3 dly, Always Reverence_thy Confcience. Stand in Awe of thyself; Take good Heed what thou doeft; Elfe there is a Witness Within thee, that will some time or other be a terrible Witness against thee. Keep up in thy Soul a due Senfe of Feeling; Preferve the Natural Tenderness of thy Mind. And if God fhall please at any Time to rouze up thy Conscience by any fharp Afflictions, or awakening Judgments, or especially by any Dangerous Sickneffes, look upon them as fo many Lectures of Mortality, [the e angyuara,] the Calls of God to Repentance. Or if he shall speak to thy Heart by any good Suggestions, or fecret Workings of the Holy Spirit within thee, to affift and help to rescue thee from thy Sins, and renew a Right Spirit within thee, do not Neglect nor Oppose him. Do not by thy Wilfulness or Refractorinels Grieve the good Spirit of God, nor do any thing to provoke him to Depart from thee: But gladly entertain the Divine Gueft; Liften to his Counfels, and Follow his Directions; till he has enabled thee to fubdue thy Lufts, and has mortify'd in thee the whole Body of Sin, and given thee a Clean Heart, and Sanctify'd thee throughout in Body, Soul, and Spirit. Then will he be invited to dwell with thee, and Delight to Do thee good: Then will he watch over you to keep you from Falling, and will stand by you in your Laft Extremi

ties; and when at Length your Time is come, will Prefent you faultless before the Jude 24. Prefence of his Glory with exceeding Joy.

But if thou wilt go on to harden thy Heart, and fin against thy Confcience, know thou that thou wilt find an Accufing Conscience the worst Enemy that thou canst have in the Day of Trouble. Thou mayest perhaps hufh thy Conscience, and keep it down for a Time; but it will fome time or other meet with thee, or lye in wait for thee, and charge thee home with thy Guilt in thy greatest Distress. When Jofeph's Brethren had confpir'd together in a Wicked Design, to Sell him for a Bondflave, and bafely Lyed to their Aged Father, whom they had thereby afflicted even unto Death, they all fat quiet under their Guilt for many Years together; (for twenty or more, if I rightly compute it; at leaft fo long as that he was perfectly forgotten by every One of them ;) till at laft they fell into a great Streight, being feiz'd for Spies, and made Captives in at Strange Land: They then needed no Accufer; they could presently Accufe themselves, Gen. xlii. 21. And they faid one to another, We are verily Guilty concerning our Brother, in that we faw the Anguifh of his Soul, and we would not Hear: Therefare is this Diftrefs come upon us. But how comes their Brother to be thought of Now, that had been fo long Forgotten,

H 3

7

even

12.

Pf. xxxi. even as a Dead Man out of Mind? No New Crime Now, but New Trouble and Perplexity awaken their Confcience, and bring their Sin again as fresh to their Remembrance, as if it were but of Yesterday.

But however Men may rub through the Troubles of this Life, and make a Shift pretty well to keep an Injur❜d Conscience Quiet all their Life long, yet at Death it will commonly Revenge itfelf: It will Then demand Satisfaction, when Men are least able to give it: When every One will have enough to do to fupport themselves under the Decays and Infirmities and Pains of the Body, without the Pain and Anguish of a Guilty Mind. Therefore take Care in thy Life-time, not to lay in Grounds of more Trouble and Perplexity against that Day: Sufficient unto that Day will be the Evil thereof.

But above all, Take Care to keep thyself Innocent from the Great Offence; Never dare in allthy Days to wound thy Conscience with any Flagrant Crying Sin, as ever thou defireft to have Quiet or Comfort in thy Death.

4thly, Often Thinking of Death is another proper Means to help to Prepare us for it.

If by avoiding the Thoughts of Death we could avoid Dying, there were fomewhat of Reafon in putting the Thought of it far away from us. But if we are fure that we must Dye, by Thinking of it We neither pull down Death upon ourselves, nor haften nor increase

increase the Stroke, but may help to make it Lighter and Eafier to us: For the more we Think of it, the better we fhall certainly be Prepared for it; and the better we are Prepared for it, the more Calm and Comfortable will our Life be all-along our Days, and our Death lefs Terrible at the Laft: Therefore often Think of Death.

Think of the Certainty of it. Our whole Life is but one continued Journey from the Womb to the Grave; And we are ever in Motion towards it: Always travelling towards it Day and Night, even whilft we Sleep; and yet care not to think of our Journey's End. Our Glass is always running; Our whole Life runs out Drop by Drop; by Days, and Hours, and Minutes: Every Minute of it carries us fomewhat nearer to our Long Home; and at the most, the Revolution of a few Summers and Winters will certainly bring us All to it.

But as Nothing is more Certain than Death, fo nothing is more Uncertain than the Time of it. The Life of Man is at the best but as a Span-long; yet as Short as it is, No one is Sure to Live it out. The Strongeft and Stouteft may be fuddenly cut off, in the Bloffom of their Youth, or in the Midft of their Days. We Rife by flow and leifurely Degrees, but may Fall all at Once. We were every one of us a long Time in rearing. unto Man; It was the Work of many Years

to Build us up, but One Sudden Stroke may in a Moment fetch us down. Therefore often Think of Death,

But especially Think of Death, as there fhall be Occafion, for the better Ordering of thy Life; for the which it will be very ferviceable. The Thoughts of Death will Naturally Suggeft many good and serious Thoughts and Purposes; They will be conftant Mementos of Duty to thee; and especially they will at all Times fortify thee in the dangerous Hour of Temptation; and will thereby help to keep thee in a Constant State of Preparation. For upon any Occafion of Sinning, or any Temptation to it that comes in thy Way, do but thus Reafon with thyfelf, "I am Sure that Death cannot be "far off; It may be at the Door: And "would I do this thing were I now to Dye? "Would I fuffer myfelf to be driving on દ any Wicked Defign? Would I be con "triving for my Ambition or Revenge? Or "would I be indulging myself in Sinful Lufts "and Pleasures? Sure I am that fome time "or other I fhall Dye; and as I know not "the Hour, fo I do not know but Death “ may furprize me in this finful Act: And "fhould I not defire rather to be found well "Employed, when Death fhall come to "fnatch me hence?" Such Meditations on Death, muft Naturally give Check to any Sinful Inclinations; They would throw Cold Water