good men to wonder at the strangeness of the Dispensation But when we see a good Prophet killed by a Lion for a meer mistake as it appears to us and Josiah an excellent Prince slain in battle for a rash act and an Vzzah struck dead upon the spot for stretching forth his hand to uphold the tottering Ark all admirable men and whose Salvation we do not question we need not wonder that Providence hath permitted a Murther to be committed upon this innocent person for as in the aforesaid examples their violent death was onely a temporal affliction such as sicknesses and other Diseases are so the accident in our deceased Friend was of the same nature and such calamities in good men do but help and advance them the sooner to their everlasting harbour And yet I cannot altogether excuse our Brother here departed For as the Murther was acted in a publick Fair where great disorders rudenesses and insolencies are committed and excesses and vain Shews are all the entertainment so it 's probable and I fear that when he went to this place he ventured into one which he had no lawful call to be at The Primitive Bishops and Christians were very much against such vain and foolish Shews and forbid their Disciples to frequent them and as Peter fell by going into the High Priests Hall so it might be very just with God to let so sad a Providence befal our deceased Friend to give warning to other good men to keep ever in Gods ways that they may be confident of the Angels bearing them up in their hands lest they dash their foot against a stone But though there might be inadvertency and infirmity in our deceased Brothers going to a place he had nothing to do at to be sure it was onely a single act not a habit of juvenile vanity and though he was thereby deprived of the farther comforts of this Life yet that can be no impediment to his enjoyment of a better for God judges of us not by an accidental incogitancy but by the stream and current of our lives His mortal wounds though procured and caused by very bad instruments yet did not put him into a rage and passion but he freely forgave his Murtherers and like St. Steven pray'd that God would not lay this sin to their charge and when he had said so he fell asleep His death is a Sermon to us all and though he be dead yet he calls to us in Christ's language Watch therefore for ye know not when your Lord comes whether in the evening or at midnight or at cock crowing and what I say unto you I say unto all watch THE PRAYER GReat Glorious and Incomprehensible God! with thee is terrible Majesty touching thy Essence we cannot find it out thou art excellent in Power in Judgement and in plenty of Justice Thy ways are always equal and the most piercing as well as envious eye can spy no fault in thy proceedings Thou art infinitely pure and holy and the Light thou art deckt withal admits no spots no variableness no shadow of turning Thou art the most worthy Object for my thoughts and memory to fix upon Thou deservest to be remembred in all the actions of my life And to forget thee without whom I cannot breathe is an Indignity I cannot answer I have too long pass'd by thee as if I had no relation to thee I have been able to remember a frivolous story of my Neighbour and my memory hath serv'd me well enough to preserve a wrong or injury done to my Name and Person but thy loving kindnesses and gracious Providences and what ever concerns my everlasting welfare I have suffered to slip out of my mind How many years have I spent in the world without any serious thoughts of the great mystery of Godliness Thou hast given me Line upon Line and Precept upon Precept and how like water have I suffer'd them to be spilt on the ground I have looked upon my remembring thee as a thing indifferent which I might observe or neglect at my pleasure I have lived thou knowest as if the world had been the onely object of my hopes and desires my best and golden days how have I squandred them away as if they were things too precious to be consecrated to thy service How vain hath my mind been How hath it ranged and roved and fluttered up and down among the contents and comforts of this present life How greedily hath it applied it self to these fading Flowers and thought that here lay all the sweetness I could hope for How late do I begin to love thee How late do I begin to be wise Had I improved the Talents thou hast given me betimes assoon as I was capable to understand what Religion and an everlasting interest meant what good might I have done How many might I have drawn by my example to thy pleasant ways How great a portion of thy love and favour have I lost and how much earlier might I have enjoyed the influences of thy Charity How justly mightest thou have doomed me to a reprobate mind or struck me dead in my vanities I remember Lord how thou hast called and I have refused how thou hast stretched forth thy hands unto me and I have not regarded How justly mightest thou laugh now at my calamity and mock when my fear comes when my fear comes as desolation and my destruction like a Whirlwind But O my God in the midst of thine anger remember Mercy Remember O Lord thy tender Mercies and thy loving Kindnesses for they have been ever of old Remember not the sins of my youth nor my Transgressions according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness sake O Lord Good and upright is the Lord therefore will he teach sinners in the way O my God! I am dull I am ignorant I have stood in the way of sinners O teach thou me teach me to remember thee at my lying down and mine uprising Teach me to remember thee in my going out and in my coming in Let thy remembrance for the future be very sweet to me and let me never think of thee but with pleasure and delight Let me forget what is behind me and put me always in mind of the recompense that is before me Call not my sins to remembrance and as for my transgressions forget them and cast them behind thy back Teach me to remember what thou hast done for me and make that remembrance powerful to engage me to gratitude and obedience In death there is no remembrance of thee and who will give thee thanks in the Grave The living the living they shall praise thee O let my life be a continual remembrance of thee Morning Evening and at Noon let me remember thee and in the Night let my song be of thee who art the God of my Salvation Let me remember thy love and how thou hast humbled thy self for my sake I am apt to forget thee O refresh thou my memory with a sense of thy goodness and when the world would drive any serious thoughts out of my mind keep them in O Lord by thy mighty power and make them agreeable to my Memory and Vnderstanding Remember how frail I am and uphold me with thy free Spirit Forget me not O my God though I have forgotten thee Deal not with me according to mine iniquities neither reward me according to my transgressions Remember thy promise unto the penitent and how graciously thou hast offered Pardon and Salvation to those that turn from their evil ways O God it is the desire of my Soul and the real purpose of my Heart to turn to thee to seek thy face to walk in thy ways and to bid farewel to all the sinful Pleasures of this life Put me in mind of all the Motives and Arguments thou hast given me to make my Calling and Election sure When they wear out in my Mind write them there afresh and renew them still that being ever before me they may lead me to thy holy Hill O bring to my remembrance every Precept and every Duty I am to perform and when ever I am to perform any say unto me call to me This is the way walk in it and turn neither to the right nor to the left then shall I praise thee with joyful Lips and give thanks at the remembrance of thy Holiness through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Mosch prat Spir. c. 195. Damasc. Hist. Barl. Jos.
Chapter where he tells us that God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil Tophet is ordain'd of old saith the Prophet Isai. 30.33 And when God provided Mansions sweet and pleasant for his Favourites it was but necessary to create and make a Goal too where the despisers of his grace might to eternal Ages bewail the loss of infinite and eternal mercy Mercy which now entreats and courts them and comes to them in all the soft dresses of comfort and sues to them in the still voice of a tender Father offers them Crowns and Empires and an endless Felicity lies weeping at their feet runs after them pulls them by the sleeve and beseeches them not to neglect so great Salvation He that seriously thinks of this surely cannot run into the Devils arms nor be in love with the broad way where so many thousands post into Perdition These thoughts must needs be great motives to prevent the accomplishment of Gods threatnings who will not let that Prison he hath created stand empty when so many do deserve it and in despight of all his endeavours to the contrary run into it and make haste to be miserable The Creator of all things beholding every thing that he had made saw that all was very good and therefore you 'll say surely he did not create a Hell for that cannot be reconciled to the Standard of goodness But it 's one thing what Sufferers or Malefactors and another what Magistrates and Wise men do say There is scarce a Prisoner but finds fault with his confinement But doth any wise man therefore judge that Prisons are not for the common good or that they are needless in a Common-wealth If God were to take advice of men that make themselves Vessels of his wrath not one but would condemn him for making or ordaining a place of torment but his Justice requires other things and that 's a good Attribute as well as his Mercy and punishment makes for his Honour and Glory as well as his gentleness and compassion He that remembers God as his Creator must view the everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels as well as the house made without hands eternal in the Heavens and if he do both he is in the greatest probability of entring into invincible resolutions to shake off the yoak of Ungodliness and worldly Lusts that he may be capable of entring into his Masters joy But then these resolutions if they shall be to any purpose must be made in the days of his youthful vigour which leads me to the last particular Thirdly Why the strict observance of these two Lessons is particularly necessary in the days of our youth 1. Because sin is more easily mortified when these motives are applied early in the days of our youth The load that hinders us from entring in at the strait Gate may then be thrown off with greater facility than afterward The tenderer the Branch is the sooner it is bowed and the softer the Rust is the more easily it is scoured away Sin in the youthful age is but in its bud as it were and therefore more easily nipt and Corruption not being come to any great hardness yet is the sooner dispersed and discountenanced The Devil doth but then begin to act his part in the Soul and therefore is more easily dislodged and though one or two evil Spirits may have already taken up their habitation there yet the number not being advanced to a Legion yet they may be crushed with greater ease But sin being by age as it were caked and baked together mocks the Fullers-earth and the help of Soap and Snow-water The blackness becomes purely Ethiopian and the spots turn into tokens of the Leopard which makes the change more difficult if not impossible It 's true some that have streamed out their golden days in voluptuousness and luxury have yet at last proved eminent Saints but as this is an argument of the extraordinary Grace of God so no consequence can be drawn from it that what God doth for special reasons for some he will do for all Some few grow rich after fifty but that gives but small encouragement to men that do not thrive in the world before and whatever lucky hits some may have that makes but few expect the like The sooner the Antidote is applied the greater hopes there is that the power of the Poison will be weakned and the longer it lies in the bowels the more difficult grows the cure This stands to reason when sins are young the children of Edom may soon be dash'd against the stones but being become men of War they defie all opposition Habits become a second nature and when follies are become natural and mingle with the complexion and Spirits they are over look'd as harmless or men despair of rooting of them up The horrour of any sin goes off by custome and when men are used to it they are so far from repenting that they are apt to look upon themselves as innocent when Lions are not yet used to range abroad for prey they may be tamed but being become lusty and strong all endeavours of cicuration are vain and though we are told of Androdus his Lion that grew tame when he was of full age yet as one Swallow doth not make a Summer so neither is it advisable to venture into the Sea without skill in swimming because one or two ignorant of the art have been saved from drowning by a Miracle Men give God but little encouragement to employ his miraculous power to convert them when during the vigour of their age they have mocked all his Stratagems and defeated his Methods of Compassion and whatever God hath done upon extraordinary occasions and under extraordinary circumstances we are assur'd by the Psalmist that he sware in his wrath that they who had grieved him Forty years in the Wilderness should never enter into his rest Psal. 95.10 11. 2. Except a man remember his Creator in the days of his youth he is not in a likely way to compass all those graces which are fit and proper for a Candidate of Eternity The vertues which the Holy Ghost faith are necessary for a Christian are not to be acquired or purchased but by long striving frequent encountring of Temptations assiduous labour and constant endustry and indefatigable circumspection Shadows of Graces are compassed in a shorter space but habits of Goodness are the work of time One Virtue may possibly be got this year another the next another the third Of Ammonas we read that he was fourteen years conquering his anger and passion and others have laboured many more before they arrived to a habit of meekness and patience Before a man can say that he is master of such a Virtue he must have several tryals and those tryals occur not all in one week or in one month He that is free from a temptation this year may have
but that thou hast lived pondus utile terra That thou hast been a dead weight in the world and hast not lived one day to the comfort and welfare of thy immortal Soul This present time is the time that God prescribes thee to watch against sin to resist temptation to get the ornament of Grace and Vertue If thou fanciest any other time may do better thou reckonest without thy Host buildest Castles in the Air and only deceivest thy self with pleasant Illusions Who should know it so well what time is fittest for this work as the all-wise God Shall thy shallow brain pretend to know better than he who made thy frame or considers and ponders things in the Ballance of his eternal Wisdom Canst thou imagine that a God bent so much upon thy good would prescribe any thing prejudicial to thy interest Doth he affirm and protest that the present time is the best and only time and darest thou contradict him or act as if he were mistaken and thy choice were best What insolence what rudeness is this and if it were no sin can any thing be more contrary to good manners What time would'st thou set apart for this necessary work What! the age of infirmity of sickness or of dotage Go and offer it to thy Governour and see whether he will accept of such weak endeavours Nay art thou so fond of weak services that thou wouldest expect none from thy Servant but when his strength fails him Wilt thou give that to God which Man would scorn and thy self do'st not care for Hath thy God deserved so little at thy hand that thou canst serve him so Is this the return thou makest him for the thousand Mercies he bestows upon thee Doth he take care of thy Soul and Body with all his strength and shall such a crawling Worm refuse to offer him that which is found and whole Hath he given his Son for thy ransome broke down the Gates of Hell to free such a slave as thou art from the Prison and shalt thou think much of remembring him with all thy heart Wilt thou make Bargains with him as Pharaoh did with the Children of Israel and limit him how much he shall take at thy hands Canst thou think so and be fearless of his anger is Vengeance asleep or is his Justice do'st thou think sunk into a fatal slumber Can God see thee thus refractory and forbear preparing his Arrows upon the Bow against thee Need he court his Servant to do his work who hath Flames enough to force him to it Wilt thou deal so basely with him who hath acted so generously for thy good What mighty purchase doth he get by thy remembring of him Is it any advantage to him when thou workest in his Vineyard Is it not thy profit he seeks and shall he after all be scorned and under-valued for his pains Hast thou any spark of Reason left and dost not thou blush at these doings What vanity or what frenzy rather hath possessed thy mind that thou talkest of being serious hereafter Mightest not thou as well say that thou wilt forbear wholesom Food some years and eat and drink hereafter If thou wouldest not cheat thy Body in this manner what hurt hath thy Soul done thee that thou wilt wrong it thus Must thy Body feed and thy Soul be starved Hath not that need of nourishment as well as thy corruptible Flesh Or do'st thou think that thy Soul will be contented with the trash thou feedest thy Body with Thy Soul stands in need of the love of God as much as thy Body doth of meat and drink That 's her food as much as Bread is of the ignobler part If she wants this she dies and falls a Prey to Wolves to ravenous Birds even to hellish Furies And shall so noble a Creature be undone for want of a little care Sinner Do'st thou know what Salvation means Is being happy for ever nothing Is it so light a thing that thou needest deliberate whether thou shalt prepare for it When the Saints of old have left Father and Mother and Lands and Houses and lost Life it self for it dost thou stand musing whether thou shalt accept of it upon the conditions of the Gospel Art thou afraid of remembring thy Creator when everlasting Treasures depend upon the choice Do'st thou believe Salvation is the confluence of all Felicity and dost thou dread an early consideration how thou shalt arrive to it Is it the Mercy that ever was Mankind and dost not thou think it worth accepting upon any terms Was it purchased by the Bloud of God and shalt thou think any thing too dear for it It is that which Angels wonder at that God should condescend to take a handful of dust and ashes into his bosom and dost not thou think it worth while to enquire what thou shalt do to be saved Salvation which to get and to attain to St. Paul runs through Fire and Water through Honour and Dishonour through a good Report and an evil Report and counteth all things dross and dung in comparison of it dost thou prefer dross and dung and a sinful careless life before it What a contempt dost thou put upon God in valuing that so little which he prizes at the highest rate Do'st thou contemn God and hope to escape Do'st thou make nothing of his Promises and Threatnings and think to go unpunished If thou allowest God to be a greater Prince than thy King will he sit silent dost thou think while thou tramplest his Authority under thy feet A temporal Prince will not suffer himself to to be baffled thus and canst thou imagine that a jealous God will connive at it It 's true God is merciful but art thou a fit Object of Mercy that despisest the riches of his goodness Will he have mercy on a sinner that had rather wallow in mire and dirt than be washed and justified and sanctified in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God Why should he shew mercy to a person that thinks his mercy a buthen and his kindness troublesome It is Mercy that calls thee to remember thy Creator now It 's Mercy that would save thee from perishing in the Deluge with ungodly men It 's Mercy that would draw thee away from thy Vanities from thy admiration of the world and from sinful compliances It 's Mercy that invites thee now to chuse the better Part and to lay up thy Treasure in Heaven If this Mercy be counted a drug and instead of being priz'd look'd upon as a thing needless and impertinent how shall Mercy plead for thee in the last day Or what apologies can Mercy make for a person that had rather have the wrath of God than that Mercy for his portion How must this please the enemy of mankind to see a Creature whom God would love run away from him and instead of remembring his Creator forget him and his Laws which are his Cordials and