merrie; he also laid his account for a long tack of fuch a voluptuous life, fays he, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, but he made his own tack without the Landlord which is like a counts ing before the hoft) and therefore it did not stand, bat was declared null that verie night; hence go he that beavie doom, then fool this night thy Soul fhall be required of thee &c Luk. 12, 19, 20. Multa cadunt inter calicem fupremaque labra, 5. And luppole thou doft arrive at old age,what fecuritie balt chou either for fpiritual, or bodilie capacitie for religious exercifes; ye know we are required to ferve the Lard with all our heart, with all our foul, with all our ftrength, Deut. 6.510. 12, and doeft thou think it likelie thou shall be able to do fo, when thy frength is failed, thy bodie ins firm, and thy intellectuals fore damnified; and fpecie allie than who bas all thy days been habituated to vicious practices, and contracted confirmed habits which are not foon fhaken off Jer. 13.13 Can the Leon pard change his pats &c, does thou not know that old age is a burden of it felt, & is ordinarlie attended & loaded with innumerable infirmities and calamitous circumftances, that both diftrels the bodie & diftra&t the mind, hence thefe Proverbs, Sen&us per fe more bus; non venit fola fnus, old-age brings many cares and croffes with it, and therefore Solomon ex borting to remember the Creator in the days of Youth, ufes the fame motive in pre-occupation of fuch an Objection as this, fays he, while the evil days Come not &c. Eccl. 12. 1, 2, c. where he is ve Particular in fpeaking of the approaching mi infirmities of old age. And further, what foolish boldnefs is it in thee to bring the Devils leavings to God, whereas the Lord should be ferved with the prime and best of all that we have, is it not a foul shame for thee, after thou haft wafted the vigour & fpirits of thy age upon thy Lufts and the Devil, at length to bring the refufe to God, how canft thou expect other but that he will throw the dung of thy facrifice in thy face, and both thee and thy facrifice behind his back; and moreover cant thou repent, can't thou believe, canft thou perform anie fpiritual action,in thy own virtue, no fure, for in us, that is, in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing, Rom. 7. 18, thus thy vain hopes being cut off, thou haft ground the next place to dread defpair, fpeciallie if then thought-fullie, consider the judicial plague God threatens to inflict on foch as thou art, Ila 6 10. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and fhut their eyes, leaft they convert and be beale ed. Fear, fear, thou who delays from Youth to Qld age, lealt God give you a heart to delay for ever, and the longer ye delay, certainlie ye will be the more indifpofed and reluctant, therefore we may pertinentlie apply that diftich of Ovid. Sed propera, necte venturas differ in hɔras, i. e. To day, make haft to do good, don't delay, I am fure God will never thank you for preffing preffing men to defpair, I bope God will be more mercifull than you talk, for his mercy is boundlefs, & cannot he fhew it forth at the twelfth hour,did he not pardon the Thief on the Cross, Luk. 23.42,43, Anfu. No doubt there are abundance of unwa rie felfs deceivers,, who abufe and pervert both the promifes, precepts, and examples in the Scripture, to their own perdition: we fear that manic break their neck upon the ftumbling ftone of Davids A dultery, and Peters Apoftacy, either encouraging themselves to wickednefs, or extenuating and excus fing their impieties, or prefumptuoufly promifing themselves mercy from thefe famous examples: and thou who forms this Obje&ion, leems to be one of these felf deluders and felf-defroyers: but that theu may be warie and afraid lealt thou ruine tby felf upon the confideration of the Thiefs falva. tion at the laft hour, pray ponder ferionfly the fol lowing Confiderations with refpect to this extraor dinarie Cafe. 1. Confid. One fingle act of absolute soveraigntie is not to be looked at as a common ftanding rule, after which we are to fquare our fentiments of Gods dealings, as if thence we might approvably conclude he will ufually de fo, God fometimes, (at his own unaccountable Arbitriment) tranfcends his own ordinary methods: This was an extraordinary fignal fingular cafe, perhaps without a Parallel; read from the beginning of Genefis to the end of the Res velation, you will not find fuch an other inftance hence fays Calvin in locum; Nefcio an à mund dito magis rarum & memorabile exemplum, un teritt which may be interpreted by what another lays, we may almoft as fron expect another crucifying of Chreft, as another Convert like this for a second timet now how dangerous it is, (pecially in a matter of fo great moment, as the eternal falvation of the soul) to venture or build hopes on fuch an uncertain foundation, as what God in foveraignty may do, when he hath given no promise that he will do, we think may be obvious to everie bodie, and they seem to be fatally infatuated, who think other wife, and rely upon their own groundlets thoughts, 2. Confid. Though the Thief on the Crols was a finner all his days, yet he was not fuch a prefumptu ous linner as thou art: The Thief upon the Cross never craffed Chrift nor his Spirit, nor bis own Light, in rejecting multiplied Gospel offers as thou hait done: be did repent at one fshort Sermon, in juftifying God and accufing and condemning bins felf, but thou haft by manie Sermons & Providen; ces been called to repent, and haft got space to repent, and to this day haft not repenteds as he anfwered Chrifts Call at the laft bour, fo he anfwered the firf Call ever he got: and further it is not unworthie af our confideration, that this was a kind of miraculous act of divine power, by the glonie whereof the igr nominious death of the cross was to be qualified, to remove the opprobrie of His Eftate of Homiliation in exalting and fhewing forth His extraordinarie Power and Goodness. 3. Confid. Thy ObjeЯion hath nothing of found se afoning in it, and is contrare to the common rule, rticulari ad univerfale affirmative, non valet cons Sequentis Sequentia: to illuftrat the badnefs of thy Logick, confider bow inconfequential the following argu ings are, which come in pat to the purpofe with. tby manner of argumentation: Fifteen years were added to Hezekiahs life after the threatned fentence of death, mayft thon not by thy Logick fay, when I am deadlie fick, I fhall not die, but have fifteen years longer leafe of life, as Hezekian had : Elijah was extraordinarlie fed with Ravens, mayft thou not fay, what needs me work and toil, to eat the bread of forrows, I will no longer work for my livelihood, but will expect that God will lend Revens to pro vide for me as for Elijah. Lazarus was raised again after he was dead, may ye not fancie, that live as ye lit, you may get mercie after you are dead, for God cap raile you again,and then you will repent & tura devote; Ofinner, confider the fallacy and folly of thy a guings, 4. Confid. As there was one Thief faved upon the Crofs, fo there was one damned, & mayft then not upon the fame fort of reasoning apply to thy felf the cafe of the one, to make thee afraid of damnation, as well as apply the other cafe for groundless prefume ing of falvation; but alas felf love and felf-deceit, makes people blind and fenfelefs. s. Dire. See it be a law full Calling that ye take by the band, & meddle not with that kind of Trade that will oblige you to unjuft & difhoneft methods, or that you dare not pray in faith for Gods bleffing On your labours therein. Says the Apostle Tit. 3.14. Let ours alfo learn to maintain good works for necef fes,in the marginal reading it is, profefs boneft Fr |