Serro. CXIV. of Holy Refolztzon. 75' And there is infinite danger in thefe delays. For if thy Soul be any thing to thee, thou ventureft that if thou haft any tendernefs and regard for thy eter- nal Intereft, thou runneft the hazard of that; if Heaven and Hell be any thing to thee, thou incurreft the dangerof lofing the one, and falling into the other. And thou gaineft nothing by continuing unrefolved. If Death and Judgment would tarry thy leifure, and wait till thou hadft brought thy thoughts to Come ilfue, and were refolved what to do, it were fomething : but thy Irrefolution in this matter will be fo far from keeping back Death and Judgment, that it will both haften and aggravate them, bothmake them to come the former, and to be the heavie when they come : becaufe thou abufeft the goodnefs of God, and defpifefihis patience and longfupring, which fboeld lead thee and draw thee on to Repentance, and not keep theeback. Hereby thou incourageft thy felf in thy lewd and riotous courfes, and, becaufe theLord delayeth his coming, art the more negligent and extravagant. Hear what doomour Lord pronounceth upon fuck flothful and wickedfervantr, Luke i 2. 46. The Lord of thatfervant will come in a daywhenhe looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him infender, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. None fo like to be furprized and to be feverely handled by the Janice of God, as thofe that trifle with his Patience. 4. Confider howmuch Refolution would tend to the felling of our Minds, and making our Lives comfortable. There is nothing that perplexeth and difqui- eteth a manmore, than to be unrefolved in the great and important Concern- ments of his Life. What anxiety and confufion is there in our Spirits, whilft we are doubtfuland undetermined about fuck matters ? How are we divided and di- ftraked, when our Reafon and Judgment dire&us one way, and our Lufts and Affe&ions biafs us to the contrary ? When we are convinced and fatisfied what is belt for us, and yet are difaffeked to our. own Intereft. Such a Man is all the while felf-condemned, and ails with the perpetual regret of his Reafon and Con- fcience; and whenever he refle&s upon himfelf, he is offended and angrywith himfelf, his Life and all his A&ions are uneafie and'difpleafing to him ; and there is no way for this Man to be at peace, but to put an end to this confliCt one way or other, either by conquering bis Reafon or his Will. The former is ve- rydifficult, nothingbeing harder than for a finner to lay his Confcience afleep, after it is once throughly awaken'd ; he may charm it for a while, but every lit- tle occafion will rouze it again, and renew his Trouble; fo that tho' a Man may bave fomeTruce with his Confcience, yet he can never come to a firm and fettled Peace this way; but if by a vigorous Refolution a Man would but conquer bis Will, his Mind would be at reit, and there wouldbe a prefent calm in his Spirit. And why fhould we befuch enemies to our own Peace, and to the Comfort and Contentment of our Lives, as not to take this courfe, and thereby rid our felves at once of that, which really and at the bottom is theground of all the trouble and difquiet of our Lives? SER-.
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