Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A42573
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Of the improvement of time a sermon preach'd before the Queen at White-Hall, August 7, 1692 / by Edward Gee.
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Gee, Edward, 1657-1730.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing G458; ESTC R23947
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12,116
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32
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much of his Life and often all that is remaining of it Without being Physician every one can see how often Dropsy and Gout are the Fruits of Drunkenness Consumption and Palsy and Diseases not fit to be nam'd are the certain Effects of unlawful and Unchast Pleasures Need any Man be told that these cut short the Life of Man The Sinner himself needs it least of all who feels to his too great Cost and by dear Experience the dismal Truth of it The Life that 's cark'd with anxious Cares for the getting Wealth that will see no end nor dare to taste the Fruit of all its Care but ventures Health and Friends and Life it self and which is more all his future Hopes for another bag is far from scaping free on this Account And there is no other Vice that Men allow themselves in which has not this Skill and never fails to shorten the Lives of those that are so blindly fond of it But if these Sinners should be so Discreet in their Folly and Temperate as it were in these their Extravagancies as not to hasten too soon their End by them yet this can give them but small Comfort since God may be provok'd by their Sins so far as to cut off their Days and shorten as he often has done the Lives of all such careless and bold Sinners And this Consideration ought to be well weighed by them all who are so daring against God for whatever Care may do for them against their own or other Mens Vices it can do nothing for them against the Vengeance of an Offended God which can never miss its aim or return again empty without accomplishing that Judgment upon Careless and Wicked Men which God has appointed it And how often has he appointed and declar'd that they who make the worst use of Time shall have the least share of it to Mispend that he will cut off half the days of the Wicked and hasten them off the Stage of this World to Judgment who of all Men Living are the least prepar'd for it It is Employing our Time well and the Fear of our God that will prolong our days but for the Years of the Wicked Prov. 10.27 He has declar'd That they shall be shorten'd The Candle of the Wicked is often soon put out Job 21.17 and when Men begin too soon when they set up for Atheistical Debauchees in the Bloom of their Years God's Judgment can be as quick with them and not only shorten the days of their Youth it self but cover them and their Memory also with Shame and Disgrace Having now gone through all the Reasons I did believe sufficient in this Matter it is Time to take a short View of them altogether and to see what urgent and unavoidable Necessity they lay upon us to be very strict in the Improvement of our Time since it is by the Benefit of this alone that we can do any part of our greatest Work in this World Can we suffer our selves to be rusted with Idleness or worn out in the Service of Sin and Lusts who have no less a Work on our Hands than the gaining Heaven Let us up and be doing since if we Faint we shall get nothing but what we shall for ever after wish we had escaped but if we Faint not we shall be secure of an exceeding great Reward which will infinitely surpass all the Pains that we can ever take to obtain it We know that our Work is great we see that our Hindrances and Impediments are too many and we cannot but feel that the Time of our Sojourning here must not be long What Time can we have for the Service of Sin who have not enough for our lawful Concerns but especially for our greatest Work And yet we can rob from these to spend upon our Lusts which do not only Mispend but shorten our Time which do not only give us nothing for it but do most wickedly rob us also of That wherein we might have made some amends to God for our past Follies But above all let us look up to the Judgment which is so like to overtake us in our Sin and cut off our Life for our Wickedness and oftentimes in the very Act of it Awake then O thou who sleepest Awake to Righteousness and give thy Strength and thy Time to God let him only have the continual Service of it who will so abundantly reward it I cannot enter upon the next Particular which was to shew How much more Reason we have to Redeem our Time and to double our Diligence when we have lost any great share of it I have already trespast on your Patience too far and I hope I need add no more to Convince us how great a Concern we all ought to have for our Precious Time if what I have already said does not I despair of being able to urge any thing further that can teach us this Wise Lesson Let us Reflect then with Care on all these Reasons and since so much of Time slips from us Useless let us be careful of the rest that while it is called Day and we have Time we may be employ'd about our Master's Business and when he calls us hence we may be found at it But for all that Time which we have lost and is irrecoverably gone Let us go to the Blessed Jesus that most Merciful Saviour Let us cast our selves at his Feet and with Contrite Hearts bewail the Loss and the Abuse of our past Time and beg of Him that He would pass over the Follies of our Child-hood that He would not remember the Sins of our Youth nor the more grievous Transgressions of our Riper Years but would Forgive us all that is past and grant us his Grace that we may all of us henceforth Serve and Please Him in Newness of Life to His Glory and our Salvation Amen FINIS