should hinder us from making what haste we can to be happy in hearkning to so good and gracious a God and Father Why not now as well as hereafter I am yet too young saith the young Sinner 't is yet but the time of blossoming with me let me flourish a-while in the days of my vanity to think too much of God and the other World of Death and Iudgment would make my Flower fade too soon and blast all my youthful delights to be religious so soon is to be old before my time would you have me turn my Spring into Autumn I will bear Fruit to God when Fruit-time comes I am too busie yet saith the man of full-growth my strength is but just come and fits me for man-like Exercises and the business of the World These are the things it now becomes men of my strength and vigour to be wholly employ'd in I must not yet unfit my self for the management of worldly Affairs by entertaining the melancholly Thoughts of preparing my self to go out of the World What Trade can a man drive on thrivingly in this World if he make his Conscience too soon tender and delicate My head is yet too full of Cares saith the old Sinner and I must not neglect the present opportunity of making all sure to Posterity seeing I have one foot already in the Grave So soon as I have set all straight for this World which I now make haste to do I will think of the next O how wise and provident are we all for this World and for our Lusts Let us seriously consider now what 's the plain English of all this Are we not afraid lest God should understand it And yet understand it he doth much better than we God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things 1 John III. 20. He knoweth very well that the meaning of all we can say for our delaying to keep his Commandments is this with what fine words soever we would cover it We will give the First-fruits and every choice part of our time our health our strength our wealth our parts and all we have to Sin and Satan and the vile and refuse and what we cannot tell how otherwise to dispose of we will give to God who gave us all things Whatsoever good thing he hath bestow'd upon us we will spend as much of it as we can upon his Enemies and then throw him back their leavings We are resolved to have our own will and to do our own pleasure whilst we are able and when we know not how to take our pleasure in any thing we will do what we can to please God We will do and submit to his Will when we can no longer do what we would our selves It 's enough to bestow that upon God which is good for nothing else or whereof we can make no other use We may come ere we die to be deprived of all the delightful things which this World affords we may come to be old and past all youthful pleasures and worldly business too we may come to be sick and cannot rellish any longer what before we loved and then will it be time enough to serve God We resolve to part with all our sins at last for God's sake but we cannot endure to do it so soon that is in truth we cannot endure to part with them at all and will never do it for his sake nor at all as long as we can keep them We perfectly hate God's Service and are resolved to keep out of it as long as we can or dare in plain terms we will never serve him if we can help it and when we talk of resolving to serve him hereafter we can mean no more but this We are resolved to keep out of his service as long as ever we can and to venture as far as ever we dare in the way to death Now when we consider what God is in himself and what he hath always been and would be to us I think it may be safely concluded that there cannot be imagined any higher degree of baseness whereof 't is possible for man to be guilty than this amounts to And therefore nothing can be more odious and provoking to Almighty God than this foul Sin of delaying our Repentance SECT IV. The First Danger of Delaying I Am sensible how hard a thing it is to make one who loves his sin to see the baseness of it If he be young it 's hard to bring him to that degree of seriousness as is needful to such a thorough consideration as must make him understand it and if he be old long custom hath harden'd him in it and taken away the sense of baseness But he that is grown too impudent to be ashamed may possibly be made afraid and an apprehension of danger may move him that hath lost the sense of Baseness Let us therefore now consider the great danger we are in by delaying our Repentance and the keeping of God's Commandments and we shall find it to be no less than that of perishing everlastingly We must repent before we die or at death we sink into Eternal Misery and therefore 't is certain that seeing none of us knoweth how soon he must die every delay of our Repentance which must be before we die or never is extremely dangerous We say we are resolved to repent and it behoves us to do more than resolve upon it for without doing it how fully soever we resolve to do it we must perish for ever When therefore will we repent that we may be out of danger Not yet but sometime hereafter Well but now consider it in earnest Is there not a great deal of danger in driving it off till hereafter Run we not a great hazard in doing so All we can hope for and all that we can fear our attaining to the one our escaping the other depends upon our actual Repentance and will we yet venture all upon hereafter Suppose That Hereafter never come but we die before then farewell to all possibility of Repentance and Salvation too Suppose we live till Hereafter but be then as unwilling to repent as we are now then shall we be no better but much worse than we are now and in more danger of dying in our impenitence and of Perishing Suppose we shall hereafter have some kind of willingness to repent but shall not be able to repent so as that God will accept of our Repentance then is there no remedy but we are undone for ever Here then lieth the danger of delaying till hereafter We know not whether we shall have an hereafter or no to repent in we know not if we have an hereafter whether we shall repent in it or no We know not if we shall in some sort repent hereafter whether our Repentance then will be accepted and do us any good or none How dangerous then must it be to put it off till hereafter What assurance can any of us have that we
that they grow insensible of their danger And not only so but they can find much Pleasure too such as it is in serving their lusts nay and whilst they do so can flatter themselves with a foolish conceit that all 's well enough with them And just so may a man in a swoon or in any stupifying Disease be insensible that he is in danger of death and a man in his sleep may not perceive that the House over his head is on fire Yea he may have many pleasant Dreams in the midst of his danger and a Mad-man may take pleasure in his madness and yet he 's as mad as he that thinks such a Pleasure to be a Comfort Such a comfort may an impenitent Sinner have in his wicked life whilst his sins keep him too busie to think of his danger But whenever he shall begin to think seriously which such a one is very unwilling to do and which unwillingness of his is a manifest sign that he can find nothing Comfortable in his present state else would he be more willing to think of it he will find his pleasure quickly vanish Let him apprehend himself in present danger of dying and let him think whither Death is about to convey him and what he can plead if he shall be called to the great Iudgment and then even his uncertainty of what shall become of him or what he shall find in another World will soon detect the vanity of all his present Comforts But now on the other side how sweet and pleasant are the thoughts of that happy person who hath repented unfeignedly of his Sins and walks before God in the ways of his Commandments with a perfect heart He lives in a constant friendship with the Father of mercies and God of all consolation with the Blessed JESUS in whom he is reconciled unto the Father and who hath said unto his Disciples Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John XV. 14. Hence was Abraham called the friend of God Jam. II. 23. Now saith Christ I say unto you my friends Be not afraid Luke XII 4. This is the penitent man's comfort he is at peace with God and there is no condemnation to them that walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Rom. VIII 1. Yea he hath this comfortable Promise v. 28. All things work together for his good Were there no more in it but this That the Penitent is freed from the fear of Eternal Punishment and that his Sins are forgiven that he is free from the stings and smartings of a guilty Conscience which is now purified and healed certainly this alone is so great a comfort that no man of any sense can think he can get too soon into such a condition Is it not an exceeding comfortable thing to a man that he can go about his honest business or lawful refreshments and quietly after all betake himself to his rest without the angry rebukes of his own Conscience and without any dreadful apprehensions of God's being displeased with him Is it not very comfortable to be confident of God's love and favour of his fatherly blessing and of his special care and providence Is it not very comfortable to be able in the Psalmist's words Psal. IV. 8. to say after all the hard labours and troubles of the day past I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord only makest me dwell in safety Let it thunder and lighten let the winds blow and the waves beat let all the World be in tumult and confusion the Penitent is got into his safe Harbour his strong Tower his inviolable Sanctuary Let mens Tongues be whetted like Swords let the Devil and his suborned Tools bring thousands of Calumnies and false Accusations his own Conscience still acquits him and his rejoycing is this the testimony of his conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity he hath had his conversation in the world 2 Cor. I. 12. Let dangers and Enemies encompass him round about on all sides his God is his Protector and who saith he can hurt me if I be a follower of that whch is good 1 Pet. III. 13. Nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in CHRIST JESUS my Lord Rom. VIII 39. Finally So long as he lives he can rejoice in hope of the glory of God yea and glory in tribulation also Rom. V. 2 3. And when he comes to dye he can without any disturbance take leave of this World and triumph over Death saying O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Blessed be God who hath given us the victory through JESUS CHRIST our Lord 1 Cor. XV. 55 57. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness 2 Tim. IV. 7 8. Is it now possible that any one can make too much haste to get into this comfortable Condition No man that considereth aright his Duty his Safety or his Comfort can think it at any time too soon to repent SECT II. The Sin of DELAY THough it can never be too soon for a Sinner to repent of his sinful course of life yet I dare not say that it can never be too late a man therefore cannot make too much haste because he knows not whether any other time after this will not be too late and because the longer he delays it the more cause he hath still to fear that it will be so Indeed every delaying of this Duty is sinful and therefore look how long it is delay'd so much always in one sense it is too late because it was not so soon as it ought to have been or not soon enough to prevent a Sin It hath been already proved that it cannot be done sooner than it is our duty to do it because it is our duty at all times and we ought always to be doing it and therefore if it be delay'd at all we do it later than in duty we were bound to do and that 's too late in respect to God's Command It hath also been proved that it cannot be done sooner than it is our interest and near concern to do it because we can never be safe nor enjoy any true comfort till it be done and therefore again if it be delay'd at all it comes later than we stood in need of it and that 's too late in respect to our own welfare God all the time we delay it wants his right the honour due unto him and we all the while lose much good our safety and comfort and so in both respects it is too late if it be at all delay'd But now it may be be too late too I will not say in a worse but to us in a sadder sense that is we may drive it off so long that it will be too late to repent at all and till there be neither time nor power left us to
shall have an hereafter to repent in How know we that we shall not die before God hath not assured us of any such thing and Man cannot on what then do we build our hopes of living to any time hereafter We are well assured That it is appointed for all men once to die and after that the judgment Heb. IX 27. We are well assured that except we repent we shall all perish and die the second death and go into everlasting punishment But who hath assured us that we shall have any time at all after this that now is to repent in And if we be not assured of this what can it be to put off that which must be done before we die to another day which we have no assurance at all that we shall live to see but a rash hazarding of our Souls to all Eternity What is our life St. Iames hath told us and we all know it It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away Jam. IV. 14. And thence that Apostle very rationally dissuades men from the great folly of confidently resolving any otherwise than conditionally to do any thing hereafter Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow How foolish a thing is it to say to morrow we will do this or that Ye ought to say if the Lord will we shall live and do this or that V. 15. When we say we will repent to morrow do we know whether we shall be alive or dead to morrow If we do not what can we mean by saying so but this That if we live we will repent to morrow And are we content then to be damned if we die to night If not why are we so mad as to put it to the venture Boast not thy self of to morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth saith the wise man Prov. XXVII 1. Alas a day an hour the least moment of time may lay the strongest and most confident of us all upon our backs in the dust and why are we confident we shall repent to morrow when we know so little what changes one single minute may produce Is it possible that any of us whilst we see so many every day dropping down into the grave round about us should need a Monitor to mind him that this life is a very ticklish thing to trust to What though we be young and lusty and healthful Were not some of them so too who died the other day and thought they not themselves as likely to live as any of us can be All their confidence is swallowed up of Death in a moment and I am sure we are all of us so many days the nearer to Death as we have out-lived them How many hundreds yearly die in the heat and wantonness of their youthful blood How many in the very fulness of strength and vigour How many in the very throng of their worldly business and whilst they are as busy as the Bee in gathering for old age How many in the midst of their mirth and jollity yea in the very acts of Sin in their drunkenness and gluttony their fornication and adultery their theft and robbery their anger and revenge How many in the height of their security and confidence sleeping in their beds riding merrily on the rode going busily about their common affairs It 's no news to hear of sudden and unexpected Deaths of many sorts and less strange can it be to any one to see those young people cut off by Death who thought it too soon to become good and serious and were unwilling to marr their juvenile pleasures with many thoughts of Piety and Religion Let us but think how many are already Dead who delay'd their Repentance with as much confidence as we can do to Repent hereafter till they had no time left them to Repent in And how fruitlesly they now lament their folly in doing so Think but what they would now be content to give that they might have their life to begin again on Earth and whether they would were that granted them venture again to delay their Repentance and hazard another sudden fall into those intollerable torments which now they feel O let us not stay till thinking of this will do us no good let us not go on till we fall into their condition and experience the Torments of vain and fruitless wishes Let us not indulge our infidelity as to these things till some come from the dead to make us believe lest we be made before we fear it to see and feel what we make no more haste to escape We say still we will Repent and become new men to morrow But alas we know not yet whether we shall live till then nay we know not but that our bodies may be in the Grave and our Souls in Hell to morrow and for this very reason because we Repent not to day Who then that is wise will venture one moment longer on such an uncertainty But suppose we may live and have the time we at present presume so groundlesly upon we may not be one jot the better for it when we have it We are to consider yet farther how many things may happen to us at that time or before which may as much disable us to Repent as Death it self We may live and yet be as good as dead unto all manner of Religious Duty and Exercise We may be we know not how soon in such a condition as we may not be able either to reflect on what is past or understand what is present or consider what is to come We cannot be ignorant how many Diseases suddenly surprise men which though they do not immediately deprive them of life yet destroy their memory and understanding and reason or so weaken them that they can be of little use for the exercise of Repentance May we not be suddenly taken with an Apoplexy or a Lethargy with a Phrenzy or Melancholy or Dotage May we not become mad or foolish and so distracted and crazed in our heads that we cannot at all consider either what we do or what we should do Yea suppose none of these things befall us yet are there other diseases and pains whereunto we are subject and which we may labour under a very considerable time before they kill us by which yet we may be brought into such a condition as we shall find it very hard to perform any Religious Duty as we ought We may lie under such continual and even intollerable pains of body under such daily languishings and faintings and decays of Strength and Spirits that we shall have very little freedom or strength of mind left us to Consider and do all that is needful to Repentance which till then hath been delay'd Why do not we think our selves concern'd to prevent all these evils Are we not sensible that such things often befal men who as little fear'd them as we do And may they not for ought we