The True 'Yfccottratïante 5 6j. is matter of forrow and grief co him. 'A true penitent cannot eably forget his firs, but thinksof them often, and is daily and hourly troubled for them but he careleís linner never makes any reckoning of his fins as loon as they are pft, and the fwcet nets of the pleaCure is once over: He numbers his fins indeed, but it is by'Additi on, andMultiplication ; not by.Suhftra &ion ; hecontinually 'adds to the cld{core, but{tever takes ought from it; or if he do number them rt any time. he makes bu. Cyphers of them; he flights and uabes hght of them, and thinks they (lard for men blanks.Let us make more reckoning of our fns;and take a flri& account of them, and compute the fins of our youth, the fins of our 'grown years, the fins of our olo age; let us labour to know the full numberand tale of them ; otherwife, if we do not take account of our fins, and daily number them, and faro them up as many as 'we can remember, Godwill number them for us; and one day bring them to' our rc- membrancewhether we will or no. God will return the like anfwer from heaven to us, as he did to Belfhazzar the King, Dan. 5.26. Mene; -God path ruñibred thy Kingdame and jnifhed it Mene , God hath numbred thy dayel andfrtifhed them. Betccer it is for us to number our own dayes, than leave them to God có number, and take fuel, an exa& account of theta, as to infli& the Celerityof his wrath upon us for them : It is better for usto trouble our thoughts a little with the remembrance of fin, than to be tormented hereafterwith the punifhment of fin. Think then be- times ofnurnbring thy fins, that thou maift prevent God numbring of them to thy endlefs flume and grief. 2. Our dayes that are to come muff be numbred : we muff reckon with our [elves what dayes we have yet tofpend, and labour to give a good account of the years that are yet behind. It was theprayer of David Pfal. 39. 4. Lord,' make me ta: know mine end, and the meafare of my dayeswhat it it, that I may knowhow frail T am. As ifhe had faid, Lord. Giveme grace to confider how little a.titne thou haft allot- tedme here, that I may learn to die well. As the Sea-man numbers the degrees of the Sun, that he may the better provide himfelf to pars the'tEquino&ial.Line; 'So ought we to number oar dayes, -that we may the better prepare our felved to pats the laft Line of Death. God rakes account of ourvery Hairs , they are all numbred by God. If Godnumber our hairs for the difcovery of his Providence' towards us, then the argument holds a pari, that we fh'ould remember to number our dayes for the promotion of his glory, and thefurthering ofour own eternal welfare. . Efpecially is many of us as are well fhricken inyears, it concernsus molt to ac- count with our felves what dayes wehave yet to run out. A Traveller that is Come what near the end of his journey, is the trlefl curious and exà& in counting the miles which he is yet to got Even fo the older we are, the morecareful Ought we to be of the dayes that are yet behind, and watchful of our time which yet remains to be fpent in this Tabernacle of the flefh. Are our dayes tò come tobe numbred ? Surely then the left day is to be.thor'glvt upon, even the laft day of life which we (hall fee in this world. We fpend all the ref+ of our dayes the better, wl,en this left day is remembred by us. David hid this day ever inhisthoughts to previdefor it, and he defired only tolive to fie him. feltTor that day, ?fal. 39. r3. o flareme that t may recover/ftength, before i go hence and be no more. Allalayes wait on this left Day, and the fpending ofall the dayes of our lives, tends only to the wife ordering of this laft day. All our dayes are well fpcnt, ifwe have madeproviCon for this day. Thou haft livedwell all thy dayes, if thy !aft day of life prove comfortable unto thee. Let us live fo, as that we may have alwaics this day in our eye a end the longer we live, let us ftrive the more to fit and difpofe our felves for death by theferious confideration and medita- tion ofthislaftday. As a hoar moves the fatter to its Centre, fo let tiethe nearer we are to Death, make themolt haft tobid it vvekome." Are we commanded to have an eye to the time that isyet to come ? Why then , this points out unto esthe precioufnels of our time, what an high efaeem and value we are to fee upon the dayes that are to come i and feeing we have Made fo light of cte time that is past, we mull count the time that remains to be the more preci- ors. There is not an hour in the day; not a tniute of-that hour, but ought to be D d d d highly Obferv. q. Mat, in! pel
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