like reasonable Creatures, to the Glory of their Maker and Redeemer; but that we might repent of our Sins time enough to escape. Hell. God is fo merciful as to accept of returning Prodigals, but does not think fit to encourage us in Sin, by giving us Notice when we fhall die, and when it is time to think of Repentance.

2dly, Tho' I doubt not, but that it would be a great Pleasure to you to know that you fhould live till old Age; yet confider a little with yourselves, and then tell me, Whether you yourselves can judge it wife and fitting for God to let you know this?

I obferved to you before, what Danger there is in flattering ourselves with the Hopes of long Life, that it is apt to make us too fond of this World, when we expect to live fo long in it; that it weakens the Hopes and Fears of the next World, by removing it at too great a Distance from us; that it encourages Men to live in Sin, because they have Time enough before them to indulge their Lufts, and to repent of their Sins, and make their Peace with God before they die; and if the uncertain Hopes of this undoes fo many Men, what would the certain Knowledge of it do? Those who are too wife and confiderate to be imposed on by fuch uncertain Hopes, might be conquered by the certain Knowledge of a long Life.

This would take off all Restraints from Men, and give free Scope to their vicious Inclinations, when they knew, that how wicked foever they were, they fhould not die before their Time was come, and could never be furprized by Death, fince they certainly knew when it will come, which destroys one great Motive to Obedience, that Sin fhall fhorten Mens Lives, and that Virtue and Piety should prolong them: That the wicked shall not live out half their days: That the fear of the Lord prolongeth days; but the years of the wicked fhall be fhortened, Prov. x. 27. Such Promises and Threatnings as these must be ftruck out of the Bible, fhould God let all Men know the Time of their Death.

ners.

Nay, this would fruftrate the Methods and Defigns of Providence for the reclaiming SinSometimes publick Calamities, Plague, and Famine, and Sword, alarm a wicked World, and fummon Men to Repentance; fometimes a dangerous Fit of Sickness awakens Men into a Senfe of their Sins, and works in them a true and lafting Repentance; but all this would be ineffectual, did Men know the Time of their Death, and that fuch publick Judgments, or threatning Sickness, fhould not kill them.

The Uncertainty of our Lives is a great Motive to conftant Watchfulness, to an early and perfevering Piety; but to know when we shall die, could serve no good End, but would

increase

increase the Wickednefs of Mankind, which is too great already; which is a fufficient Vindication of the Wisdom of God in leaving the Time of Death unknown and uncertain to

us.

SECT. VI.

That we must die but once; or that Death tranflates us to an unchangeable State: With the Improvement of it.

HE laft Thing to be confidered is, That we must die but once: It is appointed for men once to die. There are fome Exceptions from this Rule, as there are from Dying; That as Enoch and Elias did not die, fo fome have been raised again from the Dead, to live in this World; and fuch Men died twice. But this is a certain Rule in general, That as all Men muft die once, so they must die but once; which needs no other Proof, but the daily Experience and Obfervation of Man

kind.

But that which I intend by it is this; That once Dying determines our State and Condition for ever: When we put off these mortal Bodies, we must not return into them again to act over a new Part in this World, and to correct the Errors and Mifcarriages of our former Lives: Death tranflates us to an immutable and unchangeable State; that in this Senfe

Senfe what the Wife Man tells us is true: If the tree fall towards the fouth, or towards the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it fhall be. Ecclef. xi. 3. This is a Confideration of very great Moment, and deferves to be more particularly explained, which I shall do in the following Propofitions.

1. That this Life is the only State of Trial and Probation for Eternity: And therefore, 2. Death, whenever it comes, as it puts a final Period to this Life, that we die once for all, and muft never live again, as we do now in this World; fo it puts a final End to our Work too, that our Day of Grace, and Time of working for another World, ends with this Life. And, 3. As a neceffary Confequence of both these, once Dying puts us into an immutable and unchangeable State.

1. That this Life only is our State of Trial and Probation for Eternity; whatever is to be done by us, to obtain the Favour of God," and a blessed Immortality, must be done in this Life.

I obferved before, that this Life is wholly in order to the next; that the great, the only neceffary Bufinefs, we have to do in this World, is to fit and prepare ourselves to live for ever in God's Prefence; To finish the work GOD has given us to do, that we may receive the Reward of Good and Faithful Servants, to enter into our Mafter's Reft: I now add, That the only Time we have to do this in, is

while we live in this World. This is evident from what St. Paul tells us, That we must all appear before the judgment-feat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 2 Cor. v. 10. Now if we must

be judged, and receive our final Sentence according to what we have done in the Body, then our only Time of Trial and Working, is while we live in these Bodies; for the future Judgment relates only to what is done in the Body.

The Gospel of Chrift is the Rule whereby we must be judged, even that Gospel which St. Paul preached, Rom. ii. 16. And all the Laws and Precepts of the Gofpel, concern the Government of our Converfation in this World; and therefore if we be judged by the Gospel, we must be judged only for what we have done in this World.

This Life, throughout the Scripture, is represented as the Time of Working; as a Race, a Warfare, a labouring in the Vineyard; the other World, as a Place of Recompence, of Rewards or Punishments. And if there be fuch a Relation between this World and the next, as between fighting and conquering and receiving the Crown, as between running a Race, and obtaining a Prize, as between the Work and the Reward; then we must fight and conquer, run our Race, and finish our O 2 Work