yet to come Things past by a remembrance of some remarkable passages when they happened seem to be present with me but not knowing what may happen in the same number of years to come I have nothing wheron to fix my thoughts Or the reason of this difference may rather be that men in this degenerate and necessitous State with unsatisfied desires reaching after Happines and sensible nothing present can afford it and knowing by Experience that nothing past could have done it are eagerly desirous of Felicity and because we know not but what is to come may procure it we hope it will which makes the Time seem long by reason of our Expectation and desire of Good. Wheras the foresight of Evill and the Expectation of that some years hence makes the Time rather seem short and near at hand So many years to come in the Expectation and desire of Good are long and tedious such Hope deferred makes the Heart sick even tho 't is of that sort as must needs fail our Expectations Prepare me Lord for what thine unerring Counsell shall pleas to order as to the remainder of my time on earth and suffer me not to count upon a great number of Years to come since this for ought I know may be my last neither let me expect Rest and Happiness in this world which nothing Temporal can afford This is not the state or season wherein by any promise of God I am encouraged to hope it And if fifty or threescore years to come be thought so great a matter and really is so as to our stay on earth Oh what apprehensions ought I to admit concerning an endless Everlasting State especially being as certaine of the latter after death as I am uncertaine about the former wither so many years be yet to come before my death V. The little Portion of our Time on Earth considered by a Computation of the Life of man from the number of Years and Hours THink o my soul how short is that Life at longest made up of years and moneths and days such little parts and yet in number few Well therefore may it be exprest as I find in holy writt by years of number That is such as may soon be numbred 16. c. 22.12 Ezek. 16.10 Isai 19. When a few years are come saith Job or the years of number as in the original I shall go the way whence I shall not return By the years of on Hireling which were not above three 16. Is 14. We usually compute Threescore and ten years to the Life of man let me suppose four score The Bed with most imploys one half and hardly one in Thirty doth reach the Age of Seventy Years And they who live to such an Age Winter Evening Conference Conf. 1. do yet complaine how soon 't is done Ignorant child hood and Heedless Youth and Infirm old Age may be supposed to take up be a third part of that Time. In either of them very little of the great Ends of Life are answered We ordinarily begin to reckon our lives from our Birth wheras for a good while after we know not wither we are alive or no but are beholding to others to make the account for us When we first come to the steady use of Reason or what we call the years of Discretion how few are there but from the prejudices of Education from the corruption of Humane Nature from the want of Experience from the Infection of bad Company how few I say but spend their younger years in those things which afterwards they are ashamed of when Experience hath taught them the Wisdom of men How great a part of our remaining Time is taken up in the necessites of Nature about food and Rayment and in lawfull cares to support the Body and how much more then needs in pampering dressing and adorning it out of the smal remainder how much is imploied in the concerns of a Family and near Relations in particular Callings in necessary Civil Business and in getting keeping or improving an Estate Besides all the Time that is spent in Recreations visits unprofitable discours impertinent thoughts journeys sickness and innumerable other occasions some allowable and many needless After this how little Time remains wherein to Cultivate and improve our minds by Languages Arts and Sciences or the knowledg of a Trade c. How little then after all may we say is left for the the matters of Religion for Devotion to God and serious preparation for another world Alas how smal a number of years make up the Life of Man and how smal a Portion of that is imployed about the Principal Business for which we were born for which we live We divide Time into Past Present and Future but the Past is not now ours the Future is not yet and the Present now is past ere the sound be pronounced And yet this is all the Time alloted us wherein to secure the Blessedness of Eternity How many Hours more of our little Time might be improved then commonly are by the Best In every year there are eight thousand seven hundred seventy five Hours if we allow the greatest half for sleep and necessary attendance on the Body and take but four thousand Hours for our work and business of consequence how poor an acount can most men give of all thes four thousand Hours in every year not one hour in seven not one in ten is ordinarily devoted to God and the purposes of Religion Should it not affectus seriously to consider this especially if we remember at what an uncertainty we are how smal a number of Days and Hours do yet remaine This year this moneth this week this day or hour may be my last What an unsuspected accident or a sudden diseas may doe I know not but this I know that there is scarce any thing that hath not killed some Body an hair a feather a vapor a breath hath done it and when the Apostle James asks the question What is your Life he answers It is even a vapor that appeareth a little while and then vanisheth away VI. Of the Redemption of Time how precious and valuable a Treasure it is and will be thought to be when 't is too late IS the Life of men so short and fleeting our days on Earth so few and so uncertaine how careful should I be to manage every hour indevoring to match the swiftness of Time by my celerity and diligence to improve it As there is no Covenant to be made with Death so no Agreement for the arrest and stay of Time it keeps its pace wither I redeem and use it well or noe The greatest part of our life is designedly imploied to avoid death we eat and drink and sleep and labor and rest that we may not dye and yet even by thes we hasten to death Every Breath every puls every word leaus one less of the number which God hath apointed me and carries away some sands of
find every year that the Day dies into night the summer into winter and herbs and plants lose their beauty and verdure and shed their blossoms may I not hence learn to consider and prepare for my own approaching Change In prosperity health and ease and life to expect and make provision for trouble sickness paine and Death as every wise man in summer would do for winter and work with all my might while it is called to day while the Light continues because the night of darkness is at hand when none can work VIII Of Evills to be Expected in this Year the wisdom and mercy of God in concealing from us the knowledg of Future Events NOt only few and uncertaine but Evill likewise are the days of the years of my Life may every one say with the Patriarch Jacob. A sufficient portion of evil for every year may well be expected when our Lord tells us there is a certaine measure alloted for every day Sufficient to the day is the evil of it Not only is our Life short but troublesome full of vexatious mixtures We can not sing a Requiem to our souls when one Great Calamity is past for we know not in this Region of Changes but another a greater may be at hand one messenger of ill news may succeed and out doe another as it was with Job We come weeping into the world in a most helpless forloen state and if we escape the dangers of Infancy and the casualties of childhood and after that out live the snares follies of youth we are tost upon the Pikes of Time and Chance and sadden and disquiet our selvs with a thousand griefs and sorrows by inevitable and unexpected occasions tho we increas the number of needless Cares and Fears and discontents till at length a sudden stroke arrests us we fetch a groan and dye Who can give a Catalogue of the Afflictions and Calamities Perplexities and Disapointments incumbrances crosses and Evill accidents of Humane Life by means whereof millions are disconsolate and sad mourn and complaine weep and sigh and from day to day are fed with the Bread of Affliction and the water of Adversity Not to mention mens fluctuating restless thoughts of Heart importunate desires bafled projects defeated Purposes which suppose or bring vexation A good share of these is not to be auoided and yet very few can be particularly fore seen who could prognosticate a year agoe the Evills which have happened since publick and private personal and relative to the Countries Citties Families and persons we are concerned for and who can certainly foretell the Events of this insueing year God hath intermixt Good and Evill in the Life of Man he hath set Prosperity against Adversity saith Solomon to the end that man should find nothing after him 7. Eccles 14. that he may not know what shall come next wither a Prosperous or a Calamitous Event What a change may be made in a year by the meer Casualty of humane Events by the Treachery of friends or the malice of Enemies or the more immediate hand of God We know not what shall be on the morrow much less what a twelve moneth may produce Because what ever may be disposed to happen from natural causes or Civil counsels may be altered by a perticular decree of Providence Prepare me Lord and every of those in whose Felicity I more especially take part for all the Calamities and Sorrows thine Infinite Wisdom shall think fit to exercize us with this following year and by thy mercifull Providence and gracious Conduct cause them to work for Good Furnishing us with suitable strength and wisdom to acquiesce in thy good pleasure and obey they Will. I thank thee O Heavenly Father that thou hast reserved the knowledg of future Times and Seasons to thy self and hid Events from men Least by considering them certaine we should presume in case they are Good or should despairingly afflict our selves by foreseeing the Evill we know to be inevitable Did we certainly foreknow the Good that would befall us we should not Trust in thee to bring it to pass or heartily implore thy Care and conduct Did we forsee the Evills we shall suffer before they overtake us we should be overwhelmed with diffidence and Despair Many a Mother who rejoiceth at the Birth of a son would mourn to foresee what a man what a Son he will prove Such an increas of knowledg would increas our sorrow such a Prescience would transport and discompose us by unseasonable Joys and Sorrows born out of Time make us Remiss in our Duty to thee and weaken our Dependance on thine unerring Wisdom Truth and Power IX The Supposition of dying this Year should be improved the consequence of redeeming time and providing for Eternity farther prest The Folly of Elder persons is condemned and checkt from the Example of Children 'T is adviseable to familiarize the thoughts of Death and to imagine before hand what apprehensions of things we shall then have THe longest Life is but a day multiplied and who can certifie or assure me which will be my last He only who was God as well as man could say Mine Hour is not yet come Is all my Life given me to resolue this Question Whither I shall be in Heaven or Hell for ever And have I any time to lose and squander away as superfluous have I any more then needs 'T is no impossible or unreasonable supposition to make that I may dye this year Let me admit that thought and imagine my self on a bed of sickness wearied with paine and ready to leave this world the Physitians gone despairing of my recovery my friends about me weeping and all things in a doleful melancholy posture suited to such a state feeling within my self the presages of Death expecting the final stroke in an hour or two more What is then the value of sensual Pleasures can I then relish or savor them what then is Honour to me who shall never goe abroad more to receive it till carried to my grave will it then comfort me to have lived in Reputation and Applause if my Heart was not humble under it and the Honour of God promoted by it can Riches and a great estate support me when I am just packing up for a removal to the other world in that hour will it be any satisfaction to have made a stir and noise for a few years upon Earth to be talkt of for a while longer then other men are thes the things my dying thoughts will be most concerned to reflect on Thes dignities pleasures and possessions offerd to a dying man would rather opraid then tempt him they come too late as a Princes pardon to a man whose head is off Dye I must and appear before my Judge to answer for all that I have received and done in the body Fool that I was shall I then too justly say to my self not to have considered this much sooner not to have provided for
it at a better rate my sins stare me in the face my conscience tells me I am not ready for such a Trial I have lived a stranger to such thoughts as now I cannot refuse and which should have been admitted sooner But if to such a state any hope of mercy may be granted tho it be unspeakably little yet I cannot promise my self any such warning by sickness The sleeping virgins were called at Midnight and so may I. where can I pitch my Tents on Earth to be secure against a sudden remove Lord make thes thoughts effectual to prevent my loss of precious Time which at such a season will be esteemed precious tho now it be not O how swift how short my Time of Trial in order to Eternity how difficult how important a work is it to prepare for an Everlasting state what is all this world how little how meer a nothing to a departing soul and shall I after such reflexions continue to pursue shadows and pleas my self with empty dreams when being so near my final Judgment the common wisdom of a man requires me to mind it in good earnest and be more sollicitous about it then for any Thing Temporal O in what manner will Death open mine eyes by shutting the windows of sens how shall I then see the nothingness of what is but Temporal and the reality of what is Eternal We sometimes laugh to see the vanity of little Children who are greatly pleased with painted toys and busily imployed about trifles It extorts a smile to see them eager and industrious and mightily concerned in their childish sports to see them fight or weep for little things which we despise to observe with what sollicitude and care they l raise a little fabrick which three moments after they themselvs pull down or would otherwise tumble of its own accord We laugh at thes but should weep over our selvs as the greater and Elder Fools who are every whit as Silly yea infinitely more so that considering we know the frailty of our present Life and can look beyond the Grave to another world should yet mispend our precious Time on things which cannot profit and pleas our selvs with what is so unsuitable to our Age and State and suffer our passions to work with violence for a thing of nought and our greatest diligence care and zeal to be exercized on things impertinent and vaine that are perishing in in themselvs and can contribute nothing to our Eternal wellfare And is it not thus with reference to all that men toyl and labor for with the neglect of an immortal State The voluptuous Sadducee will not refuse the present gratification of his sensual appetite because he is uncertaine of another day Let us eat and drink for to morrow we dye Should not the same motive quicken my diligence in a better work and because my Lord may come suddenly as a thief in the night immediately prepare to meet him Let me now therefore o my soul look forward to the end of Life and Time and so let me esteem and seek and choos and do every thing in the first place which then I shall wish I had Let me do nothing now which I verily believe I shall then be ashamed or sorry to reflect on that by thinking what a condition I shall then wish to have my soul in I may now provide my self much better then I have done thitherto That while I am in the greatest probability of living I may suppose my change to be near and so not dare do any thing but what I would or might do if I were in the present expectation of Death To this end let me goe down to the Potters house descend to the consideration of my mortality and dwell among the Tombs remembring the Aegyptians built themselvs better Tombes then Houses because they were to dwell longer in them Let every nights repose serve me as a memorial of my last sleep and let my Bed stand for the model of my Coffin This is the only way to be dead to this world to be able to judge of things now as we shall do after death according to immutable Eternal Truth X. The Brevity of Life considered as the fruit of sin There are but three ways of leaving this world as Abel Adam or Enoch A diligent improvement of Time farther prest and the neglect of it bewailed THe shorting of our Days is the fruit of sin We dye because we have sinned and yet we should not sin as now if this were not forgot that we must dye From the First Transgression of Adam we derive our death and therefore some of his Posterity lived longer then he Which proves that the lengthning of our Days is the peculiar Gift of God and yet 't is such a Gift as was more desired formerly then since the apearance of Christ for we read of none in the New Testament since Life and Immortality is brought to Light by the Gospel who desired a long continuance here on earth Were we delivered from sin the sting of Death by having made our peace with God in the Bloud of Jesus Death would not be frightfull or put on such a ghastly vizor as to most it doth But we are uncertaine of our Justification we waver between hopes and Fears as to our Final Sentence and are conscious to our selvs that we are not ready for our great Acount This makes Death â—o terrible Considering with all that it is inevitable the way of all the Living For tho the curs be removed and the sting be taken out by our H. Saviour so that the Souls of Believers are safe and shall not be toucht by the second Death yet God hath not taken away the stroke of it from the Body tho a Christian is assured of deliverance from Hell he is not exempted from the Grave as his passage to Heaven Prepare me Lord by the free Remission of all my sins and make me meet for the Blessed Inheritance by sanctifying grace and then thy Time is best Thy Holy will be done No matter then wither my Death be violent or what we call Naturall It will be one of the two for I can't expect to be Translated by a miraculous change as Holy Enoch was and as they shall be who shall be found alive at the world when our Glorious Judge shall come againe There are but those three ways of leaving Earth and the Three First Men of whose departure we read in Scripture are Instances of all Three Abel of a violent Death Adam of a natural one and Enoc of a Translation The variety and order of their Departure as one observes is very admirable and deserves to be considered For all mankind must follow one or other of those three Examples Every man or woman that is born into the world must leave it by one of those three ways Either be cut off by a violent Death as Abel the first man who dyed or dye a Natural Death
day of the new year God enters into Judgment for the sins of the year and Life past That every ones Faults are weighed against his good works He that is found Rightous is sealed unto Life and he that is found wicked is sealed unto Death And 't is a general custom that hath obtained among the Jews for the ten first days of the new-year to rise out of their Beds in the night and to continue in their Synagogues praying and worshipping untill break of day The superstitious and ridiculous Ceremonies of the * Vid. Ceremonies Cout parmi les Inifs d'aujourdhuy part 3. c. 5. modern Jews on this Day I shall not repeat However vaine and groundless superstitious and absurd many of their Customs and Practises are on this day yet this blind Devotion of the Iews may justly shame and condemn the Christians of our Age who commonly spend the Beginnings of every year worse then any other parts of them and instead of any solemn Retirements for Prayer and Meditation which might assist them to number their Days and prepare for Eternity instead I say of such seasonable Exercizes how do vaine and hurtfull Sports and Pastimes or trifling and unedifying mirth and fruitless conversations consume the greatest part of the Days and nights too of the Beginning of the year And thus when the first fruits of the year are offered up to sin and vanity 't is no wonder if the following parts of it are imployed to no better purpose without any due concern for the Soul and an Everlasting State. To Endeavor some Remedy to those disorders and give some assistance to them who desire seriously to make Religion their Principal Business is the end of publishing thes Reflexions I most heartily beseech the God of a-Grace to influence by his H. Spil rit the Conscience of every Reader that some such effect may be attained Haveing found the Practise recommended to be of use to my self and my own Heart warmed in composing the substance of thes Papers tho without any Intention at that Time of exposing them to the world 't is not unreasonable to hope that what hath been beneficial to one may be helpfull to another It cannot certainly be unadvisable or improper to Begin the year with God with whom we should begin every Day 'T is decorous and becoming to Dedicate our selves to Him in a more solemn manner then ordinary at such a Time Thankfully to acknowledg the Favors and Blessings we have particularly received the Year Past and to recollect the Sins we have been guilty of to aggravate them with Humility Contrition and deep Remorse to renew our Covenant with God to repeat and fortifie our Resolutions of living better imploring his Grace to assist us in it to reflect seriously on the mutability frailty brevity of our present Life to consider the swiftness uncertainty irrecoverableness and consequent value of our Time to look forward to a Blessed or miserable Eternity one of which we must share in and to confirm our Faith in the Certainty therof and consider our near aproach to such an unchangeable State to think what improvement we should make of the Death of others especially of Relations and Friends who have lately been called home To make the Supposition in good earnest that we may follow them this year and dye before another new years day to imprint such a Thought on our Hearts and the inferences that may naturally be deduced from it to beg of God to inable us to Redeem our Time and discharge the Duty of our particular places and prepare us for all the Events of the following year and so effectually Teach us to number our days that we may apply our Hearts unto true Wisdom least we be surprized by an unexpected Death before the period of another year And lastly to pray for our Relations and Friends Families and Neighbors and our Enemies too and plead with God on the behalf of Sion and the afflicted State of the Reformed Churches To some of thes and the like Purposes I hope what is here offered may be subservient if considered with seriousness and application after humble Invocation of the Blessing of God and the aids of his Spirit composeing our minds and thoughts as in his most awefull and holy Presence I have only this farther to request that if any one soul shall find any real Benefit in this kind he would so far requite my charitable assistance of him that when his heart is most serious his Spirit most composed and devout and his affections most vigorous and lively he would not forget to put up one Prayer to Heaven for me for Greater Holiness and Abilities to Honour God and persevering Faithfullness to his Truth and Interest what ever Temptations to desert it may be imploied by the World the Flesh and the Devil the three Great Enimies of thine and my Salvation DEVOUT REFLEXIONS On TIME And ETERNITY This World and the Next I. Of the changeable State and short Duration of Earthly Things especially of Man how little it is considered and believed how necessary it should be so WHen I consider that yesterday was the Conclusion of the last year and that I now am entred on another 't is seasonable to reflect on the mutable condition and short Duration of all Things in this world which are measured by Time. That as they have their Beginning so they have their End and that the distance or space of Time between the one the other is very little Let me not then o my soul Rejoyce please my self to much in New Injoyments remembring a Change may be at hand the End is certaine Many who were Rich and Flourishing the last year may be reduc'd to Poverty and deep distress before the end of this who are now in a capacity to relieve others within a few moneths or a shorter space may be objects of other mens Charity The thing which hath been is that which may be and that which hath been seen in one year may happen in another so easily so quickly may a Change be made Riches may unexpectedly change their Owners and borrow wings of a thousand Accidents wher with to flye to Heaven for a new Disposal 1 Cor. 7. v. 29. They therefore who possess should be as if they possessed not for the Fashion of this world passeth away Innumerable casualties may effect that change which no humane Art or skill can possibly foresee or hinder afflictive unexpected Evills attend us every where we cannot promise our selves Tranquillity for a Day much less an Year to come they lay in wait for us on every side enter at every crevice and commonly overtake us when we are least apprehensive of their approach Job 9.25 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of Trouble He cometh up as a flower and is cut down fleeth as a shadow and continueth not What then are Riches Beauty Strengh and Honor the accidents
devotion to God is therby extinguisht all the restraints of vice removed the floud gates of Impiety opened the encouragements of vertue the rewards of Holiness the foundation of Patience in Tribulation and suffering for Righteousness sake all at once taken away Lord confirm my belief of the invisible future state of Rewards and Punishments and let not Sadduceism and Infidelity damp my zeal in thy service or rob me of the comforts of this Life which if I have any solid ones must suppose the hopes of a Better Let others therefore o my Soul who expect not an Everlasting Heaven beyond the Grave place their affections on Earthly things and mind this world as if there were no better no other Let them who doubt or disbelieve the promised rewards of Eternity take up with what they must shortly leave and labor for the Bread that perisheth But since I profess to believe and seek the Life Everlasting let me dayly intertaine my self with the hopes of it and let all the flattering dreams of what is desireable upon Earth give place to nobler and better Thoughts Let me derive my principal Joy from the promise and expectation of that future felicity and indeavor nothing more then a meetness to pertake of it O my God my God! thou art my Life and Joy and Portion in thee and in thy love all my desires and hopes are answered and all my wants supplied How ever Evill this world is made by sin yet thou art the infinite and supreme Good. How mutable how uncertaine how perishing soever are all sublunary things yet thou art the rock of Ages the fountaine of Everlasting Life and hast apointed another world and another Life when this is ended wherein thou wilt be better known and loved and served and honored and communicate thy self more abundantly then now to those the desire of whose souls is towards thee that believe and love thee that partake of thine image and are devoted to thy fear The assurance of this and nothing els will answer the objection of the present vanity and misery we are subject to XII The consideration of the Death of others especially of Relations Friends and Acquaintance how to be improved What instructions we may learn by the sight of a Dead Carcass or a Deaths-head and the usual Motto on it and what by the Death of Holy Persons to quicken our desires to be as they HAth divine Patience added one year more to the number of my Days when so many others were removed by Death the last year Others whom a few moneths since I knew in vigorous health wiser stronger more likely to live and to answer the ends of Life then me some of them my near Relations and usefull Friends in whose converse I took delight and promised my self advantage by their Company and Exemples But they are taken and I am left Thy Holy will o Lord is done and they who were prepared are infinite Gainers by this my loss Quicken my preparations by following their piety to meet them in thy Heavenly Kingdom Let thy long suffering lead me to Repentance and suffer me not to slight thy warning by the death of others to expect my own Lord cure my Earthly mindedness and practical unbelief and by all such admonitions of thy Providence teach me to possess and use this world as knowing I must shortly leave it and let not the thoughts of my mortality wear off assoon as the funeral of my Friends is over Every year some or other of our Acquaintance drop into the Grave we attend them thither and lament it may be for a few days their departure and removal but consider not that others will ere long do the same for us it may before this year is ended Oh how soon do we forget our deceased Friends and our selvs who are likewise dying and count upon a long life which we cannot reasonably expect and hug the injoyments of this transitory world as if our present state would last for ever Will nothing but our own dissolution effectually convince us of our mistake and folly in this perticular Tho the arrows of Death flye continually round about us sometimes over our heads when Superiors are taken away sometimes fall at our feet when Children and Servants and inferiors dye sometimes on our left hand when an Enemy is cut off and while I am pleased with that in that very hour it may be another arrow on our right hand strikes the Friend of our bosome and delight and can we see all this that great and smal high and low friends and foes are all vanity and drop down dead round about us and shall we not consider that we are as vaine as they and must shortly follow shall we not by a Christian Chymistry extract Spirits out of thes dead Bones and by thes Examples learn the End of all Men and lay it to heart When ever I see the funeral of another let me think thus with my self why might not I have been that man or woman that is now carried to the Grave If we had been compared a few days since 't is probable I should have been thought as likely to have been his monitor by dying first as he mine By such an improvement of thes warnings the request of Dives to Abraham were in great measure granted for 't is a call from the dead that speaks loudly to us to consider our selvs and prepare in time for so great a change and say as the Prophet to Hezekiah Set thine house in order for thou shalt dye Can we look upon a Deaths-head and not remember what we shall shortly be may not much be learnt from its common motto Sum quod Eris Fueramque quod Es. I am that which thou shalt shortly be and have been that which thou art now that is I have been as gay and jocund as brisk and merry as proud and vaine as rich and great as careless and secure as honourable and as much esteemed as beautifull and as well beloved as witty and as learned as thou art or canst be now I valued my self as much upon my estate and trade and health and beauty upon my education profession imployments parts friends family c. as thou hast ever done or canst doe I lived in ease and pleasure in mirth and jollity I minded the world as much and indulged my self as much in sensuality and was as carefull of my body and pampered and pleased my flesh as much as thou and thought as little of a sudden death and prepared as little for such a change as thou dost but now my dry Bones are lookt upon with contempt and scorn but thou shalt shortly return to dust and be as vile as I am It cannot but affect us did we consider it to see Divers snatcht away in their Youth and outward Prosperity and in the midst of their sin and folly without any visible signs of true Repentance or in terrible anguish and horror for their past crimes
to which Immortality is annext and labor to be accepted with God at whose Bar I must be judged endeavoring to keep the testimony of a good conscience and then it is not much wither I pass thro good Report or Evill Report no contempt or frowns or threatnings of men need then discourage me Tho I should be trampled on by the foot of Pride while others are happy in a dream for a little while and it may be have a prossperous passage to damnation I 'le rather thank God for delivering me from their Temptations and giving me the opportunity and call to hasten my Preparations for a Better World. Let God dispose of my Condition here and Reputation too as best shall please his Sovereign will only be pleased to keep me upright and to preserve me from Everlasting shame and confusion of Face after the general Resurrection and final Judgment vouchsafe me a portion now in thine approving love and own me for Thine at last in the Great and Terrible Day of Reckoning that then I may hear the Blessed Euge and enter into my Lords Joy XVII The same Argument considered farther as dissuasive from Worldliness and Earthly mindedness and as proper to confute the vanity of long Projects and great Designs for this World. ARe the years of my Life but few and they hastening to a Period and may this be my last Let me not then greedily covet riches and abundance and wast my little time to scrape together large Provisions for many years to come when I have no assurance to see the end of this Is it becoming such a belief to toyl from day to day that I may lay up that which I must so soon leave as if I were to spend and Eternity here on earth and in the mean while neglect the one thing Necessary Am I not upon the shore of Eternity may not the next tide carry me off and shall I spend my whole Life in Diversions from the maine Busines of it have I nothing els to doe but to gather shells if they were Pearls the absurdity were still the same and pile them upon heaps till I am snatcht away past all Recovery Shall I be regardless of an Eternal State and run the hazard of being undone for ever by sollicitous care about pretended Necessaries for a long abode on Earth Much less for superfluities when I am not certaine of the possession this one year Shall I magnifie and admire what is so soon to be parted with value my self upon thes things so as to despise those that have less and envy such as have more and suffer my mind to be distempered and my passions immoderate on every change of these things Tho I know besides my own mortality that to inforce the argument there is a principle of Corruption in all these things that our very Manna here in a little while will stink and Bread which is the staff of Life moulder our richest garments wax old and rot silver and gold rust and the greatest Beauty wither and every thing that is Earthly decay and perish And shall not this teach me to sit loose from all such Things Can I imagine that in my last hour it will be easier to part with much then little or better in the day of Judgment to have a great Estate to answer for then a lesser one We read concerning the Patriarch Abraham who rightly understood the transitory nature of riches and his own mutable Condition that the only purchase he made with his riches was a Grave choosing to take possession of the land promised him rather by a mark of his parting with it then of his Possessing it Did I think oftner and more seriously o my Soul of tarrying here but a littte while I should more easily be persuaded that a little of this world were sufficient to carry me thro it I should consider more that my Heavenborn soul is made and designed for another an endless World and therefore should not so far forget his own People and Fathers house as eagerly to pursue and seek what is suited only to the Body for a little while and whereof a little with Contentment will be sufficient The same Reflexion may be usefull to contract our Thoughts to present duty that we may not perplex our minds with long designs and projects which if we dye this year will come to nothing Our great Business in this world is adapted to the little portion of Time which is allowed us Not that good Designs for the publick Benefit may not be begun by one and finisht by others or that we are not obliged prudently to provide for those who shall come after us by attempting many Things of probable Advantage to Posterity But considering the shortness and uncertainty of Life not only should the most necessary Things be first minded and not put off by prosecuting such designs as may signifie some what to others when we are dead but we should not now omit that which we may hope to compass ourselvs to begin such things whose accomplishment must depend on the Pleasure of our successors Consideration and faithfull Counsell would in this case have prevented the fruitless expence of many mens Time and Money which if otherwise imployed might have turned to good account to themselves and others And this heightens our folly that while we pursue great projects in reference to this world and dye without effecting them our preparations for Eternity are neglected and so we are suddenly cut off in the midst of our Folly and all our Thoughts perish how easily how soon may they do so the difference and distance between Death and Life being no more then that of a Candle lighted from its being blown out and if it is exposed to all winds how quickly may that Happen XVIII The consideration of the certaine near Approach of an Everlasting State amplifi'd and prest to in force an Holy Life IN this world we begin a Year and quickly come to the end of it and ere long the little number of our years and days will be expired But when death conveys us into the World of Spirits the day of Eternity shall never be closed with an Evening Of how fearfull consequence is that Death by which an Eternity must be decided What attention what seriousness what diligence what care doth the decision of so important a matter call for ETERNAL what will be the next word o my soul how much am I concerned to know it will it be Blessedness or Misery will it be Life or Death This one word is the Joy of Angels and the Horror of Devils the unspeakable Delight of blessed Saints and the confusion and Despair of condemned Sinners At the Creation of the World Time got the start of us and was five days elder then we but our Immortal Souls shall indure beyond the utmost limits of Time and last as long as the Everlasting Father of Spirits of whose duration there is no end Shall I then
exist and live tho my Body perish and see corruption Shall my soul my self exist beyond the Grave in Felicity or Misery and that for ever and according to my present Actions what am I then most concerned to mind what am I to choose What am I most to fear to wish to do What is a shadow of honor and reputation among dying men What are a few drops of fleshly Pleasure for a moment to eternal Rivers of Pleasure at God's right hand What are the sufferings of an hour or two to the pains and anguish of Eternity What can the World Flesh or Devil give me comparable to Eternal Life What can I suffer in the way of Holiness that may be set in the balance against an Everlasting Hell And yet how often o my soul how boldly how unconcernedly how foolishly do I hazard the one and forfeit the other for the sins and vanities of this world Whereas one prospect of Eternity should make every thing that is Temporal appear little in my eyes the highest elevation of earthly Greatness abundance of Riches the great Affaires Business and Imployments of the World Pomp and Splendor and Reputation and all that now flatters the senses and the vanity of Mankind Oh that I could but live as believing and expecting an Eternal State as having it in my Eye managing all my affaires with a visible reference to it discovering to all the world by my Behaviour and Deportment that I doe in earnest believe it certaine for be it never so Certaine if I do not apprehend and consider it as such it will no more affect me then a Fable Neither is it enough to consider it as certaine but as Near for the most weighty the most terrible things apprehended as at a great distance will little move Thinking of the long Interval between the advantage of being exempted from such evills for so long a time will please me more then such distant Calamities will affright Let me therefore indeavor to impress the consideration of Eternity at hand more deeply on my heart that I may walk and live discours and pray and demean my self in every thing as near an unchangeable State. Am I not convinc't that this is Certaine from the nature and operations of my soul from the reflexions of Conscience from the Righteousness of God in his Government of the world from the present unequal Distributions of Good and Evill by his Providence and from the plaine and frequent assertions of his Revealed Will I have nothing to object nothing to reply but I find a necessity of inculcating and urging the consideration of it in order to its influence I find it needfull to reflect often how near I am to such an Endless State that in one Instant by Death I enter upon it and that this instant may be as near me as my next Thought That the H. Scripture describes the two contrary Conditions after death and every man and woman in the world shall share in one of them as both Everlasting the one by Eternal Life Eternal Glory an incorruptible Crown that fadeth not away an incorruptible Inheritance an House Eternal in the Heavens c. the other by unquenchable Fire a Prison whence no escape Eternal Damnation Everlasting Burning everlasting Punishment everlasting Destruction a worm that never dies wrath that is ever to come blackness of darkness for ever c. Think o my Soul that in one of these two contrary States I must abide for ever In endless Joy or sorrow Blessed in the presence of God or forever banisht from it And who ever thou art that readest this apply it seriously to thy self 't is thine own case Yea I tell the from God that Holiness of Heart and Life is absolutely necessary to the former and that without it thou shalt never see his face but be punisht with Everlasting Destruction from the presence of his Glory Is this an unquestionable Truth O let me consider it till I feel the power and efficacy of so important a Principle let the impression be deep and lasting let it peirce and enter into my very soul to cool the heats of lust to quench sensual and earthly desires and to mortifie all in ordinate affections to this world and fix my resolutions to mind and seek Eternal Life with all my Heart These are not difficult and perplexed Niceties which wise and holy men differ and disagree about They are not metaphisical Subtleties which few can understand but the express word of God and the dayly dictates of my own Reason and Conscience which all Christians and all most all men in their wits except in an hour of great Temptation confess and own or whither they will or no are forc't to expect and Fear if they are not in a condition to consider them with a joyfull Hope Lord cure the unbelieving doubts concerning these Great things which notwithstanding the plainest Evidence the Devil may at any time suggest let a confirmed Faith be the Reality of what is thus future that my soul may be influenc't by them as it is wont to be by things present Let it be the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things unseen and as yet at a distance as if the Day of Judgment were allready come and there were no intermediate Time to passe between this and that O Eternity Eternity the more I consider it the more unfathomable still I find it Unchangeable Blessedness or remediless Endless Torments An Eternall blissfull Day or Everlasting Horror Darkness and Despair Life or Death Glory or Destruction to last as long as the Immutable Living God! None of the Patriarchs who lived longest arrived to the period of a Thousand years which in comparaison of God's Everlastingness is set forth but as one day But strictly considered millions of years and ages have no proportion with it because no multiplication of them will amount to Eternity Whereas one hour hath some proportion to an hundred thousand years because a certaine number of hours will amount to so many years But no number of years or Ages never so often multiplied will make up Eternity as no substraction of Millions of years will lessen it an in tire Eternity will be still to come and will ever be to come When innumerable myriads of years are past Eternity shall then seem but to begin because when as many more are over it shall be as far from an end Oh that the Thoughts of Eternity may be powerfull and prevailing above all others that I may Judge of every thing by its relation to it by its influence upon it Chuse now o my soul whither Everlasting Joys or Miseries shall be my Portion but consider well that thine Eternity is concerned in thy present choice and that this choice must be pursued with stedfastness and Constancy as long as I live and what are a few years to prepare for an Eternal State were we obliged to spend several hundred years in serious