A Christian's Work AND TIME of WORKING IN A SERMON Preached on the Death of Mr. John Sorrel the Younger of HYDE-HALL in Great Waltham in the COUNTY of ESSEX By BENJAMIN SMITH Vicar there Eccles 9. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sophocles LONDON Printed by T. James for Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel 1675. To Mrs. Sorrel the Sorrowful Relict of Mr. John Sorrel the Younger of Hyde-Hall in Great Waltham in the County of Essex MADAM NO Engagements could have been sufficient to have drawn me to appear in Publick in so madly Censorious an Age as ours did I greatly concern my self at what the World will say For Writing is like a running the Gantlope where a man Exposes himself naked and every man will be sure to have a lash at his back The Wit and Genius of the Age lyes most in finding fault and some men will do it out of a dislike to the person and some to the Work and many that they may shew their judgement as they think and make it appear that they have wit enough to spy a fault And therefore privacy is certainly the best defence against the petulancy of the Tongue for he that is not known nor heard of in the World is in no danger of being disturbed by the Censures of it Had I therefore valued the Censures of Men I had chosen rather to have disobliged you by denying your request than thus to expose my self and run the hazard that here I do But I hunt not after Applause and if I did I had never sought it by publishing this Sermon Nor do I at all concern my self to think what men will say or how they will judge or condemn this Work My work must stand or fall according to my great Masters approbation Why then should I regard what the World sayes of it since their Applause or Reproach can neither add nor diminish in the acceptance of it with him I have therefore Obeyed your Commands and at your Request this Sermon is now made publick and other Apology than this I shall not go about to make for my self I shall not tell the World what a sense I have of your constant Civilities to me nor plead that the Obligations that your Kindness hath lay'd upon me made me unable to refuse your Commands though I must own that these have been the prevailing Inducements with me for when I have said what I can men will think what they please and I am very well contented they should do so Nor shall I go about to frame an Excuse for this Dedication without first asking your leave for at whose door should I lay this Sermon now it is made publick than at yours to whose Commands it entirely oweth its coming abroad I will not doubt of its Acceptance with you for the sake of him who was the occasion of it a Person who though dead yet retains that esteem in your heart that cannot be augmented by the fairest Character that can be given of him and is sufficient to recommend to your Acceptance any thing that hath any relation to him Madam I know too well the greatness of your Sorrow and know that you are so fully sensible of your Loss that it would be but Cruelty to you under the notion of Respect to the Dead for me to add more weight to your load and aggravate your loss in saying what a one he was whom you have lost The greatness of the Affection you had for him should make you the more contented in being deprived of him sence it is so much for his gain The support that God hath given you under your great affliction and the plenty of Mercies that are still left you are great Occasions and Engagements still to be thankful and should induce you to own this providence though severe yet as the Chastisement of a Father not as the Wound of an Enemy he that called for this mercy again could have called for more and have left you much more desolate than you are To continue lamenting your Loss and to stand measuring the length and bredth and depth of the Affliction and to survey it in all its dimensions is but to look on the back-side of the Book where nothing is to be learned and which hinders you from looking in to read the Lesson that God has written out for you by this providence Your Work is to consider what God designs in this his doing and to labour to spell out the meaning of these black Characters The delight of your eyes is taken away with a struak and your greatest Comfort in this life hath failed you Trust then to such perishing Joyes no more sit loose to the World and the blandishments of it and fix with all your might your thoughts and hopes upon him who being unchangeable never fails nor can fail them that put their Trust in him Remember him that is gone before so as to prepare to Follow him and let the memory of his Piety and Vertues be ever before your Eyes as a fair Copy to Write afte◠that since he shall not return to you you may go to him and enjoy him once again never to lose him more Such as these and many more are the proper Improvements of this dispensation which that you may so improve as to reap the advantage of Spiritual health from this bitter Potion is and shall be the subject of his Prayers for you to the Throne of Grace who is MADAM Your Humble Servant Benjamin Smith From Much Waltham Vicaridge July 1675. A CHRISTIANS WORK AND Time of Working John 9. 4. I must Work the Works of him that sent me while it is Day the Night cometh when no Man can Work AMongst all the Uncertainties that our Affairs in this World are liable to there is nothing that more justly deserves the name of Uncertain than the Date and Period of our Lives Our Enjoyments indeed are fluid and brittle and a moment is enough to destroy the pleasure and grandeur of that state in which we had lay'd up the Hopes of many Years happy Repose but yet as fickle as these are they are not more uncertain if so much as the time in which we are capable of using these Enjoyments A time determined indeed if we respect that God in whose Hands the boundaries of our Times are and who sayes to every man as he said to the Sea Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther and here shall thy proud waves be stay'd But if we respect our selves to whom the time is allotted we find nothing in it that is sure and certain but this that its end will certainly come but when or how soon there 's none that knows Our dayes are but short if we suppose
be the same reason for us to be diligent in minding and hastning our work that we have to do that there was for him to mind and hasten his these words will be found to concern us and be to us as well as to our Saviour an undeniable reason of diligence in our work while we have life and time And this a short Enquiry into the sense and importance of the words will prove And in them we may consider these three things 1. That our Saviour had works to do I must work the works of him that sent me 2. That he took the present time and lay'd hold upon every opportunity that offered it self to do these Works in I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day 3. That the Reason why he did thus and so carefully lay'd hold on every season to do his Works in was least the night should prevent him the night cometh when no man can work 1. The first Consideration I shall wholly wave for thought it be worth our Enquiry what the Works were he had to do and by whom he was sent and how he that was in his own Nature God blessed for evermore could be sent by any since being God he could have no Superâ—or to send him and so upon the same Reason how the works he did he being God could be the works or by the appointment of any other but himself which may all be answered by considering the distinction of his Nature and his Office yet since the considering these is not pertinent to my present purpose the force of the words as to the business in hand lying in his diligence in working and in the reason he gives of it it may suffice to have observed that he had works to do without entring into any discourse concerning the nature of them or the accounts upon which he was obliged to perform them I shall pass therefore from this to what is more pertinent to the present purpose and consider 2. That he took the present time to do his works in and this is implyed in that expression I must work while it is day To wave here the curious Criticisms and Conjectures of some upon the day here mentioned by day here I understand the time of this life here upon earth and so our Saviour saying I must work while it is day the meaning is I must be doing the works of him that sent me now while I am upon earth now while I am in the flesh So Theophylact the day is this present life And Pisâ—ator to the same sense he compares the course of his life upon earth to a day and therefore is the time of Life called a day with an especial respect and relation to working The day is a time and the only time for work the night is appointed for rest and so is our life the only time of doing what is to be done in order to our Eternal state in death we rest from our Labours Our Saviour therefore would let no opportunity pass of doing good while it was day that is while the time of his life upon Earth lasted and that for the Reason which he gives in the next words The night cometh when no man can work And that is the thing which comes next to be considered to give an account why he was so diligent in working and the Text tells us 3. That the Reason why he did thus and so carefully lay'd hold on the present season was lest the night should prevent him the night comes when no man can work In what sense the night is here to be taken is easie to understand by what has been said of the day to which this answers For if that means the time of this life then by Night must here be meant the time of death for this Reason then our Saviour says he must work while he lived because death was coming in which we have a twofold Reason couched 1. From the nearness of it the night cometh it is not said it will come but it does come in that implying that it was now approaching and already upon his Journey towards him 2. From the effect of it when come No man can work As if he had said I must now do what I have to do while I have time and life my time is not long my death cometh and is at hand and when that 's once come these Works of mine must cease for in death no man can work parallel to which Resolution and Reason is the advice and argument of the Wise man Eccles 9. 10. Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do do it with all thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledg nor wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest And having thus briefly cleared the sence and importance of the Words and considered the reason and foundation they stand upon there is no man but at the very first sight must needs conclude that the Case is ours We are under the same Circumstances that he was and the same Reason that prevailed with him to diligence in his Work is much more urgent upon us Had he Works to do so have we Was death approaching to him and was he mortal as he was a man certainly and undeniably so are we If then it was a good Reason for him to make hast to do his Work because he must dye undoubtedly the Reason is as strong towards us for we must dye too and after death there is no more working for us in our Works than there was for him in his It cannot be denied then but the words belong to us and are a necessary Rule of our practice and a strong Reason to spur us on to diligence in the work we have to do in this present Life I shall therefore take them since they cannot be denyed me and apply the meaning of them to our practice in this Doctrinal Proposition Doct. That we ought to be Diligent in doing our Work that we have to do while we have time and life because Death cometh where no Work can be done A Lesson needful to be learn't because it is of great importance to us in order to our Eternal welfare and so much the rather needful because the practice of too many tells us that they understand not this Lesson nor are convinc'd of the necessity of it Some do not understand their Work and so though they take much pains and are very busie their Work turns to no account because though they have done much they have done nothing at all of what God sent them to do Some understand not their time and though they may know their Work yet alwayes think it too soon to set about it yet and so drive off and delay till their day be done before they begin their work Both these ought to consider and weigh this truth that we ought to be diligent in doing our work while we have time the one to consider that we ought to be employed about
so it may be taken into two parts and yet either of them retain the force of a Reason to urge us to the duty under consideration 1. The night cometh 2. When it is come no work can be done in it 1. The night that is death cometh in which these things are imploy'd which may serve to heighten our diligence and to hasten us in our Work 1. The night cometh then death is certain and will undoubtedly be with us for in that it 's said it comes it undeniably proves that there is such a thing as death since that which is not cannot come And this is a thing not more certain in it self than it is evident and apparent to us That we are Mortal and when our part is acted must go off the Stage of this World constant and daily Experience teaches us and proves it to us This is the Path that is daily trodden by all sorts ages and conditions of men the Young and Old the Poor and Rich Bond and Free Male and Female all meet together in the Chambers of Death and lye down to rest in the dust This is the common fate of Man kind and that irreversible Decree past at the first Transgression from which no man ordinarily is exempt Methuselah ran a long Course yet after Nine hundred sixty and nine years he dyed and Abraham lived well and was the Father of the Faithful and the Friend of God yet after an hundred threescore and fifteen Years he gave up the Ghost and dyed And there want not dayly Memento's of our Mortality even in all those things that are daily obvious to our eyes the constant course of Winter and Summer and of Day and Night put us in mind of our putting off the Glories of this Life and of our sleeping in death The Winter strips the Earth of her glory and beauty and leaves her naked it hinders and determines her fruitful seasons and death takes down our Pride and Pomp and tyes our hands that we cannot work At night we uncloath and go to bed and how far soever we ramble in the day we then leave our Labours and confine our selves to a narrower compass to take our rest till morning And in death we strip and lye down in the Grave and our Bodies take their long sleep till dooms day morning wake us again Our great Estates and numerous Lands shrink up in death to six foot of Earth and our stately Seats and ceiled Rooms and costly Furnitures give way to a Winding-sheet a Tomb and a Coffin Thus Night and Winter are fit Emblems to us of Death and serious Memonto's of our mortal state The certainty then of this should mind us of the work we have to do and engage us to be diligent at it our time is stated and nothing is more sure than that its end will come and death will overtake us our Work is appointed and so is our time too why then do we waste or trifle away that time which hath its limits fixed and will certainly be determined by death Why then do we project great things for our selves here which death will strip us of and turn aside from that work that God has appointed us to do thereward of which no death can deprive us of This very Consideration that death is certain should make us more careful in our work and sit more loose and be more indifferent to any advantages or enjoyments of this life If our work be done death cannot rob us of the reward of that but may be embraced as an advantage being a Rest from our Labours and a refuge from every Calamity that here we are burdened with Rev. 14. 13. Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them But for all other things which are the advantages of this Life only death robs us of them all and brings the Great and Mighty into an equal state with the Poor Ignoble and Mean The Grave knows no difference and the Worm knows no distinction betwixt finer and courser flesh He that marches to the Grave in a stately array and with a solemn pomp and he that steals silently into the Chambers of death and makes no noise nor bustle at his going both find an equal Entertainment in the dust and both have the same Kindred and Relations there and both with Job must say chap. 17. 14. To Corruption thou art my Father to the Worm thou art my Mother and my Sister Our Greatness leaves us at the Grave and no distinctions remain after death but such as a faithful serving of God and a conscientious industry in our Works may give us Why then do we neglect our work that would live with us beyond death and are fond of things that perish as to us by it since the night cometh that is Death is certain 2. The night cometh Then Death is at hand it cometh Then it is hastning on towards us it 's already in the way and onwards in its journey to us And this the shortness of our Lives when they are at their longest plainly speaks If once we are born even by the course of Nature we have not long to live and threescore years and ten which is the age of a man is but a poor pittance of time if it be compared to the Eternity that depends upon it The very first step that we set into this World is onwards towards Death and to the Youngest as well as to the Old it may be said death cometh Our Life is compared to a Race as swift as short as that the starting-place is from the Womb and the Goal is the Grave and all the while between our Birth and Decease we are in our Race hasting on to death As soon as our day begins to dawn the night also begins to hasten its approaches and we do no sooner begin to live but we are going onwards towards death How should this Consideration then hasten us in our Work and make us more diligent and industrious our time is short and the end of it at hand our Work is great and we have much to do how unreasonable is it then for us to loyter or be idle and how much more for us to be doing of Evil which must be unravelled and undone again All our time is little enough for our business there can be none to spare for evil ends or for a forreign service our End draws on whither we mind it or no Prudence then would teach us to ply our Work that the end of our time and our work may meet together Let us always then be well employed that death may find us so when it comes and that time cannot be far off The night cometh that is death is at hand 3. The Night cometh And this implies that the time of death is uncertain the night cometh Then no man knows how near death may be all that is
said of it is that it cometh this makes the thing certain but there is no determination when it comes and this leaves the time of it uncertain as to us 'T is true it may be coming and yet may be a great way off and it is as true it may be at hand and just now at the door And this is a thing so daily made good to us by Experience that it justly becomes matter of great wonder that men regard and lay it to heart no more we see daily men likely to live long on a sudden cut down and their days are come to an end when we thought they had been scarcely arrived at the middle of them And we have now another fresh instance of it set before us and here is one gone to his long-home who according to the course of Nature had lived but half the Age of a man And this still adds more force to the Reason To be mindful of our business and to hasten our Work for we know not how so on we may dye Instances of sudden and unexpected Mortality are not rare which makes it the more to be admired that those that remain will flatter themselves with the hopes of a longer time here when they see so great experiences to the contrary How mad are we then that put off the doing of that Work which is so necessary to be done to that time which it is absolutely uncertain whether we shall ever have or no. That our Work be done is necessary that if we neglect the present time we shall have another to do it in is uncertain so that we venture our Souls upon a Contingency and hang our Eternal Happiness upon that which may very possibly fail us A piece of Imprudence that were ridiculous in our Worldly affairs and yet men are not ashamed thus to act in a case that concerns Eternity The Plow-man will take his Season and the Marriner his Wind and Tide the Trades man will not let slip his Market and every man thinks it wisdom to take a good Offer while we may have it for fear we should miss of the like again and yet in things of far greater Concern than these we are not aware that we egregiously play the fool's in turning off our business till hereafter and in letting slip the fair proffers and opporrunities of the present season So sad and miserable a thing it is to be blind in Spiritual things and to be habituated to Evil. An ordinary prudence would teach us to act more like men and to be more diligent in our Work in the time we have since we are not sure of any more for the night cometh and death is sure but the time is uncertain and no man knows how soon it may come And thus the consideration of Death is and ought to be a Motive to us to improve our time and work while we may for we must dye and that ere-long and who knows how soon but then we have to enquire into the reason or strength of this Motive which makes the consideration of death to come an Argument for our present diligence and that lies in these words When no man can Work 2. This is then the Second and strongest part of the Reason When the night is come no Work can be done in it We had need be diligent in our Work while we have time for if death comes it will be too late to do it or to set about it we must work now in this life or not at all Psalm 6. 5. In death says the Psalmist there is no remembrance of thee All our VVorks there cease death puts an end to every contrivance and design and whatsoever remains to do when we come to die remains undone to all Eternity for the state of death is an unalterable state As the Tree falls so it lies and as death leaves us so judgment finds us what we are then such we continue for ever for the night being once come no man can work Now our working may be considered as it is employed either 1. In doing what was never done before or 2. In mending what was ill done and in both Cases the night comes when no man can work our state is fixt by death and our works are at an end both wayes and then we can neither begin any work nor pollish nor finish what was before begun 1. VVe work in doing what was never before done but no man can work thus in death If we have not begun to serve God in this life it will be too late to set to that VVork when we are dead for that state and time is all appointed for reward and nothing at all for Work it will be too late then to begin to love or serve God for then it will be only enquired what we have already done and not what we would now do This is the time that is given us in order to Eternity and upon the improvement of this the determination of that Eternity whether it be to happiness or misery do's depend After death succeeds the Judgment and every man shall be judged according to his Works Our VVorks then are done when we die and after death nothing more remains but to receive our judgment according to them This is the time of our VVork that the time of our VVages here is our Seed time there is our Harvest Gal. 6. 7 8. And whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting This then strongly enforces upon us the duty of working while it is day for if we dye and leave our VVork undone there is no finishing of it in the Grave Let us weigh them and consider how sad their state how miserable their condition must needs be who are prevented by death and die and their work is undone VVho can lie down in Everlasting burnings and who can stand before an incensed God for our God is a consuming fire How sad would it be to see a Soul rouling in endless flames and too late cursing its own negligence and folly how sad would it be to hear him wishing in vain for the time that was idled away and mispent and to see the anguish of his Soul because his work is undone and now remains no time to do it And let us suppose this to be our case for if we are not wise betimes it will certainly be so Let us suppose our Souls in such a state as this is that we may awaken our selves betimes and while we have yet a day upon Earth may be wise to employ and lay it out for God For happy are they that see their folly betimes and are betimes convinc'd that that their work is yet to do while the time yet lasts in which it may be done Sad and unspeakably miserable are those convictions which are first found in Hell for
lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue if there be any praise to think on these things 2. By his Death And so while we see a young man taken off almost in the midst of his dayes it gives a fair warning to you that survive to husband and improve your time This shews that it 's dangerous to delay and put off our work till another time or to trust to Youth or to hope for too morrow for Youth cannot secure us from death and too morrow often failes those that stay and hope for it We see here that Death hath inverted the order of Nature and the Father closing the Eyes of his Son whom he hoped might have out-liv'd him long The lesson then that his death reads us is this That life is uncertain and this should make us afraid to defer our work lest the night should steal upon us ere we are aware of it or prepared for it Let every one of us therefore resolve upon our work and set roundly to it let us take the present time which God allows us to work in and requires to be spent in his service none ever complain'd in the end of beginning this work too soon when many have perished and been lost for ever who alwayes thought it too soon yet to begin Death draws on whether we will provide for it or no and whether we work or loyter the fatal hour still approaches it cannot be far off to them from whom it is farthest and by this instance it appears it may be nearer than we are aware of Having then before us an example that proves the truth both of the Text and Sermon Let us work the works of him that sent us while it is day the night cometh when no man can work FINIS ERRATA Pag. 29. line 15. read imply'd p. 30. l. 28. r. Life only Books sold by Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside A Morning Exercise against Popery The Young Man's Instructer and Old Mans Remembrancer A large Exposition on the Assemblies Catechism By T. Doolittel 1. Forty six Sormons on the whole Eighth Chapter of the Romans 2. A Practical Exposition on the Four select Psalms viz. 4th 42 51 63. The whole being in 45 Sermons Both by Tho. Horton D. D late Preacher at St. Hellens London Childs Delight with Pictures for teaching English to which is added an English Grammar Reading and Spelling made easie wherein all the words of our English Bible are set down in an Alphabetical Order and divided into their distinct Syllables By Tho Lye Liberty for Captives By Tho. Doolitel The Plain Mans Defence against Popery wherein Popery is proved to be 〈◊〉 against Scripture fitted for the meanest capacity By a Chaplain to a Person of Honour Two Disputations of Original Sin By Rich. Baxter An Exposition on the whole Epistle to the Colossians By John Dallie A Treatise of Holy Violence for Heaven A Plea for the Godly The Duty of Self-denyal All three by Tho. Watson The Immortality of the Soul By Tho. Wadsworth The Almost Christian By Matth. Mead. Spiritual Wisdom improved against Temptation By Matt. Mead. A Method of Meditation By Tho. White The Godly Mans Ark. By Edm. Calamy The Heart-Treasury first and second parts Closet-Prayer Both by Oliver Heywood A Treatise of Quenching the Spirit By Theoph. Pawlwheel The Sinfulness of Sin By Ralph Venning Mysterial Union between Christ and Believers And Sober Singularity By Rowland Stedman John Janeway's Life Saints Encouragement Both by James Janeway The Spirit of Prayer By Nath. Vincent A Plain Exposition of the Assemblies Catechism By Tho. Lye Weaving Spiritualized or The Weaver's Pocket Book By J. C. D. D. Eighteen Sermons by William Whittaker with his Funeral Sermon By Dr. Ansley Reformation or Ruin By Tho. Hotchkis The Life of Dr. Staunton with a Dialogue between a Minister and a Stranger and a Discourse of Christian Conference Index Biblicus or A Table of the Holy Scriptures A Plain and Familiar Discourse concerning the Lords Supper By Rich. Kidder Antapologia or A Discourse of Excuses setting forth the variety and vanity of them By Jo. Sheffield
them to run to their utmost Extent and therefore David Psalm 39. 5. compares their length to a Span but of this little how much is liable to be cut off by Accidents and Incertainties or by the determinations of an all-wise and over-ruling providence that though we may be sure that at their longest they are but as a Span long yet no man can be sure that they shall be so much as a Span long to him Both which brevity and uncertainty of our Lives the Scriptures teach us while it compares our time to things that are soon done or that are very incertain in their durance The Shepheards Tent or the Weavers shuttle are fit Emblems of the shortness of our dayes and St. James tell us our life is even a vapour and the Prophet Isaiah proclaims that all flesh is Grass to shew how uncertain and unstable our continuance even in this short time is And this Incertainty of our Lives must needs be evident to him that shall but consider either the Principles we are composed of or the Accidents we are liable to or the daily Experiences we have of it The Principles we are composed of are different in their Nature and repugnant one to another hot and cold moist and dry by the Wisdom and Power of God are tempered together in the dust that makes up our Frame these discordant Humors are alwaies at variance amongst themselves and there is an Intestime War continually maintain'd that threatens the ruin of the whole Frame How easily may one Humor get the upper hand of all the rest and yet our safety consists in the equal temperature of them and if one prevail the Body is destroyed by the Tyranny and Praedominance of that one Humor so that our Lives depend upon the success of a scuffle and are uncertain as the chance of War But besides these how numerous and various are External accidents who knows what a Night may produce or what may be in the Womb of a Morning Who can say that his path is secure or that no Creature has received a Commission to day to take away his Life the very Inanimate Creatures are sufficiently armed against our Lives if God does but give the Word and the wayes to effect it are too many and too different for our Wisdom or Prudence to fore-see or prevent And to all this the undeniable proof of Experience may be added our dayes are uncertain beyond dispute for almost every day we have Instances that confirm it Death does not wait upon the course of Nature nor observe the order of Birth but shoots his arrows hood-winkt among the Herd He snatches the tender Infant from its Mothers breast and cuts off the Young-man in the midst of his strength and dayes as well as gathers the Hoary head like a Shock of Corn in his season into the Grave The Young and Old the Weak and Strong are huddled together in the Dust and there is no Age or State that can secure and make us free from Deaths arrest Here he fells the full grown Oak and there he cuts up the tender Speers and every dayes Experience makes the Proverb good viz. As soon goes the green Tree to the Fire as the dry What should man do then whom Scripture and Reason and Experience daily convince of the incertainty of his life Or to what end is he made so palpably sure that he is at no certain stay here but that he might lift up his thoughts to what is more firm and improve the present Seasons which only weare sure of to the obtaining an Eternal and Unchangeable state For since this Life as incertain as it is is in order to a Future state which once entred upon admits of no alteration that our Lives are uncertain does earnestly call upon us to hasten our Work and improve our time that we may be ready for our Change whensoever it comes That we must dye and come to Judgment makes it necessary for us to prepare for death but since we know not but that we may dye to morrow it 's necessary that we provide for its coming to day This then is the Use we should make of all the Memento's we have of Mortality or of the incertainty or frailty of our Lives and we should never see or hear of any snatcht away from us but it should hasten us in our Work and make us more diligent to prepare for our turn for who knows whose is next And to this end I have been desired to apply this sad and amazing providence that has lately befallen one of the Chiefest Families in our Parish that seeing a Young-man cut off near the midst of his dayes those that are left both Young and Old may lay it to heart and be awakened to consider by this Instance how uncertain our time is that they may be stirred up to mind their Work in the present time lest their End prevent their Preparations for it And to this end I have been directed to this Portion of Scripture as giving a sufficient Ground to build such an Exhortation upon I must Work the Works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can Work Words that are capable of a Two-fold Application as they are the Reason of our Saviours practice and as they are Rule of ours As they are the reason of our Saviours acting so they were spoken by our Saviour of himself and have a peculiar Relation to himself but the Reason they are founded upon makes them a Rule to us and from that they are an argument reaching ever to us to be diligent and sedulous in our business Our Saviour was sent into the World to work the great work of our Redemption and as he came into the world and the Word was made Flesh that he might dye so was he while he was upon Earth to prove his Mission from the Father and by the works he wrought convince the World that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Messiah he that was to come And therefore having here found a Subject fit to manifest his power upon and by a Miracle to manifest his Mission he does not stay to dispute or debate the impertinent and erroneous Quaere of his Disciples Who sinn'd this man or his Parents that he was born blind but denying both parts of the Question hastens to the Cure and that upon this Reason I must work the works c. that is I must take all opportunities to do the Works about which I am sent into the world and make use of my present time for my death is coming by which these works must have an end Where his reason of working while it is day being founded upon the general reason of approaching death the words will be found to be of equal extent with the Reason they are built upon and are a strong Argument for the like diligence to every one that is under the like circumstances of Mortality If therefore there
chuse to take up in the first place We will serve God hereafter and take his Work in hand another time let us see then to whom we dedicate the present time and who is it whom now we serve All our actions are by way of service to one Master or another as they have in them a tendency and subserviency to some end The World is divided between Christ and Belial and all men are Retainers to God or the Devil Behold then whom we serve If we serve not God we are employed in the Devils work and drudgery we serve the lusts of the flesh are slaves to our own appetites we run to Intemperance and Wantonness we serve an ambitious design or a covetous mind or things of this nature and so under pretence of pleasing our solves do really serve and are slaves to the Devil And is this a service to be chosen before that of the living God that we must serve these now and put off God till hereafter Are these so desirable Masters so good so great Benefactors that God must wait and stand by till they are served in the first place Is their service so Honorable an Employment Is it so rich and advantageous that this must have the present time Is there so much pleasure in being slaves to an unsatiable Appetite or in being ridden by an untractable and exorbitant passion that the Yoak of Christ which is easie and his burden which is light must be refused to make way for this Is the Devil so real a Friend or our Lusts so really beneficient to us that these must have the prime of our days and time Let us consider and blush let us see and be ashamed that we use our God so ingratefully here 't is God that is the Author of our time and being and his Goodness and Bounty provides for us and sweetens our being to us even the present time that we lay out upon sin is his Gift though given us for better ends and that the time that is future comes up and is present to us is the effect of his patience and mercy towards us and yet this time which he gives us for his own Service and Glory we rob him of and lay it out in the drudgeries and bondage of his Enemies This is an ingratitude that we should be ashamed of towards man how much more should we be ashamed of it towards God since here the ingratitude is infinitely greater Shame then if there be any in us in these things will prove that this present time should be given to God for if God hath it not let us but consider who hath and this may be sufficient to make us blush and tremble too And this may suffice briefly to prove that the present time is the time in which we ought to work the Works of him that sent us we must work while it is day 3. The Third Thing to be enquired into Is the Reason why we must thus work these Works in the present time and that as the Text gives it us is Because the Night cometh when no man can work the meaning of which is when death once comes it puts an end to all our working and it will be too late to do then what should have been done before A Reason that wants nothing but our serious consideration to make it invincible and surely we are not therefore lazy and negligent careless or remiss in our duty because we want either Reasons or Motives that are proper and powerful to stir us up to the doing of it but because we want hearts to weigh the force of the Reason and are either stupid or inconsiderate when we have to do in matters of this nature I shall therefore To quicken and help your consideration before I consider the reason it self by a step or two lead you to the strength and force of the Reason 1. Let this then be considered That we have Work to do for God in the time that God has given us upon Earth and therefore we are not at our own disposal and may not serve whom we please or Work or let it alone as we find our selves inclined but our Task is set our Work is appointed and woe be unto us if we do it not For he that does not his Work is idle and useless and is an unprofitable Servant and how dreadful a doom is past upon him let us hear from the Lords own mouth Mat. 25. 30. Cast ye the unprofitable servant into utter darkness there shall be weeping gnashing of teeth 2. Let it be considered That as we have Work to do so we must come to an account for our Works and we shall be examined both what we have done and how In plain terms there is a day of Judgment to come upon us all and the work of that day will be to proceed upon and according to our Works This the Parable of the Talents proves Matth. 25. 19. this the Author to the Hebrews tells us Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed unto men once to dye but after this the Judgment And this the Preacher concludes his Sermon with as being Words of great weight and as being desirous to leave them well infixt in our memories Eccles 12. 14. God shall bring every Work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil An account we must come to and that so strict that none of our neglects or loyterings can escape unobserv'd and a search so punctual and exact that it will produce the very hidden things of darkness and bring to light what we now hide so close from the eyes of men What then might be some comfort to the slothful Servant here the hopes that his Master may neglect or forget to call him to an account can be no shelter nor support in this case to him that neglects to do the Works that God sent him into this World to do for as his Work is set so also a day of account is determined and every Soul and the secrets of it shall be brought into judgment 3. Add to this That when death comes it will be too late to set about our Work that being a state in which no Work can be done and then we have the full force of the Reason apparent we have Work to do and we shall be called to an account whither we have done it and if death comes it cannot be done and therefore it follows and the reason is too strong to be deny'd that we ought to do our Works while we have time and life because of approaching death The night cometh when no man can work And now having thus considered the strength of the Reason wherein it lies let me consider the Reason it self in its parts and urge the necessity of our Working now from such considerations as the Reason it self will allow And here I shall betake my self to the words of the Text and consider the Reason as it lies there and