Persevering Obedience how full and extensive it ought to be and yet humble by what means we may be assisted to perform that which we resolve p. 208 XXVIII The Import and Obligation of our Baptismal Covenant The renewal of it by a solemn Dedication of our selves to God the Father Son and Holy Spirit exemplifyed and recommended p. 217 XXIX Practical and consolatory Reflections on the preceeding Self-dedication or Covenant with God. p. 224 XXX Thanksgiving to God for his Innumerable Benefits and Mercies particularly in the Year Past with some Direction and Advice concerning it p. 234 THE Introduction From what Time the Jews reckoned the Beginning of their Year of the difference between their Sacred and Civil Account The Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the Year ' its Institution Nature and Design the Traditions and Customs of the Jews respecting that Day UPon the deliverance of the Jews out of Aegypt the first month which began with the new Moon next to the vernal Equinox was to be accounted (a) Exod. 12.1 the beginning of Months it answers to the latter end of our March and the Beginning of April and is sometimes called Nisan and sometimes Abib It was ordinarily after that Deliverance reckon'd the First month of the year in their Sacred or Ecclesiastical Account Therefore the Passover kept in this month is said to be observed in the first month and the Feast of Purim which was kept in our February is said to be in the last month that is of the Sacred year A Period so remarkable and extraordinary as that was to the Jews deserved very well to be particularly remembred and taken notice of and might justly be accounted the First or chiefest of their months And by comparing Exod. 12.41 with Gal. 3.17 it may be concluded that Abraham received the Promise on the fifteenth day of this month and 't is computed that about the same time of the year Isaac was born and the Tabernacle afterwards erected in the wilderness As the Redemption of Israel from their Bondage in Aegypt was but a Type of a more glorious one be the Messiah he was pleased to suffer Death in this (b) John. 18.28 Month. According to this Computation the Month Tisri which began with the first new Moon next to the Autumnal Equinox is often called the Seventh Month but was not so accounted before the Deliverance of Israel out of Aegypt As to Civil and Political Affairs it was for the most part reckoned the First Month of the year on this Account this Month (c) Heidegeri Hist Patriarch Tom. 1 diss 12 §. 22. de Anno Patriarcharum tisri which answers to part of our September and part of October on the Fifteenth day of the Month was the Feast of Tabernacles when the (d) Exod. 23.15 16. See Ger. I. Vossii Isag Ckronol dissert 23 caliger de Emend Temp. Lydiat de variis Annorum formis Selden de Anno Cirili vet Jud. Joel 2.23 1 Kings 8 2 Lightfoot Horae in Math. Cap. 2. v. 1. Fruits of the Earth were gather'd in and is said to be in the End of the year Much hath been said by many Learned Men for the date of the Worlds Creation and the Begining of the year from the Vernal Equinox or the Spring and the Aegyptians are alledged as keeping the great Festival of Aries or of the New Year when the Sun enters into Aries But however uncertain that be and how difficult to determine it yet in Autum is Computed by the Jews the Creation of the World the Birth of the first Patriarchs the Reparation of the Tables of the Law the Dedication of the Temple the Three Great Solemn Feasts of the Beginning of the Year and other Remarkable Passages As many Religious assemblies and Solemn Feasts were appointed to the Jews in this Month Tisri as in all the year besides That the Birth and Baptism of our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ should be at this time of the Feast of Tabernacles is as Considerable as that his Passion should be about the time of the Jewish Passover He was Sacrificed for us at that time when by God's appointment the Pascal Lamb was to be offer'd as his Type And at the Feast of Tabernacles he came to pitch his Tent in our nature to (e) John. 1.14 tabernacle in our Flesh and dwell among us The Scepter was so far gone from Judah that the Jews were compell'd by a foreign Power instead of observing the feast of the Tabernacles at Jerusalem every one to repair to his own City to be taxed as the Emperour Augustus had commanded and 't is not very likely he would appoint that in the depth of Winter the time of our Christmas and now was the Season for Shilo to appear The Eighty first Psalm composed by Asaph for the first day of this Month or the feast of (f) Dr. Hammond in loc Godeau univer Hist de l Eglise Tom. 4. c. 1. §. 6. Hospinian de Fest Judaic Trumpets is supposed to have been in Remembrance of that Deliverance out of Aegypt the Sounding of Trumpets being a token of Liberty This Feast of Trumpets on the First Day of the New Year according to their Civil Account is thus commanded Levit. 23.24 Numb 29.1 10. cap 10. that it should be a Sabbath and a Memorial of blowing of Trumpets an holy Convocation c. Some think it is called a Memorial of Trumpets to preserve the memory of Isaac's Deliverance by the substitution of a Ram to be sacrificed in his stead to this purpose it may be alledged that it is sometimes called by the Jews the Binding of Isaac which they suppose to have been in the same day of the year By others termed Festum Cornu the Feast of the Horn. But it is more probable that this name was not given with any respect to Isaac but on the account of that kind of Trumpets which were then sounded viz. such as were made of sheeps or rams horns Others think it to have been Appointed as a grateful remembrance of former victories which God had afforded them Particularly that at Jerico where was the first opposition they met with in their passage to Canaan and the walls of the City fell down at the Sound of such Horn-Trumpets Josh 6.13 20. But the most likely account of it is this That it was intended to solemnize the Beginning of the New Year to mind them of the Beginning of the World and to excite their thankfulness for the Fruits and Blessings and Benefits of the year preceeding The extraordinary Blowing of Trumpets by the Priests at this time in all their Cities as well as at Jerusalem where two Silver * Lightfoot's Temple Service chap. 16 §. 5. Trumpets were also used at the Temple as well as these of Horn and the Levites sung the 81 Psalm might serve both to stir up the People to bless God for the Favours of the Year past acknowledging his
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 lest we be surprized by an Vnexpected Death before the period of another Year And lastly to pray for our Relations and Friends Families and Neighbours and our Enemies too and plead with God on the behalf of Sion and the afflicted and deformed state of the Protestant Churches To some of these 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 composing our Minds and Thoughts as in his most awful and holy Presence I have only this to request That if any 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 Faithfulness to his Truth and Interest what ever Temptations to desert it may be imployed by the World the Flesh and the Devil the three Great Enemies of thine and my Salvation DEVOUT REFLECTIONS 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 is is considered and believed how necessary it should be 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 Thing 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 and the other is very little Let me not then O my Soul Rejoyce and please my self too much in New Injoyments remembring a Change may be at hand and the End is certain Many who were Rich and Flourishing the last year may be reduced to Poverty and deep distress before the end of this who are now in a capacity to relieve others within a few months 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 wherewith to fly to Heaven for a new Disposal (a) 1 Cor. 7.29 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 human Art or Skill can possibly foresee or hinder Afflictive unexpected evils attend us every where we cannot promise our selves Tranquility for a Day much less one 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 Strength and Honor the accidents of this Substance which is it self but a Shadow How false is the Hope of Man and how frail is all his glory One day can make an end of all his Riches and Honours And yet what solicitude care and labour to get what we desire of these things though often we do not need 'em and then to keep what we have gotten and then to encrease it and then to defend it and at last to enjoy it and in a moment it is snatcht from us or we from it His Life is but a vapour on which they all depend then how much less are they To how speedy an alteration are they subject What numberless Instances of this doth one years experience furnish What sadning Disappointments and unexpected Calamities have befallen many since this Day Twelve-month and multitudes who are now at ease and think their mountains too strong to be removed shall meet with sharper Tryals before the end of this year Alas how few consider or believe it till they find it so All men should count upon trouble and disappointment suffering and sorrow in this world and he that hath the least share is reckoned the most prosperous man and yet he knows not how soon his Portion may be doubled We reckon our Joys by the absence of some degrees of Sorrow and Calamity that others meet with and before the end of this year our condition may be as disconsolate as theirs O my Soul though I know this to be true though I cannot I dare not deny it yet how difficult is it to conquer the Love of this World and of this Body to that degree I ought to undervalue the interest of a short a mutable uncertain and troublesom Life in comparison of the permanent possession of an everlasting Good Though I know that what is earthly and temporal must needs be thus changeable and fading and that it is as true of Man himself as of any thing under the Sun yet how do I forget what Man is not only mutable in his State his Body and his Life but in his Mind too so as to love and hate to chuse and neglect to delight in and abhor such things at one time as he did not before He doth not pass the same Judgment nor retain the same Affections at one time as at another How do I live as if all this were as certainly false as it is unquestionably true admire love fear trust in Man as if he were the direct Contrary to what he is and seek for Immortality upon Earth and act as if I were assured of it and were not lyable to any Change though I acknowledge and know the contrary Though the last years Experience and the observation of every day doth convince me of it though all History and all the Records of the Grave attest it though all Mankind in every Age have found it so though it be a manifest notorious Truth legible in the various changes and calamities but especially in the dust and ashes of all who have lived before us our Graves being often made of our Predecessors Dust and the Earth we bury in having once been living yet how little is it believed how seldom considered The Confirmation of it which one year gives us hath little influence on our hearts or lives with respect to the next We ought therefore to accustom our selves to these thoughts before such changes happen to which our Final change shall e'er long succeed They will be less efficacious if never admitted till our minds
it and the Damned have no advantage by it And no Endeavours can be certain of Success For People will talk of us as they please and their Opinions very often change from one Extream to the other But he who hath the loudest Fame shall only be talkt of a little longer than his Neighbors and that by a few dying Men that must themselves be ere long forgotten And how small a part of the inhabited World is acquainted so much as with the Name of the greatest men in Europe And how different and contrary are mens Opinions and Discourses of them where they are known and talkt of And how many holy excellent Persons are buried in Oblivion or mis-represented as unworthy to live on Earth whose Names will be found in the Book of Life Our Life is yet as mutable and uncertain as any of theirs The Time is hastning when we shall be too old to Live but at any time we are old enough to Die. Our Breath is in our Nostrils and though there be room enough for it to go out we have no assurance that we shall have power to draw it in again III. Of the Uncertainty of Living to the Period of another Year The Vanity of this Life The Swiftness of Time and how to be improved I Now begin another Year But what Assurance have I to out-live it I cannot say how soon my Sovereign Judge may call me hence and summon me to appear before his Righteous Bar. O let me not defer my necessary Preparation for Death which may be nearer than I imagine Let me mind the Great things first which are of absolute necessity to be done some time or other before I dye This perishing Body which I have pampered and indulged at the expence of so much Cost and Time may be putrifying in a silent Grave before half this Year be past Lord bless this thought to awaken my diligent endeavours to secure the Blessedness of Eternity to mortifie the Desire of Great things for my self in future Years by the considered possibility of dying before the end of this Let me look into the Graves of others and consider that this may quickly happen to me and must ere long be my own case Let me think what this Body will shortly be when it hath been six or eight days separated from my Soul how vile how loathsome that I may despise the Beauty and be dead to the Pleasures of the Body which so easily so suddenly so strangely may be changed For no Glass is more brittle no Bubble more vanishing no Ice more dissolving no Flower more fading no Shadow less substantial no Sleep or Dream more deceiving no Sound more transient nothing more vain and more uncertain than Life on which all other things in this World depend My days are as nothing saith Job though they lasted above two Ages There is hardly any thing very Frail and Fading Mutable and Uncertain but the Spirit of God in Scripture sets forth the Vanity of Life by as if he would teach us by it from the Light of every perishing Object which our Eyes behold to reflect on our own Mortality We sleep every Night in the outer Chambers of Death And in some Diseases Sleep which is the image and Picture of Death is taken away to give place to the Original and make way for death And every year every week every day are hastening to our final Change which may overtake us ere we are aware Every day we lose some part of our Lives in our very growth from Infancy to Manhood our Life decreases and grows less Every Pulse and Breath doth tell us we are hastening to the End of Time and calls upon us to dispatch our Work. Every Word we speak is formed of that Breath whereby we live and we may not live to pronounce another Sentence but the Lamp of Life may be extinguisht and blown out by a sudden Blast Every thing we do carries away some Sands of our little Glass of Time and how little may remain Or how soon may the Glass be broke Our Souls are in our Bodies as a little Air inclosed in a thin Bubble how easily is that broken and where are we How many who are now alive in health and vigour who deliberate on their Meat and Drink and are curious of Air and Exercise to maintain themselves in Health and please themselves with the Dream of Years to come shall never see another new-years-New-years-day It may be not another month or week or morrow Many have promised themselves great things on the morrow but dyed before Night Let me not say I shall not dye this Day when I may this Hour and 't is but once for all there is no amending an ill Death by another Tryal When I lye down to sleep I hope to rise stronger and fresher and fitter for work but I know withal I may rise no more And may not my Name be on the Roll of those who shall next be called at least some time this Year Let me not then neglect or foolishly delay my Principal Business to provide against a Change which is inevitable but the time of it altogether doubtful Ought not my first and chiefest Care be imployed to make my Peace with God He alone can be my Happiness to his final Judgment I am hastening His Favour alone can give me support and Joy in a dying Hour To his Mercy I must trust when I leave this World and can have no advantage more by any thing in it that he may mercifully receive my Soul at Death and be my Everlasting Portion Do I know my Life is thus vain and transient and shall I not seriously improve it to such a Purpose Shall these Thoughts leave no Impression upon me Do I breath continually in this Element of Vanity and yet forget where I am and remain insensible of so near a Change Shall these Thoughts pass away as a vanishing Cloud and distil no softening drops on my Soul Shall the Image of Death which meets me every where be only like an appearing Ghost or Phantasm that startles and scares a little but is presently gone and no more considered O! let me now remember to make God my Friend and secure an interest in his Eternal Mercy while the Day lasts yea while my Reason and Understanding are free and not disturbed and clouded by Fear and Pain and the Disorders of the Body as commonly they are in Sickness if God should vouchsafe me that Warning which yet I may not promise my self to have for I may be cut off by a Sudden Stroke before the end of this Year I now begin And how great and necessary a Work have I to do in so short and so uncertain a Portion of Time endless joy or Misery will be the consequence of spending this present Time. My ignorant Soul must be instructed my carnal Heart renewed many false Opinions must be unlearnt and sinful Customes changed and powerful Lusts mortified and strong
more than such distant Calamities will affright Let me therefore endeavour to impress the consideration of Eternity as at hand more deeply on my Heart that I may walk and live discourse and pray and demean my self in every thing as near an unchangeable State. Am I not convinced that this is certain from the nature and operations of my Soul from the reflections of Conscience from the Righteousness of God in his Government of the World from the present unequal distributions of Good and Evil by his Providence and from the plain 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 needful 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 holy 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 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 for ever banished from it And whoever thou art that readest this apply it seriously to thy self 't is thine own case Yea I tell thee 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 punished 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 pierce and enter into my very Soul to cool the heats of Lust to quench sensual and earthly desires and to mortifie all inordinate 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 daily dictates of my own Reason and Conscience which all Christians and almost all Men in their Wits except in an hour of great Temptation confess and own or whether they will or no are forced to expect and fear if they are not in a condition to consider them with a joyful 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'd 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 already come and there were no intermediate Time to pass between this and that O Eternity Eternity the more I consider it the more unfathomable still I find it Vnchangeable Blessedness or remediless endless Torments An Eternal blissful 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 comparison 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 certain 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 and entire 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 powerful and prevailing above all others that I may Judge of every thing by its relation to it by its influence upon it Chuse now my Soul whether Everlasting Joys or Miseries shall be thy 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 humble preparation for it with the greatest strictness and severity of Life during all that Time it were infinitely less than to spend an hour or two in preparing for the greatest Dignity and Imploy on Earth which can be enjoyed but for a few years at longest For to these an hour hath some proportion but an hundred or thousand years have none with an Everlasting Duration Therefore to consider how many years of toyl and pains and diligence many bestow on the probable prospect of some Temporal Good should reprove and shame my negligence and remisness in providing for Eternity XIX The Punishments of the Damned considered as Intolerable and Everlasting and as unquestionably Certain What the Reflection upon Hell-Torments may and ought to teach us THE Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom the entrance into the way of Life as it is ordinarily one of the first means to awaken the Soul to a serious concern for Eternity Let me therefore first consider the Endless Punishment of the wicked in the other World before I enter upon the ravishing Prospect of the Blessedness of Heaven promised to the Righteous And with what serious trembling should I think of the Terrors of an Everlasting Destruction which our Lord shall be revealed from Heaven to render to All who know not God and obey not the Gospel When the wicked shall go away into Everlasting Punishment as the Righteous into Life Eternal The dreadfulness of that Punishment the endless Duration of it joyned to the consideration of its unquestionable Certainty deserves the most attentive Thoughts of every Man who loves his Soul and would manifest he doth so by securing his greatest Interest The description of that Misery under insupportable and Eternal Torments demands more than a transient view because no words can sufficiently express the Horror of that State. What is it O my Soul to be banished from the Blessed Sight and presence
Goodness in preserving them to the beginning of another and withal excite them to pray for his Protection and Blessing for the New Year on which they now entred Maimonides the famous Jewish Rabbin thinks the sounding of Trumpets at this time was designed to signifie some such Exhortation as this (a) Canones de Poenitent cap. 3. can 6. Arise O ye sleepers out of your sleep and you that slumber awake out of your slumbering Search your works and turn by Repentance Remember your Creator you that have forgotten the Truth and have exchanged it for the Vanities of the World and have all your Lives wandred after Vanity which will not profit or deliver you Consider your Souls consider your Ways and Works and let every one of you forsake his evil way and his thoughts that are not good Some have imagined a typical Representation of the two Covenants in this Feast The Old Covenant figured by the Year passed and the Covenant of Grace or the Gospel state by the New Year then begun and that by the sound of Trumpets was prefigured the future Preaching of the Gospel according to that of the Apostle Their sound went forth unto all the Earth and their words unto the end of the World and so the Feast of Trumpets is abrogated by the Preaching of the Gospel if that were typically signified by it The publication of the Gospel is the joyful sound Psalm 89.15 And Ministers are to lift up their Voice like a Trumpet Isaiah 58.1 the discharge of their Office as Watchmen is exprest by setting the Trumpet to their mouth Hos 8.1 Ezek. 33. When the Jews shall be converted to the Faith of Christ it is said in that day the great Trumpet shall be blown and they shall come who were ready to perish Isaiah 27. ult 'T was the Office of the Priests to sound these Trumpets Numb 10.8 The publick Dispensation of the Gospel is committed to Ministers set apart for that Work as the Sons of Aaron for theirs We read but of two Trumpets at first for Eleazar and Ishamar the two Sons of Aaron Numb 3.4 But David added many musical Instruments And in Solomon's time at the dedication of the Temple we read of one hundred and twenty Priests who sounded with Trumpets 2 Tim. 5.12 Without supposing any Type here in a strict and proper sense we may yet farther consider the Parallel and observe how the Joy and Gratitude of these Trumpets did excite is exceeded by that greater rejoycing promised and foretold by the Prophets when the glad tidings of the Gospel of Salvation by the Messiah should be publisht to the World Isa 54.1 Luk. 2.11 Gal. 4.27 which hath been in part accomplisht And will be more compleat in that Kingdom of Peace and Purity which Christ will establish upon Earth toward the end of the World And shall be finally perfected at the end of Time when Days and Years and Time thus measured shall be no more When the Messiah our B. Saviour having finished his mediatory undertaking as to what concerns Earth shall come again from Heaven with the Trump of God to raise the Dead and summon all the World to their final Judgment Then shall he deliver up the Kingdom to his Father And the Faithful enter into the Joy of their Lord and be for ever with him There is a Tradition among the Jews mentioned by Maimonides (b) Canones de Poenit. ch 3. can 5. that on the first 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 Righteous 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 until break of day The superstitious and ridiculous Ceremonies of the (c) Vid. Ceremones Cout parmi les Iuifs d'aujourdhuy par 2. c. 53 modern Jews on this Day I shall not repeat However vain and groundless superstitious and absurd many of their Customs and Practises are on this Day Yet this blind Devotion of the Jews may justly shame and condemn the Christians of our Age Who commonly spend the Beginnings of every Year worse than any other parts of them and instead of any solemn Retirement for Prayer and Meditation which might assist them to number their Days and prepare for Eternity instead I say of such seasonable Exercises how do vain and hurtful 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 endeavour 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 these Reflections I most heartily beseech the God of all Grace to influence by his Holy Spirit the Conscience of every Reader that some such effect may be attained Having found the Practice recommended to be of some use to my self and my own Heart warmed in composing the substance of these 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 helpful to another It cannot certainly be unadviseable 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 than ordinary at such a Time Thankfully to acknowledge the Favours 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 and Brevity of our present Life to consider the Swiftness Uncertainty Irrecoverableness and consequently 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 thereof and consider our near Approach to such an unchangeable State to think what Improvement we should make at 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
Temptations overcome and many Graces to be obtained exercised strengthned and preserved to please and serve and gratifie an Holy Omnipresent God my Soveraign and express the Thankfulness of my Heart and Life to Christ my Saviour and is all this nothing Is not all my little hasty Time too little for such a Work to prepare for a safe and comfortable Death in order to a blessed Eternity IV. Of the seeming Difference between so many Years Past and the same number of Years to come WHen I look back on the preceeding Years of my Life how easily can I grasp them all at once they are even as Yesterday when 't is past But so many Years to come hath something great and vast which fills my Thoughts and affects my Mind after another manner Such is the difference between past Injoyments and the Expectation of future Let me suppose the same term and duration of Years and yet how different are my Apprehensions of what is past and of what is 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 whereon to six my Thoughts Or the Reason of this Difference may rather be that Men in this degenerate necessitous State with unsatisfied Desires reaching after Happiness 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. Whereas the foresight of Evil 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 Counsel shall please 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 certain of the latter after Death as I am uncertain about the former whether so many Years be yet to come before my Death Let me not herereafter be so preposterous in any Solicitude Cares and Fears as to be anxious for to Morrow and yet be thoughtless of Eternity 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 Months and Days such little parts and yet in number few Well therefore may it be exprest as I find in Holy Writ by Years of number That is such as may soon be numbred When a few Years are come saith Job (d) 16.22 12. Ezek. 16. Isa 10.19 or the Years of number as in the Original I shall go the way whence I shall not return By the years of an Hireling which were not above three Is 16.14 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 (e) Winter-Evening Conference Conf. 1. they who live to such an Age do yet complain how soon 't is done Ignorant Child-hood and heedless Youth and infirm old Age may be supposed to take up 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 whereas for a good while after we know not whether 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 Human 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 Necessities of Nature about Food and Rayment and in lawful Cares to support the Body and how much more than needs in pampering dressing and adorning it Out of the small remainder how much is imployed 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 Discourse impertinent Thoughts Journeys Sickness and innumerable other Occasions some allowable some unavoidable 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 matters of Religion for Devotion to God and serious preparation for another World Alas how small a number of Years make up the Life of Man and how small a Portion of that is imployed about the Principal Business for which we were born and 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 allotted us wherein to secure the Blessedness of Eternity How many Hours more of our little Time might be improved than commonly are by the Best In every Year there are 8775 Hours If we allow the greatest half for Sleep and necessary attendance on the Body and take but 4000 Hours for our Work and Business of consequence How poor an acconut can most Men give of all these 4000 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 affect us seriously to consider this especially if we remember at what an uncertainty we are how small a number of Days and Hours do yet remain This Year this Month this Week this Day or Hour may be my last What an unsuspected Accident or a suddain Disease may do I know not But this I know that there is scarce any thing that hath not killed some
that quick succession to one another The supposition of a perpetual night is a dismal gloomy Thought O what will the Everlasting Darkness of the Infernal Prison be The Sun by day enlightens the Earth directs our motion guides our way governs our Travail assists Conversation awakens Industry warms the Earth and Air gives life and vigor and fruitfulness to all things under the Sun and makes the whole Inferior Creation to rejoyce An Emblem of God's universal Goodness who is kind to all his Creatures How admirable is its Lustre how glorious is its Light how loudly doth it proclaim his Power and Wisdom who made this and the other Lights of Heaven his powerful Word and preserves them hitherto by his daily Providence If God be now so glorious contemplated in his works considered in the lustre of the created Sun viewed only through the Windows of Sense how much more glorious will he appear hereafter when we shall see him face to face and nothing interpose btwixt us and his incomparable Light If mine Eyes dazle to look upon the meridian Sun in what inaccessible Light must he dwell who is the Father of Lights If this lower World the common receptacle of his Friends and Enemies have so much of his Glory vouchsafed them by the Heavenly Bodies O what a place will Heaven be where shall be no Sun or Moon nor need of any but the Glory of God shall lighten it and the Lamb be the Light thereof While I thus consider the Sun and the Day I must not think the Night is useless which discovers another part of the Heavens not discernible by Day viz. the Stars and Planets refreshing the Earth cooling the Air giving necessary Rest to the Creatures c. their order motions aspects oppositions influences are all useful and instructive The agreeable mixture of Light and Darkness the regular succession of Day and Night within a few hours are exceeding wonderful and advantagious In other parts of the World where the Sun beams are more direct and its Heat excessive God hath made amends by the length of the night under the Equinoctial Line it is always Twelve hours and in the more Northern parts where the Influence of the Sun is weaker the days are proportionably longer So good is God to all his Creatures in all parts of the world As the Morning and Evening answer to the day of Twenty four hours so doth Spring and Autumn to the Twelve Months of the Year that we may not pass immediately from one extreme to another but gradually be disposed for so great a change as is between Summer and Winter and Winter and Summer So merciful and gracious and infinitely wise is God in all his Works so that we cannot say one part of the Year is more necessary than another The winter is as useful for the good of the Universe as the summer In this we are supplied with what is necessary to maintain us in that and the admirable situation of the Sun most probably in the Center of the World seems much to contribute to it If it had been at a farther distance from us our earth would have been in a manner desolate be cause the influence of the Sun could not have been considerable And if it had been nearer the Stars above would have wanted Light and this Earth under been burnt up The Excellent order which it hath now obeyed for above six Thousand Years is also wonderful The Sun never stood still but once and that by a miracle Tho much inferior to that of its daily Progress What a subject is here to admire the Power Goodness Wisdom and Faithfulness of God Lord what is Man for whom thou dost all this And because I 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 pain and Death as every wise man in Summer would do for Winter and work 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 Evils to be expected in this Year the Wisdom and Mercy of God in concealing from us the knowledge of future Events NOt only few and uncertain but Evil 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 certain measure allotted 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 cannot 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-do another as it was with Job We come weeping into the World in a most helpless forlorn state and if we escape the dangers of Infancy and the casualties of Childhood and after that out-live the Snares and Follies of Youth We are tost upon the Pikes of Time and Chance and sadden and disquiet our selves with a thousand Griefs and Sorrows by inevitable and unexpected occasions though we increase the number of needless Cares and Fears and Discontents Till at length a sudden stroke arrests us we fetch a groan and die Who can give a Catalogue of the Afflictions and Calamities Perplexities and Disappointments Incumbrances Crosses and evil Accidents of Humane Life By means whereof Millions are disconsolate and sad mourn and complain 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 baffled Projects defeated Purposes which suppose or bring vexation A good share of these is not to be avoided and yet very few can be particularly foreseen Who could prognosticate a year ago the Mercies or the Evils which have happened since Publick and private personal and relative to the Countries Cities Families and Persons we are concerned for And who can certainly foretel the Events of this ensuing Year God hath intermixt Good and Evil in the Life of Man He hath set Prosperity against Adversity saith Solomon to the end that Man should find nothing after him Eccles 7.14 that he may not know what shall come next whether 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 Month may produce Because whatever may be disposed to happen from natural causes or civil counsels may be altered
vain If I could not look from this Sea of troubles to the Haven of Rest from this dark Prison to the Region of Light from this deceitful troublesome and defiling Earth to a Blessed Everlasting Heaven For verily if there be no World but this every Man in his best Estate in this World is altogether Vanity Selah Psal 39.5 'T is a certain undoubted Truth the prefixed verily tells us so and that it deserves to be well considered we learn from the concluding Selah Every Man is Vanity Not the Inferior parts of the Creation only But Man the Lord of all And Every Man every Adam from himself to the last Man that shall by ordinary Generation descend from him Not the Ignorant Poor or Wicked only but all the Individuals of this Species Young or Old strong or weak beautiful or deformed rich or poor high or low good or bad in respect of the Body and this present Life every one is vanity and this is true suppose him in his Best Estate not only in helpless Infancy and Childhood or in decrepit old Age not only in pain and poverty and disgrace but in his most setled most flourishing most envied and admired condition upon Earth in the midst of strength and wit and honour when at best as to body and mind and outward Circumstances when he looks fairest when he shines brightest in the height of all his Glory with the greatest likelihood of a Continuance yet then he is but vanity In his frame in his temper constitution inclinations actions and imployment he is a meer Shadow an empty mutable inconsiderable thing and not to be accounted of His Heart his head his imaginations reasonings desires purposes projects hopes and fears are all Vanity and altogether Vanity in all the parts and kinds and particulars of it He not only may be but he is so in his best Estate if this World be his Best if this be our All and nothing more to be expected after death And how should such a Reflection strike me to the Heart to suppose that after a few years are ended I must return to my first Nothing and my very being be (f) Vid. Mr. How 's vanity of Man as mortal swallowed up of Eternal Death what satisfaction can I then take in any present Enjoyments if an Eternal Annihilation be at hand when I must bid adieu for ever to all that I now possess What delight can I have in the ordinary comforts of Life with this Belief that within a year or two it may be to Morrow I shall sink into the dust and exist no more What Pleasure in any thing with this dismal Expectation The more flourishing my condition is in this World the more should I dread to lose it if nothing better nothing at all can be injoyed after Death Some Philosophers have ignorantly urged such a consideration as an Antidote against the fear of death but the admission of it may rather deprive a Man of all the comfort of Life What then is the advantage of a Wise Man above a Fool the exercise and improvement of our noblest Faculties would render us more miserable than others if nothing be expected and certain when this Life is over Not only sensual but intellectual Pleasures would be disturbed and destroyed by such Thoughts that very shortly the next Year or Day I must disappear and all my Injoyments and Hopes be utterly and for ever lost with my very Being Were the case thus which such Consequences evince it is not it were better for most Men they had never been Born whether their condition here be Prosperous or Afflicted For what Comfort or quiet can any Man have in Plenty and Prosperity when this frightful apprehension of an approaching end is ever present and what consolation can it yield a Man who is afflicted and Calamitous and yet loves his Life above all things to think that he shall not cease to be miserable but by ceasing to be And what is become of all Religion if such a thought be entertained All devotion to God is thereby extinguisht all the restraints of vice removed the Flood-gates of Impiety opened the encouragements of Vertue the rewards of Holiness the Foundation of 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 Sadducism 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 betrer no other Let them who doubt or disbelieve the promised rewards of Eternity take up with what they must shortly leave and labour for the Bread that perisheth But since I profess to believe and seek the Life Everlasting let me daily entertain my self with the hopes of it and let all the flattering dreams of what is desirable 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 endeavour nothing more than a meetness to partake 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 However Evil this World is made by Sin yet thou art the infinite and supream Good. How mutable how uncertain how perishing soever are all sublunary things yet thou art the rock of Ages the fountain of everlasting Life and hast appointed another World and another Life when this is ended wherein thou wilt be better known and loved and served and honoured and communicate thy self more abundantly than 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 else 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 Carkass 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 Months since I knew in vigorous health wiser stronger more likely to live and to answer the ends of Life than me some of them my near Relations and useful Friends in whose converse I took delight and promised my self advantage by their Company and Examples 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
are intended to direct and assist him in I am perswaded he will thank me for putting him in mind at least of so seasonable an Exercise The greatest part of these Meditations were begun on a New-years day tho some others are thought fit to be inserted as tending to promote the same design But knowing how much easier it is to stir up other Mens Devotion than to command and keep alive my own 't is desired that the most devout Thoughts contained in these Papers may be looked upon as what the Author aims at and would perswade to rather than what he hath already attained as what he knows he ought to be and do and doth seriously endeavour rather than what he is and hath been heartily lamenting wherein he hath been Faulty or defective in such duties as these and the like Reflections do oblige to and enforce upon All who shall read them and therefore much more upon himself That they were Penn'd at several times and in occasional Retirements for Spiritual Exercises will with the difference of the Subjects be a sufficient excuse that some are larger and others shorter and that the Style is in some places more neglected than in others If I may hereby render any Service to the Souls of Men if any secure Sinner any Self deceiving Hypocrite or backsliding Christian be hereby awakened or any serious Believer's Devotion be quickned and advanced I hope God will accept it To his Blessing I humbly recommend it for those Ends. THE CONTENTS THE Introduction which shews from what time the Jews reckoned the Beginning of their Year of the difference between their Sacred and Civil Account The Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the Year its Institution Nature and Design the Traditions and Customs of the Jews respecting that Day pag. 1 Sect. 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 pag. 15 II. Of the Change in Mens Inclinations Opinions and Actions which one year shews How observable it is in Others how much more discernable in our Selves Honour and Reputation c. how uncertainly preserved and how easily blasted p. 21 III. Of the Uncertainty of Living to the Period of another Year The Vanity of this Life The Swiftness of Time and how to be improved p. 28 IV. Of the seeming Difference between so many Years Past and the same number of Years to come p. 34 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 p. 36 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 p. 40 VII Of the Ordinances of Heaven Day and Night Summer and Winter Seed Time and Harvest their order and succession establisht by God is the effect of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness What they may teach us p. 45 VIII Of Evils to be expected in this Year the Wisdom and Mercy of God in concealing from us the knowledge of future Events p. 50 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 p. 54 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 p. 59 XI Of the Expectation of Another Life The Vanity and Misery of Man in his Best Estate if there be none The satisfactory removal of that supposition by the Thoughts of God and of Eternal Felicity in his Blessed Presence p. 63. 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 fight of a dead Carkass 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 p. 70 XIII What Influence the consideration of Eternity would have upon our Hearts and Lives if soundly believed and considered Especially if the supposition of Dying this Year be annexed to it p. 77 XIV How a good Man may improve and encourage himself under the Supposition of dying this Year even in the most uneasy and undesirable Circumstances p. 82 XV. Of dying in a Foreign Country and of dying Young. Considerations proper to Reconcile the Mind to both p. 89 XVI The contemplation of our approaching Change may assist us to mortifie the Lusts of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and Pride of Life to cure Ambition and promote Contentment p. 96 XVII The same Argument considered farther as disswasive from Worldliness and Earthly mindedness and as proper to confute the vanity of long Projects and great Designs for this World. p. 100 XVIII The consideration of the certain near Approach of an Everlasting State amplified and prest to inforce an Holy Life p. 104 XIX The Punishments of the Damned considered as Intolerable and Everlasting and as unquestionably Certain What the Reflection upon Hell-Torments may and ought to teach us p. 112 XX. The Eternal Blessedness of HEAVEN considered as the Perfection of Holiness to quicken our desires and endeavours after greater Meetness to possess it p. 125 XXI A devout Meditation upon the 73. Psalm 25. Whom have I in Heaven but thee And there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee p. 140 XXII The Glorious Appearance of Christ to Judgment considered as Certain The Terror and Astonishment Confusion and Despair of Wicked Jews and Christians to behold their Judge and bear his condemning Sentence to EVERLASTING Destruction p. 149 XXIII Meditations of the Glory of Christ in his Glorified Saints and of the thankful Admiration of Believers when He shall come again from Heaven which shall be continued to all Eternity p. 159 XXIV Concerning the Examination of a Man's Heart and Life the Reasonableness Advantages and Necessity of it Some Direction and Advice concerning the Time and Manner That we may know in what Preparedness we are for ETERNITY p. 171 XXV How Christans ought to examine their Decays of Grace and Piety The greatness of their Sin and of their Loss under such a Declension God's Displeasure and departure from them considered to awaken endeavours of Recovery In what manner the Faith of Adherence may be acted by one who hath no Assurance p. 183 XXVI Confession of Sin Humiliation and Repentance must follow upon Self-Examination Advice concerning Repentance of some particular Backsliding The great Perplexity and Distress of a Penitent Sinner represented as a Caution against returning to Folly. p. 196 XXVII The necessity of Christian Resolution to Vpright
Time and so let me esteem and seek and choose 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 than I have done hitherto That while I am in the greatest probability of living I may suppose my change to be near and so not dare to do any thing but what I would or might do if I were in the present expectation of death To this end let me go down to the Potters house descend to the consideration of my Mortality and dwell among the Tombs remembring the Aegytians built themselves better Tombs than 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 shortning of our Days is the fruit of Sin. All the Funerals that have ever been in the World have been caused by 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 than 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 than since the appearance 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 Blood of Jesus Death would not be frightful or put on such a ghastly Vizor as to most it doth But we are uncertain of our Justification we waver between hopes and fears as to our final Sentence and are conscious to our selves that we are not ready for our great Account This makes Death so terrible Considering with all that it is inevitable the way of all the Living For tho' the curse be removed and the sting be taken out by our B. 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 whether my Death be violent or what we call Natural 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 in the World when our Glorious Judge shall come again 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 Enoch 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 as Adam did who was the second or be translated as Enoch who was the Third we read of But tho' I know that within a few years at farthest I must leave this World by one or other of these ways tho' I have been dying ever since I began to live am Dead to the last year and to all the preceding Portions of my Time and know withal that what remains will quickly pass and be gone after the same manner yet how have I overloved this Body as if I should never live out of it and set my Heart and Affections on this World as if I should never remove to another and trifled away my precious Time and Life as if a change would never come That few do seriously admit such thoughts is too evident by the general course and practice of their Lives For to what hazards do Men expose themselves what pains will they take what Inconveniences will they bear with what unwearied Industry will they toyl and labour to get a little Money or Honour in this World tho' they know not but they may be called out of it before the end of this Year And yet the same Persons are remiss and slothful about a future Life negligent and unconcerned about an Eternal state careless and indifferent yea sottishly stupid about the welfare of their Immortal Souls Henceforward O my Soul whatever other others do let me resolve to live in the expectation of a Change which I know is certain and may be very near XI Of the Expectation of Another Life The Vanity and Misery of Man in his Best Estate if there be none The satisfactory removal of that supposition by the Thoughts of God and of Eternal Felicity in his Blessed Presence LET me retire a little O my Soul and bethink my self what a World this is what Men design and seek and do and suffer with what false and feigned Joys they are pleased being only happy by comparison and with what real Sorrows they are afflicted what innumerable disappointments sicknesses and as troublesome remedies dangers labors pains and calamities of all sorts Multitudes groan under and loudly complain of and what little unworthy ends are pursued by all that do not seriously seek Eternal Rest and how often frustrated And withal consider the Cares that disquiet us the errors that deceive us the many Temptations that assault and overcome us how busie we are about Vanities how often dejected and melancholy for the breaking of a Bubble how eager and industrious to pursue a Shadow active and in earnest to destroy our selves and one another and then reflect on the Malice and cruelty the Filthiness and Impiety and great Corruption which abounds every where whereby God is dishonoured and provokt to Anger After this what a Theater of Tragedies must this World appear what an Hospital of sick and diseased or rather distracted Persons How should I be tempted to say Lord why hast thou made all Men in
but by dying and my Saviour hath dyed for me and he that believes in him shall never see death He lives who was once dead yea he lives for evermore and hath promised that I shall be with him to behold his Glory He hath the Keys of Death and Hell He is the Resurrection and the Life he hath removed the sting of Death and I need not fear a conquered Enemy If I dye this Year I must quit the Company of all my dearest Friends on Earth but I shall go to better Company above and if they are the Friends of Christ we shall shortly meet again and love one another in a better manner than now and never more be parted I may dye this Year my Friends and Enemies may dye too Let me enjoy the one as mortal dying Persons that must e're long leave me or I them and not fear the other who may so soon Perish and quickly be uncapable of doing me or others Mischief I may dye this Year let me not then think much of Temporal Sufferings of any Evils which may so soon be over Oh what would condemned Sinners in the other World give to be able to believe and say so of their Sufferings I may dye this Year and can I wonder that I am sometimes Sick and in Pain and that my Body is out of order Am I not Mortal and dwell in an house of Clay which must shortly moulder into Dust and is it any thing strange that such a crasy Building doth sometime shake and need repair and threaten a dissolution 'T is a greater wonder I am any time well That such a Body compounded of so many little parts and so easily disordered by innumerable accidents should be in Health is hardly less to be admired than that an Instrument of a thousand strings should be kept in Tune I thank thee O Heavenly Father for the many advantages of Sickness to weaken the power of Sin to humble my Pride and cure my Worldliness and Sensuality to reduce me from wandering to empty me of Self-conceit to awaken the consideration of Death and Judgment to impress the Thoughts of the Vanity of this World and the Eternity of the next to assist me to mortifie the Flesh to rule my Passions to exercise Patience and quicken Prayer and try my Faith and Love and excite my diligence to redeem Time and convince me of the Worth and Uncertainty of it and thereby promote my Preparations for my final change The Great Apostle by dying daily had as many victories over this World as he lived Days Oh that I might so far walk by the same Rule as every day to think of providing for my last and in Health to do that which in Sickness I shall wish I had done I may dye this Year It may be by some tedious painful Sickness some troublesome and loathsome Disease But God hath promised his Grace shall be sufficient he will make my Bed in my Sickness and put under his everlasting Arms for my support and not suffer me to be tempted above what I am able he will encrease my Patience and carry me thro' the pangs of Death and the dark valley and when Heart and Flesh fail be the strength of my Heart and my Portion for Ever I may dye this year What if it should be by an hand of Violence if for Righteousness sake in defence of the Truth for a good Cause and a good Conscience and my Peace be made with God and I am accused for doing well or innocent of the Evil which is laid to my charge there is ground enough for encouragement and support Thousands of my Betters have met with the like whose names are precious and renowned Innumerable Christians have dyed by the Sentence of a Judge with more Chearfullness and Joy than others or it may be than they themselves would have done by the sentence of the Physician The Torture of many Diseases is unspeakably more formidable as to the meer Pain and for all else the Righteous Lord who loveth Righteousness will clear my Integrity if it may best subserve his own Great and Holy ends at least he will stand by and help me when all forsake me and if he speak Peace and give inward Consolation who can speak Trouble and his final Judgment which is near at hand will distribute rewards and Punishments to all according to their works Suppose farther that I should want a Sepulcher after Death There is nothing I could better be without If God receive my Soul and will raise my Body at the last day whether it putrifie and consume under ground or above it is no great matter They who are alive will be more concerned in that than I shall be Graves are for the sake of the Living rather than the Dead The Sun the Rain the Air Birds Beasts Worms will all contribute to give me Burial if Men deny it The only difference is that it will be a little longer ere I am buried If my Soul rest in the Bosom of my Saviour and by persevering in the love and practice of the Truth I have secured my Reputation with wise and good Men I need not be sollicitous what become of my Body My Almighty Judge will raise me a glorious Body like his own and reunite it to my Soul As easily as certainly as for any of those whose Bodies were preserved in Caves and Vaults in proud Sepulchers and under stately Monuments I may dye this Year and shall not then have the satisfaction to see my Children or nearest Kindred educated and provided for setled and disposed of But is not the Everliving God the same cannot he as well take care of them when I am gone as now answer all my Prayers after my decease and exercise that Fatherly Care Wisdom and Love which shall dispose of their conditions save them from Temptations and supply all their wants and exceed all my desires in reference to them and fulfill his Covenant promise from Generation to Generation to the Childrens Children of them that fear him O how weak is my Faith that cannot trust God in so common and plain a case Lastly I may dye this Year and not live to see the ruin of the Antichristian Kingdom and Interest and the accomplishment of many Excellent Promises which concern the Rest and Peace and Purity and Glory of the Churches of Christ on earth in the latter days But have I not deserved by my provoking Unbelief Ingratitude and Disobedience to dye in the Wilderness and not behold behold the promised Land or see the Peace of Jerusalem and will not the struglings of Satan to support Babylon infer a dismal night of darkness and distress before the expected Morning of Deliverance so that it may now if ever be truly said Henceforth Blessed are the Dead who dye in the Lord. And if God will take me to himself in the other World I cannot possibly be a loser tho' I should not see the Beginnings of a
spend my whole Life in Diversions from the main business of it Have I nothing else to do 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 certain of the Possession this one Year Shall I magnifie and admire what is so soon to be parted with Value my self upon these 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 than little or better in the day of Judgment to have a great Estate to answer for than 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 chusing to take Possession of the Land promised him rather by a mark of his parting with it than of his possessing it Did I think oftner and more seriously O my Soul of tarrying here but a little while I should more easily be perswaded that a little of this World were sufficient to carry me through it I should consider more that my Heaven-born 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 Reflection may be useful to contract our Thoughts to present Duty that we may not perplex our Minds with long designs and Projects which if we dye this 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 somewhat to others when we are Dead But we should not now omit that which we may hope to compass our selves to begin such things whose accomplishment must depend on the Pleasure of our Successors Consideration and faithful Counsel 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 than 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 certain near Approach of an Everlasting State amplified and prest to inforce 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 fearful consequence is that Death by which an Eternity must be decided What attention what seriousness what diligence what care doth the dicision 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 endure 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 though 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 chuse What am I most to fear to wish to do What is a shadow of Honour 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 Affairs 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 affairs with a visible reference to it discovering to all the World by my Behaviour and Deportment that I do in earnest believe it certain for be it never so Certain if I do not apprehend and consider it as such it will no more affect me than a Fable Neither is it enough to consider it as certain 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 Evils for so long a time will please me
Lust before his favour and the Pleasures and Profits of this World before the Heavenly Glory and notwithstanding all the methods of his Grace and the checks of his Providence and of their own Conscience they will go on they will Dye Let me O my Soul adore the Soveraign Justice of God in all his Judgments and tremble at the threatnings of that Eternal Wrath which so few consider or believe till 't is too late Let the foresight and the fear of such an intollerable endless Punishment be a means to save me from it Let me herein read the evil of Sin and learn to abhor and avoid it Let me pity and warn and counsel and pray for those of my Relations and Acquaintance who live in Sin and run the hazard of this Eternal Ruin. Let me not envy the foolish Mirth and momentany Prosperity of the Wicked whose present joy must ere long expire and an everlasting Destruction succeed in its room (k) Joh. 20. ch 4 5. How short is the Joy of the Hypocrite and the triumph of the Wicked is but for a Moment Let me fear and dread every thing that leads to this dismal issue and improve every thing that may help me to escape it And by consequence let me less value all the Good and Evil of this present Life judge of all things by this light be patient under temporal Calamities and thank God that it is not Hell and thank him more that present sufferings do help to save me from Eternal ones Whatever I can suffer in this World let my condition be never so dark and sad and afflicted it is not it cannot be such but that every one of the Damned would think it an infinite Happiness to exchange with me and be as I am Let me think of those exquisite and eternal Flames to cure my Impatience under the sharpest Trials and Afflictions I may now suffer Did I believingly consider an Everlasting Hell * Qui non expergiscitur ad haec Tonitrua jam non dormit sed mortuus est S. Augustin I should not think much of any thing that is required to prevent it The severest exercises of Religion the strictest Temperance the nicest Chastity the largest Charity the greatest Self-denial all the hardships of Repentance and Mortification and continuance therein to the Death tho for many years more than I am like to live would be reckon'd easie as well as just if set in the ballance against the Eternal Mischiefs of the Damned What will not men do and suffer to prevent a Temporal Death They will endure a painful course of Physick tear out their very bowels by Purges and Vomits and are content to be cut and scarrified and to suffer any thing almost to save their lives But how little will they do to be saved from the wrath to come One would think they should have no Rest or Peace or be able to live a quiet hour till they had made some Provision against the hazard of this Eternal Destruction and look upon all men as their Friends or Enemies according to the help or hindrance they received from them in reference to it But the direct Contrary is every where apparent Men are careless and secure jovial and merry in the way that leads to Hell and esteem and love and chuse that Company that will help to bring them to this place of torment Yea such is their stupidity and strange perverseness that they will not suffer to be told of their Danger If you tell them that by such a Course or such an Action they will lose so much Money or their Lives will be in danger they reckon it an obligation will take it kindly and return you thanks But when they are told by such Courses and Actions they will lose their Souls and the Favour of God and the Hopes of Heaven and must Perish for ever this they will not receive they despise the message and scorn and hate the Messenger are displeased and angry at such faithfulness O bless the Lord O my Soul for any good hope through Grace of escaping this Intolerable and Endless Misery And let all that is within me bless his holy Name I have deserved the same endless and unsupportable wrath which Thousands are now under and shall be under to all Eternity but he did not suffer me to fall into it To be delivered out of those Torments after many years misery would be thought an admirable unspeakable kindness And is it not a greater favour never to be thrown into Hell which I have so often deserved How grateful would a damned person be to be freed from those Flames and plac'd in the same condition I now am in What a Life of serious self-denying obedience would he lead And hath not God done more for me Am I not more indebted to his Goodness He hath kept me out of Hell and offers me the Heavenly Glory upon reasonable honourable and easie Terms Blessed be God I may yet escape the wrath to come Let me heartily compassionate the delusion of those multitudes of deceived perishing Souls whose eyes are blinded by the God of this world who will not believe it till they are convinc'd by the light of that Fire which shall never be extinguisht Yea when I read or hear of Ten or Twenty thousand men slain in a War whteher of Infidels or Christians let me think of it with other apprehensions than formerly I was wont to do Considering that many it may be the most of these shall never have any Comfort or Mercy more fearing lest the same Sword or Bullet that gave them their mortal wound hath fixt them under God's Everlasting Wrath and that by dying they are undone for ever In very many other cases the Faith of this Article would rectify my Opinion and direct my Actions if seriously considered and improved This would make me think of Death under another Notion than 't is commonly considered For without the consideration of Hell annexed to it it is not so very formidable but that Heathens have been able to despise it The most contrary Sects among them on different grounds have been able to do it but consider Death as a passage to Eternal misery as the Gate of Hell as the end of all Comfort to a wicked Man and the beginning of an endless Calamity and nothing can be imagined more dreadful to a Guilty unholy Soul. Some of my Acquaintance it may be who died this last year are now among those Hopeless Despairing Wretches who expect the final Judgment of God to consummate their insupportable Misery If they were permitted to come and tell us what they suffer and what they know what a terrible consuming Fire God is what Vanity Lust and Folly brought them to this place of Torment what diligence they would advise us to while in a State of Hope to prevent the like if we have any love and and kindness for our selves any Bowels of Compassion to our own Souls what