have a shorter period than our Lives and we may wander about in this World as the Israelites did in the Wilderness under an irreversible doom and sentence And the scope of the Apostle's argument seems to require this sence which is to engage them to a speedy repentance To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts But why to day is it because our Lives are uncertain and we may die before to morrow No but lest we provoke GOD to swear in his wrath that we shall not enter into his rest All Men know that if they die in a state of Sin they must be miserable for ever and this is a reason to repent before they die But the Apostle seems to argue farther that by their delays and repeated provocations they may tempt God to shorten their day of Grace and pronounce an irrevocable Sentence on them which leaves no place for Repentance which else where he inforces from the example of Esau who sold his Birth-right 12 Heb. 15 16 17. v. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be desiled Lest there be any fornicator or prophane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birth-right For ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears The stating of this matter may be thought a Digression from my present Design but indeed it is not for if by to day be meant the whole time of this Life that proves that Death puts a final period to our day of Grace and if any shorter period than this Life be meant by it it proves it much stronger for if our sentence be passed before we die it will not be revoked after death But the stating this Question is a matter of so great consequence to us that if it were a Digression it were very pardonable for many devout Minds when they are disturbed and clouded with melancholy are afflied with such thoughts as these That their day of Grace is past that God has sworn in his wrath that they shall not enter into his Rest and therefore their repentance and tears will be as fruitless as Esau's were which could not obtain the Blessing Now for the resolving this Question I shall say these three things 1. That the Day of Grace according to the terms of the Gospel is commensurate with our Lives 2. That notwithstanding this Men may shorten their own Day of Grace and God may in wrath and justice confirm the Sentence 3. That the reasons for lengthning the Day of Grace together with our Lives do not extend to the other World and therefore Death must put a final period to it 1. That the Day of Grace according to the Terms of the Gospel is commensurate with our Lives and there needs no other proof of this but that the promise of Pardon and Forgiveness is made to all true Penitents without any limitation of time Whoever believes in Christ and repents of his sins he shall be saved this is the Doctrine of the Gospel And if this be true then it is certain that at what time soever a Sinner sincerely repenteth of his sins he shall be saved for otherwise some true and sincere Penitents if they repent too late after the day of Grace is expired shall be damned and then it is not true that all sincere Penitents shall be saved I know but one Objection against this from the example of Esau who having sold his Birth-right when afterwards he would have inherited the blessing was rejected for he found no place for repentance though he sought it carefully with tears It seems then that Esau repented too late and so may we his repentance would not be accepted And if we are concerned in this example as the Apostle intimates we are then we may repent of our sins when it is too late and lose the Blessing as Esau did But this Objection is founded on a mistake of Esau's case the Repentance here mentioned is not Esau's Repentance but Isaac's that is when Isaac had blessed Iacob Esau with all his tears and importunity could not make him recal it i. e. Isaac would not repent of the blessing he had given to Iacob I have blessed him yea and he shall be blessed 27 Gen. 33. Esau's case then was not that his Repentance came too late to be accepted but that he could not obtain the Blessing after he had sold his Birth-right to which the Blessing was annexed Now to apply this to the state of Christians that which answers to Esau's Birth-right is their right and title to future Glory being made the Sons of God by baptismal Regeneration and Faith in Christ to sell this Birth-right is to part with our hopes of Heaven for the pleasures or riches or honours of this World as Esau sold his Birth-right for one morsel of Meat that is as the Apostle speaks to fail of the grace of God either through Unbelief which he calls the root of bitterness a renouncing the Faith of Christ and returning to Iudaism or Pagan Idolatries or by an impure and wicked Life Lest there be any fornicater or prophane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birth-right i. e. who despises the hopes of Heaven for the sinful pleasures and transient enjoyments of this World Men who thus fail of the grace of God and finally do so as Esau finally sold his Birth-right when our heavenly Father comes to give his Blessing those great rewards he has promised in his Gospel how importunate soever they shall then be for a Blessing as Esau was who sought it carefully with tears they shall find no place for repentance God will not alter his purposes and decrees for their sakes Our Saviour has given us a plain Comment on this 7 Mat. 21 22 23. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven Many will say unto me at that day that is the Day of Judgment when the Blessing is to be given Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works Here is Esau's Importunity for the Blessing And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity They were profane Esau's who had sold their Birth-right for a morsel of Meat and now they found no place for Repentance our Lord will not be perswaded by all their importunities to alter his Sentence But depart from me ye that work iniquity This example then of Esau does not concern our present case it does not prove that a wicked Man who hath spent the greatest part of his Life in sin and folly shall not be accepted and rewarded by
happiness which does most sensibly affect them But would they but seriously consider things they might see reason to think otherwise that the unknown joys and pleasures of the other World are much greater than any pleasures which they feel here For let us thus reason with our selves I find I am mortal and must shortly leave this World and yet I believe that my Soul cannot die as my Body does but shall only be translated to another state whatever I take pleasure in in this World I must leave behind me and know not what I shall find in the next But surely the other World where I must live for ever is not worse furnished than this World which I must so quickly leave For has God made me immortal and provided no sorts of pleasures and entertainments for an immortal state when he has so liberally furnished the short and changeable Scene of this Life I know not indeed what the pleasures of the next World are but no more did I know what the pleasures of this World were till I came into it and therefore that is no argument that there are no pleasures there because I do not yet know them and if there be any pleasures there surely they must be greater than what are here because it is a more lasting State For can we think that God has emptied all his Stores and Treasures into this World Nay can we think that he has given us the best things first where we can only just tast them and leave them behind us which is to excite and provoke an appetite which shall be restless and uneasy to Eternity No surely the other World must be infinitely a more happy place than this because it will last infinitely longer The Divine Wisdom and Goodness has certainly reserved the best things for Eternity for as eternal beings are the most perfect so they must be the most happy too unless we can separate perfection and happiness And therefore I cannot but conclude that there are greater pleasures that there is a happier state of Life then this because there is a Life which lasts for ever 2. This will naturally teach us to live in expectation of better things of greater though unknown and unexperienced pleasures which methinks all Men should do who know that there are better things to be had and that they must go into that State where these better things are to be had For can any Man be contented with a less degree of happiness who knows there is a greater This is stupidity and baseness of Spirit an ignoble mind which is not capable of great hopes Ambition and Covetousness indeed are ill names but yet they are symptoms of a great and generous Soul and are excellent Vertues when directed to their right Objects that is to such Objects as are truely great and excellent for it is only the meanness of the Object which makes them Vices to be ambitious of true Honour of the true Glory and Perfection of our Natures is the very principle and incentive of Vertue But to be ambitious of Titles of Place of some Ceremonious respects and Civil Pageantry is as vain and little as the things are which they court To be covetous of true and real Happiness to set no bounds nor measures to our desire or pursuit of it is true greatness of mind which will take up with nothing on this side perfection for God and Nature have set no bounds to our desires of happiness but as it is in natural so it ought to be in moral agents every thing grows till it comes to its maturity and perfection but then Covetousness is a Vice when men mistake their Object and are insatiable in their desires of that which is not their Happiness as Gold and Silver Houses and Lands what is more than we want and more than we can use cannot be the happiness of a Man. And thus it is on the other hand though Humility be a great Vertue as it is opposed to earthly ambitions as it sets us above the little opinions and courtship of the World which are such mean things as argue meanness of Spirit to stoop to them yet it is not Humility but sordidness to be regardless of true Honour Thus to be contented with our external Fortune in this World what ever it be to be able to see the greater prosperity and splendor of other Men without envy and without repining at our own meanness is a great Vertue because these things are not our happiness but for the use and conveniencies of this present Life and to be contented with a little of them for present use is an Argument that we do not think them our happiness which is the true excellency of this Vertue of Contentment but to be contented if we may so call it to want that which is our true happiness or any degree or portion of it to be contented never to enjoy the greatest and the best things is a Vice which contradicts the natural desires of happiness and you may call it what you will if you can think of any name bad enough for it It is the most despicable temper in the World to have no sense of true Honour or Happiness or when we know there are greater and better things to take up with some low enjoyments And therefore let the thoughts of this ennoble our minds and since there are better things in the other World let us use our utmost endeavours to possess our selves of them let us live like Men who are born for greater things then this World affords let us endeavour to inform our selves what the happiness of the next World is and how we may attain it and let us use all present things as those who know there are infinitely greater and better things reserved for us in the next World. III. This should teach us also not to be over-concerned for the shortness of our lives Our lives indeed are very short they flie away like a shadow and fade like the Flowers of the Field and this were a very unsupportable thought were there either no life after this or not so happy a life as this But besides all the other proofs we have of another life the very shortness of our lives may convince us that Death does not put an end to our being For can we imagine that so noble a Creature as Man is was made for a day Man I say who is big with such immortal designs full of projects for future ages who can look backward and forward and see an Eternity without beginning and without end Who was made to contemplate the wonders of Nature and Providence and to admire and adore his Maker Who is the Lord of this lower World but has eyes to look up to Heaven and view all the glories of it and to pry into that invisible World which this veil of Flesh intercepts the sight of Man who is so long a Child and by such slow steps arrives to the use of
of things he will very easily trust God for every thing else for he is not so solicitous about any thing in this World as he is for his Soul and if he can trust God with his dearest interests surely he will trust him in less matters The Promises of eternal Life through our Lord Jesus Christ are the highest demonstration of God's love to us and he who is so well assured of God's love that he can trust him for Heaven can never distrust his care and providence in this World. The methods of God's Providence can never be so unknown to us in this World as the State of the other World is unknown and if we can chearfully follow God into an unseen and unknown World cannot we be contented to follow him through the most dark and perplexed tracks of Providence here So that we have as little reason to complain that the State of the other World is unknown to us as we have that we must live by Faith in this World for absent unseen and unknown things are the objects of our Faith And those who will trust God no farther than they can see neither in this World nor in the next have no reason to depend upon his Providence here nor to expect Heaven hereafter 2ly The State of the other World being so much unknown to us is a very good reason why we should chearfully comply with all the terms and conditions of the Gospel to do whatever our Saviour requires that we may obtain eternal Life This it may be you will not so readily apprehend and yet the reason of it is very plain for since the State of the other World is so much unknown to us we do not and cannot know neither what dispositions and habits and complexion of Soul are necessary to fit and qualifie us for this unknown Happiness But our Saviour who knew what that state is knew also what is necessary to that State and therefore the wisest course we can take is to obey all his Laws without any dispute not only as the Conditions of Happiness without which we shall not be admitted into Heaven but as the necessary Preparations for it As to explain this by a paralel case which you will easily understand Suppose we had pre-existed in a former state as some say we did before we came into these Bodies and before we knew any thing of this World or what the pleasures and entertainments of it are should have been told what kind of Bodies we must go into no doubt but there would have been wonderful wise disputes about the make and frame of our Bodies we should have thought some parts superfluous or useless or ill contrived indeed should have wonder'd what such a Body was made for as well we might before we understood the use of any part of it but God who knew what he intended us for provided such a Body for us as is both beautiful and useful and we cannot want any part of it but we are deprived of some conveniences and pleasures of life And thus we may easily suppose it to be with reference to the next World that the habits and tempers of our Minds are as necessary to relish the pleasures of that state as our bodily senses are to tast bodily pleasures and since we do not particularly know what the delights of that state are and Christ does we ought as perfectly to resign up ourselves to his directions for the fashioning our Minds as we trust God to form our Bodies for us Whatever Graces and Vertues he requires us to exercise in this World though we do not see the present use of them though we may think them an unnecessary restraint of our liberties and very needless and unreasonable severities yet we ought to conclude that Christ knew the reason of such commands and that such qualities and dispositions of mind will be found as necessary in the next World as our bodily senses are here And this we ought especially to conclude of such degrees and instances of Vertue as seem above our present state and not so well fitted to our condition of life in this World for why should our Saviour give us such Laws and exact such a degree of Vertue from us here as abridges our present enjoyments and it may be exposes us to great inconveniencies and sufferings were not that temper of Mind which these Vertues form in us of great use and necessity in the next life As for instance We should think it sufficient while we live in this World where there are so many inviting objects and while we are clothed with bodies of Flesh which are made for the enjoyments of sense and have natural appetites and inclinations to them so to govern ourselves in the use of these pleasures as neither to make ourselves Beasts nor to injure our Neighbours and while we keep within these bounds to gratifie our appetites and inclinations to the full for it is certainly the happiness of an earthly Creature to enjoy this World though a reasonable Creature must do it reasonably But not to love this World seems a hard command to a Creature who lives in it and was made to enjoy it to despise bodily pleasures to subdue the fleshly principle in us not only to Reason but to the Spirit to live above the Body and to strive to stifle not only its irregular but even its natural appetites and to tast the pleasures of it very sparingly and with great indifference of mind seems a very hard saying to Flesh and Blood We should think it time enough to have our conversation in Heaven when we come thither but it is plainly above the state of an earthly Creature to live in Heaven to have all our joys our hopes our treasure and our hearts there The state of this World would be very happy and prosperous without such a raised and refined and spiritualized Mind and therefore these are such Vertues as are not necessary to the present constitution of this World and therefore can be only in order to the next Thus it is sufficient to the Happiness and good Government of this World that men do no injury to each other and that they express mutual Civilities and Respects that they take care of those whom Nature has endeared to them and that they be just and in ordinary cases helpful to others and therefore this is all that the state of this World requires But that Divine and Universal Charity which teaches us to love all Men as ourselves even our Enemies and those who hate and persecute us to forgive the injuries we suffer and not to revenge and retaliate them not to render evil for evil nor railing for railing but contrariwise blessing I say this wonderful Vertue does not only lie extreamly cross to self-love but is hardly reconcileable with the state of this World for the practise of it is very dangerous when we live among bad men who will take advantage of such a bearing and
have no reason to think this any great hurt Nay indeed if we consider things aright the Divine Goodness has improved the Fall of Adam to the raising of Mankind to a more happy and perfect state for though Paradise where God placed Adam in Innocence was a happier state of life than this World freed from all the disorders of a mortal Body and from all the necessary cares and troubles of this Life yet you 'll all grant that Heaven is a happier place than an earthly Paradise and therefore it is more for our happiness to be translated from Earth to Heaven than to have lived always in an earthly Paradise You will all grant that the state of good men when they go out of these Bodies before the Resurrection is a happier life than Paradise was for it is to be with Christ as St. Paul tells us which is far better 1. Phil. 23. And when our Bodies rise again from the Dead you will grant they will be more glorious Bodies than Adam's was in Innocence For the first man was of the earth earthy but the second man is the Lord from heaven 1 Cor. 15. 47. Adam had an earthly mortal Body tho' it should have been immortal by Grace but at the Resurrection our Bodies shall be fashioned like unto Christ's most glorious Body The righteous shall shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of the Father that as we have born the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly 1 Cor. 15 49. So that our Redemption by Christ has infinitely the advantage of Adam's Fall and we have no reason to complain That by man came death since by man also came the resurrection of the dead That St. Paul might well magnifie the Grace of God in our Redemption by Christ above his Justice and Severity in punshing Adam's Sin with Death 5. Rom. 15 16 17. But not as the offence so also is the free gift For if through the offence of one many be dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Iesus Christ hath abounded unto many And not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many offences unto justification For if by one man's offence death reigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Iesus Christ. Where the Apostle magnifies the Grace of God upon a fourfold account 1. That Death was the just Reward of Sin it came by the offence of one and was an act of Justice in God whereas our Redemption by Christ is the Gift of Grace the free Gift which we had no just claim to 2. That by Christ we are not only delivered from the effects of Adam's Sin but from the guilt of our own For though the judgement was by one to condemnation the free gift is of many offences unto justification 3. That though we die in Adam we are not barely made alive again in Christ but shall reign in life by one Iesus Christ which is a much happier Life than what we lost in Adam 4. That as we die by one man's offence so we live by one too By the righteousness of one the free gift comes upon all men unto justification of life We have no reason to complain that the Sin of Adam is imputed to us to Death if the Righteousness of Christ purchase for us eternal Life The first was a necessary consequence of Adam's losing Paradise the second is wholly owing to the Grace of God. Thus we see what it is that makes us mortal God did not make Death he created us in a happy and immortal state but by man sin entred into the world and death by sin What ever aversion then we have to Death should beget in us a greater horrour of Sin which did not only at first make us mortal but is to this day both the cause of Death and the Sting of it No degree indeed of Vertue now can preserve us from dying but yet Vertue may prolong our lives and make them happy while sin very often hastens us to the Grave and cuts us off in the very midst of our days An intemperate and lustful man destroys the most vigorous constitution of Body dies of a Feavour or a Dropsie of Rottenness and Consumptions others fall a Sacrifice to private Revenge or publick Justice or a Divine Vengeance for the wicked shall not live out half their days However setting aside some little natural aversions which are more easily conquered and Death were a very innocent harmless nay desirable thing did not Sin give a sting to it and terrifie us with the thoughts of that Judgment which is to follow quarrel not then at the Divine Justice in appointing Death God is very good as well as just in it but vent all your indignation against Sin pull out this sting of Death and then you will see nothing but smiles and charms in it then it is nothing but putting off these mortal Bodies to reassume them again with all the advantages of an immortal Youth It is certain indeed we must die this is appointed for us and the very certainty of our death will teach us that Wisdom which may help us to regain a better Immortality then we have lost SECT II. How to improve this Consideration that we must certainly Die. FOr 1. if it be certain that we must Die this should teach us frequently to think of Death to keep it always in our eye and view For why should we cast off the thoughts of that which will certainly come especially when it is so necessary to the good government of our lives to remember that we must die If we must die I think it concerns us to take care that we may die happily and that depends upon our living well and nothing has such a powerful influence upon the good government of our lives as the thoughts of Death I have already shewed you what Wisdom Death will teach us but no man will learn this who does not consider what it is to die and no man will practise it who does not often remember that he must die but he that lives under a constant sence of Death has a perpetual Antidote against the Follies and Vanities of this World and a perpetual Spur to Vertue When such a man finds his desires after this World enlarge beyond not onely the wants but the conveniencies of Nature Thou Fool says he to himself what is the meaning of all this what kindles this insatiable thirst of Riches why must there be no end of adding House to House and Field to Field is this World thy home is this thy abiding City dost thou hope to take up an eternal Rest here Vain man thou must shortly remove thy dwelling and then whose shall all these things be Death will shortly close thy eyes
ourselves It is possible we may live to old age because some do but it is more likely we shall not because there are more that die young The truth is the time of dying is so uncertain the ways of dying so infinite so unseen so casual and fortuitous to us that instead of promising ourselves long life no wise man will promise himself a week nor venture any thing of great moment and consequence upon it The hope of long life is nothing else but self-flattery the fondness men have for life and that partiality they have for themselves perswades them that they shall live as long as any man can live and shall escape those Diseases and fatal Accidents with which our Bills of Mortality are filled every week but then you should consider that other men are as dear to themselves as you are and flatter themselves as much with long life as you do but their hopes very often deceive them and so may yours But you 'll say To what purpose is all this why so much pains to put us out of conceit with the hopes of living long for what hurt is it if we do flatter ourselves a little more in this matter than we have reason for If it should prove only a deceitful Dream yet it makes life chearful and comfortable and gives us a true relish of it and why should we disturb ourselves and make life uneasy by the perpetual thoughts of dying Now I confess were there no hurt and danger in it this were as ill-natured and spightful a thing as could be done and the least recompence I could make would be to ask your pardon for it and leave you to enjoy the comforts of life securely for the future to live on as long as you can and let Death come when it will without being lookt for but I apprehend a great deal of danger in such deceitful and flattering hopes and that is the reason why I disswade you from it For 1. The hope of long life is apt to make us fond of this World which is as great a mischief to us as to expose us to all the temptations and flatteries of it That we must die and leave this World is a good reason indeed why we ought not to be fond of it why we should live like Pilgrims and Strangers here as I observed before But few men who hope to live threescore or fourscore years think much of this though it be comparatively short in respect of Eternity yet it is a great while to live and a great while to enjoy this World in and that is thought a very valuable happiness which can be enjoyed so long and then men let loose their desires and affections endeavour to get as much of this World as they can and to enjoy as much of it as they can and not only to tast but to take full and plentiful draughts of the intoxicating Pleasures of it And how dangerous this is I need not tell any man who considers that all the wickedness of Mankind is owing to too great a fondness and passion for this World. And therefore if we would live like Pilgrims and set loose from all the enjoyments of this World we must remember that our stay is uncertain here that we have no lease of our lives but may be turned out of our earthly Tenements at pleasure For what man would be fond of laying up great treasures on Earth who remembers That this night his soul may be taken from him and then whose shall all these things be What man would place his happiness in such enjoyments which for ought he knows he may be taken from to morrow These are indeed melancholy and mortifying considerations and that is the true use of them for it is necessary we should be mortified to this World to cure the love of it and conquer its temptations For if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him For all that is in the world the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eye and the pride of life is not of the Father but of the world 2. As the hopes of long life give great advantage to the temptations of this World so they weaken the hopes and fears of the other World they strengthen our temptations and weaken us which must needs be of very fatal consequence to us in our spiritual Warfare All that we have to oppose against the flattering Temptations of this World are the Hopes and Fears of the World to come but the hope of long life sets the next World at too great a distance to conquer this what is present works more powerfully upon our minds than what is abfent and the farther any thing is off the less powerful it is To make you sensible of this I shall only desire you to remember what thoughts you have had of another World when the present fears of dying have given you a nearer view of it Good Lord what Agonies have I seen dying Sinners in how penitent how devout how resolved upon a new course of life which too often vanish like a Dream when the fear of Death is over What is the reason of this difference Heaven and Hell is the very same when we are in health as when we are sick and I will suppose that you do as firmly believe a Heaven and a Hell in health as in sickness the onely thing then that makes the thoughts of the other World so strong and powerful and affecting when we are sick is that we see the other World near us that we are just a stepping into it and this makes it our present concernment but in health we see the other World a great way off and therefore do not think it of such near and present concernment and what we do not think ourselves at present concerned in or not much concerned in how great and valuable soever it be in itself will either not affect us at all or very little Thus while bad men place the other World at a great distance from them and out of sight they have no restraint at all upon their lusts and passions and good men themselves at the greater distance they see the other World are so much the less affected by it which damps their zeal and their devotion and makes them less active and vigorous in doing good And there is so much the more danger in this because men look upon the other World as farthest off and so are least concerned about it when the thoughts of the other World are most useful and most necessary to them in the heat and vigour of youth men are most exposed to the temptations of flesh and sense and have most need to think of another World and a future Judgment but those who promise themselves a long life see Death and another World so far off while they are young that it moves them as little as if there were no other World. And though one would think that as our
the objects only of a subordinate fear or hope when the fear of man comes in competition with the fear of God it is wise counsel which the Prophet Isaiah gives Say ye not A confederacy to all them to whom this people shall say A confederacy neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid Sanctifie the Lord God of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread and he shall be for a sanctuary 8 Isai. 12 13 14. There is a vast difference between the power of God and men which is our Saviour's reason why we should fear God more than men Be not afraid of them who can kill the body and after that have no more that they can do but I will forewarn ye whom ye shall fear Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him 12 Luke 4 5. But whatever power men may have to hurt while they live they can do us no hurt when they are dead and their lives are so very uncertain that we may be quickly eased of those fears The same may be said with respect to hope and confidence in men though their word and promise were always sacred yet their lives are uncertain Their breath goeth forth they return to the earth in that very day their thoughts perish all the good and all the evil they intended to do But happy is he that hath the God of Iacob for his help whose hope is in the Lord his God which made heaven and earth the sea and all that therein is who keepeth truth for ever 146 Psal. 5. 6. 6. For a conclusion of this Argument I shall briefly vindicate the wisdom and goodness of God in concealing from us the time of our Death This we are very apt to complain of that our lives are so very uncertain that we know not to day but that we may die to morrow and we would be mighty glad to meet with any one who could certainly inform us in this matter how long we are to live but if we think a little better of it we shall be of another mind For 1. though I presume many of you would be glad to know that you shall certainly live twenty or thirty or forty years longer yet would it be any comfort to know that you must die to morrow or some few months or a year or two hence which may be your case for ought you know and this I believe you are not very desirous to know for how would this chill your blood and spirits how would it overcast all the pleasures and comforts of life You would spend your days like men under the sentence of Death while the execution is suspended Did all men who must die young certainly know it it would destroy the industry and improvements of half Mankind which would half destroy the World or be an insupportable mischief to Humane Societies For what man who knows that he must die at twenty or five and twenty a little sooner or later would trouble himself with ingenious or gainful Arts or concern himself any more with this World than just to live so long in it and yet how necessary is the service of such men in the World what great things do they many times do and what great improvements do they make how pleasant and diverting is their conversation while it is innocent how do they enjoy themselves and give life and spirit to the graver Age how thin would our Schools our Shops our Universities and all places of Education be did they know how little time many of them were to live in the World for would such men concern themselves to learn the Arts of living who must die as soon as they have learnt them Would any Father be at a great expence in educating his Child only that he might die with a little Latine and Greek Logick and Philosophy No half the World must be divided into Cloysters and Nunneries and Nurseries for the Grave Well you 'll say suppose that and is not this an advantage above all the inconveniencies you can think of to secure the salvation of so many thousands who are now eternally ruined by youthful Lusts and Vanities but would spend their days in Piety and Devotion and make the next World their only care if they knew how little while they were to live here Right I grant this might be a good way to correct the heat and extravagancies of Youth and so it would be to shew them Heaven and Hell but God does not think fit to do either because it offers too much force and violence to mens minds it is no trial of their vertue of their reverence for God of their conquests and victory over this World by the power of Faith but makes Religion a matter of necessity not of choice now God will force and drive no man to Heaven the Gospel-Dispensation is the trial and discipline of ingenuous Spirits and if the certain hopes and fears of another World and the uncertainty of our living here will not conquer these flattering temptations and make men seriously religious as those who must certainly die and go into another World and they know not how soon God will not try whether the certain knowledge of the time of their death will make them religious That they may die young and that thousands do so is reason enough to engage young men to expect death and prepare for it if they will venture they must take their chance and not say they had no warning of dying young if they eternally miscarry by their wilful delays And besides this God expects our youthful service and obedience though we were to live on till old Age that we may die young is not the proper much less the only reason why we should remember our Creator in the days of our youth but because God has a right to our youthful strength and vigour and if this will not oblige us to an early Piety we must not expect that God will set death in our view to fright and terrifie us as if the only design God had in requiring our obedience was not that we might live like reasonable Creatures to the glory of their Maker and Redeemer but that we might repent of our sins time enough to escape Hell. God is so merciful as to accept of returning Prodigals but does not think fit to encourage us in Sin by giving us notice when we shall die and when it is time to think of repentance 2dly Though I doubt not but that it would be a great pleasure to you to know that you shall live till old Age yet consider a little with yourselves and then tell me whether you yourselves can judge it wise and fitting for God to let you know this I observed to you before what danger there is in flattering ourselves with the hopes of long life that it is apt to make us too fond of this World when we expect to live
c. 19 Luke 12 c. But suppose it were to be understood not of the Iewish and Christian Church but of particular Christians yet their being called to work in the Vine-yard at what hour soever it was though the eleventh hour was their first admission into the Christian Church their first conversion to the Faith of Christ and from this time they laboured in the Vine-yard lived a holy and religious life and I readily grant should a Iew a Turk or a Pagan be converted to Christianity in the eleventh hour in his declining Age and from that time live in obedience to the Gospel of Christ there is no doubt but he shall be greatly rewarded But what is this to any of us who were born of Christian Parents baptized in our very Infancy instructed in the Christian Religion from the very beginning and have always professed the Faith of Christ but lived like Pagans and Infidels We were not called into the Vineyard at the eleventh hour but early in the morning and though Men who were called at the last hour shall be rewarded for that hours work this does not prove that Men who enter into the Vineyard in the morning and play or riot away their time till the eleventh hour shall receive a day's wages for an hour's work But suppose this too yet it will not answer the case of a Death-bed Repentance such Men delay not till the eleventh hour but till night comes when they can do no work at all whereas those who came last into the Vineyard wrought an hour now that God in infinite grace and goodness will reward Men for one hour's work does not prove that he will reward those who do no work but spend their whole day idlely or wickedly and only ask his pardon for not working at night II. But what a fatal Cheat these Men put upon themselves will better appear if we consider the second kind of Repentance which is Repentance after Baptism when Men have relapsed into the commission of new Sins after they have washed away all their old Sins in the laver of Regeneration which is the only Notion of Repentance concerned in this Question for such Sinners when they come to die are to repent of a whole Life spent in wickedness after Baptism and this extreamly alters the Case for though Faith and Repentance as that Repentance signifies a sorrow for past Sins and the purposes and resolutions of a new life be the only Conditions of Baptismal Remission and Justification yet when we are baptized we then Covenant with God for an actual obedience and holiness of Life To deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world and therefore meer Repentance or a sorrow for Sin with the most solemn Resolutions and Vows of a new life which is all the Repentance dying Men can have cannot according to the Terms of the Gospel be accepted instead of the obedience and holiness of our lives Had the Gospel said you shall either abstain from all sin and do good while you live or repent of all your sins when you die this had been a sufficient encouragement for a Death-bed Repentance but when holiness of life is made the necessary condition of seeing God and the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men when we are so expresly forewarned That the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of GOD be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor aduliers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor covetuous nor drunkards nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of GOD When our Saviour expresly tells us That it is only the doers of the word are blessed that not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven that as for all others what pretences soever they make he will profess to them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity I say whoever after such express Declarations as these can perswade himself that sorrow for Sin and some good resolutions and fair promises upon a Death-bed shall carry him to Heaven though he has done no good in his life and has been guilty of all or many of those sins which the Gospel has threatned with Damnation makes void the whole Gospel of our Saviour But you 'll say Is there no place then for Repentance under the Gospel no remission of Sins committed after Baptism God forbid for who then could be saved Our Saviour has taught us to pray every day Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and has taught us to forgive our Brother though he offend against us seventy times seven in imitation of God's goodness in forgiving us and if we must forgive so often surely God will forgive more than once But then Repentance after Baptism requires not only a sorrow for sin and some good purposes and resolutions of a new life for the future but the actual forsaking of sin and amendment of our lives In Baptism God justifies the ungodly 4 Rom. 5 that is how wicked soever Men have been whenever they repent of their sins renounce their former wicked practices and believe in Christ and enter into Covenant with him by Baptism all their former sins are immediately forgiven and washed away without expecting the actual reformation of their lives this was plainly the case both of Iewish and Heathen Converts whâ—â—â—pon the profession of Faith in Christ and renouncing their former wicked lives whatever they had been were immediately received to Baptism as St. Peter exhorted the Iews Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost And the same day there were three thousand baptized This is Gospel-grace which is the purchase of Christ's blood that the greatest Sinners upon their Repentance and Faith in Christ are received to Mercy and wash away all their sins in Baptism but when they are in Covenant they shall then be judged according to the terms and conditions of that Covenant which requires the practice of an universal Righteousness such persons must not expect as St Paul reasons that if they continue still in sin grace will abound the very Covenant of Grace which we enter into at Baptism confutes all such ungodly hopes For how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Iesus Christ were baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father so we also should walk in newness of life 6 Rom. 1 2 3 4. This is the difference St. Paul makes between the Grace of the Gospel in receiving