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A29213 The necessity of a present repentance in a sermon preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen at Guild-Hall Chapel, March 10th, 1694/5 / by William Bramston ... Bramston, William, d. 1735. 1695 (1695) Wing B4242; ESTC R11261 9,979 30

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't is neither he that willeth nor that Man that now resolveth but of the Grace of God that we Repent at all And will it not be just in God whom thou hast so contentedly forgot thy whole Life either to forget thee at thy Death or by withdrawing his Grace leave thee to be forgotten by thy self Again Why wilt thou deferr till Death Dost thou think the time of this Life which is given us on purpose that herein we may make our Calling and Election sure too early for us to be working out of our Salvation Will not Consolations be more seasonable in the Hour of Death than Sorrows and Remorse Will it not be more comfortable to reflect on a sincere Repentance past than to depend upon such a sudden Repentance which may either not come or if it do have no Sincerity at all in it none I am sure which any wicked Man that hath not before either actually set upon a good or reflected upon an evil Course can possibly be assured of And my Reason is because our Repentance may be as sick and weakly as our Bodies we may easily mistake the Weariness of our Limbs for the Uneasiness of our Souls our present Impotency and want of Strength to Sin for a real Aversion to Sin nay for the very Reformation of our sinful Inclinations therefore I shall conclude this Particular with the Opinion of St. Augustine who being ask'd his Thoughts of those who did then what too many now do deferr their Repentance to the last Moment answers his Friend who put the Question to him in these Words I avouch not that he can be saved nor positively that he shall be condemned but if thou wouldst be saved O Friend let me advise thee be thou sure to Repent now thou art well III. And thus I come to the last General Head of my Discourse to shew how every Pretence or Excuse which Men may now make in Favour of their Delays must if seriously considered even in Wisdom oblige them to hasten their Repentance One of the Excuses with which some Men countenance their Delays is this That upon the Examination of their own Ways they find their Sins are yet but small and such as they may easily cast off at Pleasure But give me Leave to reason against these Deluders of their own Souls Are thy Sins small Then why wilt thou deferr since the Work of thy Repentance will be the lighter May they easily be cast off Then why wilt not thou immediately part with them since the least Grain is infectious and every wilful Detainment tendeth unto Death Again consider though they may be light now yet the shortest Continuance will make them heavier their Guilt increases every Moment and the longer they possess thy Soul the more violently will they keep Possession Another Excuse is the contrary to this namely the Greatness of our Sins and the mighty Difficulties in Repentance But may we not consider here That though the Work be great and difficult indeed yet still 't is necessary and again That the longer we deferr the more difficult we shall find the Task For does the Burden of thy Sins feel heavy to Day and canst thou think to Morrow's Weight will make it lighter Is it not in this very Case of our Transgressions that we may apply that of the Holy Spirit sufficient to the Day is the Evil thereof and then must not every Day add to thy Tale and so the Portion of thy Repentance increase daily But further if it be really so hard and difficult to subdue them now whilst thou art in full Strength and Vigour and as thou may'st fansie hast length of Days before thee canst thou imagine that they will the easilier be removed under the Faintings of Sickness Decays and Impotencies of Age or the surprizing Pangs of Death Dost thou now fear their Greatness and wilt thou not by thy Repentance endeavour to prevent their growing greater or canst thou believe that whilst thou sinnest on thy Account will the easier be made up at last Is not such a Conclusion as this much more rational that Work which is so hard and difficult to Day may if we do not immediately set about it indeed grow invincible to Morrow Another Pretence still with which Men seem to satisfie themselves under their Delays is The necessary Imployments of Life the indispensible Occasions of this World These say they often divert us from the Work of Holiness these are those things which ever interrupt us in our Attempts this Way But to answer this no doubt whilst we are in this Life subject to those Decays and Infirmities which require a Supply of the things of this World for our Support we must be allowed so much of them as is necessary for our Replenishment and consequently so much time as is convenient for the Obtainment of them Yet after all this World certainly is not the Christian's Business nor our time in it so much our own that we may imploy it upon the World as we please No every Day of our Lives is so much God's that in no part of any Day we may forget him but then in some part of every Day we must needs forget all things besides him The necessary Occasions of the World we may give Room to but then we must remember withal that we ought not to make more Necessaries than God has appointed For Instance we must not shorten the Hours of our Devotion to gain Time to spend upon our Lusts or to secure to our selves Opportunities wherein to enrich our Stores with Superfluities whatever we may think of it whilst we are in our eager pursuits after this World we shall all certainly find at the last that God will never accept of such an Account of our time from us as this spent upon my Pleasures upon the occasions of my Ambition in the prosecution of my excessive Gettings Ten Twenty perhaps Thirty Years these God knows are too often the indispensible Occasions which prevent us in our Holy Duties They are these Excesses in our Labours these superfluous engagements of our Pride whereof we ought all seriously to Repent which chiefly hinder us in the business of our Repentance Let us consider That every Day nay every Moment consumes somewhat of the Thread of Life and that of all Business and Employments none is more requisite than our making Peace with God of all Necessaries this one thing is most necessary in us Christians to mortifie our Affections which are upon the Earth to cleanse our Hands and purifie our doubt Minds to lay up Stores in Heaven and be every Day in the Works of Faith Charity and Obedience securing and improving our Interest in the Kingdom of the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ the Sum and Substance of whose Gospel is this If we do now whilst he gives us time for it turn unto God in a true Faith and with a hearty Repentance we shall at his Coming be made Partakers of his Eternal Kingdom where there shall be no time to terminate our Enjoyments of him To which Bless'd State vouchsafe O blessed Father to bring us all through the Merits of Christ Jesus thy Son to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS Mr. Bramston's Sermon of the Necessity of a Present Repentance Preached before the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen at Guild-hall Chapel on March 10 th 1694 5. Printed for William Keblewhite at the Swan in St. Paul 's Church-Yard