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Necessity of Serious Consideration
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Genre
Doctrinal Treatise
Date
1691
Full Title
The necessity of Serious Consideration, and speedy repentance, As the only way to be safe both living and dying.
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Wing E566
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The original format is octavo.
The original contains contains elements such as italics,
The CONCLUSION.
FRom what we have now proved, it may
be too easie, I fear, for many of us to
reflect very sadly upon our selves. It is certainly,
if these things be so as hath been said,
high time for us all to think, what we have
been doing all the while we have already lived
in the world, that we may know what
we have yet to do, before we go out of it.
'Tis high time for us to remember, That we
must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ,
that every one may receive the things done,
in his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad, 2 Cor. V. 10. We must
appear, that's certain, there is no flinching
or evasion; all of us, without exception; and
there will God render to every man according to
his deeds, Rom. II. 6. When we call this to
mind, do we not think our selves concern'd
to [illegible] enquire, How we are prepared to answer
1
for our selves, at that most dreadful Tribunal?
We see, that according to our deeds or behaviour
in the body, or whilst we here live, so
we must then be doom'd to receive, either
Eternal Reward, or Eternal Punishment; as
is elsewhere plain enough. Are we able to
plead for our selves, That we have lived a life
of Repentance, Faith, and new Obedience? Then
all will be well; through the rich Mercy of
God, and Merits or ouf Blessed JESUS,
Eternal Life is assured unto us. But if we
cannot plead this, what will become of us?
Know we how soon we must dye, or how we
must dye? As we dye, so must we rise to the
Judgment. If we dye before we have lived a
life of holiness, our deeds have been wicked,
and according to them, we shall receive indignation
and wrath, tribulation and anguish; this
is the reward of all that do evil. Will it
excuse us to say, Lord, we have lived wickedly
'tis true, but we were sorry for it when
we saw our selves like to dye, and resolved to
live a better life, if thou wouldst have spared
us a while longer? Or will it suffice us to
say, Lord, we were always resolved to repent
and to live well, but thou didst cut us off by
death, before we had begun to do as we had
resolved, if thou wouldst have let us live
long enough? Alas, enough hath been already
said, to convince us of the folly of pleading
2
thus; and it concerns us to grow wiser very
quickly, for we know not how little time we
have to learn Wisdom in. We can many of
us say already, That our Glass is almost run
out; and he whose Glass is but newly turn'd
up, doth not know how few Sands are yet to
run, e're it stop for ever. We that grow old,
know, That if we have not repented, it's
more than full time for us to begin; for begin
now as soon as we will, we are sure it is very
late; and a late Repentance is a very uncertain
thing to trust to. If we have not by so long
a delay, lost our Salvation, it may be fear'd
we have quite lost the Comfort of being sure
of it as long as we live. They who are young,
cannot but know, That every day they live,
they grow older; what any day adds to the
time past, so much it takes from the time to
come; and the more they have lived, the less
they have to live; and they are always ignorant,
whether they have a day more to live or
no. If then the young person have not yet
repented, 'tis high time for him too, now to
begin. If he stay any longer, his Repentance
will be late too, and so much the less comfortable;
and possibly it may be too late; for it
is ten to one he shall dye before he be old; and
if not, why should he grudge himself the
best of Comforts in Old Age, a Conscience that
can testifie that he hath repented, and kept
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God's Commandments from his youth up till
then? I doubt not, but whether we be old
or young, we are so well satisfied, at least many
of us, that Repentance is necessary to Salvation,
that we would not willingly dye without
it. And we could not be so easie within
our selves, as we are, did we not either think
our selves already penitent, or presume we
shall be so sometime e're we go hence. I shall
therefore now close this Discourse with a necessay
Caution, lest we mistake that for Repentance,
which is not; and an earnest Exhortation
to make more haste to repent.
1. Let us take heed that we be not mistaken
in this great and necessary duty. A mistake
in a matter of so great importance, is very
dangerous, and, I fear, as common, as dangerous.
Corrupt Nature is so averse from it,
that it easily persuades us to take something
that looks a little like it, for it, because we
find it more easie, and not wholly inconsistent
with our sin. And hence it comes to pass,
that we never repent to purpose, because we
persuade our selves we have done so, when
we have not. We are sensible that we are
guilty of many sins; and who is not so, that
believes what he reads in Scripture? Can a
Drunkard, or a Swearer, or a Fornicator, or
Adulterer, or any Prophane and Debauch'd person
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chuse but be sensible that he breaks the
Laws of God, which there he reads? We are
sometimes a little troubled in our minds for
such sins, and are sorry that we have been
guilty of them, and this moves us to fall down
on our knees, and confess them to God, and to
beg his Pardon for them, and to promise we
will no more commit them. And it may be,
we are then in good earnest, and seriously purpose
to perform our Promises, and we receive
the Sacrament upon it, and so seal up our Repentance;
and so our hearts are at rest, and
we conclude our Peace is made; and by this
hasty Conclusion, we leave the most considerable
part of the work undone; and we grow
too soon confident, ever to be sure; and presume
so quickly, That our condition is good,
that we never use Diligence enough to make
it good. He that thinks his Repentance quite
finish'd, so long as he lives, is deveiv'd: It is
the work of our life, and is not finish'd but
with it: Whenever it was begun, it must
continue till we dye: And it implies all this
that here follows, which seems to be too little
thought on by many, who think themselves
true Penitents.
First, There must be a very serious resolution
to live a Godly Life after the Commandments
of God: And such a resolution supposeth a due
Consideration of such things as are the proper
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motives to it. A man must consider the Nature
of God, and his own nature as he is man,
made in the Image of God; whence it became
his natural duty to continue Holy as God is
Holy. He must consider God's Absolute Authority
over him as his Creator, Owner, Governour
and Preserver; and the natural obligations
that are upon him as God's Creature,
to Serve and Honour him according to his
will. He must consider that the design of his
Creation was, that God might Glorifie his
own Goodness in making him a Creature capable
of understanding so much of God as
might enable him to Glorifie God on Earth,
and be perfectly Blessed in the enjoyment 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 his Sinful and Miserable State, a
Saviour to redeem him from destruction by
the Sacrifice of his own most Precious Blood;
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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
State of Salvation on Earth. This is that
7
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 desire 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
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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
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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
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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 can, to ask them
forgiveness, and beg their Prayers to God for
his forgiveness of us.
All this is necessarily implied in the Duty
of Repentance. And how easie is it then to
see, that many who think themselves Penitents,
are mistaken in their duty? Yea, how
many of them who seem to be Persons not of
the worst temper, but far better than the most
of us are, never repent at all, merely because
they never yet well consider'd what Repentance
11
is. It is no less than hath been said;
So that no one that hath not well considered,
and unfeignedly resolved, and is not always
careful to avoid Sin, and lead a holy life; no
one that loveth not God more than all things,
or that hateth not Sin more than all Evils; no
one that is not more desirous to honour God,
than to please himself; none that examines
not his own heart and his ways often, or that
studieth not the Word of God constantly, or
shuns not all Temptations carefully, or
resists them not stoutly; none that is proud of
himself, or is not deeply and humblingly sensible
of his own vileness; none that continueth
in any known sin, or wilfully and ordinarily
omitteth any known duty: none, I say, that
labours not as much as he can, to be a good
Christian in all things according to the Gospel
of Christ, is to account himself a true Penitent.
2. And now, if we find not our selves true
Penitents yet, let us, as we value God's Honour,
and our own Salvation, make haste to
be so. Oh what a wretched piece of folly is
it to cast our whole happiness upon a mere
uncertainty! What an accountable madness
is it, instead of making our Calling and
Election sure, to make them every day we
live more and more uncertain of us? Is this
all the kindness that we can afford our selves,
N 3
12
that we will rather venture to be miserable
for ever, than take a little pains in time to
prevent it? Had we rather weep fruitlesly
for our Torments, than weep savingly for our
Sins? For a little brutish Pleasure, which
though we have to day, we are not sure we
shall have to morrow, shall we hazard the
unexpressible Pleasures of Eternity, which we
may make sure of to day, but make it a very
doubtful point, if we delay to make sure of
them to day, whether we shall ever enjoy
them, do what we can hereafter? Do we
any of us know, how soon the Door will be
shut upon us, and there shall be no entrance
for us into Heaven? Why then will we imitate
the foolish Virgins, and rather chuse to
sleep away the opportunity, than seek to have
our Lamps furnish'd with Oil in due season?
If we be taken unprovided, we know it will
be in vain at last to cry, Lord, Lord, open unto
us; Christ's Answer will be ready, Verily
I say unto you, I know you not, Matth. XXV.
12. Those who have worn the Devil's Livery
so long, Christ will not own at last for
Persons of his Retinue.
O why will we deal worse with God, and
our own Souls, than we are wont to do with
any thing else of the meanest concern to us?
When we are in any trouble of body or estate,
we are in great haste to be relieved; neither
13
delay we to accept of help when 'tis first tendered
to us. When one offers us a good
gift, or other considerable kindness, we are
not wont to bid him stay till to morrow.
What an untoward humour is this in us?
God made haste to restore fallen Man, and
to comfort him with the promise of a Saviour;
Our Saviour made haste when the time was
come to shed his precious Blood for our Redemption;
The Holy Ghost hath not delay'd
by the Word and Ministry to beseech us to be
reconciled with God. But we delay still, as
though, whatever else be, yet nothing that is
meant to bring us towards Heaven and Happiness
were worth regarding.
Whilst we delay our Repentance, we give
the Devil, our Adversary, all the Advantages
he can desire to have of us. The holy Angels
of God would rejoice to see one of us repent,
Luke XV. 7, 10. And had we rather
gratify the Devil by our Damnation, than
have the holy Angels rejoice at our Salvation?
Whilst we delay, the Devil needs not tempt
us, nor seek to devour us; we take care to
save him that labour, by wilfully continuing
in his power; and if hereafter we shall think
of repenting, we have already taken care that
he shall not want matter for a temptation
from our long impenitence. Yea, we give
him so sure hold of us, that we shall not easily
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break loose from him. We have given
him so long experience of our yielding temper,
that he is never to seek how to fit our
humour with a suitable Temptation; neither
can he doubt of always prevailing, where he
hath prevail'd so often. Hitherto he hath
befool'd us, by persuading us 'tis always too
soon to grow wise; and having been fools
so long, he will the more easily persuade us
hereafter, because with a fairer colour of reason,
that it is then too late.
How many of our temper hath the Devil
got into Hell already, by persuading them
'tis already too soon, till they find it too late?
What would those miserable Souls, who have
been thus befool'd into Torments, now give,
if they had it, for such an opportunity of repenting
as we now have? O why then should
we now lose the opportunity we have, and
giddily venture thereby suddenly to fall into
that remediless condition they are now in?
The next day, or hour, for ought we know,
may lodge us for ever with them in Hell; and
then shall we have weeping, and wailing and
gnashing of teeth for evermore. Those tears of
Repentance, which will not then quench,
might now prevent those unquenchable
Flames from taking hold of us.
O that we could every day really imagine
our selves under the stroke of Death! and
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that the apprehension thereof might awake us
into a serious consideration of that Eternal
State we then must enter into! What haste
would we then be in to make as sure as we
could of escaping those dreadful Torments,
the very thoughts whereof seem torment enough?
What strange Agonies of Soul have
many dying sinners fallen into, who have lived
jovially all their days? What thoughts have
some of us, it may be, had, when in some
fit of sickness we apprehended Death approaching
near us? How penitent, how religious
seem'd we then to grow all on a sudden!
How came we to be of such a different temper
then, from that which we were in before? O,
we saw our selves, in all appearance, then just
on the very brink of Eternity; we thought
our selves just stepping into Hell, if we repented
not; and then we thought it time to repent
indeed, and that it stood us upon as much
as our Souls were worth to make haste. And
may we not be this moment, for ought we
know, in the very same danger that we then
thought our selves in? Do we know, any of us,
that there is so much as one day, or one hour,
betwixt this moment and Eternity? And why
then are we not now in as great haste to repent,
as we were in then? How many that
delay from time to time, are, when they least
fear it, knock'd down with a sudden blow?
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How many are cut off in the very act of sin,
when secure in themselves, and thinking on
no such thing as dying, they were in Hell before
they thought that death was near them?
Is not our delaying our Repentance the likeliest
way in the World to provoke Almighty
God to send out one of these swift Arrows to
destroy us? O let us be ready, for it may come
in an hour that we think not. Whilst we so
confidently promise our selves to morrow, and
flatter our selves with purposes of repenting
then, a sudden destruction, a Phrenzy, a stupidity,
or we know not what, may arrest us,
and not give us leave so much as to think that
we are Sinners; or to say, Lord have mercy
on us.
Doth not God seem, for this very reason, to
conceal both the time, and the manner of our
death from us, that we may be the more watchful,
and take the more care to be always ready
for dying at whatever hour, or in whatever
way it shall please him to take us hence?
Did we certainly know before-hand, just
when, and how we must die, we would
venture the more boldly to spend our time
in sin and vanity, till we knew the time
was near; and then it may be some few days
before, become a little more serious; just as it
is the [illegible] custome of too many at this time to do
before a Sacrament. Therefore God will not
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have us to know the time of our death, that
we not knowing but it may be to morrow,
may be every day ready; and so he may have
the honour, and we the comfort of a pious life.
Moreover, as was before said, To continue
in sin, in hopes that we may repent hereafter,
as it is to sin that grace may abound, which is a thing
(if we believe the Apostle) greatly to be
abhorred, Rom. VI. 1 So is it the most effectual
course we can take to shorten our days, and to
prevent the benefit we hope for. The fear of the
Lord prolongeth days; but the years of the wicked
shall be shortened: The hope of the righteous shall
be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked
shall perish, Prov. X. 27, 28.
Again, We can hardly give any rational
account, why God should so strictly, and
under so severe Penalties enjoin us the practice
of many excellent Vertues, and forbid us many
foul Sins, if we may hope to please him,
and be saved by a very late, or death-bed Repentance.
Can such Vertues as Sobriety, Temperance
and Chastity, and many more, be
thought commanded us as the proper Exercises
of a sick and dying man? Can the Sins of
Gluttony and Drunkenness, Chambering and
Wantonness, Murther, Theft, Ambition, Covetousness,
and more such like, be forbidden
upon pain of damnation, lest a man should be
guilty of them on his Death-bed, or in his last
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Sickness; when 'tis somewhat hard to conceive,
how a man should have any thoughts
of them? Or can we conceive, that the meaning
of such Commands is no more but this;
You must either do these Duties, and avoid
these Sins, while you live, or repent that you
have not done so, when you are about to die?
What were this but to say, That all the Commands
of holy living signify no more, but this,
That a man may safely break them all whilst
he liveth; if he can but keep them, when he
can break them no more; or be sorry that he
hath broken them, when he is afraid he is just
going to be damn'd for it; or resolve to keep
them, when he thinks he can live no longer?
What probability is there, that any Resolution
of repenting hereafter, is sincere? We
cannot absolutely resolve to repent hereafter, because
we cannot certainly know that we shall
live hereafter; and if we resolve but conditionally,
to repent hereafter, that is, on supposition
that we shall live to repent, we must seem
content to be damn'd, if we dye before that
time come, because we know, That without
Repentance we must be damn'd. I think one
cannot in good earnest resolve to repent, unless
he immediately do repent, when he resolves
upon it. How can any one imagine it too soon
to do what he knows necessary to be done,
and yet may never be done, if not just now?
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No man can with any colour of reason be
thought in earnest, when he saith he resolveth
to do that another day, which he knows
is to be done every day, and must of necessity
be done sometime, and yet he knows not whether
he shall have another day or no. It's plain,
such a man doth not resolve at all to repent,
for he loves it not, and that's the reason he doth
it not now, and will still be as good a reason not
to do it then; but in truth, all he resolves upon,
is, not to repent now, or to drive it off yet
longer, and that's no resolution at all to repent.
What folly is it to drive off our Repentance,
till we be scourged and lash'd unto it?
If we make not haste of our selves, and God
have yet any kindness left in store for us, he
will whip us to it. If we will not otherwise
awake out of sleep, God, if he have not already
determin'd we shall sleep on unto death,
will awake us with his Rod. And whether
had the Prodigal better have staid in his Father's
House, and continued in his Love, and
under his constant Care and Providence, by
obeying him at first; or have wandred abroad,
as he did, till extreme want and ill usage drove
him home? If we will be saved, we must repent;
and is it not a very foolish thing to stay
till the whip drive us to it? Especially when
'tis doubtful, whether or no the Repentance
which begins in Fear, will end in Love, which
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yet if it do not, it will never bring us to Salvation.
And now after all this, I hope none will be
so foolish as to flatter themselves with a vain
conceit of their being Penitents, when they are
not; or to encourage themselves with as vain
hopes of repenting hereafter, whereof they
can have no certainty. We find indeed one
Example of a dying Penitent in the Scripture,
who was accepted of God, and we find no
more but one, that of thr Thief upon the
Cross. But alas! he hath afforded but very
small Encouragement to any delaying Sinner,
by his own happiness in being crucified
by the side of his Saviour. Here is, as I
said, but one single Example, and yet had
there been ten thousand such as this one was,
I do not see how they could any more encourage
a considering man to delay his Repentance
one hour, because no one knows whether
after that hour he shall have so much
time as that Malefactor had to Repent in, tho
it was very short, or whether in that short
time he shall repent as he did. Had never
any Offender but one, been pardon'd by any
King, could this be any reasonable encouragement
to all the Rebels and Malefactors in the
Countrey to hold on rebelling, robbing, stealing,
murthering, and committing all sorts of
capital Crimes in hopes of a Pardon; only
21
because once it fell out that some such Offender
was pardon'd? Indeed it will follow
hence, that such a Pardon may possibly be
obtain'd, because it was obtain'd: but it
follows not that it may ordinarily and probably
be obtain'd, because it never was any more
than once obtain'd, that we know of. Besides,
This is indeed an Example of a late Repentance;
and many Examples of a late Repentance
there are besides this, though hardly
another of one so late: but we are not sure
it is an Example of a delayed Repentance; for
we cannot find that this late Penitent ever one
minute delayed his Repentance after he was
called to it, and convinced that it was his
duty. And indeed, seeing this man's case was
very extraordinary, he that would encourage
himself by it, ought first to see that his own
Case, in all considerable circumstances, be
like unto it.
If any one ask, What course is to be taken
by those who have long delay'd their Repentance,
but are not yet in appearance near unto
death? I know not what better Advice to
give him than this: That he delay it no longer,
but make all the haste that possibly he can
to repent now: And by how much the more
time he hath already lost, let him use so much
the more care and diligence to improve that
little which is yet behind, to his best advantage.
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Such an one had need to give himself,
in a manner, wholly henceforward to this
great Work, and should not suffer any business
that he can well shun, to disturb him in
it. He should not now grudge to pinch himself
of time in relation to all bodily and
worldly Concerns, as much as he did God
and his own Soul before; or to bestow
as much upon these, if he can possibly, as he
used to do upon those. No self-examination,
no humiliation, no prayers, no tears, no striving
to do good, can be too much. He had
need to do almost nothing else but bewail his
sinful life, denying himself all the Pleasures,
and all the Comforts of this World, save only
the necessary supports of life. This seems to
me the least he can do, to satisfy himself of
the sincerity of so late a Repentance, or to lay
a foundation for a comfortable hope of God's
acceptance. I shall now conclude the whole
Discourse with those words, Isa. LV. 6, 7.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye
upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake
his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy; and to our God; for he
will abundantly pardon.
FINIS