is a laborious exercise of many good works it consists in the performance of several kind Offices The Christian must exert that labour of love mentioned by the Apostle 1 Thes 1.3 Temperance is a vertue not easily attained it requires presence of mind and great wisdom to regulate unruly Appetites and to govern unnatural Lusts which are fired by a small spark of temptations and to withstand the allurements of pleasure to refuse the courtships and solicitations of jolly Companions to shun the snares of their wild examples and to bear with evenness and equanimity of mind the scoffs and sarcasms of those patrons and encouragers of Vice and Vanity who can have no kindness for those that will not run with them the same risk of madness and extravagance The like might be shewed concerning meekness humility self-denial and resignation to the Divine Will patience contentedness and all other Divine Graces which are from above from the Father of Lights who is the giver of Grace and Glory and hath placed them out of our reach that we might take pains to acquire them by fervent Prayer and Devotion and exert great diligence in the practice of them For since it is appointed for Men to die but once we should do all we can to prepare our selves to die happily and as St. John saith in the Lord that we may live for ever with the Lord. iii. The time allowed us to prepare for Eternity is precious for it is very short if we measure time according to the largest extention of it for all that space of this present life which is allowed us to do the works of our Callings in is exceeding short but if we take it for the opportunity of time or the proper season for the making our Calling and Election sure and securing our everlasting state 't is much shorter Of all the outward blessings and comforts which God is pleased to bestow upon us in this life he is not so frugal and provident in any of them as he is in the distribution of our time He confers upon us the comfortable accommodation of this world in great abundance but Time he proportions to us in a continual succession of days and hours and minutes so that we never enjoy two of them together but as one passeth away he gives us another and yet how profuse and lavish are we in the expence of them A considerable part of our time we have wasted in childish vanities and when we came to maturity of years and consistency of reason we spent no small part of it in gratifying inordinate appetites and in sensual pleasures So that before we seriously consider the end for which we were created the major part of our time is elapsed beyond revocation and we croud up this solemn work of preparation for Eternity into a narrow compass It concerns us therefore to redouble our diligence to redeem the time and to encrease in all Graces adding to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge c. 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7. To reach forth with the blessed St Paul unto those things that are before Phil. 3.13 14 to stretch as hard as we can after that measure of holiness which we have not yet attained to press toward the mark that we may win the prize of eternal Glory and the rather should we exert the greatest vigour because we have but little time to do the work of him that sent us 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. in The time is short furled like Sails when the Mariner hath finished his Voyage and is come into the Haven so that we should be careful to improve it to our best advantage which is a special point of wisdom commendable avarice as Seneca saith Nulla nisi temporis honesta est avaritia We are allowed to covet earnestly the best things amongst which this precious jewel of time may be reckoned and therefore not to be wasted in fruitless pastimes and carnal contentments in earthly pleasures and overmuch secular negotiations of this life much less in wicked projects or sinful practices but in adorning our Souls with such virtuous dispositions as will fit us for the presence of God and the society of the Saints in the future state of Glory When we come to die one of those days or hours which we have vainly wasted will be of more value to us then all this world It is scarce possible for us in the day of health and prosperity to conceive how valuable Time will then appear to us We shall sadly repent that we have spent any part of it in worldliness ambition idleness sensual gratifications or sinful lusts We shall heartily wish that we had improved every minute of it in the spiritual and everlasting concernments of our Souls and to be sure if we have any presence of Mind and the use of our Reason we shall then imploy every minute of it which is free from disturbances and interruptions in finishing our last preparatory work on Earth in order to our appearing before our great Judge It will be our wisdom to do that now with all our might which we shall then be so intent upon because a few sands more will bring us to that state in which we shall remain for ever and leave us in Eternity iv The urgent necessity of such a solemn preparation as I have described will farther appear if we consider that life it self which is the most valuable treasure the richest Jewel in this World is very short and uncertain and Death inevitable 1. Life is very short The most fading and vanishing things in Nature are made use of by the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures to set forth the brevity of the life of man 'T is represented by a Dream which for a little while affects the Fancy Job 20.8 but when the man awakes if not before it vanisheth away By a Flower of the Field or the Grass of the Earth Ps 73.20.90.6.103.15 which in the Morning is green and flourishing but in the Evening is cut down dried up and withered As for man his days are as grass as a flower of the field so he flourisheth Job 14.2 he cometh up like a flower and is cut down he fleeth as a shadow and continueth not His life slips away suddenly like a Tale that is told his beauty strength and all his excellencies consume away like a Moth Ch. 13.28.7.6.9.25 26. which by eating and fretting a Garment spoils the glory of it Sometimes the life of man is compared to a Weavers Shuttle which is an Instrument of a very swift motion and passeth the Loomb or Web speedily Sometimes it is compared to a swift Post which rideth upon fleet Horses and hasten his speed by land To swift Ships of Ebeh a River in the East where Job lived which by the force and strength of its Current added swiftness to the Vessels which sailed fast upon it And forasmuch as an Eagle of all the Fowls of the Air is
be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 2.6 a redemption-price so great and valuable that there needs no further satisfaction to be made for any St Paul saith that he gave himself a ransom for all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an emphatical word denoting the exchange of condition with another the laying down of ones life to save another And so did our dearest Lord and Saviour Tit. 2 14. Rom. 8.32 he gave himself for us and in our place and stead that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous ofâ—â— good works The price which he paid for our Redemption was his own blood not a few drops for then what he shed at his Circumcision and bitter Agony when he sweat drops of blood might have sufficed but it was his hearts blood Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold 1 Pet. 1.18 19 from your vain conversation and course of life which is unprofitable for your souls and insufficient for Righteousness and Salvation but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Precious in the Esteem of Angels and Men but most of all precious in regard of the Glory and Dignity of the Qualifications and Endowments of the Gifts and Graces of the Person that shed it Coloss 2.3 In whom are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge in whose mouth no guile was ever found who needed not to offer Sacrifices for his own Sins being a person so perfectly holy harmless and undefiled No! it was for us and for our Salvation that he died Rom. 4.25 He was delivered by the determinate counsel and fore knowledge of God for our offences Acts 2.23 to make full satisfaction to his Father for them and to reconcile us to God By his own free and spontaneous act he laid down his life Joh. 10.17 Gal. 1.4 and gave himself for our Sins Not only to take away the Guilt with all the causes and consequences thereof Once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away Sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 9.26 Rom. 5.19 to the abolition of Sin by the Sacrifice of himself by whose obedience many are made righteous but also to ease guilty souls of the pain and anguish of Conscience which doth fill them with dreadful fears and terrors and a certain fearful looking for of wrath Heb. 9.14 and fiery indignation The Blood of Christ doth purge your Conscience from dead works and not only justify and absolve the true penitent Sinner but also meritoriously purify the Soul from inherent corruption and sanctify it by infusing holiness So that body soul and spirit becomes one frame of Holiness to God to serve him here in the Beauty of Holiness and to enjoy communion with him in his Ordinances till he is pleased to fit him for the full fruition of himself in the Holy of Holies in Heaven This is the effect of Christ's Blood which was shed to put a silence to the clamours and accusations of Conscience and also to pacify the wrath of God for Sin Jesus being the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thess 1.10 Who delivers us from the wrath to come and is now actually delivering us by his prevailing Intercession and the supplies of his Grace enabling us to subdue the power of Sin and temptation and will most certainly compleat and perfect our deliverance at his second coming So that now the penitent Believer may safely make that bold challenge which the great St. Paul doth Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect Rom. 8.33 It is God that justifieth and absolveth them who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died and by his Death hath made a sufficient attonement to God for all our Sins and washed them away in his Blood which is a Fountain opened for Sin and for Uncleanness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Laver to wash away the pollution and filth of all our Sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness he is a propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only 1 Joh. 2 2. but for the Sins of the whole World Eph. 5.25 27. He delivered himself up for the Church that he might sanctify and cleanse it i. e. Purify all its members from the guilt filth and power of Sin endue them with a principle of Holiness and consecrate them to God a glorious Church without having spot or wrinkle free from the smallest remainder of sin and misery 1 Joh. 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifest to destroy the works of the Devil the original word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might dissolve those chains wherewith Satan holdeth all his Vassals in bondage 4. So great was the care of our Lord to make men truly good and virtuous that when he left the World he sent the Holy Ghost the Promise of the Father to superintend the Affairs of the Church Vicarius Christi in Ecclesia whom Tertul. calls Christ's Vicar a Metaphor borrowed from certain Church-Officers who are so denominated as our Civilians say Quasi vice fungentes Rectorum to attend the Offices of the Church in the Rectors absence To oppose the Torrent of Vice and Wickedness to instruct people in the fundamental Principles of Religion to guide direct and encourage them in the paths of Holiness and Virtue and by a continual residence upon his Cure to be ever ready to perform the Duties belonging thereunto Even so the Holy Spirit was sent to supply Christ's room in the Church Joh. 16 7. If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you He was not to enter upon his Oeconomy or Dispensation till after Christ's Ascension and Glorification as we learn from John 7.39 The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Christ was not yet glorified Princes do liberally bestow their gifts and favours at the time of their Inauguration Eph. 4.9 and the Prince of Peace being ascended up on high and triumphing gloriously over all his Church's Enemies poured down a plentiful effusion of gifts and graces unto men As St. Peter acquaints his Auditors That Christ being by the power of God exalted Acts 2.33 and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear The design and end of his coming is as our Saviour saith Joh. 16.8 To reprove the world of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment To convince us of the evil and obliquity of our ways and doings and reclaim us from Sin and Error to regenerate us unto God's Image infusing holiness into our souls and giving us a right to eternal Salvation Tit. 3.5 by the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven John 3.3 except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish except ye be born again ye cannot see the Kingdom of God All Births are painful Chap. 16.21 Gal. 4.19 both the Natural and Supernatural but nothing is too hard for Omnipotency He can cause dry Bones to live and if we set our selves in earnest to amend our ways and doings and to implore the help of his Grace he will send his holy Spirit to invigorate and assist us with Divine Aids and infuse every Grace into the Soul which constitutes the Divine Nature The Conversion of a Sinner is a work purely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from above 1. Pet. 1.23 We are born again not of corruptible Seed but of that which is incoruptible and are sanctified and cleansed by the washing of Regeneration Tit. 3.5 and renewing of the H. Ghost and so made meet for our Lords Appearance 2. By Faith in Christ This Peace of Reconciliation with God may be obtained by a firm and stedfast belief that our Lord Jesus Christ hath appeased his Fathers Anger satisfied the Demands of his Justice slain the Enmity established a steady Friendship between God and us and purchased eternal Life and Salvation for us God the Father hath promised him in the Covenant of Redemption Rom. 3.25 to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood and it is by the Blood of his Cross that he made Peace as the Apostle affirmeth Coloss 1.20 for without shedding of Blood there could be no Expiation or Remission of Sins Therefore he became obedient to the accursed Death of the Cross that by the bloody Sacrifice of himself there once offered Heb. 9.14 he might perfect for ever them that are sanctified and do all that was necessary for their acceptation with God and the forgiveness of their Sins But altho' he hath done this for us yet it is Faith on our part which must lay hold of the Value and Merit of his Sacrifice and Suffering and apply the Benefit which he hath purchased for us God is the principal Efficient Christ the Meritorius and Faith the Instrumental Cause of our Justification the Accomplishment whereof is by Faith and not by Works By the Deeds of the Law there shall be no Flesh justified Rom. 3.20 and acquitted from Condemnation in the Court of Heaven and accounted righteous in the sight of God for by the Law cometh the knowledge of sin and a more exact and perfect Discovery of the nature and turpitude thereof than the Light of Nature could afford But there is another way of becoming righteous which is of God's Ordination and Appointment and which alone he will accept by Faith Being justified by Faith Rom. 5.1 we have Peace with God with whom before we were at Enmity as the Apostle testifies But now we are reconciled Coloss 1.21 Ephes 2.14 2 Cor. 5.18 19 by the Blood of his Gross and the Merit of his Death for he is our Peace and hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the Ministry of Reconciliation to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself and by Faith in him we become righteous in the sight of God Tit. 3.5 Jam. 2.22 Acts 15.9 not by any works of righteousness which we have done but by a lively operative Faith which is made perfect by Works and purifieth the Heart and bringeth forth the good Fruits of Sanctification and new Obedience in Life and Conversation This is that Divine Grace which renders God propitious to us and our Persons and Religious Services acceptable to him Without which it is impossible to please him Heb. 11.6 This is the Shield wherewith we shall be able to quench the fiery Darts of the Wicked Mat. 13.19 i. e. the Devil who is denominated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Wicked One because it is a Name that fitly denotes his spiteful malicious nature his desire to vex and annoy us with his violent Temptations wherewith he and his wicked Instruments fiercely assault us this is that part of our spiritual Armour by which we become victorious over the Fears and Terrors the Hopes and Joys the Temptations and Desires of this World which are the great Obstructions and Hinderances of our Obedience 1 John 5.4 This is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith By the assistance of this heavenly Vertue we are enabled to live above the World and despise the Pomps and Vanities of it because it represents unto our Minds * Heb. 11.1 invisible Glories and Felicities all the Riches and Treasures of Heaven and the future Recompences of Reward For this cause we faint not tho' our outward man decay 2 Cor. 4.16.18 our inward is renewed day by day whilst we look not at the things that are seen but at the things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor have entred into the heart of Man to conceive For the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal This is that Fruit of the Spirit which gives us Union and Communion with Christ Ephes 3.17 John 3.15 16. and entitles us to Eternal Bliss to live for ever with the Lord. Whosoever believes on him and commits the Care of his Soul unto him relying on him alone for Salvation hath such an Interest in him that he is not afraid of being condemned by the severe Judge at his Appearing He that over-cometh Rev. 21.7 8. shall inherit all things and I will be his God to love and glorifie him and he shall be my Son to inherit all the Joys and Happiness of Heaven and to live with me for ever but the fearful and the unbelieving shall have their parts with the Abominable and Murtherers and Whoremongers and Sorcerers and all Liars in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the second Death 3. By Prayer this is the most effectual means which God hath consecrated for receiving the highest Blessings for the obtaining of Peace with him and to compleat our Reconciliation Haec vis Deo grata est Tert. Salvation is not to be obtained without great vehemency in Devotion This violence which we offer to God in fervent Prayer is very grateful to him Jam. 5.16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man is very prevalent with God for obtaining of what is desired When God had determined to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring Cities by raining down Fire and Brimstone from Heaven upon them to consume them for their filthy lusts Abraham by his powerful intercessions had most certainly averted Gods indignation from those wicked people if there could have been found but Ten Righteous Persons among them Hereby Jacob in his conflict with the Angel of the Covenant wrestled so vigorously that he obtained the Victory and had the name Israel given him Gen. 32.28 For saith the Text
dispose of every mans life at his pleasure as David did in the case of Vriah whom he had contrived and caused to be slain by the Sword of the Children of Ammon Psal 51.14 Deliver me from Blood-guiltiness O God thou God of my salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness And forasmuch as no reparation can be made to the deceased Persons Mournful Friends the Offender must humbly beg Pardon of them also and make due Satisfaction to the Creditors and Children and Relations of the Person slain so far as it appears that they are damnified in their Temporal Estate by the immature Death of their dear Friend who was cut off out of the Land of the Living without time to repent and opportunity of making his peace with God In like manner he that hath taken away the good Name of another by Slander or Detraction and hath blasted his Reputation by opprobrious Defamations cannot prevent the Mischief that may ensue thereupon all that he can do is to confess his fault to the Person injured and endeavour to stop the spreading of the infamous Report by timely unsaying what he hath spoken in passion or prejudice against the Rule of Charity which obligeth to give every man his due Honour to whom Honour In these and such like Cases Restitution hath no place But in Oppression Bribery and unjust detention of what is anothers to which we have no legal right or title where the practice of this Vertue is absolutely necessary St. Augustine sets down this for a Canon Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum the Sin of unjust getting is never pardoned unless restitution be made of what is unjustly gotten if the Offender be able Therefore it is necessary to do it in point of Duty and Obedience to God who hath commanded it and as a means of Pardon and Salvation our Repentance cannot be sincere without it as the Prophet Ezekiel assures us Ezek. 18.21 and 33.15 If the wicked man turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep my statutes and do that which is lawful and right if he restore the pledge give again that he hath robbed walk in the Statutes of Life without committing iniquity he shall surely live he shall not dye If he do not this the Commination threatned shall not be reversed He shall surely dye Evident then it is that a well grounded peace cannot be obtained with the person injured without restitution nor with Almighty God whose Laws which oblige men to love fidelity and justice are transgressed in every sin we commit against our Neighbour and particularly in the case before us Levit. 6.2 3 4 5. If a Soul sin and commit a trespass against the Lord and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep by denying a thing deposited in trust with him or in fellowship or commerce in trading or in any thing taken away by violence Isai 61.8 force and rapine God hating Robbery or hath deceived his Neighbour secretly of which kind of injustice Zacheus the Publican cleared himself by offering a Four fold Restitution of what he had gotten of any man wrongfully Luke 19. or have found that which was lost and sweareth falsly then it shall be because he hath sinned and is guilty he shall restore that which he took violently away or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten De male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres or that which was delivered him to keep or the lost thing which is found he shall restore it in the principal for Restitution to Man must accompany Repentance towards God and shall add the Fifth part more thereto and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth and he shall bring his Trespass Offering unto the Lord and the Priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord and it shall be forgiven him in any thing that he hath done in trespassing therein Which Law was again inculcated with additional directions to whom compensation is to be made either in kind or in equivalency in Numbers 5.6 7 8. and largely commented upon by the learned Ainsworth out of Maimonides his Treaty of Robbery Now if God did so strictly insist upon the performance of this duty from the Jews and encouraged them to it with promises of pardon and remission of temporal prosperity and eternal glory and expresly told them that he would not accept their Oblations if they did not confess their sins with grief and remorse and make full satisfaction according as the Law directed then we may rationally infer that he will not accept of our Repentance without the like practice if we would be at peace with him we must offer unto him the best and most acceptable sacrifice Psal 51.18.19 which is a broken spirit and a contrite heart Therefore our Saviour who came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets nor to abrogate the observation of them in his Kingdom but to fulfil supply and perfect them hath made this an Evangelical Duty Mat. 5.23 24. If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee any matter of complaint for any wrong or injury done by thee to him leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy gift St. Paul chargeth us 1 Thes 4.6 Rom. 13.7 8. not to go beyond or defraud our Brother in any matter and to owe no man any thing but love for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law this is the Golden Rule to do as we would be done by Wherefore it concerns us to have special regard to the discharge of this duty of Restitution as far as we are able and if we want ability to do it as the sacred Word and Law of God commands we are to manifest our Repentance and remorse of Conscience to testifie the sincerity thereof with compunction and tears and solemnly promise that if ever God make us able we will actually do it And in this case we need not doubt but that God will accept of a willing mind 2 Cor. 8.12 and every merciful and good man whom we have injured will pity pardon and forgive us and restore us to his favour 2. For the composing of our mind in order to our waiting for the coming of our Lord by Death or Judgment it is also necessary that as we submit our selves with all humility to all persons whom we have justly offended acknowledg our faults and crave their pardon so also cordially forgive those that have wronged us Tho' we find it a work of great difficulty to bring down our big Spirits and to bow our stubborn Wills to make an humble and ingenuous acknowledgment of our faults and ask the forgiveness of those whom we have justly displeased because as Salvian saith Totum durum est quicquid imperatur invitis every
by forgiving injuries are very considerable such are freedom from all those unreasonable Passions of envy hatred malice and desire of Revenge which are continually fretting and vexatious to our Spirits and eat out the peace and comfort of our Lives whensoever we do cordially forgive a Trespass we find a great Calm on a sudden in our Bosoms our Souls are at ease and our Thoughts are no longer disturbed with meditating of Revenge the offence is to us as if it had never been committed Envyings Strife and Contentions cease together with the sources of them anger malice pride emulation in the room whereof springs up charity kindness gentleness meekness humility long sufferings patience and other God like Vertues which are the Riches and Beauty the Glory and Ornament of a Christian and render him lovely and amiable in the Eyes of his Enemies and Venerable in the esteem of all good Men and all his Duties and Services pleasing and acceptable to God and greatly contribute to the obtaining remission of his sins with God as our Saviour himself certifies us Mat. 6.14 If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you not that our forgiving our Brethren without the concurrence of other divine Graces and holy Duties is alone sufficient to entitle us to the remission of our Sins but to shew us that without this forgiving of our Brethren Almighty God will not forgive us as also to represent the excellency and necessity of this Duty which is very grateful to him and of great Power in order to the commending us to his Grace and favourable acceptance and a principal part of that Obedience which we owe to him Psal 32.1 2. and which he will reward with eternal Blessedness Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven whose Sin is covered blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no guile 2 The inconveniencies which do attend the neglect of this Duty are very dangerous and hurtful the implacable and irreconcilable Person encreaseth his own sorrows vexeth and cruciateth his own Soul makes his anguish more sharp and piercing To use the words of a great and good Man Arch Bp. Tillotson's Sermon on Mat 5.44 The very design of Revenge is troublesom and puts the Spirits into an unnatural fermentation and tumult the Man that meditates it is always restless his very Soul is stung swells and boiles is in pain and anguish hath no ease no enjoyment of it self so long as this passion reigns It entails enmitie and mischief upon him that is guilty of it from his Adversaries who will not fail to add weight unto his shoulders and multiply fresh injuries and affronts upon him which will gall his very Soul and make his Life painful and uneasie to him and which is most of all afflictive and deplorable he puts a bar to the remission of his own sins If ye forgive not Men their Trespasses Mat. 6.15 neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses one Man beareth hatred to another and doth he seek pardon of the Lord Ecclus. 28.3 4. he sheweth no mercy to a Man which is like himself and doth he ask forgivness of the Lord God will surely keep his sins in remembrance Mat. 7.2 and repay him in his own kind and measure he that is pitiful and merciful to his offending Brother shall find mercy from God he that will not forgive shall not be forgiven but shall be judged with impartial justice according to the severity of the Law without the least mixture of Mercy he shall have Judgment without mercy Jâ—m 2.13 that hath shewed no mercy God will deal with him according to the demerit of his sins and appoint him his portion with the reprobate Angels whose example he imitated in implacable malice and revenge this will be the dreadful sentence of malediction Mat. 25.41 depart from me thou cursed Sinner into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels miserable companions for distressed Souls but their condemnation is just and agreeable to their own requests for as oft as they said the Lords Prayer they in effect prayed for their own Damnation and besought God to forgive them their Debts as they forgave their Debtors i. e. that he would not forgive them because they will not forgive their offending Brethren Upon the whole then it does appear that as abiding anger malice and uncharitableness renders us unfit to die and to appear in Judgment so forgiveness and mercy dispose and prepare us for the coming of our Lord let us therefore take the Wise-Mans advice Ecclus 28.6 7. Remember our End and let enmity cease remember Corruption and Death and abide in the Commandments and bear no malice to our Neighbour tho' our Blood flows now warmly in our veins and our spirits are brisk and we enjoy a perfect state of Health and therefore delay and put off many things that are necessary to fit us for our final change yet it will not be long but we must put off this tabernacle and put on corruption when Death approacheth us we shall then with Balaam desire to die the death of the Righteous and that our latter End may be like his peaceable and happy that we may see the Felicity of Gods chosen and the glory of his Saints in Heaven the which we shall never attain unto unless we quit our selves of all uncharitableness and root out the malignant distemper of mind and all those bad dispositions those keen and tumultuous passions which hitherto have rufled us and disturbed the tranquility and repose of our Souls therefore the great Men of the World who have been prone to remember affronts and injuries with the highest resentments when they come to Die look upon Forgivness and Charity as necessary preparations for their change do give their general Amnesty to all that have offended them either out of Fear or Obedience to him who is the fountain of Love and Goodness who passeth by innumerable indignities and poureth down showers of bounty and mercy upon them that provoke him to wrath and indignation against them every day A chief part of our readiness and preparation to meet our Lord consists in doing all the good we can while we live with unwearied diligence and expedition For there is no work Eccles 9.10 nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave Now is the season for us to lay up for our selves Treasures in Heaven for if once Death put a period to our Lives the time of our preparation for Eternity is at an end our Souls will be for ever what they are when they leave the Body so that it ought to be our chiefest care to improve the present seasons of Grace and to secure to our selves a right and title to that exceeding great and eternal weight of Glory which is reserved in Heaven for all those that are rich in works of Piety Justice and Charity
then our ways and goings are to Gods pure and piercing eyes who beholds our closest artifices and subtilest disguises as clearly as he sees our open and scandalous offences For the darkness hideth not from him Ps 139.12 the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to him Job 34.21 22 His eyes are upon the ways of man fixedly and intentively and he seeth critically and curiously all his goings there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of Iniquity may hide themselves Seneca told Lucilius Epist 41. Jer. 17.10 Ps 7.9.94.12 God is near unto us he is with us an observer of our good and evil actions the searcher of our hearts who knows the secret motions counsels and affections of our Souls and keeps acquaintance with our thoughts and is familiar with all our purposes and designs Now if we do believe this great truth it must doubtless be of unspeakable use to us for the regular and orderly government of our lives and make us as circumspect and cautious of our thoughts words and works as if we visibly saw him standing before our eyes writing down every action of our life in order to call us to account for it This consideration had so great an influence upon holy Davids practice that he assigns it as the motive of his obedience I have remembred thy name and have kept thy Law Psal 119.55 168. c. I have kept thy Precepts and thy Testimonies for all my ways are before thee this is a powerful Amulet against sin and a great preservative of vertue a means to make us sincerely upright in all our ways and to tremble to commit any sin or wickedness in the sight of our all-seeing Judge before whose presence we shall not be afraid to appear hereafter if we set him before our Eyes here as an observer and witness of our actions Psal 16.8 for thereby our hearts will be over-awed with a sense of his omnipresence so that we shall walk very cautiously and circumspectly before him having respect to all his Commandments and with a concern to please him in all things by this means death and judgment will not be formidable to us 8 That we may be ready for a comfortable passage into the eternal World it is necessary that we possess our Souls with frequent Thoughts of Death and Mortallity This is the earnest and pathetical charge of the merciful and compassionate God who is very heartily concerned for the everlasting happiness of Men by his eminent Servant Moses whom he was pleased to make choice of to be the Commander and Governour of a numerous People he bespeaks them in a most affectionate and obliging manner to remember the days of old what great things he had done for them in chosing them for his People and delivering them from the hand of Pharaoh King of Egypt by a mighty hand and an out stretched arm in preserving them at the Red Sea and in the Wilderness in subduing the Nations about them and in giving them possession of the Land of Promise flowing with Milk and Hony he intreats them to consider the transitoriness of their condition and to withdraw their affections from Farthly Glories O that they were wise to consider their latter end Deut. 32.29 to study and apply their minds to that holy wisdom which would fit them for Life eternal We are now Gods peculiar People he is as solicitous for our happiness and salvation as once he was for the Israelites and with the same tender affection doth he importune us to consider our end and to what Eternity we are going whether to bliss or misery we are but Sojourners and Pilgrims here having Heb. 13 14. no continuing City no certain abiding place our condition here is fleeting and vanishing Jam. 4.14 we know not whether we shall continue here till to morrow for what is our Life it is even a Vapour exhaled from the Earth by the influence of the heavenly Bodies Psal 90.9 Psal 73.20 that appears for a little time and then vanisheth away like a Tale that is told which is at an end e're we consider it or as a Dream when one awaketh suddenly which disappears being then that we are such weak creatures Psal 39.4 we should pray with David Lord make me to know my end and the number of my days that I may know how frail I am and how near to death so teach us to number our days that we passing by the cares the glories and pleasures of this World may apply our hearts with all diligence unto true wisdom 90.12 which is to be wise unto Salvation For the attainment whereof and for the more effectual impressing upon our minds deep and serious thoughts of our mortal state it is expedient that we visit sick and dying persons as oft as opportunity invites us not only to condole with them and to afford them our pity and compassion in their affliction Job 6.14 Chap. 19.21 Heb. 13.2 3. which is some alleviation of their misery to administer seasonable comforts to them to give them ghostly advice and counsel to bear with patience the chastisements of the Lord and humbly to resign themselves to his wise disposal but also to stir up in our selves many Pious and Devout Considerations of our approaching Change In the presence of dying Persons there is represented both to our eye and mind many objects that will naturally suggest to us holy Meditations serious and awful Thoughts of Death and Eternity There we may see the person visited strugling with strong pains of bitter Agonies and Death sit in his ghastly countenance we may hear the rueful Groans of his expiring nature and observe him exercised with Soul-conflicts with great terrors of mind and with powerful convictions of sin and dreadful apprehensions of the wrath of God unfit perhaps to die and yet past all hopes of continuing long in this transitory life There we may see the mournful looks of the spectators and hear the bitter lamentations and cries of Wife and Children and observe the trickling tears of dear Relations For if Alexander the Great wept when he heard of the death of Darius and Caesar at the relation of Pompey's and Titus Vespasian at the miserable destruction of the Jews how shall they refrain from tears at the sight of a dying Friend strugling with the pains of Death and perhaps doubting of his salvation Such a spectacle as this will administer to us such thoughts as these This person is now about putting off his Earthly Tabernacle his Soul is entring into the Confines of Eternity and his Body ere long will be a prey to Death and be laid down in the cold and silent Grave where the Worms shall be its companions till it hath put on rottenness and corruption The Angels will convey the immaterial Soul to the Bar of Judgment to receive sentence to its eternal state This