VVHereas by the Call and In­vitation of some of your very much Ho­noured and Respected Society, [...]his Serious, Summons to the great day of Judgment; was proclaimed in your Ears, at Bristol, near Mount-Hope in New England, at the Ass [...]ze, [...]here hold, on Friday Octob. 7. [...]687. Being also, moved to [Page 4]the Publication thereof, I do here humbly present it under divine Protection and Blessing to your Candid. Acceptation and Defence, who sometime Composed the quire of a most attentive, benigne and so [...]emn Audience in the time of its delivery.

Honourable and Beloved, As these Papers tend (with your kind leave) to [...]re inkindle the the memorial of that dayes Soul awakening Subject: so let me (I pray in this proem) beg you to ruminate on a say­ing of an Em [...]nent Divine at Bury a Town of great note in Suffolk of old England [That Sermons are never done, Mr. Ed­mund Ca­lany S [...]n. till they are Done] and let me add, If never Done, the hearers are un­done for ever. Especially in such weighty & momentous Points as these, about the formida­ble, day of Judgment.

The tears of Auditors, said Jerom (as J.M.) are the Jew­els [Page 5]of Preachers; and if Sincere, Presage a Crown of Eternal joyes to both. There are a­mong many others in Divini­ty, three illustrious Doctrines,

• (1.) Justification by Faith in Christ alone.
• (2.) Sanctifica­tion by the Spirit.
• (3.) Resur­rection to Glory.

In whose Compass and Bosome was our present Subject about the Ʋni­versal Judgment. As to which, Give me leave to present three things, and Close with the A­postolical Prayer.

I 1. State your own Eternal State, while yet in the State of this Life. Matter not the day or Censures of mans Judgment. They'l Fluctuate in their love as the wind of their Passions,1 Cor. 4 3 Interests and Envious or false informations tur [...]s the fane of their Constructions: if they are not both wise and godly. And sometimes hastily Carp your innocence as if they had forgotten Pl [...]tarch and Senecas [Page 6]memorials about natures gift of two Ears before they deter­min matters in question:Gal. 6.1. not pondering as they ought, in the Spirit of meekness the many Tentations the best of men are incident to,Tim. 3.2, their own freq [...]ent infirmities and others proud and invidious detractions and your own vertuous & Slander-Shaming Apologies. Taking little heed to the Fifteenth Psalm, and how unworthily these blast others usefulness & lay up Scourges for their own Consciences in the day when God shall visit them and give their abused Friends,Exod. 32.34. the greatest favour at last,Prov. 18. [...], 38.23. when his Neighbour Searches him out; and then thy Brothers Mote may swell to a Beam in thine eye, by the rubbing of others inflamed Censures upon thee, when thy turn comes We all need Contrition, Confession, and Pardon.

II 2. Make Peace with God be­times [Page 7]and Expedite it. The [...]ands of times hour Glass ne­ver stop, and are more precious then the golden ones of Tagus. Do this work seasonably, sin­cerely, & speedily, to frustrate the trouble of the New Re­pentance and prevent the di­vine Judgment. Delay not; lest Tardy neglect;2 Cor. 11.31, 3 [...]. quicken Goul-Confounding horrors, and Sudden wracks of Conscience will draw out the funeral-Song of Epimetheus, O non putaram, Prov. 2 [...].19. or that of the Fool in Solomon. Was I not in jest? and cry out in earnest concerning laughter,Eccl. 2.2. Eccl. 9.6. that 'tis mad, and of mirth What doth it? but as the Crackling of thornes under a Pot: whose Prickles fly in his Eyes, & leave him in utter darkness, wringing his hands in the bloud of his heart, and stream­ing out bitter groanes, that he did not think the Evening Shadows were so nigh. O Sirs, this tremendous work [Page 8]cryes aloud for the greatest de­liberation, the swiftest Executi­on, and perseverance without end. O Blessed Lord, help us out of the woful Tentations and intricate Labyrinths of delay, Aesop. lest when Death comes indeed, as in the ancient Apologue, it prove an other guess work than most are now aware of; You'l stand in need of more then all your Graces, Experi­ences, Reliances and Restaura­tions out of deep and dark desertions. Yea and all little Enough and will prove scarce able to list you out of the dun­geon of terror: unless the gracious Supplies of the Spirit come in upon a Spring tide from Heaven, and list up the Ark of Conscience above the floud gates and Rocks of Con­fusion.

III 3. Labour to provide against the formidable Thunders of Death, that the Sun-shines of the Evidences of glory may brighten [Page 9]the dark passages of the Grave. The beauty of grace first dart­ed into thy Breast, in a beam from the Eye of the Electing Love of God, and shall never cease the shining and warming influences till like new Stars that at last Concenter all their motions in the Sun: so shall the rayes of thy joyes be in­bosomed in the Eternal Love of God. When thou hast done this work,John 6.19▪ which the Father hath given thee to do: then that TO PHOBEROTATON, Aristotles grand King of Ter­ [...]ers shall sling down his Crown with amazement at the foot of Christ:Heb. 3.14 [...] 1▪ Cor. 15 [...] 5 [...], 57. and that Dragon, who hath the power of death shall himself be slung to Death by the Cross of Christ, first upon his illustrious Tomb at Mount Golgotha; or like the standard of Constantine, car­rying TO SEMEION, the Labarum or signe of the Son of man, Mat. 34▪3 set upon the back-bone [Page 10]of the Serpent, as you may see it on the Reverse of that Em­perors Coin.Spelman. Aspilogi [...]. P. 20 Ed. Lo [...]d. 1654 cu, uptem. Yea and a [...] holy Christians are like the Roman Draconiseri, the Dra­goniers of the ancient Empire, carrying the Exuviae or case of the old Serpent in triumph, and yielding up their Spirits into the hands of a most faith­ful Creator: who once form'd us, and will shortly as faith­fully Redeem us out of the dust: and inform us a new with the same Immortal Souls to inherit the same Body in a State of Immortality, to Co­inhabit the Temple of Heaven in an immortal State of Glory, ever beginning and never ending▪ When the day of the last Redemption, that great day of the feast, when the rud­dy morning shall Climb the Eastern hills of Mount Olivet with its pleasant Blushes to cure all the dark Solitudes and Sollicitudes of this Vally [Page 11]of Immortal Souls, by the Lord Jesus Christ; before whom they Appear when [...]heir Bodies here are by Death made [...]ntenantable; and from whom they [...]hen Receive Order, Either to be Ad­mitted among the Spirits of Just men made perfect, or to be Reserved in Darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day. That Separate Souls thus Exist [...]n an Invisible World, is a thing where­of I know some, who have such pal­ [...]able Evidences, that were the Scrip­ [...]ures wholly Silent, which Blessed by God, they are not, about it, yet they could no more Qustion it, than they Question their own Existence in the World. But there is a more General Work of this kind, shortly to be done, [...]n a Vast Assembly of all mankind, unto [...]hat end Summoned by the Mighty God, and called from the Rising of the Sun unto the Setting thereof. The Souls of men shall reassume a fit Portion of the Dust, whereunto they were for­merly United, by the Almighty God fetch'd out of the Various matter whereinto it has been Dissolved and Dispersed, but now become as were [Page 12]the Keel, where upon shall be Buil [...] Incorruptible Bodies: and some that shall then be found alive shall by [...] Translation, have their Bodies made i [...] a like manner Spiritual. In their Bo­dies thus Raised, and Changed, they shal [...] stand before a Tribunal of our Lord Jesus, descended from the Heavens in­to our Atmosphere; and after a [...] Exact Examination of their Behaviours While God was upon Earth Trying o [...] them, they shall have One of these two Sentences pronounced upon them Either, Come, ye Blessed, Inherit the Kingdom; Or, Depart, ye Cursed, into Everlasting Fire; Which will be ac­cordingly Executed on them. Such [...] Day of Judgment is there to come upon the World! Amen ! Come; Lord Je­sus, come quickly. Indeed, about the Circumstances of this most Illustriou [...] Day, tis more easy than lawful for us to Enquire into such things as w [...] are not yet Able to A [...]swer; nor ha [...] the Lord Indulged our Curious and Critical Enquiries after Particularities which He ha's not Revealed. It seem Revealed▪ That this Last Day, will be [Page 13]a Long Day; It will be a Day of [...]ublick Hearing, and all Doings of all [...]eople must be called out;

So that things will not be Hastily [...]uddled, and Suddenly Shuffled over. [...]ea, It seems, Revealed, That the [...]orning of This famous Day, will [...]ake up at least a Thousand Years, wherein our Lord will be managing His Davidical Kingdom, with a New Hea­ [...]en and a New Earth wherein shall [...]well Righteousness, and Reigning before His Ancient People Gloriously; at the Close whereof it seems to some that▪ The Rest of the Dead Live again▪ & all t [...] Dead Small & Great stand before God. The Hour, when it shall be Commenced, and [...]he Spot, where it shall be Che [...]fly mana­ged, seem not Revealed; nor a thousand [...]hings more, that concern the procee­dings of the Day. But whatever may be yet Unrevealed, it is abundantly Plain and Sure unto us, That the Son of man shall come in the Glory of His Fa­ther, [Page 14]with His Angels, and then, He shal [...] Reward every man According to hi [...] Works. This is Revealed, and it i [...] a Damnable Thing to Cherish an [...] Doubt of This, That we must a [...]l appea [...] before the Judgment-Seat of the Lord Je­sus Christ.

S. 3. The Judgment of the Great Day Or, a Day, wherein all men shall b [...] Raised and Changed into a State o [...] Immortality, and appear before the So [...] of Man within the Bounds of our Air to be Judged according unto wha [...] they Did, before they Dy [...]d; This is [...] thing which the People of God in al [...] [...]ges, have given their Assent unto Even in Old Times, long before th [...] Flood, the Church of God, made this a [...] Article of their Creed. We hav [...] some short Notes of what was deli­vered by the Venerable Enoch abou [...] it, so long ago▪ in Jude 14. Behold [...]he Lord comes, to Execute Judgmen [...] upon all. Yea, This was a main Con­troversy, between the Antediluvia [...] Saints, and the Impious, Impure Ge­ [...]tion of. Atheists, then upon th [...] [Page 15]Stage. The Godly did Assert, There [...]ali be a Day of Judgment, but the pro­ [...]ne did with Hard Speeches, Deride & [...]xplode the Belief of that awful Truth▪ We read in Gen. 4.8. Cain spake to Abel his Brother; the Hebrew Bibles [...]sually leave a Blank at the end of his clause; and the ancient Jewish [...]argum [...], presume to put in the Dis­ [...]urse which they had; they say, that [...]he Quarrel between Cain and Abel [...]as upon this point; Abel said, There [...] to be a Day of Judgment, and there is Judge, and there shall be another World▪ [...]nd the Godly shall be Rewarded, and the Wicked Pun [...]shed. But Cain said, There, [...] no such Thing; and as the Targum [...]f I. Ben. Ʋzziel adds, Et Propter ha­ [...]um Rerum Causam Contendebant Super­ [...]acies Agri. And methinks, the A­ [...]ostle in the Beginning of his Eleventh▪ [...]hapter to the Hebrews, may seem to. [...]ountenance this Tradition. It seems▪ [...]s if Abraham also, saw this Day a­ [...]r off; inasmuch as there are those. [...]ho put his Plea for Sudom, into this▪ [...]nglish, in Gen. 18.25. W [...]ll not the Judge▪ [...] all the Earth, Execute: Judgment, [...] [Page 16]q d. Lord, Thou dost intend hereaf­ter, to appear for a Judgment upon a [...] the World, in such Flames of Devour­ing Fire as thou art now going to de­stroy this miserable Place withal; b [...] Entreated therefore to spare these Towns, until that Revolution come Indeed all Christians have alwayes A­greed in this Acknowledgment, long before, as well as ever since the Daye [...] of Job, I know that my Redeemer Lives and that He shall: stand at the Eatte [...] Day upon the Earth; and though Worms Destroy this Body, yet in my Flest I shall see God. And even in that Confession of Faith, which the Jews themselves at this Day embrace, their Eleventh Fundamental Article is, the Eternal Judgment.

To what the People of God; have thus Received as the Faith delivered unto the Saints, they have had the Scriptures of God, most abundantly given their In­fallible Testimony. There is hardly any one part of the Old Testament, which has not Considerable Glances a [...] the Day of Iudgment; But in the New [...]estament, it is yet more plentifully [Page 17]insisted on. Very many of the Sermons Preached by our Lord Jesus Christ, [...]nd all the Letters written by His A­ [...]stles, do set the Day of Iudgment before our Eyes. Yea, not only the Approach, but also the Process of this wonderful Day, is diverse times Ex­pressed in these Lively Oracles. The Holy Spirit of God, hath Chosen to make one of the East Clauses in the Bible, an Admonition unto us here­ [...]bout; the very last Lines of the last [...]dvice we have had from Heaven, are [...]o this purpose, The Lord Jesus Christ▪ will shortly come to Iudge the World. And with the Assertions of Scripture, [...]oncerning this matter, the Apostle in [...] certain place tells us, the Accusing [...] [...]nd the Excusing [...]s of Conscience, do join [...]heir Testimony thereunto [...]. The Ver­ [...]ict of Conscience upon the Sinner is▪ [...]s Tertallian calls it; Futur [...] Judici [...] Prejudicium; a presage of a future [...]udgment. It is true, the Dim Rus [...] [...]a [...]ale, which the Heathen had in their Notions about the Burning and the [...]udging of the World, might be much [...]ighted, at the Lamp of the Israe [...] [...] [Page 18]Sanctuary. But yet meer. Natural Conscience, did use to warn the Rudest Pagans, of a Judgment, which God will at Last bring mankind into. Hence Felix the Governour, before Paul the Prisoner, Trembles at the Tidings of a Iudgment to come; he had a Preacher in his Bosome; that gave him a terri­ble Premo [...]ition of it. The very pro­ceedings of the Last Iudgment are antedated in our Consciences; and the Triumphs of Conscience upon our Well-doing, the Horrours of Conscience upon our Wickedness, the Inferences of Conscience from the Intricate Things every Day happening in the World, are so many most penetrating Intimations of that Judgment, wherein we are to stand before the Lord. Now the cer­tainty of that Notable Day, being a thing as clear and sure as Day it self, it becomes us to silence all the Ca­vils of Carnal Reason, against any o [...] its Unfathomable Circumstances, by a [...] Faith acquiescing in this Assurance of it, Thus saith the Lord. Indeed, wha [...] Paul says, about the first of the Tran­sactions belonging to this Day of th [...] [Page 19]Lord, may I say about the whole Af­ [...]yr of the Day, Why should it be Thought [...] thing Incredible with you? All the Cavils which our Unbelief ca [...] make [...]gainst this Word of God, are Suffici­ [...]atly and Eternally taken off, with Demanding, Is any thing too hard for [...]e Lord? But some of the Cavils, that [...]ave seem'd Specious, will upon Second Thoughts be found so Absurd, that [...]ven Common sense it self would hiss [...]t them. Such is that Objection, Where will there be room for such a Vast Multitude as Adam, with all his Chil­ [...]ren? The whole surface of the Earth [...]ould not hold them all? Ridiculous Ex­ [...]eption! Allow that this World should [...]ast no less than Ten-Thousand Years, which it will not; Allow that there [...]re at once alive a Thousand Millions of men, which there are not; Allow all [...]hese to march off every Fifty years, with a New Generation rising up in [...]heir stead; and allow each of these [...]ndividuals a place Five foot Square to [...]tand upon. I think these are Fair Al­ [...]owances. I would now pray the Ob­ [...]ector, if he have any skill at Arithme­tick, [Page 20]to Compute, Whether a Spot of Ground, much less than England, which contains perhaps about Thirty M [...]lli­ons of Acres, but about a Thousandth Part of the Terraqueous Glob, and a­bout the Three Hundred thirty third part of the Habitable Earth, would not hold them all. I say then, we have something else to do, than to Cavil, the unexceptionable Doctrine of the Last Iudgment; it is our Interest and Business to Improve it, with deep Im­pressions thereof upon our Souls.

S. 4. Of such an Aspect are all Things in the Day of Judgment, as that the Apostle might well call it, The Terror of the Lord. But me thinks; there is nothing that gives more Dread unto a Soul awakened out of Sinful Slumbers, than that ETERNITY, wherein this Day Expires; that Eter­nal Issue, that Eternal Event, which depends upon the Day. The last Judgment fixes the Children of men, like so many Rocks, in the Ocean of Eternity. Men will then be Immorta­lized; and their State of Weal or W [...], [Page 21]will be so inwrought into the very Beings of them, that Immortal Things [...]ay as easily cease to Be, as for a [...]ighteous or Wicked man to pass [...]nto another State, than what he is [...]hen Confirmed in. Tis a Passage in [...]hat Memorable and Perhaps Historical [...]arable, which decribes the State of [...]en, in the other World, that after [...]his Day, men have, A Great Guilf [...]xed, unto them; there is by the De­ [...]ree of God, such a Vast Pit, about the Children of men, that they cannot pas [...] put of the State wherein they are: The Nature of things will then require, [...]hat they be Ʋnalterable; the Children of men, will then be most Immediately Siezed, either by the Goodness or by the [...]ustice of God; and because our God Himself Changes not, therefore the state of men becomes then Ʋnchangeable; nor will it stand with the Wisdom of the most High, to alter the Sentence [...]hen Pronounced about the State of Weal or Wo, which will then belong unto us. At the Day of Judgment, all Righteous men shall be adjudg'd unto a State of Eternal Happiness. Tis a [Page 22] Life Eternal, tis an Eternal Salvation tis an Eternal Inheritance, tis an Everlasting Habitation, and they are Plea [...] sures for ever more, of which the Believer shall be made Partaker. Afte [...] he ha's been in the mansions of th [...] Blessed, as many Millions of Ages a [...] there are Sun-beams in the Universe [...] he will still continue there. Th [...] stately Pillars in Solomons Temple, wer [...] thence removed; but the Believe [...] shall now become a Pillar in the Temple of his God; from whence he shal [...] no sooner go out, than the Temple i [...] self [...]all Tumble down. A Deyo [...] Person at a [...]eas [...], said well, In Hea­ven there is Good Cheer, and Goo [...] Company; and so there is here: but in Heaven there is no Taking away. The [...]estial Satisfactions of the Believer, [...]ll never be disquieted with such a Thought as this, At the Long run, these things will have an end. God will not Repent of the Love which He has freely set upon him [...]nor will Christ ever Suffer one of His own Members to be Pluck'd away. But at the Day of Judgment, all Wicked men shall be [Page 23]adjudg'd unto a State of Eternal Mi­ [...]ry. Tis a Worm which Dyeth not, and [...] Fire which is not Quenched, where­ [...]ithal the Sinner shall be Cruciated; [...] is an Eternal Damnation, and it is [...] Everlasting Destruction. Suppose an [...]eap of as many Little Poppey-seeds, [...] according to the old Ptolemaick [...]ystem, would fill the whole Machin [...]f the World, and no more than one [...]f them in a Thousand years fetch'd [...]way, but the Sinner in Anguish till [...]he heap were all wasted so; behold, [...]nd be amazed! All this Long while [...]ould be but as a Drop to the Ocean, [...]ompar'd with that, Forever! that [...]orrible Forever! whereto the Tor­ [...]ents of the Damned shall be Length­ [...]ned. Fifty two Cyphers, and One Fi­ [...]urt at the Head of them, would Com­ [...]rehend, as the Learned and Noble, [...]tto de Guerick affirms it, the Num­ [...]er of the Little Poppey-seeds in the prodigious Heap, newly mentioned; But I say then, suppose a Scroll as [...]arge as the Starry Heaven it self, all [...]illed with Figures of Nine; and yet [...]o many Myriads of Ages, as would be [Page 24]therein deciphered, are Nothing to that Endless Duration, which the Tor­ments of the Damned shall be made Exquisite withal. It may be said unto the sinner, Are not thine Iniquities In­finite? A Sin Committed against an Infinite God, Exposes, a man unto an Infinite Wrath. The sinner makes him­self a prey to an Infinite Vengeance; and the Exercises of that Vengeance must be Infinite, or they bear no Pro­portion to the Desert of the sinner; now, they cannot be Infinite for the Degree of them: of such the sinner would be Incapable; so then, they must be Infinite for the Durance of them; they must abide World with­out End. Lord, what Rocks are our Hearts, that they do no more Tremble at the Fore-thoughts of such an ETERNAL JUDGMENT.

S. 5. To be Seriously, Constant­ly, Vigorously Preparing for the Day of Judgment, is indeed, The thing which our Hand finds to Do; and, O that we may to it with our Might! Now tis our Cordial Closure with the Lord [Page 25]Jesus Christ, and the Consent of our Souls to the Gospel-way of Salvation, by Him, in the New Covenant Exhibi­ted, which is the Preparation, whereby alone, we may be Ready for the Ter­rible Day. It was the study and the Desire of the Apostle, O that I may be found in Him! We are to give out selves unto the Lord Jesus Christ, as unto our Prophet, and our Priest, and our King for ever; and now before Him, Judge our selves, for all our Sins, from which we would have Him to save us. Our Judge will then become our Friend; and we shall be safe in the Day, that shall Burn like an Oven, and Consume all the Wicked of the Earth. When the Watery Flood, overwhelmed the old World, O how many Wishes had people then, for, An Ark! An Ark! to Shelter them? At the Day of Judgment there will be, what the Ancients called, a Dlluvium Ignis, or, Fiery Flood, upon the World; and O what a rate, will, A Christ! A Christ! be then Esteemed at? May we Now make sure of Him, by Faith in Him! If once that were done, we might, Re­joyce [Page 26]before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to Judge the Earth. Suppose that before to Morrow Morning, the Lord Jesus Christ should set the World on a Light Fire, and Melt the Pillars of Heaven, with the Brightness of His Ap­pearing; Suppose that we should, a­waking at the next Midnight, hear such fearful and rattling Thunder claps, & see such hideous slashes of Lightning, as made Mount Sinai shake at the Gi­ving of the Law; yet our Hearts might even Leap with Joy within us, at it, as John did within his Mother, when Jesus came into the room. Only, when That is done, we are to Remember, that our Faith will have this Happy Symptom, to Justify it, That it will cause us to Abound in the Works of the Lord. May we then by a Spirit of Fore-sight Consi­der, how Comfortable in the Day of Judgment it will be unto us, to Look back and say, I once made it my Care, to be every Day, all the Day long at Work for God; And, When the Lord put His Talents into my Hands, I husbanded them unto the best Advantage that I could; [...]nd▪ Here can I in this Great Assembly, [Page 27]point at Multitudes of Persons, to whom I was not Ʋnserviceable, when I had my Opportunities! And may we Do Accor­dingly. There will be a Day of Judg­ment; and the Plain Deduction from it is, What manner of Persons, ought we to be, in all Holy Conversation, and Godli­ness!

S. 6. Tis to be added, That some of the most hopeful Preparations for the Day of Judgment, would be attain'd in our Solemn Anticipations of that most Great and Notable Day of the Lord. Let us afore hand Act over the Day of Judgment; not in a Play, Like those Germans, who turned the parable of the Virgins into a Comedy, whereat a Prince then present, fell into an Astonishment that immediately ended his Dayes; but by Seriously bringing our selves Now to such Trials as will then be pass'd upon us. Tis among the Oracles of God, in 1 Cor. 11.31. If we would Judge our selves, we should not be Judged; and surely, if we would now proceed Against our selves, with a most Exact, and Humble Judgment upon our own Miscarriages, it would be the way for [Page 28]us to stand, in the Day when the Lord shall Mark Iniquities. If we are not Christians, of Lean Souls within us, we sometimes do set a part our Dayes, for Fasting with Prayer before the [...]ord; & thus we do sometimes more particular­ly, when we are Perfuming of our selves for our Approches to the S [...]pper of the Great King; now, let such Dayes, be so many little Dayes of Iudgment with us all. On such a Day, let us Examine our selves by all the Ten Command­ments of our God, and among other Things, Let us be Inquisitive,

• I. Have I not Grievously Forgotten the God that made me? And given un­to the Flesh, the World, and the Divel, the Homage, which is due to Him alone? Or let Creatures have the Affection, the Obedience, and the Dependance, which He alone may lay claim unto?
• II. Have I not shamefully Neglected the Institu [...]ions wherein the Lord Jesus Christ ha's taught me to mentain Com­munion with Him? And Humoured the Superstitions of a Vains Conversation?
• III. Have I not Irreverently Treat­ed the Names, A [...]tributes, Words, Work [...], [...]nd Ordinances, whereby the Almighty [Page 29]God makes Himself known unto us? And been without awful Apprehensions of His Majesty, under His Various Dis­pensations?
• IV. Have I not been Carnal, Careless, Weary, in the Ordinary Sabbaths of God? and been Indisposed unto the Extraordinary ones?
• V. Have I not been Perverse and Haughty towards my Superiours; Un­kind & Foolish towards my Inferiours? Envious towards my Equals? and mi­serably Selfish in my Conduct of my self?
• VI. Have I not impaired my own Health by Intemperancies? or been towards others, Passionate, Revengeful, and Contentious?
• VII. Have I not been Ʋnchast, in my Acts, my Thoughts, my Words? or been a Companion of the Fools that are so?
• VIII. Have I not by Fraud or Force wronged my Neighbour? nor been too Prodigal when I should not have spent; but when I should have spent, then too Niggardly?
• IX. Have I not uttered, or foment­ed, [Page 30]what ha's been Contrary unto Truth? nor given Countenance to a False Re­port?
• X. Have I not been Discontent with my own Condition? or, harboured in my Heart a Roving and a Craving Lust, after an undue Alteration of it?
• XI. Have not I despised the Offers of the Lord Jesus in the New Covenant, and the Wonderful Provision therein made for Unhappy Sinners? And per­mitted my Earthly Affayrs to keep me at a Distance from the Lord Redeemer, who ha's been Waiting to give me, Repentance and Remission of Sins?
• XII. Is not the Fountain of all these Bitter and Cursed Streams, the Corrupt Nature which I have derived from my first Parents; a Nature, filled with a depraved Prejudice against what is, Ho­ly, and Just, and Good?

Upon the Discovery of our Guilt in These, and such Articles, Let us now Judge our selves as Worthy of Everlast­ing Destruction from the Presence of the Lord. And if the Iudgment, which we now pass upon our selves, be attended with the Self Abhorrencies, and Self-Condemnations, and New-Resolutions, [Page 31]of a true Repentance, it will Prevent our coming under the like Iudgment on the Day of our Appearance before the most High Tribunal. But indeed, the Even­ing of Every Day, is also to be reckoned a fit Opportunity for us, to call our selves unto an Account about our whole Behaviours in the Day; It becomes us with Self-judging Hearts, every Night before we Sleep, to make a Process, like what would be in the Day of Iudgment; and this as not knowing, but that before we Wake out of that Sleep, a Come away to Judgment! may Surprize us. Nightly Recollections have been Com­mended by Sober Pagans, and should not be Omitted by Pious Christians: but, when we have Considered, What ha's been Gods Providence towards my self in the foregoing Day? We may do well also to Consider, What ha's been my Be­haviour towards God, in the Day? We may now particularly take an Account,

Q. 1. Have I Lived this Day, under a Deep sense of Mortality and Eternity?

Q. 2. Have I Devoutly Read the Word of God this Day; and Seriously sought the Face of God, both in my Retire­ment, [Page 32] and with my Family?

Q. 3. Have I had many Ejaculations this Day, both in a way of Petition, and in a way of Thanksgiving unto God?

Q. 4 Have I had most affectionate Meditations upon Heavenly Things this Day; & have I made Earthly Things to occasion some of my Profitable Reflections?

Q. 5. Have I been careful of my Dis­course this Day, & Spoken with a Tongue B [...]idled by the Fear of the Lord?

Q. 6. Have I been Diligent in my Calling this Day, and avoided all Need­less Expence of my Precious and Golden, Minutes, in Diversions?

Q 7. Have I this Day Endeavoured all Usefulness unto those to whom I am Re­lated, or with whom I have been Concerned?

Q. 8. Have I this Day Control [...]'d and Conquer'd my Master Sin? and ha's my Watchfulness issued in my Victory over my own Iniquity?

Q. 9 Am I in a fit State and Frame to appear before the Judgment-Seat of God, if I should before To Morrow Morn­ning be Summoned thereunto? And there­fore, Do I still choose the Great God as my best Good, and my last End: and the Lord Jesus Christ, as my Prophet, my [Page 33]Priest, my King? And is it my Desire to be Employ'd as a Witness for His Truths and Wayes for ever?

Did we not let any Day pass us with­out such Representations of the Last Day unto our minds, we should be Al­wayes Ready. Reader, let us Aspire af­ter such a Continual Readiness!

S. 7. But none of the least Exerci­ses in our Preparation for the Day of Judgment, would be our Meditation of it; Or, Our Looking for the Glorious Ap­pearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was an Holy man, among the Ancients, who could say, Wherever I am, and What­ever I do, Methinks I have the Sound of the Last Trumpet in my Ears, ARISE YE DEAD, AND COME TO JUDG­MENT. We should Labour to get a Proper & a Lively Character of the Day, when God shall Judge the Secrets of men; and often Raise it in our minds. It was said, Wo to them that put far away the Evil Day. Truly, The Day of Judg­ment will be an Evil day indeed, unto them that put it far away. Thoughts upon the Day of Judgment, should con­tinually Lodge in our Hearts; and how­ever we are imploy'd we should think, [Page 34] What shall I do, when God rises up? and when He Visits, what shall I answer Him?

Now for the Assistence and Nourish­ment of our Private Meditations upon, The Day of God, we are happily Supply'd with the Published Meditations of many Worthy Pious Learned Writers, upon that Important Subject; and I pray, that we may not be Unthankful, or Unfruitful under such Advantages. The Carnal Jewes, when they Read the Book of Ecclesiastes, have the last Verse but one [which has in it, Fear God and keep His Commandments] Printed over again, at the Close of all, because they would not have the Remembrance & impres­sion of the Last Verse [which has in it, God shall bring every Work into Judgment] to be too strong upon them; whereas if men would Think more of the Latter, they would probably Do more of the Former. God forbid, that we should any of us have any Indisposition to such Meditations on the Day of Judgment, as are Laid before us, in the Books of some that are Longing for the Day. Dear New-England! Thy Little Presses too, do now afford more than two or three Savoury Treatises upon the Day, which [Page 35]will not bundle such Books for the Fire, that shall then Burn up the Hay & Stub­ble, of Innumerable Volumns; No, Such are some of the Books that shall be Opened for a Witness against. Impenitents! In thee, is Reprinted the Zealous Thomas Vincents Discourse, On our Lords certain & sudden Appearance to Judgment. In thee, is Printed, a Sermon on, The Day of Judgment, whose Author is the Father of him that now addresses thee. In thee, is now Printed, the Reverend Sa­muel Lee's, Assize-Sermon, of Warning to the Great Day of Judgment; Left a­mong us, as his Mantle, by that Elias, when he went away for Europe. These, besides other Books, has New-England, had, for the Loudening of that Mid­night Cry among us, Behold, the Bride­groom comes. And indeed, if upon the passing away of the second Wo, the Third comes quickly, which brings on, The Time of the Dead, that they should be Judged, we that now see the Second Wo coming a pace unto its Period, should count no Awakenings too many, to rowse us out of that profound Sleep, wherein the World shall be fast, When the Son of man [Page 36]comes. I am verily perswaded, The Judge is at the Door; I do without any hesitation venture to say, The Great Day of the Lord is Near, it is Near, and it hastens Greatly. O That our Minds may be as deeply Engaged in Thinking on the Second coming of our Lord, as the Saints of old were in Thinking on His First; and that the Books by which we may Ʋnderstand, much of what concerns that matter, may have a due Entertain­ment and Efficacy with us. A Person of some Quality having Wasted much Time, at Unlawful Games, could not Sleep the Night following, & mentioned unto an Inquisitive Friend, the Ground of it; Yesterday casting my Eye into a Book that I saw open, I read the Word ETERN [...]TY, and this Word has broke my very Heart within me. Truly, we that have so many Books about, ETERNAL JUDGMENT, have our Hearts harder than the Nether Milstone, if at the sight of that Word ETERNAL JUDGNENT they do not break. But it is unto the God of Grace, that we are now to bow our Knees, with Petitions for, Mercy in the Day of the Lord.