us after our Success in the Conflicts we shall be engag'd in here below God has not been so liberal to us in the Term of our Lives that we should be so lavish and squander away such large Portions of it What a great share of our Time does Necessity force from us Our Sleep does almost cut our Life in two and take an equal part the satisfying of those daily returning Wants of Food and Nourishment does take up at least a third part of what remains and for the rest how much does lawful Recreation take for its share how much does want of Health or the Care of a weak and uneven state of Health take also for its certain part After such a Division one would think little could be left for worldly Concerns and none at all for other Matters and yet we see how much of their Time does the Business and Employments of Mankind require how much Care and Time and Diligence is necessary to procure but a tolerable Subsistance for the far greatest part in the World Indeed this Time is all spar'd to them who have these things left to their Hands that are born to large Estates and have no occasion to spend any of their Time this way but then alas Experience shews us that too many of these who have so much more Time to spare than others do generally make the least and worst Use of it Not only our own Affairs but those of Relations and of Friends nay of meer Strangers swallow up great part of our Time and would spend us more of it if Nature and Necessity would but give leave Let us then compute our Time and see what can remain when Sleep and Nourishment and Recreation and Health and Business have carried off such large Shares have we such a mighty Portion left for that our Great Work for the taking Care of our Last and Greatest Concern Would we but reflect a while on this account it would make us blush and be heartily asham'd for all the Time we have ever mispent in Sin and Folly for these alas crowd into the account of Impediments and make too too great a Figure there though we want no such Hindrances One would think Men could have no leasure for the Service of these that their manifold Business would have kept them always out of harms way if we did not to our Sorrow see that though Men do so often complain that their Business takes up their whole Time that they can get no part of the day to employ as they willingly should and own they ought in Holy Duties yet that they can and will rob their Business to spend upon their Lusts and Pleasures That they will borrow for a Boon Companion for a Wanton Harlot or a Drunken Club though they will not for Religious Matters Reading good Books or to dedicate it either to the Publick or Private Worship of their God Are not these then Hindrances big enough in our Great Work which our Necessities and our Business give us What must we say then when Wickedness comes in for a share and robs us most of all when it 's content with no mean share but insinuates more and more till all other Care is quite laid aside and it engrosses our whole Time Should not this persuade us should it not teach us that since the Business is really so great for which we were brought into this World and the Time so uncertain that we have to finish it in that want of Time will not pass for Excuse in the other World when our Sins and our Lusts have squander'd so much of it here that since God has so form'd our Nature and our Tempers that a great part of our Time must certainly be employ'd in the Care of these and a great deal more of it may be snatch'd from us by Sickness or uncertain Health we should never forget to employ well that Time which we can only call our own to emprove all those Seasons and Opportunities which God vouchsafes and Time does reach out to us to all the great and good Purposes for which our Lord did place us here But alas we forget all this we do not only forget that our Work is so great and that the Impediments we meet with in this our Journey are so many but which is altogether as unhappy we forget in the Third place 3 ly How short the Time of our Sojourning here in this World must be It has been an old and a great Complaint of the Shortness of Humane Life and if when the Lives of Men were far longer than they now are and they had lived twice as long as the Generality of the World now does they could complain that their days had been few Gen. 47.9 We must not wonder at any Complaints we hear now Our Life is fitly compar'd in Gods Word to the Grass of the Field to the more tender Flower which though it is sometime in growing up yet soon fades is withered and gone and as if this was not sufficient to Convince us of the Shortness and Vanity of our Lives the Scripture has thought fit to descend and make even a Vapour and a Shadow the Emblems of our short and fading Time and to use them often as the fittest Emblems to express it by Job's Friend pleads this in excuse for his Ignorance and it will serve for the rest of Mankind Job 8.9 For we are but of Yesterday and know nothing because our days upon Earth are a Shadow And Job himself concludes this as the common Lot to us all that we are but of few days and which is more Unhappy that they are full of Trouble That Man cometh forth indeed like a Flower but is cut down Job 14.1 2. that he fleeth also as a Shadow and continues not And the same Sense have the wiser part of the Heathen World had of the Condition of Mankind that his Life is very short too short in their Opinion for so Noble and so Wise a Creature They have compar'd it to a meer Point and indeed what is the longest Life more to the days of Eternity They have laught at the dividing this little Point into so many parts but most of all at Mankind for misimploying any part thereof And does it not appear the same to us all As for the Time past for all the Years we have lived hitherto how wonderfully short and inconsiderable does it appear to us How little a Time is it think we all since we were Children since we came abroad into the World It 's all gone as swiftly as a Shadow and is vanish'd as if it had been really but a Vapour The Time present of our Life which is all that we can justly call the time of Life how fleeting and uncertain is it also and how hasty to be gone How little will it stay for us It does not wait our leisure nor can attend till we 'll be pleased to employ it to its just and
Mr. GEE's SERMON Before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL August 7. 1692. Of the Improvement of Time A SERMON Preach'd before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL August 7. 1692. By EDWARD GEE Rector of St. Benedict by Paul's-Wharff and Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties By Her Majesties Special Command LONDON Printed for Brab Aylmer in Cornhill and Sam. Smith in St. Paul's Church-yard 1692. A SERMON Preach'd before the QUEEN Ephesians V. Vers 16. Redeeming the Time because the days are Evil. ST Paul in this Epistle having shewn them to whom it was sent the Great Excellency of the Christian Religion and the mighty Advantages and Privileges that might be received from the hearty belief of it proceeds to shew what a wonderful Change had been made in their Condition by embracing the Gospel of Jesus Christ That whereas before their knowing and believing that Christian Doctrin they were covered with Darkness and altogether lost in Vanity and Error and might be said to be even dead in Trespasses and Sins Ephes 2.1 They were now become Children of Light by being the Children of God their Minds were enlighten'd and themselves quickened 5. and raised as it were from the dead to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus 6. Having thus laid down the mighty Things which had been done for them Our Apostle does very easily and very regularly too pass on to inform them what They also were to do and what returns They were to make to God for such his abundant Mercy to them Upon this he gives them a great many Directions and Rules for the Management of themselves so as to please God in every Condition and state of Life whatsoever whether of Married or Free whether of Publick or Private of Son or of Servant but above all he takes heed to mind them of their Care of That in which all these things were to be done all the Duties he mentioned were to be performed and that is the Good Improvement of their Time that they would lose none of that since they had such occasion for it all and yet were in such apparent Danger of losing too much of it through the Wickedness of the World they must Converse with Redeeming the Time because the days are evil Which Words afford us these things for our Consideration 1 st What great Reason we have all to improve and to make a good use of our Time 2 ly How much more Reason we have to Redeem it and to double our Diligence when we have lost any great share of it 3 ly To inquire what can be the Hindrances of our Care in a Matter of so much moment 4 ly To give some Rules herein and to exhort to the Practice of them 1 st What great Reason we all have to improve and to make a good Use of our Time One would think it the most easie thing in the World to convince Mankind of the Truth hereof but I know not well how it comes to pass that this which might challenge our Assent upon the very naming of it That every Man ought to make the best use of Time should be so little regarded by the far greatest part of the World and nothing can be more strange than this that while all the World the Wise and the Foolish are agreed in their valuing so much those things which they love and take delight in They should 〈…〉 in having little or no regard 〈…〉 which only they can obtain any of those things they so much prize and long after However every Man must acknowledge the very great Reason there is for us all to improve and to make a good Use of Time whenever he is serious or would but consider these things with me 1 st How great a Work every Christian has upon his Hands to perform 2 ly How many Impediments He will meet with in his discharge of it 3 ly How short the time of our Sojourning here in this World must be And 4 ly How much shorter the Mispending of our Time does generally make it 1 st How Great a Work every Christian has upon his Hands to perform Indeed if One were to judge of the Business of too many Christians by their Behaviour one would be able to make but a very indifferent Judgment concerning it To behold the Course of the World would tempt a Man to believe that neither Reason nor Religion were regarded by the far greatest part in it to see some as unactive and idle as if they had no more to do than the Flower in the Garden or the Grass upon the Ground had nothing to do but to receive Nourishment and grow To see others Sotting away their Time haunting the Publick Houses continually and distinguishing their whole Time into but three parts the first of which they spend in Sleeping the second in Eating the third and greatest in Drinking to see them minding nothing but what is extravagant and unmanly loving no Pleasures but what are unlawful giving their Strength to strange Women their Ears their Eyes and all their Senses up to those Charms which are often Bitterness in the Taste it self but most certainly Shame and Destruction at the last To see some from whom one might expect a better Sense of Religion restless and turning every Stone trying every way to be Rich and minding nothing else but to leave a great Estate and resolved to do it though at the Expence of Religion and Conscience of Honour and of Justice though they must disregard the Tears as well as the Rights of Widows and Orphans and trample upon the Helpless and Afflicted to come at those Estates they have already swallowed in their Desire To see others Sacrificing all they have in this World to Ambition Prostituting their Virtue and Honour Flattering and using the worst of Men if they will but give a lift towards that Height they are gazing at and preferring Greatness though it prove never so short-liv'd to all the Virtue and Honour and Conscience in the World To see these and a great many other as ridiculous Scenes of Humane Actions and Behaviour here too tedious to be mentioned or minded must make one to conclude either that Mankind are but a sort of Animals devoid of Reason that excel the Serpent and the Ape only in a little Cunning as they excel the rest of their Fellow-Creatures or that there is no God in Heaven and they may do whatever is right in their own Eyes as the Israelites did when they had no King on Earth or that they are for such their Behaviour inexcusable Mad-men And Mad-men they are since how busie soever they are about all these things this was not their Business into this World and how much soever they may have pleas'd themselves in their several Actions yet God can never be pleased with them since it was for another a more noble Purpose that He Created Man upon the Face of this Earth He planted us here as in a place of Tryal He
appointed us a Work which is no less than to purchase a blessed Immortality for our Bodies as well as our Souls in his Kingdom of Heaven by our leading Lives of Piety and Virtue here This is our chief Business into this World and the Care of it ought to be constantly in our Eye not only for the Worth but also for the Difficulty of it It is a difficult Work indeed but were it Ten Thousand times more difficult than it is there is a Reward that would deserve it all But God has been infinitely gracious to us in this Respect has been far from making the Difficulty equal to the Greatness of this blessed Reward This however ought always to affect us that it is a great and large Work and this every one does know that has made never so little Progress in it How much Study and Diligence is necessary to obtain and to preserve a just Knowledge of God and his Attributes and of that wonderful Dispensation towards the Sons of Men by his own ever blessed Son To preserve our Faith pure and undefil'd from the Arts of Hereticks and others that are still laying wait to deceive with their enticing Words To have our Judgments rightly informed and firmly settled as to Matters of Faith and Knowledge and the whole Nature of our Christian Duty How difficult a Task does it prove to incline the Will and subdue it to the Obedience of Reason and Religion to keep it even and constant to the Choice of real Good and our Christian Duty What a severe and lasting Conflict must we have with those Corrupt Affections those unruly Desires and inordinate Passions that are always hanging about us and ready to betray us upon every Occasion upon the least Temptation that presents it self These must all in order to that Life which God requires of us be mortified and restrain'd and if we can perfectly subdued We have not only a great many Virtues to learn and practise but a great many Vices to unlearn which we must thank our own Folly for We have not only Vices that must be parted with but too many among us great habits of them and what Time and Pains and Diligence are necessary to the curing our Selves of any one habit of Wickedness It was with some Care and Regret that we did bring our selves to venture on such or such a Wasting Sin it was with more Pains and Diligence that we brought our selves to commit it with Greediness and a particular Pleasure in it and can all this be undone and changed in a Moment and when we have a mind It must be with far more Pains and Care and Diligence that we can tear it from our Breast abandon and quite forsake it and not only forsake it but frame our Mind our Will and our Temper to that Virtue which is so contrary to it One brisk Onset cannot do our Business herein we may with Courage and Resolution set upon these Home-bred Enemies and over-come them but how long must it be before we can reckon our selves truly Conquerors over our fleshly Lusts What a large Field then is that of the Knowledge which is necessary as we are Christians how many are the Snares and the Sins that we must upon our greatest Peril avoid and preserve our selves unspotted from Have we then all of us so great and so very large a Work as this is to perform What Time can be enough for it Blessed God! What Knowledge and Skill and Diligence and Application is necessary for the knowing and performing this our Duty what Time can be too much for such Business And yet Mankind must certainly think its far from requiring all our Time since they commonly do spend so much of it on quite other Matters It was that Great Father of the Physicians Advice or Complaint That Life was short but Art long that Men had a great deal to learn but too little time to acquire it in how much more Reason has the Christian to cry out that his Work is great but his Life too short for it and yet how many of us do squander away even that which we have There is too much of our precious Time forc'd away from us by the Necessities of our Nature or our Relation and Care of others how can we then find in our Heart to throw the rest away after it Is not the Race mark'd out for us is not our Task allotted and the time it must be done in while it is Light Let us then but inquire at home and see how we have manag'd our Selves or our Time if our Life be so short and our Work so great have we employ'd it all therein Is so much knowledge of God and his Laws necessary to our ever being Happy and have we made it our constant Care to study God's Word to consult those Lips that should preserve Knowledge and used all the Helps that might direct us in this Are there so many Virtues that God would have us Adorn our selves with and so many Errors that we must abandon and guard our Heart and our Life against with all Diligence how much Time then have we employ'd to gain the one or banish the other Let us ask our own Hearts what one Virtue it is we are entirely in Possession of what one Vice it is that we have perfectly rid our Selves of Has all the Time we have employ'd as we ought not made us Master of any one Virtue nor so much as Conqueror over any one Vice and can we think we have enough of Time and to spare which we may employ as our selves please If all the Time that some of us have been in this World and how much has that been has not yet taught them one line as I may say of this large Lesson what time how many hundreds of Years would be necessary to teach such their whole Duty in This Consideration therefore should awaken us all should prompt us to Diligence and Industry in our Christian Duty since there is no Danger of our Times being too long for the Learning and Practice of our Duty but too much Reason to fear that it may prove too short especially if we remember the second Reason for this our Care viz. 2 ly How many Impediments He will meet with in his discharge of it If our Task be large enough for our whole Time as I have already proved what Apprehensions should it cause in us to consider how much of that Time which was all but necessary and little enough is ravished from us by our necessary Occasions how much more is stolen from it by our Sins and our Folly Our Life is very fitly called in Scripture a Warfare since if we look about us and consider how much we have to do and what great Difficulties we have to struggle through it would make the stoutest Heart to Despond but for the Grace of God that will strengthen and assist us but for the Reward that will so gloriously Crown