Part 426

_Direct._ II. Be not a stranger to the condition of thy own soul, but look home till thou art acquainted what state it is in, and what it is in danger of, and what it wanteth, and how far thou art behindhand in thy provisions for immortality: and then be an idle time-waster if thou canst. Could I but go down with thee into that dungeon heart of thine, and show thee by the light of truth what is there; could I but let in one convincing beam from heaven, which might fully show thee what a condition thou art in, and what thou hast to do with thy remaining time; I should have no need to dispute thee out of thy childish fooleries, nor to bid thee be up and doing for thy soul, any more than to bid thee stir if a bear were at thy back, or the house in a flame about thy ears. Alas, our ordinary time-wasters are such, as are yet unconverted, carnal wretches, and are all the while in the power of the devil, who is the chief master of the sport, and the greatest gainer. They are such as are utter strangers to the regenerating, sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost; and are yet unjustified, and under the guilt of all their sins, and certain to be with devils in hell for ever, if they die thus before they are converted! (This is true, sinner, and thou wilt shortly find it so, by grace or vengeance, though thy blind and hardened heart now rise against the mention of it!) And is this a case for a man to sit at cards and dice in, or to sport and swagger in? The Lord have mercy on thee, and open thy eyes before it is too late, or else thy conscience will tell thee for ever in another manner than I am telling thee now, that thou hadst need to have better improved thy time, and hadst greater things to have spent it in. What! for a man in thy case, in an unrenewed, unsanctified, unpardoned state, to be thus casting away that little time, which all his hopes lie on! and in which, if ever, he must be recovered, and saved! O Lord, have mercy on such senseless souls, and bring them to themselves before it be too late! I tell thee, man, an enlightened person, that understandeth what it is, and hath escaped it, would not for all the kingdoms of the world, be a week or a day in thy condition, for fear lest death cut off his hopes and shut him up in hell that very day. He durst not sleep quietly in thy condition a night, lest death should snatch him away to hell; and canst thou sport and play in it, and live securely in a sensual course? Oh what a thing is it to be hoodwinked in misery, and to be led asleep to hell! Who could persuade men to live thus awake, and go dancing to hell with their eyes open! Oh! if we should imagine a Peter or a Paul, or any of the blessed, to be again brought into such a case as one of these unsanctified sinners, and yet to know what now they know! What would they do? would they feast, and game, and play, and trifle away their time in it? or would they not rather suddenly bewail their former mispent time, and all their sins, and cry day and night to God for mercy, and fly to Christ, and spend all their time in holiness and obedience to God! Alas, poor sinner, do but look into thy heart, and see there what thou hast yet to do (of greater weight than trimming and playing): I almost tremble to think and write what a case thou art in, and what thou hast to do, while thou livest as if thou hadst time to spare! If thou know not, I will tell thee, and the Lord make thee know it: thou hast a hardened heart to be yet softened; and an unbelieving heart to be brought to a lively, powerful belief of the word of God and the unseen world: thou hast an unholy heart and life to be made holy, if ever thou wilt see the face of God, Heb. xii. 14; Matt. xviii. 3; John iii. 3, 5, 6. Thou hast a heart full of sins to be mortified and subdued: and an unreformed life to be reformed; (and what abundance of particulars do these generals contain!) Thou hast a pardon to procure through Jesus Christ, for all the sins that ever thou didst commit, and all the duties which ever thou didst omit: thou hast an offended God to be reconciled to, and for thy estranged soul to know as thy Father in Jesus Christ! What abundance of Scripture truths hast thou to learn which thou art ignorant of! How many holy duties, as prayer, meditation, holy conference, &c. to learn which thou art unskilful in! and to perform when thou hast learned them! How many works of justice and charity to men's souls and bodies hast thou to do! How many needy ones to relieve as thou art able! and the sick to visit, and the naked to clothe, and the sad to comfort, and the ignorant to instruct, and the ungodly to exhort! Heb. iii. 13; x. 25; Eph. iv. 29. What abundance of duty hast thou to perform in thy relations! to parents or children, to husband or wife, as a master or a servant, and the rest! Thou little knowest what sufferings thou hast to prepare for. Thou hast faith, and love, and repentance, and patience, and all God's graces, to get and to exercise daily, and to increase. Thou hast thy accounts to prepare, and assurance of salvation to obtain, and death and judgment to prepare for. What thinks thy heart of all this work? Put it off as lightly as thou wilt, it is God himself that hath laid it on thee, and it must be done in time, or thou must be undone for ever! And yet it must not be thy toil, but thy delight: this is appointed thee for thy chiefest recreation. Look into the Scripture and into thy heart, and thou wilt find that all this is to be done. And dost thou think in thy conscience, that this is not greater business than thy gaudy dressings, thy idle visits, or thy needless sports? which is more worthy of thy time?