astonishing will the approach of it be then and fill you with dreadful Agonies and Convulsions of Soul beyond what I am able to express or 't is possible for you to conceive at present Sometimes the Despondencies and Misgivings of heart which have siez'd Good men at their Death have been very great and apt to fill them with Fears and Apprehensions O how Frightful and Intolerable then must those Horrours and Confusions be which the Consciences of wicked men usually feel at the approach of Death Conscience I say when throughly rowz'd and awaken'd in the sense of their former Guilt and approaching Punishment the Anguish thereof in some Men and Women hath been so great that they have thought themselves in Hell already and that their condition could not well be worse in the very Place of Torments Therefore Sirs think often think seriously of these things before hand call to mind your latter End and prepare for it in good earnest before it comes and that may be one way to prevent the bitterness of Death and take away the Sting of it For without a timely Repentance and Preparation for it 't is not a saying God be merciful to me a Sinner Luk. 13.25 or Lord Lord open unto us Matth. 7.21 that will gain us admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven 'T is not a little outward Grief or forc'd Sorrow that can supply the want of Repentance or be accepted by God in the stead thereof No no To Repent is to be so heartily Troubled and Sorry for your Sins as to grow out of Love with them and to Resolve immediately to Leave and Forsake them to Repent is to Amend and Reform whatever you see amiss in your selves 't is to become Wiser and Better for the future and to lead your Lives according to the Directions of the Gospel and Precepts of your most Holy Religion And he that doth not endeavour to do this in good earnest knows not what true Repentance means he is a stranger to the Grace of God and is not yet arrived to the condition of Life or terms of Salvation and consequently not in a capacity of being sav'd Now we cannot but think and therefore ought to let you know as much that it will be too late to do this when you are Sick and Dying you will want time and opportunity for it when life is drawing to an end and Death with all his Terrours and Affrightments is hastning toward you O then what would you give for a little of that Health and Strength which you have formerly mispent in Sin and Folly in gratifying the lusts of the Flesh in complying with the Pride and Vanity of the World and running your selves into the Snares and Temptations of the Devil what would you not do to gain a little more of that time and leasure to go through with your Repentance and Preparations for Eternity which you have wretchedly abus'd and thrown away upon your Excesses and Debaucheries upon your Lusts and Pleasures in a Vain Sinful and Unprofitable manner what Fruit will you then have of those things whereof you will be asham'd For the end of those things is Death Rom. 6.21 6. Then you will see that the least hour of your mispent time will be worth more than a whole Age of Folly and Vanity you will wish then whatever you may think of it now that the greater Portions of your life had been spent in the Closet at your Private Prayers or at Church in the Publick Worship and Service of God or in seeking and finding out opportunities of doing Good rather than in Dressing and going Fine in Gaming and Playing in Idle and Impertinent Visists in Censorious and unprofitable Conversation which engrosses so much of the time of our People of Quality both Men and Women many of whom are mightily guilty this way and are observ'd to spend their time the vainest of all others Nay some among them that are pleased to take up a shew and Profession of Religion give us too much reason to fear 't is rather for Custom and Fashion sake than out of Conscience because so very few are known to become any whit the better or more serious upon that account And for my part I do not see how 't is possible to reconcile the strictness of Religion and a Holy Life to which the greatest stand obliged as well as the meanest with those undue Liberties which our People of Quality do commonly take in many things and particularly in the instances before mention'd O my God! What account will they be able to give another day when all those Helps and Advantages both of Time and Leasure Riches and Honour Interest and Authority wherewith they might do a great deal of good to themselves and others and become Exemplary to their Inferiours shall yet be abus'd and misimploy'd in the worst manner that can be and to become matter of publick Scandal and Offence Is this to answer the end of their coming into the World or the way to prepare themselves for a happy Exit or departure out of it Is this to live like Christians or to spend their time like those that must be accountable to God for it But Death when it comes will open their Eyes though they shut them now and convince them of their errour and mistake though we cannot But then it may be too late and out of their power to retreive or amend it Remember you can never be too fit to die nor too careful and sollicitous in preparing your selves for it because it is a thing that can be done but once and Eternity depends upon the Well-doing of it He then that shall deferr his Preparations for Eternity till he comes to be sick unto Death and ready to go out of the World hoping that may be time enough for it will find himself very unfit for so great a Work and mightily deceiv'd and disappointed of his Hope For Experience tells us whatever is done in hast is commonly done by halves and hurry'd up in a slight and imperfect manner many things are wont to be forgotten and over lookt at such a time and therefore the Errours and Mistakes the Omissions and Oversights of a Repentance hudled up in hast when we come to die must needs be many and great the least whereof may prove Fatal and undo us for ever 'T is Wisdom therefore to set about it now while time and opportunity are before you while God offers you his Grace and stretches forth the Arms of his Mercy to welcome and embrace you as the Father did the Prodigal Son upon his Repentance and Return Do it to day while it is call'd to day for you know not what a day may bring forth Prov. 27.1 or what danger you may run to all Eternity by the least delay A day an hour nay a few Moments may pass you out of this life into the Regions of the shadow of Death and land you upon the Confines of the other World
only thing that can secure the endless Happiness of another World when you leave this And be sure you endeavour it forthwith and out of Hand even to Day while it is call'd to Day do it in the time of your Health and Strength while the most Merciful God doth afford you Time and Space to repent and amend your Lives in which you cannot hope to do when Death begins to Approach Strength to Fail and Life it self is ready to expire 'T is my Duty to take all Occasions to remind you thereof both in Season and out of Season and therefore I was willing to lay hold of this to stir you up to a serious and due regard of the great interest of your Souls before it be too late and 't is your Duty to receive the Truth in the Love thereof and follow that Counsel and Advice which is intended for your Good and will put you into a safe and happy Condition both here and hereafter And let me add one thing farther That Persons of all Ages and Degrees are concern'd in this Admonition and 't is their Interest to attend and become obedient thereunto Young People ought as the Wise Man exhorts them to remember their Creator in the days of their Touth Eccles 12.1 and endeavour to be good betimes because their Life is as uncertain as that of others for more die young than live to be old and being once arriv'd to years of Knowledge and Understanding they have an account to give to God as well as older People and consequently are capable of being Happy or Miserable for Ever Elder People ought to set about the amending and reforming of their Lives in time of their Health and Strength while they may most conveniently do it as being endu'd with Ripeness of Judgment and Understanding and in some Measure past the Follies and Vanities of Youth 't is time therefore for them to grow serious and act like Men and Women in matters of Religiou's as well as Worldly concerns Ancient People more especially ought to do this before Sickness or Death doth sieze them as having neglected it too long already and therefore have less time to do it in than formerly they had It concerns them then to be careful to lay hold of the present Opportunity while it is yet before them for if you that are ancient and travelling apace to your Grave will not grow serious and make provision for Eternity when O when will you do it you are already arrived at the 11th hour of the day have a care of deferring it to the 12th and last when the dark night of Death is ready to overtake you whenas no Man can work Once more To this Duty of a timely and undelay'd Repentance the Rich Man and Man of Honour is oblig'd as well as the Poor and mean Man for as their Talents are more soâ— their Accounts will be greater than that of their Inferiours and what through the snares of the World and Temptations of Riches they are in a great deal more danger to Perish and miscarry whereupon the Salvation of Rich and Great Men seems by that of our Saviour to be abundance more hard and difficult than that of other Men Matth. 19.23 Verily I say unto you a rich Man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The number of the Saved in general is like to be but few and small Matth. 7.14 and c. 22.14 but be sure that of Rich Men will be the least and fewest of all others because not many mighty not many noble are called 1. Cor. 1.26 and therefore it concerns them chiefly to watch and pray against those many great Temptations which a Rich and Prosperous Estate is wont to expose and lay them open to and to work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling because of the difficulty thereof and to take time enough before hand for that purpose Secondly Repentance delay'd and put off from the present time to the Future is matter of great Hazard and Uncertainty and 't is mighty odds if ever such a one doth repent at all A dying Bed proves commonly too late and very improper for this great and necessary Duty Times of Sickness and Weakness are usually taken up with other guise concerns and attended with many inconvenient Circumstances which render Repentance very difficult at such a time and at the best but doubtful and uncertain Now the difficulties of such a Repentance may arise either First From the Violence or Malignity of the Disease which possibly may be of that nature as to sieze the Head stupifie the Brain and take away the use of the Senses and Understanding without which no Man is or can be capable of the least act of Repentance nor of doing any thing towards it and in such a Case to repent is plainly impossible But 2. the Difficulties of this Duty arise most commonly from the nature of ill Habits and bad Customs which are not easily broken or left off on a Sudden nor yet new ones immediately planted and introduc'd in the room thereof for all Habits are produc'd by Acts and therefore must be weakned by degrees and worn out by their Contraries for which Reason 't is necessary that we accustom our selves to frequent Acts of Vertue to wear out the Habits of Vice but then this requires constant Use and Practice and some considerable length of Time for that Purpose both which are commonly wanting to those that are Sick and Weak and more especially when they are Dying But to make the best of their Case suppose they should be willing to set about the Duty of repenting before they Die and may be judg'd able to do something towards it something like it at such a time yet no Man living can judge of the Truth and Sincerity of such a Repentance much less give the Sick Person any great Hopes of Comfort thereupon I am sure we have no warrant from God so to do there is no promise made to such late and dying Penitents And to give them any hopes of Pardon without a Promise to ground such hopes upon is not to comfort but flatter the Souls of Men and deceive them to their utter Ruine and Disappointment in the end For to give wicked Men at their Death 's any Hopes of Heaven is to give the Childrens Bread to Dogs and prostitute the precious promises of the Gospel to the encouragement of Sin and Vice which is wholly contrary to the design thereof Moreover we have a great deal more Reason to suspect than hope well of such Mens Repentance because we often find a great deal of Deceitfulness and Hypocrisie in the most solemn profession of Grief and Sorrow in the most serious and repeated Promises of Amendment that have been made by sick Persons when under the apprehensions of Death and the Terrors of an awakned Conscience for 't is usual for such Penitents upon their Recovery to forget all that ever they Promised to Almighty God and to
grow rather worse than better We meet with too many instances daily for to confirm us in the belief of this Truth and I am sorry to think that there should be any among you of this Parish to make up the Number some of whom I have visited in their Sickness been witness to their Vows and Promises solemnly made to God of new and better Obedience who yet have started aside like a broken Bow and behaved themselves falsly in God's Covenant Psalm 78.37 57. Such I do earnestly desire and in the name of God seriously charge to remember from whence they are fallen to call to mind the many Vows and Promises made to God in the time of their Trouble and Distress and to make Conscience of the Performance thereof as considering that the bitterness of Death is not yet past and they know not how soon God may reduce them to the like or worse Circumstances lay his Hand more heavy upon them and fill their Souls with far greater Horrour and Amazement in the remembrance of their Vile Hypocrisie and abominable Dissimulation And how then can they hope God should hear their Cries and accept their Vows who have been already so false and treacherous to their Word and Promise the last Estate of such Men and Women 't is to be fear'd will be worse than their First Luke 11.26 Thirdly Consider further you that are apt to put off the thoughts of Death and of Repentance with it if you cannot endure the serious thoughts of dying now how will you be able to bear up under the near Approaches and feeling Apprehensions thereof when Death shall overtake and sieze you in good earnest and there shall be no hopes to escape or avoid it what Oh! what will you then do The Apprehensions of Death to a sick Man are very Awful and Terrible but much more so to one that finds himself unprovided for it to one that is unfit to give up his accounts to God or appear with Comfort before his Great and Dreadful Tribunal If the great and necessary duties of Repentance and Amendment Mortification and Self denial be judg'd so hard and troublesome to you now do you think the Trouble and Difficulties thereof will wear off and grow less by your delays or shall you be better able to master or overcome them when you shall want both Time and Strength to go through with them He that thinks seriously of Death and a future Judgment to ensue thereupon methinks cannot be so much forsaken of his own Sense and Reason as not to judge it necessary to make the best and most timely preparation for them that he can and to use all the helps and assistances of Religion for that end and purpose For God's Sake Sirs consider of these things in time and bethink your Selves in good earnest before the Evil days come and the Years draw nigh wherein you shall say I have no pleasure in them Eccles 12.1 and let the Advice of the Holy Ghost in the Text prevail with you though mine cannot To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts Remember your immortal Souls are in danger every hour every Moment that you live in any known wilful Sin and refuse to repent of it Life is short frail and uncertain Eternity is at Hand and hastens upon you apace Heaven and Hell are at the end of your Lives and stand ready to receive you according as you have fitted and prepared your Selves either for the one or for the other those Spirits which you carry in your Bosoms must live for ever for ever I say in perpetual Bliss or endless Woe and we have all but a little time before us to secure our Eternal State in therefore be sure to find time to endeavour and set about it whatever you neglect do not neglect the things that belong to your Everlasting Peace let not the Cares the Business and the Troubles of the World much less the vain and foolish Pleasures and Pastimes thereof misimploy your time and take you off from this one thing needful and most necessary You that are Poor and Mean in the World ought to do this you ought to find some time to make Provision for your Souls as well as for your Bodies and to labour as diligently for the Bread of Life as for the Meat that Perishes for according to the Apostle Meat is for the Belly and the Belly for Meat but God will destroy both it and them whereas the Bread of Life which comes down from Heaven is able to nourish your Souls unto Eternal Life so as never to hunger or thirst more Alas What signifies it for you to drudge and toyl and take pains to maintain your Bodies and in the end to lose your Souls for want of setting apart some time and bestowing some care upon them But especially you that are above the wants and necessities of the World and have so much time and leasure lying on your Hands that you complain thereof and know not well how to get rid of it or pass it away except it be by Drinking or Gaming by going to Plays and running into bad Company to divert your selves such as you be sure will be Inexcusable before God if instead of laying hold of the present Opportunity to make ready your Accounts against the Judgment of the great Day you shall swell and increase them by a Life of Sloth and Vanity Luxury and Profaneness To such as you therefore I address my self not as the Rich and Great ones of the World for as such commonly you are apt to Despise our Counsel and think your selves above Reproof but as Frail Dying Mortal Men who must shortly Die as well as others have your Dust mingled with that of the meanest and all your Pride and Greatness Niceness and Delicacy converted into Stench and Rottenness and the Dishonours of the Grave and moreover as having many more Talents to be accountable for than your Poor and Indigent Neighbours Is not the Day of your Death as certain as that of your Birth or present Life and tho' you are loth to think of Dying and willing to put off the Evil Day far from you as a melancholy prospect and Unwelcome entertainment as a Subject that is apt to damp your Mirth and unsuitable to your brisk and gay humours Yet consider the putting off the thoughts of Death will not prevent its Approach or make it less Terrible when it comes nay quite otherwise it will make the surprize thereof more dreadful and amazing and render you so much the more unfit to grapple and encounter with the King of Terrours Ecclesiasticus 41.1 O Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lives at rest in his possessions unto the man that hath nothing to vex him and that hath prosperity in all things yea unto him that is yet able to receive meat The more unwilling you have been to think of and prepare for Death now the more