an Alexander or Caesar and that of their meanest Slaves or Captives Could their Dignities and Earthly Glory preserve any of them from the Stroke of Death or the Judgment of God or without Repentance from his condemning Sentence Think O my Soul how little it will shortly signifie whether I have been known and honoured among Men or no any farther than God may be glorified by it How should it suppress Vain-Glory to think of being one day esteemed and worshipt reverenced and applauded by dying Men and laid in the Grave the next Let me rather seek that Glory and Honour to which Immortality is annext and labour to be accepted with God at whose Bar I must be judged endeavouring to keep the Testimony of a good Conscience and then it is not much whether I pass through Good Report or Evil 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 prosperous Passage to Damnation I 'll 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 Lord's Joy SECT 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 waste 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 an 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 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 snacht 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 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 employed 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 SECT XVIII The Consideration of the Certain near Approach of an Everlasting State amplified and prest to enforce an Holy Life IN this World we begin a Year and quickly come to the End of it and e're 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 Decision of so important a Matter call for ETERNAL
necessary is it that we should know and in order to it prove our selves We must therefore bestow Time and serious Diligence about it that we may examine matters to the bottom and come to some Result so that we may form a right Judgment concerning our own Case He that would do it to good purpose must endeavour to understand clearly 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 to let Conscience deal plainly and faithfully with them They are stupidly secure and see not the necessity of this duty Or do not suspect themselves They presume they need not be at that Trouble Or are so taken up with the World that they cannot find time and leasure for it And many Men dare not bring their Hearts and Ways to a Trial. There is commonly some secret Lust indulg'd which they are loth to let go But most go on in sin and perish Eternally because they think there is no danger of perishing and never Repent and make their Peace with God because they fancy and presume 't is done already Therefore let me beg of thee whoever thou art who readest this to put the Case to thy self seriously to admit the doubt whether you are not mistaken make the supposition that you have not hitherto sufficiently considered the State of your Soul You are confident that all is well and thereupon are unwilling to Examine farther But for that very reason you ought to question whether it be so or not Do but ask your selves 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 therewith 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 Thankfulness 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 not this a good while a-go 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 than 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 therefore resolve in good earnest upon 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 Counsel I can in order to it It may be advisable (a) 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 therein and keeping your Eye upon your End in the whole that is thinking serioussy that 't is in order to Eternity that you now examine your self Chuse 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 going to School or was bound Apprentice or setled in any way of Education From thence till fixt in some Imployment If 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 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 judged 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 selves 'T is to search out our own Iniquity our Beloved sin in order to the Mortification of it That Goliah must first be slain if ever the other Philistins 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 to extenuate or excuse hide The thoughts whereof 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 sick-bed c. Which you can least bear to be reprov'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 awork to contrive fuel and opportunities for its Gratification Observe likewise what Passion was most Predominant in each Period of Time 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 withal the Time and the Means whereby God hath at any time formerly awaken'd convinc'd 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 receiv'd from God in every State and
Lusts or to draw me from God by the love of the World and the praise of Men by Evil Company Intemperance secret Wickedness c. I bless Thee with my whole Soul for calling me back from any of my Wandrings and by Infinite Goodness recovering me after great Falls enabling me to return when I had gone astray and seek thy forfeited favour that thou may'st heal my Backslidings giving me in order to it a deep sense of my own Sin and of thy Soveraign Grace leading me to a Saviour whose Blood cleanseth from all sin when my guilty defiled Soul so much needed its pardoning and cleansing Vertue awakening me to make holy Vows and calling upon me by thy Word and Spirit and Providence to perform them I bless Thee who hast guided my feet into the way of Peace when by the Terrors of an accusing Conscience and the sense of unpardon'd Sin and the Apprehensions of thy deserved Wrath I was ready to Despair that tho' thou didst most justly hide thy Face at any time it was but for a little while but didst seasonably and in Mercy return to wipe off my Tears restore the Joy of thy Salvation and chace away the clouds and darkness on my Spirit by the reviving Presence of thy own Thou who art the Author wilt be the Finisher of my Faith and therefore tho' thou hast visited mine Iniquities with a Fatherly Rod yet thy loving-kindness thou hast not taken from me or suffered thy faithfulness to fail or thy Covenant of Peace to be removed but hast refreshed me with hidden Manna after great Perplexities saying unto my Soul I am God even thy God Thou hast made me to hear thy Voice which was sweet and to taste thy Love which is better than Wine enabling me to say with thine Apostle Thomas My Lord and my God and to have had some Communion with Thee since in publick or private Duties For all these Innumerable Mercies I desire to praise Thee which yet are but in order to greater I hope in order to Everlasting Kindness in Heaven These are but the Taste and Earnest of what thou wilt bestow hereafter Oh how great is his Goodness that he hath laid up for those that fear him And now Lord what wait I for my hope is even in Thee I thank thee who hast thus put it into my Heart to render thee solemn Praise and once more to renew my Covenant with Thee I will magnifie the Lord and my Spirit shall rejoyce in God my Saviour Return unto thy rest O my Soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with me (a) Psal 104.33 While I live I will praise thee and sing Praises unto my God while I have a Being O come and behold the Works of the Lord what he hath done for my Soul The Lord liveth (b) Psal 18.46 Blessed be my Rock and let the God of my Salvation be exalted Let my Heart be glad and my Glory rejoyce for the Lord is not asham'd to be called my God Thanks be to God who hath caused me to triumph in Christ Jesus Sing unto the Lord O ye his Saints and give thanks at the remembrance of his Holiness (c) Psal 30. I cried unto Thee and thou hast healed and sav'd me I will give thanks to Thee for ever (d) Psal 119.62 I will shew forth thy loving-kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night For the Lord is Good his Mercy is Everlasting and his Truth endures throughout all Generations O enter into his Gates with Thanksgiving and his Courts with Praise be thankful unto him and bless his Name Bless the Lord all ye his Works in all-places of his Dominions Bless the Lord O my Soul Let me add for a Conclusion That the particular Deliverances Supports and Consolations which at any time God hath given in Cases of great Exigence or in answer to importunate Prayer ought never to be forgotten Many experienc'd Christians have been wont to write down such remarkable Appearances of God for them with the particular Circumstances that did recommend and enhance the Mercy whether Spiritual or Temporal as an Encouragement to trust in God in future Difficulties And have afterwards found the Comfort and Advantage of being able to have recourse to such Papers This Practice I recommend as what hath been useful and consolatory to divers Christians for many years afterwards and to some others of their more intimate Friends to whom they might without vanity be imparted What Experiences might be recorded of signal Returns to Prayer and seasonable Manifestations of the Truth and Goodness and Wisdom of God if all the Instances thereof were duly recollected and preserv'd And how sweet and pleasant would the Work of Prayer and Praise then be With what rejoycing and delight should we set about it and live in it if the constraining Goodness and Love of God and a thankful Sense of his unspeakable Mercies did bring us to him and indict and animate every word What Support and Comfort and probable Hopes at least of the special Love of God might we derive from the various Passages of his Compassion and Kindness And hereby we may be able more heartily to give him Thanks for Pardon Sanctification and Adoption which we commonly mention with too much doubt and fear It may likewise be Advisable To examine and record the Workings of your own Spirit under such Dispensations What Thoughts you then had of God What Acts of Faith Love and Thankfulness you did then manifest What Evidences of God's Favour and what discovery of your own Sincerity you have had at such times When and how and by what means you were cur'd of your uncomfortable Unbelief and rais'd from your Despondency What Promises you had recourse to for relief What Considerations were most helpful to you What frame of Spirit you kept up in Prayer before and after What Resolutions and Engagements you made to God to love and trust and praise and serve him and give up All to his dispose for the future And what consequent Obligation may be inferr'd from thence to acquiesce in the Will of God and resign our selves entirely to Him saying This God is our God for ever and ever and He will be our Guide unto Death THE APPENDIX From what Time the Jews reckon'd 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 Egypt the first Month which began with the New Moon next to the Vernal Equinox was to be accounted 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 The Computation of
Misery will be as far from an End as when he first began to feel it It will then be but the Beginning of Sorrows which will Never Never Never End Think O my Soul that this is the Portion of the Sinners Cup this is the Wages of Sin and the certain Doom of final Impenitence and Unbelief 'T is no Politick Cheat or Melancholly Dream but the express repeated Word of God and Christ the Holy Prophets and Apostles and the Voice of Reason too Supposing but the Immortality of the Soul and the Power of Self-Reflection the Punishment of Sinners must needs be Everlasting as carrying continually an Hell within them unless God work a Miracle to prevent it which there is no Ground to imagine he will or Shadow of Reason why he should God hath pawn'd his Truth and his (*) Deut. 32. c. 40 41. Eternity to execute this Sentence of his threatned Wrath. He is a God of Infinite Mercy 't is true but he hath told us how far his Merey shall extend He will not exercise one Attribute to the dishonour and the disparagement of the rest That obstinate and impenitent Sinners shall thus perish is not because the goodness and mercy of God are not infinite but because his other Perfections are so viz. His Holiness Justice Truth Soveraignty and Wisdom Was it Wisdom and Goodness to annex such a Penalty to the violaion of his Law and can it be inconsistent with them to inflict his threatned wrath Shall we suppose God to uphold his Dominion and Government by a Falshood to keep the World in awe by the menaces of such punishment as shall no where never be executed Is it unlikely that God should exercise so much severity and is it not as improbable that his repeated Word and Oath should prove false Is it not a righteous thing with God as the Governour of the World thus to punish the obstinate Despisers of his Grace who slighted his Authority disobeyed his Law affronted his Soveraignty derided his Power denied his Truth contradicted his Holiness and joined Issue with the Devil to pull him from his Throne who abused his Patience and Long-suffering and scorned all his threatnings who thrust away their own happiness and would not take warning who burst all his bands asunder and broke through all obstructions and would not be stopt in their course of Vanity and Folly or so much as consider the danger who rejected his calls to Repentance and refused his Mercy when it was offered and preferred a 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 e're long expire and an Everlasting Destruction succeed in its room (*) Job 20. Chap. 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 Tryals 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. Augustine 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
fully known 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 Psalms of Victory in their Hands a Crown of Glory on their Heads and Songs of Triumph in their Mouths saying Allelujah * Rev. 4. c. 11. 5. c. 12 13. Worthy art thou O Lord 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 slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing And again 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 breathe 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 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 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 whither I must go 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 through 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 than possible 't is easie to mistake and the hazard of doing so is unspeakeably 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 successful is the Devil in this Stratagem against the Souls of Men Is it not then a most criminal Stupidity to be contentedly ignorant and unresolved whether I am reconciled to God or no whether I am led by the Flesh or by the Spirit whether I am in the broad or narrow way which lead to such contrary ends that is whether if I die in this condition I shall be saved or perish Can such an enquiry be frivolous or indifferent Is the subject of it so contemptible or 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 Affair what am I To whom do I belong Whose Image do I bear How have I lived and what do I do What do I love most What do I most constantly desire and chuse and seek How doth the Pulse of my Soul beat Is it quickest towards God or towards the World Whither am I going What will be the final upshot and issue of my present course Is it Heaven or Hell I must be translated to by dying 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 seldom or never bethink themselves in good earnest and for any time with a setled composed exercise of thoughts which of these Two is like to be their Lot Or if they begin to search and try themselves they come to no Conclusion or conclude too hastily they pluck off the Plaister as soon as it begins to smart they are either frighted with the horrid prospect of past Crimes or having escap'd the grosser Pollutions of the World judge too favourably of their own case They commonly do the Work but by halves and so go from the Glass and forget what manner of Persons they were Let me therefore O my Soul Sequester my self from the World to commune with my own Heart to reflect upon my past Life and look into my present State to recollect and review the most considerable Passages of my course and time hitherto O how neglected and disused a Practice is this which doth challenge and require our principal and most serious Concerns 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 than the Children of Light Who is so exact in his Accompts between God and his own Soul as Tradesmen 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 Month or once a Quarter or even once a Year take a just view of himself 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 whether he thrive or decay whether he increase or decrease whether he go backward or forward whether he be Richer or Poorer this Year than 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 loth to inquire whether 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 hazard do all Hypocrites and unrenewed Sinners run And how reasonable how
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 Psal 89.15 And Ministers are to lift up their Voice like a Trumpet Isai 58.1 the discharge of their Office as Watchmen is express'd 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 are ready to perish Isa 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 a-part for that Work as the Sons of Aaron for theirs We read but of two Trumpets at first for Eleazar and Ithamar 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 Chron. 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 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 publish'd to the World Isa 54.1 Luk. 2.11 Gal. 4.27 Which hath been in part accomplish'd 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 shall enter into the Joy of their Lord and be forever with him There is a Tradition among the Jews mention'd by Maimonides Canones de Poenit. cap. 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 one's 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 Vid. Ceremon Cout parmi les Juifs d'aujourdhay par 2. c. 5. modern Jews on this Day I shall not repeat However vain and groundless superstitious and absurd many of their Customs and Practices 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 offer'd up to Sin and Vanity 't is no wonder if the following parts of it are employ'd to no better purpose without any due concern for the Soul and an Everlasting State To endeavour some Remedy to these Disorders and give some Assistance to such as desire seriously to make Religion their Principal Business is the end of publishing the foregoing Reflections I most heartily beseech the God of all Grace to influence by his Holy Spirit the Conscience of every Reader that some such good 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 though 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 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 confess and aggravate 'em 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 consequent Value of our Time to look forward to a Blessed or Miserable Eternity one of which we must every one share in And to confirm our Faith in the Certainty thereof considering our near Approach to such an unchangeable State To think what Improvement we should make of the Death of others especially of Relations and Friends who have lately been called home To make the Supposition in good earnest that we may follow them This Year and die before another New-Year's-Day To impress such a Thought on our Hearts and the Inferences that may naturally be deduced from it To beg of God to enable us to Redeem our Time and discharge the duty of our particular Places and prepare us for all the Events of the following Year And so effectually Teach us to number our days that we may apply our Hearts unto true Wisdom 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 Reader shall find any real Benefit in this kind he would so far requite my
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 than 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 Elevations of Earthly Greatness Abundance of Riches the Great Affairs Business and Employments 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 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 Thoughts 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 Iet 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 an 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 hone 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 SECT 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 of God for ever and all the Impressions of his Holy Image and Likeness and to know that this is the Fruit of my own Choice that I lost it by my own Fault and Folly that I deserved to lose it that the Sentence is as Just as it is Irrecoverable Who can fully imagine the dismal Despair of a Condemned Sinner under the Anguish of a Guilty Self-accusing Mind while under the Stroke of God's Almighty Revenging Justice with a Distincter View and Knowledge than now of God and his Excellencies of himself and his own Vileness and Malignity which must greatly increase his Rage and Torment Add to this his being enraged by the Accusations and Cries of wicked Acquaintance and Relations and his being mockt and insulted over and tortured by malicious damned Spirits with a clear Understanding of that glorious Felicity he despised refused and forfeited with a deep Sense of his former Madness in preferring the Sinful Pleasures and Advantages of this World and this after so many Warnings and Invitations and Calls from God to have prevented it and never to be diverted one moment from the Consideration Sense and Feeling of his Misery and the duration of it to have all his Passions let loose with the greatest violence and nothing to satisfie them and continually to preserve an Hell of wickedness and Horror in himself and to endure the reproaches convictions regrets and stinging Reflections of Conscience the gnawing Worm which shall never die Who can conceive the unspeakable misery of such an accursed State So great Calamity and yet Everlasting How long doth one Day or Night now seem to a Man under some violent racking Pain in any one part of his Body tho' he be under the means for Cure and have his Friends about him to pity comfort assist him with the hopes of Ease in a little while and the certain knowledge that it cannot last long Oh! what then will be the dismal state of tormented (h) See Mr. Baxter 's Saints Rest part 2 Chap. 4. Sinners in Hell How infinitely must it exceed the most terrible idea we can now frame of it to languish out a long Eternity in that Gulph of Darkness and Despair under unpitied intolerable Torments without Intermission or Hope of End Miseries without Measure Judgment without Mercy Pains and Sorrows intense and yet endless without the least Succour or Relief Relaxation or Remedy Diminution or Change without a Drop of Comfort without a Moments Rest without the smallest Beam of Light or the least Glimmering of Hope Perpetually dying and never dead under unsufferable Wrath which yet will be for ever Wrath to come seeking Death and never able to find it but Eternally to endure all that Calamity which the Conjunction of Death and Life together can render dreadful What Groans and Cries will these Thoughts and these Sufferings wring from their Hearts But no Refuge will then be found no Excuses admitted no Prayers no Entreaties will then prevail no Tears move Pity He that made them will shew them no Mercy and he that formed them will shew them no Favour 'T is Never Never that is the killing Word that breaks the Heart of those hopeless Prisoners in the Place of Torment When once deliver'd over to that Prison of God's Wrath they shall no longer be Prisoners of Hope Judgment shall be brought forth unto final Victory and the Redemption of the Soul shall cease for ever The vain Hopes of Sinners shall then be ended in Eternal Desperation Hell will be full of those who did once hope they should never come there And full of those who despair of Deliverance from thence but shall suffer exquisitive Pains that cannot be numbred or measured or endured but that every Minute of an Hour will seem an whole Year and yet must eternally be endured by miserable Sinners who will not be wise in time to prevent such an intollerable Portion Let me therefore O my Soul descend into Hell by Meditation whilst I live that I may not descend thither when I dye and be shut up for ever in that Prison the Place of Endless Torment Might we but suppose that one of those Miserable Souls did let fall but one Tear in an Hundred Thousand Years and if after he had by this means wept so much as that his Tears would equal the Drops of Water in the whole Sea his Misery should have an End this were Hope this were Comfort But alas after that Period his