2. The Evil day of Sickness is an unfeasonable time or at leaft a very difficult time, to begin fuch a bufiness. When Sickness, and Pain, and Disorder, and Uneafinefs, shall render a Man impatient and full of trouble, and his Thoughts full of Disorder and Difcompofure, and Waywardness, then it will be found a difficult bufinefs to begin the Remembrance of our Creator. It is true, no time is utterly unacceptable of God for this work, but furely it is beft to begin before this Evil day come, for then it will be a comfort, and mitigate the Pains and Discompofure of Sickness, when a Man can thus reflect upon his life paft, as Hezekiab did in his Sickness; Remember, O Lord, that I have not failed to remember my. Creator in the days of my Health.

3. The Evil day of Old and Infirm Age, which is a Difeafe and Burthen of it felf, and yet is ever accompanied with our Sickneffes, Pains and Diseases, and a Natural Frowardness, and Morofity, and Difcontentedness of mind, and therefore not so seasonable to begin the undertaking of this work as the flourishing Youth. And indeed, a Man cannot reasonably expect that the Great God, who invites the Remembring our Creator in the Days of our Youth, and hath been ungratefully denied, fhould accept the Dregs of our Age for a Sacrifice, when we have neglected the Thoughts of him in our ftrong and flourishing Age. But on the other fide, that Man, that hath spent the time of his Youth and Strength in the remembrance of his Creator, may with comfort and contentment, in his Old and feeble Age, reflect upon his paft life with Hezekiah, Remember, O Lord, I pray thee, that I have not failed to remember thee in the days of my Youth and Strength, and I pray thee accept of the endeavours of my old decayed Age, to preferve that Remembrance of thee which I fo early began, and have conftantly continued, and pardon the defects that the natural decays of my Strength and Age have occafioned in that Duty.

4. The Evil day of Death: when my Soul fits hovering upon my lips and is ready to take its flight, when all the World cannot give my Life any certain truce for a day,

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or for an hour, and I am under the cold embraces of Death, then to begin to remember my Creator is a difficult and unfeasonable time: But when I have begun that business early, and held on the Remembrance of my Creator, it will be a Cordial, even against Death it self, and will carry my Soul into the Prefence of that God, which I have thus remembred in and from the days of my Youth, with Triumph and Rejoycing.

Briefly therefore:

1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth; because thou knoweft not whether thou fhalt have any other Seafon to remember him: Death may overtake thee, and lay thee in the Land of Forgetfulness: thy Spring may be thy Autumn, and thy early bud may be the only Fruit that mortality may afford thee.

2. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth; because it is a time of Invitation: neglect not this Seafon, because thou knoweft not whether ever thou shalt be again invited to it.

3. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth that thy Creator may remember thee, in the days of thy Sickness, and Old Age, and in the Evil Day.

4. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth, left thy Creator neglect thee in the Evil Day. Neglected Favours, especially from thy God, may juftly provoke him never to lend thee more, Because I called, and ye refufed, I also will laugh at your Calamity, and mock when your Fear cometh. 1. 24, 26.

5. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth, because it will heal the Evil of Evil days, when they come, it will turn thofe days that are in themselves evil, to become days of Eafe and Comfort; it will heal the Evil of the day of Affliction, of Sickness, of Old Age, and of Death it felf; and make it a paffage into a better a more abiding Life.

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Uncleanness of the Heart, and how it is Cleanfed.

Pfal. 51. 10.

Cor mundum crea in me Deus.

THis Prayer imports, or leads us into the Confideration of these things: 1. What the condition of every man's Heart is by Nature: It is a foul and unclean Heart. 2. Wherein confifts this uncleannefs of Heart. 3. What is the ground or caufe of this uncleanness of the Heart. 4. Whence it is that the condition of the Heart is changed: It is an Act of Divine Omnipotence. 5. What is the condition of a Heart thus cleansed, or wherein the cleannefs of the Heart confifts.

I. If the Heart must be Created anew before it can be a clean Heart, certainly, before it is thus new formed, it is an impure and unclean Heart. And this that is here implyed, is frequently in the Scriptures directly affirmed: Gen. 7. 5. The imagination of the Thoughts of the Heart of Man is only Evil continually: Jer. 17.19. The Heart is deceitful above all things, and defperately wicked, who can know it? Mark 7.21. Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts, Adulteries, &c. And indeed all the Evils that are in the World, are but evidences of the Impurity of the Heart, that unclean Fountain and Original of them.

II. Concerning the fecond; wherein the Uncleanness of the Heart confifts. The Heart is indeed the Crafts, or collection of all the Powers of the Soul in the full extent of it; and therefore takes in not only the Will and Affections, but the Understanding and Confcience, and accordingly hath its Denomination proper to those feveral faculties, as a Wife Heart, a Foolish Heart, a Believing Heart, an Unbelieving Heart, an Hard Heart, a Soft Heart, and the like. But answerable to the propri

ety

ety of the Epithete Clean or Unclean, it principally concerns the Heart under the notion of Will or Defire, and the Confequents that are thereupon; and confequently according to the propriety of Application, à Clean Heart is fuch a Heart as hath Clean Defires and Affections; an Unclean Heart is that which hath unclean and impure Defires, a Heart full of evil Concupifcence. And because the Cleannefs or Uncleanness of the Defires are denominated from their Objects, and not from the Affections or defires themselves, which are diverfified according to their Objects; Hence it is that a Heart, that fixeth its defires upon pure and clean Objects, it is faid in that act to be a Clean Heart ; and that which fixeth its Defires upon Unclean or Impure Objects, is an Unclean Heart in that act: Therefore, before we can determine what an Unclean Heart is, it is neceffary to know what are Unclean Objects, the tendency of the Defires of the Heart whereunto, doth denominate an Unclean Heart. Generally, whatfoever is a thing prohibited by the Command of God, carries in it an Immundities, an Impurity and Uncleannefs in it: But that is not the Uncleanness principally intended: it is more Large and Spacious than the intent of the Text bears: But there are certain Lufts and Impure or Immoderate Propenfions in our Natures after certain Objects, which come under the Name of Unclean Lufts; and thofe are of two kinds, the Lufts of the Mind, and the Lufts of the Flesh; for fo they are called and diftinguished by the Apoftle. The Lufts of the Mind are fuch as have their Activity principally in the Mind, though they may have their Improvements by the Crafts and Conftitution of the Body: as the Luft of Envy, Revenge, Hatred, Pride, Vain-glory; These are more Spiritual Lufts; and therefore though they are more Devilish, yet they are not properly fo Unclean, as thofe we after mention. The Lufts of the Flesh are fuch Lufts as arife from our fenfual Appetites after fenfual Objects; as the Lufts after Meats, Drink, and Carnal Pleafures. And although these Objects are not in themselves finful, nor confequently the Appetites,

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of them unlawful, (for they are planted in our Natures by the Wife and Pure God of Nature, to moft neceffary and excellent Ends; for the Preservation of our felves and our Kind) yet they do accidentally become Impurities and Uncleanness to us, when inordinately affected or acted. And these are those Unclean Objects, the Defires whereof do denominate an Unclean Heart; but principally the Letter, the Luft of Carnal Concupifcence, called by the Scriptures in an eminent manner, the Lufts of the Flesh, 1 John 2. 16. Fleshly Lufts, that fight against the Soul, i Pet. 2. 11. Walking after the Flesh in the Lufts of Uncleanness, 2 Pet. 2. 10. Perchance bearing fome Analogy to thofe Legal Uncleanneffes in the Levitical Law, efpecially to thofe of Levit. 15. Even the very natural Infirmities; nay, thofe that are not only tolerated, but allowed, carry in them a kind of Impurity and Uncleannefs. And hence grow thofe many Legal Impurities which disabled the Jews from coming into the Camp or Tabernacle till they were Purified, as that of Leprofy, touching of Dead Bodies, unclean Iffues, uncleannefs afafter Child-birth, uncleanness of natural Commixtions, Lev. 15. 18. Exodus 19. 15. the uncleannefs of natural Succeffions, Deut. 23. 13, 14. The wafhings of Aaron and his Sons, Exod. 30. 20. All which are but Emblems of the Impurity of the Heart, and of the Great Care that is to be used in the keeping of it Clean: and the Reason is Morally and Excellently given, Deut 23. 14. For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of the Camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine Enemies before thee: therefore shall thy Camp be Holy, that be fee no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee. The Conclufion thereof is, That this Carnal Concupifcence, the Luft of the Flesh, predominate in the Heart, is that which principally and by way of Eminence, in refpect of the fubject matter of it, denominates an Unclean Heart. But in as much as this Concupifcence hath fomewhat in it that is natural, and confequently is not fimply of it self Sin and Uncleannefs, therefore it is requifite to give a denomination of Uncleannefs and Impurity to those defires, that there be fome Formalities