raised Philosopher well observes the different Judgments and Affections of Men in the course of a pleasurable Life and under apprehensions of the Nearness of Death When Men think they have Time enough they have no regard of Time but are extreamly prodigal of it [g] At eosdem aegros vide si mortis periculum admotum est propius medicorum genua tangentes Sen. de brev vit c 8. But look on these Men when they are sick says he If they appear in any danger of Death you shall find them courting and crouching to Physicians and bowing down to their very Knees begging the Use of their Art and Skill to prolong their Daies and lengthen out their Lives Or if they fear they shall suffer capital Punishment you shall see them ready to lay out all to save their Lives But if as the Number of every ones past Years may be reckoned so the Number of those that are to come could be assign'd [h] Quemodo illi ui paucos viderent superesse trepidarent quomodo illis parcerent Id. Ib. How would they tremble saies he that should see but a few remaining and how apt would they be to be sparing of them Surely they that have all their Lives made it their Business to drive away their Time would at their Deaths give all the World to redeem it What would the dying Husband give for Time to spend more spiritually with his Wife the dying Wife for Time to spend more holily with her Husband the dying Master for Time to spend more godlily with his Family the dying Parent for Time to spend in a more religious Institution and conscientious Education of his Children a dying Neighbour for Time to spend in more profitable Converse with those about him Would he intend to spend his Time if he could live longer in tempting his Neighbour to the Tavern or Ale house to drinking or gaming or the like If God would but lengthen out such a Person 's Daies and afford him but a little more Space to amend his Life and to lay hold on eternal Life he would thankfully accept of it upon the hardest Conditions He would be content to be the poorest Beggar in the Street and to live a mean and outwardly miserable Life as long as he liv'd He is just now departing out of this World and immediatly going to his own Place and if Time were now to be redeem'd what would not the most voluptuous Man be willing to do or suffer What would not the most covetous Man be ready to part with for the purchasing of it What would not he give for [i] Considera quà m multi modo mâ—riuntur quibus si haec hora ad agendum pâ—nitentiam oneâ—â—erâ—tur quae tibi concessa est quomodo per aâ—taria quà a fâ—stinanter currerent ibi sleâ—â—s genibus vel cerè toto corpore in terram prestrato tamdiu suspirerent plorarent orare tâ— donec plenissâ—â—am peccatorum venâ—am à Deo consequi merâ—â—entur Tu verò comedendo bibendo jocanâ—o ridendo tempus ocâ—osè vivendo perdis quod tibi indulserat Deus ad acquirendam gratiam ad promerendaâ— gloriam Bernard de interiori domo c. 63. that Time which some of you it may be spend and throw away in Drinking Gaming Carding Diceing in Romances and Stage-Plaies in idle foolish Pastimes in Jeering and Jesting and carnal sinful Merry-making To what excellent Vses would he resolve to put his Hours if he could enjoy any more of them If God would grant him but one Year of Trial more how little would he design to give to the World and the Flesh and how much to God and Godliness and the Offices and Exercises of pure Religion and undefiled How would such an one purpose and promise to resist Temptations to shun all Occasions and Appearances of Evil carefully to provide for his immortal Soul diligently to study the sacred Scriptures strictly to observe the whole Lord's-Day attentively to hear the Word preach'd both in Season and out of Season frequently to meditate of it and constantly to frame and order his Life according to it to pray with his Family devoutly and fervently morning and evening to spend some Time every Day with God and himself in secret to make the purest and precisest Christians his constant Patterns and Examples and for the future to follow and imitate those whom heretofore he hated and derided nick-named and abused When once Men ly a dying and the near Approach of their latter End does awaken their sleepy secure Consciences and make the most stupid sottish Sinner begin now to be truly sensible and serious with what aestuations and perturbations of Mind with what anguish and akings of Heart with what Pangs and Agonies and fearful Tremblings with what doleful Accents and passionate piercing moving melting Expressions do they lament and beâ—ail their waâ—teful Mis-spence and miserable Loss of all the Time of God's most patient Trial of them and of all their special golden Seasons and rare Advantages and Opportunities When they take their leave of all about them how earnestly and importunately do they exhort and urge them to be better husbands of their Time and Talents How pathetically and feelingly do they then advise and counsel their Children and Servants Friends and Relations Neighbours and Acquaintance to number their Daies to lead good Lives to improve their Health and Strength for God and their own and others Souls and timely to prepare for Death and Judgment Let 's consider some of us who have thought sometimes that the Sentence of Death has past upon us and have look'd on such or such a Sickness as our last Arrest and Summons what would we then have disbursed for a Reprieve Would we not have given with Hand and Heart an House full of Silver and Gold if we had had it to have been sure to have lived another Year for the proving and evidencing the Truth and Sincerity of our Faith and Repentance by a course of Obedience and our making a larger and surer provision for our comfortable Reception and happy Entertainment in the other World Friends we shall ere long be all of us plac'd upon our Death-beds and if we make no matter of Time now if we won't value and prize it now we shall then sure enough highly prize it when alas it will be too late And if we now have worthy thoughts of it we shall suffer nothing to rob and deprive us of it [k] Quà m felix prudent qui talis nunc nititur esse in vita qualis optat inveniri in morte Thomas a Rempis lib. 1. c. 23. n. 4. Hic est apex summae sapientiae ea viventem facere quae morienti essent appetenda Let 's be of the same mind and judgment now in our Health and Strength that we shall certainly be of in Sickness and Weakness and not contemn and vilify that in our Life time which we shall wish we had worthily
natural Infirmities not to cause moral Distempers as means to * Eccl. 10.17 sustain and refresh our Bodies that our Bodies may be fit to serve our Souls and our selves may be enabled with vigour and alacrity to serve and honour God in the proper Duties of our particular Places We should eat our Bread before God as the Expression is Exod. 18.12 that is not only as in the sight of God but as the * 1 Cor. 10.31 Apostle speaks whether we eat or drink we should do all to the Glory of God Remember to direct these natural Actions to spiritual Ends and to make them an occasion of some Exercise of Religion Be never wanting to beg a Blessing of God before you eat And when you sit at Table as [h] Cùn manducas nequaquam totus manduces sed corpore tuo suam refectionem postulante mens suam non negligat memoria suavitatis Domini vel Scripturarum poscat Meditationes Bernard St. Bernard advises be not wholly employed in eating and drinking but your body requiring and receiving its due repast let not your Mind neglect its proper refection Refresh your Soul when you feed your Body and use such holy Meditations as may keep and preserve you from †Jam. 5.5 Rom. 13.14 nourishing your Hearts from ministring fuel to your Lusts and making provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof [i] Fox Act. and Mon. 2 vol. p. 1457. Mr. Fox reports of the holy Bradford that in the midst of Dinner he used often to muse with himself having his Hat over his Eyes from whence came commonly plenty of Tears dropping on his Trencher Whenever you recruit and repair your Nature strive then to provoke and stir up in thy self and others ‖ Mat. 5 6. hungrings and thirstings after Righteousness Remember meditate and discourse of the Sweetness of Christ of the refreshing strengthning Ordinances of Christ of being (*) Ps 36.8 abundantly satisfied with the Fatness of God's House and of drinking of the River of his Pleasures of feeding and living by Faith on the Promises of the Gospel and receiving the * Rom. 15.4 Comforts of the Scriptures With Job †Job 23.12 esteem the Words of God's Mouth more than thy necessary Food or appointed Portion With David acknowledg the Laws and Judgments of God to be ‖ Ps 19.10 sweeter than Honey and the Honey-comb than the sweetest and purest Honey Think and speak of the (*) Joh 6.48 50 51 55. living Bread which came down from Heaven of the Bread of Life the (†) Rev. 21.6 22.17 Water of Life of spiritual (‖) Isa 55.1 Wine and Milk * 1 Pet. 2.2 Desire the sincere Milk of the Word that you may grow thereby Have a longing Mind to that spiritual Food which is Meat indeed and Drink indeed Taste and relish the †Rev. 2 17. hidden Manna Delight thy self in the serious Fore-thoughts of ‖ Mat 8.11 sitting down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven of (*) Luke 22.30 eating and drinking at Christ's Table in his Kingdom Raise and lift up thy Mind to the Celestial Table strengthen and sharpen thy Appetite to the most delicious heavenly Banquets Let the Consideration and Hope of the spiritual Joys and purer higher Pleasures of the other World cause thee to despise these gross and brutish Pleasures to say in the Words and with the Affection and Spirit of Mr. Herbert [k] Home What is this weary World this Meat and Drink That chains us by the Teeth so fast [l] Church-porch p. 5. Look on Meat think it Dirt then eat a Bit. And say withal Earth to Earth I commit Entertain thy self with better fare and richer cheer Thank God you have * Joh. 4.32 Meat to eat which the World knows not of Let others †6.27 labour for the Meat which perisheth but do thou resolve rather to labour for that Meat which endureth to everlasting Life Account and reckon it thy Meat and Drink with thy blessed ‖ 4.34 Saviour to do the Will of thy heavenly Father And with (*) 4.31 32. him have a greater care of making provision for others Souls than of supplying thy own bodily Necessities When at usual seasons thou nourishest thy Body be sure thou doest not then forget to (†) 1 Tim 4.6 nourish up thy self and others in (‖) 6.3 wholesome Words in the Words of Faith and of good Doctrine which is according to Godliness Even while thou arc feeding thy Body as thou hast occasion and opportunity let thy * Prov. 10.21 Lips feed many I remember Cicero introduceth Cato giving this good account of himself that he loved to feast with his Friends and Neighbours not so much for the [m] Neque enim ipsorum convivtorum delectationem corporis voluptatibus magis quà n catu amicorum sermonibus metiebar Bene enim majores nostri c. Ego verò proster sermonis delectationem tempestivis conviviis delector c. Cicero de senect corporal Pleasure of eating and drinking as for the delight and refreshment of the good Discourses that were used among them at such Meetings And Tertullian informs us that much of Religion was mingled with the Meals the very common Meals of the Primitive Christians That they did not offer to [m] Non priùs discumbitur quà m oratio ad Deum praegustetur It a suturaatur ut qui meminerint etiam per noctem ado andum Deum sibiesse c. Aequè oratio convivium duimit non tam coenam coenaverint quà m disciplinam Tert. Apol. c. 39 take their Meat before they had tasted the spiritual sweetnesses of Prayer and Devotion That they fed as those who well remembred that they were to go upon their Knees to God before they went to Bed and therefore narrowly watch'd over themselves that no degrees of Intemperance at Supper might dull and indispose them to the Duty of Prayer and unfit them for the Worship and Service of God that night That they talk'd and confer'd as those that knew God heard And after Supper as any was able either out of the holy Scriptures or out of his own Invention he was called forth into the midst of the Company to sing a Psalm or Hymn to God which was a manifest Proof what temperate measures he had at that Meeting kept in drinking having loaden neither his Stomach nor his Understanding Prayer in like manner dismiss'd the Company who then departed with setled dispositions and sirm resolutions to lead most modest chast vertuous godly Lives as those who at that very season had not so much made a Meal as kept a Discipline had at that time been at a Lecture rather than at a Supper and then had more replenish'd their Souls than satisfied their Bodies And both [n] In ipsa mensa magis lect onem vel disputationem quà n epu ationem
of his Humiliation When Christ was almost entring into his Grave he begg'd and intreated that Christ would remember him when he came [g] Tò ev ponitur pro eis into his Kingdom Which of the Eleven were heard to utter so gracious a Word to their Saviour in his last Pangs and dying Agonies This penitent Thief prayed in Faith and look'd for ‖ Mal. 4.2 Healing from the Wings of this Sun of Righteousness when this glorious Sun rose from the West as I may say He was so humble that he would not presume to ask of Christ a participation of his Kingdom or any great and high Honour in it but only requested that he might not be forgotten by him the way of remembring and considering him he left wholly to him He shewed a very exemplary Patience upon the Cross he did not murmur against God or the Magistrate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but owned the Dueness and Justice of his Punishment and was content to bear it and desired not the removal or abatement of it he meekly and quietly accepted his corporal temporal Punishment being only solicitous for his Soul's Salvation He charitably [i] Luk. 23.40 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat repreleâ—do anterdico Gerhard Harm in loc reprehended his Fellow-Thief and [i] Luk. 23.40 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat repreleâ—do anterdico Gerhard Harm in loc forbad him to proceed in his Blasphemy invited him to Repentance and sought to further the Salvation of his Neighbour Thou canst not expect ever to meet with such an Occasion to try and exercise thy Faith and Obedience and therefore thou hast no imaginable reason to nourish up thy self in Security upon presumptuous Hopes of faring as he did since thou canst not do as he did 6. And lastly Suppose thou shouldst at last redeem thy Time so well as by God's help with the good Thief to act and exercise unfeigned Repentance upon thy Death-bed yet I pray shew me and help me a little to understand how thou art likely to get that Comfort and gain that sweet Peace of Conscience which a more early Redemption of thy Time would in all probability bring thee in and bless thee with in thy last Hours A thinking understanding Heathen will tell thee [i] Mortem venientem nemo hilaris excipit nisi qui se ad illam diu composucrat Sen. ep 30. He only can chearfully entertain and gladly welcome Death when it comes who has a long time been fitting and preparing himself for it The Thief upon the Cross had indeed full Assurance that his Soul was in a good Condition at present and sure Ground of strongest Confidence and most comfortable Acquiescence that he should be very quickly in a pure and holy a blissful and happy State in another World But it is not to be expected that thou shouldst arrive to such Assurance in the same or the like way that he did for Christ then hung upon the Cross by him and had compassion on him and reveal'd it to him that his Repentance which was God's extraordinary gracious Gift was Repentance unto Life that his Person was accepted and his Prayer heard and that a higher Favour should be shewn him and a greater Good be bestowed upon him than was expresly desired by him That his Lord was ready to take the Key of Paradise into his hand and would very quickly open the Door and let him in and give him entrance into the Joy of his Lord. All which is included in Christ's gracious Answer to the humble Petition of the penitent Thief which he strengthned and confirmed with an earnest Asseveration Verily I say unto thee I will not only be mindful of thee but thou shalt be with me and that not only some time hereafter but [l] Nee sine grave causa expressum illud hoâ—le Censebant enim Judaes non quorumvis animas statim in selicem Paradisi statum recipi sed eas demum quae bene purgatâ— ex hac vita excederent Grot. in loc to day immediatly after thy Death and Departure To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise be joyfully received and pleasurably entertain'd in that happy Repository and Receptacle of Spirits which God hath prepared for holy Souls But when thou shalt come to lie upon a Death-bed and be conscious to thy self that thou hast led a very sinful and ungodly Life all thy daies and that this is the first time that thou hast in good earnest minded this great Work Suppose that the workings of thy Heart should be sincere how canst thou evidence thy Uprightness to thy self prove and make out to thy self and satisfy thy self in any ordinary way that thy Conversion is true and real sound and sincere When thou shalt plainly apprehend that thou art changing thy Place and Habitation State and Condition all of a sudden thou canst not but conclude that it highly concerns thee to humble thy self to God to beg his Pardon and promise him fair and to resolve by all possible means to shake off thy Sins which are too grievous and dang erous Companions to carry along with thee into the other World to cast away thy Sins at loost as a Man in a Storm begins to cast away his Goods because if he keeps his much valued Goods he must lose his dearest Life But dost not thou remember the famous remarkable Story of * 2 Mac. 9. Antiochus who when the Judgment of God followed him and smote him with an incurable and invisible Plague with a Pain of the Bowels that was remediless and sore Torments of the inner Parts so that the filthiness of his Smell was noisome to all his Army and no Man could endure to carry him for his intolerable Stink and he himself could not abide his own Smell Then he began to leave off his great Pride This wicked Person vowed also unto the Lord that he would set the holy City at Liberty make all the Jews equals to the Citizens of Athens garnish the holy Temple with goodly Gifts become a Jew himself and go through all the World that was inhabited and declare the Power of God But the Lord would now no more have Mercy upon him having suffer'd grievously he died most miserably And hast not thou [k] I never knew nor heard of any unwrought upon under conscionable means who after Recovery perform'd the Vows ... not counted as error and Promises of a new Life which he made in his Sickness and times of Extremity For if he will not be moved with the Ministry God will never give that honour unto the Cross to do the deed Mr. Bolton's Instructions for a right Comf afflicted Conscience p. 255. known some and heard of others who being condemned by Law or cast upon Beds of Sickness have outwardly manifested as great and probable signs of true Repentance upon seeming near approaches of Death and Judgment as thou canst now be well supposed to do and yet when God by