we disbeliev'd it But we are here told that the Testimony of God in the Holy Scriptures is à more certain Evidence than that can be If such a One should come from the Dead what could he tell us of Heaven and Hell more than has been told us already by Moses and the Prophets by Christ and his Apostles Can there be greater Arguments made use of to bring Men to Repentance than are in the Holy Scriptures Can we hear of a better Heaven or a hotter Hell than is described in the Word of God Or may we hope for the Concurrence of God's Grace with that rather than with his Word Such an Apparition may affect our Senses and strike our Minds a little for the present but would not turn the Will nor change the Heart nor reform the Life We see that by the Case of Pharaoh who had several Miraculous Plagues one would think enough to convince him but he harden'd his Heart still We see it in the History of the Jews who notwithstanding the sight of continu'd Miracles for forty Years they are complain'd of as a Stiffneck'd Ps lxxviii 22 23 24. Rebellious People Yea our Lord himself rose from the Dead and his Resurrection was confirm'd by Five Hundred Witnesses and yet how few Believ'd it We cannot have such Certainty of a particular Apparition as of the Resurrection of Christ And you 'd find it hard to distinguish a true Miracle in that case from a Counterfeit How many in the Church of Rome are deceived by Stories from the Dead If you had your Desire granted in this would you not be tempted to take it for a Spectre a Phantom a waking Dream a melancholy Mormo But if you should believe it and it should affright you for a little while yet 't is very probable that the Impression would by degrees wear off As we find by the Recovery of Persons from the Brink of the Grave who apprehended themselves in the very terrour of Death and the Pains of Hell did almost compass them about they were then full of Sorrow for Sin made many Resolutions against it but we find upon restored Health it quickly comes to nothing they relapse into their old Sins and are not perswaded even by their own Convictions If Lazarus had been sent to the Rich Man's Brethren was it likely they would have Believed him Might they not have plausibly rejected the Message and suppos'd it to be a Cheat How could they imagin that Abraham would take such a one into his Bosom as poor Lazarus or employ him on such an Errand 'T would have been a Disgrace to their Family to Believe such a Report of their Brother's Damnation especially when brought by such a Messenger It may be they would no more have hearken'd to Lazarus now testifying from the other World than heretofore when begging at their Brother's Door The Lusts and Vices of Men would very likely hinder the Success of such a Miracle as this and find ways and shifts to evade the Force of it as well as resist the Evidence and Force of what is laid down in the Scriptures What is said here in the Parable to be denied to One Lazarus was granted as to Another that is our Lord did raise one of that Name from the Dead after he had been Dead four Days and yet some of them who knew him before and when he was Dead and Risen again and convers'd with him afterwards yet were not convinced by that Miracle of Christ to Believe on him for we read Joh. xi 53. That from that very Day of raising Lazarus The High Priests and Rulers took Counsel together how they might put him to Death And we read of One blind and dumb and possessed of a Devil who was healed by Christ Matth. XII 22. where were three Miracles in one and yet it did not convince for we read ver 38. Certain of the Scribes and Pharisees say unto him Master we would see a Sign And after our Lord had miraculously fed Five Thousand Persons with Five Loaves and Two Fishes Joh. VI. some of those very Men who had seen the Miracle and eaten of it and were so far convinced for the present as to say to one another This is of a Truth the Prophet that should come into the World Yet the next Day or within a Day or two when he told them they followed him for the Loaves They say unto him What Sign shewest thou that we may See and Believe as if he had never wrought a Miracle before Yea the Disciples of Christ himself who were Witnesses of so many Miracles were not so far perswaded by them as not to forsake him nay not to deny him To Conclude We are not to expect any such Extraordinary Method for our Conviction while the standing Revelation of the Will of God in the Scriptures is sufficient and the Doctrin there taught hath been abundantly confirm'd by Miracles And if one should rise from the Dead and appear to us 't is probable enough it would not perswade us to Repent if the Word of God will not perswade us But no other Sign our Lord says shall be given but that of Jonas the Prophet That is what 's signified by it the Resurrection of Christ And that hath been Confirm'd by numerous and undeniable Miracles by all manner of Evidence and Proof that such a matter of Fact is capable of Which will leave us without Excuse if we Believe not his Doctrine the Truth of which is sealed by his Rising from the Dead We should therefore study the Holy Scriptures and the Rational Grounds of our Believing Christ to be the Son of God and consequently that All that he hath told us of the Other World will most infallibly come to pass His Resurrection confirms the Truth of all And we are not to expect Any more to Rise from the Dead till We our Selves do unto our Last Judgement The Book is seal'd as the Gulf too is fixt And they that hear not Moses and the Prophets Christ and the Apostles are not like to be perswaded at all But if the Gospel continues to be hid 2 Cor. iv 3. it is hid to them who are Lost AS to our Deceas'd Friend Mr. Shatterden Thomas whose Repentance and Death occasion'd this Discourse and at whose Desire I preach'd and publish it what I shall say concerning him from my Self shall be more in the General because several Particulars I apprehend will be mention'd with more Advantage from the Account given of him by a very Worthy and fit Person who frequently visited him in his last Sickness whose Acquaintance with him Love to the Memory of his good Mother Respect for his Family and Relations and tender Compassion to his Case made her willing to discourse him and give that serious Counsel and Advice which oftentimes is better and more effectually receiv'd from such a Friend than from a Minister And his just Regard for her Quality and Character
miserable Man who when he dies shall be miserable to all Eternity And can you think him Wise who will carelesly put it to the venture and will not bestirr himself to prevent it Now you have besides the Call of God's Word and Providence many Helps by Friends and Ministers ready to assist you and the Spirit of God has not yet forsaken you but if ye will shut your Eyes and stop your Ears and harden your Hearts and are resolv'd to go on Remember you are faithfully and plainly warned Secondly How valuable a Talent then is our Time How great a Sin is Idleness and the mispense of Precious Irrecoverable Time on which depends our Eternal Happiness or Misery What have we our Time given us for but to provide for our Eternal State If HEAVEN and HELL be great Realities and no such Insignificant Words as Infidels would make them If Endless Joy or Misery be the Consequent of Improving or Mispending our Time how ought we to value it Within the compass of this little uncertain Time must the great Question be decided where we shall have our Portion for ever Doubtless God hath given every Man sufficient Work in this World for all his Time And he that is unfit to die or uncertain of Salvation hath Work enough to do and should be ashamed to live as if he knew not what to do with his Time Very few consider that of all their Prodigalities this of their Time is the most impossible to be Redeem'd And what they would give when they come to die for a little of that Time that they Now are at a loss how to throw away If any of those who have left this World might have a Time of Tryal again what different Apprehensions would they have of the value of it But whether we Believe it or no Redeem it or Mispend it it is not long e're we shall know and find how much our present Time is worth How many young Gentlemen and Others live an Idle Sensual Life and so in a Continual Course of Sin against the Universal Law of God with the forfeiture of his Protection and their Daily Bread As if they had no Business in this World to mind but Recreation and Pleasure No God to serve no Soul to save or Eternity to provide for They consider not that it is not only Whoremongers and Idolaters and Drunkards and Notorious Criminals Matt. xxv 13. Chap. xii 22. but the Slothful and Vnprofitable Servant that shall be bound Hand and Foot and cast into outer Darkness where shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth A Life of Idleness is contrary to the great Ends of God both in Creation and Redemption for every Man is to honour God in the World and do all the Good he can to others To provide for his own Salvation and promote the Welfare of Humane Society which can never be done by an Idle Life And Christians are under special Obligation to be a peculiar People zealous of good Works Let any Man be as frugal of his Time as he can and he will find himself advanc'd in Years before he hath got a Competent Fitness for the Place and Station the Providence of God has put him in and it may be will arrive to Old Age if he do not die sooner before he hath liv'd to any such valuable Purpose as by that time he will wish he had done I speak not against all Diversions and Recreations which within the Bounds of Moderation are needful to keep the Body and the Mind in a due Temper for Service But too many make that a Business which should be only a Diversion and turn Recreation into a Calling by employing their whole Time in it which is neither becoming them as Men or as Christians And as to Sports and Pastimes in general the best of them come so near to Idleness and the worst of them to Vice that as the Latter should have no part the Other should have but a small Proportion of our Time only as our Health and fitness for Business does require For when we come to leave the World we shall think otherwise of the value of our Hasty Time than now we do Then you will bitterly lament the many precious Hours you spent in Vanity saying Oh that they might be recall'd Oh that the Opportunities of Mercy and the Invitations of Grace that once I had might be made me again Oh that God would try me a little longer How strictly and seriously would I employ my Time in Preparation for Eternity even that Time that I was wont to spend in Idleness and Folly in Vain Company and Sensual Mirth in Chaffering for the World or making Provision for the Flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof But it may be then too Late Thirdly How Awful a thing is it and of how great Consequence must it be for any Man to die and leave this World Especially with what Dread should we admit the Consideration of the Change by Death of one that dies in his Sins The Apprehension and Thought of Death with one of these two Consequences must make this Change more Affecting Solemn and Serious to every Considering Person than commonly it is We hear of the Death of many we follow several of our Friends and Acquaintance to the Grave One after Another we talk of it in common Conversation Such a Man is Dead such a Woman is Dead such a Relation such a Friend is Dead but we do it oftentimes so slightly and carelesly as if there were no more in it than that Such and Such were gone a few Days Journey into a Neighbouring County or at most gone beyond Sea for a few Months But 't is a great thing to Die 't is an awful thing to be Dead Because the Soul must be saved or lost for ever Such a one is Dead O Sirs what is that to say What do ye mean by such words Why the Soul of such a Friend or Acquaintance of mine is gone to Heaven or Hell He or She whom we lately convers'd with is now unspeakably Blessed or intolerably Miserable and shall be so to all Eternity according to what their State and Condition was when they left this World If we miscarry in this great Affair and don't Die well do not die the Death of the Righteous we are lost for ever Death will determine our Everlasting State It is the way of all Living the way of all the Earth But it hath two Turnings the one on the Right-hand to Everlasting Joy and Blessedness the other on the Left to Everlasting Sorrow and Destruction How Serious and Important a thing then is it for any of us for every of us to die if we believe the Everlasting World and the Consequence of Dying When a Man comes to die and is apprehensive of his Eternal State then he cries out Oh Fool and Wretch that I have been to trifle away my precious Time to forfeit all my Hopes of Heaven
we are For if Hell were open to our view we might see such there as once thought themselves in as fair a way for Heaven as we And when they left the World it was as little thought by their surviving Acquaintance that they were Damned as it would be supposed of us if we should now die Let us not delude our selves by a Foolish Thought as if the Judgment-Day was a great way off and the Sufferings of the Wicked are not to be compleat till after that For when the Wicked die they are deprived of all they lov'd for ever separated from the Objects of their Affections and awaken'd to review their Sins and understand their Folly They Remember the Grace and Glory they have despised the Happiness they wilfully rejected and all the Means and Helps they once had to escape Damnation And so their own Conscience must needs accuse condemn and reproach for their Wilfulness and Obstinacy That they were warned to flee from the Wrath to come and they were offered Heaven and Eternal Life That they were urg'd again and again not to lose their Season of Mercy and Day of Grace That they were entreated in time to consider the things that belong to their Eternal Peace c. And must they not then suffer terrible things in the State of Separation under the Lash of a Condemning Immortal Mind without any Hope of escaping the Tribunal of their Judge or of avoiding or deferring the Execution of his terrible Sentence How dreadful must it be to lose the Favour of God for ever and lie in Torment under his Wrath with the weight of this killing Thought That this is the Effect of my own Madness the Fruit of my own Choice 't is a Rod of my own making 't is Misery of my own procuring I have undone and destroy'd my self And some will be able to say further I was convinc'd of Sin and resolv'd to turn from it I had many Struglings of Conscience and many Breathings of the Divine Spirit I did begin to seek after God I was almost perswaded there was a time when I was not far from the Kingdom of God But I return'd again to Folly and harden'd my Heart I had Knowledge I had Time I might have had Assistance and Helps of many sorts I had repeated Warnings I was faithfully admonished and for some time I profess'd Repentance I confess'd Sin I wept for Sin I pray'd against it I went so far as to own my Baptism and enter into Solemn Covenant with God and renew it at his Table But I lov'd my Sins and Lusts and quickly broke all these Bonds and harken'd to my old Companions and Acquaintance and was worse afterward than before Let us think often with our selves How certain is the Blessedness of the Saints How inevitable and intolerable the Misery of Sinners on whom the Wrath of God shall abide Be not deceiv'd with the foolish talk of Infidels who are undone for ever if the Holy Scriptures be the Word of God I say for ever as hath been prov'd from the Old and New Testament without Release or Period Abraham did not go about to comfort the Rich Man in Hell with any such false Stories That after he had suffer'd a while he should be Releas'd But tells him the Gulf was fix'd This will be the killing Accent of their Sufferings to have no Hope of End but after having suffer'd as many Millions of Ages as there are Sands on the Sea-shore ten thousand times told yet an Eternity of Sufferings is still to come After having endured Torment for as many Millions of Years and Ages as there be drops of Water in the Ocean yet not one Moment nearer the End of their Torments The Continuance of their Misery shall not be measur'd by Time but by the Immutability of Divine Justice and the boundless Abyss of Eternity Rev. ii 11. Rev. xxi 8. 'T is the second Death not the turning our Souls and Bodies into nothing but such a Death by which they may be hurt They that die that Death shall be hurt by it which could not be if they were to be Annihilated A Lake burning with Fire and Brimstone is the second Death A Death without the Power of Dying and yet with the perpetual Desire of it whose Sting can never be taken out whose Terror is as Everlasting as the Joys of Heaven There 's nothing of Life remaining in this Death but the Sense of Misery and the Knowledge of that to be Endless And that this Dark Night shall never be succeeded by the Light of any Morning They shall ever live to be ever miserable to feel Torments unto Infinite Ages to a boundless and never-ending Eternity They shall wish and endeavour not to be and yet subsist and not die Always suffer without ever ceasing to live and suffer Rev. ix 6. They shall seek Death but not find it Death shall flee from them They shall never be able to say the Bitterness of Death is past It will be Wrath to come after numberless Ages These are terrible things to hear of but how much more to experience What Heart can endure these Thoughts without Fear and Trembling Who for the Pleasures of Sin for a season would hazard the enduring this endless Wrath Better to suffer all the Pains and Miseries we are capable of in this World for a thousand Years than the Pains of Hell for one Hour But to endure them for ever without Hope of End this sinks the Soul under Anguish and Despair that none of our Words or Thoughts can reach Oh Eternity Eternity Is it true or can it possibly be false after so many express Scriptures to assert it that there will be no Period to the Misery of Sinners That the Fire shall burn to all Eternity That the Worm of Conscience shall gnaw for ever The Truth of this would suppose it an unspeakable Favour to be releas'd after a Hundred or a Thousand Years after a Million or ten thousand Millions of Years and Ages To have any Hope of an End 't would be some support But this word Never Never End will make the Damned Rage and Roar with Anguish There is not so much as a Possibility of Deliverance to fasten their Hope upon 'T is Everlasting Destruction The Gulf will be fix'd the Bridge will be drawn the Door will be shut every Anchor of Hope broken 'T is for ever it is to all Eternity Oh think of it as not more Terrible than Certain Oh that I could perswade you to Believe and Apply these things to your selves That under the Profession of Religion with so much Light and Knowledge you may not be undone by Inconsideration For if we would but think a little what Eternity is and consider the Difference between Heaven and Hell it must needs have some Effect If there were only a Possibility of the Truth of things so vastly Great and Important tho' we had no certain Revelation it should be enough to
if you believe another an Everlasting World and that this is all the Time you have to prepare for it and that you have lost a great deal and that One Day in Seven is but a small Proportion of Time Employ that Day as taking more Pleasure in the Service of God than in Earthly Business accounting it the most honourable and delightful Work to be so employ'd and that accordingly you may expect the Divine Blessing all the Week after and you will surely find it And here I cannot but take Occasion to justify and praise the Attempts of the Worthy Societies for Reformation of Manners in and about this City one part of whose Business is to suppress and punish such a Liberty in Publick Houses upon the Lord's Day as is contrary to the Commandment of God and the Law of the Land and tends to ruin the Souls of Men. I can easily believe what I am told That they find more Difficulty and Opposition in this part of their Work than in any other especially in the Out-parts of the City But the Word of God and the Testimony of Men's Consciences when awaken'd to a Sence of Sin is on their side and should encourage them to proceed I am far from reflecting upon All his Acquaintance as if none of those who were frequently in his Company but were notorious Drunkards and Prophaners of the Sabbath I know divers of them of a very different Character None but the Guilty can apprehend themselves concern'd in any thing he said or I say of him I shall be heartily glad if there be very Few who have reason to accuse Themselves and that they may All profit by his Example and Counsel It would not be difficult to enlarge on the many Evils that attend Drunkenness and the many Sins it leads to as disposing to the violation of almost all the Commandments of God I beg you would consider the sad Effects of that Vice even in this World How it makes Men despis'd by their Inferiours How it impoverisheth Families How it occasions Quarrels How it weakens and destroys the best Constitution of Health and is often followed with manifold Diseases How it debases the Humane Nature overturns our Reason and so far destroys the Natural Image of God upon the Soul which is a greater Affront to the Majesty of Heaven as one well says than if a Subject should deface the King's Arms or Image and set up the Image of a Swine or Dog in its room How it runs Men into Extravagancies for which they beg Pardon the next Day and are forgiven with the like Shame and Contempt as we pardon Fools and Madmen How it betrays the Secrets of our Heart which Duty and Interest obliges to conceal and those of our dearest Friends which it may be we have vow'd never to discover I beg you to consider how it unfits for all holy Thoughts Words and Actions and is directly contrary to the being filled with the Holy Spirit How it besots the Mind and hardens the Heart so as to render a Man weak and unable to make good his Resolutions for though after a Debauch he resolves the next Morning never more to commit the like Folly 't is ten to one but he yields at the Summons of the next Temptation And further let it be considered that by a Man's opposing his Light and breaking his Vows and Resolutions by repeated Instances of Guilt in this sort his Conscience must needs be uneasie and clamorous And hereupon he is easily perswaded to stupify himself with Wine that he may be armed against the Apprehensions of his own Mind and returns to hard Drinking as needful for his Cure and Relief to defend himself against his own Accusing Thoughts and try to forget his ill Condition 'Till at last an Habitual Sottishness saves him the Labour of a daily Conflict and Skirmish with his Conscience Which is the deplorable Case of many who have harden'd themselves by Custom and Continuance in Sin so as to be past Feeling and unlikely ever to be brought to Repentance And yet the Scripture is most express as to the other World that Men of this Character without Repentance shall never inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. vi 9 10. Gal. v. 21. Matt. xxiv 49 51. I am charg'd by the Deceased to speak at this Rate in hope of calling Some to Repentance for their past Sins and of warning Others against Temptation I hope it will be consider'd as the Faithfull Admonition of a Dying Penitent But I have promis'd you a further Account of his Last Sickness from Another Hand which is as follows An Account of some Passages of the last Sickness of Mr. S. T. by another Hand WHEN I told him his Doctors despaired of his Recovery and press'd him to consider how awfull a thing it was to appear before the Bar of a Holy God He said he was sensible it was so and that it was not his leaving this World that was his Concern or that he fear'd the pain of Death But what would become of his poor Soul He that had been such a vile Wretch and despis'd all the Methods that a Gracious God had us'd to make him Happy He had broke through all the Restraints of Grace the Advantages of a good Education the Calls Offers and Warnings of God by which he had quench'd and griev'd the Holy Spirit These things lay as a heavy Load upon his Soul and broke his Rest and wasted his Spirits for some time before He wept very much I asked whether Sin did not now appear an Abominable thing And Holiness in the most Difficult parts of it appear very Amiable And They the only wise Persons that shun and mortify Sin and endeavour to attain and promote Holiness He answer'd with great Seriousness and Earnestness that his Apprehensions and Opinion of those different courses of Life was so alterd that he now saw Sin to be the only Evil worse than any Affliction and that if he knew his own Heart which he found Deceitful he would chuse rather to dye although his Case was so hazardous than to live such an odious Life and dishonour so Good a God as he had done And he further said that he was now convinc'd that a Holy Temper of Soul in Conformity to God could only make him Happy Oh saith he my Sentiments and Notions of God and Jesus Christ of Sin and Holiness are quite otherwise than when in Health What the Word of God reveals of these things I feel to be Real and Momentous indeed Here he proceeded to charge himself with Excess in Drinking with Disregard to the Sabbath Day and a constant allowed Neglect of almost all the Positive Duties of Religion especially Closet-Retirements And then added Do you think there is Hope for such a vile Wretch I told him Yes doubtless there was Forgiveness with God for the Chiefest of Sinners which I endeavour'd to demonstrate from the Infiniteness of God's Mercies the Valuableness of the