Mind into an attentive and considering posture And then Secondly A laying aside all other business which may disturb our thoughts or interrupt them shunning all distracting or diverting Objects silencing all troublesome Affections and unruly Passions Give the Mind leave to do its own work It must not be let to run at random upon other things it must not be disturb'd by any Passion nor confounded with any throng of Business but there must be Calm within and a Quietness round about it Commune with your own hearts upon your bed and be still saith David Psalm IV. 4. We must resolve to be deaf to the World and our own Lusts if we will consider to purpose the things that belong unto Eternity 4. It is a serious and earnest thinking we must not be in jest or indifferent in a matter of such weight and importance that requires our greatest intention care and diligence no less than Eternal Life or Death depending on the result of our Thoughts and Self-consultations Trivial matters may be slightly thought on but matters of moment call for serious Debates And hence Consideration is usually express'd by such words as import a seriousness God 't is certain because of his Divine Perfections needs not to consider of any thing yet when he is spoken of in Holy Scripture as observing the behaviour of Men in order to Reward or Punishment as tho' he were considering of them he is said to Weigh Ponder Examine or Try c. The Lord weigheth the spirits Prov. XVI 2. He pondereth the hearts Prov. XXI 2. The ways of man are before the eyes of ihe Lord and he pondereth all his goings Prov. V. 21. Doth not he see my ways and count all my steps Job XXXI 4. And the wise King speaking of the Arts of the strange Woman to entice a Man saith They are to divert him from considering lest he should ponder the path of life Prov. V. 6. 'T is said of the Blessed Virgin Mary that she kept all these things and pondered them in her heart Luke II. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she preserved and kept them safe together in her Memory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conferring and disputing within her self about them And of the Scribes and Pharisees we read Mark II. 6. that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reasoning in their Hearts discoursing within themselves as tho' two Persons had been in their Breasts discoursing Dialogue-wise the one with the other It was an excellent Precept which Pythagoras gave to his Scholars Sleep not till thou hast run over in thy mind all thy works of the day past and ask thy self Whither have I gone What have I done What have I left undone Consideration is a Man's posing himself examining his Heart advising with his own Reason very seriously It is a bethinking ones self 1 Kings VIII 47. A laying a thing to heart Isaiah LVII 1. An applying ones heart to a mateer Hag. I. 5. 5. It is a thorough thinking leaving nothing unthought on neither ceasing to think on till one come to the end of thinking that is to a right understanding of the matter and a stedfast resolution about it It is such a reasoning and discoursing as bring one to his Conclusion and final Determination Otherwise all is to no purpose and a Man hath nothing but his labour for his pains and had as good never have begun as never come to an end Resolution is the end of Consideration and Practice of Resolution And herein lies all practical Wisdom or Prudence Not rashly inconsiderately and blindly and at all Adventures to rush on whatever it is we have a mind to do or which way soever our natural Inclinations and Affections would carry us but to consult with our Reason and be well advised in all things deliberating and debating the matter well with our selves and with calm and serious Thoughts rationally concluding what is best to be done and how it may be done to good purpose A thinking on some few things relating to a business is not enough but all considerable Circumstances are to be thoroughly pondered Nothing is to be left out of our Consideration which may alter the case in hand or hath any weight in it which may turn the Scales either the one way or the other The nature of the thing what it is necessary or unnecessary profitable or hurtful weighty or light lawful or unlawful expedient or inexpedient the ends and uses of it the arguments persuading to it or dissuading from it the rules and measures whereby all is to be regulated the agreement with or swerving from such rules the benefits advantages and gains on the one side and the dangers disadvantages and losses on the other the necessary preparations helps instruments and encouragements together with the difficulties hinderances and discouragements that we may meet with and the ways and means of removing or overcoming them and whatever else may have any influence upon the matter to be considered Thus whatever the things be which fall under Consideration whether they be past present or to come Consideration is such a designed concerned leisurely calm serious and thorough thinking on them and an inward reasoning or a mental discoursing about them and about all things pertaining to them as may help us to order all things prudently and to the best advantage so as we may reap as much good and sustain as little hurt by every thing as may be That whatever we do or whatever befals us may as little hinder and as much promote our happiness as it is in our power to make it and that if we cannot keep our selves from all evil or hurt yet at least we may not do any thing to make our selves miserable By what hath been here said we may understand what that Inconsideration is which God complaineth of and is indeed the sin of a great many It is a careless and unthinking temper of Mind and they who are of this temper venture boldly rashly and unadvisedly upon any thing as it falleth in their way never inquiring how pleasing or displeasing it may be to God or what it may bring upon themselves in the end They review not what is past to find out wherein they have erred or offended and what stands in need of mending or blotting out and undoing again by Repentance They think not wisely on what they go about at present to observe its fitness or unfitness to be attempted or to do it by a right rule and to a right end and to take care that they neither do any hurt nor lose their labour They think not providently on the future what either must or may come so as to prepare and provide as they ought for it but are without either fear or forecast And what the evil of this is I am next to shew SECT II. The Evils of Inconsideration IT is so visible to all the World that Inconsideration is a very ill thing that in the most common concerns and
notice of all my Thoughts Words and Actions from whomsoever I can hidâ— them I can never hide any of them from him I had need therefore to take heed what I do that all may please him that every thing may be right in his Eyes and such as he approveth of For he is a most Holy God of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on iniquity Hab. I. 13. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord Prov. XV. 9. He is an Almighty and most Powerful God and is able to cast both soul and body into hell Matt. X. 28. He even he is to be feared and who may stand in his sight when he is angry Psal. LXXVI 7. He is a most Iust God and the Righteous Iudge of all the World He will not at all acquit the wicked Nah. I. 3. Seeing this most Holy Powerful and Iust God is the Judge of all and will render to all according to their works and seeing the same God who is to judge us is always a present eye-witness of every thing that we are to be judg'd for certainly nothing can more deserve our Consideration than this and no other consideration can more over-awe us into a due carefulness to do always such things as we are sure are acceptable to him 3. A third thing that we are much to Consider is this That nothing in the World but a sincere Holiness of heart and life can please this most Holy and Alseeing God Without holiness no man shall see the Lord Heb. XII 14. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Mat. V. 8. O how little is this Considered by the generality of men How few have this in their thoughts That to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord is the very work that the Promises of God should put us upon Yet so it is 2 Cor. VII 1. and no otherwise can we ever hope to be made partakers of the Blessings promised O that we would think well of this and seriously consider if this be the business that we are continually a doing If it be not alas what is it that we live for what are we all our life long a labouring for What is it the business of our lives to make our selves Everlastingly Miserable Are we hard at work as most of us are one way or other to no better purpose than to vex and provoke our Holy and Righteous God and to heap up Wrath unto our selves against the day of Wrath O what pains do we take to undo our selves when we know that nothing but we our selves can undo us Whatever we are a doing if this be not our chief work to perfect Holiness the one thing necessary is still left undone and we have yet done nothing to please God and so had as good been doing nothing at all seeing we are toiling all our days without any reason to hope that we shall be Happy and reap any thing but bitterness from all our labour when our days are ended For every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure 1 Joh. III. 3. O consider it in good earnest for it is a matter of moment Shall we be so mad as to live to no other end but to have time enough to make our selves intollerably wretched How shall we tire and wear out our selves merely to destroy our selves Shall we toil like Oxen in the dirt of this World merely to defile our selves and make our selves odious in the sight of our heavenly Father Shall we trifle away all our time in sin and folly and vanity to this good End That we may be the surer of an eternity of Torments and Sorrow Alas the World passeth away and the Lusts thereof to which we enslave our selves and we draw near to Hell and the flames which are unquenchable Could we consider this we would soon discern what manner of persons we ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness 2 Pet. III. 11. 4. Consider often what a price God Almighty has set upon us how wonderfully he hath manifested his love towards us and what great astonishing things he hath already done to make us happy in himself The Angels of God those glorious and holy Spirits desire to look into these things 1 Pet. I. 12. with admiration and delight beholding therein the manifold wisdom of God Eph. III. 10. What more obliging course can we imagine God could have taken to bring Sinners in love with Him and their own Happiness How could he testify his love and care of us more convincingly than he hath done How many notable ways doth he daily exercise his loving-kindness towards us Is nothing of this worth our serious Consideration No not this that when by the breach of the First Covenant we were faln under the Curse instead of executing the judgment upon us which had been threaten'd he was graciously pleas'd to make a new one with us and a much easier too Nor this That when we had done enough to destroy our selves rather than let us perish the most wonderful thing that ever was must be contrived by Infinite Wisdom to procure us a Saviour Had we deserved to die God's own eternal only begotten and beloved Son the immortal God and eternal Life must be brought into a capacity of dying to redeem us Were we become weak Omnipotence it self must be cloath'd with the weakness of our Nature and in that bear our sins and sorrows The Creator of all things must be made man of a woman The King of the whole world must be made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of Sons Gal. IV. 4 5. Are we ignorant and wicked The Holy Spirit of God must be sent to be our Teacher and Guide our Sanctifier and our Comforter Have we after all need still of bodily succours and sustenance of wordly delights and refreshments in our way to blessedness Good God! what plenty and variety of all these doth he daily afford us 'T is plain God would restrain us from nothing but from doing our selves a mischief How often have we broken his New Covenant of Grace and sinned against the greatest of Mercies And yet God spares us and grants us time to repent in and earnestly invites us to be happy and loads us with all encouraging Blessings both spiritual and temporal every day O consider all this how wonderfully how many ways how often and long God hath shew'd himself gracious unto us in JESUS CHRIST and despise not the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not considering that the goodness of God leadeth us to repentance Rom. II. 4. 5. Another thing which we should daily be thinking on so long as we live is our Latter End how soon it may come and what it is like to be O that they were wise that they understood this
But this is not all for we shall certainly find that the longer we delay the greater will the work be And then whatever the causes be that now persuade us to delay it they are more likely to persuade us to delay hereafter than now If they can prevail with us to neglect a necessary work when 't is less they will more easily prevail when the very greatness of the work seems enough of it self to dishearten us from going about it Let us then consider how much greater a work it will be to repent hereafter than now First It is very certain that the longer we have neglected to learn the will of God the more we have to learn And the longer we have neglected to do the Commandments of God the more we have to do The longer we stay before we repent the more sins we have to repent of He that hath long since begun his work and hath made a considerable progress in it will not hereafter find so much to do as he that hath done nothing at all of it but hath then all to begin All those Omissions and Neglects we have been every day guilty of come then to be repented of as well as the things which have been neglected and omitted as far as 't is possible to be done and all this labour had been saved had we repented and done our duty in due time We every day sin even though we do all that we can to avoid it which yet we seldom do and every day we ought to repent of the sins of the day and therefore till we repent every day much increaseth the labour of Repentance because every day adds to the number of our sins to be repented of And our delay to repent when we have sinned is one of the greatest sins of all and every day's delay is such a new sin added to that of the former day And indeed so long as a man delayeth his Repentance he doth nothing else but heap up sin upon sin and every thing he doth is full of sin And what a task doth he thus make himself to repent of all these sins hereafter Yea every Conviction that we have sinned and ought to repent and every purpose and resolution and thought of repenting not speedily put in execution is an aggravation of our guilt and makes our sins the more sinful the less excusable and more hardly pardonable because 't is a sign that we go on in sin against Knowledg against Conscience against the good Motions of God's Holy Spirit and against the Rebukes of our own Hearts the delay is throughly wilful and sin is freely chosen and thus our sins become as great as can be and are a striving against Conscience a resisting and grieving of the Spirit a quenching of its holy Motions and a daily fighting against God or a resolute maintaining our ground against him And must not all this make Repentance a much harder work than otherwise it might have been How much easier is it to pluck up two or three weeds daily in a Garden as we perceive them shooting forth than to weed one that through neglect is quite overrun with them And to how much better purpose too were it so to do For by that means the good Plants have liberty to thrive and flourish whilst by neglect all that 's good is choaked up and rarely turns to any advantage So much easier is it and to far better purpose and advantage to repent early than late When one hath gone on but a few steps in a wrong way and will not then turn back because he thinks it too much pains for him to do so how much more unwilling is he like to be to go back again when he is gone on many miles He that is afraid to encounter two or three Enemies at present will hardly be so stout afterwards as to set upon an Army of many thousands especially when by his delay he hath given them time to strengthen themselves And this is the second thing that we are here to consider that by our delay we suffer our sins to grow not only in number but in strength too and as it is easier to repent of a few sins than many so must it needs be a far harder task to conquer many sins in their full strength than a few and weaker too Every one knows by woful experience if ever he have attempted to get the mastery of his sin what strength every sin gains in us by our long accustoming of our selves to it and how much easier it is to leave off the practice of any sin after but once or twice committing it than after that by frequent committing of it it is become habitual and in a manner natural to us and when we have by custom brought our selves to that pass that we seem to our selves to stand in as much need of our sin as we do of our food and raiment and can as little be content without it 'T is easie to pluck up a tender Sprout of the first or second years growth but this by letting it stand and grow is every year harder and harder to do and at last when 't is become a strong Tree impossible for the strongest man to do 'T is easie to quench a small spark that 's but just taking hold of the Thatch but 't is not so easie to extinguish the fire when the whole House is on a flame It may be no difficult matter to cure a little Sore at first but it will be more hard to do it when by delay 't is grown into a hollow and filthy Ulcer and hardly possible if it come to a Cancer or a Gangreen How strange a thing is it then that we should delay our Repentance the only cure of a diseased and ulcerous Soul till by delay we become almost past possibility of being cured Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Jer. XIII 23. 3. As our work by delay grows greater so our strength for such a work grows less and that makes it still harder The more sick a man groweth or the longer he lieth under his Disease the weaker he groweth too and the less strength he hath to help himself Tho we are all corrupt enough by nature and as we are so of our selves by much too weak to conquer any Lust without the help of supernatural Grace yet our giving way to our natural corruption and our indulging our selves in our own weaknesses makes us still weaker and weaker He that exerciseth not his strength by degrees loseth it And he that instead of resisting his Enemy as well as he can layeth himself down at his feet to be trod upon will find that he hath then less strength to raise himself up than he had at first to stand his ground In like manner he that instead of making what defence he is able stands still and lets his Enemy give him wound
cost him some pains to search into his own heart and to make himself in any good and comfortable measure sure of it And to find this is the only thing that must be the comfort of his old age and the sweetness of his Dying thoughts But he that defers his Repentance to the later part of his Life if then he may Repent unto Salvation yet may he find the time much too short for him very comfortably to assure himself that he hath done so indeed and therefore though he may Repent possibly he may not be able so well to know it as not to go out of this World with many fears and doubts and much uncomfortable distraction of thoughts about it And though this may possibly be the case of some who have lived a life of Repentance yet is it not a thing a man would choose or that he should not do what he can to prevent as I am sure he that delayeth his Repentance doth not He that lives well may through the tenderness of his Conscience and jealousy of himself die somewhat uncomfortably but he that lives ill almost as long as he lives I think must needs do so if he be not so dozed or stupified with his disease that he cannot be sensible that he is a dying or else have the favour of some extraordinary Revelation which such an one of all men hath least reason to hope for 5. For he that long delayeth his Repentance hath reason enough to fear that he shall have less Assistance hereafter for this great work than now he may have All the helps we can hope for come from the Holy Spirit of God without whose special Grace we shall never do any thing that is acceptable to him or available to our own Salvation We are too weak of our selves to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect Holiness It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure Now that man must have a strange measure of unreasonable confidence that thinks he hath the Grace of God at his Command and can make himself sure to have it just when he shall call for it or that the longer he hath rejected it the greater measures of it should be bestow'd upon him Is this the way to oblige God to be more liberal of his Grace unto us hereafter to turn his Grace already given us into wantonness Is to Dishonour him as long as we can the best way to assure us of his help in time of need What is it then whereby any one can possibly provoke God to withdraw or withhold his Grace from him What needs any one care how he lives if he can be sure of Grace enough to save him at any time before he die And if he cannot be sure to have Grace enough at any time when he pleaseth before he die how dare he delay his Repentance any one day of his life lest he should die before the next day Certainly that person that delayeth his Repentance in expectation of Grace when he sees his own time to call for it hath a confidence grounded on something else than the Holy Scripture Far be it from us to limit the infinite Goodness of God His Mercies as well as his Iudgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out Extraordinary favours may be granted to some but are not to be relied on by any I hope God doth give Grace at last to many who have long refused it but I know not where he hath promised that he will offer it again to them that refuse it when 't is offered If therefore he that delays his Repentance in hope of Grace to Repent hereafter meet with the Grace he hoped for he hath cause to be extraordinary thankful for an unpromised Mercy but if any one expect to have such an extraordinary Mercy he hath great reason to be humbled for so groundless a presumption For this is not the ordinary method of saving Sinners which God hath made us acquainted with and certainly he makes too bold with God Almighty that expects he should bring him to Heaven by any other way than by that which he hath pointed out unto him to walk in or who hopes for that assistance which he never promis'd refusing to make use of that which he hath assured him of if he will now accept it God hath said that whosoever hath or makes good use and improvement of the Grace already given to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance But whosoever hath not or makes not a wise improvement of what God hath given to the Donor's Glory and his own Salvation from him shall be taken away even that he hath Matth. XIII 12. God ordinarily as well as justly leaves such men to grow worse hereafter who are not willing to grow better now He withdraws his Holy Spirit from them who have long resisted and grieved him They who are not now willing to recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil having been taken captive by him at his will are deservedly left in the slavery they delight in God saith unto them Hearing ye shall hear and not understand and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive Matth. XIII 14. He leaves them to Satan to blind their eyes and harden their hearts lest they should be converted and Christ should heal them Joh. XII 40. What a madness then must it be to delay our acceptance of the Grace which is now freely tender'd unto us in hope of having it tender'd to us again when we think it a fitter time for it when God hath declared that we do thereby provoke him to withdraw his Grace from us for ever and never to make us another offer of it so long as we live 6. Lastly Our Impediments and Discouragements are like to be more and greater the longer we delay As a stone that 's tumbling down the hill the longer it continues rouling downwards goes with the greater force and is more hardly stopped so our own corrupt inclinations the longer we give way to them carry us on with the more earnestness in the old beaten paths of Sin towards Hell beneath and the more difficult is it for us to recover our selves Our old acquaintance and brethren in iniquity the longer we continue in their Society and Friendship cling so much the closer unto us and use all their art and power to hold us fast so that 't is always harder to break from them The Devil who before emboldened us to rush headlong upon any wickedness without any check or restraint of Conscience now fills our heads with fears and jealousies that our case is already become desperate and he that before persuaded us it was too soon now persuades us 't is too late to think of providing for our safety The longer we continue in our folly the more foolish we grow and the less capable of being taught how to grow Wise unto Salvation
of God for ever All this must make him sensible both how vile and degenerate how unworthy and wretched how filthy and how miserable Sinning against God hath made him And how being fallen from his Holiness and Obedience so long as he continues in this Sinful state he can have no hope ever to be Happy but must lie under the Wrath of God and unless he be renewed unto Holiness the Curse which God laid on Sinners which is that of Eternal Torments must needs fall upon him He must consider the admirable Love of God in sending him in this Sinful and Miserable State a Saviour to redeem him from destruction by the Sacrifice of his own most Precious Blood and to invite him by his Gospel to Repentance and Faith and to promise him the assistance of his Holy Spirit of Grace to restore him to Holiness and to fit him for the benefits of Redemption the Pardon of his Sins and Eternal Happiness with God in his Kingdom of Glory Such considerations as these must beget in us a deep and humble sense of our vileness and wretchedness a godly sorrow for behaving our selves so unworthily towards God sinking much below the dignity which he gave us a holy Shame and indignation against our selves for this a judging and condemning our selves as worthy to perish and to be punished everlastingly and a most earnest desire of God's Mercy and Favour a firm belief of all that he hath already done for us in Christ fervent Prayer for the renewing and sanctifying Grace of the Holy Ghost to qualifie us for a full Pardon and eternal Salvation And lastly an unfeigned resolution to endeavour henceforward to mortifie all our lusts to resist all temptations to Sin to use all the means of Holiness to Serve God according to the rules of the Gospel and so doing to cast our selves upon the Mercy of God through the merits of our Blessed Saviour Now all this is but our first entrance into a state of Repentance which is also the only Sate of Salvation on Earth This is that which qualifieth persons of ripe age for Baptism and this is that which Baptized Infants are obliged to by Baptism as soon as they come to years of understanding And this tho but the beginning of a Penitent Life is enough for those who live no longer And implieth in it a great deal too little thought on by many As first A change of mind and judgment our understanding being so far enlightned that we judge otherwise of God and our selves of Heaven and Earth of Good and Evil than we did before We prise and value God and Heaven and Holiness above all things whatsoever even life it self And we cannot think well of our selves nor value any thing in the World without these Secondly Such a change of desirc and will that all our desire is to please and honour God and by that means to be restored to and continue in his favour and not to please our selves in any thing wherewith we know God is displeased Our wills are resolved to consult no longer with Flesh and Blood nor to be guided by our own corrupt inclinations and judgment but wholly by the will of God the Gospel of JESUS Christ and the Grace of the Holy Spirit Thirdly Such a change of life and endeavour that just now we set our selves in good earnest on the great work daily mortifying and crucifying the Flesh with its corrupt affections and lusts and cleansing our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the Fear of the Lord. This is the first beginning of Repentance and if we have not done this whatever we flatteringly think of our selves we have it all yet to begin And yet is this I fear a great deal more than many who have a long time pleas'd themselves with a conceit that they are Sincere Penitents have at any time yet well thought on Secondly After this unfeigned resolution to live a Godly life there must be a constant care upon our Souls to make good this resolution and to carry on this change thus happily begun unto perfection We must enter upon an habitual course of governing our Thoughts Words and Actions by the Word of God of denying our selves in all the vile desires sinful inclinations and lustings of corrupt Nature and of using all fit means of subduing the Flesh unto the Spirit and of growing in Grace and in the knowledg of our Lord JESUS Christ. And here again is much more than is I fear by all of us well thought on As First A constant fixing our thoughts upon God as much as we can as always present with us seeing and observing our whole behaviour an Eye in all things to his Will and Commandments being careful to leave nothing undone that he hath enjoined us to do nothing that he hath forbidden to observe the prescribed method and manner of doing every duty as being always under his eye Secondly A very diligent and frequent searching into and reviewing of all these things observing narrowly what has been defective or amiss any way that we may be duly humbled and all may be for the future amended Thirdly A constant watching and standing upon our guard against all Temptations whereby we may be drawn to commit evil or neglect the good which is our duty or to be slight and careless in the doing of it Lastly A daily using of the helps of reading hearing meditating praying conversing with pious company or whatever may be a means of preserving our hearts in a Penitent and holy temper and of encreasing our love to God and Holiness and our hatred of Sin He that is not careful to do this as well as he can is far from true Repentance Lastly After all our utmost care because of the weakness of our Nature through incogitancy and surprize and a multitude of unavoidable business of this life we shall find that in many things we offend all And therefore we must often examine our selves and discovering our failings as well as we can we are still as we discover them to repent of them and concluding with our selves that many of them may have slipt away and escaped our observation we are together with those we have found out to pray for the pardon of our secret Faults And here first The sense of our numerous Infirmities must make us continually more and more humble and vile in our own eyes and take down all that confidence we are too apt to have of our selves more and more convince us of the necessity of grace and send us to God to implore in the most humble and fervent manner his strength in our weakness And secondly We ought to give glory to God in humbling our selves before the World and confessing by our whole behaviour that we esteem of our selves as vile Sinners unworthy of God's Blessings and such as think it becomes us to humble our selves to all whom we have offended to make them all the satisfaction we