Disciples hath but a small number of those that believe in him aright or according to the Reuelation which God hath given us of his Son as long therefore as they have an evil Heart of Vnbelief it will make them to depart from the living God Heb. 3.12 Secondly This Impenitency and Hardness which is occasioned by Unbelief is very provoking to God and admits of very great Aggravations under the Gospel because thereby Men shut their Eyes against the clearest and most manifest Light and harden their Hearts against the most importunate Calls and Invitation to Repentance The former times of Ignorance God winked at saith the Apostle Acts 17.30 that is God was willing to pass by and overlook in agreat Measure the Ignorance and Impenitence of the Heathen World in respect of what he doth now under the Gospel by which he commands all men every where to repent so that Repentance is become a more express Command and strictly enjoyn'd Duty now than formerly and therefore Impenitency is a Sin much more inexcusable and provoking in Christians than it was in Heathens considering what Means and Motives the Gospel affords to Repentance What helps and assistances it doth offer towards their Conversion and Amendment which the World was never made acquainted with before God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son c. Heb. 1.1 2. Him hath he sent as a Physician to call and invite you to Repentance and through him forgiveness is preach'd and promis'd to all that in good â—arnest repent of their Sins and endeavour to amend and live better for time to come Acts 5.31 Him hath God exhalted with his right Hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance to Israel and Forgiveness of Sins Nay the drawing us to Repentance in order to our Forgiveness is the main Purpose and Design of the Gospel and of all its Precepts and Commands Threats and Promises Now for any Man who believes the Gospel and understands the end and Design thereof to stop his Ears against so many gracious Calls and Invitations to harden his Heart against so much Love and Goodness to remain stupid and insensible under so many powerful Motives and Inducements as the Gospel affords him in order to his Repentance must needs be a high Aggravation of his Guilt and mighty Provocation to God It provok'd him so far against the Israelites that he swore in his Wrath they should never enter into his Rest Heb. 3.11 Impenitency therefore hath been always look'd upon as a very great and dangerous Sin insomuch as some have thought it to be the Sin against the Holy Ghost of which our Saviour saith it shall never be forgiven either in this World or in the World to come Matth. 12.32 But however 't is acknowledged by all to be equally fatal and dangerous to the Souls of Men for no Sin shall be pardoned unless it be throughly repented of and the longer any Man continues in a sinful State the less hopes he gives of his Repentance every day than other and consequently the further off from the hopes of Pardon To be sometimes overtaken with a Fault or surpriz'd against our Wills by a Temptation is the Frailty and Infirmity of humane Nature and may draw forth pity in God as well as Man but wilfully to run or fall into a Sin and when we are once fallen to lie and wallow in it as Swine do in the Mire when we have done amiss not to be sorry for it but to laugh at good Counsel and Advice or fly in the Face of those that shall admonish and reprove us for our Faults this is that which aggravates a Crime and adds mightily to the Guilt of it whereby Sin becomes as the Apostle doth express it exceeding or out of Measure Sinful This is that which provokes the Almighty and stirs up his Anger and Displeasure against his Creatures this makes him to whet his Sword and bend his Bow and prepare in readiness the Instruments of Death Had Judas repented throughly and in good earnest we have reason to think his Condition had been less desperate for the same most precious Bloud of the Crucified Jesus was able to atone for his Guilt that betray'd him as well as for theirs that murder'd and put him to Death but we read of the Repentance of the one and not of the other or if he repented it was without hopes of Pardon and purpose of Amendment which therefore ended in Death Christ dyed for all but only the Impenitent for no Sin in it self is too great for Pardon if repented off and forsaken in time but 't is impenitency which puts Venom into every Sin and makes the Sting so deadly and Mortal and binds us over to everlasting Punishment for except ye repent ye shall all Perish saith our Saviour Luke 13.3 and again Repent and be converted that your Sins may be blotted out saith St. Peter Acts 3.19 Implying that they that do not Repent shall certainly Perish and no hopes to have our Sins Pardon'd and blotted out unless we actually turn from them and forsake them in time In a word Repentance is all along in the Gospel made the chief condition of Forgiveness without which no Sin can be Remitted no hopes of Salvation given to the Sinner whether living or dying Thirdly Let me in the next place disswade you from this great Sin of Impenitency and Hardness of Heart and thereby reinforce the exhortation of the Holy Ghost in the Text by shewing you the great and absolute necessity of a Timely Repentance or of redeeming the present time to that purpose and my request is that every one that reads this would apply it home to his own Soul and Conscience and make a particular Application thereof for his own Use and Benefit in as serious a manner as if God himself should address to him by Name as he did to Job out of the Whirlwind Job 38.1 or as Christ did to Saul upon his Journey to Damascus Acts 9.4 For the exhortation is the Holy Ghost's and therefore to be lookt upon as the Advice of God rather than Man First Now my Advice in Conjunction with that of the Holy Ghost's in the Text is this That you would no longer stop your Ears nor harden your Hearts against the Calls of God or Voice of his Ministers when they exhort you to repent and turn from the evil of your ways and to amend the wickedness of your Lives but that you would find some time to bethink your Selves of your Spiritual Estate in order to that which is Eternal and to secure the interest of your immortal Souls by making a timely provision for them which can be done no other way than by setting about the great and necessary work of Repentance and good Living which through Faith in the Merits of your Blessed Redeemer is the
only thing that can secure the endless Happiness of another World when you leave this And be sure you endeavour it forthwith and out of Hand even to Day while it is call'd to Day do it in the time of your Health and Strength while the most Merciful God doth afford you Time and Space to repent and amend your Lives in which you cannot hope to do when Death begins to Approach Strength to Fail and Life it self is ready to expire 'T is my Duty to take all Occasions to remind you thereof both in Season and out of Season and therefore I was willing to lay hold of this to stir you up to a serious and due regard of the great interest of your Souls before it be too late and 't is your Duty to receive the Truth in the Love thereof and follow that Counsel and Advice which is intended for your Good and will put you into a safe and happy Condition both here and hereafter And let me add one thing farther That Persons of all Ages and Degrees are concern'd in this Admonition and 't is their Interest to attend and become obedient thereunto Young People ought as the Wise Man exhorts them to remember their Creator in the days of their Touth Eccles 12.1 and endeavour to be good betimes because their Life is as uncertain as that of others for more die young than live to be old and being once arriv'd to years of Knowledge and Understanding they have an account to give to God as well as older People and consequently are capable of being Happy or Miserable for Ever Elder People ought to set about the amending and reforming of their Lives in time of their Health and Strength while they may most conveniently do it as being endu'd with Ripeness of Judgment and Understanding and in some Measure past the Follies and Vanities of Youth 't is time therefore for them to grow serious and act like Men and Women in matters of Religiou's as well as Worldly concerns Ancient People more especially ought to do this before Sickness or Death doth sieze them as having neglected it too long already and therefore have less time to do it in than formerly they had It concerns them then to be careful to lay hold of the present Opportunity while it is yet before them for if you that are ancient and travelling apace to your Grave will not grow serious and make provision for Eternity when O when will you do it you are already arrived at the 11th hour of the day have a care of deferring it to the 12th and last when the dark night of Death is ready to overtake you whenas no Man can work Once more To this Duty of a timely and undelay'd Repentance the Rich Man and Man of Honour is oblig'd as well as the Poor and mean Man for as their Talents are more soâ— their Accounts will be greater than that of their Inferiours and what through the snares of the World and Temptations of Riches they are in a great deal more danger to Perish and miscarry whereupon the Salvation of Rich and Great Men seems by that of our Saviour to be abundance more hard and difficult than that of other Men Matth. 19.23 Verily I say unto you a rich Man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The number of the Saved in general is like to be but few and small Matth. 7.14 and c. 22.14 but be sure that of Rich Men will be the least and fewest of all others because not many mighty not many noble are called 1. Cor. 1.26 and therefore it concerns them chiefly to watch and pray against those many great Temptations which a Rich and Prosperous Estate is wont to expose and lay them open to and to work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling because of the difficulty thereof and to take time enough before hand for that purpose Secondly Repentance delay'd and put off from the present time to the Future is matter of great Hazard and Uncertainty and 't is mighty odds if ever such a one doth repent at all A dying Bed proves commonly too late and very improper for this great and necessary Duty Times of Sickness and Weakness are usually taken up with other guise concerns and attended with many inconvenient Circumstances which render Repentance very difficult at such a time and at the best but doubtful and uncertain Now the difficulties of such a Repentance may arise either First From the Violence or Malignity of the Disease which possibly may be of that nature as to sieze the Head stupifie the Brain and take away the use of the Senses and Understanding without which no Man is or can be capable of the least act of Repentance nor of doing any thing towards it and in such a Case to repent is plainly impossible But 2. the Difficulties of this Duty arise most commonly from the nature of ill Habits and bad Customs which are not easily broken or left off on a Sudden nor yet new ones immediately planted and introduc'd in the room thereof for all Habits are produc'd by Acts and therefore must be weakned by degrees and worn out by their Contraries for which Reason 't is necessary that we accustom our selves to frequent Acts of Vertue to wear out the Habits of Vice but then this requires constant Use and Practice and some considerable length of Time for that Purpose both which are commonly wanting to those that are Sick and Weak and more especially when they are Dying But to make the best of their Case suppose they should be willing to set about the Duty of repenting before they Die and may be judg'd able to do something towards it something like it at such a time yet no Man living can judge of the Truth and Sincerity of such a Repentance much less give the Sick Person any great Hopes of Comfort thereupon I am sure we have no warrant from God so to do there is no promise made to such late and dying Penitents And to give them any hopes of Pardon without a Promise to ground such hopes upon is not to comfort but flatter the Souls of Men and deceive them to their utter Ruine and Disappointment in the end For to give wicked Men at their Death 's any Hopes of Heaven is to give the Childrens Bread to Dogs and prostitute the precious promises of the Gospel to the encouragement of Sin and Vice which is wholly contrary to the design thereof Moreover we have a great deal more Reason to suspect than hope well of such Mens Repentance because we often find a great deal of Deceitfulness and Hypocrisie in the most solemn profession of Grief and Sorrow in the most serious and repeated Promises of Amendment that have been made by sick Persons when under the apprehensions of Death and the Terrors of an awakned Conscience for 't is usual for such Penitents upon their Recovery to forget all that ever they Promised to Almighty God and to
astonishing will the approach of it be then and fill you with dreadful Agonies and Convulsions of Soul beyond what I am able to express or 't is possible for you to conceive at present Sometimes the Despondencies and Misgivings of heart which have siez'd Good men at their Death have been very great and apt to fill them with Fears and Apprehensions O how Frightful and Intolerable then must those Horrours and Confusions be which the Consciences of wicked men usually feel at the approach of Death Conscience I say when throughly rowz'd and awaken'd in the sense of their former Guilt and approaching Punishment the Anguish thereof in some Men and Women hath been so great that they have thought themselves in Hell already and that their condition could not well be worse in the very Place of Torments Therefore Sirs think often think seriously of these things before hand call to mind your latter End and prepare for it in good earnest before it comes and that may be one way to prevent the bitterness of Death and take away the Sting of it For without a timely Repentance and Preparation for it 't is not a saying God be merciful to me a Sinner Luk. 13.25 or Lord Lord open unto us Matth. 7.21 that will gain us admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven 'T is not a little outward Grief or forc'd Sorrow that can supply the want of Repentance or be accepted by God in the stead thereof No no To Repent is to be so heartily Troubled and Sorry for your Sins as to grow out of Love with them and to Resolve immediately to Leave and Forsake them to Repent is to Amend and Reform whatever you see amiss in your selves 't is to become Wiser and Better for the future and to lead your Lives according to the Directions of the Gospel and Precepts of your most Holy Religion And he that doth not endeavour to do this in good earnest knows not what true Repentance means he is a stranger to the Grace of God and is not yet arrived to the condition of Life or terms of Salvation and consequently not in a capacity of being sav'd Now we cannot but think and therefore ought to let you know as much that it will be too late to do this when you are Sick and Dying you will want time and opportunity for it when life is drawing to an end and Death with all his Terrours and Affrightments is hastning toward you O then what would you give for a little of that Health and Strength which you have formerly mispent in Sin and Folly in gratifying the lusts of the Flesh in complying with the Pride and Vanity of the World and running your selves into the Snares and Temptations of the Devil what would you not do to gain a little more of that time and leasure to go through with your Repentance and Preparations for Eternity which you have wretchedly abus'd and thrown away upon your Excesses and Debaucheries upon your Lusts and Pleasures in a Vain Sinful and Unprofitable manner what Fruit will you then have of those things whereof you will be asham'd For the end of those things is Death Rom. 6.21 6. Then you will see that the least hour of your mispent time will be worth more than a whole Age of Folly and Vanity you will wish then whatever you may think of it now that the greater Portions of your life had been spent in the Closet at your Private Prayers or at Church in the Publick Worship and Service of God or in seeking and finding out opportunities of doing Good rather than in Dressing and going Fine in Gaming and Playing in Idle and Impertinent Visists in Censorious and unprofitable Conversation which engrosses so much of the time of our People of Quality both Men and Women many of whom are mightily guilty this way and are observ'd to spend their time the vainest of all others Nay some among them that are pleased to take up a shew and Profession of Religion give us too much reason to fear 't is rather for Custom and Fashion sake than out of Conscience because so very few are known to become any whit the better or more serious upon that account And for my part I do not see how 't is possible to reconcile the strictness of Religion and a Holy Life to which the greatest stand obliged as well as the meanest with those undue Liberties which our People of Quality do commonly take in many things and particularly in the instances before mention'd O my God! What account will they be able to give another day when all those Helps and Advantages both of Time and Leasure Riches and Honour Interest and Authority wherewith they might do a great deal of good to themselves and others and become Exemplary to their Inferiours shall yet be abus'd and misimploy'd in the worst manner that can be and to become matter of publick Scandal and Offence Is this to answer the end of their coming into the World or the way to prepare themselves for a happy Exit or departure out of it Is this to live like Christians or to spend their time like those that must be accountable to God for it But Death when it comes will open their Eyes though they shut them now and convince them of their errour and mistake though we cannot But then it may be too late and out of their power to retreive or amend it Remember you can never be too fit to die nor too careful and sollicitous in preparing your selves for it because it is a thing that can be done but once and Eternity depends upon the Well-doing of it He then that shall deferr his Preparations for Eternity till he comes to be sick unto Death and ready to go out of the World hoping that may be time enough for it will find himself very unfit for so great a Work and mightily deceiv'd and disappointed of his Hope For Experience tells us whatever is done in hast is commonly done by halves and hurry'd up in a slight and imperfect manner many things are wont to be forgotten and over lookt at such a time and therefore the Errours and Mistakes the Omissions and Oversights of a Repentance hudled up in hast when we come to die must needs be many and great the least whereof may prove Fatal and undo us for ever 'T is Wisdom therefore to set about it now while time and opportunity are before you while God offers you his Grace and stretches forth the Arms of his Mercy to welcome and embrace you as the Father did the Prodigal Son upon his Repentance and Return Do it to day while it is call'd to day for you know not what a day may bring forth Prov. 27.1 or what danger you may run to all Eternity by the least delay A day an hour nay a few Moments may pass you out of this life into the Regions of the shadow of Death and land you upon the Confines of the other World
and make your condition Desperate and for ever Hopeless Sect. To this Duty of the Text be ye further perswaded from this Spectacle of Mortality now before you viz. That of a strong and lusty Young Man cut off in the midst of his days who before he was seiz'd with his Distemper was as likely to live as any of you all Sect. As to the Life and Conversation of the Deceased 't is too well known already and therefore I shall not meddle with it but with respect to what was most remarkable in his Sickness I think my self obliged to take notice of and advise these two things First That you would Repent of and avoid those sins which in his sickness he publickly own'd himself guilty of and profest to be sorry for and what they were I suppose is well known to many here specially to such as were his usual Companions and Associates And therefore to such as you I shall more particularly apply my self in this Discourse for whose Sakes it was chiefly design'd at first Many great Sins and wilful neglects with respect to God and Religion he openly lamented and bewailed during his long and tedious Sickness which yet several others among you are taken Notice to be guilty of as well as he and therefore you have as much reason to repent of them as he had and if you do it not now you may do it hereafter with less hopes and to less purpose Remember those Sins that troubled him when Sick and Dying ought to trouble you that are now alive and in Health those neglects of Religion and omissions of Duty which sate so heavy upon his Soul may fit heavy on yours and will do so too when once God comes to set those things home upon your Spirits and to awaken your Consciences by Sickness Death or any other remarkable Affliction How light soever you may make of Sin now the weight of it will be intolerable then and without timely Repentance and amendment sink you down to the bottomless Pit of Destruction The Remembrance of a wicked and ill spent Life will fill you with Horror and Amazement when God shall come to write bitter things against you and make you to possess your former Iniquities The Spirit of a Man may hear his Infirmities but a wounded Spirit who can bear Prov. 'T is possible we may be enabled upon several accounts to bear up under the one whereas nothing will be able to support us under the other but Alas When the Spirit shall be wounded with Guilt and the Body at the same time weak and languishing with Pains and Sickness how will it be possible then to bear up under both When God at such a time shall frown and look Angry threaten and hide his Face who then can abide who will be able to speak Peace this can be no other than the Gate of Hell and the beginning of its Torments Let the deceased be a Warning and Example to you God was pleas'd to punish him by a long and lingring Sickness by a faint restless and uneasie Distemper none of us can tell what he suffer'd and endur'd all that while but then at the same time his Soul was fill'd with Grief and Trouble with Sorrow and Remorse in the Remembrance of his Sins past and better so than otherwise better be troubled for Sin than go out of the World stupid and hardned without any Sense thereof and after all cut off in the midst of his days by a severe yet righteous Dispensation of the Divine Providence and how far God hath accepted his Sighs and Tears we do not know for secret things belong to God therefore to God we must leave him our Business is not to judge preremptorily concerning the Dead but to warn and caution the Living Remember therefore there is none of you all how brisk and gay soever you may be in your Humors how Confident and secure at present in your Sins how stubborn and hardned against Reproof but Sickness and Death will be able to tame and humble you to pull down the Pride and Confidence of your Spirits and fill you with Anguish and Bitterness of Soul in the thoughts of what you have deserv'd and therefore may justly expect and Fear Secondly Do not delay your Repentance to Sickness or Death as he did because that is as you have heard the most unseasonable and inconvenient time to set about it The deceased found it so and did in effect acknowledge as much when he wisht he might live his Life over again that he might spend and imploy it better Now what God hath deny'd him he hath in a great measure granted you all of you at present are well in Health and alive before God this Day but how long you may continue so none can tell You know not how soon God may lay his Hand upon you by Death or Sickness and cut off the Thread of your Lives unexpectedly to what you now hope for and if your Repentance is not begun before that time I fear you will be very unfit to set about it then Alas if Repentance is necessary when we are Sick or Dying then it is necessary now 't is necessary every Hour and Moment of our Lives because we are Dying daily and we know not how soon the Fatal stroke may be given we are daily hastning to the Grave and we know not how soon our Feet may stumble on the dark Mountains and if 't is necessary to repent before we dye then it is the wisest course we can take to set about it in time while God doth continue to us Life and Health which is the fittest Opportunity for its performance and if once lost or suffered to slip from us may never return more we may never meet with the like again and then it will be in vain to recal mispent time or wish we might live our Lives over again for time past can never be recall'd the loss of it will be irrecoverable all that we can do then is to bewail that which we can never repair and to lament our Folly when 't will be too late to grow wiser by it If you will not learn and take warning by the Example of the Deceas'd you know not how soon God may make you a warning and Example to others reduce you into as bad or worse Circumstances than he was in and be forc'd to acknowledge the Justice of God in all that befall you as he did You have often seen and heard how the Judgments of God have overtaken both afar of and nearer hand many bold and daring Offenders sinners every whit as Confident and Presuming as any of you now present and made them Examples of his just Anger and Displeasure against sin and why then should you think to escape more than they Tho' you are not Punisht yet doth it therefore follow you never shall Is not the same Great and Holy God able to punish you as he hath done them and many others and