331 01 the Workagn'd to every Man, &C. Vol. Betides, how can we expeét that God fhould acceptofany Work that we do at fuch a time ? With what Face can we put offGod with theDregs of our Life? orhow can wehope that he will be pleafed with the Service of thofe Years, which weour felves take no pleafr re in ? ifwe offer the lame inSacrfce,is it not evil ? and ifwe offer the ñlind,is it notevil ?der it nowt° thyGovernor,and fee ifhe willbe pleafed with thee ? And Sicknefs is commonly as bad a time as Old Age, and ufua]iy incumber'd with greater Difficulties, and clog'd with more Indifpotitions. If a violent Di- fiemper feize upon us,it many times takes away the tale ofour Reafon, and deprives Us of all Opportunity ofConfideration ; it makes usboth infenfìble of the danger of our Condition, and incapable of Wing the means to avoid it. And ifwe have negleted Religion before, and have put off the great Work of ourLife to the end of it, our Opportunity is irrecoverably loft ; for there is nothing to be done in Religion, when our Reafon is once departed from us; the Night is then come in- deed, and darknefr path overtaken lei; and tho' we be ftill alive; yet are we as Unfit for any Work, as if we were naturally dead. And, this is no fuch rare and extraordinary Cafe ; for it happens to many ; and every Man that wilfully defers theWork of Religion and Repentance to a dying hour; "hath reafon to fear that he (hall be thus furprized in his Sin, and Security, and by thejuft Judgment of God deprived of all the Opportunity of Life and Salvation, while he is yet in th e Land ofthe Living. But if God be more merciful unto us, and vifit us with fuch à Sicknefs', as leaves its the life of our Underftandings, yet all that we do in Religion at fuch a time, proceeds from fo violent a Caufe,fromthe prefent terror of Death,and the dreadful Apprehenfion of that Eternal Mifery which is juft ready to fwallow us up, that it is one of the hardeft things in the World,not onlyfor others,but even for our felves, toknow whether our Refolutions, and this fudden and batty Fit of Repentance be fincere or not : For it is natural, and almoft unavoidable, for a Man to repent, and be lorry for what he bath done, when he is going to Execution : But the Great Queftion is, What thisMan would do, if his Life were fpared ? Whether his Repentance would hold good, and he would become a new Man, and changehis former courfe of Life, or relapfe into it again ? And it is by no means certain, that he would not be as bad as he was before : Becaufe we fee many, who, when they lie upon a Sick Bed, giveall imaginable Teftimotiy ofa deep Sortow, and a hearty Repentance for their Sins, who yet upon their Recovery, return to their former Sins with a greater Appetite, and make themfelves ten times more the Children of wrath than they were before. -So that all the work that we can do at Inch a time, ought not to be much reckoned upon, and can give us little or no Comfort; be- caufe it is fo infinitely uncertain whether it be real and fincere, and whether the effet of fo violent a Caufe would fait and continue if the Caufe were removed. Therefore wefliould workwhile it is day ; for whatever we do in this Evening of our. Lives, will be done withvery great difficulty, and withvery doubtful Succefs. But betides this Evening, there is a Night coming when noMan canwork: Death,. . will feize upon us, and then our State will be irrecoverably concluded; after that it will be impoffible for us to do any thing towards our ownSalvation, or tohave anything done for us by others ; the Prayers of the living will not avail the dead, as the Treefalls fo it lier; there is no wifdom, nor counfel, nor device in thegrave whither we aregoing; therefore, according to the Counfel of the Wife Man, what our handindeth to do, let us do it with our might. This Counfel concerns all Ages and Perfons. I will apply it to the Young, in the Words of the wife Preacher, Ecclef.12. 1. Remember now thy Creator in the days ofthyyouth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou(haltfay, I have nopleafure itt them. To them who are in the vigour of. their Age, in the Words of the Prophet, Ifa. Ch. 55: 6. Seek the Lord while he may be found, callye uponhim while he is near. And to them that are old, in the Wordsofanother Pro- phet, fer. 13. 16. Give glary to the Lordyour God, before he canfeth darknef , and be- foreyour feetfumble upon the dark Mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the fhadow ofdeath, and make it grofsdarkneft. And let us every one ofus, of what Age or Condition foever, apply it to ourfelves, in the Wordsof our Bleffed Saviour here in the Text, 1 muflwork the worksofhim thatfensme, While it is day; the Night cometh when no Mancan work $ E R-
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