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Stricter and more ftedfaft Virtue bere, and my more exquifite Happiness hereafter. O! that the Talents of Time and Ability to do good, which have been heretofore jo wretchedly neglected, may (now they are afresh committed to my Trust) be, for the Time to come, fo faithfully improved, that the Shining Graces of an exemplary Converfation may hold fome Proportion with the Bleffings, I have been fo particularly favoured withal. Let thefe excite, not me only, but others alfo, by my Example, to love thee more fervently, to ferve thee more chearfully,to truft in thee more affuredly. In Thee, O Lord, who fheweft us thy Goodnefs fo plenteoufly, and daily poureft thy Benefits upon us: In Thee, Pfal. lxviii, who never faileft nor forfakeft them that 19. ix. 10. feek thee: In Thee, whofe Mercies are sweet, lxvii. 4. whofe Loving-kindness is better than Life it felf, whofe Service is perfect Freedom, and in keeping whofe Commandments there is exceeding great Reward.

xix, II.

To this End, fanctify, I beseech thee, all the Methods of thy Providence to the Salvation of my Immortal Soul; And efpecially, let not thy abused Mercies ever rife up in Judgment against me. O! may my paft Sufferings work in me great Humility and godly Fear; that from Them I may confirm my felf in Faith and Patience, and an entire Refignation to thy Will, and wifer Choices for me. Bring back frequently to my remembrance the Promifes and Suppli cations, poured out in the Bitterness of my Soul; that thofe fuccefsful Addresses to the Throne of Grace, may ftir me up effectually, to the paying what I then so folemnly vowed. Open thou my Lips, O Lord, that Pfal.civ.33, my Mouth may decare thy Mercy and Truth, as long as I live, and praife my God, while I have any Being. And, forafmuch as this Recovery is only the lengthening out a little that Span of Life, which must Shortly have an End; Suffer me not, I pray thee, to forget, that I am a Stranger upon Earth; but help me fo to dif engage my Heart from thefe Things here below, which (my

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own late Experience bath taught me) cannot profit in the Day of Wrath; that my Hopes and Affections may be analterally fixed upon thoje better and eternal Treasures, which thou haft prepared for them that love thee. Let the Thoughts and certain Expectations of Death and Judgment be fo conftantly, so powerfully prefent to my Soul, that in what Hour foever my Lord fhall come, I may be found ready to meet him, and to go in with him to the Marriage. Even fo, Blessed Jefus, Grant me in fuch manner to pafs through Things Temporal, that I finally lofe not the things Eternal; but that I may use and improve thy Grace here, till Grace at laft be fwallowed up in Glory, and I tranflated to my Master's Joy. All which I beg for thy own Merits fake, my only Mediator and Redeemer: To whom, with the Father and Holy Spirit, be afcribed, as is most due, from Me, and every Creature, all Honour and Glory, Dominion and Power, Thankfgiving and Praife, and humble Adoration, henceforth and for evermore. Amen.

Heb. ix. 27.

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Idler bar the fudgment. So fays the Spi

Tis appointed for all Men once to Die, and

rit of God himself; and what is thus appointed, none can reverfe, none can efcape. That then, which remhains for Us, who lie under this Sentence, to do, is only to endeavour, that we may die, as becomes Men and Chriftians: that is, as Perfons, who.

2 Cor. v. 10.

expect to render an Account of the things done in this Body, and to receive a Recompence accordingly, whether it be Good or Bad. But who may abide that Day? Or who fhall ftand, when the Lord appeareth? Who indeed; when not only the Thing it felf, but the very Apprehenfions, and especially the Approaches, of it are fo dreadful? For what is more

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terrible to Mortal Man, than Dying; and what more fo to finful Man, than being Judged? But yet, my Soul, fince these muft unavoidably come, let us fee what Course can be taken, to foften a little, and reconcile us to them: Nay, let us try, if it be not poffible, not only to bear them contentedly, but even to meet them gladly.

II. If Death be confidered in it self, it is no more, than what all the living Creation here below undergo, in common with our felves. And what is Dying? It is a Ceafing to Live, after the manner we now do. It is a Removal, or rather, an Escape, from a World of Miffortunes and Miferies; of Sorrow and Difquiet; of Malice and Deceit; Noife and Contention; of Pains and Anguifh; of Croffes and Disappointments; of Vanity and Vexation; and, which is worst of all, of Temptation and Sin. It is doing that once for all, which we have done in part, a thousand Times already; by Sickneffes and Faintings, by the Decays and Infirmities of Nature; and by the Lofs of tendereftRelations, who tore away our very Heart with them. In fhort, the present Life, even to the Profperous, will be found, upon a just Computation, to have made a very unequal Diftribution. For even fuch have a larger Proportion of Trouble, than of Happiness. But to the Generality of Mankind, it is a rough tempeftuous Sea;. and Death is the making their Port, or at least retiring into the Shelter of a Creek, where Storms can reach and annoy them no more. Thefe are not affected Strains of Philofophy, but weighed and measured Truths; fuch as every Man is, or may be, fadly convinced of, at his own Expence. The only Deceit arifes from our natural Fondness for Living; which God hath wifely infufed, and woven into our Souls, that we might fuftain our present CaJamities the better. As, on the other hand, he hath made Faith of a Future State our Virtue, and ordained the

Miseries of the Prefent Life, as an Exercife for that Virtue; that both together might be a Balance at least against the Objects of Senfe; draw off our Affections from a Place, which was never intended for our Reft; and raise our Defires up to thofe better Things, provided for us in another World. And furely, if this Matter were well weigh'd, however timorous Nature may start and boggle at firft, yet it would be no hard Matter to come close up to Death; and, by the help of familiar Practice, and prudent pious Meditation, to render not only the Thoughts of it, but even the Thing it felf, very tolerable to us.

III. But, if we confider Death in another Capacity, as leading, and keeping, us close Prisoners, to a just and terrible Judgment; thus it hath a Sting indeed, which is the Senfe of Guilt, and Sin unpardoned. This is what nothing can relieve, but the Comforts arifing from true Repentance, from a Saviour facrific'd to expiate, and make full Satisfaction for our Offences, from a Title to our part in that Expiation, and the Favour of a reconciled God. And thefe, I hope, are Comforts which belong to Me. For do but hear and obferve (my Soul) what reviving Words the holy Spirit hath spoken to this purpofe. If any Man fin, we have an Advocate 1 John ii.1,2. with the Father, Jefus Chrift the Righteous, and He is the Propitiation for our Sins. Chrift hath dy'd, who is he that condemneth? Yea, Chrift is rifen again, and feated at the Right Hand of God, a perpetual Interceffor, and a mighty Saviour to all them that come to God by Him. He hath told thee, that what the Infirmity of the Law and the Flesh could not do, Chrift hath done for us; that Heb.ii. & iv. he knows and hath felt our Weaknesses, and will not fail to make large and very gracious Allowances Rev. i. 5. for them; that Jefus hath washed us in his own Blood, and though our 'Sins, be as

Rom. viii.

Ifa. i. 18.

Scarlet,

Scarlet, yet, upon our true Repentance, they fhall be white as Snow. Look up then, and fee thy Lord coming in the Clouds: Thou must be judged, 'tis true, but thy Redeemer fhall be thy Judge. And to whofe Decifion would'st thou chufe to ftand,but to thy beft Friend's? To Him, who loved 'Thee fo dearly, as to die for Thee, to be made Sin and a Curfe for Thee, that thou might eft be made the Righteoufnefs of God in Him? This is thy fure Confidence; and Heaven and Earth may pass away, but his Merits and Promifes can never fail. And he hath promised, that all who repent and believe, and ferve and love him, fhall be faved in that Day, and be where He is, to behold his John xvii. Glory. Nay, not to behold only, but to enjoy it; to live, and reign, with the Son of God himself. fuch he hath made Sons alfo, Heirs of God, and Joint-heirs with Christ, of an Inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, referved for them 1Pet. i. 4. in the Heavens. And if I know, that I fokniii. 2. love God, I know, that I fhall be with him, and be like him, and fee him as he is.

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Rom. viii. 17.

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IV. O glorious Day, which fhall bring me to the full and infeparable Enjoyment of my deareft Saviour and moft merciful God, when this Veil of Flesh shall be done away, and Spiritual Joy, and Peace, and Know, ledge, and Love, shall for ever abound! Bleffed be thy Name, O God, who haft opened an Entrance into fuch Blifs for poor returning Sinners! Bleffed be thy Boun ty, who haft ordained fuch an infinite Recompence, for our imperfect and unworthy Labours! And, if thou haft decreed withal, that I muft pafs thro' the Regions of Darkness and Death, to come at those Seats of Light and Glory; fhall I grudge this Paffage? When I have, born the Heat and Burthen of the Day, fhall I mourn, because Even is come, and fhrink back, when I am called to receive my Wages?

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