Untimely Repentance.  
A SERMON preached before the Right Honourable Lord PETRE IN HIS chapel AT Ingatestone-Hall, ON Passion Sunday, April the 1st, 1688.  
By Richard Levison P. of the Society of Jesus.  
Permissu Superiorum.  
London, Printed by Mary Thompson at the Entrance into Old-Spring-Garden near Charing-Cross, 1688.   

A SERMON preached before the Right Honourable Lord Petre, On Passion-Sunday April the 1st, 1688.  St. John chap. 8. ver. 46. 
Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato?  
Who of you shall accuse me of sin?  
THE Stubborn and Ungrateful Jew, whom all the Favours and Miracles of Heaven could never endear unto his God, even after his prodigious deliverance from Egyptian Slavery, and drowning of his Enemies in the read Sea, still murmurs against his Leaders, and still turns Idolater to his Maker. And does his Patient God forbear? Does he extend his Mercies? Strange Patience! 
Sic Deus dilexit mundum ut filium suum unigenitum daret, St, Jo. cap. 3, v. 16.  unheard of Clemency! He sends his only begotten Son into the World, to guide, instruct, and give the knowledge of Salvation to his People, thinking they would respect him, embrace his Doctrine, obey his Commands, follow his Counsels, and imitate his virtues. Verebuntur Filium meum. They will reverence my Son. St. Matth. chap. 21. v. 37. In vain my God in vain. He derides his Innocency, he scoffs at his Sanctity, he scorns his virtue, persecutes his Justice, condemns his Doctrine as erroneous, and obstinately declares he will not follow it. Recede à nobis, scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus. Depart from us, we will not the knowledge of thy ways, Job chap. 21. v. 14. Though each Paragraph of the Law style him Holy, all the Prophets celebrate him as a Just Man, all the ancient Figures represent him innocent, though the Angel proclaim him Saviour of the world, though the Eternal God name him the Beloved of his Heart, tho' the People reverence him as a Prophet, Hic est Jesus Propheta. This is Jesus the Prophet, St. Matth. chap. 21. v. 11. and declare he had done all things well, tho' the Devils adore him as Son of God, in fine, tho' convinced by all the Oracles of Scripture, and his own Broad Seal of Miracles, that he is the true messiah and Saviour of the World, yet he will not receive him. Nolumus hunc regnare supper nos. We will not have this Man reign over us, St. Luke chap. 19. v. 15. So little impression can the Preaching, Example, and Miracles of an Incarnate Deity work upon his Stony Heart. But what? shall his Stubborness conquer the Almighty, and Impiety banish virtue in spite of Heaven? No The God of Innocency, the Author of Sanctity, Divine Truth, and great Champion of virtue, Christ Jesus, makes a solemn Challenge to day, in the face of Jerusalem, to his implacable Enemies the High Priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, in vindication of the Innocency of his Life, the Sanctity of his Manners, and Infallibility of his Heavenly Doctrine. Secure then of his own Innocency, and full of Godlike Majesty, he assaults them with a Quis ex vobis, &c. Who of you shall accuse me of sin? He dares them to show wherein he has offended. Tell me, have I sinned against my God or my Neighbour? Have I not observed the great Commandements towards them both, Love thy God above all things, and thy neighbour as thyself? Tell me in what have I transgressed? Have I ever violated the least Iota, the least title of the Law Divine, or Human? I have Preached in your Synagogues, I have spoken openly; examine my Doctrine, if it be not coherent with the Law and Prophets, if it be not Divine, if it be not from God. I have taught daily in the Temple, in your hearing, show me a word that I have not confirmed by the brightest evidence of irrefragable Miracles. Quis ex vobis? Who of you shall accuse me of sin? Can your Caesars? Can your Herods? Have I not punctually obeyed their Orders? Have I not paid them Tribute with all exactness? Have I not given strict command to all my Followers, next unto God to give Caesar his due? Quis ex vobis? &c. Who of you? &c. Can your High Priests? Have I not commanded Respect and Obedience to the Chair of Moses? Can the Sinner or Publican? Have I not been zealous for his Eternal Salvation? Did I not daily invite him to Repentance, offer him Pardon, and promise him eternal Reward in the Kingdom of Heaven? Ask Matthew the Publican, demand of Magdalen the Sinner, put the query to Simon and Zacheus. Quis ex vobis? Can the Married? I have honoured their state with my Presence, and confirmed it by Miracle. Can the Widdows? I have supplied their wants by my Prophets, commanded them to be honoured by my Apostles, and myself have raised their dead to comfort them in Afflictions. Ask the widow Woman of Sarepta, go to the Gates of Naum, and you will hear and see the clearest demonstrations. Can the Virgin? I have equalled her condition to the sublime degree of Angels. Can your Children? They were the bosom darlings of my Heart, and I have entailed Heaven upon them for their Inheritance. Sinite parvulos venire ad me. Suffer the little Children to come unto me, St. Math. chap. 19. v. 14. Can the Hungry Multitude? I fed them in the desert by Prodigies. Can the Sick, Imprisoned, Lame, Leprous, paralytic, or Possessed? Have I not visited them, cured their Infirmities, cast out Devils? What more? Of my Deeds the Dumb speak, the Blind see them, the Deaf hear 'em, and the Dead can give you Intelligence of them. Quis ex vobis, &c. Who of you shall accuse me of sin? In fine, he lays open the truth so clear before their eyes, that they could have no excuse for not embracing it. Si non venissem,& locutus eis fuissem, peccatum non haberent: nunc autem excusationem non habent. If I had not come, and spoken to them, they should not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin, St. John chap. 15. v. 22. And then demands. Si veritatem dico vobis, quare non creditis mihi? If I say the truth why do you not believe me? St. John chap. 8. v. 47. But what return? The People indeed, ravished with the resplendent truth of his Heavenly Doctrine, applaud him with a Nunquam sic locutus est homo. Never did man speak as this Man, St. John chap. 7. v. 47. yet the proud and haughty Pharisee, having nothing but mere Negatives to oppose, impudently Blasphemes, Nos scimus quia hic homo peccator est. We know that this man is a sinner, St. John 9.24. and consequently his Doctrine cannot be true, which filling the Jews with Envy, they take up Stones like unto their Hearts to throw at him. Tulerunt ergo lapides ut jacerent in eum. They took Stones therefore to cast at him, St. John chap. 8. v. 59; call a Council and Condemn the Innocent, Reus est mortis. He is guilty of death, St. Math. 26. chap. v. 66.  
Ch. and. I will not wast my Time, nor your devout Attention, in accusing the stubborn Jew of Sin, for rejecting the Divine call of his messiah; I leave it to that dreadful day, when he shall see him whom he Crucified coming in the Clouds with majesty. There is a Christian Jew, I mean the obstinate Sinner,( for so he is, and so I call him) whom I accuse,  
First, of a horrible Sin, in slighting the Inspirations and Graces of Almighty God, that daily invite him to Repentance.  
Secondly, I will demonstrate the evident danger he puts the Eternal Salvation of his Soul in, by deferring his Conversion to the last.  
Dear Jesus, I beseech you by that burning Zeal with which you sought the Salvation of the Jews, enlighten my Understanding, inflame my Will, and influence my Words with such Force and Energy, that piercing into the hearts of my Auditory, I may awake them out of that dangerous and soul-killing Lethargy too too many sleep in; by your bitter death and passion grant, that in the most terrible hour of death, on which depends the happiness or misery of Eternity, the Enemy of Souls may never insult over any one here, with a Praevalui adversus eum. I have got the Victory, Psal. 12. v. 5. I humbly beg it by the Intercession of your Virgin Mother, whom I salute with the Angel. have Maria, &c.  

First Part.  
IF I should accuse any here of Imprudence in their temporal concerns, I were justly to be condemned of a rash Imputation: You are all wise. For who of you has not the end of his employment lively fixed before his Eyes? Who provides not all necessary means? Who delays in the speedy execution of them? Who embraces not all opportunities of obtaining it? Each step you take advances towards it. All your Study and Labours, your Care and Industry, your Thoughts in private, your Discourses in public, your Conferences with Friends, your Vows in the day, your Wakings in the night, meet here as in their beloved Center. After this each motion of your Heart breaths, each aspiration of your Soul mounts to this as to its sphere of rest. This raises the Scholar to a bnfice, brings the Lawyer to the Bar, enriches the Merchant with Treasures, advances the Courtier to the favour of his Prince, and crowns the soldier with Laurels. Hence I accuse my Christian Jew, my obstinate Sinner. Why not so much diligence in the main point, in the most important affair, in that unum necessarium the eternal welfare of thy Soul? Why does not the great maxim of Salvation, taught thee by the God of truth, Quid prodest, &c. What doth it profit a Man, if he gain the whole world and sustain the damage of his Soul, take up thy time but half as much, and dwell as near thy heart. Obstupescite Coeli supper hoc& portae ejus desolamini vehementer. 
Jer. ch. 11. v. 1●  Be astonied O heavens upon this, and O gates thereof be ye desolate exceedingly. He knows that at the same time he sins, he loses the friendship of God, his right to Heaven, and becomes a miserable Slave to Hell. And yet, because Heaven does not consume him with Fire, the Earth does not open and swallow him alive, because like a balthasar, he is not summoned from the midst of his Pleasures, to give a strict account at the severe Tribunal of Divine Justice, he boasts with the Wicked. Peccavi,& quid mihi accidit trust. I have sinned and what sorrowful thing hath befallen me, Eccl. chap. 5. v. 4. If you tell him with the Wise Man, that delays are dangerous, and sound in his Ear, Ne differas de die in diem, &c. slacken not to be converted to our Lord, and defer not from day to day. For his Wrath shall come suddenly, and in the time of Vengeance he will destroy thee, Ibid v. 8, 9. sand him a Moses to know when he shall pray for him, and free him from the vexing Plagues of Sin, appoint me when I shall pray for thee, Exod. chap. 8. v. 9. And with the senseless pharaoh he answers. To morrow. Let a Jesus inculcate a thousand Videte's, watch, pray, you know not when the time is, you know neither the day nor the hour, he answers, he is sensible enough of his condition, and would not for a thousand Worlds die in the state he lives in, and is resolved to repent when he comes to die; for to be saved it is not so absolutely necessary to live a holy Life, as to die a holy Death; and so eludes all the remorses of his guilty and tortured Conscience, puts off all the Graces and Divine Inspirations of God, that daily invite him to Repentance, with the unhappy Felix to St. Paul, Quod nunc attinet, &c. For this time go thy way: but in time convenient I will sand for thee, Acts chap. 24. v. 25. He will make use of them another time, he will hear them when he is more at leisure, when he grows old he will lay all other concerns aside, and attend wholly to the Salvation of his Soul. Is not this a Miracle sufficient to astonish Heaven and Earth? That a Man of reason, a Man that pretends to Christianity, should have so little sense of his Eternal Happiness, as to live as they did who are now damned, to Feast, Drink, Sleep, and be Merry, as if he had not one Foot upon the very brink of Hell, but were on the Wings of a Seraphim, in his flight to the Glory of Paradise; that he should have so little feeling of his only Soul, Unicam meam, as with the Epicure to think it to be only like Salt unto his Body, to keep it from stinking? Pray tell me, what was the ruin of pharaoh and the whole Kingdom of Egypt? Was it not his stubborness to the Calls of Heaven? Hear the most eloquent St. Ambrose. Appoint me when, says the God-like Moses, and senseless pharaoh answers, To morrow: 
Cum deberet in tantâ positus necessitate rogare ut jam oraret nec differret, respondit crasiinâ die, otiosus& negligens morae poenam Egypt● soluturus excidio.  whereas pressed by so great necessity he ought to desire him to pray now, and not defer it, he answers to morrow. But this delay cost the lazy and negligent Prince no less than the ruin and destruction of Egypt. What was the destruction of the famous Jerusalem? Was it not because she was deaf to all the invitations of her God? Neither the Promises of Isaiah, nor Prayers of Jeremiah, nor Threats of Joel, nor so many Exhortations, Graces and Miracles of the Son of God himself could awake her. Our Blessed Saviour expresses the cause in a Flood of compassionate Tears. eo quòd non cognoveris tempus visitationis tuae. Because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation, St. Luke chap. 19. v. 44. Because she did not harken when called, repent when invited.  
For my part were I to writ the cause of their Damnation upon the Forehead of the Damned, I would use no other Inscription then eo quòd non cognoverint tempus, &c. Because they did not know the time of their visitation. All these suffer, and shall suffer in Hell for Eternity, because they misspent their time in this World, and did not make use of Divine Grace when offered. There is not one of these but intended to save his Soul, as much as you do. But alas! They deferred their Conversion too long, then went to buy the oil of Mercy when she had shut the Gates against them. eo quòd non cognoverint tempus, &c. Because they did not know the time of their Visitation. Do you not? O Angel, that keepest the keys of Death and Hell, Claves mortis& Inferni, Apocal. chap. 1. v. 18. open I beseech you those dark Abysses where all unfortunate Souls must eternally dwell; that with the Devout St. Bernard, we may descend in Contemplation to Hell whilst we live, never to come there when we are dead. Unhappy Dives! Who stripped thee of thy Silks and Purple? What brought thee into this place of torments? What torments thee in these Flames? Oh! I often heard a Vae nobis divitibus, Woe to you rich men, St. 
Phil. ch. 3. v. 19  Luke chap. 6. v. 24. Quorum Deus venture est, quorum finis interitus? Whose God is their belly, whose end is destruction. Yet I clad myself in the richest Silks and Purples, eat and drank of the most exquisite Meats and choicest Wines I could get, I made my Belly my God, and spent my Youth in Mirth and Riot, still intending to fast, cloath myself with Ashes and sackcloth, in my old age, and save my Soul at last. But O! That ducunt in bonies dies suos& in puncto ad inferna descendunt. They led their days in Wealth, and in a moment go down to Hell, was my unfortunate Exit. I stopped my Ears when called by the merciful admonitions of my God, deferred my Pennance too long, and therefore hurried away by sudden death, am butted, am butted in Hell. I see the once scorned Beggar in the bosom of delights, I beg of Father Abraham, not Oceans, nor Streams, but that the ulcerous Lazarus may only dip the tip of his Finger in Water to cool the unquenchable thirst of my schorched Tongue, and can't obtain it. Alas! All the comfort I receive is a reproachful Recordare fili, &c. Remember Son that thou didst receive good things in thy life time, &c. St. Luke ch. 16. v. 25. I omitted, when offered, to drink of those Waters of Grace, which extinguish an eternal thirst, and therefore, Crucior in hâc flammâ. I am tormented in this slame. O miserable young man! What sad Chance cut off thy bloomy days in their prime, and brought thee hither? It was a Non-correspondence to the Admonitions of his Friends, Suggestions of his good Angel, and Graces of Almighty God, which so often with an Adolescens tibi dico surge. Young man, I say to thee arise, St. Luke ch. 7. v. 14. called upon him to forsake that lewd Company, fly those occasions of Sin, and save himself with lot from the flames of Sodom. But he heard them not, he thought some liberty might be given to Youth, intending when the heat and servour of that was over, to become a Joseph in the victories of Chastity, so goes on, spends his strength and estate too Prodigal-like, vivendo luxuriosè. But alas! before he could return to the all-pardoning embraces of his Heavenly Father, a burning fever enkindled by the damnable Flames of Lust, posts him unexpectedly into another World of the same temper, Hell. 
Libidinosum enim hujus vitae incendium, ad fornacis intus incendium du●it. Isidor. Pelus. Ep●s. 533.  For the lustful flames of this life led us down to the burning fire of that Furnace. Poor unfortunate young Woman! How came you into these Shades of horror? She weeps; shane and Confusion will not permit her to speak. She often heard from her heavenly Spouse a Vides hanc mulierem? Do you see this Woman? She followed Magdalen the Sinner, but neglected to imitate Magdalen the Penitent, till the time of Repentance was elapsed, and therefore she weeps, and shall weep eternally, but never hear a remittuntur tibi peccatu tua. Thy Sins are forgiven thee. Unbelieving Soul! What shut thee out of Heaven, and condemned thee to an everlasting death? Want of true Faith. I often heard a secret voice in my Soul tell me, that there was but one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism, St. Paul to the Ephes. chap. 4. and consequently among so many Contradictory Religions, all could not be true ways to Salvation. I always thought that to be the true Church, which by clear Texts of Scriptures, Authority of general Councils, Sentences of Holy Fathers, and a never interrupted Succession of supreme Pastors, could prove its self to have the Marks of Christs true Church, as to be One, Holy, catholic and apostolic. I thought that infallibly must be the true Church of Christ, which notwithstanding all the Attempts and Persecutions of Schism, heresy, and Hell, was yet visible, and could show it had maintained its Doctrine in its Primitive Purity, and taught now the same that Christ and his Apostles taught. But whether I were a Member of this Church or no, I omitted( through too much love of the World, and desire of Liberty) to inquire, and therefore dying out of its Communion, out of which there is no Salvation, eternally perished.  
Thus it will happen to all, who refuse to answer when God calls. 
Ergo dum lutem habetis, credite in lucem ut filii lucis sitis, St. Jo. ch. 12. v. 36. hody si vocem ejus audieritis nolite obdurare corda vestra.  Therefore, Whilst you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light. The unbelieving Soul, if he will be saved, must bottom himself on true Faith. Ergo. Therefore if to day you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. The obstinate Sinner if he will be saved, must answer when God calls. Did I say to day? Oh let it be this very moment, before you depart from the chapel, before you go home, and it will be the beginning of your eternal happiness; and thus I conclude my first Point.   

Second Part.  
THE most deluding Fallacy on which the obdurate Sinner builds the delay of his Conversion, is a presumptive confidence in the Mercies of Almighty God, so much the more treacherous and deceitful, because it carries an outward show of virtue. St. Chrysostom on the second Epistle to the Corinthians, takes him to task, and thus discourses. Dicis, says he, Alii mali fuerunt,& salvi facti sunt, dabit& mihi spatium paenitentiae. Others were bad and are saved; David was an Adulterer, Zacheus a Publican, Saul a Persecuter, and Magdalen a Sinner, and he will give me time to repent. So they speak who sin with confidence, and, as Tertullian said, are bad because God is good. The Saint replies and asks. An vere dabit spatium paenitentiae? Fortasse, inquis, dabit. But will he really give you time to repent? Perchance, say you, he will. The Saint urges very home. Dicis fortasse? memento quod de anima loqueris. Do you say perchance? Remember that you speak of your Soul. In a business of so great concern, then which no man has, or can have a greater, do you proceed with the uncertainty of a perchance? When with so much Facility you may put yourself almost in security of your Salvation? You never admit of these doubts or uncertainties in the meanest affairs of the World. Nay, is your Friend condemned by some unfortunate accident to the fatal stroke of death, do you not use all possible care, all imaginable means, do you not employ all your interest and Forces, to repeal the Sentence, to obtain his pardon? Why then must only the business of your eternal Salvation be managed with the uncertainty of time, which is not in your power. Fortasse dabit. And how numerous are they to whom God has not given time to provide for the main concern, and yet these very men had continually in their Mouths. Fortasse dabit. Perchance he will give us time to repent; they spent their days in Feasting, and lived pleasantly. It's true, says St. Augustin, and I err if you do not find written in the Gospel, with the Golden Characters of Light and Truth, that God promises pardon to all Sinners that repent: But though you had a hundred thousand eyes, you will never find registered by the Pen of God, in any page. of the sacred Volumes, that he has promised a Sinner time to repent. Nemo ergo sibi promittat quod Evangelium non promittit. Let no man therefore promise himself that which the Gospel does not promise. St. Augustin, De verbis Domine, Ser. 16.  
But say what I will, my Christian Jew is become a Rabbi in the Synagogue of the Obstinate. He tells me with his confederates in Isaiah. Percussimus faedus cum morte& cum Inferno fecimus pactum, Isaiah 28.15. He has made a truce with Death, and struck up a bargain with Hell. What? That Death shall not seize upon you unprovided? That it shall give you time by a perfect contrition and sorrow for your Sins to reconcile yourself to Almighty God, to arm yourself with the rites of the Church for that dangerous passage, that your death should be all mildred, all pleasant, all melodious and joyful, that happy, as old Simeon, you shall close your Eyes with Jesus in your Arms, and depart in peace, singing a Nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine, &c. Now thou dost dismiss, O Lord, thy Servant according to thy word in peace, because mine eyes have seen thy Salvation, St. Luke ch. 2? And we have made a bargain with Hell. That you shall be free from all temptations, that the Devils shall not molest you, that Hell shall not devour you? But you have cheated yourself, as all the Adversaries of virtue and Truth always do, either ignorantly, or wilfully taking a Sentence, and not minding the Context. Had you red on, you had found a salue to that damnable error in the same place. Et delebitur foedus vestrum cum morte, Isaiah the 5. ch. 14. v. &c. And your league with death shall be abolished, and your covenant with Hell shall not stand. But above all, methinks that terrible Ego vado quaeretis me& in peccato vestro moriemini, St. Joh. 8. ch. 21. v. I go, you shall seek me, and shall die in your sin; threatened by our Blessed Saviour to the Jews, should strike a terror into the most obdurate Sinners. There will be then a time for certain, when you shall seek God and not find him, when you shall call upon him and not be heard. The darkness of approaching death will hid him from your sight, and you that have not found him by the lights he gave you in your life, will certainly never find him in the shades of death. In a word, 
Hoc est Christum male querere in peccato suo mori,& in peccato suo morietur, qui in peccato suo permanet usque ad mortem.  that Sinner seeks Christ, but finds him not, who repents too late, that is, lets Death surprise him in Sin, says Venerable Bede. Continue your favourable attention and I will prove it.  
The lamentations of the Spouse in the Canticles, because she could not find her beloved are certain, the cause uncertain. Quaesivi in lectulo meo quem diligit anima mea,& non inveni, Cant. ch. 3. I have sought in my little bed whom my Soul loveth, and have not found him. To omit other the reason in my opinion, why she could not find him, may be, because she only sought him in the bed of Sickness, when the darkness of death grew thick upon her, because the Sun of Justice seldom or never enlightens those horrid shades with the rays of Mercy. That is, you that expect to find God merciful on your death-bed, will be deceived. In vain you expect the health of your Soul, among the mortal distempers of your Body. It is in vain to think to gain Eternity in a moment. It is in vain to cover yourself with the Ashes of Pennance, when the Dust of your Sepulchre is near. In vain do your eyes pour out scalding Tears, when a could sweat of Death runs down your Cheeks. Your sighs are illtim'd for Pennance, when you groan for life. What force can Pennance have in such a weakness of Members? What fruits can she produce, planted in the Ashes of a carcase. virtues will not grow in a heart voided of natural heat and strength. Wo then to the Soul that only seeks her Spouse on her Death-bed. And wo to thee, stubborn Sinner, that only beg'st mercy when thy gasping Soul hangs upon thy dying lips.  
I do not intend to condemn the Pennance of many in their last Agony; 
Potest nobis extremi temporis Indulgentia sub venire, at periculosissima est in ultimum diem promiss● securitas. Lib. de v. paen.  perchance by labouring in the last hour of the day, they may deserve their penny and receive the reward of Glory. But I must tell you, that all the holy Fathers look upon it as infirm, presumptive and to be suspected. St. Aug. affirms it to be very unsure and of little value. We may be so fortunate as to find mercy at the last hour: but it is a most dangerous security we promise ourselves in the last day. For it does not often happen that he that has lived a Fool all his life, becomes a Wife man at his death. And can there be a greater Fool than he who commits his eternal concerns to a dying life? Not a feeble but strong Voice is requisite to pled a business of that Importance; it demands a weeping Eye not a dying one; exacts a grieving Soul, not a dead body. Because says St. Aug. Serm. 66. de temp. Parum est peccatori paenitere nisi paenitentiam peregerit. It little avails a sinner to repent, unless he perform his Pennance. Because as we esteem not the three, but the Fruit, nor is the Plant commendable that renders no Fruit to the gardener, so Almighty God valves not a fruitless Sorrow or barren Repentance. Our Saviour and St. John exclaim, Facite fructus dignos paenitentiae. Yield fruits worthy of Pennance, St. Luke ch. 3. v. 9. But in such anguish of Soul, in such pain of body, in a head full of other concerns, in a distracted mind, in a heart not only barren of good deeds, but holy thoughts, what Fruits can Pennance produce? And will you yet defer your Conversion? Do you know it? He that procrastinates in an affair of that Importance, contests with his everlasting ruin. Pennance is a traffic you may purchase a blessed Eternity with: But who is that slothful and unfortunate Servant that hide it under ground? It is you that differ your Conversion, and think to do Pennance in the end of your Life. You will be numbered among the foolish Virgins that repented too late, &c. therefore Clausa est Janua; nescio vos. The gate is shut; I know you not.  
But you think to deceive God, and rob him of Paradise, as the good Thief did on the across, reserving for your last breath, a Domine memento mei, &c. Lord remember me when you shall come into your Kingdom. As if this were the form of a Sacrament that operates independently of the Merits of the Minister, and in virtue of this, you were to do presently what you say, and Christ were suddenly to answer you with a hody mecum eris in Paradiso. This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise. The Divine St. Aug. condemns you of a pernicious error. Ad emendanda crimina vox paenitentis sola non sufficit, nam ad satisfactionem ingentium peccatorum non verba tantum said opera quaeruntur. Ser. 1. de paen. To the amendment of our Crimes the voice of the Penitent alone is not sufficient, f●r to the satisfaction of great sins, not words but works are required. What? Are the inveterate sins of your obstinate Soul so many flames that can be blown out with a gentle sigh? Are they Spots that can be washed away with a Tear? Are they Wounds, are they Ulcers that can be cured with the Divine enchantment of four Words. Domine, Domine aperi nobis. Lord open the gate. So that at your command Heaven Gates shall fly open, and your Soul be received in Triumph? Ad satisfactionem, &c. And if you are not able to satisfy for your sins in that weak condition, how is it possible for you to overcome an army of Sins now in possession of your Soul? How will you conquer those Legions of Devils that lie encamped round about to defend it? Good God! Those sins that so many Preachers thundering the Judgments of the Almighty against thee, could not drive out! Those sins that the Sword of Justice hanging every moment over thy head, could not dislodge! Those sins that the fear of Hell fire could not vanquish, shall they now be conquered by a feeble Pennance, without arms, without Forces, and as dead as thy dying Body? What shall I say but exclaim with the Divine St. Augustin. Paenitentia quae a moriente tantum petitur, timeo ne& ipsa moriatur. That Pennance which a dying Man only begs to do, I am afraid it will die. I fear she will be defeated, I fear she will die; and as the Body becomes a spoil to the Victories of Death, so she will fall a Victim of Sin, and a Prey to the Devils. Therefore if you intend to become victorious in the last and terrible battle, why do you not quicken your Pennance with the vigour of Youth, arm it with the Weapons of Mortification, and kerbing your unbridled Passions, strengthen it with noble Resolutions, and the powerful assistance of Christian virtues? Assure yourself a dying Age will never prove the fruitful Parent of a victorious Pennance. Poenitentia quae a moriente tantum petitur, &c.  
You then, O holy Penitent, and most bright mirror of Pennance, O holy Magdalen, teach my Auditory what time you observed to hear those most comfortable words, Remittuntur tibi peccata tua. Perchance you expected your lips should whither, before you fixed those chast kisses on the Feet of Jesus. You waited perchance for death to break your Body, before you broken open your Box of Perfumes to anoint his Divine Feet. 
Nec ipsa se ad ●… oc reservavit, ●… t in fine vitae ●… aenitentiam a●… eret, said dum ●… dhuc peccare ●… oterat sic Deo ●… nspirante volu●… t peccata dimittere, ut il●… am de Adulte●… iis suis, non ne●… essitas sub tra●… eret, said vc●… ntas& ideo ●… udire mervit, ●… uod ei omnia ●… erint peccata ●… imissa. S. Aug. ●… er. 57. de Paen,  You stayed perchance for old age to rob you of those charming Locks, before you offered them to your dear Lord, to ensnare him in your love. You demurred perchance till your sins left you, that you might run to God. Ut cognovit. Christian Auditory. Ut cognovit. As soon as ever she understood that her Heavenly physician was at hand, presently, without any delay, changing her sinful boldness into a fruitful confidence, she entred where he was, and prostrate at his Divine Feet, the Pillars of a non plus ultra, to her wicked life, pleaded her pardon with the silent groans of a contrite heart, and drowned her sins in a Sea of Tears. Ut cognovit. As soon as ever she knew. Therefore, Quaerite Dominum dum inveniri potest. Seek the Lord whilst he may be found. Now, this day, this moment. When he calls you, when he offers you his Grace, when he expects your return. Do not defer till the night of Death surprise you. Venit nox quando nemo potest operari. The night comes when no man can labour. It will then be too late. You'll seek your Saviour but not find him. Et in peccato, &c. And then you'll die in your sin.  
Another reason which renders thy repentance almost impossible, is thy custom of sinning, which once having got possession of thy Soul, is hardly rooted out. Because, says St. Aug. Consuetudo est quaedam habituata natura. Custom is a second nature. And Seneca answers thee, That when thy Vices are become thy Manners, there is no place for a remedy. Tunc desinit esse remedio locus, ubi quae fuerint vitia mores fiunt. You red a strange example of this in the third Book of Kings, 13 chap. King Jeroboam, by his frequent Idolatry, was become harder to the voice of God then the Stones he adored. The Prophet Semeia, by Divine order, goes to him, and finds him standing upon the Altar, but directs his Embassy to the Altar not to the King. Altar, Altar. St. Chrysostom astonished hereat, asks him. Cum lapide verba facis? O Man of God, what do you do? Do you think God has given the Marble ears to hear your voice? Is your Tongue an Instrument of steel, that can imprint upon it the Character of your words? Certainly upon this Altar you sacrifice your Words to the Winds. Why do you not speak to the King who willingly hears you? Every one will judge you a mad Man, to treat Stones as Men, and Men as Stones. Do you think the King will not give you audience? Much less will the Stones return you an answer. If the one will not hear what you say, do you believe the other will execute your Commands? If Jeroboam has not ears to hear you, much less has the Marble capacity to understand you. But it was not so. For the Prophet found more hardness in the stubborn heart of the obstinate King, than in the senseless ston; and his voice which was not heard by the one was obeyed by the other, opening its Bowels, and delivering out the commanded Victim, in obedience to the same voice the stubborn King stopped his Ears to. Etiam quando rex minus compos est sensuum quam lapis,& audivit lapis, ipse lapis in scissuras diffractus est,& victimam effudit, homo ille non audivit. St. Chrys. In proem. in Isaiah. This we see daily, and lament. How many Preachers by Sermons, Exhortations, and pious Discourses, tell the obstinate and habitual Sinner, the danger he is in by delaying his Conversion. They propose to him the patience of his God, his frequent invitations to repentance, his threats, his promises, his rewards, his punishments, nothing moves him. Percussisti eos& non doluerunt, says Jeremiah of the obstinate. Thou hast strike them and they have not grieved, chap. 5. In vain does Heaven punish here, in vain do you propose divine Benefits. Ipsi fuerunt rebelles lumini. They were rebellious to the Light, says Job of the same, ch. 54. A cursed habit of Sinning has rendered thy heart more hard than the very Stones.  
The Divine St. Aug. has a gentle reflection upon three Dead, raised by our Blessed Saviour. The Prince of the Synagogues Daughter dies. The Heavenly physician only takes her by the hand, not so much to feel the motion of her Pulse, as to give it; bids her rise, and she returns to Life. The Widdows Son of Naim, interpnted the City of Beauties, dies in the flower of his Youth, and Jesus meets the disconsolate widow at the City Gates, calls the young man with an Adolescens tibi dico surge, and in obedience to the command he stands up alive, and Jesus dries up the Tears of the afflicted Mother with the joyful sight of her raised Son. Lazarus dies and is butted, and Christ is troubled, sighs for grief, breaks out into Tears, groans, and with a loud cry calls him, lazar, veni foras. Lazarus, come forth. And thus he rescues him from the Jaws of death, and brings him alive from the Sepulchre. But what sort of death is this, my dear Jesus, that will not give Lazarus the light of life, unless your all enlightening Eyes set in a Sea of grief? That will not open the Grave and give up her dead, unless you open your Sacred Mouth to groans? That will see you, Author of all Joy, full of all sadness, before she rejoice the Spectators with their raised Friend. Why was there not need of this in the others? Whence this novelty? St. Aug. answers the query. Because in the young Persons was expressed a Sin newly committed; not so much, out of Malice as Frailty. But this signifies a habit of sinning. Cum consuetudinis malae quasi mole terrena premitur animus, quasi in S●pulchro jam putet. When the Soul is oppressed by a bad habit, as with a heap of Earth, it corrupts as it were in her sepulchre. And therefore the voice of our Saviour was sufficient alone to raise the First. But here Fremuit in Spiritu,& rursus infremuit,& deinde magna voice exclamavit, lazar veni foras. He groaned in Spirit, and groaned again, and then he cried out with a great voice, Lazarus come forth. To demonstrate how difficult a thing it is for a Sinner to be Converted, and do Pennance at the hour of his Death. It is a strange observation of St. Jerome upon the Epistle of St. Paul, where mention is made of the general judgement. At the first sound of the Angelical Trumpet, which must summon all Men to the vale of Josaphat, the dead will presently arise and present themselves. But to the living which remain on earth, the voice of the Archangel will not be enough, the voice and command of God must be added. What means this? That it is easier to raise a dead man to life, than Convert an obstinate Sinner. This will sooner come from his Grave, than that will leave his wicked life. This will sooner awake from the sleep of death, than that will rise from the Lethargy of Sin. And God is sooner heard in Graves than in Towns and Cities.  
But my obstinate Sinner still replies, that the mercies of God are above all his Works. That he will not the death of a Sinner, but rather that he be converted and live. That his Mercies have most of all triumphed in the hour of death. He has invited, even then, the worst of Sinners to pardon. Manasses after a wicked life, became a Penitent. He invited Judas with a kiss of Peace, and saved a Thief on the across. It's very true, but here lies an error that has Peopled Hell. Are you sure, or do you only hope that he will invite you? Vix dici potest, says St. Aug. quantos haec inanis spei umbra deceperit. It can hardly be expressed how many this empty shadow of vain hope has deluded. Serm. 100. de temp. This it was that ruined Judas and made him dux eorum qui comprehenderunt Jsum. Captain of them that apprehended Jesus. And whence so great boldness, such hardness of heart in an Apostle, a worker of Miracles, who had lived three years in the School and Company of Christ? St. Chrysostom found the Origin and discovered it for the Instruction and Correction of the like to him. Confidebat nimium in lenitate Magistri, quae res illum magis confudit,& omni venia privavit. He confided too much in the Meekness of his Master, which did more confounded him, and deprive him of all pardon. The sweet behaviour of Christ to him, which ought to have made him love him more dearly, rendered him odious and despicable. He never saw him hurt any one, but do good to all, and therefore he betrayed him, because he did not fear him, but vainly confided in his Mercy. And tho' Manasses closed his wicked life with a penitent death; yet his graceless Son Ammon following the vicious steps of his Father died as he lived. Nor must you urge tha example of the good Thief. For in the day the Son of God died to redeem man, some extraordinary privilege might be granted. But turn from the right hand to the left, it is a short passage, and you will see, that tho' he was converted and saved, yet his Companion, and a thousand of the standards by, died as they lived. This then is an error the blind may see palmed on yourself, not upon God. For he protests by the mouth of the Wiseman, Prov. 1. That he called, and you refused, you despised his Counsels, neglected his reprehensions, and therefore he will laugh in your destruction, and scorn when tribulation and distress shall come upon you. Then, says he, they shall invocate me, and I will not hear them. Oh dear Sinner! What a terrible menace is this to a poor Soul, to be forsaken at the last, and cast off by Almighty God.  
But he has Eyes and will not see, Ears and will not hear, Feet and will not walk. He has affectedly lulled his Conscience asleep with the drunkenness of his sins, the Trumpet of Death and judgement cannot rouse him; and he intends to awake at his death, and live to heaven, who living was dead to Grace. Would you know what becomes of him? A Message is dispatched, for Mercy has given him over, and Justice will no longer endure him; perchance the same that was brought to King Ezechias on his Sick-bed. Dispone domui tuae, quia morieris tu& non vives. Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die, and shalt not live, Isa. ch. 38. v. 1. A distemper seizes him, he is carried to his Bed, his affrighted Friends run to his aid, with weeping Eyes they beg of him Now, for Now is the time, or Never, to think on his Soul, to repent and reconcile himself to God, they mind him with most earnest entreaties, of his so often repeated promises, I will, I will, when I come to die. And what does this deluded Soul answer? Thanks be to God he is not so ill as to think himself at that point, in that extremity as they imagine, who would have him die before his time, or modestly to hinder them from repeating what he would not hear, he gives his Friends many thanks in very obliging terms, and says he will do it speedily as soon as the dullness of his head clears up, the pain at his heart relents, which at present hinder him from performing any thing, with the seriousness a business of that importance requires. Jesus! As he spoken he fell out of his Senses, he has lost his speech, his eyes are set in his head, he breaths no more, he is dead. A punishment justly due to the merits of his Crime, that he who living never raised his Eyes to Heaven to desire it, dying should not cast them down on hell to fear it, who living never thought on God, dying should forget himself. I am sorry I can't comfort his sad and afflicted Friends with a Requiescat in place. The Lords peace be with him. The Antiphon that I would have Sung before and after every Funeral Psalm, should be that most true Sentence of St. Aug. It is the punishment of every sinner, that he forget himself when he comes to die, who whilst he lived was forgetful of God.  
Christian Auditory. You are all created to eternal happiness, all born to Immortal Glory, and consequently you have all Souls to save. But qui fecit te sine te, says St. Aug. non salvabit te sine te. He that made you without you, will not save you without you. Your concurrence with the grace and calls of Almighty God, is of necessity to Salvation. If you have been ever called and neglected it, how do you know you shall ever be called again. If you have not been yet called, perchance the first is the last. You have seen what sad and lamentable ends have attended the Delayers. I have shown the stubborn Sinner how difficult a thing it is to do Pennance in the last hour, and laid down the reason too, of the sad Exit of one of thy Companions. And will nothing move thee? Will nothing mollify thy strong heart? Come along withme to the Throne of Mercy. If I can't convince thee, I le try at least if I can confounded thee. Let's go to Mount Calvary. With your leave Blessed Virgin, room Courteous Souldiers Devout Magdalen you have heard already an all-pardoning Remittuntur tibi, &c. Thy sins are forgiven thee. Cast up thy Eyes then, O Sinner, and look if thou canst for shane. It is thy God that thought himself miserable unless thou wert happy; who after three and thirty years Preaching, Sweat, and Labour for thy sake, died that thou mayest live eternally. He is naked to cloath thee with the Robes of Immortality. He bows his Sacred head to give thee a kiss of Peace, he stretcheth forth his arms to embrace thee, he has his side pierced to open thee a passage to his heart to show he loves thee; he is crwoned with Thorns to Crown thee with a Diadem of Immortal Glory. Those Wounds from Head to Foot are thy Sins. 
Ipse autem vulneratus est propter scelera nostra, Isa. 53.5.  He has made a Bath of his precious blood to heal them. Those wounds are so many tokens of his bleeding love. Those wounds are so many eloquent mouths that cry to thy stony heart, repentance, repentance. But I have something more to say, for thy God does yet more. He has written thee with wounds in his hands, for he cannot forget thee, with these he pleads thy cause in Heaven to his eternal Father. I hear the holy Spirit with unspeakable groans cry out for Mercy. And does not this melt thee into Sorrow and Compassion? Art thou not yet a Penitent? I leave thee then to pled thy own cause at the most severe Tribunal of Divine Justice. But you, O Father of Mercies, by the bitter death and passion of your most blessed Son, grant that so sad and lamentable an end may never happen to any one here.  
In nomine Patris, &c. Amen.   
FINIS.