732 The Long-fuffering of God. Vol. I. ruin of more Souls than all the other whi h I have mentioned ; they may have flails their thoufands, but this its ten thou_ands. For anfwer to this, be pleafed ferioufly to lay to heart thefe following Conff- aerations, molt of which I _hall fpeakbut briefly to , becaufe I have, upon a- ther Occafions, fpoken largely to them. (a.) If there he a future Judgment, then it iscertain, at how great a diflancé foever it may be. That which (hall be a thoufand Years hence willcertainly'be and 'tis but very fmall Comfort and Encouragment, confidering the vaft Difpra- portion betweenTime and Eternity; to think that after twenty or forty Years shall be paft and gone, then mutt I enter upon eternal Mifery ; then will thofe intolerable Torments begin which fhall never have an end; (a.) But it is not certain that it is at fuch a Diftànce; when weputfrom us thè evil day, it is many times nearer to us than we are aware ; and when we think the Judgment of God is at a great Diftance , the fudge may be near , even at the door. Our times are not in our own Hands, but we are perfectly at the difpofal of another, who when he pleafeth can put a Period to them, and caufe our Breath to ceafe from our Nofirils, and we fhall not be ; There is no man hathpower over thefpirit, to retain thefpirit, neither bath he power in the day of death , faith the Wife Man a little before the Text. Thou dreameft perhaps of many Years con- tinuance in this World, and perhaps in the height of this vain Imagination, the decree isPealed, andthe commandment comeforth to fummon thee out of this World, and thou art juft dropping into that mifery which thou fancieft to be at fuch a diftance; whilft thou art vainly promifing thy felf the eafe of manyyears, God may fay to thee, Thou fool, this night _hall thy foul k required of thee , and then; where are all thy Hopes (3.) Suppofing the evil day were at a confiderable diftance , yet Men run an infinite Hazard in venturing all the Hopes of their Salvation upon a future Re- pentance ; for what knoweft thou, OMan ! but thou may'ft be furprized by a fudden Stroke which may give thee no warning, leave thee no fpace of Repen- tance ? A violent Difeafe may feize upon thee , which may diforder thy Under- itanding, and fo weaken all thy Faculties, as to render thee unfit for all reafona- ble Operations. At the bell, how unfit are we for the molt ferious Work of our Lives, when we are hardly fit to do any thing I Old Age is a very unfeafonable time for Repentance, when we are full of Weaknefs and Infirmity, and our Minds are crooked and bowed down byVice, as our Bodies are by Age, and as hard to be recovered to their firft Streightnefs ; much more is it an improper time for this Work, whenSicknefs and,old Agemeet together. There aretwo things in which Men, in other things wife enough, do ufually mifcarry ; in putting off themaking of their Wills, and their Repentance, till it be too late. Men had heed then be of found Underftaitding and perfeif Memory, when they Pet about Matters of fo great Confequence in refpeét of their temporal and eternal Con= cernments ; efpecially when Men have the Happinefsof all Eternity to take care Of and provide for, they had need have their Underftandings about them, and all the Advantages of Leifure and Confideration, to make a lober Reflection up-' Oil their paft Lives, and make up their Accounts with God, and to Pet all things right between him and them; and 'tis well if after all a Repentance wilfully de- ferr'd folong, fo fhort and imperfect, fo confufed and hudled up, will at laft be ac= cepted as a tolerable Atonement for the Crimes and Mifcarriages of a long Life. (4.) Suppofe thou wer't fore to repentbefore thou leaveft the World , and to do this Work throughly, whichno Man can promife to himfelf that deliberately delays it ; yet this can be no reafonable Encouragement to go on in an evil Courfe, becaufe we do but hereby aggravate our own Trouble , and treafure up fo much more Sorrow and Afiétion to our felves againft the Day of Repentance, and confequently fin on, in hopes of being hereafter fo much the more troubled and grieved for what we have done ; as if a Man fhould go on to break the Laws, in hopes of a more fevere and exemplary Punifhment ; Pure this can be no En- couragement or Ground of Hope to any reafona.ble and confiderate Man. Lafily.
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