Thomas Doolittle (1632–1707) was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ and preacher of the Gospel, whose preaching and writing were used to awaken many sinners to the religious business of eternal life and eternal death. This work really needs no introduction; it would be enough just letting Rev. Doolittle loose on your soul. It is a puritan gem, few of which exist and have been republished in this format. This treatise was originally a series of sermons preached to his congregation, which he then took and combined into the present treatise. There are 8 sermons, each building upon the former, and all surrounding the need to hasten and come to Jesus Christ quickly. They are succinct, biblically sound, filled with pastoral concern, but equally commanding and authoritative. His central text is taken from Psalm 119:60, “I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.” The sermons cover his main doctrine: that what the blessed and eternal God commands us to do, is to be done with all possible speed, with all haste, without delay. Doolittle utilizes his time to deal practically with calling unconverted sinners to come to Christ, how that should be accomplished, and also directing converted sinners to make the most of their time since God has in fact saved them graciously.

Set in the reality that God is eternal, Doolittle’s work will press this biblical truth into a practical mold considering how eternal realities apply to men in all their stations of life. He first considers the idea of eternity in general, then considers how we should be influenced by eternity and its prospect. He considers the soul, how God made it eternal, and what that means, as well as considering, then, both the happiness of the soul in heaven, and the misery of the soul in hell, and how those function in light of the eternal realities of both. Then he looks to convince the reader to look at all they do in light of eternity, and how all things that they do in their life, whether they are thoughts, words, or deeds, have an impact on our eternity. He also takes time to encourage ministers in light of eternity to “be about their business” and not to waste a moment. Finally, he applies the entire work in a conclusion and final application. Doolittle’s work is best summed up in his own words, asking, “Is there an eternal state, one of unseen eternal joys and the other of eternal torments? If so, who can sufficiently mourn the blindness, madness, and folly of this distracted world and the unreasonableness of those with rational and eternal souls, to see them busily employed in the matters of time while neglecting everlasting things?” He is practically taken up with the question and application of neglecting the things which God finds important, such as life in light of eternity. He says that men, “neglect … God and of Christ,” and they do this by, “his frequent and even constant refusals of remedying grace, his seldom thoughts of death and judgment, and his neglect to make preparation for another world while considering only things temporal.” His emphasis is to awaken men by the word, particularly pressing his main text of 2 Cor. 4:18, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.”