Salvation yet never think on Repentance but resolves to venter for it till the last Breath and for its acceptance too at so untimely a Season For it is first a great hazard whether God will then assist me with so much Grace as to Repent which if he do I then secondly run the venture of an After game whether that Repentance will be acceptable by him because without Controversy it cannot be perfected For if Holy Writ by a true Repentance understand and mean an Amendment and Reformation of Life as certainly it does Then tell me what difference is there not to Repent at all or not to begin it till the last Thread of Life be a Spinning For how can I Amend Reform or lead a new course of Life when alas poor Creature that I am I am no longer to be To day therefore c. Thirdly Are not all the Leaves of the Book of Life Exhortatory Perswasions to a speedy Repentance For where God commandeth me to Pray there he urgeth to Repentance because otherwise my Prayer would be defective and render no sweet smelling Savour in the Nostrils of God Nay without Repentance I pronounce it impossible to Pray to God with that Ardour and Zeal we are obliged For to Pray aright is to cast away all Affections to Sin the least Glances to Temptations to be Sorry we have Sinned with a full Resolution never to be Guilty of the like Transgression or the same Madness and thereupon Solomon declar'd The Prayer of the Wicked is an abomination to the Lord Yea consult Truth it self and you may hear it declaring I hate your Burnt Offerings my Soul loathes your Solemn Assemblies bring me no more vain Oblations They are adjudged vain and loathsome because not perfumed with the sweet Incense of Repentance Thus you may hear the man in the Gospel declaring God heareth not Sinners John 9.31 that is Those who have sinned and have not yet repented being unhappy in their hasty Sin much more miserable in their slow Repentance An Impenitent person Soiles and Discolours every otherwise well approved Action he Envenomes and Poisons even the very Mercy of God For if such a man Pray what is it esteemed more than Howling If he Mourn what is it more than hanging down the Head like a Bull-rush If he Sacrifice what is it but the cutting off a Dogs neck If he rejoyce what is such mirth But a Blaze and Crackling of Thorns under the Pot For God regards and gives ear to none but the Penitent on which account you may observe Christ commanding us to Pray and instructing us what we should Pray for enjoyns us every day To Pray for the remission of our Sins Mat. 6.10 11. We can't request our dayly Bread unless we beg a dayly forgiveness of our Sins So likewise Holy David in the Text and St. Paul from the Psalmist in his Epistle to the Hebrews To day if you will hear c. Not only strictly commanding us not to put off our Repentance one day but also affirming every such delay is an act of Obduration and so a new sin is added to the old So oft then as I meditate on those Melodious Words and Charming Eloquence of the Son of Syrach I seem'd to hear all the bright morning Stars and Sons of Glory calling to us below to make no tarrying to turn unto the Lord and to put not off from day to day for sudainly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed and perish in the day of Vengeance Ecclesiasticus 5.7 For every day of our Life may probably be adjudged the day of our Burial for what is it more than the Life of Roses which in the Evening make a Tomb of that Scarlet which was its morning Ornament and Glory What reason therefore can be more prevalent than this to provide the best Arguments we can for our Justification before Death because God frequently smites Sinners in their Confidences he strikes them in their Securities in their Delays they may meet with a Surprise in their Procrastinations they may be frustrated of their Hopes and Death may rob them of the Benefits and Advantages of to morrow For what is bold man as some confidently speak to resolve not to Repent till Christmass Easter Whitsontide next Communion or such prefix'd Festival and Seasons Alas poor Dust and Ashes that we are How probable is it whilst we revolve such Thoughts in our mind an Imposthume Swelling in our Head or Breast may make us big with Death How probable is it some popular Disease raging in our Streets may slay him in three days time May not to morrows Dinner breed a Surfeit or this nights Intemperance a Feaver How oft do we see Death riding Triumphant in our Dwellings and Crowned with the Spoils of many numbers of Men Alas it is impossible to enumerate all the possibilities of dying Suddainly or the Probabilities how soon our Lives may be ravel'd out to its utmost Thread For though we flatter our selves in the Plentiful-lest hopes of a Gaudy Fortune Death may meet ev'ry one of us with a Thou Fool this night shall thy Soul be taken from thee Let any one therefore who hath any thing besides the Shape and Lineament of a Man but really acknowledge that he is Mortal let him but confess himself to be a man and subject to the Accidents of Mortality and that very Confession must be a confutation of them who defer their Repentance For I appeal to your selves Is it reasonable for me who confess my self a Sinner and am perswaded of a Supreme Existence and believe that he knows I am a Sinner and will Infallibly punish me for my Sins if not washed away with the Tears of Repentance can I be thought Rational and in my Wits if I defer it unless upon the confidence of a long Life And grant my Supposition should the promising my self many days promote a Life and state of Impenitency Is it so intolerable to live Virtuously Is the Yoak of Christ so uneasie Are the Commandments of God so Grievous Will to live Righteously Soberly and Godly in this present World quite strip us of our pleasant days and make us wast our Hours in a Moross Austerity or Sullen Gravity Or are the hopes of Life intended for no other purpose than to delay our Sin and defer our Repentance God forbid for such premises can't be guilty of a worse Conclusion However he that seriously meditates on those many numbers of men who like little Blossoms are Cropt by the Scythe of Death in the Tenderness of their Age will have but small reason to consent to these evil purposes from such weak and contingent Principles I cannot tell the precise Minuit of my Death or take an exact measure of this Span of Life and then to defer my Repentance is a Sham put upon my own Soul and a contempt of all the Divine Revelations of Heaven and Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
his Heart he embraced his Saviour with the Arms of Faith believed on him and was really Converted so soon as he heard of a Christ he confess'd him a Saviour and without the least hesitation or delay Repented him of his former mis-spent Actions And if we Transcribe his Copy we must Repent so soon as we hear Christ Preached unto us and then our Repentance is unreprovable but otherwise our Damnation is unavoidable Why art thou so dull and drowsy then O sinful Creature What phrensey possesseth thee thus to defer thy Repentance Can this delay consist with any Christian Grace With Faith Hope and Charity With Prudence or Piety With the Love of God or of our own Souls Thus to withstand the shock of the Thunder to oppose the mouth of the Canon and dare the Omnipotents Anger All which are the dreadful effects of an Impenitent Heart for God hateth him who grows fat in his Sin and waxes Lusty in his Transgressions And is it so idle so indifferent a concern to be detested by the Fountain of Love and Goodness When the little Son of Alexander saw a Company of Theeves Pilfering his Fathers House and carrying away the Rich Vessels of Gold and Attick Talents the Child Smil'd and Whip'd his Top But when a Boy who accompanied the Theeves rob'd him of his little Instrument for Sport he could then cry out raising the Neighbourhood and discovering the Theeves Thus and much more Childish is he who Plays and Sports himself in the Caresses of Sin and in the Interim his Soul is stollen away by that Goliah of Hell who gives us Toys and Pebbles the more easily to Delude and Cousen us of this our most precious Jewel How would such a man be transported with Fury and Rage at the loss of his Goods Is he not too Jealous of his Fortunes to commend one hour to the Pidelity of Theeves Would he venture his Body two Minuits in the reach of an Enraged Lyon Yet how unconcernedly does he permit his Soul to be snatch'd away by that Roaring Lyon who goes about seeking what Souls he may devour He leaves it in pawn to that great Tyrant Months and Years in a danger so amazing it would even Stagger and Distract all the Reason of Mankind could it possibly be understood but half so great as in reality it is 'T is reported the Emperour Augustus wondred how a Roman Gentleman could have his Senses so strongly bound by the Silken Chains of Sleep having contracted so great Debts as he had not wherewith to satisfie his Creditors having therefore expos'd his House-hold-stuff to Sale the Emperour would needs buy the Pillow yielding so Sweet Repose and Rest How then may we admire the Supine negligence of them who usually go to Bed expecting a soft Slumber to steal upon their Eyes when they are Infinitely Indebted to God by their Sins yet seldom or never examine their Accounts or prove Supplicants to the Throne of Grace that God would Pardon their Sins and do away their Offences What is it then O dull and and finful Soul which makes thee thus confident in thy State What Evasion canst thou make for thy Non-repentance What excuse for this Progress in Sin and little regard of its Remission Dost thou say Thou confessest thy self a Sinner of no small degree but God is Merciful and you hope for Salvation through that Mercy and the Merits of Jesus Christ These though the common yet are but weak Arguments for Christians expectation for though without Controversy God is a God of Mercy and easily entreated still he is a God of Justice expecting to be feared As he is my Father he will be compassionate but as he is my Soveraign he must be obeyed Christ I acknowledge hath abundantly satisfied for the Redemption of all descending from the loyns of Adam But must we therefore neglect the means of Salvation and the end of our Hopes Eternal Life Come tell me I beseech you wherefore did Christ die and shed his Blood was it only for your and my Pardon did He bear the Cross that We might bear none Or was it the design of his Death to get us a Dispensation from Holy Living Or rather was not this his end and purpose by keeping us from dying to make us alive to God By denying himself to invite us to take up our Cross and follow him and not to procure us a Liberty to execute our Will and Pleasure St. Peter confirms this Doctrine For he died that we being dead to Sin should live unto Righteousness 1 Pet. 2.24 So that unless we live to Righteousness his Scourges will not save us from the Lash His Crucifixion will be insignificant unto us if we do not Crucifie our Carnal Appetites nor will his Death ransome us from dying if our Sins still live For can we think so dishonourable of Christ as to make him a Cherisher of such Traytors Does he take care for their Protection and set up a Sanctuary to which they may boldly flee Is the Altar of the Cross an Asylum or Refuge for those who gather themselves together against the Lord and against his Anointed Are the unmanly Sensualities of the World so highly favoured by God that he will send his Legate à Latere Son from his Bosom to die in defence and behalf of them How gross a mistake is this when the Pardon and Forgiveness of our Sins was not so much intended by the Death of Christ as the Purifying of our Hearts and Lives and therefore St. Paul as well as the other mention'd place of St. Peter tells us That Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from this present World that is By shewing his willingness to pass by our Faults he would even melt and win us to acknowledge our Trespasses to repent of them and for the future to become more Dutiful and Obedient Up then quickly O Elijah Eat and Drink for thou hast a great Journey to go Let us up Sirs and be doing and not Prorogue so weighty a business any longer endeavouring only to Reform when alas frail Creatures We must cease to be 'T will be too late to say Father I have Sinned when it will be only Seasonable to cry Corruption thou art my Father For they are not a few Death bed Sighs will waft us over to these Elysium Fields They are not a few Momentary Groans and Mournful Lamentations will Capacitate us fit Candidates for the new Jerusalem Oh! the Horrour and Amazement which will benum our Senses when Death shall make its suddain Addresses to us and summon us from our Beds of Security to appear before God at the Tribunal of Justice Will it not be too late to say then Lord I Repent when an Impartial and Severe Judge is ready to pronounce A go ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire Oh! Consider this all ye that forget God! Oh! Consider this all ye who forget your Souls are Immortal And now Before the Night cometh when no man
to be Endur'd that he hath Loved as much as he could Love that he hath Watched till he can Watch no longer my Soul for his that Man is blameless in the sight of God because God hath commanded me to tell you he does not expect Brick where he does not afford Straw he accepteth of what a man hath requiring nothing which he is not able to perform For God looks into my Heart and enquires if That be right if I have no Rebellion in Thought as well as Act if I have no affections to Sin no glances to Temptations If I have liquorish desires after the Onyons and Garlick or Flesh-pots of Egypt if I apply all prudent and effectual methods to Mortifie my Sins In a word if I be sincere and real in my Actions and Intentions For unless God at his coming find us in this Sinless state we must never expect the Blessing of his Kingdom But if he does my Soul for yours we shall undoubtedly be saved by the Blood of Christ For consult the Histories of all the most vile and wicked men that ever had a Being upon Earth and as you will find few or none but sometimes or other performing some good Action and yet that Action did not interrupt or put stop to their courses of Impiety so the most Religious of Pious Souls in like manner have their Indiscretions and Mistakes Failings and Errors sometimes doing that which is Wicked and Sinful Nevertheless because their Hearts stand most firm and right towards God He in Mercy will not impute those over sights to Eternal Condemnation The sweet Singer of Israel is a Royal Instance to confirm this Doctrine He was a man after Gods own Heart Nay the Text tells you He was blameless save only in the matter of Uriah Nevertheless did you never read how he numbred the People and can you not plainly read the Characters of Divine Wrath in that severe Judgement wherewith he Plagued his People for this his Transgression Yet still because David was a good man serving God with an upright Heart not intending to disoblige him but committing this Sin through inadvertency it was not imputed to him In short If I endeavour all that I can to arrive at the Perfection I am capacitated for and do what lyes in me to inherit the Promise if I Labour and Hope for it using the most ready and probable means not being deluded by the cunning Arts of a false and treacherous Heart I shall stand upright in the Congregation of the Just and though I cannot with the Romanist challenge Heaven by Merit yet I shall find it as my Saviour hath told me My Fathers good pleasure to give me a Kingdom The Conclusion Fourthly Thus you have the Imbecilities of Man natural together with a Possibility as well as absolute Necessity of their Conquest by man Spiritual and Regenerate For the Devil as Potent and Crafty as he is cannot ravish our Wills nor force our Inclinations the worst he can do is to prompt and perswade to watch Advantages and administer suitable Sollicitations but cannot compel us to entertain them No man is undone or ruin'd Eternally but himself is the Cause of it he that would not cannot be overcome provided he keep his Resolutions fix'd and stedfast This is the true way of Conquest and Victory over Satan Resist the Devil and he will flee from you Jam. 4.7 If we do but make good our ground his Temptations will vanish and disappear What remains but that we be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his might that we take unto our selves the whole Armour of God and be thereby enabled to stand against the Wiles of the Devil Let us Reverence the Greatness and Nobility of our Natures being born anew they are of too Divine a Frame and Temper than to be Prostituted and Defiled Let all opportunities and occasions of Vice be avoided with a quick and jealous care A Temptation is easilier prevented than removed when once it has thrust it self upon the Sinner We should frequently review our Lives and call our Actions to a severe and impartial Account and Examination that we may know what is their Spring and Fountain what their Tendency and Inclination and what will be the Consequence and Issue of them and that if the Politick Enemy of ours have conveyed in a Suggestion in disguise we may pull off the Mask and resent it in its proper Form and Figure And this reckoning ought to be enquir'd into so soon as ever we have sinned or we know that he hath gotten the upper-hand over us for the less Sin hath prevail'd the easier the Fight and Conquest more certain But if he have had much better of us the Argument is more forcible because we have the more to do and therefore we must begin by times The longer our Journey the more early we must set out we must not defer this Labour till it be render'd more difficult by Age or impossible by Death Nothing more true than short Tarryings create long Journeys if we neglect the Duties of our Sprightly years our Journey will be more tedious when our Vigour is decaying and we are weaken'd by Age. Oh! Blessed Pythagoreans who were taught every night to call themselves to an Account for the Actions of the preceding day Sextius the Phylosopher never used to go to Bed 'till he had first Expostulated with himself saying What Evil Habit have I Cured to day What Vice have I resisted Wherein am I better than I was before Oh! let Us imitate those brave Examples and accustom our selves to this excellent course and then we shall quickly find our Victory over sin far more easie and feazable That then which we do let us do quickly whilst the Marrow swells in our Bones and our Blood be hot and boils within our Veins before Evil days come and we be snatch'd away and there be none to deliver us I Pray tell me are not You and I and all the Members of the Catholick Church desirous to end our days in Religion and Piety To die in the Arms and Embraces of our Holy Mother the Church To expire and breath out our last under the safe care and conduct of some Godly and Religious Minister When we are Sick and returning our Souls to him who lent them then nothing but Prayers and doleful Complaints The Groans of Timorous Repentance and the faint Labours of an almost impossible Mortification Yes and least your Souls should miscarry we presently dispatch a little Mercury or Messenger for the despised Parson Then and only Then we look upon our Priest so much laugh'd at in our Plays and made the May game of our Stage as a Barnabas or Son of Consolation then we adjudge him as a Messenger or Physician sent from God to heal our Plague-Sores what are his Words but Oracles Religion but Truth Sin but a burthen and most uneasie to be born And the Sinner more foolish than the Beasts that perish But I Pray Sirs as you prize your Souls as you value Heaven as you expect Eternal Life or dread the Terrors of Everlasting Burnings seriously to consider with me whether the Doctrines we Preach the words we deliver the Councels we give are they not as True now whilst ye live and enjoy the Happy Priviledges of Health as they be when ye approach the Paths of Death Why should they not then have the same Powerful Influence and make that impression on our Lives now they commonly do then Let us then Mortifie our Sins betimes least we never Mortifie them at all the Fable will tell you The Snail out-went the Eagle and wonne the Race because she set out betimes Let us begin our Warfare whilst it is called to day resolving to die unto the World that we may be found alive unto God Let us grow in Grace going on to Perfection till we arrive at the full measures of the stature of Christ and into the perfect Liberty of the Sons of God so that we shall not complain in the Text What I hate that do I but hate what God hates doing nothing that is forbidden not by virtue of our own Strength or Power but because Christ is our Strength and he dwells in us and we in him Grant us Grace therefore we beseech thee O Lord to withstand the Temptations of World the Flesh and the Devil and with pure Hearts and Minds to follow thee the only God through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen FINIS
by the tyes of Friendship How do we dissolve into Tears How great are our Griefs and Sorrows Now if we be judg'd insensible for our not relenting the loss of Friends What brand of shame and Infamy do they deserve who neither Mourn Weep or Fast when a Cypress Vail hath over-spread the Royal Diadem Shall we not be Dejected and Sorrowful when the Sword of Death hath cut off Him in whose Hand alone rested the Sword of Justice Shall not We Fast and Weep at the Fatal Catastrophe of Saul and Jonathan Are not our Souls Elemented as it were of nothing but Sadness when our Ears are pierced with the lamentable news of the fall of the People of the Lord accompanied with the sad misfortune of the House of Israel Moses's Death may justly command a Brinish shower but much more if accompanied with that of Aaron if King and Priest Nobles and Subjects Lords and Commons be involv'd in the same misfortune then certainly we must want words to express the bitterness of our Griefs Niobe found a vent for her Passion when made unhappy by the loss of one or two of her little Babes but when rob'd of all she became Insensible Curae leves loquuntur They are Inferior Evils admit of Tears but those of a Superior Nature are unexpressible When Church and State King and Priest are partakers of one and the same Calamity what moderation can be expected in our Elegiack Threnes and Mournful Lamentations For where can we find words to express the Conflicts and Agonies of our Souls Yet still the misfortunes are far greater which give occasion to this lamentation in the House of David for when the Amalikite had told them the pitiful and fatal overthrow of Saul and Jonathan by the Philistines Army then the Text tells us They Mourned and Wept and Fasted c. Mourning Weeping and Fasting were the Dutiful as well as Holy Performances of all pertaining to the Family of David and ought not that to be this days chief work in the Houses of us all For God hath commanded me to acquaint you that every Master of a Family and all that are under his Protection should by Fasting serve the Lord and the neglect thereof will be justly imputed to the Masters Charge at the great and solemn day of Account The Hebrew word for Mourning which the Vulgar Latin render Plangentes signifies Funebri ritu Lugere a Funeral Mourning and does not this days Duty command the same David and his Family bemoaned the Effusion of Royal Blood and is not That the dismal occasion of this days Lamentation Lace befits not a Mourning Suit expect not then Flourishes of Rhetorick in a Mourning Sermon On such a Day and Text as this the Preachers words should be Sighs his Accents Groans and the Auditors Tears the best Commendation of the Discourse For this end I appear amongst you this day though not as my Saviour in another case to send fire but as the Woman at the Well to draw water that the Kingdom of England may become like that where the Angel of the Lord deliver'd his doleful Message to the Israelites Bochin a place of Weepers And oh how happy will it be if as when all Israel were gathered together at Mizpeth so when all Subjects pertaining to the Crown of England being Assembled together in the House of God may draw water and pour forth their Prayers before the Lord for the Royal Blood which as on this day was poured out and spilt as water upon the ground that so we may imitate the example of the Royal Prophet and his Domesticks Who Mourned and Wept and Fasted c. The Text may afford us many Particulars but least I seem tedious I shall contract my Meditations into these Two The Persons Mourning and the persons Mourned for Consider we the first And it were needless to dwell upon a Theam obvious to all who consult this Chapter For who are they But David and his Family and those who are of his Retinue at the first accosting the Amalikites that Condoled the hard Fate of Saul and Jonathan For though he was disaffected to David an adversary who hunted after his Life and from whom he had escaped as a bird from the hand of the Fowler Nevertheless David forgets not to commiserate His and his Nobles condition Nay though God himself had rent the Kingdom from Saul and conveyed it over unto David yet still he Song his Elegy that he might not go to the Grave unlamented and he gives the reason of this in his Tenderness and Pity to Saul who was so Cruel unto him why he was so troubled for his Death who should be no sooner dead then his own Head should be incircled with the Royal Diadem and that was because he was Anointed with Oyl None that are Anointed with Oyl but ought to have a Tribute of Salt Tears pay'd unto their Hearse By the Laws of Friendship he was oblig'd to be concern'd for the Death of Jonathan but as for Saul who studied his destruction and laboured his ruine who was his inveterate Enemy and wholly bent to do him mischief whence cou'd it proceed but from an unfeigned Respect and untainted Loyalty to his Prince an Obedience and Love to him whom God had instituted his Vicegerent over Israel and it is on that account we read they Mourned c. 2. I descend to the Persons Mourned for And who are they But King Priest and Commons and indeed all of us are equally concerned to Mourn and Weep for their Saul's and Jonathan for their Priest the People of the Lord and for their Brethren the whole House of Israel when they are cropt by the Seyth of an immature and sudden death we have a Duty incumbent on us to Mourn and Fast and Humble our selves when God punishes Kings for the sakes of our Sins by an unripe and untimely Death Common reason will teach nature to pay a more than ordinary Tribute of Sighs and Tears at the last Obsequies of them who move in the highest Sphere publick Persons Hearses may justly challenge the Distillation of private Persons Eyes all Rivulets and little Torrents empty themselves into the main Ocean Can any man forbid or fault this Holy Water Who would not be Baptized in such a Fountain Dethroned Princes have had this paid them by their Enslav'd Subjects Cum nil nisi flere relictum When they were not capacitated to do more their grateful and generous Spirits disdain'd to do less Eminent persons in all Ages have been thus bemoaned by the Church of God not only those who have been blasted in the greenness and tenderness of their Age in their most precious days but those also who have dropt away with Age and been gathered to their Fathers by the long Rake of silent Time Thus the Sons oâ— Jacob bewailed their Aged Father seven days with great and sore Lamentation Thus when Moses the Faithful Prince and Ruler of his People fell asleep all