LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

PART III.

EZEKIEL XXXIII. 11.

Turn ye, turn ye from your evil wayes, &c.

THE word is loud, the call sudden and vehement: And we have heard it loud in the ears of them that de∣spair; Turn ye, turn ye; it is not too late: and terri∣ble to them that presume; Turn ye, turn ye; it is not soon enough: And to these it cannot sound with ter∣rour enough: For we see Presumption is a more ge∣neral and spreading evil. It lameth and cripleth us, maketh us halt in our Turn, that we turn not soon e∣nough: Or if some judgment or affliction turn us about, our Turn is but a profer, a turn in shew, not in reality: Or if we do turn indeed, it is but a Turn by halves, a Turn from this sin, but not from all: Or a false hope deludeth us, and we are ever a turning, and never turn. Our December is our January; our last moneth is our first day of the year; our thirty dayes hence,* 1.1 nay, our last hour, is to morrow, is now, as Cato's servants u∣sed to say of him: Our picture is a man; our shadows, substances; our feigned repentance, true; our limb, a body; our partial Repentance, a complete one; and a single Turn from one sin, universal. Therefore the Schools tell us that Presumption standeth at greater opposition with Hope then with Fear. One would think indeed that Presumption did include Hope, and shut out Fear: and so she doth, even lead us madly o∣ver all, over the Law and over the Gospel, over the threatnings of God and the wrath of God, upon the point of the sword, upon death it self. But yet Presumption is a deordination of Hope, rather a brutish temeri∣ty and a wilful rashness then Hope. It moveth contrary to her. Hope layeth hold on the promises, but it is the condition that stretcheth forth her hand: she looketh up to heaven; but it is this Turn, it is Repentance, that quickneth her eye: But Presumption runneth hastily to the Promi∣ses; but leapeth over the condition, or treadeth it under her feet: Pre∣sumption is in heaven already, without grace, without Repentance, with∣out a Turn. Or at best it is serotina, latewards, in the evening, in the shutting up of our dayes; or ficta, a formal repentance; or manca, a lame and imperfect Repentance. A false Hope it is, and therefore most contrary to Hope, and therefore no Hope at all.

Now this sudden and vehement call should have mo••e force and ener∣gy with it then to awake and startle us onely, and make us for a while

look about. It is so loud, to hasten our Repentance, to give it a true being and essence, to complete and perfect and settle it for ever. Our Repentance is our Sacrifice: And it must be 1. Matulinum sacrificium, a morning, early Sacrifice: 2. Vivum, a living Sacrifice, breathing forth pie∣ty and holiness; not a dead carcase, or the picture of Repentance: 3. Integrum, a Sacrifice without blemish, perfect in every part: and 4. Juge, a continued sacrifice, a Repentance never to be repented of, a Turn never to turn or look back again.

I. There is a time for all things under the Sun, saith the Wiseman,* 1.2 and it is a great part of wisdome, occasionem observare properantem, to watch and observe a fair opportunity, and not to let it slip away between our fingers, to hoyse up our sailes dum ventus operam dat,* 1.3 as he in Plautus speaketh, whilst the winde sitteth right to fill them. And as it is in ci∣vil actions, so it is in our Turn, in our Repentance. If we observe not the wind, if we turn not with the wind, with the first opportunity, we set out too late. When another wind will come towards us is most uncer∣tain; the next cannot be so kind and favourable. We confess,* 1.4 Advise and Consultation in other things is very necessary; but full of danger in that action where all the danger is not to do it. Before we enter upon an action, to sit down, and cast with our selves what may follow at the very heels of it, to look well upon it, to handle and weigh it, to see whe∣ther life or death will be the issue of it, is the greatest part of our spiri∣tual wisdome: But after sin to demur, and when we are running on in our evil wayes, to consult what time will be best to turn in, what oppor∣tunity we shall take to repent, bewrayeth our ignorance, that when time is we know it not, or our sloth, that though we see the very nunc, the very time of turning, though opportunity even bespeaketh us to turn, yet we carelesly let it fly from us, even out of our reach, and will not lay hold on it. Thus saith Solomon, The desire of the slothful slayeth him:* 1.5 He desireth, but doth nothing to accomplish his desire; and so he desireth to be rich, and dieth poor. He thinketh his Ambition will make him great; his Covetousness, rich; his Hope, happy; that all things will fall into his lap sedendo & votis, by sitting still and wishing for them: and this keep∣eth his hands within his bosome: Not so much his Sloth, as his Desire kill∣eth him. Turn ye, turn ye, the very sound of it might put us in fear that Now were too late, that the present time were not soon enough: But the present is too soon with us; We will turn, We will find a conveni∣ent time. All our turning is in desire, Desire delayeth our Turn, and Delay multiplyeth it self to our destruction. We will then inforce this duty, 1. from the Advantage and benefit we may reap from our strict ob∣serving of opportunity, 2. from the Danger of delay.

First, Opportunitas à Portu, saith Festus;* 1.6 Opportunity hath its denomi∣nation from the word which signifieth a haven. I may say, Opportunity is a haven. We see they who are tossed up and down on the deep make all means, stretch their endeavours to the farthest, to thrust their torn and weather-beat vessel into the haven where they would be. Quàm optati portus! How welcome is the very sight of the shore to ship-wrackt persons! what can they wish for more? Behold, saith the Apostle,* 1.7 now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Here is a haven, and the tide is now: Now put in your broken vessel, now thrust it into the haven. Opportunity is a prosperous gale; Delay is a contrary wind, and will drive you back again upon the rocks, and dash you to pieces. Indeed a strange thing it is that in all other things Opportunity should be a haven, but in this, which concerneth us more then any thing, a rock.* 1.8 The twilight for the Adulterer, Isaac's funeral for Esau's murder, Felix

his convenient time for a bribe:* 1.9 And to Opportunity they fly tanquam ad portum, as to a haven: The Adulterer waiteth for it, Esau wisht for it, Felix sought for it. What should I say? Opportunity worketh mira∣cles. It filleth the hands with good things, raiseth the poor out of the dung, defeateth counsels, conquereth Kingdoms. It is the best Physici∣an, and doth more then Art can do; without it Art can do nothing. It is the best Politician, and without it Wisdome can do nothing. It is the best Souldier, for without it Power can do nothing. It is all in all in e∣very thing: But in our spiritual politie and warfare it hath not strength enough to turn us about; it is not able to bow our knee, or move our tongue, much less to rend our heart. Yea, such is our extremity of folly, such is the hardness of our hearts, Ipsa opportunitas fit impietatis patroci∣nium, One opportunity raises in us a hope of another; and maketh us waste our time in the wayes of evil, which should be spent in our Return; extendeth our hopes from day to day, from year to year, from one hour to another, even till our last minute, till Time flieth from us, and Oppor∣tunity with it: till our last sand; and when that is run out, there is no more time for us, and so no more opportunity. The voice of Oppor∣tunity is,* 1.10 To day, Now, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. This is his voice, Now: It is true; but there may be more Nows then this, (and it is but There may be) to morrow may yield an opportunity. Thus we corrupt her language. In my youth, it is true; but I may recover it in my riper age. My feeble age will have strength enough to turn me; or I may turn in my bed, when I am not able to turn my self. Now? there be more Nows then Now: What need such haste? My last prayer, my last breath, my last gasp may be a Turn.

* 1.11Now this our way uttereth our foolishness. For what greater folly can there be, then, when Grace and Mercy and Heaven is offered, now to refuse it?* 1.12 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Let Sin devour the opportuniy, and to mor∣row we will turn, is a speech that ill becometh a mortal's mouth, whose breath is in his nostrils;* 1.13 for it may be his last. His age is but a span long, but a hand-breadth, as nothing in respect of God. The Septua∣gint render it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Tertullian Nullificamina, others Nihilitudines, or Nihilietates, which is Nothings. And in such a Nothing shall I let slip that opportunity which may make me Something, even eternal? Shall I make so many removes, so many delayes within the compass of a span? Whatsoever my span, my nothing may be, my opportunity is not extend∣ed beyond this span, is no larger then this nothing: And here is the danger, Whether this Span be now at an end and measured out, I cannot tell. My Span may be but a fingers breadth, my age but a minute; that which I fill up with so many Nows, so many opportunities, Nothing: And then if I turn not now, I am turned into hell, where I can never turn. Care not then for the morrow:* 1.14 let the morrow care for it self. There is no time to turn from thy evil wayes but now.

Secondly, it is the greatest folly in the world thus to play with danger, to seek death first in the errours of our life,* 1.15 and then, when we have run out our course, when death is ready to devour us, to look faintly back upon light. For the endeavours of a man that hath wearied himself in sin can be but weak and faint, like the appetite of a dying man, who can but think of meat, and loath it. The later we turn, the less able we be to turn: The further we stray, the less willing shall we be to look back. For Sin gathereth strength by delay, devoteth us unto it self, gaineth dominion over us, holdeth us as it were in chains, and will not soon suffer us to slip out of its power. When the Will hath captivated it self under Sin, a wish, a sigh, a thought is but a vain thing, nor hath strength enough to

deliver us. One act begetteth another, and that a third: Many acts make up a habit, and evil habits hold us back with some violence. What mind, what motion, what inclination can a man that is drowned in sen∣suality have to God, who is a Spirit? a man that is buried in the earth (so every covetous man is) to God, who sitteth in the highest heavens? he that delighteth in the breath of fools, to the honour of a Saint? Here the further we go, the more we are in.* 1.16 That which is done oft hath some affinity to that which is done alwayes, saith Aristotle. When an arm or other limb is broke, it may have any motion but that which was natural to it: And if we do not speedily proceed to the cure, it will be the more dif∣ficult 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to set it in its right place again, that it may perform its na∣tural functions. Now in Sin there is a deordination of the Will, a luxa∣tion of that faculty. Hence weakness seiseth upon the Will: and if we neglect the first opportunity, and do not rectifie it betimes, and turn it back again, and bend it to the rule, it will be more and more infeebled every day, move more irregularly, and, like a disordered clock, point to any figure but that which should shew the hour, and make known the time of the day. We may read this truth in aged men, saith S. Basil.* 1.17 When their body is even worn out with age, and there is a general de∣clination of strength and vigour, the mind hath a malignant influence on the body, as the dody in their blood and youth had upon the mind, and being made wanton and bold with the custome of sin, it heighteneth and enflameth their frozen and decayed parts to the pursuits of pleasures past, though they can never overtake them, nor see them but in effigie, in that image or picture which they draw themselves. They now call to mind the sins of their youth with delight, and act them over again when they cannot act them, as youthful as when they first committed them. They have milk, they think, in their breasts, and marrow in their bones. They periwigg their Age with wanton behaviour. Their age is threeseore and ten, when their speech and will is but twenty. They boast of what they cannot act, and would be more sinful if they could; and are so, because they would. It is a sad contemplation, how we start∣led at sin in our youth, and how we ventured by degrees, and engaged our selves; how fearful we were at first, how indifferent afterwards, how familiar within a while; and then how we were setled and hardened in it at the last: What a Devil Sin was, and what a Saint it is become: what a serpent it was, and how now we play with it? We usually say, Custome is a second Nature:* 1.18 and indeed it followeth and imitateth natu∣ral motion. It is weak in the beginning, stronger in the progress, but most strong and violent towards the end. Transit in violentiam voluntas antiqua; That which we will often, we will with eagernerness and vio∣lence. Our first onset in sin is with fear and reluctation; we then ven∣ture further, and proceed with les regret; we move forwards with de∣light; Delight continueth the motion, and maketh it customary; and Custome at last driveth and bindeth us to it as to our centre. Vitia in∣solentiora renascuntur, saith Seneca: Sin groweth more insolent by de∣grees; first it flattereth, then commandeth, after enslaveth and then be∣trayeth us. First it gaineth consent, afterwards it worketh delight,* 1.19 at last 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a shamelesness in sin, (Were they ashamed?* 1.20 They were not at all ashamed) nay, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a senslesness and stupidity, and Caligula's 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a stubbornness and perversness of disposition, which will not let us turn from sin. For by neglecting a timely remedy, vitia mores fiunt, our evil wayes become our manners and common deportment, and we look upon them as upon that which becomes us; upon an unlawful act, as upon that which we ought to do. Nay, peccatum lex, Sin, which is the

transgression of the Law,* 1.21 is made a Law it self. S. Augustine in his Confessi∣ons calleth it so, Lex peccati est violentia consuetudinis. That Law of Sin, which carrieth us with that violence, is nothing else but the force of long custome and continuance in sin. For sin by custome gaineth a king∣dome in our souls; and having taken her seat and throne there, she pro∣mulgeth Laws:* 1.22 If she say, Go, we go; and if she say, Do this, we do it. Surge, in quit Avaritia: She commandeth the Miser to rise up early, and lie down late, and eat the bread of sorrow. She setteth the Adulterer on fire, and maketh him vile and base in his own eyes, whilst he counteth it his greatest honour and preferment to be a slave to his strumpet. She draweth the Revengers sword. She feedeth the Intemperate with poy∣son. And she commaundeth, not as a Tyrant, but, having gained do∣minion over us, she findeth us willing subjects: She holdeth us captive, and we call our captivity our liberty. Her poyson is as the poyson of the Aspick: She biteth us, and we smile; we die, and feel it not.

Again, it is dangerous in respect of God himself, whose call we regard not, whose counsels we reject, whose patience we dally with, whose judgements we sl ght; to whom we wantonly turn the back when he calleth after us to seek his face,* 1.23 and so tread that Mercy under foot which should save us. We will not turn yet, upon a bold and strange presump∣tion, That though we grieve his Spirit, though we resist and blaspheme his Spirit, yet after all these scorns and contempts, after all these inju∣ries and contumelies, he will yet look after us, and sue unto us, and offer himself, and meet and receive us, at any time we shall point as most con∣venient to turn in. It is most true, God hath declared himself, and as it were become his own Herald, and proclaimed it to all the world, The Lord,* 1.24 merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness, and truth, keeping mercy for thousands. He is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, most lovingly affected to Man, the chief and prince of his creatures. He longeth after him, he wooeth him, he waiteth on him. His Glory and Mans Salvation meet and kiss each other: for it is his glory to crown Man. Nor doth he at any time turn from us himself, till we doat on the World and Sensuali∣ty, and divorce him from us; till we have made our heaven below, cho∣sen other Gods, which we make our selves, and think him not worth the turning to.* 1.25 He he is alwayes a God at hand, and never goeth from us, till we force him away by violence. How many murmurings and rebel∣lions, how many contradictions of sinners hath he stood out, and yet looked towards them?* 1.26 How hath he been pressed as a cart under sheaves, and yet looked towards them? How hath he been shaken off and defi∣ed, and yet looked towards them? He receiveth David after his adul∣tery and murder, after that complication of sins the least of which was of force enough to have cast him out of Gods presence for ever. He receiveth Peter after his denial; and would have received Judas, had he repented, after his treason. He received Manasses when he could not live long: and he received the Thief on the Cross, when he could live no longer,* 1.27 All this is true. His Mercy is infinite, and his Mercy is everlasting, and is the same yesterday and to day and for ever: But, as Tertullian saith well,* 1.28 non potest non irasci contumeliis misericordiae suae, God must needs wax angry at the contumelies and reproches which by our dalliance and delay we fling upon his Mercy, which is so ready to co∣ver our sins. For how can he suffer this Queen of his Attributes to be thus prostituted by our lusts? How can he endure to to see men bring Sin into the world under the shadow of that Mercy which should take it away, and advance the kingdome of darkness, and fight under the Devils ban∣ner with this inscription and motto lifted up, The Lord is merciful? What

hopes of that souldier that flingeth away his buckler? or of that con∣demned person thar teareth his pardon? or of that sick man that loveth his disease, and counteth his Physick poyson? The Prophet here in my Text, where he calleth upon us with that earnestness, Turn ye, turn ye, giveth us a fair intimation, that if we thus delay, and delay, and never begin, a time may come when we shall not be able to turn. It may seem indeed a harsh and hard saying, a doctrine not sutable with the lenity and gentleness of the Gospel, which breatheth nothing but mercy, to conclude that such a time may come, that any part of time, that the last moment of our time, may not make a Now to turn in; that whilest we breathe, our condition should be as desperate as if we were dead; that whilest we are men, our estate should be as irrevocable as that of the damned spirits, with this difference onely, that we are not yet in the place of torment, which nevertheless is prepared for us, and will as certainly re∣ceive us as it doth now the Devil and his angels. It is harsh indeed, but may be very profitable and advantageous for us to think that such a time may be which may be our last for Grace, though not our last for life; that we may live, and yet be dead eternally; a time, when there will remain no more sacrifice for sin.* 1.29 I cannot say we should make it an arti∣cle of our Creed, and yet I know no danger in believing it. It may prove fatal to us to disbelieve it, or look upon it as an errour which de∣serveth to be placed in the catalogue of Heresies. And therefore, though you subscribe not, yet there is no reason you should anathema∣tize it; because we find some parts of Scripture which look this way, and so far seem to enforce it that we have rather reason to fear there may be some truth in it; since our wilful delayes are but as the degrees to it, as the ready way to that gulf out of which it will be impossible to lift up our selves; at least impossible in the Lawyers sense; impossible, as those things which may be, but seldome come to pass. It is a part of wisdome to fear the worst, nor can we bee too scrupulous in the business of our Sal∣vation.

God telleth Abraham that he will judge the Amorites,* 1.30 but he will stay to the fourth generation, till their iniquity be full; and when it is full, then he will strike. Our Saviour thus bespeaketh the Pharisees,* 1.31 Fill you up the measure of your forefathers: Which is not a command, but a prediction, that they should fill up the measure of their sin, and then be ripe for punishment. For when men have run out the ful length of their line then it is God's time to draw it in, and give them a check, to pull them on their back, to be buried in ruine for ever.* 1.32 When our Saviour beheld Jerusalem, the Text telleth us he wept over it, wept over it as at its fune∣ral, as if he now saw the enemy cast a trench round about it, as if he saw it lie level with the ground. Will you hear his Epicedium or Funeral speech, which he uttered with great passion, the tears running down his cheeks? Oh that thou hadst known the things that belong to thy peace, IN HAC DIE TƲA, even in this thy day! A day then they had: But when this day was shut in, then followeth, NƲNC AƲTEM, but now they are hid from thine eyes: Which ushereth in that blackness of darkness for ever. Oh that thou hadst! Then was liberty of choice. But now, thou art bound and fettered under a sad impossibility for ever. And that we may be thus bound hand and foot before we be cast into utter darkness, S. Paul doth more then intimate, when he telleth us of the Gentiles,* 1.33 that as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, to retain him as a merciful God, retain his love and favour by the true worship of him, he also gave them over 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to a reprobate minde; he left them in that gall of bitterness, in which they delighted. Tradidit repletos, non replendos,* 1.34 saith

the Father; He gave them over, not to be filled; but being filled already with all iniquity, he delivered them over to a reprobate minde. They re∣tained not God in any part of their time; and now time is run out, is at an end, and will be no more. They would be evil; and now they can∣not be good. The Jewish Doctours had a proverb that God in this his proceeding did but farinam jam molitam molere, do that which was done already to his hands, grind that corn that was ground already, and leave them who would be left to themselves and their own hellish wickedness, which was their ruine.* 1.35 For that of Basil is most true, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Judgment followeth Mercy at the heels, to take revenge upon those who wantonly abuse her, striketh them dead who will not live, and sealeth them up to damnation who are condemned already. You may now turn and God will receive you: This is the dialect of Mercy. But you shall not, if you thus put it off from time to time: That is the voice of an an∣gry and despised God. Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day! See, Mer∣cy gave Jerusalem a day, and shined brightly in it; and by that light she might have seen the things that concerned her peace. But now they are hid from thine eyes, are as the black lines of Reprobation drawn out by the hand of Justice. It was thy day, but now it is shut up, and

Nox est perpetuò una dormienda;

Thy Sun is set for ever; all is night, eternal night: The light is hid from thine eyes, and thou shalt never see it more. You will say this was spo∣ken to a People, to a Nation. It is true: But may it not also be so with every particular person? may it not be so with one Pharisee? with one viper, as well as with a generation? Was it not so with Judas as well as with Jerusalem? I have read that a Body, a Society, a Common-wealth may fall under a censure, and be subject unto penalty: yet Bodies do not offend but in their parts. It is not Rome that committeth the fault, but Sempronius, or Titius, who are parts of that Common-wealth. Not the Amorites alone, not the sect of the Pharisees, not Jerusalem alone, but every man may have diem suam, his allotted time, in which he may turn from his evil wayes. And this day may be a Feast-day, or a day of trouble; it may beget an eternal day; or it may end in the shadow of death and e∣verlasting darkness. Oh that Men were wise! but so wise as the crea∣tures which have no reason! so wise as to know their seasons, to discover this their day, wherein they may yet turn! Oh that we could but behold that decretory hour, or but place it in our thoughts, and make it our fear that such a one there may be, in which Mercy shall forsake us, and Justice cut off our hopes for ever! Certainly we should not then make so many Dayes in our year; we should not resolve to day for to morrow, and to morrow for the next day, and so drive it forward till the last sand, till we can resolve no more. He that thinketh so lightly of Eternity as to think it may be wrought out in a moment, and yet will not allow it so much but when he please, hath just cause to fear that his Day is past already.

Now though there may be such a day, such a moment, yet this day, this moment, like the day of judgement, is not known to any. And it may seem on purpose to be removed out of our sight, that we may be jealous of every moment of our life, and that when the Devil tempteth, the World flattereth, the Flesh rebelleth, we may set up this thought against them, That this may be our last moment, and if we yield now, we shall be slaves for ever.* 1.36 For as the long-suffering of God is salvation, so is every day, every hour of our life, such a day, and such an hour as carrieth along with it eternity either of pain or bliss. That thou may∣est therefore turn now, think that a time may come when thou shalt not be able to turn.* 1.37 Tardè velle nolentis est; Not to be willing to turn to

thy God now, is to deny him. Delay is no better then defiance. And why shouldest thou hope to be willing hereafter, who art not willing now; and art not willing now, upon this false and deceitful hope that thou shalt be willing hereafter? Wilful and present folly is no good presage of after-wisdome. It is more probable that a froward Will will be more froward and perverse, then that after it hath joyned with the vanities of this world, and cleaved fast unto them, it should bow and bend it self to that Law which maketh it death to touch them. He that leapeth into the pit upon hope that he shall get out, hath leapt into his grave, at least deserveth to be covered over with darkness, and buried there for ever. Fear then least the measure of thy iniquity be almost full, and perswade thy self thy next sin may fill it. Think this is thy Day, thy hour, thy mo∣ment. And though peradventure it may not be, yet think it may be thy last. It is no errour, though it be an errour.: For, if it be not thy last, yet in justice God might make it so: for why should heaven be offered more then once? And if it be an errour, it is an happy errour: for it will redeem us from all those errours which Delay bringeth in and multi∣plieth, even those errours which make us worse then the Beasts that pe∣rish. A happy errour! I may say, an Angel, that layeth hold on us, and snatcheth us out of the fire, out of the common ruine, and hasteneth us to our God. A happy errour, which freeth us from all other errours of our life. And yet, though it may be an errour, (for it is no more then it may be,) it is a truth: For onely one Now is true. There may be many more Nows, it is true, a now to morrow, and a now hereafter, and a now on our death-bed; but these are but May-bees; and these potential truths concern us not: for that which may be, may not be. That which concerneth us is an everlasting truth, To day, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. If you harden them to day, and stand upon May-bees, then they may be hard for ever. Therefore, if you expect I should point out to a certain time, the time is now, Turn ye, turn ye, even now. Now the Pro∣phet speaketh, now the words sound in your ears; Now, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For why was it spoken but that we should hear it? It is an earnest call after us: and if we obey not, it is an argument against us that we deserve to hear it no more. We are willing that what we speak should stand; not a word, not a syllable, not one tittle must fall to the ground. If we speak to our servant, and say, Go, he must go; and if we say, Do this, he must do it nunc, now, dicto citiùs, as soon as it is spoke. A deliberative pausing obedience, obedience in the future tense, to say he will do it when he pleaseth, strippeth him of his livery, and thrusteth him out of doors. And shall Man, who is dust and ashes, seek a convenient time to turn from his evil wayes? Shall our now be when we please? Shall one morrow thrust on another, and that a third? Shall we demur and delay till we are ready to be thrust into our graves, or (which will follow) into hell? If the Lord saith, Turn ye, turn ye, there can be no other time, no other Now, but Now. All other Nows and opportunities, as our dayes, are in his hands; and he may close and shut them up, if he please, and not open them to give thee another. Domini, non servi, negotium agitur: The business is the Lord's, and not the servant's; and yet the business is ours too: but the time is in his hands, and not in ours. Now then turn ye, now the word soundeth and echoeth in your ears.

Again, Now; now hast thou any good thought,* 1.38 any thought that hath any relish of salvation? For that thought, if it be not the voice, is the whisper of the Lord, but it speaketh as plain as his thunder. If it be a good thought, it is from him who is the Fountain of all good, and he

speaketh to thee by it, as he did to the Prophets by visions and dreams. In a dream,* 1.39 in a vision of the night, (I may say, In a thought) he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction. And why should he speak once, and twice, and we perceive it not? Why should the Devil, who seeketh to devour us, prevail with us more then our God, that would save us? Why should an evil thought arise in our hearts, and swell and grow, and be powerful to roll the eye, to lift up the head, to stretch out the hand, to make our feet like hinds feet in the wayes of death; and a holy thought, a good intention, which is as it were the breath of the Lord, be stopped and checked and slighted, and at last chased away in∣to the land of oblivion? Why should a good thought arise, and vanish, and leave no impression behind it; and an evil thought increase and mul∣tiply, shake the powers of the soul, command the Will and every facul∣ty of the mind, and every part of the body, and at last bring forth a Cain, an Esau, a Herode, a Pharisee, a profane person, an adulterer, a murderer? Why should we so soon devest our selves of the one; and morari, stay and dwell, and fool it in the other, sporting our selves as in a place of pleasure, a Seraglio, a paradise? Let us but give the same friendly entertainment to the good as we do to the bad, let us but as joy∣fully imbrace the one as we do the other, let us be as speculative men in the wayes of God as we are in our own, and then we shall make haste, and not delay to turn unto him. We talk much of the Grace of God; and we do but talk of it. It is in all mouthes, in some but a sound in others scarse sense, in most a loud but faint acknowledgment of its power, when it hath no power at all to move us; an acknowledgement of what God can do, when we are resolved he shall work nothing in us. We commend it,* 1.40 and resist it; pray for it, and refuse it. Behold, the Grace of God hath appeared to all men, appeared in the doctrine of the Gospel: and it ap∣peareth in those good thoughts which are the proper issue of that do∣ctrine, and are begot by the Word of Truth. When the heart sendeth them forth, she sendeth them as Messengers of Grace, to invite and draw us out of our evil wayes. And if the Devil can raise such a Babel upon an evil thought, why may not God raise up a Temple unto himself upon a good? I appeal to your selves, and shall desire you to ask your selves the question; How often have you enjoyed such gratious ravish∣ing thoughts? how often have you felt the good motions of the Spirit? how oft have you heard a voice behind you,* 1.41 say, Do this? How many checks, how many inward rebukes have you had in your evil wayes? how oft have these thoughts followed and pursued in the wayes of evil, and made them less pleasing? what a damp have they cast upon your de∣light? what a thorn have they been in your flesh, even when it was wan∣ton? How oft are you so composed and byassed by these heavenly insi∣nuations that heart and hand are ready to joyn together as partners in the Turn? How oft would you, and yet will not turn? How oft are you the Preacher,* 1.42 and tell your selves, Vanity of vanities: all is vanity, and that there is no true rest but in God? I speak to those who have some feeling and presage of a future estate,* 1.43 some tast of the powers of the world to come (for too many, we see, have not; I speak this to our shame) Now is the Time, Now is the Now.

* 1.44—nunc, nunc properandus, & acri Fingendus sine fine rota—

Now thou must turn the wheel about, and frame and fashion thy self into a vessel of honour, consecrate unto the Lord; Now make up a child of God, the new creature. Now we must nourish and make much of these good motions and inclinations wrought in us either by the word of God, or the

rod of God. They are fallen upon us, and entred into us; but how long they will stay, how long we shall enjoy them, we cannot tell. A smile from the World, a dart from Satan, if we take not heed, if we be not tender of them, may chase them away. This is the time, this is the Now. For at another time, being fallen from this heaven, our cogitations may be from the earth earthly, such gross and durty thoughts as will not melt but harden in the sun: Our faculties may be corrupt, our understandings dull and heavy, our wills froward and perverse, that we shall either not will that which is good, or so will it as not to have strength to bring forth and draw it into act. If we approve and look towards it, we shall soon start back as from an enemy, as from that which suiteth not with our present disposition, but is distastful to it; tanquam fas non sit, as if it were some unlawful thing; as we read of the Sybarite, who was grown so ex∣tremely dainty that he would fall into a cold sweat and faint at another mans labour. Now therefore, Now let us close with it, whilest it appear∣eth in beauty, and is amiable in our eyes; whilest our will beginneth to bend, and our heart inclineth to it. If we let this so fair an opportunity pass, within a while Vanity it self will appear in glory, and that Holiness which should make us like unto God will be taken for a monster: There will be honey on the Harlots lips, and gall on Chastity; a Lordship shall be more desirable then Paradise, and three lives in that then eternity in Heaven. Now God is God; and if we do not Now fall down and wor∣ship him, the next Now Baal will be God, the World will be our God, and the true God, whom but now we acknowledged, will not be in all our wayes. The first Now, the first opportunity, is the best; the next is most uncertain, the next may be never.

But now, if we will stand to distinguish times by the events, as by their several faces, the divers complexions they receive either from peace or trouble, from prosperity or adversity; then certainly the best time to turn to God is when he turneth his face to us, cùm candidi fulgent soles, when God shineth brightly upon our tabernacles, and speaketh to us, not out of the whirlwind, but in a still voice; when Plenty crowneth the Com∣mon-wealth, and Peace shadoweth it; when God appeareth to us, not as Jupiter to Semele, in thunder, but as to Danae, in a showre of gold. It is best to open to him whilest he standeth as it were at the door, and in∣treateth entrance, and not stay till he knock with the hammer, or break in upon us with his sword. To turn to him now in this brightness will rather be an act of our Love then of our Fear, and so make our Repen∣tance a free-will-offering, a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour unto God. This will make it evident that we understand the voice of his calling, the language of his benefits, the miracle which he worketh, which is, to cure our inward blindness with clay, with these outward things, that we may see to turn from our evil wayes unto the Lord. This is truly to prayse the Lord for all his benefits, this is truly to honour him, to bear our selves with that fear and reverence that we leave off to offend this God of bles∣sings. Negat beneficium, qui non honorat; he denieth, he despiseth a blessing, that doth not thus honour it. Ingratitude is contumelious to God; it is the bane of merit, the defacer of goodness, the sepulchre and the hell of all blessings: for by it they are turned into a curse. Ingratitude loatheth the light, loatheth the land of Canaan, and looketh for milk and honey in Egypt. This is it the Prophets every where complain of, that the people did enjoy the light of Gods countenance but by it walkt oh in their evil wayes, and made no other use of it then this, That they did per tantorum bonorum detrimenta Deum contemnere,* 1.45 as Hierom speak∣eth, lose the favour of God in their contempt, and were made worse

by that which should have turned them from being evil; that being Gods pleasant plant,* 1.46 they brought forth nothing but wilde grapes.

To apply this to our selves; Dare we now look back to the former times? What face can turn that way, and not gather blackness? God gave us light, and we s••••t our eyes against it. He made us the envie, and we were ambitious to make our selves the scorn of all nations. He gave us milk and honey, and we turned it into gall and bitterness. He gave us plenty and peace, and the one we loathed, as the Jews did their Manna; the other we abused. Our Peace brought forth War, as Nicip∣pus Sheep in Aelian did yean a Lion. God spake to us by peace, and we were in trouble till we were in trouble, till we were in a posture of war. He spake to us by plenty, and we answered him by luxury. He spake to us by love, and we answered him by oppression: He made our faces to shine, and we ground the faces of the poor. He spake to us in a still voice, and we defyed the Holy One of Israel. Every benefit of his cryed,* 1.47 Give me my price; and lo, in stead of turning from our evil wayes, delighting in them; in stead of leaving them, defending of them; in stead of calling upon his Name, calling it down to countenance all the imagina∣tions of our hearts,* 1.48 which have been evil continually. This was the good∣ly price that he and all his blessings were prized at.* 1.49 And then, when this light was thus abused, our Sun did set, our day was shut in, that Now, that Then had its end.* 1.50 The next call was in thunder, and he gave us hail for rain, and flaming fire in our land.

Such a then, such an opportunity we had; and we may say with shame and sorrow enough, that we have lost it. But since we have let slip that time of peace, that acceptable time, yet at least let us turn now in the storm,* 1.51 that God may make a calm. Let us turn to him in our trouble, that he may bring us out of our distress. Now, when our Sun is darkned, and our Moon turned into blood, when the knowledge of Gods Law and of true Piety beginneth to wax dim, and the face and beauty of Religi∣on to wither; When the Stars are fallen from heaven, when the teach∣ers of truth fall from the profession of truth, and set that up for truth which setteth them up in high places; When the powers of heaven are shaken, when the pillars of the Church sink, and break asunder into ma∣ny sects and divisions, which is as musick to Rome, but maketh all walk as mourners about the streets of Jerusalem; when Religion, which should be the bond of love, is made the title and pretense of war, the fomen∣ter of that malice and bitterness which defileth it and putteth it to shame, and treadeth it under foot;* 1.52 When the Sea and the waves thereof roar, when we hear the noise and tumult of the people, which is as the raging of the Sea, but ebbing and flowing with more uncertainty and from a cause less known; Now, in this draught and resemblance of the end of the World, when God thus speaketh to us in the whirlwind, thus knocketh with his hammer, calleth thus loud unto us, Turn ye, turn ye, let us bow down our heads, and in all humility answer him, ECCE ACCEDIMƲS, Behold,* 1.53 we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. For, as our Sa∣viour speaketh of offenses; so may vve of these judgments and terrours which he sendeth to fright us to him, NECESSE EST ƲT VENIANT; It must needs be that they come, not onely necessitate consequentiae, by a ne∣cessity of consequence, supposing the condition of our nature, and the changes and chances of a sinful world; or rather supposing the corrupti∣on of mens manners, vvhich can produce nothing but tumult and sediti∣on, plagues, famine, and vvar (for vvhat other fruit can grovv from s ••••h evil trees?) but necessitate finis also, in respect of the end for which they are sent. For God, in vvhose povver both men and their actions are,

doth not onely not hinder them by his mighty hand, but permitteth them, and by a kind of providence sendeth them upon us, partly for our tryal, but especially for our amendment, that finding gall and vvormvvood upon every pleasure and vanity of the vvorld, and no rest for our feet in these tumultuous vvaves, vve may flee to the A••k, and turn to him vvith our vvhole heart. And certainly, if judgments vvork not this ef∣fect, they will work a far worse. If they do not set a period to our sin, they are then but the beginnings of sorrow, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Nazianzene, the prologue to that long and lasting Tragedy, sad types and forerunners of everlasting torments in the bottomless pit. As yet they may be but an argument of Gods love, the blows of a Father, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.54 as Basil calleth them, blows to turn us out of our evil wayes. O felicem servum, cujus emendationi instat Dominus, cui dignatur irasci! saith Tertullian;* 1.55 Oh happy servant, whom God taketh such care to amend! whom he thus diggeth about, and watereth with his discipline of Affliction; whom he thus purgeth, that he may bring forth fruits meet for repentance; whom he loveth so well as to be angry with him; to whom he giveth so great ho∣nour and respect as to chastise him;* 1.56 quem admonendi dissimulatione non decipit, whom he thus plainly telleth of his sin and danger, and writeth and imprinteth it as it were in his very flesh; whom he doth not in his an∣ger dissemble with and deceive; that is, let alone, that he may ruine him∣self; seem to favour, that he may destroy him; touch not, that he may grind him to pieces. Nam quanta est poena, nulla poena? Not to be punish∣ed at all is the greatest punishment of all, and nothing more deplorable then the happiness of a wicked man. For when God is silent, and will speak no more, then he hath his ax in his hand to cut us down, that we bear no more fruit.

And such a Now, such a time there may come, when God hath called again and again, when he hath spoken to us, and spoken within us, when he hath spoken to us from his Mercy-seat, and spoken in thunder, that he will speak no more. And this no doubt hath befallen many thou∣sands, whom God in justice delivered to chains of darkness to be reserved to judgment, whom he would not frown upon, whom he would not look upon, whom he would not trouble, whose eyes he would not open to see the danger they were in; but as they colluded and trifled with him, so he laught at their folly and madness, and left them to themselves, to run on with pleasure, with hope, with confidence, untoucht, unrebuked, unregarded, to their destruction. All that are lost are not in hell: for they that are now there, were lost before, vivi, videntésque, even whilst they walkt in the land of the living; lost, when they were called upon, and would not hear; lost in the midst of Prophets and Apostles; lost in the Church; lost in the mercies of God, which they rejected; lost in the judgments of God, which they slighted; lost before they were utterly lost; lost, when they left God, and when God left them. Judas had his name, The son of perdition, before he hanged himself, and before he went to his own place. It may seem strange indeed, but it is true; and there is no reason it should seem strange. For why should it seem strange that God should leave us once, who have left him so often? that when he can do no more to his Vineyard, he should pluck up the hedge,* 1.57 and lay it open to bring forth nothing but briars and thorns? that when we have abused his Mercy, he should be angry? that when we defy him, he should fling us off? that when we will be evil, he should let us alone? It is our own folly that maketh it a Paradox. Our Ignorance of our selves and of God, our high and vile esteem of his Mercy, our false glossing and misinterpreting his Judgments, have made it a heresie, anathematized

and exploded it. And now any Now, any time, is soon enough with them who will sin, but would not be punished; who put God from them, but would not be left to themselves; who would repent, and yet sin; would be saved, but not now. These are the Soloecismes of Delay, the contra∣dictions and absurdities of wilful sinners, such who would turn, yet will go on in their sins. It were easie to fill our mouth with arguments. But De∣lay in our onsets and progress to Eternity is of so foul and monstrous an aspect, that there need no tongue of Men or Angels to set forth the horrour of it. Every eye that seeth it must needs turn it self away, every thought that receiveth it must distast and condemn it; even the heart that is de∣ceived with it cannot but tremble at it. Amongst so many that have pe∣rished, amongst so many that may perish by it, it never yet found one patrone, any one man that had a good word for it, or did dare to say it were not a sin to trust to it. Even when we delay, we condemn our selves, and yet still hope, and still delay. We condemn it in others; and of those who have been long evil we are too ready to say, They will never be good. He that hearkeneth to the call, and turneth at the first sound of it, condemneth it: for he flingeth it off as if Death were in it. He that expecteth an hour, when the hour is Now, condemneth it, condemn∣eth it by his very expectation, condemneth it by his fear? For he that doth but hope for such an hour, cannot but entertain some fear that it may ne∣ver come, and so conclude against himself, that that opportunity which hath a being and subsistence, is far better, and to be preferred before that which love of vanity and his hope hath made up, which is nothing but in expectation. Thus we delay, and check, and comfort our selves, and yet delay, and destroy our selves, and look for salvation in me∣dio gehennae,* 1.58 saith Bernard, in the midst of hell, which is wrought al∣ready, and must be wrought out by us, in medio terrae, in the midst of the earth.

For conclusion then; Turn ye, turn ye; that is, Turn ye now. There is but one Now: There may be many more; but most true it is, there is but one.* 1.59 Tene quod certum; dimitte quod incertum, saith Augustine. Let us lay hold on that which is certainly ours; let us not send our thoughts and hopes afar off to that which hath no better foundation to rest on then Uncertainty it self. Let us not hope to raise Eternity upon a thought of that which may be, or rather of that which may not be. For we may as well consult and determine what we will do when we are dead, as what we will do in this kind hereafter. If it be never wrought out of its contingency, if it never come to pass, the difference is not great: For that which may be, and that which never shall be, may be the same, That which may be and may not be hath no entity at all,* 1.60 and so cannot be the ob∣ject of our Knowledge, nor bear either an Affirmation or Negation. And wilt thou settle a resolution on such a Contingency? resolve to do that at such a time which thou canst not tell whether it will ever come or no? resolve upon that of which thou canst neither affirm nor deny that it shall ever be? Wilt thou hazard the favour of God, thy soul, and salvation up∣on the hope of that which is not, and may be nothing? This were to let go Juno, and embrace a cloud; to set thy happiness on the cast of a die; to call the things that are not, as if they were; in brief, to set up an i∣dole, a false hope, a gilded nothing, and fall down and worship it, and forsake that present opportunity which is the voice of God, and bespeak∣eth us to make no more delayes, but to turn Now. The word now sound∣eth; let us hearken now. We have been told by him who had it from Christ,* 1.61 as Christ had it from his Father, that now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation: and we were never yet told of any other day.

Did ever yet any Prophet or Apostle exhort you to turn to morrow. At what time soever, is not, When you please; but, Though you have not yet left your evil wayes, yet now you may turn. At what time soever, is Now. Divinity, or the Doctrine of the Gospel, is practical, and considereth not contingen∣cies, but necessaries. In it there is nothing presented to us in the future tense, but Salvation, which is a thing of another world. The means are all derived to us in the present, To day if you will hear his voice;* 1.62 Deny your selves; Take up your Cross; Mortifie your fleshly lusts to day; Be∣lieve now; Love him now; Hope in him now. That which is to come, or may be, in respect of our duty, is not considerable in that science, but left in his hands who is the Antient of dayes;* 1.63 who being eternal may in∣dulge as many opportunities as in wisdom he shall think fit, but his com∣mand is Now. He may receive us at any time, but he bindeth us to the present.

We have been told, nay, we can tell our selves, that Now is better then To morrow; that we have but one day, one moment, which we can call ours, and after that Time may be no more. We have heard that De∣lay is a Tyrant, a Pharaoh, layeth more work upon us,* 1.64 doubleth and tre∣bleth, nay infinitely multiplieth our task, and yet alloweth us no straw; withdraweth the means, the helps and advantages we had to turn, or else maketh us weak and impotent, less able to use them; delivereth us over to more difficulties, more pangs and troubles and tormenting agonies, then we should have felt if we had cast her off, and begun betimes: And shall we yet delay? We have heard that it is a sin to delay, and maketh Sin yet more sinful; that it is the Devils first heave to throw us into that gulf out of which we shall have neither power nor will to come; that it is a leading sin, the forerunner to the sin against the Holy Ghost, which shall never be forgiven. And shall we yet delay?* 1.65 We have been taught that it is high presumption to leave Christ working out his part of the covenant in his blood once shed for us,* 1.66 and interceding for us for ever, and wilfully to neglect our part, and drive it off, from time to time; from the cheerfulness and vigour of youth to the dulness and laziness of old age, to withered hands and trembling joynts, to weak memories, heavy hearts, and dull understandings, to unactive amazedness to the Would but Cannot of a bedrid-sinner; then to strive against Sin when we are to struggle with our disease; then to do it when we can do no thing; and when we cannot finish and perfect our Repentance, to fill and make it up in a thought or sigh, in a faint and sick acknowledgement, which are rather sad remonstrances against our former neglect and de∣lay, then infallible testimonies of demonstrative declarations of a wound∣ed and broken heart: This we have been told, and shall we yet delay? In brief, we have been taught, that Delay if we cut it not off betimes, will at last cut us off from the Covenant of Grace;* 1.67 that it will make the Gospel as killing as the Law, the promises, which are Yea and Amen,* 1.68 no∣thing to us; that it will make a gracious God a consuming fire,* 1.69 and Jesus a destroyer; That a dying man can no more turn to God then the dead can praise him; That after we have thus seared our consciences, and drawn out our life in a continued disobedience, the Gospel is sealed up, and concerneth us not at the hour of death, who would not lay hold of one hour of our life to turn in; That such cannot go the same ordinary way to heaven with the Apostles and Martyrs and the souls of just men made perfect, with those who put off the old man and put on the new, with those who escaped the pollutions of the world, and were never again en∣tangled in them; but are left to that Mercy which was never promised, and which they have little reason to hope for, having so much abused it

to their own perdition. All that can be said is scarce worth their hear∣ing, Non dico, Salvabuntur; non dico, Damnabuntur; We cannot say they shall be saved; we cannot say they shall be damned. They may be safe; but of this we cannot be sure, because we have no revelation for it, but rather for the contrary. Onely, God is not bound to rules and Laws, as Man is, no, not to his own, but keepeth to himself his supreme right and pow∣er entire, may do what he will with his own, take that for a Turn which he hath not declared to be so, and do that which he hath threatned he will not do. But it is ill depending upon what God may do. For, for ought that is revealed, he will never do it. He will never do it to him who presumeth he will because he may, and so putteth off his Turn and Re∣pentance to the last, leaveth the ordinary way, and trusteth to what God may do out of course: He will never do it to a man of Belial, who run∣neth on in his sins, yet looketh for a chariot to carry him into heaven. We have no such doctrine, nor the Church of Christ. Her voice is, Turn ye now; at last will be too late. This is the doctrine of the Gospel. But yet the judgement is the Lords. All this we have heard, and we cannot gain∣say or confute it: And shall we yet delay? Certainly, if we know these terrours of the Lord, and not turn now; we shall hardly ever turn. If we hear and believe this, and do not repent, we are worse then Infidels. Our Faith shall help the Devil to accuse us; and it shall be easier for Sodom and Gomorrha then for us If we hear this, and still fold our hands to sleep, still delay, if this noise do not stir and move us, if this do not startle us in our evil wayes, we have good reason to fear we shall never awake till the last Trump, till that day, till the last day, which is a day of Judgement, as this our day is of Repentance.

We say we believe that now heaven is offered, and now we must strive to enter in; we say we pray for it, we hope for it, we long for it; If we do, then Now is the time. Festina fides, alacris devotio, spes impigra, saith S. Ambrose.* 1.70 Faith is on the wing, and carrieth us along with the speed of a thought, through all difficulties, through all distasts and affrightments, and will not let us stay one moment in the house of vanity, in any slippery place where we may fall and perish.* 1.71 Devotion is full of heat and acti∣vity; and Hope that is deferred is an affliction. If we are led by the Spirit of God, we are led apace, drawn suddenly out of those wayes which lead unto death, called upon to escape for our lives, and not to look be∣hind us, and (as it was said of Cyprian) we are at our journeys end as soon as we set out. God speaketh, and we hear; he begetteth good thoughts in us, and we nourish them to that strength that they break forth into action; he poureth forth his grace, and we receive it; he maketh his be∣nefits his lure, and we come to his hand; he thundereth from heaven, and we fall down before him. In brief, Repentance is as our Passeover: By it we sacrifice our heart, and we do it in the bitterness of our soul, and in hast, and so pass from death to life, from darkness to light, from our evil wayes to the obedience of Faith; and God passeth over us, seeth the blood, our wounded spirits, our tears, our contrition, and will not now destroy us, but seeing us so soon and so far removed from our evils wayes, will favour us, and shine upon us: and in the light of his coun∣tenance we shall walk on from strength to strength, through all the hard∣ship and troubles of a continued race, to that rest and peace which is ever∣lasting. Thus much of the first property of Repentance; It must be ma∣tura conversio,* 1.72 a speedy and present Turn. Festina, & haerentis in salo na∣viculae funem magìs praecide quàm solve.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Cato cras profi∣ciscetur, h e. post triginta dies. Plutarch. in vita Cat. Utic.
• * 1.2

  Eccles. 3.
• * 1.3

  Sin. ep. 7.
• * 1.4

  Nullus cuncta∣tionis locus est, in eo consillo quod non potest landari nisi peractum, O∣tho apud Tac. l. 11. Hist.
• * 1.5

  Prov. 21.25:
• * 1.6

  Festus verbo Opportunes. Dicitur ab eo q••òd navigan∣tibus maximè utiles optatique siut portus.
• * 1.7

  2 Cor. 6.2.
• * 1.8

  Job 14.15. Prov. 7.9. Gen. 27.41.
• * 1.9

  Acts 2••, 25, 26.
• * 1.10

  Psal. 95.7, 8. Hebr. 3.7, 8.
• * 1.11

  Psal. 49.13.
• * 1.12

  Plutarch. Vitâ Pelopidae.
• * 1.13

  Psal. 39.5.
• * 1.14

  Matth. 6.34.
• * 1.15

  Wisd. 1.12.
• * 1.16

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, 1. Rhet. c. 11.
• * 1.17

  Orat ad Di∣tescentes.
• * 1.18

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Arist. Ibid.
• * 1.19

  Jer. 6.15.
• * 1.20

  Nihil magis in natura sua laudare se dice∣bat, quam ut ipsius verbo Ʋtar, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Suet. Caligu∣la.
• * 1.21

  1 John 3.••.
• * 1.22

  Lex alia in membris meis repugnavit legi mentis mea, & Rom. 7. Lex 〈◊〉〈◊〉 peccati est vio∣lentia consue∣tudinis, qua trah••tur & te∣netur etiam in∣vitus animus, eo merito, quo in eam volens illabitur. Aug. l. 8. Confess. c, 5. Psal. 127.2,
• * 1.23

  Psal. 27.8.
• * 1.24

  Exod. 34.6, 7.
• * 1.25

  Jer. 23.23.
• * 1.26

  Amos 2.13.
• * 1.27

  Psal. 100.5. Heb. 13.8.
• * 1.28

  De pudicit. c. 10.
• * 1.29

  Heb. 10.26.
• * 1.30

  Gen. 15.14, 16.
• * 1.31

  Matth. 23.32.
• * 1.32

  Luk. 19.41, 42.43.
• * 1.33

  Rom. 1.28.
• * 1.34

  Isid. Pelus. l. 4. ep. 102.
• * 1.35

  Hom. 22. c. 11.
• * 1.36

  2 Pet. 3.15.
• * 1.37

  Sen De Benef. 2.5.
• * 1.38

  Deus ad homi∣nes, imò, quod propius est, in homines venit, Sen. Ep. 73.
• * 1.39

  Job 33.15, 16.
• * 1.40

  Tit. 2.11.
• * 1.41

  Isa. 30.21.
• * 1.42

  Eccles. 1.2.
• * 1.43

  Hebr. 6.5.
• * 1.44

  Pers. sat. 3.
• * 1.45

  Ad Celantiam
• * 1.46

  Isa. 5.7.
• * 1.47

  Zech. 11.12.
• * 1.48

  Gen. 6 5.
• * 1.49

  Zech. 11.13.
• * 1.50

  Psal. 105.32.
• * 1.51

  Psal 107.28, 29. Matth 24.29.
• * 1.52

  Luke 21.25.
• * 1.53

  Jer. 3 22. Matth. 18.7.
• * 1.54

  In 10. Esai.
• * 1.55

  De patient. 11.
• * 1.56

  Ibid.
• * 1.57

  Isa. 5.
• * 1.58

  In Cant. Ser. 75.
• * 1.59

  Hom. 41.
• * 1.60

  Arestot. De in∣cerp. c. 9.
• * 1.61

  2 Cor. 6.2.
• * 1.62

  Psal. 95.7.
• * 1.63

  Dan. 7.9.
• * 1.64

  Exod. 5.7, 8.
• * 1.65

  Mat. 12.31.
• * 1.66

  Non expectat De••s frigescen∣tes senect••••is annos▪ nec ••∣mortuam jam per aetatem vi∣tiorum cons••e∣tudinem▪ Vult longi p••aelii mi∣litem. Hilar. in Psal. 118. Beth.
• * 1.67

  2 Cor. 1.20.
• * 1.68

  Hebr 12.19.
• * 1.69

  Psal 115.17. Agens poeniten∣tiam, & recon∣ciliatus cùm sanus est, & po∣stea bene vive∣us, securus hinc exit. Agens poe∣nitentiam ad ultimum, recon∣ciliatus, si ecu∣rus hinc exit, ego non sum securus. Aug. Hom. 41.
• * 1.70

  Epist. c. 10. Ep. 82.
• * 1.71

  Devotio est a∣ctualis volun∣tas prompte fa∣ciendi quae ad Dei cultum spectant. A∣quin. 22. q. 82. art. 1. Praepropera ve∣locitate pietatis pene aute coe∣pit perfectus esse uam dis∣ceret, Pontius Diaconus de Cypriani vita.
• * 1.72

  Hieron. Pau∣lino.