charitable Assistance of him that when his Heart is most serious his Spirit most composed and devout and his Affections most vigorous and lively he would not forget to put up one Prayer to Heaven for me for Greater Holiness and Abilities to Honour God and persevering Faithfulness to his Truth and Interest whatever Temptations to desert it may be employed by the World the Flesh and the Devil the three Great Enemies of thine and my Salvation J. S. FINIS THE CONTENTS Sect. I. OF the changeable State and short Duration of Earthly things especially of Man how little it is considered and believed how necessary it should be p. 1. Sect. II. Of the change in Mens Inclinations Opinions and Actions which one year shews how observable it is in Others how much more discernable in our selves Honour and Reputation c. how uncertainly preserved and how easily blasted p. 7 Sect. III. Of the Uncertainty of living to the Period of another Year The Vanity of this Life The Swiftness of Time and how to be Improved p. 13. Sect. IV. Of the seeming Difference between so many Years past and the same number of Years to come p. 20 Sect. V. The little Portion of our Time on Earth considered by a Computation of the Life of Man from the number of Years and Hours p. 22. Sect. VI. Of the Redemption of Time how precious and valuable a Treasure it is and will be thought to be when 't is too late p. 26. Sect. VII Of the Ordinances of Heaven Day and Night Summer and Winter Seed Time and Harvest their Order and Succession establisht by God is the effect of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness What they may teach us p. 30. Sect. VIII Of Evils to be expected in this Year the Wisdom and Mercy of God in concealing from us the Knowledge of future Events p. 36. Sect. IX The Supposition of dying this Year should be improved the consequence of redeeming Time and providing for Eternity farther prest The folly of Elder Persons is condemned and checkt from the Example of Children 'T is advisable to familiarize the Thoughts of our own Death and to imagine before-hand What Apprehensions of things we shall then have p. 39. Sect. X. The Brevity of Life considered as the fruit of Sin There are but three ways of leaving this World as Abel Adam or Enoch A diligent Improvement of Time farther prest and the neglect of it bewailed p. 44. Sect. XI Of the Expectation of another Life The Vanity and Misery of Man in his Best Estate if there be none The satisfactory removal of that Supposition by the Thoughts of God and of Eternal Felicity in his Blessed Presence p. 48. Sect. XII The consideration of the Death of others especially of Relations Friends and Acquaintance how to be improved What instructions we may learn by the sight of a dead Carkass or a Deaths-Head and the usual Motto on it and what by the death of Holy Persons to quicken our desires to be as they p. 55. Sect. XIII What Influence the Consideration of Eternity would have upon our Hearts and Lives if soundly believed and considered especially if the Supposition of dying this Year be annexed to it p. 62. Sect. XIV How a good Man may improve and encourage himself under the Supposition of dying this Year even in the most uneasy and undesirable Circumstances p. 67. Sect. XV. Of dying in a Foreign Country and of dying Young Considerations proper to Reconcile the Mind to both p. 74. Sect. XVI The Contemplation of our approaching Chance may assist us to mortifie the Lusts of the Flesh the Lusts of the Eye and Pride of Life to cure Ambition and promote Contentment p. 81. Sect. XVII The same Argument considered farther as disswasive from Worldliness and Earthly mindedness and as proper to confute the Vanity of long Projects and great Designs for this World p. 85 Sect. XVIII The consideration of the certain near approach of an Everlasting State amplified and prest to inforce an Holy Life p. 89. Sect. XIX The Punishments of the Damned considered as Intolerable and Everlasting and as unquestionably certain What the Reflection upon Hell-Torments may and ought to teach us p. 97. Sect. XX. The Eternal Blessedness of HEAVEN considered as the Perfection of Holiness to quicken our desires and endeavours after greater Meetness to possess it p. 112. Sect. XXI A devout Meditation upon Psalm 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee And there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee p. 127 Sect. XXII The glorious Appearance of J. Christ to Judgment considered as certain the Terror Astonishment Confusion and Despair of Wicked Jews and Christians to behold their Judge and bear his condemning Sentence to EVERLASTING Destruction p. 141. Sect. XXIII Meditations of the Glory of Christ in his Glorified Saints and of the Thankful Admiration of Believers when He shall come again from Heaven which shall be continued to all Eternity p. 151. Sect. XXIV Concerning the Examination of a Man's Heart and Life the Reasonableness Advantages and Necessity of it Some Direction and Advice concerning the Time and Manner That we may know in what Preparedness we are for ETERNITY p. 163. Sect. XXV How Christians ought to Examine their Decays of Grace and Piety The greatness of their Sin and of their Loss under such Declensions Gods Displeasure and Departure from them considered to awaken Endeavours of Recovery In what manner the Faith of Adherence may be acted by one who hath no Assurance p. 174. Sect. XXVI Confession of Sin Humiliation and Repentance must follow upon Self-Examination Advice concerning Repentance for some particular Backsliding The great Perplexity and Distress of a Penitent Sinner represented as a Caution against returning to Folly p. 187. Sect. XXVII The necessity of Christian Resolution unto Vpright Persevering Obedience how full and extensive it ought to be and yet humble by what means we may be assisted to perform that which we Resolve p. 199. Sect. XXVIII The Import and Obligation of our Baptismal Covenant The renewal of it by a solemn Dedication of our selves to God the Father Son and Holy Spirit Exemplified and recommonded p. 207. Sect. XXIX Practical and consolatory Reflections on the preceeding Self-dedication or Covenant with God p. 214. Sect. XXX Thanksgiving to God for his many Benefits and Mercies particularly in the Year past with some Direction and Advice concerning it p. 224. The Appendix from what time the Jews reckoned the Beginning of their Year of the difference between their Sacred and Civil Account The Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the Year its Institution Nature and Design The Traditions and Customs of the Jews respecting that Day
and Labour the Work he calls me to is excellent and the Reward glorious to know and love and serve and obey Him in order to Eternal Life and shall I yet be Idle Is this the Use and End of all my Time And do I know it and believe it Do I indeed believe it and yet delay and loyter and wast my precious Hours in Vanity Am I going into Eternity and entring into another World and know that I must be in Heaven or Hell for ever and have I Time to throw away Am I fit to die and to appear before my Judge or am I not Am I made meet for Heaven by pardoning Mercy and sanctifying Grace Have I the Earnest of the Spirit to witness and assure me of it Is my Interest in the Promise of Eternal Life as firm and my Evidence of it as clear as it may be made Am I not conscious to my self that much of this necessary Work is yet to be done And shall such an unprepared Soul as mine be careless and indifferent how I spend my Time SECT VII Of the Ordinances of Heaven Day and Night Summer and Winter Seed-time and Harvest their order and succession establisht by God is the effect of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness What they may teach us WHen I consider the beginning of another Year I can hardly avoid reflecting on its several parts Summer and Winter Spring and Fall Day and Night and their alternate Turns This calls me to observe and admire his Eternal Power and Godhead Wisdom and Truth who is the Great Author of this admirable variety Who hath fixed the Earth with his Foot and hanged it on nothing and setled the Luminaries of Heaven for Excellent Ends The Sun to Ruleby Day and the Moon by Night thereby to distinguish Times and Seasons to separate Day and Night Winter and Summer and consult the convenience of Man and Beast by their due Succession The Day is thine the Night also is thine thou makest Summer and Winter How wonderful is their Order Beauty and constant Course that when the Sun withdraws and the shadows of the Evening cover the Earth with darkness to conclude the Day the Moon and Stars supply the place of the absent Sun during the Night And that tho' they differ in length yet gradually lessen till they are both equal at the years end and have made the same Circuit How excellent a work of God is that quick succession to one another The supposition of a perpetual Night is a dismal gloomy thought O what will the Everlasting Darkness of the Infernal Prison be The Sun by day enlightens the Earth directs our Motion guides our Way governs our Travail assists Conversation awakens Industry warms the Earth and Air gives Life and Vigor and fruitfulness to all things under the Sun and makes the whole Inferiour Creation to rejoyce An Emblem of God's universal Goodness who is kind to all his Creatures How admirable is its Lustre how glorious is its Light how loudly doth it proclaim his Power and Wisdom who made this and the other Lights of Heaven by his powerful Word and preserves them hitherto by his daily Providence If God be now so glorious contemplated in his Works considered in the lustre of the created Sun viewed only through the Windows of Sense how much more glorious will he appear hereafter when we shall see him face to face and nothing interpose betwixt us and his incomparable Light If mine Eyes dazle to look upon the meridian Sun in what inaccessible Light must he dwell who is the Father of Lights If this lower World the common receptacle of his Friends and Enemies have so much of his Glory vouchsafed them by the Heavenly Bodies O what a place will Heaven be where shall be no Sun or Moon nor need of any but the glory of God shall lighten it and the Lamb be the Light thereof While I thus consider the Sun and the Day I must not think the Night is useless which discovers another part of the Heavens not discernable by the Day viz. the Stars and Planets refreshing the Earth cooling the Air giving necessary Rest to the Creatures c. Their order motions aspects oppositions influences are all useful and instructive The agreeable mixtures of Light and Darkness the regular succession of Day and Night within a few hours are exceeding wonderful and advantageous In other parts of the World where the Sun-beams are more direct and its heat excessive God hath made amends by the length of the Night under the Equinoctial Line it is always Twelve hours and in the more Northen parts where the Influence of the Sun is weaker the days are proportionably longer So good is God to all his Creatures in all parts of the world As the Morning and Evening answer to the day of Twenty four hours so doth Spring and Autumn to the Twelve months of the Year that we may not pass immediately from one extream to another but gradually be disposed for so great a change as is between Summer and Winter and Winter and Summer So merciful and gracious and infinitely wise is God in all his Works so that we cannot say one part of the Year is more necessary than another The Winter is as useful for the good of the Universe as the Summer In this we are supplied with what is necessary to maintain us in that And the admirable Situation of the Sun most probably in the Center of the World seems much to contribute to it If it had been at a farther distance from us our Earth would have been in a manner desolate because the Influence of the Sun could not have been considerable And if it had been nearer the Stars above would have wanted Light and this Earth under been burnt up The Excellent Order which it hath now obeyed for above six Thousand Years is also wonderful The Sun never stood still but once and that by a Miracle tho' much inferiour to that of it's daily Progress What a Subject is here to admire the Power Goodness Wisdom and Faithfulness of God Lord what is Man For whom thou dost all this And because I find every Year that the Day dies into Night the Summer into Winter and Herbs and Plants lose their Beauty and Verdure and shed their Blossoms may I not hence learn to consider and prepare for my own Approaching Change In Prosperity Health and Ease and Life to expect and make Provision for Trouble Sickness Pain and Death as every Wise Man in Summer would do for Winter and work with all my Might while it is called to day while the Light continues because the Night of Darkness is at hand when none can work SECT VIII Of Evils to be expected in this Year the Wisdom and Mercy of God in concealing from us the Knowledge of future Events NOT only few and uncertain but Evil likewise are the Days of the Years of my Life may every one say with the Patriarch Jacob. A
freeness of his Love the Riches and All-sufficiency of his Grace towards all who come unto God by him I adore Thee O most blessed Spirit as proceeding and sent from the Father and the Son to renew all the Powers of my Soul and restore the Divine Image there to enlighten my mind to know and receive the Truth as it is in Jesus and purify my Heart and to sanctifie all the Members of my Body and make them Instruments of Righteousness unto Holiness which before were Servants unto Sin and gradually to deliver me from the power the defilement and abode of Sin as from the Guilt and Punishment by the Blood of Jesus And as the Witness of God to the Truth of the Holy Scriptures and as the Great Paraclete to comfort and establish the Hearts of Believers sealing them up to the day of Redemption and giving them the Earnest of the Heavenly Inheritance O blessed Spirit be thou my Witness that though I have violated the Law of God and defac'd his Image and formerly undervalu'd the Love of Christ and the Grace of the Gospel yet by thine Aid I now accept what I have so long neglected And thankfully devote my self henceforward to be the Lord's in a Covenant Relation But fearing and distrusting my self I give up my self entirely to the conduct of thy Grace depending upon it for my establishment and perseverance O form my Heart into an obediential Frame that in every thing I may endeavour to answer the Ends and Obligations of this Devoted State To this One God I have once again dedicated and resign'd my self to serve and please and honour Thee in Thought Word and Act to the last moment of my Life In the Performance of all Duties even those which I have been most averse from in the mortification of every Lust and the forsaking of every Sin even those which I was once most addicted to Resolving deliberately to allow my self in nothing great or little secret or open which I shall know or believe to be contrary to thy holy Will making it my business to be fruitful in good Works to the Praise of my Redeemer waiting in the use of all his appointed means for higher measures of Grace and Holiness to be more Victorious over inward Lusts and outward Temptations still pressing towards the mark for the prize of my high and holy Calling even Eternal Life I call Heaven and Earth O Lord to witness this day That I own and avow this to be my Mind and the setled Prevailing Purpose of my Soul This I again ratifie and confirm without any Clauses or Exceptions So help me O my God Glory be to God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit XXIX Practical and Consolatory Reflections on the preceding Self-dedication or Covenant with God I Have this day solemnly Avouched the Lord to be my God to walk in his ways thereby to fortifie my Resolutions that I and my * Deut. 6.17 18. House and All that I can persuade to be of my mind will serve the Lord. I intend desire and hope never willfully to Violate the Faith which I have now plighted in the presence of God but to continue stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord c. Should I undertake any new Imployment or enter into any new Condition or change the place of my Abode where I might see more of God's dishonour and meet with more and stronger Temptations to Sin and be called to the performance of more difficult Duties greater Watchfulness and Self-denial c. I would hope hereby to engage the Presence of God with me and his Blessing on all my Affairs on which depends the success of all that I undertake and would hope the better to preserve my Integrity not only This Year but in all the remaining portion of my Time by the abiding sense of my Covenant with God thus seriously renewed This is the Method I have been often advis'd to for Peace of Conscience under doubts and scruples concerning my spiritual state to put the matter out of doubt by again accepting the offered Mercy and Grace of the Gospel and heartily consenting to the New Covenant giving up my self to God in Christ to be ruled and saved by him Blessed be God I have now done so Lord say Amen to thy part of the Covenant that Thou art and wilt be my God as I desire unfeignedly to do to mine that I will be thy Servant But because Articles are sooner consented to than made good tho' I seriously intend never to disown this my solemn Act and Deed but firmly to adhere to it as long as I live that having sworn I will endeavour to perform it that this shall be my Everlasting Choice never to be recanted or alter'd yet considering the sad Instances of my former Weakness and the vigilance and subtle malice of my Great Adversary I again implore the succour of Divine Grace to keep it for ever in the purpose of my Heart that it may be as the Laws of the Medes and Persians never to be reversed I have given up my Name to be Thine O put thy fear into my Heart that I may never depart from Thee Imprint thy Laws upon my Heart that my Obedience may be uniform and universal unwavering and perpetual suitable to so honourable and near a Relation to Thee I am sensible I want Wisdom and Strength to that purpose but thou hast bid me ask it of Thee who givest liberally to All without desert and upbraidest not with present unworthiness or former faults O lead me not into Temptation but deliver me from Evil. Stand by and strengthen me in the Hour of Trial lest I forget my Vows and deny thee O that my Soul may never draw back lest Thine have no pleasure in me I can serve no better Master O let mine Ears be bored to the door of thine House as the Token and Assurance of my being thy Servant unto Death I know 't is my Duty I am sensible 't is my Privilege and Honour I am convinc'd that 't is my Interest and Felicity my Soul my Life my present and everlasting Welfare and All depends upon it that thou shouldest be my God for ever O conduct me by thy Holy Spirit of Grace that I may walk and act as having heartily consented he should be so and direct my Heart into thy Love and the faithful keeping of thy Commandments That when so many Professors make shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and discredit the Religion of my Lord by their shameful Falls thou may'st make me to stand and improve the warning of their Examples to walk humbly and while I stand to take heed lest I fall Having thus surrendred my self to God what is there O my Soul that is ever like to prevail with me to go back and revolt from him Is the gratification of a Lust the securing of an Estate compliance with a Friend the pleasing of a Superior