[...] SERMON Preached at Welde-House, In His Excellency the Spanish Ambassador's Chapel: On the Third Sunday of ADVENT, December 12. 1686.
By the Reverend Father Br. JAMES AYRAY, Friar Minor of the Holy Order of St. Francis, Chaplain and Preacher in Ordinary to His EXCELLENCY.
With Allowance and special Order of Superiors:
LONDON, Printed for William Grantham, Book-seller in Cock-pit-Alley, near Welde-street. 1686.
A SERMON Preached at WELDE-HOƲSE, In His Excellency the Spanish Ambassador's Chapel: On the Third Sunday of Advent, December 12. 1686.
THE great Saint Augustin was of Opinion, That that Man had his judgment best placed, who less esteeming the Science of all things else, did make it his chiefest study perfectly to know himself: And that a Soul was to be condemned, who without making an inquisition into her own infirmities, did trifle away her time in learning the secret, and less useful course of the Stars, and still remained [Page 2]ignorant of the true way to Heaven. Grant and allow to worldly knowledge the best and greatest advantages imaginable, yet still this unavoidable misery attends the grandeur of it, That the most profitable perquisits cease when life doth last no longer: and that what was acquired with the expence of great labour and pains, measuring out the shortness of Man's breath only, remains no more, nor is to be found after Death.
The devout Saint Bernard, writing to Pope Eugenius, doth humbly suggest unto him, That the gain of an Ʋniverse would never countervail the loss of a Man's own self. Read over and perfectly understand all the Scriptures; measure the Heavens from East to West; span the whole circumference of the Earth; sound and fathom the briny deep; and be ill read in the science of Nosce teipsum; be ignorant, tu quis es, and you'll resemble a Man who building upon a Quick-sand, exposes his Foundation to certain ruine: so that only he hath wisdom, who is wise for himself, and suffers not the anxious care of learning things less important to turn to his own prejudice: A teipso tua incipiat consideratio, in to finiatur, tu tibi primus, tu ultimus; non os sapiens si tibi non es: These are the words of St. Bernard.
The miraculous birth of St. John the Baptist, to whom the Jews do send a solemn Embassy in this days Gospel, the holiness, and [Page 3]austerity of his life, his retreat in solitude, and his divine preachings, are the occasion why they doubt whether he be the Messias so long expected: and therefore sending their Priests and Levites demand of him, Tu quis es? John 1.19. Who art thou? And this great Saint, great in the admirable science of Nosce teipsum, waving all the Titles of Honour due to his Character, gives a slender account of himself, and saith only that he is a voice, John 1.23. vox clamantis in deserto: manifesting by this answer of his, That he did perfectly understand all the weakness and infirmities incident to Humane Nature. And let our condition in this World be never so Elevated, our imploys never so Glorious, the advantages of our Lives and Fortunes never so Illustrious, we are still so inconsiderable, that wanting all Solidity, we pass like a voice that is dissipated by the Wind. It is this important knowledge of our selves, that I would have this pious Auditory to learn of the great Precursor of our Saviour; some precepts of which Science I shall here deliver unto them, after having invocated the Assistance of the Holy Ghost, through the intercession of the most knowing Disciple in this School; the ever Blessed Virgin Mary I mean, who stiled her self a Hand-maid, when the Angel did Salute her full of Grace, Ave Maria.
It is too true that Man doth know every thing better, and himself less than all things: whereas did he know himself well, he would know all things else to perfection. Quid est nosse seipsum, quam totius mundi naturam nosse, saith Photius in his Bibliotheca: Man in knowing himself, would know the Nature of all the World; and diving into the Eternal Secrets, he would there be informed of all the Divine Decrees framed by the Almighty, for the good of the Universe; he would there learn, that when God did build that wonderful Structure above us, adorning and embellishing it with so many glorious Lights; when he extracted this dry Land from the brackish Element, inhabited with Beasts and Birds, Checquered and Enamel'd with Flowers and Woods; when he made that admirable mixture of the Four Elements, and so mutually Incorporated them with one another, he would learn that all the Productions which he then Created were all for Man, and Man he designed solely for himself.
The Saints, who have been Educated in this School, and there commenced Masters, have left behind a certain and clear method for the Acquisition of this Science. Consider, saith the Devout Saint Bernard, from whence you came, and the contemplation of that vile and ignoble Nothing, out of which you did first derive your Origine, will be the subject of [Page] [Page] [Page 5]your Shame and Confusion: Regard your present State, and this place of Banishment, with the dangerous disasters that surround you, will Administer unto you matter of Lamentation: Call to mind the Journey you are to take, survey the Tomb where you are to be served up meat for the Worms: Or, take a step further, and at a distance look on Hell, where your poor Soul (which God forbid) may be the eternal subject of Tormenting Flames. Or if you had rather arrive to this scientifical and most beneficial Knowledge, by examining the several Stations of your own Life, the Past, the Present, and the time to Come, make some serious reflections on the vain and unprofitable use, and the inconsiderable advantages you have made of the time past: Consider how great a circumspection is requisite for the time present, and what Provisions you ought to make for the time to come: The Profit we have already reap'd in time past is so little, that it seems never to have been; we must be cautious in the time present, which imperceptibly doth pass away; and a prudent forecast for the future requires an ample provision: These three considerations shall be the three points of our present entertainment; the Oeconomy of this Day's Discourse, and the Subject of your pious and favourable attention.
PART I.
THE greatest Misfortune that can befall poor Man, is to let his Days and Years unprofitably pass away, resembling little Children, who unhappily die before they are fit to taste the Sweets of Life: The most numerous part of Mortals are deprived of vital Breath, before they attain the knowledge of living well; and notwithstanding they have measured over a long series of many Years, yet they are ignorant why, and to what end they have so long enjoyed this common Air. Holy Job doth suggest these my Thoughts, Job c. 10. Fuissem quasi non essem de utero translatus ad tumulum: From the Cradle we are carried to the Tomb, and are hurried out the World, before we could well know the reason that first placed us in it; and forgeting all past Transactions, we live tepidly; and without reforming the irregular course of our Life, may die full of Years, but Young in vertue.
What is once past can never be recall'd, it is as if it never had been; nor can God himself, make that Day return, whose succeeding Night hath once Eclips'd his Lustre; recal to mind all your past Pleasures, your Joys and Divertisements, the Innocent Sweets you formerly tasted with so great a gust; and the whole remain lies lock'd up in your Memory, [Page 7]without any sign or mark else where. The Life of Man is like a Dream, and when awaked by Death, he is convinced that the whole course of his Time hath been only Fancy and Illusion; Ps. 75. finding both his Hands empty after his supposed large possessions. Dormierunt somnum suum, & nil invenerunt viri divitiarum in manibus suis. And can such imaginary Smoak make us lose the thoughts of Heaven, slight the menaces of our God, and dispise his Friendship? Can we for the love of such Trifles run the certain hazard of eternal Torments? Quid nobis profuit, say those unhappy Souls now arrived to their last and dismal home, Quid nobis profuit superbia, aut divitiarum jactantia quid nobis contulit? transierunt omnia illa tanquam umbra: The end of all our Pride, the rich and gaudy remains of all our Wealth, is an immortal regret for having fooled away our Hearts on such airy Vanities. That Man whom to Day you see interred, hath all his Pleasures, with the empty titles of his Honour, wrapt up in a Funeral Shrowd; and a Winding-sheet will be the only portion shall fall to your lot of all those ample Possessions you now enjoy with so much Passion.
Notwithstanding, what is past can never be recalled, and is in effect as if it never had been; yet once it had a Being, and such a one as all the Powers under Heaven can never [Page 8]deface, or take away. Saint Bernard hath well expressed this in his First Book of Considera. and 12. Chap. Quae priora transierunt & non transierunt, transierunt a manu & non transierunt a mente. Our past actions leave behind them their eternal Species in our mind; nor can the damned in Hell during the long space of a whole Eternity, L. 5. de consid. c. 12. deface the Memory of an action perpetrated in a moment. Quod factum est, saith the same St. Bernard, factum non esse non potest, proinde & si facere in tempore fuit, sed fecisse in sempiternum manet: Let the greatest discretion moderate, and be the rule of your Life, imitate the Saints themselves in their perfection, yet all your endeavours may, indeed, make satisfaction, but can never obliterate a Crime once committed. The greatest, perhaps, amongst the Pains in Hell, is that Sempiternal remorse, the perpetual Remembrance of a past Crime foments in the troubled minds of those afflicted Souls: And that Worm that eats and tears their disturbed Breasts, is a Torture above infernal Punishments. The memory of a Crime guilty of their Eternal Ruine, begets a Grief beyond expression, and the impossibility of a recalling creates a dispair not to be decyphered; but the strange consequences that follow such light beginnings and the Eternity of Torments which must make an everlasting amends for a momentary fault will certainly extort a most horrid Rage.
The Succession of things denote the Beauty of Order; and one thing preceeding the other doth hinder confusion. But the mind of Man receives and retains innumerable things without a burden, and rememorating things of an ancient standing, still reserves the species newly imprinted. Contemplate the Collection of all your past Actions, and see what a store of Iniquities you have there laid up: Turn over the great Wardrobe of your past Crimes, and you will find it fill'd with Lumber, with scarce any moveables worth regarding. Should God communicate unto you the perfect knowledge of one single Sin: Should he let you see that the Enormity of it is infinite, because committed against a Majesty that is infinite, the horror you would conceive would be extream; and the deformity of one Crime, rightly understood, is able to disturb a Brain most justly seated. What then shall the terror be, to see all the Vices of our former Days stand rank'd in order, and all their Ugliness attending on them, represented to our view in Shapes most dismal? To behold all our ill Thoughts, our sinful Desires, our vicious Habits, our immodest Discourses, our unjust Dealings, our Deceits and Lyings, our Pride and Vanity, all our Distractions and Irreverences in the presence of our God, the Good we have neglected, and the Ill we have done, with a [Page 10]thousand other things, which will then distinctly shew themselves in their most deformed dress? How great will then your terror be, Job 15.14. your astonishment and confusion? Terrebit eum tribulatio; by how much the more satisfaction you did receive in the perpetration, by so much greater shall be your pain, and the distaste you thence derive, equalizing the pleasure you formerly had, shall augment your Grief, and Torment as much as heretofore they pleased you.
This Landskip of your past Life exposed to view, whilst the Eyes of your Soul contemplate the vanity of your conduct make some reflections on the words of St. Rom. 6.21 Paul, Quem ergo fructum habuistis tunc in illis, in quibus nunc erubescitis? nam finis illorum mors est. What Fruit, therefore, had you then in those things, for which now you are ashamed? for the end of them is Death. If you cannot think on past Crimes, saith St. John Chrysost. without confusion, your stock of Impudence must needs have been large, when you did commit them; and tho then your Passion did pervert your Judgment, and Pleasure, or Complaisance did induce you to please your Sense, or Man before your God; yet the construction you afterwards shall frame, will certainly be opposite to your first Opinion, when you shall find that Grief and Confusion will be the only remnant of all your Possessions.
Reflect on the incestuous Amnon, whose Love changing countenance, his Passion being once satisfied, did hate his Sister Thamar, more than ever he had affection for her, Ita ut majus esset odium quo oderat eam, 2 K. 13. amore quo ante dilexerat. Our first Parents had no sooner committed that Sin, the guilt of which they left as a Patrimony to all their Children, but their Eyes opening, they did discover their own Misery, and fled each others sight. You who lead a vitious Life, and whose sinful Conversation doth grow into a Habit, I fear you are not truly sensible of that displeasure which always springs from Vice; nor do you foresee those Evils, the Seeds of which you have already Sowed, and even now begin to Blossom. Thus you see the income of your past Actions, and the Harvest you are to Reap of all your time ill spent, is confusion here or worse hereafter: For all your Sins must here meet with a Pennance equal to your Life, or a Punishment as long as Eternity. Follow therefore the advice of the Philosopher, non tanti emo poenitere, this Repentance is of too high a price for me to purchase. And since the Fruits of your past Labours have been but inconsiderable, be circumpect and cautious, and retrieve your loss with a prudent distribution of the time present, which is my second Point.
PART II.
THE extent of Man's Dominion is inconsiderable and short; and of all those Days that compose his Life, only the time present is in his Power; the past is now no more, and the future is yet to come; so that he is master only of the time which now is, and that too is carried on such swift Wings as out-run his Thoughts, and leaving no space for Consideration, out-strip fancy it self: the Flashes of Lightning that pierce the Clouds: an Arrow that cleaves the Air: a Ship which with wonderful swiftness Plows the salt Waves, and driven by an impetuous Gale doth till the deep: the Stars themselves who with their rapid course do run through spaces immense in an instant, are only light expressions of that prodigious swiftness, wherewith the time present doth fly away: it is an instant imperceptible, impossible to be cut in two: it is a Now, which is now no more, no sooner here but presently gone, and dividing it self between the past and the future, reserves only a point to save the denomination of present; and yet this single point is the only thing at our command; and our Orders reaching no further, we can only dispose of this imperceptible Now; and the decision of our future bliss or [Page] [Page] [Page 13]pain doth really depend on this so momentary a durance, ex hoc momento pendet aeternitas.
Methinks I see the King in the Gospel dividing his Wealth amongst his Servants, and reading a Lecture of Negotiation unto them, negotiamini dum venio, Luk. 19.13 improve these Talents I now leave with you, and your gain may easily double the Principal; make a provident use of your present time, and your increase may reach the infinite: but be sure not to let this occasion imprudently pass, for amplius non erit tempus. Apoc. 10.6 It is bald behind; and once let slip, will probably never offer it self again: post est occasio calva. It is a Folly next to madness, founding your selves upon deceitful hopes to delay your Pennance to an imaginary Hereafter, and to put off the important affairs of an eternal concern, to a time which shall, perhaps, never be. How many poor Souls are there now frying in Hell Flames, because after once they had unhappily Sinned against their God, they wilfully slighted the offered occasion of one favourable instant, alloted them by Mercy for a reconciliation.
Oh! How the favours of our God are great, who prolonging our Lives doth sollicit our hard Hearts by his divine Inspirations, to make good use of our present time, and continuing us in this Pilgrimage of the Land of [Page 14]the Living, the way to eternal bliss, doth afford us means necessary to redress the disorders of our ill regulated Consciences, and lay up the store requisite for Heaven: ex hoc momento pendit aeternitas.
Whatever we have been heretofore, or whatsoever we are like to be hereafter, doth not fall under the consideration of our God: He will forget our past Crimes, which a true Repentance hath cashier'd: He doth not consider what we may arrive to be, but as he doth actually find us, so he frames his Judgment. Pass therefore a general review, and take a full cognizance of all your Spiritual concerns, and learn from thence what reason you have to hope or fear: See how you stand with your Obligations, and what esteem you have had of works of Council and Supererrogation.
Consult your Conscience and pronounce Sentence against your self, it is the only way to avoid the severity of the Divine Decrees; 1 Cor. 11.28. probet autem seipsum homo, see if any mortal Sin lieth yet knowingly concealed; whether Envy or Hatred, or any impure Desires lie covered in your Breast; if in frequenting the Sacraments you have not committed some Sacrilege, and prophanely abused to your own Damnation, those things which were instituted a means to purchase Heaven; if your affections lean not too [Page 15]much to the Creature, and, dispising your God, pay the Tribute of your Adoration to an unworthy object.
If this review convince you faulty, if this Scrutiny discover defects in you, banish all delays, and let this present season be the serious moment of your Reformation: The obstacles you do now meet with, hereafter will wax but stronger; and the now offered Graces will be less frequent, and not so efficacious; your vitious Habits will grow into a second Nature; and Sin it self taking hold more firmly, will very hardly be rooted out. Modo, modo, St. Aug. & illud modo non habebat modum, said heretofore a great Sinner, tho' now a great and glorious Saint; By and by, presently, and yet this by and by did see the length of many days expire, (so hard it is, seriously, to go about the work of a true Conversion:) what you now do: Qui hodie non est, cras minus aptus erit. For hereafter you will not be able, at least not more willing: You will want time; or if you have that, you may be destitute of Grace; if Grace present it self, your Will accustomed already to refuse, will then not know how to comply. Hell is full of Spirits, who presuming on the Mercies of the Almighty; let slip the blessed time of their Conversion; and neglecting what was in their power, grounded their Repentance upon the contingency [Page 16]of uncertainties: Apoc. 10.6 amplius non erit tempus. Now they'll have leisure to Lament and Weep their fill. Heaven's Gate is shut, and the Treasures of divine Mercies are all lock'd up.
Examine the present State of your Soul, and look into your former Life, and see what progress you have made: I fear you will have reason to say with Holy Job, Quis mihi det ut sim juxta menses pristinos: Job 29.2. would to God the Comportment of my former Years were now discernable in my Behaviour; or that my Carriage at this Age, were suitable to the Modesty of my Youth.
That Man who aimes at little, is with any thing satisfied; and he who will do only what he is bid, grows Lazy and easily neglects his Duty; and, notwithstanding all the projects he may have for the future, he still remains in the same condition, without any sign of a better fortune: He doth truly resemble those Jews, who when desired to repair the Temple, Agg. 1.2. answered, Nondum venit tempus: The time was not yet come: So wretched Man is still put off with, It is not yet time: as soon as I shall have setled my Affairs in the World: as soon as my Childern shall be disposed off: as soon as I shall purchase this Estate, that Office, that Imploy: as soon as I shall have gained this [Page 17]Law Suit: as soon as I shall be at liberty, and free from the Cares and Troubles of the World, I will then begin to think of serving God, and study the Advancement of my own Soul.
But, Quis es tu? who are you inconsiderate Creatures, that do thus Capitulate with Heaven, and imposing measures on your God, do lay your vain and fruitless Projects for Eternity? 2 Cor. 6.2. Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile: Behold now is the time acceptable: The future as yet is not, and, perhaps, will have no Being for you, but in your own senceless phancy: Nay, should it ever find an existence, it may be incumbered with more and greater obstacles than now you meet with. When those imaginary designs are brought to pass, which now so powerfully impede your progress in the way of Vertue, that working head of yours shall be fit to create new difficulties ten times more intricate and hard. Your cares and solitudes, your more urgent occasions, if you make a right use of them, will rather further you in the way to Vertue; and what you now falsly deem a hindrance, will certainly promote perfection. All things do assist and co-operate with the Just; omnia co-operantur in bonum iis, Rom. 8.28 qui secundum propositum vocati sunt sancti: and drawing advantages from all occurrences, they providently do lay up a plentiful provision [Page 18]for the future: Which is my Third and Last Point.
PART III.
THis future or time to come, besides that it doth hold us in suspence, uncertain of our end, whether good or bad, giveth us moreover reason to question, whether there shall ever be any time to come for us at all; how it may continue; and if its like to be favourable or averse.
The Son of God in the Gospel, doth command us still to be upon our guard; because we are wholly ignorant, not only of the hour that must put a Period to our life, but even of the day that is to be witness to our death; vigilate quia nescitis diem neque horam. Matth. 25.13. And Holy Writ doth suggest unto us one fatal moment, which will turn all the delights of this world into bitterness. Et in puncto descendant in infernum. They whose chiefest study is an idle indulgence of their own slothful ease, and who sencelessly content themselves in the injoyment of vain worldly Pleasures, do often find themselves grasped with the cold hands of a sudden death, when they imagined themselves most secure; and in a moment they make a most sorrowful change, parting with their darling Earth for the flames of a Hell Fire; Job 21.13. Et in puncto descendunt in infernum.
All the moments of our life are subject to the decisive stroke of Death, and every hour may send us a melancholy messenger to Eternity: And as in time past every moment might have been our last, so in this time to come every particle may be the sad beginning of our misery. Wherefore be always watchful, and keep your selves always in such a state as may send you to an Eternity that may be happy and not unfortunate; let not Death surprize you unprovided, lest that very instant you design'd for Vice, be the last of your sinful life, and the first of your pains.
The continuance of this future Hereafter is uncertain, and should it conduct our gray hairs to the cold Tomb, its durance were but a day in respect of Eternity; Ps. 89. tanquam dies hesterna quae praeteriit. Imagine what's to come, by what's already past; and by that dram of life which hitherto you have lived, guess at the instability of what's to come hereafter. How stupid then must that Man be, whose chiefest design is to frame a wretched Fortune here, and (exposing himself to a thousand hazzards,) finds himself with all his projects dash'd in an instant? Oh! were it not much better, and more secure, to labour for an Eternity of Bliss, and studying to increase your Fortune, lay the foundations of it in a kingdom that will last for ever.
Holy Job, when most of all favoured with Prosperity, dreaded the unlucky strokes of Adversity; and being ignorant of the event, still remain'd prepared for the worst of accidents; Job 3.25. timor quem timebam evenit mihi, & quod verebar accidit. A prudent force-sight renders Evils less troublesome, and a prepared Will receives Misfortunes with a greater calmness; minus jacula feriunt quae praevidentur. A Will perfectly resigned, kisseth the Rod before it strikes, and placeth the disasters of this life in the number of Celestial Favours: It is arm'd by Providence against the worst, and plainly discovers the hand of God in all its Accidents; and intirely relying on Divine Wisdom, leaves it self to be conducted by that God, whose Eternal Decree was the happiness of his Creatures; 1 Tim. 2.1 omnem hominem vult salvum facere.
If doubts and fears still attend the present state of our Affairs, the expectation of our Eternity must needs be anxious: none can dive at once into all the parts of his life, much less can he know his end. I will now suppose you good, believe you vertuous, and deserving a Celestial Crown for your Duty and Obedience to your God: But who knows the disorders that may follow a Will subject to inconstancy; and a mind impatient of command, may at length spurn at Heaven, and contemn the Orders of his Maker.
Solomon, the Son of so great a Father, the miracle of Wisdom, indowed with a Knowledge from above, did lay so glorious beginnings as the World never knew, or shall ever be acquainted with: strayed at last out of the way, began a Sinful Journey, and such Crimes he did there imbrace as gave occasion to his lasting Posterity to suspect his final end. O Devout Christians, Who are you, compared with this Prophet, and Son of a Prophet? Tu quis es? O never more presume on your own force, Phil. 2.12. but let the Admonition of the Apostle be your guide, Cum metu & tremore salutem vestram operamini: With fear and trembling work your Salvation. Do not imitate those persons over confident, who promising themselves the Joys of Heaven, do day by day remit the works of Pennance; and falsely think the extremity of Time sufficient to redress the many disorders of their disturbed Consciences. Oh! unhappy Souls, you do but vainly imagine your Names register'd in the Book of Life; for, for all you know, the Sentence of an eternal Death is ready to pass upon you: Should you now at this very instant leave this Earthly Stage, the assurance you have of Heaven, would, perhaps, dwindle to a Nothing, and your big hopes be frustrated with an unexpected and everlasting Death. The great Saint Augustin was never so afflicted, as when the dubious inquiry [Page 22]of his eternal Inheritance molested his mind; and the desire to know, how he might stand in the affections of his God, was a vexation that did perpetually torment him. Eccl. 9.1. Nemo scit an odio dignus vel amore sit. The Saints themselves lived in perpetual apprehensions; and the continual Alarms they receiv'd about their final Happiness, did incessantly disturb their quiet.
The Wise man doth frame for Mortals a Lesson of Instruction, from the labours of the Industrious Ant, who laying up in Summer her necessary Provision, doth pass the Winter in a greater Plenty. The profit of our past Actions is but small, Gal. 6.10. if any; and if we intend to live for Heaven, dum tempus habemus operemur bonum, let us work whilst we have time. Cast an Eye back and reflect a little on the Answer Saint John made to the Priests and Pharisees in this days Gospel, Joh. 1.26. medius vestrum stetit quem vos nescitis; there hath stood in the midst of you one whom you know not. Consider that God is always present with you, and it will be a bridle to curb the irregular motions of your evil Passions, and squaring all those Actions you shall then perform to the divine Rule, shall adorn them with a Rectitude suitable to their Model.
I could wish I was able to perswade you, that Almighty God is always with you; and when [...]y foul Temptation doth sollicite your [Page 23]less-well-regarded heart, remember that God doth look upon you; and if ever you intend to be wicked, be so prudent in your own concerns and for your own sake, as following the counsel of that great Light of the Church, Saint Augustin; Find out some obscure place, where you may secretly commit your Crimes unseen by Heaven: find out a House of all the Town the least regarded, and in the darkest hole of that obscure retreat, search diligently into all the Beds and Chairs, least your God lie there concealed; and if you can be so fortunate as to find a place hid from his all piercing Eyes, go there triumphantly, commit the worst misdeeds and escape unpunished. But wretched Soul, if all the Mansion be full of Eyes, if God not only be in your Chamber, Ps. 115.9. but in the very midst of your own Self, est in medio tui, How dare you presume to do that in his Presence, which you would be ashamed the Eyes of Man should see?
It is not sufficient to abstain from evil Works, medius vestrum stetit quem vos nescitis: Almighty God is present with you, therefore lucernae ardentes in manibus vestris, you must have lighted Candles in your Hands; and imitateing the prudent Virgins, your Lamps must be well stored with Oyles, your Designs must be the practice of good Works; and laying up a Treasure for Eternity, you must endeavour by your Prayers, Fasts, Almes-Deeds, and the [Page 24]Love of God to purchase Paradise. Your good Works alone will bear you company; and if your Provision be but small, you'll have reason to apprehend an eternal Dearth. A wise Traveller provides a Viaticum proportionable to his Journey; and we are all bound for the new World, and our abode there is to exceed the length of time. Let us therefore be Provident, and make so good use of the time which now is, as we may redeem the time already lost; and imploying the whole present to the best advantage, we make such large and ample provisions for the time to come, as injoying the Fruits of our Labours, through the Merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus, we may be admitted to Praise and Glorifie him for an Eternity with the Saints in Heaven; which God of his infinite Goodness grant us all. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.