I. Speedily II. With Assiduity and Diligence III. With Resoluteness 1. They put their well chosen means of thriving in Execution speedily They stay for nothing but make the most of their good contrivance as soon as they can If they have put themselves in readiness against a good Market without more ado they take it If they have laid in for a good Bargain without any delay they are for making an end of it Where they have prepared an advantage they are for the first opportunity of taking Possession of it So that they lose nothing by delays or by slipping their times and seasons But earnestly desiring to accomplish their Ends they are still in a readiness hastily to accomplish any wise means which will make them Masters of it Now in this they should be followed by the Children of Light For it is not for them after once they are wisely and well resolved upon their Duty either a good Life at large or the Amendment and Improvement of some particular part thereof to use delays and put it off from one Duty to another They must not be on and off in this great work as men who are uncertain nor slow as men who are unwilling Delays shew nothing but the inability or insincerity of their own Purposes and are a loud call for themselves to renew and make them better But they must execute their wise Purposes of holy Living without more ado They must lose no time but be eager of growing more perfect in it the next day than they were the day foregoing they must make no stops but still earnestly push on and not cease till they have made themselves Masters of the Grace or good Improvements which they had propos'd to themselves And this we are call'd to in the Holy Scriptures when 't is said To day if ye will hear his voice Psal. 95.7 8. and I made hast and delayed not to keep thy commandments Psal. 119.60 work whilst it is day for the night cometh when no man can work Joh. 9.4 And in this great and most important business no day is to be neglected because no man knows but it may be his last 2. They put their well chosen ways of thriving in Execution with Assiduity and Diligence The Tradesman will stick to his Shop from morning till night And men of other Occupations will be constantly attending and ready to take all advantages in the way of their business And this they do with Good-will with great Diligence and Vigour of Application They will spare no pains they will miss no advantages they are not slothful but push on with all their might and shew how they can bestir themselves to gain their Purposes And this 't is extremely fit the Children of Light should learn from them 'T is not for them to be negligent or slothful in the work and service of the Lord. It is their one thing necessary the chief Point they have or profess to mind and therefore they must constantly attend upon it and stand ever ready to perform a Duty or avoid a Sin as any Affairs or Accidents of Life shall give them occasion for the same And this they must do heartily and earnestly diligently laying out themselves upon it and putting what strength they have to it which can never be better employ'd nor laid out in any thing for which it shall in any comparable degree be so happily and infinitely rewarded And this the Holy Scripture requires of us when it calls us to be always upon our watch Mar. 13.35 37. to attend this as the one thing necessary Luk. 10.42 To give all diligence in it 2 Pet. 1.5 10. and to serve the Lord with all our mind and with all our strength Mar. 12.30 and the like 3. They put these well chosen means in Execution with resoluteness they are not discouraged by occurrent Difficulties nor driven back by the Labour or Pains or by the length and tediousness of their business They are not weary of their work but overlook troubles and bear Self-denials and go on with Zeal and without Faintness till they have accomplish'd their desired Purpose All labour is easie to them that accomplishes their desire and they will not cease labouring till they have done their utmost to gain what they seek for And this also should be imitated by the Children of Light If they want Zeal and good Resolution they are not like to do much nor are sure to be constant in the work of good Living But they must go on without Fear or Slackness they must think no Pains too dear to perfect themselves in any Duties They must be ready and willing to part with any thing else rather than wittingly transgress their Duty in any particular or fall short of eternal Happiness That is the pearl of price which they must sell all to purchase Mat. 13.44 46. they must shun no troubles or fly from any losses which will surely be repaid with such an inestimable recompence Nay instead of shunning them they have the truest cause to give thanks and rejoyce therein And this the Holy Scripture requires when it calls us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Ephes. 6.10 to be terrified in nothing by our adversaries Phil. 1.28 Not to put on the spirit of fear but of love to God of power or Courage and of a sound mind 2 Tim. 1.7 and to be always stedfast and unmoveable in the work of the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 To deny ourselves and to take up the Cross and bear it after Christ if we would be his disciples Mat. 16.24 and ch 10.38 2. Another instance of their forecast and provision for Futurities is that having studied and labour'd thus to compass their end they are careful to secure their Claim and Title to it But more especially careful to sift and inquire into it and to take all ways they can to make it good when a Tryal is like to be brought upon it If it be a Tryal for Estate or much more for Life how forecasting and busie are they in inquiring into the merit of their cause in collecting and clearing up Evidences in preparing Witnesses consulting Counsel and making their Case as good as it can be made against the Great Assize Now the Children of Light are absolutely inexcusable if they learn not this Point of Wisdom from them For the Interest which they have to secure is not like that of worldly men vain transitory and fading which may soon be taken from them or which they shall surely be soon taken from But it is an eternal life Mar. 10.30 A crown of glory that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5.4 a State where they need no sun to light them where all tears are wip'd away from their eyes and there shall be no more crying nor sorrow nor pain Rev. 21.4 and 23. Now all this most happy State depends upon our perfecting our Obedience to all the Laws of our Blessed Saviour whilst we are
them And this our Saviour has plainly directed in two Similitudes that of a Builder who before he begins considers whether he have enough to finish and that of a King making war who first consults whether he is strong enough at least to defend himself if not to conquer for speaking to those who seemed desirous to become his Disciples he instructs them first to consider what they are going to undertake in these two Parables Which of you says he intending to build a Tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it Or what King going to War sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand so that he may proceed not to fight but seek a Peace if he find his numbers are in that Disproportion Luk. 14.28 31. Thus when we resolve upon a good Life if we would have that Resolution take effect we must consider and weigh well what we do before we make it We must bethink our selves and attently view what that good Life is which we resolve upon and also what reason we have to resolve upon it and when we have thus considered all before there is the less cause to fear that any thing which we meet withal afterwards should make us alter or recede from it We must bethink our selves and consider what that good Life is which we resolve upon It is not enough that we resolve in the general to be good but in our thoughts we must survey the particular Instances of Goodness that so if we stick at any of them we may give it all its weight at first and that after we have once resolved it may not cause us to start back from it When we return to God then to live as he has requir'd we must run over the several Duties wherein we stand bound to God our Neighbour and our selves and observing all the Particulars ask our selves whether we are willing to perform all of them for his sake And if we resolve to do them after we have taken such particular notice of them this Resolution is like to do some good and we may expect the desired effect from it And when we have thus seriously considered what a good Life is we must next consider what great reason we have to resolve upon it and what those things are which may either discourage us from it or excite us to it To Discourse particularly upon these would of it self be sufficient for a Sermon and therefore upon this Point I shall barely mention them As for the Difficulties which may discourage us they are such as these When we enter upon a good Life we engage in a Course wherein for some time till use has made us Masters of it we must undergo the Toyl of Inexpertness and Act contrary to our former Customs and lay restraint upon our natural Inclinations and contend daily against the importunity of Temptations and sometimes it may be lose our Friends and disserve our temporal Interests all which are uneasie and discouraging Considerations Indeed if by the Earliness of his Conversion and by the advantages of his place and station his Lot being cast in innocent Employments and among good men and by the vertuous bent of his natural Temper and Complexion an invaluable Gift which God bestows on some Persons a mans Soul is originally disposed and timely secured to Holiness he will find little trouble in these things nor be much pain'd or hindred by them from the first entrance And if he has not been blest in all these Particulars to take off all Hardship from the first yet will he have this to mitigate and sweeten all the Labour which he lays out upon them the Toyl he undergoes is for the sake of one who has endured far more for him and infinitely deserved it of him and if there is no want in his endeavour by the help of God he shall be sure to conquer them and to reap a present Content of Mind and Peace of Conscience after every Conflict with them and in the end to gain the everlasting Joys of Heaven by them And when he has been used to them a little while use will take off all the Hardship and then instead of being burden'd by the ungrateful Duties he shall begin to like them and take a Pleasure therein All which are great Abatements of the foresaid Difficulties and very encouraging But let a good Life be difficult and uneasie as it will when Hell fire is threatned to a wicked Life that sure is incomparably more difficult and a reason for us to resolve to be good beyond all Contradiction For if the sight of Pain must discourage us from any Course I am sure Hell fire has infinitely the most of it and if Ease and Happiness may be any Inducement the Ease and Happiness of Heaven can never in any degree be equall'd so that if we seriously consider and look upon eternal Torment as inseparably annexed to every Sin and on endless Joys as the sure Reward of our being intirely obedient they are an answer to all Temptations in the World and bear down every opposite Argument and will make us resolve to lead a Holy Life be the Difficulties or Discouragements that attend it what they will Thus must our penitential Purpose be no rash and sudden Act but deliberate and well advis'd when we resolve to lead a Holy Life we must seriously consider with our selves what an Holy Life implys and what reason we have to resolve upon it attently viewing both what may discourage us from it and also what notwithstanding that Discouragement may and will induce us to it 2. The Second Qualifications of a penitential Purpose is that it must be without all reserve full and perfect When we resolve to amend our Lives and become good we must not except any Duties for God excepts none nor reserve to our selves an allowance of any Sins for God forbids and most severely punishes all sorts of Sin Our Resolution must know no other limits but our Duty and extend to every thing which God has required of us And this compass of religious Purpose the Commandment expresly calls for when we are enjoyn'd to love God with all our hearts Luk. 10.27 For if we keep a secret reserve for any sin our heart is given but by halves to God and is not whole with him Jehu walk'd not in the law of God with all his heart says the Scripture and the Proof is given because he had a reserve in one Point and departed not from the sins of Jeroboam 2 Kin. 10.31 but David says God followed me with all his heart which appear'd because he did that only which is right in mine eyes 1 Kin. 14.18 and what is said in this Case the Psalmist expresses more universally of all others They seek the Lord with their whole heart who do no iniquity Psal. 119.2 3. Thus must our
unto God how it may be improved for the advantage and exercise of any Vertue for the greater sleighting and contempt of this World and preference of the next for the Encouragement and Love of whatsoever is good and for the Hatred and Discouragement of whatsoever is evil And this is to Spiritualize all the things of common Life to turn Conversation Business and the accidents of this World into Religion to own God as the beginning and to make him the end of every thing And it will produce a marvellous encrease of Goodness Devotion Godly care and spiritual Heavenly living And this the Holy Scripture calls for when it bids us Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do to do all to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10.31 And whatsoever we do in word or deed to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Col. 3.17 8. When any thing is proposed to them their Eye falls in the first place upon their chief end and they either accept or refuse the same according as it may be like to serve or disserve them in their Prosecution and Attainment thereof Their first Reflection is how it suits with the interest of their Occupation whether it may be made serviceable thereto or is like to be of no use to them or it may be a diversion or prejudice to them in their Prosecution of the same And they are sure to be true to their main Interest and listen to nothing that would take them off from or disserve them in it He who sets up for Gain will neglect Power or Pleasures where they are like to cause much expence He who pursues Pleasures will not listen to the motions of Gain or Business when they are like to cost much Pains or prove inconsistent with his Diversions He who is set upon Improvement of knowledge will set aside worldly Cares and Interests when they take him from the Prosecution of his Studies Their great End is the rule of all the rest and they stand true and fixt to it and rate and measure the Desireableness of all things thereby which are offer'd to them Now this is an excellent Point of Wisdom for the Children of Light to learn from them Whatsoever is offer'd to them their Eye must fix in the first to sift and examine the Innocence before they listen at all to any Suggestions of the worldly Expedience of it If it is ill or tends to ill or would hinder them in the doing of their Duty or expose them to transgress it or make for the Dishonour of God or the Disparagement of the way of Godliness no Considerations in the World must make them listen to it or deliberate with themselves whether they should or no. They must measure all Proposals by their Usefulness to their Souls and take God and Religion into their Consideration in the first place And this is to act like men who have immortal Souls and seek immortal Happiness and know the price of both And this will make them not to judge or act like other men But they will carefully seek what others carefully shun and be thankful where they complain It will make them chuse Self-denials and Mortifications which are a worldly Uneasiness when they are needful to a spiritual advantage and refuse the Pleasures of the flesh and any advantages of this World when they are like to prove a spiritual prejudice Yea to embrace any worldly Losses and Prejudices and that with joy when they come upon them for keeping strictly to the way of Righteousness and for doing their Duty faithfully to their Blessed Lord and Saviour as they ought to do Now this also the Holy Scripture calls for when it requires us to love God with all our heart that is to love him above all Matt. 12.30 That if we regard iniquity in our heart the Lord will not hear us Psal. 66.18 That if we love lands or father or mother or our own lives more than our Blessed Lord we are unworthy of him Mat. 10.31 Luk. 14.26 And the like 9. They are jealous of their great end and examine nicely and are very Difficultly brought to give way to any thing that seems to bear any colour or may in any Likelihood turn to its prejudice They may be over-seen in lesser matters but they are suspicious about this which they count of price They will fear as far as there is any cause or pretence to fear and resolve with great wariness and be ready to start any possible Detriments and Objections and pause on any appearance of Inconveniencies which it may bring to them in prosecuting the same And this again is an admirable and useful Point of Wisdom for the Children of Light to take up from them They must not be for taking the utmost Liberties in any Duties and coming as near the breach thereof as they can Nor for abiding in the Neighbourhood or within the Confines of sin where they may be in great danger of being won at last by its Temptation But they must keep all at the greatest distance which may be like to damnifie or endanger their Holy Obedience They must carefully preserve the Virgin innocence the first Modesties Fears and Reluctancies of Conscience against every evil thing And not sit down by Dangers or dwell with Temptations or indulge small degrees or listen in the least to any ill Advice or bear the proposal of any evil things But take Alarm at the remote approaches and first appearances of sin and keep all Temptation that may draw on the love and practice of any sin as far off from them as they can They must rather wisely forbear lawful and safe things than by allowing themselves therein bring themselves into any hazard of others which may bring danger with them And this the Holy Scriptures requires at our hands when they tell us that we stand by faith and must not be high minded but fear Rom. 11.20 Watch and pray that ye enter not into Temptation Matt. 26.41 To abstain from all appearance of evil 1 Thes. 5.22 And to have no fellowship with any deeds of darkness but to reprove them Eph. 5.11 10. They are very active and industrious to engage Succours when they are needful to their great Purposes So the Steward was in the Text when he had lost the Friendship of his Lord he seeks to make Friends among his Lords Tenants And thus the King going to war if he finds he is too weak seeks about to strengthen himself by assistance of other Princes which if he cannot effect he sends timely to offer terms and conditions of peace Luk. 14.31 32. Where danger appears they are careful if they can ingage help by any means not to stand by themselves but to be prepared with such helps and succours as may give Protection from them And this also is a great and most serviceable piece of Wisdom for the Children of Light to learn from them They must strengthen themselves in every good and