World not to be ministred unto but to minister If we much affect these Titles tho deserv'd it is from a weak Understanding But if we seek an Honour above our desert to omit other Considerations we shall lose that which we have whilst we catch at these Shadows we shall lose what we are possess'd of Never was Alexander more below a Man than when he affected to be a God A Sword and Spear did get him more Renown than the Thunderbolts with which he vvas pictured This vvas our first Parents Sin to desire to be as God let it not be ours No let us not rob God but give him that vvhich is his and to Man vvhat belongs to him OF Inordinate Desire OR COVETING ROM 13. 9. Thou shalt not covet HE who knows not or is unconcern'd in the Unquietness Disorder Injustice Violence Fraud that is amongst Men hath either banish'd himself from their Sociciety or Pity from his own Breast He that doth not see or hear those Tumults and Confusions and Complaints with which the whole Earth is fill'd either is not yet born or is gone into the Land of Darkness and dwells in the Regions of Silence amongst the Dead And whoever is not hereby moved to pity he either never had or has lost the Nature of a Man I can snspect no Man of so much Cruelty as not to have his Heart relenting with Compassion There is none sure so far removed from these common Calamities as not to bear a part of them himself or if he be exempt yet hath not put off Humanity so much as not to sympathize with others Ay but that 's fruitless Pity which affords no help The Tears which flow from a Compassion that brings no relief with it are as the Showers which the Heavens pour upon the Lyliaâ— Sands that notwithstanding them continue still barâ—en What shall be done to remove these Evils Let us enquire into the Cause of and the Means to remove them Indeed the Case is such as may make us question whether there be any Remedy This Chronical Disease hath continued now some thousands of Years and no Cure hath been found No the great Physician the Healer of all our Disteâ—â—ers â—â—e Blessed Jesus himself hath not efâ—â—cted â—â—is Cure For I need not tell you that â—he Christian World hath been and is more fill'd with Deceit and Force Rapine and Tumult Contention and Quarrel than either the Jewish Mahunietan or Pagan Nor yet doth this redound to the disparagement of our great Deliverec because his Prescriptions are excellent and his Medicines sovereign and approved but it shews either the Unskilfulness or Unfaithfulness of those that are employed by him or the Ignorance and Perverseness of the Patients He hath discovered the Causes of our Distemper and hath told us therefore what 's to be done for prevention or recovery The Holy Scripture in many places and in these few Words of the Text hath directed us to the Root of all the Evils that are amongst us our own Inordinate Affections and hath â—ounsell'd us to pluck it up and we shall assuredly eat no more of those bitter Fruits that Gall and Wormwood which grow on it That immoderate Desires and lawless Appetites are the Spring of all Injustice and Disorder that is amongst us is notorious These are the Fountains which flow forth in the more violent Torrents and rapid Streams of Force or in the crooked and more winding Meanders of Craft which all concur to make an overflowing Deluge that threatens to drown the World Whether we look back to the Times that are past or take a view of the Age in which we live whether we consider our own Country or the Lands that are more remote we shall in all different Times and Places find the same Cause of all the Evils and Injuries that are amongst Men. Our over-â—ager Desire is the common and too fruitful Parent of all those Mischiefs â—his is the Womb that bears and these the Breastâ— that give them suck Desâ—â—e is and ever was the great Incendiary of the World which kindles and foments those unquenchable Flames that waste and make desolate all Places Desire is the Devil that sows Discord amongst Brethren that goes about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour This was the Serpent that tempted Man to Discontent in Paradise this made him soar too high and make too bold and near Approaches to the Throne of Majesty until his Wings melted and he was plung'd and perished in the great Waters It was Desire that engaged the Giants of the old World in their War which was the Builder of a Babel that threatned Heaven And if Desire can so far prevail with Man as to make him wage War against God it will unquestionably make him quarrel with those to whom he is less obliged whom he can have more hopes to overcome those of his own kind It 's but reasonable now to expect that Princes should oppress and People rebell that Governors should become Tyrants and Subjects refractory that Jezebel should murder poor Naboth for his Vineyard and Jehu seventy Princes for a Throne that Masters should be rigorous in exacting what they ought not and Servants perverse in not obeying where they ought that Parents should be cruel to their Children and they again unnatural to their Parents If Desire could break those Bonds and cast away those Cords with which God hath tied us it will not be held by Man's If God himself hath not set Bounds to this raging Sea how shall Man If these Waters of Strife scale Heaven in black and dark Clouds they will fall down upon the Earth in Rains and Tempests and so they have and have covered it with a Flood more destructive than Noah's For that drowned the World but once this alway In the time of that the Righteous were saved from perishing by an Ark but now the Ark the Church leaks and lets in these Waters of Contention so fast that the pure and harmless Doves are even forc'd out of it to seek a dry and resting-Place In that Ark Men and Beasts could live in quietness in this Men are less sociable more savage than Brutes And whence are all these Quarrels Surely they have the same rise that all others have and that St. James tells us is our Lasts that war in our Members They whose Lips should preserve Knowledg who should speak as the Oracles of God they make Merchandize of his Word and regard not so much the Truth as the Gainfulness of their Doctrine nor how much the Souls of their People but how much their own Estates are better'd Assuredly from hence it is that they who minister in Holy Things and serve at the Alt â—â— are not content to live of the Altar that the Mitre affects to outshine the Crown that Priests covet the Power and Wealth of Princes and a Superiority over them that the Church seeks to outvie the Splendor of the Court. This is it that broaches
should decline all the Inconveniences and shun the Dangers of which those Times were so full whereby they should be hindred or taken off from doing the good which they ought And that they should use all honest Care and prudent Circumspection in closing with those fit seasons they might meet with of doing that which by their Religion they were obliged unto The following Reason which the Apostle uses confirms this to be his Sense For the Days are Evil. Evil i. e. in the largest Notion of that Word as it denotes Sin as well as the Misery that is consequent upon it difficult perilous times Therefore be wise and careful to avoid the Danger to decline the Temptations to shun the Disadvantages to lay hold on the few Opportunities which such Evil Days afford To this he subjoins the last Clause which contains the Direction to and implies the necessary Cause of all that he had required before And this is propounded in form of an Exhortation 1. Negatively and Generally Be not unwise or Fools 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. More Particularly and Positively But understanding what the Will of the Lord is Understanding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word signifies an exact Knowledg such as is got by comparing one thing with another For this Cause that ye may walk circumspectly declining the Disadvantages and escaping the unnecessary dangers of the Evil Times in which we live be not without understanding but endeavour after a very perfect Knowledg of what the Will of the Lord is Having given this account of the Words I shall offer the Sense of them in this short plain Parephrase That ye may behave your selves as becomes Children of Light and not be partakers with Insidels in the unfruitful Works of Darkness c. Be very accurate in your Lives and in all your Actions as becomes those that are endued with that divine Wisdom that certain and excellent Knowledg which with our Saviour came down from Heaven Live not like those who are uninstructed in and uâ—â—cquainted with the excellent Religion of the Blesseâ— Jesus And altho the Times in which you live be full of Evil tho you meet with Temptations to Sin and be environed with danger of Suffering tho you find many hindrances and few helps to do well yet be wise and dexterous in declining all needless fruitless Dangers escaping the Evils and closing with the Opportunities you shall have And that you may be better assisted for and in the doing all this that you may be thus exact in your selves and prudent in your Carriage in reference to the Times inform your selves fully what the Will of God is get as certain knowledg as you can of what ever God has commanded or would have you do The Words contain many Propositions But I shall only insist upon those for the matter of my Discourse which seem to be most express and to take in the main scope of the Text. I shall reduce them to these three I. All Christians ought to live exactly II. They ought to make the best of bad Times when they fall into them III. They ought to use their best endeadeavours to understand what the Will of the Lord is Of the First Proposition 〈◊〉 Christians ought to see to take good heed that they live exactly In discoursing of which I shall First Show what it is to live Exactly And Secondly What Obligations lie on Christians to live so and to take heed to it Thirdly I shall give some Directions And Lastly Make some Inferences First To walk Exactly is to use due Care and Caution Circumspection and Diligence that we live according to the best and most perfect Idea of good Life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to signify this It may refer to to the thing done and then it denotes the perfection of that work Or to the Doing or Doer and then it means his Care and Diligence It often bears a respect to both and signifies the care that is taken in order to the doing any thing as well as it can be done So that by this we are at once directed to the End and to the Way or Means by which it is to be attain'd The End is a perfectly good Life The Way to it is by a diligent Care Now as 't is commonly said that to live signifies more than doing some single Actionâ— so I must say that 't is more than all our Actions For as it is requisite to make the whole not only that all the parts be there but they must be united too So 't is in the matter before us To make up a good Life the Actions must not only be good singly and by themselves but in that Relation Proportion and Order which they have unto each other So that in short To walk or live exactly is to take care that the whole course of our Life be such as it cannot be better omitting nothing that is Good doing nothing that is Evil that we do thus universally at all times in all places whatever we do that respects God or our Selves or our Brethren That our Actions be in nothing deficient neither as to Matter or Manner as to the Principles the Reasons and Eâ—ds of them That in all these respects they be exactly agreeable to human Nature in general to our Condition and Circumstances in particular that is that they be as good as such Men as we are can do If any enquire yet more particularly what a perfectly good Life is I may answer that as the Apostle here supposes it so may I suppose that all Men know it All Men have an Idea of Goodness which upon several Occasions they take notice of and refer to as when they approve and commend or blame and condemn several Practices And whenever they hear such a description of good Life as they understand they give an immediate assent to it But because in too many this Idea is not so actually observed as it would be well if it were that I may raise those Thoughts and help to make them more explicit I will propound this general Dedescription of it viz. When a Man's Will and Affections and all his Actions are so guided by a true and clear and large knowledg of God and himself aâ—d the rest of the World that he loves God with all his Heart and bears good will to other Men as he does to himself that he glorifies God and promotes his own and his Brethrens best state in all he does and the most he can And does all this knowingly and intentionally or with the design of doing it This in general every one will think a good Life I must not go on to Particulars These are some of the most essential parts of that Life which the Apostle requires an exactnâ—ss in i. e. that Men should aim at the perfecâ—ion of it and in order to this that they should take great care and pains that they should mind it and give good heed unto it Secondly I proceed to
and excellent things which are contained in these words and to which they lead us naturally and easily in this plain method First We will consider what Time Season or Opportunity is in general and what in particular was that Season which St. Paul here means And also what is the import of Redeeming the Season Secondly I will offer some Reasons why we should redeem the Season and particularly consider that which is here expressed the Days are Evil. Thirdly I will mention some of those things which rob us of our Time and deprive us of the Season which St. Paul here exhorts us to make our own Fourthly I will exhibit some of those Advices and Directions whereby we may be assisted in Redeeming this Time or or Season Of the First Season or Opportunity which is the English of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Time of Action i. e. such a concurrence of all the Causes as makes the doing of any Work easy and gives hope of Success When there is such a confluence of Causes without that if we will do what is in us and cooperate with them we shall probably not fail to bring what we design to effect Thus a good Vessel and Pilot Wind and Tide make an Opportunity for us to be conveyed to such a place And if we be but willing to use them to this purpose they are likely to bring us thither Whereas if we would go when we are not favoured and help'd by such Causes we shall either not at all or very hardly and with much more pains and difficulty come to our Journeys end To this it will not be amiss to add that Opportunity does not only signify the presence of those things without us which contribute towards the producing an Effect but also the disposition and fitness of our own Faculties to cooperate with them For if they be in an incapacity all External Causes will not make an Opportunity As if a Man be sick that he cannot safely go by Water all the Tide and Wind c. do not make it a Season for him to go And if we take in all this into our Notion of Opportunity in common Speech we do not say that a Man has an opportunity of doing an ill thing Tho 't is true that external Things may so far concur with an ill Mind that they may make it easy to perper 〈◊〉 some bad Work as we say Occasion makes a Thief That if we understand as generally we do by Opportunity a concurrence of the Causes without us with our own Faculties ther we never say that a Man has opportunity of doing that which is Evil. It either is or is thought good either by us or by him that does it Which shews that even the Community of Men who make words signify as they please do suppose that our Faculties were not design'd or framed to do evil Things nor are ever properly and truly fit to do any thing but good and therefore we can do nothing which we do not think so This Observation I think to be true If any be of another mind and that Opportunity or Season is applicable indifferently to good or bad Purposes and Practices yet I suppose it will be granted that the Apostle in this place intends the Time or Season of doing good Actions such as are fit and becoming profitable and beneficial such as will be honourable to God and give a reputation to Christian Religion helping forward our own and others Happiness So that St. Paul exhorts us here to redeem the Time of doing all that good which the Gospel requires of living that excellent Life and practising all those Vertues which are agreeable to the Dispensation of Christianity of doing all those good Works here on Earth which by our perfect Institution we 〈◊〉 assisted and obliged to do And if this be the Action that St. Paul means it will not be 〈…〉 ouâ— the 〈◊〉 which when they 〈◊〉 make it a good Season for doing thus when ii will be more easy to live well and we may probâ—bly be more successfully good and attain all the Ends of our Excellent 〈◊〉 Now a constant firm Health a competent provision of the Necessaries and Conveniences of Life freedom from Slavery and long Restraints for the most part to live in Society a state of Peace and Quiet of good Will and Amity with Men and an abode here on Earth till Age has made us useless these are the things which we commonly and truly think do all conduce to this purpose But yet I dare not say that such a Condition would be best for all Men. Experience proves to us undeniably that a mixture of Good and Evil is best for the generality of Men in this State to have a dash of Adversity nay to be in a more depressed Condition may I believe be generally better for us Some Men are good in Sickness or in Want who if they enjoy'd their Health or lived in Abundance would not be so Nay I doubt not but this is true of the Community of Mankind And that the wise and good Providence that rules all things has so ordered it that the far greatest part are poor or sick or under restraint or have Enemies or do not live long because he sees it necessary to keep them under this sharp Discipline and for this Reason that hereby they may be trained up to be and to do Good and kept out of those Temptations which would be irresistible to them and so preserved from doing those Wickednesses which would make them liable to the unalterable Justice and beget such a disposition in them as might endanger their being irrecoverably bad and miserable I cannot but think that these Evils are Medicinal and good Antidotes which the wise and good Physician makes use of for curing the worst of Diseases in some and preventing them in others Nay that even very good Men have found it good for them to be thus afflicted so David tells us So Job and other the best of Men in former Ages Yea the Son of God himself and his first and best Followers were persecuted by Men and afflicted by God in the worst of these Instances By all this I am convinced That even Poverty and Disgrace and such other Calamities do not only contribute to bad Mens becoming good but to good Mens being better by giving them an opportunity for the exercise of some Vertues which would have had no place in a prosperous State and are necessary to our Perfection But tho I grant all this yet considering the imperfection of the best of Men and the necessity of Health and Liberty and Plenty and Peace to enable them for those Works which are proper and useful in this State and to compleat their Vertue which can never be unless they pass through varieties of Conditions I can't but look on these things as conducing to the good Life of Christians However these things may not facilitate the practice of Vertue to all Men yet
Slaves of this Enemy of God and all Goodness This grand Opposer of Man's Happiness To be led Captive by him at his Will To be dragg'd at the Chariot-Wheels of this insulting Conqueror What can be worse than first to execute his malicious Will and then be punished for so doing To be most cruelly tormented for obeying those Laws of Sin and Death which he gave them And this was the State of the Pagan World they worshipp'd Devils they received Oracles from them they obey'd them they were subject to their Dominion This is also plainly attested by their own Writers And when the Scripture speaks of their Conversion to Christianity it expresseth it thus that they were turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God Acts. 26. 18. I have said enough one would think to set forth the miserable State of us Gentiles before-our Conversion but yet there is one Consideration more which exceedingly aggravates their Wo and that is that they are liable to be condemned to the greater and more lasting Miseries of the future State those Torments which admit of no Ease and will have no end which they cannot escape except they be recovered out of this Snare of the Devil and become the Servants of God That is unless they cease to do evil and learn to do well which how hard it was for them to do we may conclude from the Difficulty that we who have the many greater Helps which the Gospel-Dispensation affords us find in it And besides how full of Anxiety and disquieting Thoughts must their Sin and Ignorance and their Presensions and Boadings of Evil to come of a deserved Punishment for their Faults fill them with Nay tho they should repent and amend how uncertain must they be of the Pardon and Favour of God And therefore how must they through Fear of Death be all their Life-time subject to Bondage Thus I have very curiously given an account of the first Particular viz. The Condition of the Gentiles before Christianity II. I now proceed to sew some of the Advantages which the Gentiles have by becoming Christians And this will appear both in respect of Themselves and in respect of Others First If we consider them in themselves singly their Advantage appears in this that their Minds are greatly enlightned their Hearts are throughly purified their Lives are reformed and amended 1. Their Minds are enlightned Their Knowledg is both larger and clearer and surer than it was and consequently far more efficacious and powerful They know the Nature and Condition of Man far better they are now assured of a Spiritual and Immortal Soul which inhabits this Body which is the far more excellent Part of Man They have now assurance that they and all Men shall live after Death and that they shall be for ever happy or miserable according as they have lived here If they have lived a Holy and Vertuous Life they shall be brought into a State of endless Bliss If they have done Evil if they have not done Good that they shall fall under unsufferable and perpetual Torments They now understand that the Cause of all the Miseries and Imperfections of Mankind is their Sin That all the Calamities in the World owe their Original to the Wickedness of Men. They now understand the Dangerousness of their Condition and they are fully convinced of their own Impotency and Insufficiency which Acquaintance with themselves what a Preparation it is to Vertue and Holiness we shall see presently Again They know now that God is a Spirit of an Incorporeal Nature and such as their own Souls are and that He is but one The Father the Word and the Holy Spirit being all one That it was He that made the Heavens and the Earth by the Eternal Word and that by his powerful Decree all things are continued and that his Providence doth so particularly superintend all things that not a Sparrow falls to the Ground without his Knowledg and Permission And that this God knows all things that he searches the Hearts and sees the secret Works and the inward Thoughts of all Men and that he is infinitely good and kind That he is immutably Holy and Just and Pure That he will call Men to Account for the Deeds they have done in this Body and will reward the Good with Everlasting Life and will adjudg the Wicked to Everlasting Woe They also more perfectly understand their Duty and the way of Life in which they should walk They now know that Spiritual Worship is that which God principally looks at and that this is not only to be confined to certain Times and Places and Actions but that at all Times and every where God may be worshipp'd and that in the whole Course of our Lives and in all our Actions his glorious Perfections may be and are to be acknowledged And to him is to be ascribed his Excellency above all by Loving and Fearing and Believing and Obeying Him more than all They know they ought in all their Wants to make their Supplications to God and that they should praise and be thankful to him for all the Good they receive They know also that they are to apply themselves to God by Jesus Christ that it is by and through him the Merits of his Life and Death the Prevailing of his Intercession with the Father that they are accepted They are likewise fully instructed that they are to purify themselves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit that they are to bring into subjection the Body and to keep it under that is that all the inferior Appetites and Inclinations be kept in a due subordination to the Reason and Law of their Minds They are now told plainly That they must not only be Just and True and Honest and Fair in their Dealings with Men so as not to circumvent and cozen not to deceive and disappoint but must stand to their Word keep to their Promises make good their Contracts but that they must also be compassionate and merciful courteous and kind gentle and meek loving and good to all Men to Neighbours and Acquaintance and also to Strangers and Forreigners to Enemies as well as Friends Nor only to the Good tho to them principally but also to the Bad. Thus are they instructed in their Duty and they see not only what they are to do but why they should do it They understand clearly the goodness the fitness the beneficialness the necessity of such a Life They see how natural how reasonable it is how just it is to live thus if they respect God who requires it who made and preserves them and from whom they receive all Good who is their undoubted Lord and perfectly Wise and Good and who will be their Judg. They know their dependence on Him and therefore must conclude that they ought to be at His dispose and be directed and governed by Him They see the manifold Advantages which accrue to them as well as to others by
consider that the most â—seâ—â—â— and necessary Truths are alway most plain and certain and that they who despise what is clear and evident and value what is more mystical and obscure should by the same Reason prefer the Twilight or Nighâ— before the Day Nor is this Mistake absurd only but dangerous For from hence it is that Men take off their Minds from the most necessary and fundamental Articles of Faith which are always most plain and evident and earnestly contend for doubtful Opinions and questionable Doctrines To this also it is to be imputed that too many from a Principle of Religion practise Folly and â—â—dness For when they once despise those low and plain Methods wherein God â—â—â—ws Man what is good when they will not observe their own Natures nor value those Precepts of Scripture which are within the reach of every Capacity They fall into abundance of useless Observances and too often into most destructive Practices When they will not keep that â—ath which God by Nature and Scripture has made plain they wander into impassible and dangerous ways As for those who will not allow this Text to belong to Religion They look upon it as Advice given them how to manage their secular and domestick Affairs and that it has no relation to their Spiritual State Or at best that it is only a piece of Morality which they allow to come no farther than the Court of the Gentiles that it might be a proper Argument for the Discourse of a Heathen but not of a Minister of Christ To these I say that this is indeed excellent Counsel and very advantagious to Mens secular Interests but it is also of great moment to our Spiritual State the Welfare of our Souls We must not oppose Soul and Body the present and the future Life Godliness or the Christian Religion has Precepts as well as Promises whereby it is profitable to the Life that now is as well as to that which is to come But I beseech you take care how you separate Morality from Religion this will prove the most 〈◊〉 Division the most dangerous Schism that ever was it will be as the Separation of Soul and Body it will be the Dissolution the Death of Religion There is no such Gulf betwixt these two as they imagine who confine Religion to those Actions which immediately respect God no it extends it self to the whole course of our Lives Nay let us not undervalue Morality as if it did not if rightly understood make the far greatest part of our Religion or as if it were not necessary to make us good and happy for nothing can be more necessary than that is nothing can be so necessary as that This I premise that no Prejudice whatsoever may make the Apostle's Exhortation less effectual The particular occasion of which seems to have been this There were those among the Thessalonians who were thrusting themselves into other Mens Business and Concerns but neglected their own by which they occasion'd Trouble to themselves and Disturbance to their Neighbours The Apostle therefore willing to reform this great Abuse and Disorder and to remove and prevent all that Disquiet and Disturbance which rose from it He requires them in general To study to be quiet i. e. to keep themselves and others out of Trouble to do nothing that may cause or but occasion disquiets to omit nothing that may keep them off And in particular he advises them to do their own Business which implies that they should not meddle with other Men's this having been the Inlet to and Cause of those Disturbances which had been amongst them This appears to have been the occasion of these Words In discoursing of which I shall I. Explain and declare what is the Duty here enjoyned II. Shall offer some Reasons of it III. Shall lay down Directions and give some Advices whereby we may be assisted in doing it And having shewn what it is we are to do and why and how it is to be done I shall conclude with a short Reflexion upon the whole I. For Explication of the Words That which we here render to study signifies such an earnest Contention as Men use vvhen they are in pursuit of Honour therefore it denotes the shewing our greatest Care and exerting our utmost Endeavours That about which we are required to be so earnest is to be quiet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Word when it is applied to natural Agents signifies Rest the Absence of and the Opposite to Motion When it is transferred to moral we understand by it a Privation or Cessation from some voluntary Action or Passion which may be either good or bad but is for the most part bad either physically or morally or both So this Word is rendred to keep silence in the Acts and in St. Luke to rest from Work in other Authors it is commonly put for Truce and Peace and is opposed to War and likewise to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to being unduly and over-busy and indeed to all Trouble whatsoever a quiet and a troubled Mind are Expressions of two very contrary States as all understand them I suppose the Apostle might use the Word in this large Sense and so give a general Precept on a particular occasion of the Troubles that arose from some Mens Negligence in their own Affairs and Pragmatlcalness in other Mens to which he chiefly referr'd And I shall have regard to this also in my Discourse tho I shall not confine my self to it but shall consider Quiet more largely as it denotes freedom from other Troubles besides those that have their Rise from the meddling with matters that belong not to us Some perhaps may here enquire whether this Precept be universal and how far it obliges whether in all Cases or in some only I answer 1. This reaches Christians of all Times and Places as well as those that lived in Thessalonica 1600 Years ago For it was not founded on any particular but on general and eternal Reasons and is a Law to us all 2. I cannot say it obliges us either to be our selves or to keep others always quiet for in many Cases this is neither possible nor fit nor beneficial yet it does lay this Obligation on us alway to intend and aim at to pursue and endeavour after it even in those very Instances where it would be evil and mischievous to us if we were not under some present Disquiet we are in and by those particular Troubles to seek after Quiet And when we are and it is good we should be under some Discomposure yet ought we to take care that we be not prodigal of this Treasure and that we forego no more than Necessity extorts i. e. we ought not where we can help it to suffer our selves to be more or longer under Trouble than will serve for the attaining some greater good some greater and more lalbing Tranquillity As much as is possible we should take care never to suffer our selves to