lively than ever in our Spiritual Husbandry and in Ploughing up the Fallow Ground of our Hearts Let us now be more Lively than ever in our Spiritual Merchandise and in Bartering for the Pearl of Great Price Let us now be more lively than ever in our Spritual Building euen in Building up ourselves one another in our most Holy Faith 'T is true we have Hearts that are as Cold as a Stone when they should be concerned about the Things of another World yet there is a way to help it Let us Cry to our God who says in Ezek 36.26 27. I will take away the Heart of Stone yet for this I will be Enquired of to do it But then SECONDLY There is the Cold of our UNREGENERACY to be rescued wherefrom the Desires the Wishes of our Souls are to be exceeding Ardent In the Travels of Israel we read much about The Wilderness of Sin which is in English The Wilderness of Cold. Why to speak nothing but English All you that are in The Wilderness of Sin are in a Cold Wilderness indeed a Wilderness of Deadly yea of Damning and Alas for you that you don't yet count it Insufferable Cold It was the Gladsome Song in Can. 2.11 Lo The Winter is past the Rain is over and gone What is that Winter It has been Interpreted for the Tempus praecedens Vocationem the Time while we are yet in our Unregeneracy O that all you with whom it is yet such a Time of Winter might before this winter be out be able to Sing The Winter of my Unbelief is past my Sin is over and gone The Excellent Bartholinus hath remarked it That the Bodies of them who are kill'd in the Winter use to be found in just the same Features and Postures that were upon them when they Received their mortal Wounds they are found Gaping Staring Frowning and with their Hands Extended just as they were in their fatal Fall Truly so if you Dy in this Winter of your Unregeneracy those Impressions of Sin upon your Spirits wherein you Dy will become Eternally Indelible and Unalterable You 'l be as it were Irrecoverably Congeled into such an Ungodly Temper as that wherein you do Expire Incurable will be your
been your Impenitency And yet I am to tell you a very Glorious Thing That Interest may still be Secured There was once a pretty Old man in some Distress and it is said in Joh. 5 6. Jesus knâ—w he had been a Long Time Ill and said unto him Wâ—â—t thou be made Whole Even so The Lord Jesus Christ comes this Day to you Old men that have been a Long Time in your Sins and says Old man shall I yet be the Saviour of thy Soul O then with Conquered and Consenting Souls now give your selves unto that Glorious Lord. But know That if you do it not before the winter of This Year as well as of Your Age be out it will probably never be done at all And then alas you will Expire Accursed like a Sinner of an Hundred Years Old Unto All I say God forbid this winter should pass before you have made your Peace with Him And To Excite you hereunto As in some Wintry Countreys the Carpenters must Thaw their Wood before they can Cut it Let me assay to Thaw your Hearts in order to a better shaping and squaring of them I say then Consider that FIRE as well as that Cold which the Almighty God has to punish the Disobedient It has been said Who can stand before His Cold But it has also been said Who can stand before His Fire Thus in Isa 33.14 Who among us can dwell with the Devouing Fire who among us shall dwell with Everlasting Burnings We wonder at the strength of the Ice when we see a piece of it near three inches broad and a quarter of an inch thick laid over a frame three inches distant bear a weight of near twenty pounds for a long while together as Mr Boyl Experienced or when we read Olaus Magnus affirming That their Septentrional Ice is of such a Tenacity that when 't is two or three fingers thick it will bear an Armed man upon it when three or four Hands thick vast Armies will venture over it for their Winter-Wars But thy Heart O man is prodigiously harder than a piece of Ice if besides the weight of Sin upon it it can bear the Thought of the Fire that never shall be quenched Remember The Wrath of God like a Formidable Fire will at last with Exquisite Agonies and Anguishes Torture the Soulâ— of them that shall Dy in their Vnregeneracy One that felt some flashes of that Fire in the Troubles of his Conscience hearing oâ— some speaking about Burning to Death cry'd out O That is but a Metaphor to what I Endure And another that was broiling in the Fire of such Troubles Roared in this manner O might I have this mitigatiâ—n of my Toâ—ments to dy as a Backlog in the Fire on the Hearth for a thousand Ages Purge this when you are by the Fire-side this Winter think seriously with your selves Could I bear to Râ—ast in this Fire Alas This is but a painâ—â—d Fire to that wherein God will take vengeance on them that Know Him not and that Obey not His Gospel And if I can't bear the Metaphor nâ— not so much as for a minute How then shall I bear to remain under the Wrath of God in Hell for infinitely more milâ—ions of Ages than aâ— the Fires on Earth have madâ— Ashes in the world And O Let your Hearts be Thawed by such Considerations this winter immediately to mourn for and turn from all your Sins and Give your selves to God in Christ by a Covenant never to be Forgotten It is a work of God that is done After the winter is over whereof there is mention in Psal 104.30 Thou sendest forth thy Spirit and thou Renewest the Face of the Earth O that such a work as this may be done upon you while this winter is running Send forth thy Spirit O mâ—st Glorious Lord and nâ—w Renew the Hearts of them that have hitherto continued Vnregenerates In fine I now Leave these my poor Labours in the Hands of that Eternal Spirit with my Humblest Supplications That these my Endeavours may be made Profitable and Acceptable unto His People and assist my Neighbours in their Travels to that Countrey where the Winter shall for ever Cease from Troubling and the VVeary be at Rest FINIS