Some important truths about conversion, delivered in sundry sermons, / by Increase Mather, D.D.…

Consider 3. That the Lord will surely call you to an account one day for your time. You shall all appear before the Son of God one day, and give an account how you have lived and spent your time in this World: Men must give an account how they have improved Talents, especially this great and precious Talent Time. The Lord keeps an exact account how many years, days, hours, is allowed to every man in this World, & will reckon with men for all one day. As I remember it is storied of Ignatius, that if he did hear the Clock strike, he would say, There is another hour gone which I must answer for. Oh if men did think sadly of this, how would they improve their time? Did they know how great a sin it is to misspend so much as one hour, would they spend it may be whole days in vanity?

Consider 3. That the Lord will surely call you to an account one day for your time. You shall all appear before the Son of God one day, and give an account how you have lived and spent your time in this World: Men must give an account how they have improved Talents, especially this great and precious Talent Time. The Lord keeps an exact account how many years, days, hours, is allowed to every man in this World, & will reckon with men for all one day. As I remember it is storied of Ignatius, that if he did hear the Clock strike, he would say, There is another hour gone which I must answer for. Oh if men did think sadly of this, how would they improve their time? Did they know how great a sin it is to mispend so much as one hour, would they spend it may be whole days in vanity?

Consider 4 That you have lost much precious time already; and therefore it is high ⟨p. 172⟩time to look about you, and to consider well how you may improve the present season, 1 Pet. 4.3. The time past of our life may suffice us, to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. So the time past which hath been misspent is enough and too much to be lost. Alas, men spend the greatest part of their time either in doing nothing, or in doing amiss. How much time is there spent in excessive sleep, or in needless recreations, or in unprofitable discourses? nay, how much time is spent in sin? All the days of a mans irregeneracy, are days of vanity. All that time (which as to the most of you hath been the greatest part of your lives) hath been utterly lost. Hence Paul speaks of his being born out of due time,