begin to think upon God when Death seizes upon us, and Hell opens its jaws to swallow us. Miserable wretch! why despisest thou the riches of God's goodness and patience, and of his long-suffering, not considering that the goodness of God invites thee to repentance? But by the hardness of thine heart, that is without repentance, thou "treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who shall render unto every man according to his works," Rom. ii.

Certainly our salvation is a matter too important to be neglected, our life too uncertain to delay it till the next day, and our soul too precious to run the hazard of losing it. If we had many, we might venture the loss of one; but seeing that we have but one only, and that, if it be lost, all the riches and treasures of the world cannot redeem it, we should be moved with an holy fear of so great a loss, and decline whatsoever might cast this our precious soul into the second death and eternal damnation.

It is our Lord and Saviour's exhortation, " Watch, (saith he,) for ye know not the hour when the Lord is to come: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," Matt. xiv. Mark x. Luke xxii. This advice was so necessary, that he doth often repeat it; "Take heed to yourselves, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time shall be. Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be overcharged with gluttony and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day surprise you unawares; for as a thief it shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man," Matt. xiii. Luke xxi.

To awaken us to move from our spiritual drowsiness and profane sleep, our Saviour brings this example of the wicked servant, who said in his heart, "My lord delayeth his com ing," Matt. xxiv. And therefore he began to beat his fellowservants, to eat, drink, and be drunk. Our Saviour adds,

that the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour when he is not expected; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, Matt. xxiv. The parable of the foolish virgins had the same drift: they being fallen asleep without any oil in their lamps, were so surprised at the bridegroom's coming, that they could not be admitted into the marriage chamber; it was in vain that they beat at the gate, with a "Lord, lord, open unto us," Matt. xxv. The door could not be opened unto them; but it was ans vered from within, " Verily I say unto you, I know you not."

It is certain the chief and principal purpose of this and other parables is, to teach us how we should be prepared to expect the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; but they may very well be applied to death: for it hath pleased God to keep secret and hidden the day in which he will call us to himself, and that of our Saviour's coming to judgment, that we may be equally prepared, and disposed, for the one as well as for the other. As we shall be found at the time of our death, so shall we be judged at the great day, when Christ shall come down from heaven with the angels of his power; and from that judgment there shall be no appeal. Let us therefore put off the sin that doth so easily beset us, and break all the chains of our filthy lusts. Let us disarm Death, and take from it its venomous darts, and its piercing stings. Let us pluck off the claws and the teeth of this furieus beast, and extinguish all its fires, and it shall never be able to terrify us. Let us live the life of saints, and God

6.

Dd

will

will give us grace to die the death of the righteous, and to end like them. Let us live as we would at the instant when death is upon our lips. Let us live as if at every moment we were to die, and as if God were calling to us, "Come and appear to judgment."

And when Satan, the world, and our own flesh, solicit and draw us to evil, let ut say within ourselves, Is it thus that thou wilt reward the Lord thy God, and acknowledge all the blessings and favours that thou hast received from his bountiful hands? O fool, dost thou conceive that thou canst go to heaven by marching the road to hell? If thou dost wilfully cast thyself away into the depths of sin, what assurance hast thou of rising again by repentance? If thou forsakest God, art thou not afraid God will forsake thee? Is it thus thou preparest thyself to die? Are these lusts the arms wherewith thou must encounter Death? Art thou ready to draw near to the sacred majesty of thy God, and to appear before his great tribunal? The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light, Rom. x. Let us live as children of God, and heirs of his kingdom, Phil. iii. Let us be blameless, and shine as lights in the world. Let our conversation be as citizens of heaven, from whence we expect the Lord Jesus, Eph. ii. Let us go to the heavenly and holy Jerusalem, by the way of good works, which God hath prepared, that we might walk in them, Zech. xiii. In all our actions, words, and thoughts, let there be engraven "Holiness to the Lord." Let us discover by our deeds, that we really believe, without doubting, whatsoever the holy scripture declares of the eternal pains of hell, and of the unspeakable joys of heaven, Gal. vi. Whilst we have time, let us do good to all, but chiefly to the household of faith, Eph. v. Let us redeem the time, for the days are evil. Follow not Adam's example, who to eat of the fruit so pleasing to his taste, lost

the

the paradise which God had given him. Let us not lose the eternal delights that God hath prepared for us from the beginning of the world, for a moment of carnal pleasure.

Let us imitate the holy and wise virgins, put oil in our lamps betimes; let us enrich our hearts with faith, hope, and charity, and put on the robes of righteousness and holiness. As God's faithful servants, let us labour to accomplish our task. Let us be stedfast aud unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, that when Death shall appear, or rather when the Prince of life shall call us to himself, we may be ready to give him an exact account of our talents, with which he hath entrusted us, that we may say unto him in sincerity and truth, "I have done the work that thou hast given me, I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." O most excellent Lord, I have nothing else to do, but to receive from thine hand the crown of righteousness which thou hast promised to all that love thine appearance; I have nothing else to do, but to enter into thy glorious rest, where thou dost embrace in thine infinite mercies all such as overcome sin and death, and keep thy word unto the end.

A PRAYER and MEDITATION for one who prepares for Death, by Repentance and an holy Life.

INCE sin hath brought Death into the world, and ren

SINCE

dered this enemy so terrible to us, enable me, with thy divine virtue, to disarm it of its fiery darts and mortal poison. In regard thou hast prepared for me thine heavenly kingdom from the creation of the world, grant me grace to employ the residue of this life in purging my conscience from dead works, in studying the great business of sanctifica

tion, that I may be in readiness to enter into that abode of holiness, into which no impure thing can be admitted. O heavenly Father, discover to my soul, by the light of thine holy Spirit, the foolishness and deformity of sin, and its dreadful consequences; that I may abhor it as an universal monster, Satan's image, and a grievous pollution, that hath defaced in our souls the blessed features of thyself. Let me look upon it as a cursed burning, that hath kindled thy wrath, and will at last set on fire and consume this frame of the world. Let me look upon it as an intolerable burning, under which nature itself groans; and heaven complains of it as a public murderer of our first parents, of all mankind, and of the Lord of life. O that I may treat it as mine enemy, that hath provoked thy vengeance, and strives yet to cast me into eternal torments: make me sensible of the beauty of holiness, and the glory that shall crown it; that mine affections may embrace it as an invaluable jewel, taken from me by Satan, as an image and beam of thy perfections, and as that which shall make a principal part of our happiness in thy kingdom. O God of my salvation, thou seest my grief and inward trouble, to have so long assisted this tyrant sin, to destroy my soul, and to have neglected my chief business in the world, to serve and glorify thee. What shall I pretend as an excuse for myself? O my Sovereign Lord, I have sinned against thee, and committed abominable acts. But I repent in dust and ashes, and cannot but look back upon my evil deeds with horror. O God, who searchest the heart, thou knowest that my greatest grief proceeds from my not grieving sufficiently, and as mine iniquities have deserved. The number and greatness of my crimes are not bid from thee: and thou understandest what I ought to do, and to be, to obtain pardon. O Lord, I seek not the motive of it in myself, but in thine infinite mercy, that desirest not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn and live. grant me the grace of repentance.

Turn me, O God, and Thou art able to change