Ignorantia scientifica. A brief essay on mans not knowing his time: the just inferences from it, and the great advantages of it. : Upon a special and mournful occasion. : [Seven lines of quotations]

Ignorantia scientifica. A brief essay on mans not knowing his time: the just inferences from it, and the great advantages of it. : Upon a special and mournful occasion. : [Seven lines of quotations]

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INSTRUCTION Fetch'd from IGNORANCE. On the Sudden DEATH of a Young Gentleman. Jan. 14.1726, 7.

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INSTRUCTION Fetch'd from IGNORANCE.
On the Sudden DEATH of a Young Gentleman. Jan. 14.1726, 7.

Eccl. IX. 12.

Man knoweth not his Time.—

AND therefore there is no Man in the Auditory at this Time, who knows any other but that This may be the Last Time of his being here; For ought that any One knows, This may be the Last Sabbath he shall have shining on him; This the Last Sermon he shall have speaking to him. Certainly This alone may be enough to bespeak from us, a Great Attention to what we have now before us.

Man knoweth not is Time.] The Text is capable to have a Lively, yea, a Daily Paraphrase made upon it.—What think you of such a Paraphrase as This? —

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—A Young Gentleman,*Mr. SAMUEL HIRST. Descended of worthy Progenitors; Accomplished with the Advantages of a Liberal as well as Religious Education; Recommended unto the Loves & Hopes of his Friends by many Desireable circumstances; After very little more than Three Times Seven Years of Appearance in the World; Be to all Apprehension in perfect Health; in the midst of Business, and of Company;— And — But here the Story Stops! — At once to fall down Dead in the Street! — The Mounting & Glowing Spark, in a Moment go out, and fall down into the common Heap of Ashes! — This is a Paraphrase, which the Great GOD has just now given us, on, Man knows not his Time. An affecting Paraphrase! Go to now, ye that say, To Morrow we will do this or that! ye know not what shall be on the Morrow. What is your Life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

BUT the matter must be further look'd into.

MY Text is found in a Book Entituled, The Preacher. It seems, the Things which are in this Book insisted on, are such as it well becomes a Preacher to insist upon. We have here the Retractations of a Solomon, writing a Treatise upon, The Chief End of Man; An Aged Solomon, after much Experience, confessing his own Errors, and correcting of ours, upon that Important Subject. The Word which we render, The Preacher, carries in it some Intimations of, A Soul upon Recollection. We have here that Enquiry managed, What is [Page]true Happiness? And, How, or Where, is true Happiness is to be met withal! Upon a Serious Recollection, it is here pronounced, That our Temporal Happiness is to Enjoy Chearfully what we Possess Honestly. But, Wo to that Man, who Stops here; who is put off so; who knows none but a Temporal Happiness. There is an Eternal Happiness, which a Man ought always and chiefly to be concern'd about : An Happiness to be found in the Day when G O D shall bring every work into Judgment. And the way to obtain this Happiness is for a Man to Fear G O D and keep His Commandments. In the prosecution of these things, very pertinent are the Remarks made in this Book, upon the Diverse Vanities, whereof Men do in this Life undergo the grievous Vexations. One of those Diverse Vanities, is Remark'd in the Text before us; Man knoweth not his Time. It refers to such occurrences, as the preceeding Verse takes notice of. Time intends the Changes which befalls us in Time; The Changes which are also called Chances, because we see not the Causes of them. The Reasons as well as the Seasons are secret unto us. But above all, Time intends the end of our Time. It is our Death which is our Time : The Time wherein we are to Dy, and we are to have no more Time allow'd unto us. The uncertainty of this Time, wherein it pleases the Holy Lord of Time, who Inhabits Eternity to keep us, has here some elegant Illustrations and Resemblances. The Fish Knows not the Time of its being taken in the Nett. The Bird knows not [Page]the Time of its being taken in the Snare; So are Men Suddenly taken by the Evil-Time of a Dying Hour. The Netts of Death are spread for us. The Snares of Death are laid for us. Man knows not the Time of his being taken in them.

ATTEND unto a DOCTRINE of an Importance as Useful as Awful, to be at all Times thought upon.

LITTLE do People know the Times that are hereafter to pass over them : Little do we know what Changes are to come, and when they are to come upon us.

CONTINGENCIES are Things which we cannot have a certain knowledge of. Tis at best, but an Opinion, tis at best but a Conjecture, that we can have of them. Now, with respect unto us, what are all Futurities, but Contingencies.

MY DOCTRINE is a String which the Quill of Solomon did very much harp upon. And most certainly the Wisdom of a Solomon could not be express'd without Strong Impressions from such a Meditation. Tis bewailed by Solomon as the Misery of Man, Eccl. VIII. 7. He knoweth not that which shall be; For who can tell him when it shall be! Oh! may we have the Wisdom to make our Advantage of this Misery; since we do know what we have to do, that we may be prepared for that which shall be.

THIS, This is the Tendency of the Meditation upon which we are now proceeding.

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WE will Inquire, First, What is there in the Times passing over us, which we must not have the Fore-knowledge of?

TWO words will fully eno' express the matter.

First LITTLE do we Fore-know the Quantity of our Time; or what will be the Duration of it. Man knoweth not his Time; in that he knows not, whether it will be a Longer Time, or a Shorter Time. As it has been said, What man is he that liveth, and shall not see Death? So it may be said, What man alive is there, who knows when he shall see Death? We are told, The living know that they shall Dy. But which of the Living are they who know when they are to Dye? The Presages that some few have had of their Time, are extraordinary! One said, Gen XXVII. 2. I am old, I know not the Day of my Death. And the Young does as little know the Day of his Death. It is an ancient saying, If an old Man has Death standing before his Face, a young Man has Death standing behind his Back. The Time of its giving the Fatal stroke, is as little known to the one, as to the other. One that is in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet, and having his Bones moistned with morrow; Even such an one does not know his Time; for even such an one may Dy at this very Time. One that is in Bitterness of Soul, and never Eats with pleasure, because of the Infirmities under what he languishes; even such an one also does not know his Time. For even such an one may be Repriev'd from Death beyond expectation; and see many Stronger ones ly down in the Dust before him. We do all know, That it [Page]is appointed unto man once to dy. But which of us does know his appointed Time for it; or when he is to Dy? Ordinarily, of that Day & Hour knoweth no Man.

Secondly, LITTLE do we Foreknow the Quality of our Time; or what we are to Encounter in it. Shall we have a Good Time, or a Bad Time of it? Man knoweth not! In our Time shall we see Days of Pleasure, or Days of Sorrow? Man knoweth not! Shall we have our Time sweetned with much Prosperity, or embittered with much Adversity? Man knoweth not! The World may not prove either so Good as we hope, or so Bad as we fear? 'Tis most commonly so. Some look for a sadder Time than ever does arrive unto them. So did the Israelitish Hero, when he said, I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul. But much oftner do Men look for a better Time, than what anon comes unto them. They say, I shall never be moved; But, GOD hides His Face, and they are Troubled. When Joseph was a Prisoner and his Foot they did humble with the affliction of a chain; The Iron, that did penetrate into his very Soul: Did he know what was to be done for him, when the King constituted him to be the Ruler of his House; yea, and the Governour of all that was possess'd by him. When Haman was in all the Grandeur of the Persion Court, and the chief Minister of State there; Did he know how near he and his Family were, to a matchless confusion? What Accidents we are to meet withal, whether Joyful Accidents, or Woful Accidents, we must not know, indeed so much as one day before hand. [Page]So we are admonished; Prov. XXVII. 1. Thou knowest not what a Day may bring forth. O Man, Thou knowest not, what may This Day befall thee in thy Person, in thy Family, in thy Interest. Thou knowest not what may be the Tidings that will This Day be brought unto thee. Thou knowest not in the Evening what may befall thee before the Morning, or in the Morning what shall befall thee before the Evening; Any more than the Men upon whom the Tower of Siloam fell, that the Tower was to fall, while they were under it.

THE Articles wherein you have had set before you, the Future Events of our Times, whereof our GOD will keep us in the greatest Uncertainties, are then these Two; First, That which is the greatest of all our Changes; And, then, all the Changes which may before That come upon us. Our Meditation must not easily, and presently dismiss these Articles of our Times which are unknown unto us. But before we pass any further, Let an earnest EXHORTATION prevail with us, To Entertain this Meditation, and he duely affected with it. Oh! may this Thought be often rolling in our Minds; I know not my Time, nor do I know any thing that is to befal me in my Time! And may our Minds feel the power of it; bring our Lives under the power of it! The very Pagans would sometimes give an Entertainment unto this Meditation; and say, Nescis quid serus Vesper vebat; O Man, Thou knowest not what may before Night be to come upon thee. Certainly, It becomes Christians to give a more [Page]affecting entertainment unto such a Meditation.

First; THE case of Mortality is above all to be thus considered; That Man knows not his Time, when his Mortality must have the Operation of it finished. Man lies under a Sentence of Death; and the Time for Execution is determined with GOD; Lord, The number of our Months is with thee; Thou hast appointed our Bounds, that we cannot pass. But Man must not know the Time, until the Executioner come and bring the Bow-string. There is no Day that breaks upon any Man, but for ought he knows, His Time is come, and the Day of his Death. Sudden Deaths are some of those Things, whereto all Men living are exposed. We find it supposed, Numb VI. 9. A man may die very suddenly. 'Tis what we see fulfill'd on great Numbers; We need not for the proof of it quote the Book of Numbers. The commissions which our glotious GOD gives to the Angel of Death are often kept secret until the very Day, that he comes and swears unto them, No more Time shall be given them. It may be the Portion of Wicked Men to Dy suddenly. The profane Men, who can say of the Thing they never once thought upon, They thought no more of it than of their Dying Day; find it according to their word; Their Dying Day comes at a Time which they thought not of. The Men of Sodom; Did they know their Time? A bright fair, Sunshiny Morning, found them wallowing in all Impurities; Before Night the Vengeance of Eternal Fire came down upon them. The Egyptians; Did they know their Time? In the Morning [Page]they were full of brave Expectations to divide Spoils and Slaves among them, and to do wondrous Exploits. That Night they were Drown'd, and Damn'd; the Sea covered them. The Philistines; Did they know their Time? In the Morning they had nothing in their Eye, but the Sports of an Holiday. E're the Night came, they were crush'd all to pieces. Ananias & Sapphira; Did they know their Time. They came out well to the Meeting, and they are carried home Dead! It may be the Portion of Godly Men also to Dy suddenly. It may be a Privilege granted by GOD unto some of His most Favoured ones, to Dy such a Death. Uzzah, Did he know his Time; In the Morning of the Day, when the Ark was to be carried into the City of David? or, The Prophet sent unto Jeroboam; Did he know his Time, in the Morning of the Day when the Lion fell upon him? Others less obnoxious find it so.

Yea, Secondly; THE Case of every Calamity is thus to be considered. Man knows not his Time, when that Calamity will befal him, wherein GOD will perform the Thing that is appointed for him. One that has an Husband, or a Father, in the Morning, does not know, but before Night, the state of a Widow, or an Orphan may be Theirs: The Sun may set at Noon with us, and leave us in a Sudden Darkness. A Job has his House full of Children in the Morning; but he does not know that before Night, he shall have neither House nor Children left unto him. In this evil World, every Man knows, that his Dependence may be like that of the Apostles, Afflictions wait for me: But [Page]then he must add like the Apostle. Act. XX. 22. Not knowing the Things that shall befal me. And much more, Not knowing the Time when they shall befal me.

IT was counted a Flight of Wisdom; All that I know, is that I know nothing! It will be wisely done of us to make the knowledge of our Ignorance in this point, as efficacious as may be upon us; This I know, that man knoweth not his Time.

WE will enquire, Secondly; Whence is it, that we must not have the Fore-knowledge of the Times that are to pass over us?

Now, First; THERE is for it, the First Reason of all things; the grand Reason of all Reasons. The Sovereign will of GOD; That is Reason enough. The Sovereignty of the Great GOD will be maintained in it. It was a just Acknowledgment; Psal. XXXI. 15. O Lord, my Times are in thy Hand. It was a just Admonition; Act. I. 7. It is not for you to know the Times, which the Father has put in His own power. All that shall befall us in our Times, is Decreed by the GOD that made us. Now, the Decree is by our Sovereign kept a Secret: For such is His will and pleasure, that it should be so. There is a Glorious One, who is in our Translation of the Bible, called, The Ancient of Days. The Original is, The Appointer of Times. 'Tis fit, that our Times remain unknown to any but Him that has the Appointing of the Times.

BUT, there is more than this to be said of the matter.

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First, IT is from the Pitty and Mercy of our Gracious GOD unto the poor Children of Men, that they must not know their Time, nor what is to befall them in their Time.

IT may well be ascribed unto the Pitty of our GOD, That we do not know our Time; For such a knowledge would very much destroy the comfort of our Time; very much make for us a most uncomfortable Time, Here, Here, most emphatically; He that increaseth Knowledge increaseth Sorrow. It would mightily take away the comfort which we take in any thing under the Sun, if we knew aforehand, When and How we are to take our leave of that comfort. It is reported concerning Elisha, 2 King. VIII. 11, 12. The man of God wept; And Hazael said, Why weepeth my Lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil, that thou wilt do. Thus, If a Man know the evil Time that is to befall himself, or his House, and the Time of the Evil, he would fall a weeping at it; into such a weeping, that he would be able to find little Relish in the gifts of GOD unto him. The Anticipations of Trouble would break the Hearts of Men, if they knew before hand all the Trouble that is to come upon them, and the Time when it will come. Our Lord has told us; Math. VI. 34. Sufficient unto the Day is the evil thereof. It will be soon enough to know the evil, when the Day comes. If we should know the evil before the Day, it would multiply exceedingly, & keep growing & growing, and scalding upon us; we should be more scalded before it falls, than we should be in the Actual Falling of it. It is a most [Page]conspicuous Difference between a Man, & a Bruit. And I look upon it, as no despicable Argument, that Man is made for a World that is to come. A Man has a strong Apprehension of what is to come : And what he knows is to come, he feels it Exquisitely, he feels it Wonderfully. Oh! Should many a Man know, At such a Time, shall my House be laid in Ashes; Or, At such a Time, a Relative that is the Desire of my Eyes will be taken from me: Or, at such a Time I shall my self be carried unto my long Home, and the Mourners for me shall walk about the Streets; Verily, this knowledge would cause an unspeakable Anguish in him. Such a knowledge of our Time, would cause a cry to be heard among us, like that which was once heard in Aegypt; A cry whereof they kept an Anniversary commemoration among them, for many Ages.

Again; IT may be ascribed unto the Mercy of GOD, that we do not know our Time. For, hereby we come the better to Know and to Do, the Duty of our Time. Here is indeed an Ignorance, that is very truly, and very justly, the Mother of Devotion. Our not knowing our Time, and the Things to come, does train us up, to a Filial Faith in the Fatherly Care, of the Lord, who only has all those Things in His own Hands. We read; Jam. IV. 14, 15. Ye know not what shall be on the Morrow;—Ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that. We Refer our selves to the Will of GOD, with the more of Resignation; a most humble and lovely Resignation; because we know not what shall be on [Page]the Morrow. And our Preparation, a Watchful and Prayerful Preparation for the worst that may happen to us; This is promoted by our not knowing our Time, and what shall happen to us. It is pressed upon us; Mar. XIII. 33. Take heed, watch, and pray; for ye know not when the Time is. Because we know not the Time, when we or ours are to Dy, or what is to befall us; If this won't put us upon Watching and Praying, and keep us in a way of Holy walking, I don't know what will! I know not my Time, nor what I am to see in a very Little Time. A Man of any sense will think so. But Methinks, One that has the least grain of sense, must go on to think; I desire now to keep alive the constant Fear of GOD, all the Time that He shall allow me; I desire to be armed with Patience and Submission, for all the uneasy Things which in my Remaining Time I may find reserved for me. Sirs, we must yield a Blindfold Obedience unto GOD; This Blindfold Obedience is a Well aim'd Obedience.

Secondly. THERE is a Dreadful Judgment of GOD, upon Wicked Men in it, that they must not know their Time. The wrath of GOD upon Wicked Men must overtake them. After what manner must it overtake them? We read; Psal. XI. 6. Upon the wicked He shall rain snares— and an horrible tempest, We read; Psal. LXXIII. 18, 19. Surely, Thou hast set them in slippery places; — How are they brought into Desolation, as in a Moment? Of the Wicked Man, we are told; Psal. XXXVII. 13. The Lord shall laugh at him, for He sees that his Day is coming. Why; [Page]The Man does not see it himself! This gives a greater Triumph to the Justice of GOD, in the Day that comes upon him. The Vengeance of GOD upon a wicked Man, must come Irresistibly. It comes at once, and that makes it the more Irresistible. A Whirlwind of Wrath must come upon a wicked Man. A Whirlwind, that must rise at once. It must gather Suddenly, It must be big with terrible Thunder. It must break him to pieces, before he has any Time to look about him. He must not know his Time. No; He must be Surprized by the Vengeance of GOD.

BUT now, Let us make our more particular Improvement of these Faithful sayings.

I. SINCE our GOD will not let us know our Time, we must beware of curious Inquiries after the Future Events of our Time. There is a certain Prerogative, of which Vain Man that would be wise, is very ambitious; That is, that Prerogative of Divination: Men would fain know their Time, and what is to come hereafter. And, how many cursed Arts of Divination have been invented for the gratification of this Curiosity! But, O vain Man, Thou liftest up thy hand unto a Forbidden Tree of Knowledge, when thou art Inquisitive about Futurities. Take the Rebuke of GOD; Deut. XXIX. 29. Secret Things belong unto the Lord our GOD. Indeed there are some Things to come, whereof we may commendably & profitably be Inquisitive; But they are such Things as our GOD has Reveled [Page]unto us, in the Prophecies of our Bible. These are Things, which Piety would make us Desire to look into. The Tribe which has Understanding in the Times, is to be applauded for it. They who Descern not the Signs of the Times, to be upbraided for it. But what is this, to the Impious and Criminal Curiosity of them, who will needs be prying into Faturities, which GOD will have to be concealed from us? I tell you, The Bethshemites might as well pry into the Ark of GOD. For Men to grasp after such a Knowledge of their Time, as may indispose them for a modest waiting upon the Providence of GOD; Verily, 'Tis a great Iniquity. Hence, to consult Astrologers and Fortune-tellers, about our Time, and the Events thereof; 'Tis a Crime; As to Believe them, 'tis a Weakness, 'tis a Madness. Those Prophetasters; Pittiful Jugglers Mankind strangely degrade and disgrace themselves, by suffering those Jugglers to impose upon them. Indeed, they have no Rules worth a straw to go by. If they do any thing to purpose, 'tis by a Satanical Impulse. Their pretended Rules of Art are meer cheats. And the wretches themselves usually have such Tragical, but Unforeseen Things befalling of them, 'tis marvellous that the credit of the whole Sect is not for ever Extinguished. Indeed, one can't but wonder, as the Roman Orator long ago did about their Augurs, how the wretches can look one another in the Face, without a scornful sneer at the cheats which they agree to put upon the Vast Herd that pay Regard unto them. Christians, Indulge not the Vice of [Page]a Mind Curious to know your Time. 'Tis a crime, that will ripen People for the punishments which use to come upon Sinners, when they have quite fill'd up the measure of their Iniquity. We have seen fearful Examples of Persons, that have gone to Forbidden-ways of coming at the knowledge of their Time, and they have never seen one Good Day after it. When Soul was gone so far, as to consult a Witch, Then the wrath of GOD would bear no longer with him!

II WE must not know our Time; Then 'tis a Folly for us, to presume upon a Time, which our GOD has given us no Assurance of. Such is the Folly of them, who presume upon an Happy Time, while they make it a Time of Impiety, a Time of Impenitence, a Day of Provocation. O presumpteous ones, In all the word of GOD, where have you a promise of an Happy Time, for ungodly People, going on still in their Trespasses? Yea, such is the Folly of all, who presume that their Time will always be just what it is. For Men to Dream that all things will continue Long unaltered from what they are at this Time: Let me tell you, This. Dream is usually a very deadly Symptom. When Men are most Secure, and are Fearless of any Alteration upon their Circumstances; Then 'tis, that the Deadliest Alterations are most near unto them. An Old Man brags, he is as Well and Strong as he has been these Many Years; he hopes he shall yet see Many Years. He Dies this Year! Oh! Don't fall into a Dead Sleep of Security. 'Tis a tremendous [Page]passage; [And mark what I tell you, There are whole Nations that will VERY QUICKLY have it fulfill'd upon them!] 1 Thes. V. 3. When they say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh. When and How is a Belshazzar taken off? Instead of a Foolish Security be evermore Suspicious, and still Suspect what may happen between the Cup and the Lip, and with an easy Frame of Mind Leave all in the Hand of a Glorious GOD ready to take any Cup that He shall order for you. Say with an easy Mind; I know not my Time; and I am content that I do not know it. But, O my God, I know in my Time nothing will befall me, but what thou orderest, and I chearfully refer all to thy ordering! But I will go on, and charge this Folly upon all that presume on the Time to come. While Man knoweth not his Time, thou mayst O Man know so much of thy Time, That the Present Time is thy only Time. All Thy Time, is This Time. Do not Rely upon a To-Morrow, or upon, A more convenient Season, for any thing that thou art now to do for the Good of Thy self or Others O Do with thy might, what thy Hand find to do. For know this; Thou knowest of no other Time for the doing of it.

III. WHAT now remains, but this Word of Command, Make all Ready! Oh! Let us make Ready for whatever Times are to pass over us.

MAKE Ready for Changes of Every Sort. This do by getting into that posture of Mind, which is described so, Psal. CXII. 7. He shall [Page]not be afraid of evil tidings; His Heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

BUT above all, Make Ready for that Greatest and Sureft of all our Changes; The DEATH of which I may say, The Day is Near, it is near, and it hastneth greatly! Indeed, for the animation of all PIETY, this Meditation, Man knows not his Time; Tis an Instrument of which I may say, There is none like it. How would it come like a Red-hot Stone from the Altar, to enflame our Devotions, if when we are going to Prayer, we should think, I know not my Time: This may be the last Time that ever I shall call upon GOD, before I am fetch'd away to appear before Him! What Salt would it season our Speech withal, if in our Conversation with our Friends we should think, I know not my Time: This may be the last Time of my Conversing with such as I am now talking to! At what a rate should we Sabbatize, if upon the Arrival of the Lords-Day, we should think, I know not my Time: This may be the last Lords Day that I shall see before my Dying Day! But the Grand concern of PIETY, is in that, Be Ye Ready. And, My Friends, That you may be Ready for the Death, whereof you do not know the Time, you do know, That you must begin Immediately to Live unto GOD. Your Immediate CONVERSION to GOD, This you do know, is absolutely Necessary; And your coming into His Covenant, by consenting that your Great SAVIOUR should fulfill for you and in you the Good pleasure of His Goodness. By this you make sure of Grace, and of Glory, and [Page]of Every Good Thing: and you lay hold on Eternal Life. This you do know, That without this, you have the Wrath of GOD abiding on you; If you Dy without this, you Dy in your Sins; and you pass into a World which cannot be without a Shuddering Horror tho't upon! People refuse to Turn to GOD, and Close with CHRIST, and Fly from SIN. They do it by Procrastinating; By putting off to Another Time. O the Phrensy of this Procrastination! Unadvised People, You know not your time. And therefore This you know; This Work must not be left undone untill Another Time. If your Time should be done, before that Work be done, which must be done that you may be Reconciled unto GOD, O Miserable Ones, you Perish Wonderfully! O Miserable Ones, you fall into hands, which it is a fearful Thing to fall into!

THERE once came unto an unhappy Man, that Message, Jer. XXVIII. 16. This Year thou shalt Dy. Man, Thou knowest not thy Time; And therefore the Message may be brought unto thee, This Year thou mayst Dy. But what if the Dead Warrant could be more evidently shown thee, O Thou Prisoner of the Earth: And it could be more positively said, This Year thou shalt Dy? Wouldest thou not Immediately Retire to Consider thy ways; Immediately plead the Sacrifice of a Glorious CHRIST for the Salvation of thy Soul, the Righteousness of a Glorious CHRIST, for thy Acceptance with GOD; Immediately give up thy self unto the Holy SPIRIT of the Lord, and with a most flaming Agony entreat Him to [Page]take Possession of thee! Oh! then do this Immediately, O all ye People every one of you! For, O Man, Thou knowest not thy Time. There is not one of us, but for ought he knows, he may Dy before this Week be out: Man, For ought thou knowest, This Night thy Soul may be required of thee!

BUT, my Friends, If your Time, when it comes find you unprepared, and alienated from the Life of GOD, what a Lamentable Condition do you fall into! what amazing Lamentations are you thrown into! The doleful Cry, Lord, Lord, Open to us! what will it avail. Twill be All too Late! All too Late! But the Horror of such a Confusion, O consider of it before it be too late.

YEA, Consider me as now coming to you with a Message from the Dead, and a Message directed more peculiarly and pathetically to the YOUNG PEOPLE among us; and a Message which brings with it a Demand of EARLY PIETY, and their Immediate Conversion to GOD, and Espousal to their SAVIOUR.

AN Early Death, and a very Sudden One too, should never occur, without our Apprehending a Voice of the Glorious GOD unto the Survivers in it. Yea, The Voice of the Lord Cries to the City, and very particularly to the YOUNG PEOPLE of the City; The Children of Wisdom will hearken unto it, and with awakened Souls Lift up their Cries to Heaven upon it; Oh! That before I am cut down, I may bring forth some Fruit unto GOD!

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THE famous Waldo, whose Name has been so considerable among the Waldensian Witnesses of our Lord, was brought home to GOD, and made a Prayerful, Watchful, Fruitful Walker with GOD all the rest of his Days, upon his beholding a Young Friend of his fall down Suddenly Dead before him. And what? Shall never any more, come to Think on their Ways, and make haste into a Walk with GOD, upon such an awakening Spectacle!

THO' the Child Samuel, were a very Religious Child, and a bright Exemple of EARLY PIETY, we find, that no less than Three times over, the most Holy GOD, from the Holy of Holies, call'd unto him, and he was not aware whose Voice it was; he was not sensible that there was the Voice of GOD in the call. Alas, 'Tis an Error whereto we are all too often liable; and the less of EARLY PIETY there is in Young People, the more liable they are unto it. Children, There is a Voice to you, in what you have seen; and a Voice as much directed unto you, as if you were like Samuel, by Name called upon: and it is a Voice wherein your EARLY PIETY is very audibly & awfully called for. But are you aware, whose Voice it is? 'Tis the Voice of the most Glorious GOD, and of a SAVIOUR waiting that He may be Gracious to you. Oh! Listen to the Voice, Answer to the Voice; and say, Lord, Speak, for thy Servant hears; and I will be thy Servant: I am Ready to comply with thy whole will in all hearty Obedience! But what, Oh! what is the Voice, to be thus hearkened to! The Voice is, ‘Oh! Immediately go thro' the Process [Page]of Repentance, which the Life of thy Soul depends upon! The Voice is; Oh! Immediately by coming into the Covenant of GOD get thy Soul bound up in the Bundle of Life! The Voice is, 'Oh! Immediately Deny all Ungodliness & Worldly Lusts, and come into the Resolutions of a Godly and a Sober and a Righteous Life! Thou knowest not how soon thy Time to do these Necessary Things may be over with thee.’

NO doubt, There are many Young People among us, who have some Convictions on their Minds, That things are not with them, as they should be; and they must no longer continue as they are : Nor are they without some feeble Purposes, I will not offend any more. Children, Beware lest you Sin away these Convictions, and a Penal Blindness and Hardness be what you shall thereupon be for ever left unto. We read concerning Sampson, That while he was yet in his Youth, perhaps a very Young Lad; Judg. XIII. 25. The Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times. Thus, there are many Young People, who feel the Spirit of the Lord beginning to move them at times; and they feel Pious Motions in their Hearts; They think, They will shake off their Vain Company; They will take up the Religion of the Closet; They will prepare for, and approach to, the Holy Table. But, Oh! Don't lose these Motions; and let not the Spirit of the Lord be provoked by your contempt of His Motions to Depart from you. Wo to them, when I depart from them, saith the Lord! It was among the Dying words, which the late Eminent Professor of Theology in the University of St. [Page] Andrews, in Scotland, used unto one of his Children; You seem some-times to have Convictions; Beware how you treat them. They are the most dangerous things that ever you meddled with.[Mr. Haldburton.]Each of them is a Messenger of GOD. If you seek not GOD, and if you despise the Messenger of GOD, He will be terribly avenged on you.

IN the Firmament of the Sacred Scriptures, what a Terrible Thunderclap is That! Prov I. 28. They shall seek me Early, and they shall not find me! Our Blessed REDEEMER, who is the Wisdom of GOD, says, They that seek me Early shall find me. How and why is it then said, They shall seek me Early, and they shall not find me! There is a sad Solution of it. There is the SAVIOUS Early; and there is, the SINNERS Early. The proposal of the SAVIOUR is, To Day if thou wilt hear my Voice. Yea, Assoon as thou dost hear of me, obey me, and submit unto me. Betimes, Quickly, Presently, without any Delay, make a surrender of thy self and thy All unto me. But now, the SINNER puts off his cares to get into the Righteousness of GOD, until all his Youth have been spent in the way of his own heart, and Satan his had his Marrow, and he begins to feel Destruction coming as a Whirlwind upon him. Then he thinks 'tis Early enough to become a Seeker of GOD. This, This is the EARLY, which Mercy is denied unto. This the Early, which the Abused Patience of GOD will not permit the Sinner to find Mercy in! You know the consequence. Oh! Be perswaded, knewing the Terror of the Lord.

[Page]

BUT I leave the work in the hands of another Preacher, and a flaming one. 'Tis a Preacher that will go home with you; and there I intreat you to Hearken unto him, that GOD may hearken unto you another Day. Let Conscience now do its office. I refer the whole Issue to the Conscience of the Hearer; and I beseech you, that you would in a due Retirement this very Evening, hear what your Consciences will speak upon this point; What should be done by One who does not know his Time, nor know whether he shall have one Day more, to do what he has to do, that he may be Happy to all ETERNITY.

FINIS.

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Dr. Mather's ESSAY on Mans not knowing his Time

§

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Ignorantia Scientifica.

A brief ESSAY ON Mans not knowing his TIME: THE Just INFERENCES from it, AND THE Great ADVANTAGES of it. Upon a Special and Mournful Occasion.

Psal. xc. 12.

So teach us to Number our Days.

Fieres si scires unum tua tempora Mensem;

Rides, quum non sint forsitan una Dies?

In English.

T'would make thee serious, didst thou surely know,

Down to the Grave thou in a Month must go:

Why to vain Mirth a loose then canst thou give,

Not knowing that thou hast a Day to live?

BOSTON in NE Printed by B. Green, for Samuel Gerrish, the lower End of Corn-hill, 1727.

Information about this book

Title statement

Ignorantia scientifica. A brief essay on mans not knowing his time: the just inferences from it, and the great advantages of it. : Upon a special and mournful occasion. : [Seven lines of quotations]

Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2011-05.

ID [DLPS]

N02458

ID [TCP]

N02458

ID [STC]

Evans 2913

ID [NOTIS]

APX0876

ID [IMAGE-SET]

2913

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99017505

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 2913.

Notes

(Evans-TCP ; no. N02458)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 2913)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 2913)

Source

— Ignorantia scientifica. A brief essay on mans not knowing his time: the just inferences from it, and the great advantages of it. : Upon a special and mournful occasion. : [Seven lines of quotations], Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728..

Extent

[4], 24 p. ; 16 cm. (8vo)

Printed by B. Green, for Samuel Gerrish, the lower end of Corn-hill.,. Boston in N E :: 1727.. (A funeral sermon on the death of Samuel Hirst.) (Half-title: Dr. Mather's essay on mans not knowing his time.) (Caption title: Instruction fetch'd from ignorance. On the sudden death of a young gentleman. Jan. 14. 1726,7.)

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