l6o Of the liftionsfor vphich Vó1. II. cloathed me not ; fck and in Prifon, andye vifitedme not. Not that Sins of Com- mifüon !hall then be pafs'd by, and left out of the Account ; it is taken for granted, that they (hall be reckon'd for in the fir(t Place : But the Wifdoni of our Saviour chufeth to inftancein thofe Sins, which many hope they {hall not be call'd to Account for, the Omiffions and Negle&s of their Duty, that he might hereby root out of the Minds of Men effe&wally that falfe Opinion, which they are fo apt to entertain concerning fuchSins, as if they wereof a very light and venial Nature. II. This is evident likewife from Reafon; becaufe all the A&ions of reafon- able Creatures, as fuch, are under the Regulationand Government of Law, by which, as by aRule, every Thing that we do is to be meafur'd: And we have all the Reafon that can be to expe&,that he who gave us thisLaw,will look to the Obfervance of it, and take ah Account of all Breaches and Tranfgreffions of it, fo as to reward thofe that keep it, and to punifh the bold Tranfgrefors of it ; and if this were not fo, the Law would want its proper San&ion and Enforce- ment, and had been given to noPurpofe. And this Law of God reacheth all our A do ìs, inward and outward, reli= gious and civil, fecret and open, pofitive and negative, with all the Circumftances, of Commendation or Aggravation that belong to them. And as this Law is the Rule of all Humane A&ions now, and by whichwe ought to live in this World 5 fo it will be the Rule by which we and all our A&ions fhall be examined and judged in the next. The Judgment of God will be of the fame Extent with his Law. And thus I have as briefly its I could illuftrated and confirmed the Truthof this Propòfition, That all the A&lonswhich Men have done in this Life, {hall come to Account in the next, and they (hall be judged for them. And if fo, then certainly no Confideration that can be prefented to the Mind. ofMan, ought in Reafon to be more powerful to beget in us a ftri& Care and Confcience of all our Thoughts, Words, and A&ions, than this, that after a little while, when a fewDays or Years are over, all that ever we did in this World, hall be !ri&ly examined and look'd into, and be approvedor condemn- ed by the impartial Judgment of God. And therefore if we have any Grain of true Wifdom in us, any Love to our felves, any Senfe of our great and everlafting Intereft, that Great Day of Account fhould always be beforeus, and prefent to our Minds, and we fhould govern every A&ion of our Lives with a ferious and awful Regard to it. And if we be confcious to our felves that there is any Way ofWickednefr in us, that we have been grofly culpable in the Vio- lation of any known Law of God, or in the Negletl of anyPart of our Duty, how can we without Dread think of coming to fo revere an Account, and fal- ling under fo heavy a Sentence, as will then be pronounced upon the Workers of Iniquity? Indeed if we could do any Thing now, of which we were to give noAccount hereafter, and which would not be taken into Confideration at the Great Day, we then might be fecure and carelefs as to fuch A&ions : But when nothing we do is exempted from the Judgment of God, when we are affured beyond all Doubt, that he will one Day. take Cognizance of every Thought, Word and A&ion ; how circumfpe&fhould we be, what Manner of Perfores we are in all Holy Converfation and Gadlinefi ! how nearly does it concern us, to take heed to our Ways left at any time we offend, to keep our Hearts with all Diligence, and to eet a Wate4to the Door of our Lips ! that we maynot think or fpeakany Thing in he Sight and Hearingof our Judge, by which we may incur his Cenfure and Condemna- tion.. This is the Confideration which the wife Man propofeth to us, as of all other the molt likely to awe Men to the careful Obedience and Obfervanceof God's Laws. Fear God and keep hisCommandments ; for Godwill bring every Work into ÿndgment, and everyfecret Thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Can we be negligent ofour Lives and A&ions, when we confider that all the Pafl'a es of our Live are upon Record, and that there is a molt exa& Regifter kept of them, written in indelible Çhara&ers with a Pen of Iron, and the Point E o
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