THIS Chapter the Hebrews call the Summary, or an Abridgment of the whole Law; it is the Song of Moses, which he composed for, and sung to the Children of Israel before his Death: He was highly sensible what a rebellious and stiff-necked People he had had the Conduct and Go­vernment of, and by Divine Instinct or Inspiration foresaw their greater Rebellion after his Departure from them, and the Dreadful Judgments that would fall down upon them; plainly foretold, that after his Death God would pour down upon them the fiercest Instances of his Anger and heavy Displeasure, for their Violation of his Commandments, for their Nonconformity to his Di­vine Laws and Prescriptions: We find him therefore, in the Close of the foregoing Chapter, summoning the El­ders of their Tribes, and their Officers, to whom he communicated his Prescience or Fore-knowledge of their utterly corrupting themselves after his Death, and of the Evil which would befall them in the latter days for their doing Evil in the sight of the Lord, for their provoking him to Anger through the work of their hands, vers. 27, 28, 29.

And indeed, what Moses thus foretold, exactly came to pass; for when they were come into the Promised [Page 2] Land, and had received particular Command utterly to destroy all the Idolatrous Inhabitants thereof, for fear they should be inveigled by them, and drawn away to their Idol-Worship, and those Abominable Pollutions they were infamously guilty of; yet, contrary to the express Command of God, they executed not this Se­verity, they destroyed not the Nations, but mingled a­mong the Heathen, and learned their Works; they went a whoring with their own inventions, they served their Idols, and sacrificed their Sons and Daughters unto Devils. Thus to their Idolatry they added Blood-guiltiness, of the highest degree, the deepest Dye, even the most barbarous and unnatural, the Blood of their dearest and innocent Children. These, Moses told them, would be such Provocations, as would most justly inflame the ve­hement Anger and Displeasure of God, as would enforce the Almighty to withdraw his Favour and Protection from them; so to abhor them, tho his own peculiar People, that he would give them over into the hands of the Heathen, and suffer such as hated them, to Rule and Lord it over them. All this Moses faithfully represented to the Elders of their Tribes, and to their Officers, but withal prescribed them an effectual way to Peace and Reconciliation with their God, to render him propi­tious and favourable to them, and that was, a turning unto him with true and faithful Repentance: This, he told them, would be the only way to oblige the Lord to Pity and Commiseration: If they sincerely re­pented, their sins then, tho of so high and provoking a Nature, would be blotted out, and the times of refreshing would come; God then would hear their Complaint, God then would make his Arrows drunk with their Enemies Blood, vers. 42. and Crown them, his People, with Victory and good Success. But alass! Moses had fear­ful [Page 3] Apprehensions of their Obdurateness and Impeni­tency, of their Blindness and Stupidity, that they would lose all their true Judgment, that for want of under­standing, they would despise his wholsom Counsels and Instruction; therefore he very pathetically and Af­fectionately prays for them in the Words of my Text, Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

From which Words I will endeavour to shew you,

• I. What it is to consider.
• II. The Benefit of Consideration.
• III. What is meant by the latter End, the Object of Consideration.
• IV. The great Advantage of considering the latter End.
• V. That to consider our latter End is an Argument of our Wisdom and Understanding.
• VI. I shall make a particular Application, and then a'done.

Oh that they were wise, &c.

But First, In the first place, What it is to consider.

And here, to consider, is to make a proper Use of the rational Faculty which God hath implanted in every one of us, to exercise the several Capacities of the Soul, to reflect upon our selves, to measure our Motions, our Actions, by the Standard of Reason. Whoever, through a manly and serious Application of his Mind, takes a just and an impartial View of himself, of all such things as relate to and concern him, and accord­ingly governs his Will and Affections, determins his Be­haviour and Deportment; such an one is a considera­tive Man. When a Man suffers not his Passions to tu­multuate and ferment into a Storm, nor himself to be carried away with Exorbitant Lusts, but embraces in his [Page 4] Mind the whole Nature, Tendency, and all the Circum­stances of things; when he weighs them in the Scale of Reason, and diligently examins, carefully observes which way the Scale turns, and proportions his Course, his Actions to such a diligent Observance and careful Examination; such a Man is a wise and serious, a think­ing and considerative Person: And this it is, in short, to consider; which brings me to the second observable, namely,

The Benefit of consideration.

It is a great Art and an Excellence in Man to know how to think, how to consider; it is a thing that re­quires some time for its Accomplishment and Perfecti­on, some Pains, some Industry for its Acquisition; and whoever would but take the Pains, will but be at the expence of some Labour to seek it, will certainly find it; and when he hath found it, nothing will be more use­ful and necessary, more beneficial and Advantagious to him; nothing will more avail to the good Conduct and well-government of his Life and Conversation: For then he will be able to look into the Nature of Humane Actions, to weigh well the Causes, and com­pare the Consequence of things, and to exercise that Sense and Reason which God hath plentifully enrich'd and endow'd him with: And what can better contri­bute to his Peace and Happiness, to his Security and Pre­servation? If he communeth but with his own Heart, and acts according to the Illumination of his Under­standing, to the Dictates of Reason and Convictions of Conscience, if he seriously revolves in his Mind the Re­ward of Vertue and the Danger of Vice; in all pro­bability he will stand in Awe, and not sin; he will have a care of affronting his God by wickedness and impiety; and this is the Benefit, this is the Advantage of Con­sideration. [Page 5] Alas! if we sail without Chart, without Compass, without a Pilot, what can we expect but a fatal Shipwrack? If Men will not endeavour to dispose themselves to a serious Consideration and Reflection upon what they are a going to do; but, as the Horse into the Battle, rush upon things with Indiscretion and Precipitancy; what can be the conse­quence of such their Folly, but Ruin and Destruction? It is the worthy Observation of Philo, That the first rea­son of all the dangers and miscarriages of Men lies in their running on with the boistrous Tide of Passion; and that the first hopes of safety flow from a sober reasoning of the matter. But behold a greater than Philo is here: God himself lays the blame of all Men's Misery upon Inconsideration. Thus God complains of his People, Isa. 1.4. Ah sinful Nation, a people laden with Iniquity! And why were they so? Why forsook they the Lord, and provoked him to Anger? It was because of their heedlesness and Inadvertency: Israel doth not know, my People doth not consider, vers 3. Thus Ezekiel 18.27, 28. Who is he that turneth away from his Wickedness, and doth that which is lawful and right? The Considerative Per­son, He repents because he considereth: So that Inconsi­deration is the chief Impediment, the principal Obstru­ction of Repentance, which is the Reason why God, according to Solomon's Assertion, will severely punish Men for it at the Day of Judgment, Eccles. 12.14. God will bring every Work into Judgment, with every secret thing, i. e. say the generality of Latinists, Pro omni Er­rato, with every Error or Miscarriage; i. e. He will bring into Judgment the inconsiderateness of Men: And this Translation the Seventy seem to approve of, Every secret thing, i. e. [...], now [...], est iucuriose aspicere, vel per incuriam mentis minus [Page 6] attentis oculis & praeterire, To behold or look upon a thing with a negligent or careless Eye. This Heedles­ness and Neglect, this Remissness and Inconsideration in our Actions God will punish at the Day of Judgment; and there is all the Reason and Justice imaginable in so doing, because from Inconsideration flow all Vicious and Immmoral Actions.

But this by the By.

Thus Psalm 4.4. What curbs and restrains a Man from the Commission of any wicked Act? A withdraw­ing into his Chamber, and there communing with his own Heart; such a Solitude, such a private Retirement and Communing, darts the most powerful and auspicious Influence upon the Hearts of Men: Stand in awe and sin not; commune with your own Hearts upon your Beds, and be still. Thus in the Gospel; Who were they that heard the Word of God, and were no better for it? Such as heard it slightly and superficially, such as suf­fered it not to enter into their Mind and Consideration: Without Consideration it was impossible for it to take root and grow, or to digest into Principles of Action; some Seed, indeed, there was, which arriv'd to ma­turity and perfection, which was prosperous and fruit­ful; but the reason was, because it was sown in an ho­nest and a good Heart; such heard the Word and kept it, i. e. Retain'd it in their Thoughts and Considerati­on, and so brought forth Fruit with patience, Luke 8.12, 13, 14, 15.

But thus much of the Benefit of Consideration: I come now to the third Observable, Namely, To shew you what is meant by the Latter End, which is the Ob­ject of the Consideration here in the Text: Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would con­sider their latter end! That is, as if he should have said, [Page 7] Oh that they would see the things which belong unto their Peace! Oh that the Evil I forewarn them of, may deter them from avowed Wickedness and Impiety, may oblige them to a constant Living up to the Pre­cepts and Obligations of the Divine Laws! If not, Oh that the Judgments of God may convince them of their Errors, and reclaim their Sins, that they would stimulate and excite them to Repentance, to a due sense▪ and consideration what it is to sin against God, to an understanding what will be the Event of persist­ing in Wickedness, what will be the Reward of their Impenitence, both in this Life and the Life to come; so that by the Latter End is to be understood not on­ly Death, but, what follows after Death, the Judgment, an Appearance before the dreadful Tribunal of Al­mighty God, there to receive a Reward or a Punish­ment proportionable to what we have transacted upon the Stage of this World. Oh that all you, who hear me this day, would understand and con­sider this great and certain Truth! That it is not only appointed unto all men once to die, but after this the Judg­ment. This is the import, this is the signification of the Latter End; Death is our Latter End, but the Resurrection, the future Judgment is a Latter End beyond it. The Soul is of an immortal Nature, inca­pable of any Cessation, can never cease to be; the Bo­dy must naturally die, it's noble Frame and admirable Contexture must be dissolved and taken in Pieces, it must return to its original Dust and Corruption; tho this is but a transitory and temporal Death, this is re­parable by a Resurrection; it must certainly be rai­sed again, and be re-united to the Soul, and share with it in whatever state or Condition it shall be sen­tenced unto; if it hath not served God, but the De­vil, [Page 8] it shall then suffer a second Death, after its re­unition to the Soul, they shall both be depress'd into a state of Misery, a State where are endless and easeless Torments; a Misery, which is not Temporal or Transitory, but durable and permanent to all E­ternity, and who can dwell with everlasting burnings? Whosoever is wise will consider this.

Men and Brethren, let me use the Strain of the Holy Apostle to King Agrippa, Acts 26.27. Do you believe the Scriptures? Do you believe a Resurrecti­on, a Judgment to come? I know you believe it: May I say, I know you remember it? This I dare say, that if you do not, I know you have no cause not to remember it: A thing of the highest Impor­tance, a thing of the greatest Concernment that ever will befall you, a thing that is most sure and certain, a thing that you can as little avoid, as you can avoid Death, and a thing that must determin of your Eternal State, and do you not remember it? I am sure we have all cause to remember it, we have all the reason imaginable to understand and consider our Latter End.

If there be any here of a Sadducean Temper, that deny the Resurrection; or, with the Corinthian Na­turalist, question How are the Dead raised up? And with what Body do they come? Such are foolish and inconsiderate; such Questions flow from Incogi­tancy and Indiscretion, such are horribly deceived; and they will find themselves grosly mistaken, for there will be a Resurrection from the Dead: God hath certainly appointed a day in the which he will judge the World in righteousness, by that Man whom he he hath ordain'd, whereof he hath given assurance unto [Page 9] all men, in that he hath raised him from the Dead Acts 17.31. How strangely then will such Sadducees, or any, who are mindless of a future state, be sur­priz'd at the Resurrection of the Dead? Oh! that we had been wise and consider'd this. Oh! let us lie still in the Dust, will they then cry, let the Earth cover us, Let the Mountains and the Rocks fall upon us. Alas! the Trumpet will sound, and they shall be rais'd from the Dead, they shall hear this terrible Voice, Arise you Wretches and come to Judgment; they will then find that, which Solomon hath asserted, to be infallibly true, Eccles. 11.9. Know that for all these things God will bring thee into Judgment.

And this leads me to the fourth Observable, namely,

The great Advantage of considering the latter End. Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter End!

It is the Saying of the Wise Man, Ecclus. 7.36. Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember the end, and thou shalt never do amiss. The Latinist reads it, In om­nibus Operibus vel Sermonibus tuis memorare Novissima & in aeternum non peccabis, In all thy Works or Words remember the last things, and thou wilt ne­ver commit a Sin unto Death; such a Remembrance would make it morally impossible for thee to com­mit a presumptuous Sin, a wilful and deliberate Trans­gression. Now the Four last things to be continually remembred, are, Death, a Judgment to come, Hell, and Celestial Glory. And what more horrible than Death? What more terrible than such a Judgment? What more intolerable than Eternal Fire? And what worthier Object can there be for us to exert our Fa­culties [Page 10] upon, than God and the Mansions of ever­lasting Felicity? How many Sins might we have a­voided in the course of our Lives, if we had had the serious remembrance and apprehension of these things? And how many Sins might we yet avoid, if we would but endeavour to have these things, as Belshazzar's Hand-writing upon the Wall, constantly in our Eye? These things, as the Pilot the Ship, would direct and influence our whole Life and Conversa­tion, would help us to steer our Course, and safely bring us to the Haven of Bliss and Happiness. Such would be the great Advantage of considering our latter End: If Men would but thus consider, no Temptation would then take hold of them, nothing would ruffle and discompose their Conscience, it would be void of Offence both towards God and towards Men. But alas! In this lapsed and degenerate Age, in this miserable and naughty World, how many are there that have languid, luke-warm and feeble Opinions of Religion? If Judgment may be formed according to their Vicious and immoral Conversation, what a Deluge of Prophaneness and Impiety, Atheism and Infidelity overflows this Sinful Land, this poor Nation? How many live, as tho they believed that Vertue and Vice, that God and the Devil were Words signifying nothing, as if they were the Ex­tract of some melancholy and pregnant Brain, as if they were invented meerly for Mens Terror and Affrightment? The Halter, the Gibbet, and the most terrible of Temporal Punishments too, have as little Influence upon Mens Lives, makes as small an Impression upon the Minds of Men, as those which are Eternal: How many have suffer'd as Murde­rers, as Thieves, as Evil-doers? And yet Men will [Page 11] not take Warning and Example; Men will not be deterr'd from committing the like abominable, Vile and Enormous Offences. Every Assize gives us too many fresh and sad Instances of this Truth. Oh that Men would become wise, and consider not only Temporal, but Eternal Punishments! Such a Conside­ration would, if any thing, oblige them to follow the important business of Religion, To hurt no body by Word or Deed, to keep their hands from picking and stealing: Such a Consideration would enforce them to labour truly to get their own living, and to do their Duty in that Station which Divine Providence hath allotted to them.

There is not certainly a more effectual way to re­vive the drooping Spirit of Christian Religion in the World, than seriously to contemplate upon, and consider our Latter End, That we must shortly die, and come to Judgment, and there receive a Reward ac­cording to our Deeds. If we were but possess'd with a warm and constant Sense of these things, we should, in all probability, endeavour to walk, circumspectly, not as Foools, but as wise, to be holy in all manner of Conversation.

Such is the advantage of a Religious Considerati­on. Alas! were there but mature Thoughts, would but Men be wrought upon to act as reasonable Crea­tures; would they but judiciously and soberly weigh things in the Balance of their Understanding, they would seldom or never be found wanting in their Duty and Obligation: If Men would once enter­tain serious Thoughts of Religion, they would soon set open their Ears to its sweet and charming Lan­guage; if they would but fix their Eyes upon it, they would soon be captivated with its incomparable [Page 12] Beauty, it would presently attract their love and ad­miration, and enforce them to embrace it with all profound respect and affection: A consideration of our latter end, a serious reflection upon Eternity, this would put the Soul into such a frame and po­sture, as would make it restless and uneasy, wrack'd and impatient, till it had made its Peace with an incens'd Judge, by Repentance not to be repented of; till it had prepar'd it self for a comfortable Ap­pearance at his Bar, for a glorious advancement into an endless state of Bliss and Immortality: Such is the great advantage of considering our latter end. Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

And this leads me to the fifth and last Observable, Namely, That to consider our latter end, is an Argu­ment of our Wisdom and Understanding.

And here, if we consider our latter end as we ought, it we seriously meditate upon Death and a Judgment to come, then we shall prepare our selves, and make ready for it by purity of Life, and holiness of Conversation; such a Considera­tion will create in our Minds an abhorrency and de­testation of Sin, and plant in us Vertue and Good­ness, a perfect and sincere love of God and Religion; and this, I am sure, is the greatest Wisdom, the noblest Understanding.

The fear of the Lord, saith the Royal Psalmist, is the beginning of Wisdom: a good Ʋnderstanding have all they that do thereafter, Psalm 110.10. i. e. There is no such excellent and prudential course, as the pre­serving in our Breasts a just and due reverence of God, an awe to his Laws, and a dread to his Judg­ments; [Page 13] and all this is the happy effect of considering our latter end. So teach us to number our Days, is the fervent Prayer of Moses, Psal. 90.12. So teach us to consider our latter end, that we may apply our Hearts unto Wisdom, i. e. to the important business of Re­ligion; thus shall we lay up in store for our selves a good foundation against the time to come; thus shall we lay hold on Eternal Life: And this if we do, it will be a demonstrative argument of our Wisdom and Understanding. And that you may be perswaded to incline your Ear unto Wisdom, and apply your Hearts to Ʋnderstanding, I shall set before you the happiness of a Religious, and the folly of a vicious and an Immoral Conversation; and this I cannot better do, than by referring you to the third Chapter of the Proverbs: You will see there, how the Wise Man sets off Religion in the most beautiful and glorious Dress, enumerates there its peculiar excellencies, and particular advantages; ver. 16. He represents her as a great and generous Princess, distributing Gifts to her Subjects, length of Days is in her right hand, and in her left hand Riches and Honour: and ver. 17. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace; i. e. They procure a blessed Tranquility in a Mans Mind and Conscience, Prosperity in all his en­terprizes, and Eternal Rest with God in Glory. The Religious Man hath Peace and an Heaven in his Bo­som; the greatest transports of Joy possess and sur­round his Breast, and his last end is sweet and com­fortable, he dies the Death of the Righteous; his Con­science then, as a Glass, represents to his sight the Beatific Vision and the Joys of Eternity. And this it is to consider our latter end, this is the blessed effect of a righteous Life; whosoever then thus considers [Page 14] his latter end, it is certainly an Argument of his Wis­dom and Understanding.

But Secondly, Consider we the folly of a Vicious Life, and an Immoral Conversation; Alas! what is Vice and Immorality, but a sort of practice that de­baseth and disparageth a Man? Such a sad course of Life generally plunges a Man into the most grievous and intolerable Evils, as a distemper both of Body and Soul, the greatest distress of Fortune, Poverty and Disgrace, a low and contemptible condition, re­proach and the loss of Reputation, Affliction and Discomposure of Mind, the torments of a troubled Conscience, (for there is no Peace, saith my God, to the Wicked,) the danger of a Death-bed Repentance, and frequently brings him to a violent and an unnatural Death: Add to this Misery, the loss of Gods favour and loving kindness; such treasure up unto them­selves wrath against the day of wrath. Oh the per­plexity and consternation such are in when they come to dye! when their Conscience presents to their sight the dreadful Scenes of a Judgment to come; their evil Conscience then flashes in their Face, casts abroad its Thunder, and strikes them with the greatest Terrour and Affrightment. All these are the lamentable effects of a vicious Life, and an immoral Conversation; which sufficiently demonstrates the folly of such as prefer Wickedness above Religion; such do truly wander out of the way of Ʋnderstanding: But this is not all, the Man that wandereth out of the way of Ʋnderstanding, shall remain in the Congregation of the Dead, [...], according to the version of the LXX, Prov. 21.16. i. e. The Man that leaves the beautiful Paths of Vertue, which directly lead to Happiness, and takes the By-Paths, the rough [Page 15] and unpleasant Road of Iniquity, which conducts him to Eternal Death, such a Man doth not only de­throne his Reason, is not only void of Understand­ing, but he shall remain in the Company of the Giants, of whom we read, Gen. 6.4. They were Men of a monstrous Stature, and whose wickedness too was proportionable to their large Size; these Men, as they were singularly eminent for their height and bigness, so were they horribly infamous for Acts of Injustice, for Wrong and Robbery, for Tyranny and Oppression; these were the Men, for whom it repented the Lord that he had made Man on the Earth; these were the Men, whose Sins opened the Cataracts, the Windows of Heaven, and brought down a deluge of Wrath and Indignation; and the Man, who works Wickedness, is not only without Ʋnderstanding, but shall be incorporated into the wretched Society and Con­verse of those Giants and Rebels against God, shall be condemned to keep them company, shall be sen­tenced to that accursed place, which they had assign'd them, when the Flood came and destroyed them all; a Place where the Worm dieth not, and the Fire is not quenched.

Thus I have shewn you,

• I. What it is to consider.
• II. The benefit of Consideration.
• III. What is meant by the latter end, the object of Consideration.
• IV. The great advantage of considering the latter end.
• V. That to consider our latter end, is an argument of our Wisdom and Understanding.

I come now in the Sixth and last place to make an Application, and then I a'done.

[Page 16]And here, suffer a Word of Exhortation, you, who worthily deserve to be punished; you, who for your Evil Deeds are condemned to die; let me be­seech you and prevail with you to consider your Latter End; it behoves you consider it: Eternal Bliss and Happiness sure, is a thing of the greatest and most weighty Consideration, a thing of such vast moment, that for you to put off the Thoughts of it, and neglect the Provision for it, is certainly the most unaccountable Indiscretion, the greatest Folly and Madness.

You have but this, and part of the Day following, to make your Peace with an Offended God, to make Provision for your Future Happiness. To day then hear the Voice of God, who calleth upon you to consider your latter End. I do not doubt your Con­sideration of it in one Sense, i. e. That you have ter­rible Apprehensions of your Temporal Punishment, of the violent and unnatural End you have brought your selves unto; but this ought to be the least of your Consideration; nothing ought to disturb you now, but the apprehension of your having offended God: And if you now do truly▪ fear God, (as you have all imaginable reason to fear him, who is able to cast both Body and Soul into Hell) that will raise you above all other Depressions, that will exalt you a­bove all base and dispiriting Fears. You are to con­sider, that after your departure hence there will be a Judgment; and to make ready and prepare your selves for a comfortable appearance at that tremen­dous Tribunal, you have received Sentence of Death from an Earthly Judge, which Death is only Tem­poral and Transitory; and it was pass'd upon you with all possible Regret and Reluctancy, with the greatest [Page 17] unwillingness; but if you repent not of the Evils you have done, a more terrible Sentence will be pro­nounced upon you by the Righteous Judge of the World, Go you Cursed into everlasting Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Will you not then con­sider your latter end, so as to prepare for it by true and faithful Repentance? Surely if you be wise, you will so consider it, and let not your punishment here, but the consideration, that you have offended a good and gracious God by your Wickedness, be the mo­tive to such a Repentance.

And here, let me a little touch upon, let me re­prove the Wickedness, and set before you the evil things that you have done.

Two of you are Condemned for Murder, and that of a most cruel and barbarous sort; the one, for the Wife of his own Bosom, the other, of her harmless and in­nocent Babe; Murders, monstrous and unnatural: How Diametrically opposite are such horrid Acts to the Laws of the Christian Religion? They command the Husband to dwell with his Wife according to Knowledg, i. e. with all Conjugal Love and Affection, to give ho­nour to the Wife, as unto the weaker Vessel; How then doth he violate this Command, who breaks the Bone of his Bone, who wounds the Flesh of his Flesh? Christianity obliges Husbands to love their Wives as their own Bodies, charges every Man to love his Wife even as himself, Ephes. 5.28.33. Husbands love your Wives, and be not bitter against them, Col. 3.19.

Secondly, We have before us a Woman who hath Murder'd her own Child, an Infant born of Fornica­tion; Fornication of it self is an hainous Sin, a Sin, that without Repentance excludes from the Kingdom of Heaven, 1 Cor. 6.9. Fornicators shall not inherit the [Page 18] Kingdom of God: And it is a Sin much more hainous, when it is productive of a greater, when Murder is the sad effect and lamentable consequence of it; to destroy the Fruit of one's own Womb, to send it out of the World too unbaptized, before it was wash'd in the Laver of Regeneration; to give it a Bloody Bap­tism! I want Words to express the unnaturalness and barbarity of such an Action. Alas! How doth the Commission of one Sin make way for another? How doth one Wickedness tread upon the heels of another? The Devil tempted to Fornication, and then to hide the Shame, tempted to murder the Infant; though that was the most effectual way to be expos'd to the greater Ignominy and Disgrace. Thus the De­vil did with David, as soon as ever he succeeded in his Temptation to commit Adultery with the Wife of Ʋriah, he presently took the advantage, and temp­ted him to add to his Adultery, the crying Sin of Murder.

Blood-guiltiness! A Sin which defiles the Land, a Sin which cries to Heaven for Vengeance, which im­portunes the Justice, and wearies the Ears of the Al­mighty, till it be avenged; a Sin for which God hath not only ordained a Temporal, but an Eternal Death to be the punishment of it, unless his Wrath be atton'd with an hearty and an unfeigned Repentance: Par­don for Sins of such an horrid nature, must be sought carefully with Tears.

Others of you are to be cut off with the Sword of Justice for Theft, for Wrong and Robbery, Acts altogether repugnant to the Laws of the Land, and contradictory to the Laws of God, who hath commanded us not to Steal, Thou shalt not Steal; had you sought the Kingdom of God, and his [Page 21] Righteousness, had you not neglected his Divine Service and Worship, had you wrought honestly with your hands, and been industrious in your respective Vocations, God would never have suffer'd you to have wanted the Comforts and Necessaries of this Life, but Idleness is the grand Snare of the DEVIL; had you trusted upon your Heavenly Father, who Cloathes the Grass and Lillies of the Field, He would have provided for you, He would have much more cloath'd you, O ye of little Faith.

It is Excellent Advice which the Royal Psalmist gives, 62.10. O trust not in Wrong and Robbery: He, that thinks to support himself by such Means, trusteth to a broken Reed, he will be sure to be disappointed, to find his Folly, when he expects the Fruit of his Contrivances; Riches innocent­ly gotten are not to be rely'd on, much less such Gain as is got by Injury and Oppression; Acts of Injustice make Men odious to God, render them unfit for humane Socie­ty: There are few that follow this wicked Employment, but at the last reap up the Wages which are appointed by the Law to be the Reward of it; and whosoever of them escapes Vengeance in this World, shall not, without Repen­tance, escape Vengeance in the World to come: Nothing but the Execution of such Men can give Check to their Wickedness, nothing can put a Stop to them, and prevent the Mischief that such Men do in the World, but a cutting them off, this is the Reason of Capital Punishments among Men; it is all imaginable Justice and Equity, to remove such Men out of the World, as will be a Plague to Man­kind, while they live in it.

Another of you suffers Death for Burning a Barn, for consuming with Fire the Fruits of the Earth, which had been with Labour and Charge sown and reap'd by one, who had formerly been to him a kind and an indulgent Master; An Act of Ingratitude as well as Impiety, and an Argument of a most Malicious and Diabolical Spirit, an Act that is [Page 22] contrary to the Golden Rule of the Christian Religion, which commands all its Professors, not to do that to others, which they would not have others to do unto them; to put away all Hatred and Strife, all Envy, Malice and Revenge, such being the Suggestions of the Devil.

Others of you are Condemn'd for Coyning, for Counterfeit­ing the King's Coyn, which, with Clipping of it, is one of the most growing Mischiefs in the Kingdom; How Excellent is the Coin of this Nation, both for intrinsick Value and Come­liness? and never was Mony so spoyl'd and abus'd as ours: If the same Question were to be put in this Age, as of old, Whose is this Image and Superscription? Part we might, but we could not answer the whole; we may indeed guess at the Image upon a piece of Money, but we cannot tell whose it is by the Superscription, for that is all gone; but mark the End of such Men.

Such Criminals rob the King of his Due, invade his Right and Propriety, and intrench upon his Royal Prerogative, for it is the KING alone who hath Power to Coin, it is He alone who hath an indisputable Right to set the Value upon Money, and to make it currant within his Sovereignty and Dominion; and our Religion obliges us to give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; such therefore as Counterfeit or Clip the King's Coin, the same are Thieves and Robbers, and it is an Iniquity to be punish'd by the Judge.

From those Base and Vitious Practices, What a Loss flows to the Subject? What a Scandal to the Nation? A Trades­man, that takes up these dishonest ways of living, what In­jury may he bring upon such as are of the same Trade with himself? By under-selling them, by affording his Commo­dities at a Cheaper Rate than he bought them, because of the unlawful Profit and Advantage he can make of the large or broad Money, that he sees laid down upon the Nail for them: But, Profit and Advantage did I say? Alas! This is not a way for a Man to enrich himself, there is a secret Curse [Page 23] goes along with such Gains, whereas a Penny honestly got wears like Iron, but Estates acquir'd by Coining and Clipping are never of any long Duration, there is a strange Improspe­rousness that attends them; Riches so attain'd have Wings and fly away, turn to the Owners Hurt, bring them at the last to an Ignominious and a Shameful End.

I am heartily sorry that one who had taken Holy Orders upon him, (though it is a considerable time since he pre­tended to an Ecclesiastical Office or Administration) should prove a Malefactor in this kind, and that some should dare to improve this Crime to a general Reflection, such as do so, are base and ill-natur'd, censorious and unthinking People: Alas! Offences will come, there will be some bad in all So­cieties and Communities of Men, there was a Judas among the very Apostles, the best Body hath some bad Blood in it, the finest Silver hath some Allay, the brightest Days have some Clouds.

The Clergy, I must confess, are under the greatest Obli­gation to follow that which is good, to abstain from all Ap­pearance of Evil; they are oblig'd to live with especial Re­gularity and strictness of Conversation, with all imaginable Care and Circumspection: The Ministers of God! They are the Lights of the World, they, above all others, ought to let their Light so shine before Men, that they seeing their good Works, may Glorifie their Father which is in Heaven; they are particularly oblig'd to enlighten the Glorious Spheres, wherein they move, with the bright Lustre of an exact and an Exemplary Conversation; for let Wit and Learning, let the bravest Parts and the best Accomplishments stand in the Front, yet if ill Morals, if an ungodly Life brings up the Rear, the Satyr soon devours the Panegyrick, their Vice will be re­flected upon, it will be such an Interposition as will Eclipse the Beauty and Glory of the rest; it is true, Learning and Excellent Parts may strike the Tympane, may make the Drum of the Ear to sound, but, if there be not an honest [Page 24] and a sober conversation, they will never Touch the Fibres of the heart; if the light, that is in them, be darkness, how great is that darkness! they are plac'd as Stars in the Fir­mament, and if they Dart nothing but malignant, and im­prosperous influences, what can follow but an Universal Plague, and Epidemical Distemper?

But, Alas! They are Flesh and Blood as well as other men are, they are not Exempted from Temptation; it is not Absolutely impossible for them to fall into the Snare of the Devil; though it is matter of sad consideration, that he, who Taught others not to Steal, should Steal Himself; that he, who Preach'd to others, should himself be a Cast-away; that he, who was obliged to teach, and exhort Parents too to train up their Children in the fear of the Lord, to dye them with vertue and goodness in the very wool of their infancy, that they might the better keep the colour as long as they live; that such an one should Teach his only Son a Trea­sonable Trade, should Chalk him out such Wicked, and un­lawful ways of living, as have brought upon him shame and confusion, as have thrown him into the most Deplo­rable Circumstances; that he, who, at his initiation into the Christian Church by Baptism, call'd him Benjamin, i. e. the Son of his Right Hand, a Son as dear and Precious to him as his Right Hand, should bring him up to be a Ben­oni, i. e. a Son of Sorrow; this is matter of the saddest consideration.

But let him, that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.

We have instances in Holy Scripture of such as have not answered their Character, as have Preach'd to others, and themselves been Reprobate, as have Corrupted their Mo­rals and Religion, as have by Covetousness fall'n into the snare of the Devil:

Covetousness is the Root of all Evil, and indeed such an Evil as the Crime of this Condemned person had it's Rise from; [Page 25] they that will be rich, that set their minds on the getting of riches, fall into a Temptation and a snare, into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which ingulph or drown them in Destruction and Perdition; the Love of Money is the Root of all Evil, which while some have coveted after, they have Erred from the Faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows, have brought themselves to a sad and most Wretched Con­dition; And the Man of God should flee these things; this was the Charge, which St. Paul gave to his Scholar, and Spiritu­al Son Timothy, at his Embarquement into the Episcopal Of­fice; 1 Tim. 6.9, 10, 11.

We have, I say, instances in Holy Scripture of such as have not answer'd their Sacred Character, as have Preach'd to others, and themselves been Reprobate, as have by Co­vetousness fall'n into the snare of the Devil; thus Judas was possess'd with a base and unworthy Spirit of Covetousness, he sold the very Son of God for Money; when he saw in­deed, the matter was to End in the death of his Lord, he Re­pented, but Alas! He acted his own Tragedy with a sad, and and ignoble death, he hanged himself, a Crime which there could be no Repentance for.

Thus Balaam for Money sold to Destruction, 24000 Men of Israel, Numbers, Twenty Fifth, he loved the Re­wards of Divination; and though he was Restrain'd by the Divine prohibition to go at the first, yet a second Message carried by more Honourable Persons, and enforc'd with a Charming promise of promotion, and Advancement to Ho­nor; This Lull'd the Prophet Asleep, this was a bait, which he could not but swallow, the silver and gold, the Honors, that Balak promis'd, run so in his mind, that he could not but hanker after them; though at the last this prov'd his destruction, for he Associated with the Midianites, was found with them; and was Slain in the Battel, Numb. 31.8. God particularly turn'd the course of his wrath upon him, as he will do upon all such as forsake the right way, as go Astray [Page 26] by following the way of Balaam the Son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.

Thus have I set before you the evil things that you have done, and for which you are appointed to dye.

What remains, but that, as an Ambassador of God, I pray you in Christ's stead to be Reconcil'd to God, to consider your latter end, to seek the Lord your God with an hearty, and Sincere Repentance; Repentance is a Turning of the whole Heart from Sin and the Devil, to serve God in Newness of Life, a purging of the Conscience from Dead Works to serve the living God, a dying unto sin; such a Compunction of the Heart for sin, as is joyn'd with a full purpose, and a steady Resolution to leave, and forsake it; God hath promised to pardon, and hath Actually pardoned the greatest Sin upon such a Repentance; Even Murder it self, that Execrable and Crying Sin; though the innocent blood, you have shed, Crys to Heaven for Vengeance, yet the blood of the ever Blessed Jesus crys as loud for your pardon and forgiveness, if you be but deeply touch'd, and affected with a sense of your abominable wickedness.

Your Repentance, 'Tis True, is late, you have been exceed­ing sinful, you have put off your Duty towards God and your Neighbour; till the very last Minute of your Life; and the Holy Gospel requires not only Sorrow and Re­morse for Sin; but an Holy Life to demonstrate the Sinceri­ty of Repentance; But Alas! You have little or no time to amend your Life in, your glass is well nigh run, you have not many hours for the Consideration of your latter End; Well! but there is mercy with God, his Nature and Proper­ty is ever to have mercy and to forgive, his mercy is as infinite as himself; and therefore none must pretend to Li­mit or Confine it; though you have hitherto liv'd in Pro­phaneness, in the contempt of God and Religion; yet if you make a True and Ample Confession of all your Wick­ednesses; if you humbly beg pardon, and, with the Publi­can [Page 27] in the Gospel, smite upon your breast, and say, God be Merciful to me a Sinner, if you promise and resolve A­mendment, and if God foresee that such your resolution would be inviolable, that you would Pay your Vows, if more time were given you; I hope, He will accept your Re­pentance.

I Leave you therefore to the goodness and pity, to the Gracious compassion of a merciful God; I pray you to consider your Latter End, that after Death, there will be a Judgment; I beg of you to Employ the small Moment, you have to live, to your Eternal interest and Advantage, to work out your Salvation with fear and Trembling, to be doubly diligent and industrious, to redeem the time, seeing you are but come into the Vineyard at the Eleventh hour.

May you receive Equal Wages with those, that came in at the first, with those that have born the burden and heat of the day; may you be sav'd with the Thief upon the Cross; tho' his Case, as well as the Labourers, is vastly different from yours, yet you have a general refuge in the Merits of Christ, and in the Mercys of God.

And here, may all you, who have escap'd the Sentence of Death, who have been but slightly punish'd for your offences, follow the salutary advice of our Blessed Saviour, which He gave to the Adulterous Woman, and the impotent Man in the Gospel, Go and Sin no more, Jo. 5.14. Jo. 8.11. Lest a worse thing come unto you.

Lastly, May all you, who hear me this day, be perswaded, by the Exemplary punishment of these Persons, to the Excellent and rewardable service of God, to keep your vessels in Sanctification and Honor, to the practice of Temperance and Chastity, to do always that which is just and honest, Lawful and Right, to a constant performance of your du­ty both towards God and Men, to an early and sincere [Page 28] Repentance, to bring up your Children in the fear of the Lord, to season them betimes with the salt of piety and Holy Religion.

I Pray for you all in the Pathetick and Affectionate words of my Text.

Oh that you may be Wise, Oh that you may understand this, O that you would consider your Latter End!

Now to God the Father, God the Son, and to God the Ho­ly Ghost be Ascrib'd, as is most due, all Honor, Glory, Power, Might, Majesty, Dominion and Faithful service from Hence­forth and for Evermore, Amen.