A66102:100
Impenitent sinners warned of their misery and summoned to judgment delivered in two sermons,…
Impenitent sinners warned of their misery and summoned to judgment delivered in two sermons, the former on the Sabbath, Nov. 6, the other on the lecture following, Nov. 10, 1698, occasioned by the amazing instance of a miserable creature who stood condemned for murdering her infant begotten in whoredom : to which are subjoined the solemn words spoken to her on those opportunities, published for the warning of others / by Samuel Willard.Impenitent sinners warned of their misery and summoned to judgment delivered in two sermons, the former on the Sabbath, Nov. 6, the other on the lecture following, Nov. 10, 1698, occasioned by the amazing instance of a miserable creature who stood condemned for murdering her infant begotten in whoredom : to which are subjoyned the solemn words spoken to her on those opportunities, published for the warning of others / by Samuel Willard.
printed by B. Green & J. Allen, 1698
A Citation TO Judgment after DEATH. › DOCTRINE. › Application 3: USE. III.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
USE. III.
Let it be for a word of Warning to us all, to be very careful in making ready to dye well: whiles others are only solicitous in providing that they may rub through, & live according to their hearts desire in this wo•ld; let us be persuaded to be peculiarly thoughtful, and practically so, that when we come to die, we may make a good end. ⟨p. 53⟩And I know no argument that carries more of pungency in it, to stimulate us hereunto, than the Truth in hand, if it be entertained with a one solemnity. Let us then gather up our thoughts, & fix them frequently here. Think, I am going to the Judgment; think who is to be Judge, & that no other than the all knowing, heart-searching, holy, righteous, and Almighty God. Think, what will be the matter of the Judgment; even all that I have been and done, to a thought; & the most secret abomination that ever I was guilty of. Think what is the Rule according to which all will proceed, and that will be the exact Law of Justice, unless I am under Grace, and so delivered from the Dominion of it. Think what shall be the happiness of those that shall then stand, and receive the sentence of absolution; and what will be the woeful infelicity of those that must •all. Think how sin hath exposed us all to condemnation, & where our only hope and help is, even in Jesus Christ, who alone can deliver us from the wrath to come. Think, now is the time for us to seek and secure a part in him, by getting into him by a living faith, & it will be too late for this, when death hath delivered us up to the Judgment. Think what a fearful thing it will be then to be mistaken, to go out of this life with hope that will prove a a spiders web; to lean on an expectation that will fail and break under us. Think if I make not the more hast, it may be too late; I stand on the very edge and brink of eternity, the Judge is at the door. Am I ⟨p. 54⟩ready for it? if not, shall I dare to dally in an affair of such infinite concernment one moment? will it not expose me to unconceivable hazard? and when we see any such as have despised Gods Grace, and run themselves desperately into self-destroying sins, and are now ready to be posted away to their fearful account; let any such Object before us, put a suitable solemnity into our hearts, and make us reflect and say, I may go away as soon as or before such an one, and am I in a better readiness?