to which Immortality is annext and labor to be accepted with God at whose Bar I must be judged endeavoring to keep the testimony of a good conscience and then it is not much wither I pass thro good Report or Evill Report no contempt or frowns or threatnings of men need then discourage me Tho I should be trampled on by the foot of Pride while others are happy in a dream for a little while and it may be have a prossperous passage to damnation I 'le rather thank God for delivering me from their Temptations and giving me the opportunity and call to hasten my Preparations for a Better World. Let God dispose of my Condition here and Reputation too as best shall please his Sovereign will only be pleased to keep me upright and to preserve me from Everlasting shame and confusion of Face after the general Resurrection and final Judgment vouchsafe me a portion now in thine approving love and own me for Thine at last in the Great and Terrible Day of Reckoning that then I may hear the Blessed Euge and enter into my Lords Joy XVII The same Argument considered farther as dissuasive from Worldliness and Earthly mindedness and as proper to confute the vanity of long Projects and great Designs for this World. ARe the years of my Life but few and they hastening to a Period and may this be my last Let me not then greedily covet riches and abundance and wast my little time to scrape together large Provisions for many years to come when I have no assurance to see the end of this Is it becoming such a belief to toyl from day to day that I may lay up that which I must so soon leave as if I were to spend and Eternity here on earth and in the mean while neglect the one thing Necessary Am I not upon the shore of Eternity may not the next tide carry me off and shall I spend my whole Life in Diversions from the maine Busines of it have I nothing els to doe but to gather shells if they were Pearls the absurdity were still the same and pile them upon heaps till I am snatcht away past all Recovery Shall I be regardless of an Eternal State and run the hazard of being undone for ever by sollicitous care about pretended Necessaries for a long abode on Earth Much less for superfluities when I am not certaine of the possession this one year Shall I magnifie and admire what is so soon to be parted with value my self upon thes things so as to despise those that have less and envy such as have more and suffer my mind to be distempered and my passions immoderate on every change of these things Tho I know besides my own mortality that to inforce the argument there is a principle of Corruption in all these things that our very Manna here in a little while will stink and Bread which is the staff of Life moulder our richest garments wax old and rot silver and gold rust and the greatest Beauty wither and every thing that is Earthly decay and perish And shall not this teach me to sit loose from all such Things Can I imagine that in my last hour it will be easier to part with much then little or better in the day of Judgment to have a great Estate to answer for then a lesser one We read concerning the Patriarch Abraham who rightly understood the transitory nature of riches and his own mutable Condition that the only purchase he made with his riches was a Grave choosing to take possession of the land promised him rather by a mark of his parting with it then of his Possessing it Did I think oftner and more seriously o my Soul of tarrying here but a littte while I should more easily be persuaded that a little of this world were sufficient to carry me thro it I should consider more that my Heavenborn soul is made and designed for another an endless World and therefore should not so far forget his own People and Fathers house as eagerly to pursue and seek what is suited only to the Body for a little while and whereof a little with Contentment will be sufficient The same Reflexion may be usefull to contract our Thoughts to present duty that we may not perplex our minds with long designs and projects which if we dye this year will come to nothing Our great Business in this world is adapted to the little portion of Time which is allowed us Not that good Designs for the publick Benefit may not be begun by one and finisht by others or that we are not obliged prudently to provide for those who shall come after us by attempting many Things of probable Advantage to Posterity But considering the shortness and uncertainty of Life not only should the most necessary Things be first minded and not put off by prosecuting such designs as may signifie some what to others when we are dead but we should not now omit that which we may hope to compass ourselvs to begin such things whose accomplishment must depend on the Pleasure of our successors Consideration and faithfull Counsell would in this case have prevented the fruitless expence of many mens Time and Money which if otherwise imployed might have turned to good account to themselves and others And this heightens our folly that while we pursue great projects in reference to this world and dye without effecting them our preparations for Eternity are neglected and so we are suddenly cut off in the midst of our Folly and all our Thoughts perish how easily how soon may they do so the difference and distance between Death and Life being no more then that of a Candle lighted from its being blown out and if it is exposed to all winds how quickly may that Happen XVIII The consideration of the certaine near Approach of an Everlasting State amplifi'd and prest to in force an Holy Life IN this world we begin a Year and quickly come to the end of it and ere long the little number of our years and days will be expired But when death conveys us into the World of Spirits the day of Eternity shall never be closed with an Evening Of how fearfull consequence is that Death by which an Eternity must be decided What attention what seriousness what diligence what care doth the decision of so important a matter call for ETERNAL what will be the next word o my soul how much am I concerned to know it will it be Blessedness or Misery will it be Life or Death This one word is the Joy of Angels and the Horror of Devils the unspeakable Delight of blessed Saints and the confusion and Despair of condemned Sinners At the Creation of the World Time got the start of us and was five days elder then we but our Immortal Souls shall indure beyond the utmost limits of Time and last as long as the Everlasting Father of Spirits of whose duration there is no end Shall I then
Traditions Customs of the Jews respecting that Day UPon the deliverance of the Jews out of Aegypt the first moneth which began with the new Moon next to the vernal Equinox was to be acounted the Beginning of Moneths Exod. 12 2. it answers to the latter end of our March the Beginning of April is sometimes called Nisan sometimes Abib It was ever after that Deliverance reckond the First moneth of the year in their Sacred or Ecclesiastical Acount Therefore the Passover kept in this moneth is said to be observed in the first moneth the Feast of Purim which was kept in our February is said to be in the last moneth that is of the Sacred year A Period so remarkable extraordinary as that was to the Jews deserved very well to be particularly remembred taken notice of might justly be acounted the First or chiefest of their moneths 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 moneth 't is computed that about the same time of the year Isaac was born the Tabernacle afterward erected in the wilderness As that Redemption of Israel from their Bondage in Aegypt was but a type of a more glorious one by the Messiah which all the World are concerned in as well the Jews he was pleased to suffer Death in this moneth 18. John. 28. According to this computation the moneth Tisri which began with the first new moon next to the Autumnal Equinox is in several places of H. Scripture called the Seventh moneth Tho as to Civil Political Affaires this was the First moneth of the year so accounted both before after their coming out of Aegypt For this reason the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Harvests on the 15. day of this moneth when the Fruits of the Earth were gathered in is said to be in the end of the year Exod. 23.16 This moneth Tisri answers to part of our September part of October About this Time of the year is most commonly reckon'd the Creation of the world the Birth Baptism of J. Christ the Head of the second Creation the consecration of Solomon's Temple other remarkable Events from hence they computed their years of Jubilee the seventh year for their Land to rest c. There were as many Feasts religious Solemnities Apointed to the Jews in this moneth as in all the year besides The Eighty first Psalm composed by Asaph for the first day of this moneth or the Feast of Trumpets is supposed to have been in remembrance of that Deliverance of Israel out of AEgipt Hammond in loc 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 Acount is thùs 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 Godâ—an univer Hist de l'Eglise Tom. 1. c. 1. §. 6. 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 Hospinian de Fest Judaic which where then sounded viz such as were made of sheeps or rams horns Others think it to have been Apointed as a gratefull remembrance of former victories which God had afforded them But the most likely acount 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 to excite their thankfulness for the fruits blessings Benefits of the year preceding The extraordinary Blowing of Trumpets by the Priests at this time in all their Cities as well as at Jerusalem where two silver Trumpets were also used at the Temple Lightfoot Temple Service chap. 16. as well as these of Horn the Levites sung the 81. Ps might serve both to stirr up the People to bless God for the favors of the year past acknowledging his Goodness in preserving them to the beginning of another withal excite them to pray for his Protection 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 Arise O ye sleepers Canones de Poeuitent cap. 3. can 6. 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 Gospell state by the new year then began 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 Without supposing any Type here in a strict and proper sens we may ye farther consider the Parallel and observe how the Joy and Gratitude that thes 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 54 Is 1. 2 Luk. 11. 4 Gal. 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 towards 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 But the Messiâh our B. Saviour having finisht his mediatory undertaking as to what concerns Earth shall come againe from Heaven with the Trump of God to raise the Dead and summon all the world to their final Judgement Then shall he deliver up the Kingdom to his Father and the Faithfull enter into the Joy of their Lord and be for ever with him There is a Tradition among the Jews mentioned by Maimonides Canones Poenit. cap 3. can 5. that on the first
we should know and in order to it prove our selves we must therfore bestow Time and serious Diligence about it that we may examine matters to the bottom and come to some Result that we may form a right Judgment concerning our own case He that would do it to good purpose must endeavor to understand cleerly the terms of the Covenant on God's part and on ours and take care not to Judge of himself by mistaken rules by a false Standard that God will not justifie or by any such characters as will not conclude But most men are unwilling to bring themselves to a Trial or let Conscience deal plainly and faithfully with them They are stupidly secure and see not the necessity of this duty Or do not suspect themselus They presume they need not be at that Trouble or are so taken up with the World that they cannot find Time and leasure â—â—r it And many men dare not bring their Hearts and ways to a Trial. There is commonly some seeret Lust indulg'd which they are loath to let goe But most goe on in sin and perish Eternally because they think there is no danger of perishing and never repent and make their Peace with God be cause they fancy and presume t is done allready Therfore let me beg of thee who ever thou art who readest this to put the case to thy self seriously to admit the doubt wither you are not mistaken make the supposition tho you have not hitherto sufficiently considered the State of your Soul. You are confident that all is wel and therupon are unwilling to examine farther but for that very reason you ought to question whither it be so or not do but ask your self seriously what is the ground of your good Opinion concerning your self for what reason can you thus conclude Did you ever seriously lay to heart the Characters and description which the Scriptures give of those whom Christ will own at the last day and of such whom he will reject and reprobate with unfeigned application to your own case have you therwith prov'd your selves and come to a setled Judgment after a deliberate Enquiry And was the Conclusion to your comfort and Joy If so what influence hath it since had upon your Heart and Life hath it promoted Purity Thank fullness Heavenly-mindedness contempt of this world and stronger Desires after the Image love and presence of God and the Glory of Christ Moreover consider Is it not this a good while a goe how have you behav'd your self ever since have you not reason to look back with shame If you but slightly examin'd your self formerly resolve to do it more effectually now review the sins you have been since Guilty of And if you have not done any thing considerable of this kind you ought now to begin It is seasonable to begin the year by such an Exercise and it will be found of great use in all the following parts of it especially when you come to examine your self afresh in order to the Lord's Supper For we ought frequently to renew the sad remembrance of our former Sins that from time to time we may renew our Repentance which is the work of our Life and not of one day And he that comes to the Sacrament and will look no farther back then to the last Communion may possibly presume too much that all was then as it should be and not be humble enough If any one therfore resolve in good earnest up on an holy Life and seriously design to prepare for Eternity as it is necessary to make a general review of his Life so I desire to afford him the best Counsell I can in order to it It may be adviseable Vid. Mr. Baxter's Saints Rest p. 3. chap. 7 8 9. if you have not formerly begun this work to imploy one hour at least in a Day for several Days following in writing down the most considerable Passages of your Life you can remember desiring God's Assistance therin and keeping your Eye upon your End in the whole that is thinking seriously that 't is in order to Eternity that you now examine your self Choose a place of Retirement and the most convenient Time that you may not be interrupted and when your Heart is most serious Every man may divide his Life into several parts as from Infancy till he left off goeing to school or was bound Apprentice or setled in any way of education From thence 'till fixt in some Imployment til a married person till entred into that Condition And from thence to another remarkable Period or to the present Time. It may better assist some persons memory to consider the several Places of their abode and compute according to them In each portion of time recollect what sins you were most addicted to in what Instances in with what Frequency and with what other various aggravations you committed 'em and what have been the effects and consequences of those sins to your selves and Others in order to Repentance and godly sorrow Which must not be judg'd of by Tears but Grief and inward hatred of Sin. Remembring that no man is the better meerly for being examin'd if there follows nothing after it T is in order to a Judgment to be pass'd upon our selues T is to seearch out our own Iniquity our Beloved sin in order to the mortification of it That Goliath must first be Slaine if ever the other Philistims are conquered In some it is Pride in others Worldliness in some Uncleanness in others Drunkenness Gluttony c. That you may discover it observe What sin 't is you are most unwilling to part with which you could even wish were not forbidden Which you have formerly been most apt to plead for extextenuat or excuse and hide The thoughts wherof do most frequently occur especially when Alone first in the morning and last at night and are most distracting in Prayer and worship Which an awaken'd Conscience hath most plainly told you of under a Sermon or at a Sacrament or under some heavy affliction or on a sickbed c. Which you can least bear to be Reproov'd for Which the Temperament of your body doth most incline to Which your Calling imployment Company and converse administer the greatest Temptations for That especially which hath the Throne of the Heart and sets all the faculties a work to contriue fuel and opportunities for its Gratification Observe likewise what Passion was most Predominant in each Period or is yet so and what ill effects it hath produced Consider farther what dangerous Temptations you have met with how you have fallen by 'em or been inabled to resist Consider withall the Time and the Means wherby God hath at any time formerly awaken'd convinc't and humbled you what Purposes of Amendment and Promises of Reformation you have ever made and how far you have or have not perform'd ' em Recollect likewise all the special Mercies you have receiu'd from God in every State and Period of your
exist and live tho my Body perish and see corruption Shall my soul my self exist beyond the Grave in Felicity or Misery and that for ever and according to my present Actions what am I then most concerned to mind what am I to choose What am I most to fear to wish to do What is a shadow of honor and reputation among dying men What are a few drops of fleshly Pleasure for a moment to eternal Rivers of Pleasure at God's right hand What are the sufferings of an hour or two to the pains and anguish of Eternity What can the World Flesh or Devil give me comparable to Eternal Life What can I suffer in the way of Holiness that may be set in the balance against an Everlasting Hell And yet how often o my soul how boldly how unconcernedly how foolishly do I hazard the one and forfeit the other for the sins and vanities of this world Whereas one prospect of Eternity should make every thing that is Temporal appear little in my eyes the highest elevation of earthly Greatness abundance of Riches the great Affaires Business and Imployments of the World Pomp and Splendor and Reputation and all that now flatters the senses and the vanity of Mankind Oh that I could but live as believing and expecting an Eternal State as having it in my Eye managing all my affaires with a visible reference to it discovering to all the world by my Behaviour and Deportment that I doe in earnest believe it certaine for be it never so Certaine if I do not apprehend and consider it as such it will no more affect me then a Fable Neither is it enough to consider it as certaine but as Near for the most weighty the most terrible things apprehended as at a great distance will little move Thinking of the long Interval between the advantage of being exempted from such evills for so long a time will please me more then such distant Calamities will affright Let me therefore indeavor to impress the consideration of Eternity at hand more deeply on my heart that I may walk and live discours and pray and demean my self in every thing as near an unchangeable State. Am I not convinc't that this is Certaine from the nature and operations of my soul from the reflexions of Conscience from the Righteousness of God in his Government of the world from the present unequal Distributions of Good and Evill by his Providence and from the plaine and frequent assertions of his Revealed Will I have nothing to object nothing to reply but I find a necessity of inculcating and urging the consideration of it in order to its influence I find it needfull to reflect often how near I am to such an Endless State that in one Instant by Death I enter upon it and that this instant may be as near me as my next Thought That the H. Scripture describes the two contrary Conditions after death and every man and woman in the world shall share in one of them as both Everlasting the one by Eternal Life Eternal Glory an incorruptible Crown that fadeth not away an incorruptible Inheritance an House Eternal in the Heavens c. the other by unquenchable Fire a Prison whence no escape Eternal Damnation Everlasting Burning everlasting Punishment everlasting Destruction a worm that never dies wrath that is ever to come blackness of darkness for ever c. Think o my Soul that in one of these two contrary States I must abide for ever In endless Joy or sorrow Blessed in the presence of God or forever banisht from it And who ever thou art that readest this apply it seriously to thy self 't is thine own case Yea I tell the from God that Holiness of Heart and Life is absolutely necessary to the former and that without it thou shalt never see his face but be punisht with Everlasting Destruction from the presence of his Glory Is this an unquestionable Truth O let me consider it till I feel the power and efficacy of so important a Principle let the impression be deep and lasting let it peirce and enter into my very soul to cool the heats of lust to quench sensual and earthly desires and to mortifie all in ordinate affections to this world and fix my resolutions to mind and seek Eternal Life with all my Heart These are not difficult and perplexed Niceties which wise and holy men differ and disagree about They are not metaphisical Subtleties which few can understand but the express word of God and the dayly dictates of my own Reason and Conscience which all Christians and all most all men in their wits except in an hour of great Temptation confess and own or whither they will or no are forc't to expect and Fear if they are not in a condition to consider them with a joyfull Hope Lord cure the unbelieving doubts concerning these Great things which notwithstanding the plainest Evidence the Devil may at any time suggest let a confirmed Faith be the Reality of what is thus future that my soul may be influenc't by them as it is wont to be by things present Let it be the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things unseen and as yet at a distance as if the Day of Judgment were allready come and there were no intermediate Time to passe between this and that O Eternity Eternity the more I consider it the more unfathomable still I find it Unchangeable Blessedness or remediless Endless Torments An Eternall blissfull Day or Everlasting Horror Darkness and Despair Life or Death Glory or Destruction to last as long as the Immutable Living God! None of the Patriarchs who lived longest arrived to the period of a Thousand years which in comparaison of God's Everlastingness is set forth but as one day But strictly considered millions of years and ages have no proportion with it because no multiplication of them will amount to Eternity Whereas one hour hath some proportion to an hundred thousand years because a certaine number of hours will amount to so many years But no number of years or Ages never so often multiplied will make up Eternity as no substraction of Millions of years will lessen it an in tire Eternity will be still to come and will ever be to come When innumerable myriads of years are past Eternity shall then seem but to begin because when as many more are over it shall be as far from an end Oh that the Thoughts of Eternity may be powerfull and prevailing above all others that I may Judge of every thing by its relation to it by its influence upon it Chuse now o my soul whither Everlasting Joys or Miseries shall be my Portion but consider well that thine Eternity is concerned in thy present choice and that this choice must be pursued with stedfastness and Constancy as long as I live and what are a few years to prepare for an Eternal State were we obliged to spend several hundred years in serious
What inexpressible sweetness might Believers tast by rejoycing in Hope did a more lively Faith realize all this to their Souls we might listen as it were to the shouts and Acclamations of the Saints above and say Amen to their Thanksgivings We might behold them about the Throne of God and of the Lamb with Palms of victory in their hands a Crown of Glory on their heads and songs of Triumph in their mouths saying Allelujah Worthy art Thou o Lord Rev. 4. c. 11.5 c. 12.13 to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast Created all Things and for thy Pleasure they are and were created And worthy is the Lamb that was slaine to receive Power and Riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and Blessing And againe Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him who sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Whence is it o my Soul if indeed I believe and expect all this that I can hear and read and think and speak of these great Things with no more ardent affections suitable preparations importunate prayers and vigorous desires How should the believing Thoughts of that Day promote my Heavenly mindedness self-denial contempt of the world patience and perseverance quicken my zeal secure my stedfastness and give life and spirit to my Prayers for the hastening of it how should my soul rise towards Heaven by holy Love and desire ascend and meet him get as near him as I can breath after more of his presence and beg him to prepossess my Heart to anticipate his second Coming by clearer discoveries of his Love and fuller communications of his Grace Even so Come Lord Jesus XXIV Concerning the Examination of a mans 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 I Am hastening every year every day to the period of this Life I must shortly appear before my Glorious Judge and experience these Terrors or Comforts this Blessedness or Misery which I have now read of Shall I not therefore inquire which of the two belongs to me Is it not worth considering wither I must goe and how I shall fare when I quit this Body what is like to be my next Habitation to which of the two unchangeable States I shall be adjudg'd Shall an Inquiry of so much consequence be put off to an indefinite Hereafter do I not desire to know the worst while a remedy may be found or am I content to dye thro an unwillingness to discover that I am Sick The question to be resolved is of infinite weight Shall I not spend a few hours to know what will become of me for ever An error is more then possible 't is easy to mistake and the hazard of doing so is unspeakably great How many thousands perish eternally even under the light of the Gospel who never suspected their danger how ordinary how common a thing is it for men to be thus deceived how successfull is the Devill in this Stratagem against the Souls of men Is it not then a most criminal stupidity to be contentedly Ignorant and unresolved Wither I am reconciled to God or no Wither I am led by the Flesh or the Spirit wither I am in the broad or narrow way which lead to such contrary Ends that is wither if I dye in this condition I shall be saved or perish Can such an Inquiry be frivolous or indifferent Is the subject of it so contemptible and my concern in it so small that it merits not to be attentively considered Shall I never ask my soul till I am leaving this world the unfittest Time of all to begin so important an affaire what am I to whom do I belong whose Image do I bear how have I liv'd what do I doe what do I love most what do I most constantly desire and choose and seek how doth the Pulse of my soul beat is it quickest towards God or towards the world wither am I goeing what will be final upshot and issue of my present course Is it Heaven or Hell I must be translated to by Dyeing what Security have I got for Eternal Life what provisions have I made what foundation have I laid How strangely infatuated are most men who talk of an Everlasting Life as an Article of their Creed and say they count upon it that they must dwell in Happiness or Misery for ever and that seldom or never bethink themselvs in good earnest and for any Time with a setled composed exercize of Thoughts Which of these Two is like to be their Lot. Or If they begin to search and try themselvs they come to no Conclusion or conclude too hastily they pluk off the plaister assoon as it begins to smart they are either frighted with the horrid prospect of past Crimes or haveing escap't the grosser Pollutions of the world judge too favourably of their own case They commonly do the work but by halves and so goe from the glass and forget what manner of persons they were Let me therfore o my Soul Sequester my self from the world to commune with my own heart to reflect upon my past Life and look in to my present strate to recollect and review the most considerable passages of my course and Time hitherto O how neglected and disused a Practise is this which doth challenge and require our principal and most Serious concern about it and how many begin it and are discouraged and leave off without reaching the End of such an Enquiry How much wiser in this respect are the Children of this world in their Generation then the Children of Light who is so Exact in his accounts between God and his own Soul as Trades-men in their dealings with one another who is at the pains to write down his Sins and his Mercies the grounds of his Fear and the encouragements of his Hope or keeps a Journal and Diary of his Spiritual State who doth at set times once a moneth or once a Quarter or even once a year take a just view of him self his Heart and Life and State as a Christian that he may see what he hath received and done what he owes and what he may expect that he may know wither he thrive or decay wither be increase or decrease wither he goe backward or forward wither he be Richer or Poorer this year then the last And is it not a symptom that you are declining when you love not to examine your Accounts Is there not ground of Jealousie and Suspicion that you are behind hand because you are loath to inquire whither you are or no and unwilling to know the worst of your Condition Nevertheless without Such Enquiries and bringing the matter to a determination at what uncertainties must we live and how unconceivable an haszard do all Hypocrites and unrenewed Sinners run and how reasonable how necessary is it that