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and how glad would we then be, that we had time to confider them? And perhaps, while we are wifhing for more time, eternity will fwallow us up. To be fure, in the other world, a great part of the mifery of wicked men will confift in furious reflexions upon themselves, and the evil actions of their lives. It is faid of the rich voluptuous man in the parable, that in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment; as if he had never confidered and bethought himself till that time. But, alas! it will then be too late to confider; for then confideration will do us no good; it will ferve to no other purpose, but to aggravate our mifery, and to multiply our ftings, and to give new life and rage to those vultures which will perpetually prey upon our hearts. But how much a wifer courfe would it be, to confider these things in time, in order to our eternal peace and comfort; to think of them while we may redrefs them, and avoid the difmal confequences of them; than when our cafe is defperate, and past remedy?

And now what can I fay more to perfuade every one of us to a confideration of our own ways? We are generally apt to bufy ourselves in obferving the errors and mifcarriages of our neighbours, and are forward to mark and cenfure the faults and follies of other men; but how few defcend into themselves, and turn their eyes inward, and fay, What have I done? It is an excellent faying of Antoninus the great Emperor and philofopher: "No man was ever unhappy for not prying into the actions and "conditions of other men; but that man is neceffarily tr unhappy who doth not observe himself, and confider "the ftate of his own foul."

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This is our proper work; and now is a proper feafon for it, when we pretend to God and men to fet apart a folemn time for the examination of ourselves, and for a ferious review of our lives in order to humiliation and repentance, to the reforming and amendment of what is amifs. And though we would venture to diffemble with men, yet let us not diffemble with God alfo: For fhall not he that pondereth the heart confider it? and he that keepeth the foul, fhall not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his ways?

I know it is a very unpleasant work which I am now putting

putting you upon, and therefore no wonder that men are generally fo backward to it; because it will of neceffity give some prefent disturbance to their minds. They whole lives have been very vitious, are so odious a fight, fo horrid a fpectacle to themselves, that they cannot endure to reflect upon their own ways; of all things in the world they hate confideration, and are ready to fay to it as the evil fpirit did in the gospel to our Saviour, What have I to do with thee? art thou come to torment me before the time? But let not this affright us from it: for whatever trouble it may cause at prefent, it is the only way to prevent the anguish and the torments of eternity.

The things which I have offered to your confideration, are of huge moment and importance. They do not concern your bodies and eftates, but that which is more truly yourselves, your immortal fouls, the dearest and most durable part of yourselves; and they do not concern us for a little while, but for ever. Let me therefore befpeak your most serious regard to them in the words of Mofes to the people of Ifrael, after he had fet the law of God before them, together with the bleffings promised to obedience, and the terrible curfe threatened to the tranfgreffion of it, Deut. xxxii. 46. 47. Set your hearts to the words which I teftify to you this day: for it is not a vain thing; because it is your life. Your life, your eternal life and happiness depends upon it.

And befides a tender regard to yourselves and your own interests, which methinks every man, out of a natural defire of being happy, and dread of being miferable, fhould be forward enough to confider, be pleafed likewife to lay to heart the influence of your example upon others. I fpeak now to a great many perfons, the eminence of whofe rank and quality renders their examples fo powerful, as to be able almoft to give authority either to virtue or vice. People take their fashions from you, as to the habits of their minds, as well as their bodies. So that upon you chiefly depends the ruin or reformation of manners, our hopes or defpair of a better world. What way foever you go, you are followed by troops. If you run any finful or dangerous courfe, you cannot perifh alone in your iniquity; but thousands will fall by your Tide, and ten thousands at your right hand. And, on the

contrary,

contrary, it is very much in your power, and I hope in your wills and defigns, to be the fovereign restorers of piety and virtue to a degenerate age. It is our part indeed to exhort men to their duty, but it is you that would be the powerful and effectual preachers of righteoufness. We may endeavour to make men profelytes to virtue, but you would infallibly draw difciples after you; we may try to perfuade, but you could certainly prevail, either to make men good, or to restrain them from being fo bad.

Therefore confider your ways, for the fake of others as well as yourselves. Confider what you have done, and then confider what is fit for you to do, and if you do it not, what will be the end of these things. And to help you forward in this work, it is not neceffary that I fhould rip up the vices of the age, and set mens fins in order before them: it is much better that you yourselves fhould call your own ways to remembrance. We have every one a faithful monitor and witness in our own breafts, who, if we will but hearken to him, will deal impartially with us, and privately tell us the errors of our lives. To this monitor I refer you, and to the grace of God, to make these admonitions effectual.

Let us then, every one of us, in the fear of God, Search and try our ways, and turn unto the Lord. Let us take to ourselves words, and fay to God, with those true penitents in fcripture, I have finned, what shall be done unto thee, O thou preferver of men? Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth, I will abhor myself, and repent in duft and afbes. For furely it is meet to be faid unto God, I will not offend any more: that which I know not, teach thou me; and if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. O that there were fuch an heart in us! O that we were wife, and that we understood this, that we would confider our latter end! And God of his infinite mercy infpire into every one of our hearts this holy and happy refolution, for the fake of our bleffed Saviour and Redeemer. To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory now and for ever. Amen.

SER

239

SERMON XIV.

The folly and danger of irrefolution and delaying.

PSA L. cxix. 60.

I made hafte, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

I

N the words immediately going before, you have the courfe which David took for the reforming of his life, and the fuccefs of that course: 1 thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy teftimonies. A ferious reflexion upon the past errors and mifcarriages of his life, produced the reformation of it. And you have a confiderable circumftance added in thefe words that I have now read to you, that this reformation was speedy, and without delay: I made hafte, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. Upon due confideration of his former life, and a full conviction of the neceffity of a change, he came to a refolution of a better life, and immediately put this refolution in execution: and to declare how prefently and quickly he did it, he expreffes it both affirmatively and negatively, after the manner of the Hebrews, who, when they would fay a thing with great certainty and emphafis, are wont to exprefs it both ways: I made hafte, and delayed not; that is, I did with all imaginable speed betake myself to a better course.

And this is the natural effect of confideration. And the true caufe why men delay fo neceffary a work, is, because they stifle their reason, and fuffer themselves to be hurried into the embraces of prefent objects, and do not confider their latter end, and what will be the fad iffue and event of a wicked life. For if men would take an impartial view of their lives, and but now and then reflect upon themselves, and lay to heart the miferable and fatal confequences of a finful course, and think whither it will bring them at last, and that the end of these things will be death and mifery: if the carnal and fen

fuel

fual perfon would but look about him, and confider how many have been ruined in the way that he is in, how many lie flain and wounded in it; that it is the way to hell, and leads down to the chambers of death; this would certainly give a check to him, and ftop him in his course.

For it is not to be imagined, but that that man who hath duly confidered what fin is, the shortness of its pleafures, and the eternity of its punishment, fhould refolve immediately to break off his fins, and to live another kind of life. Would any man be intemperate, and walk after the flesh; would any man be unjust, and defraud or opprefs his neighbour; be profane, and live in the contempt of God and religion, or allow himself in any wicked courfe whatfoever, that confiders and believes a judgment to come, and that because of these things the terrible vengeance of God will one day fall upon the children of difobedience? It is not credible that men who apply themselves seriously to the meditation of these matters, fhould venture to continue in fo imprudent and dangerous a course, or could, by any temptation whatfoever, be trained on one step farther in a way that does fo certainly and visibly lead to ruin and destruction.

So that my work at this time fhall be, to endeavour to convince men of the monstrous folly and unreafonableness of delaying the reformation and amendment of their lives; and to perfuade us to refolve upon it, and, having refolved, to fet about it immediately, and without delay; in imitation of the good man here in the text : I made hafte, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. And, to this end, I fhall,

1. Confider the reasons and excuses which men pretend for delaying this neceffary work, and fhew the unreasonablenefs of them.

2. I fhall add fome farther confiderations to engage us effectually to fet about this work speedily, and without delay.

I. We will confider a little the reafons and excufes which men pretend for delaying this neceffary work; and not only fhew the unreasonableness of them, but that they are each of them a strong reafon and powerful argument to the contrary.

1. Many pretend that they are abundantly convinced

of

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