keep those things â—hich are written therein for the time is at hand Even nearer â—hen ever it vvas yet And further Blessed is he that doth according to all those thoughts of Goodness and Truth vvhich the Lord doth from time to time vvhen he wakeneth Morning by Morning put into our Soul Again on the other hand a Wo or Curse belongs unto them vvho do not For the time is at hand even just before us or as it is in the vvords of our Text The day goeth away and the shadows of the Evening are stretched out It is but a very little vvhile and the day vvill be quite gone avvay and the shadovv of Death vvill be upon our eye lids and each of us shall say or vve shall find it so Mine age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherds tent I have cut off like a weaver my life He will cut me off with â—pining sickness from Day even to Night wilt thou make an end of me Which as the everliving God doth by us poor dying Creatures We should strive and work together with his grace vvhich vvould work in us mightily if vve are obedient to it that as our outvvard Man perish the invvard Man is renevved day by day Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing FINIS Practical Books Written and Published by Richard Stafford OF Happiness Wherein it is fully and particularly manifested That the greatest happiness of this Life consists in the fear of God and keeping his Commandments in opposition to the Pleasures of Sin or the pretended conveniency of Disobedience Rules and Directions for the preventing of and Recovery out of Sickness A Discourse against Partial Obedience Or that dangerous deceit so universal amongst them who call themselves Christians of keeping some of the Commandments of God and neglecting others Some Thoughts of the Life to come With a brief account of the State of Religion as it is now in the World The great Benefits of Christ to all that believe on and obey him Being a Treatise on Hebrews 2. 15. Wherein it is shewed and made known how People may be freed and delivered from that slavish fear of Death whereby they are subiect to Bondage throughout their Life-time and also how they may be saved and preserved from the Evil and danger of Death when it shall approach nigh anâ— come actually upon them An earnest call to all the inhabitants of the Earth to Turn immediately to the Lord their God An Exhortation unto all Dissenters however they are distinguished or named to return into the Communion of the Church oâ— England So far as all things are done therein according to the Pattern shewed to us in the Gospel Six several Sermons Preached on Isaiah 38. 1 Wherein that great Duty of setting our Body and Soul in order for we shall die is aâ— large opened and explained The doctrine of the Cross or the Duty of Christian suffering in a Sermon on Mat 13. 20 21. A Sermon on 1 Chron 29. 18. And another on Mark 8. 36. The Nature of God's Kingdom and Dominion over Men in a Discourse on Deut 8. 2. Divine Arithmetick Illustrated in the Right and Exact Numbrinâ— of our Days or a Discourse of the near and continued approacheâ— of Death unto every one whatsoever The Extensiveness and Comprehensiveness of the future Judgment of God A Discourse of the Misery of Hell and Happiness of Heaven Grounded from Mat. 25. 46. A Discourse of God's hearing Prayer Grounded from John 9. 31. The observation of the three Great Festivals asserted in the Christian Church and also the Right manner of the observance of them made known in a Sermon on Col. 3. 1 Preached on easter-Easter-Day A Sermon Preached unto the Inhabitants of the Town of Thornbury in Glocester-shire March 20. 1697. on Psal 143. 8. Two several Sermons on Phil. 4. 11 12. The necessity of keeping unto the Ordinances of Religion Prayer Hearing the word Baptism and the Lord's Supper in a Sermon on Acts. 6. 4. A Sermon of the devices of Satan on 2 Cor. 2. 11. The exceeding Great Comfort and Benefit of having walked before God in Truth and with a Perfect Heart and of having done that which is Good in his sight Set forth in several Discourses on Isaiah 38. 2 3. Another Sermon on Isaiah 38. 4 5. And another on Jer. 6. 4. Three several Discourses on Rom. 9. 6. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect For they are not all Israel which are of Israel Two Discourses on Coloss 3. 1. and another on Acts 2. 11. The cause and cure of Divisions Or the way and means for all Christians to come to Unity The Great Useful and Blessed Duty of a Contentment Willingness and Desire to Die Set forth upon true and assured grounds Any of which aformentioned Books may be had at the Author 's Hired House in Ewers Street Southwark Advertisement THese are to give notice That I have several other Practical Sermons or Discourses of mine own Composing lying by me in Manuscript Which if they who have the Plenty or Competency of this World's Goods would According to their several Ability Acts 11. 29. Thus Consecrate some part of their gain and substance unto â—he Lord Micah 4. 13. So as to be ready to distribute and willing to Communicate towards the outward Labour and Charge of the Printing and Publishing of them it would be for the Glory of God in making known his Truth Isa 38. 19. And for the Edification and Benefit of his Church and People and consequently it would be a Good work in such Persons who shall be helpful and any ways assistant herein for which they would be rewarded by God in the Life that is to come And I say unto you Make to your selves Friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into Everlasting Habitations Luke 16. 9. Charge them that are rich in this World that they do Good that they be Rich in Good Works ready to Distribute willing to Communicate laying up in Store for themselves a good Foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6. 17. 18. 19. This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain Good Works these things are Good and Profitablsi unto Men Titus 3. 8.
that all the Wo's or Threatnings denounced in Scripture are therefore made known to the Inhabitants of the Earth in order that they may take warning and avoid that same Wo or Threatning Thus Saith the Lord Behold I Frame evil against you and devise a device against you Here is the Threatning but immediately the way is shewn how the same may be avoided Return ye now every one from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good Jer. 18. 11. I shall therefore again endeavour to shew from the Scriptures and from the truth of things how our Life and Conversation may be so ordered aright that the Salvation of God may be shewn unto us and then though our Life goeth away yet we shall avoid the Wo that it will not belong unto us Can any matter be more useful and comfortable than this last wherefore it is worthy of all acceptation and attention even from the people of the World as well as from Believers For it is not a going after vain things that cannot profit nor deliver â—or they are vain But Christ the Eternal word and the words of his truth do profit and deliver from the evil day and from the wrath to come As to the first thing proposed to be spoken unto As Baruch did say Wo is me now for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow So here some people may be apt to think Wo unto us Mortal Creatures We do not care to hear much of this for this will be to add grief to our sorrow We are so sensible of it already that we would not have it yet made more sensible and afflicting by more doleful words concerning it There is no need to rub up an old sore which doth Pain and Ake already But here to pursue the same similitude it is good and sometimes necessary to launce a sore in order to the cure of it So likewise the very same stands in the Nature and connexion of things It is good to know the very worst of things if we would have them be remedied and made better As so is our case and subject in hand to which the thread of our following discourse may lead and shew It may be affirmed That all the Grief and Sorrow which we have in this World doth tend or relate unto this ground thereof how that our life goeth away Though it be deemed at first to proceed forth from some other outward cause yet it may be brought back to this original cause such or such People are therefore Melancholy Sorrowful or Troubled because the day of their life goeth away For as life is the first thing loved and desired because by it we are rendred capable to relish and enjoy all other things So it is proportionable Grief and Vexation in the Creature to think that at length it must part there withall This is the sting of Poverty which is esteemed the worst of outward evils for it is of longest duration and commonly extending throughout ones life for a thought of unbelief doth arise in the heart as if this vain fugitive life which is as a vapour and continueth not was our all And thereupon is unexpressible Grief and Vexation that here we should have our evil things and not our good things also as well as others Especially when the language of unbelief whispers farther that they are but once to be had for all But here again let the full assurance of Faith once come in concerning that future and endless life wherein it shall be said and fulfilled as to this than past life Son remember that thou in thy life time received'st thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is Comforted and thou art Tormented This same consideration and knowledge before hand will make it both tolerable and easy to receive evil things here and also to be fearful of receiving good things for so it is esteemed and called by the people of the World the immoderate use of Corn and Wine Again To go unto other instances This same is the thing which makes sickly People or who are in declining or old Age so Fretful Waspish and Froward or Envious The same is likewise observed of deformed or crooked people as also of old Maidens who are not given to Marriage And so it is of Eunuchs or insufficient People For in these and alike cases The eyes of all look unto thee The thoughts of the hearts of these Creatures who find themselves miserable and defective in some one thing are towards their invisible Creator And a reasoning doth arise within them which doth terminate in secret indignation and vexation Why shouldst thou not make me as happy and compleat or do the same for me as for my fellow Creatures These thoughts should be silenced again with the consideration of God's absolute sovereignty Hath not the Potter power of the Clay to make one vessel to Honour and another to dishonour God is glorified in the several variety of his works He may do what he will with his own and who may say unto him what dost thou We should shew our selves contented and patient and thus glorify him however he hath formed us Neither let the Son of the stranger that hath joyned himself to the Lord speak saying The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people Neither let the Eunuch say Behold I am a dry Tree In both these sayings of theirs there is an inward repining because they are not made and placed in the same advantages and priviledges and capable to enjoy the same delights with their other fellow Creatures But what saith the answer of God their Creator unto them For thus saith the Lord unto the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and take hold of my Covenant even unto them will I give in my house a place and a name better than of Sons and of Daughters I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off Also the Sons of the stranger that joyn themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to be his Servants Every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of my Covenant Even them will I bring to my Holy Mountain and make them joyful in my House of prayer Their Burntofferings and their Sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine Altar Isa 56. 3 4 5 6 7 Here the Blessing and Promise is proportioned yea it is more than equivalent to what they complained of and murmured at But from hence we may learn that whatever our failure is of the common accomplishments and endowments of humane Nature and in whatsoever we come short of the rest of our Brethren which they have and we have not here let us be sure to serve God and be obedient unto him which is expressed in all those apt phrases of the Holy Ghost That keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and take hold of my Covenant and
Wo pronounced against or doth belong to every Sin Iniquity Transgression Disobedience or any manner of evil As appears both from the old Testament and the New In both which we find this word Wo spoken forth against them and where it is not spoken forth in express words Nevertheless it may be understood that it doth appertain thereunto For the word of God spoken or written is stedfast and every disobedience and transgression receiveth a just recompence of reward As aforesaid that all trouble grief or such like dotâ— hence arise because our life goeth away So likewisâ— our sorrow may be reduced and brought back to thiâ— original cause Because we have sinned Both thesâ— observations agree and meet together in one The matter truly is this We are sorrowful because we havâ— sinned and we are sorrowful because our Life goetâ— away For we are afraid that a Punishment which wiâ—â— make miserable will be inflicted on us for the samâ— sin after this present Life which is now going away shall be ended Now the Decree Justice and Will of God stands on thâ—â— wise Sin committed must have its Punishment to bâ— inflicted unless the same sin is pardoned Hence thâ— Soul is in continued fear and doubt until she hath thâ— Reconciliation of God Until she hath his Voice anâ— Spirit witnessing from within her self Son or Daughter be of good chear Thy sins are forgiven thee Again seeing that we have all sinned and are worthâ— of punishment after this life shall be ended here wâ— should cry mightily unto God and offer up strong cryinâ— with tears in these days of our flesh that we may be hearâ— in that we fear before him And like our Father Jacoâ— wrestle with God in effectual fervent and continueâ— Prayer until the breaking of the day of immortality And be yet more earnest and importunate with God by how much the nearer it is to the day breaking 〈◊〉 as the Soul is yet nearer breaking forth out of the shelâ— of the Body into the World to come the place of â—ternal and unchangeable light And we will not let Goâ— go except he Bless us with the Blessing which the Lorâ— hath commanded even life for evermore Immediatelâ— after this life which is as a vapour and continuet not shall be ended Saith Job to God I have sinned What shall I do to thâ—â— O thou preserver of Men Why hast thou set me as â— mark against thee so that I am a burden to my self Chaâ— 7. v. 20. This last confirms the truth of what waâ— just now spoken That sorrow is because of sin anâ— as a consequent thereunto for therefore it was because Job had sinned he was a burden to himself The verse immediately following doth shew and intimate that there is sorrow and fear in the Soul for want of forgiveness of sins as appears from this Pathetical and earnestly desired question or rather it is a kind of expostulation in Prayer And why dost thou not pardon my Transgression and take away mine Iniquity For now shall I sleep in the dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning and I shall not be If we were sure that God would do thus we could as contentedly and without fear lye down in the Grave as in a bed of Roses or Violets or as we take our common rest by Night which the Holy Ghost doth give us here to understand by this phrase I shall sleep in the dust Now there is nothing of dreadfulness or evil in sleep The Scripture is all along consonant and agreeable to it self in every thing especially in this truth how that the sting of Death is sin So that it would be neither dreadful nor evil if this same sting was plucked out or what is equivalenta and tantamount thereunto if this same sin was pardoned and taken away Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith your God Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem In the margent there it is speak to the heart And cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned Isa 40. 1 2. In these words again the word of consolation is contained her iniquity is pardoned For I do hereby appeal to the conscience of all those who shall hear or read these words whither this is not speaking comfortably to ye or speaking to your heart that is what answers to your hearts desire and wish to have assurance that now thine and my warfare here on Earth doth draw so very nigh to be accomplished that here we have our iniquity pardoned If the Lord grant me this my request as the same is my daily Prayer I would I could truly say my constant endeavour was so likewise as is hereafter explained I know not what I could desire better on this side of Heaven For if my iniquity is pardoned then that thing is taken away which only hinders any ones entrance into Heaven As touching whither our iniquity be pardoned or not is the chiefest fear and trouble to knowing people and believers which they have when they do walk softly all the residue of their years in the bitterness of their Soul The Scripture token and evidence whereby we may know vvhither our past iniquity is pardoned or not is according as vve are cleansed from all unrighteouness for the time to come If he that giveth strength and power unto his people Psal 68. 35. Doth give Strength and Povver to abstain from the like for the future Thus much is gathered from that of the Apostle If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1. 9. This Scripture is not to be taken piece meal but all together So that according as any one is cleansed srom all unrighteousness That is cleansed from every thing vvhich is contrary unto or different from that great and compleat Rule of Righteousness This is a sure token that thy sins are forgiven thee And also when the Prophet Isaiah saith That the iniquity of Jerusalem is pardoned for she hath received of the Lord's hands double for all her sins Hence it may be reasoned and concluded in the like manner We are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the World 1 Cor. 11. 32. When we have afflictions and troubles hereby God doth punish us in this World for our sins that we may be spared in the World to come This also is some comfortable euidence that our iniquity is pardoned For as the Apostle saith Some Men's sins are open before hand going before to Judgment and some Men's sins follow after 1 Tin 5. 24. So the sins of some people are punished in this World that they may not be punished after the day of Judgment So the punishment of the sins of other people is respited and forborn in this Life but deferred until and to be executed after the day of Judgment If we endure more chastening and trouble than others who are greater sinners than
our selves The Judge of all the Earth will do right so that Most certainly we shall fare better than they in the World that is to come From the things that have been spoken it appears That the way whereby we may avoid the Wo denounced against us upon the account of the day of our life going away is to do these three things especially First Be sure to finish that Work which God sent thee on this Earth for to do Secondly Stand in aw and sin not and abstain from all appearance of evil Thirdly Pray without ceasing unto God and labour earnestly to get all thy past Sins Iniquities and Transgressions pardoned And take it for a general rule besides to be followed and observed That whatever Trouble sorrow Melancholy fear or such like doth arise in thy mind there endeavour to know the true cause thereof And then take away the cause and the effect ceaseth Be sure to answer all the requirings of God in thee Turn you at my reproof Prov 1. 23. That is at the reproof of God in thy Soul and Conscience whither the Lord be upon thee with a still voice in the gentle motions and dictates of his Spirit or if he doth Instruct thee with a strong hand that thou shouldst not walk in the way of this people That thou shouldst not do such a thing or such a thing In all these or alike cases Do not turn away thy Ear nor yet ' be Rebellious For this Life is the time of tryal and the day of Temptation in the Wilderness wherein God doth prove thee whither thou wilt keep his Commandments or not There is a Wo pronounced or else implyed if thou shouldest turn away the Ear or be Rebellious Which same Wo though it is now in word only yet after the day of this life is gone will fall down upon thee in Punishment and Misery The Wo or Threatning of God is of the like Nature with that flying roll or curse that goeth forth over the face of â—he whole Earth For every one that stealeth shall be cut off as â—n this side according to it and every one that sweareth shall â—e cut off as on that side according to it Zech. 5. 2 3. Here the flying roll and curse is said to go forth over the face of the whole Earth That is for the present little time between It doth hover somewhat above them and it doth not pitch But at length it will light upon the hairy scalp of the sinner and it shall be done unto him according to the same flying roll curse or threatning when God shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his Trespasses If we did live in Righteousness and Holiness before him all the days of our life we might serve God without fear as may be understood from Luke 1 74. 75. But as long as there is Fear Trouble Sorrow and a certain forebode or fearful expectation of a Wo to come we should do well to take heed 2 Pet. 1. 19. unto these as they may be Perceivable in our hearts for all these do give notice and warning of some real future Evils to which they do relate Nay yet further As saith the Apostle I know nothing by my self yet I am not hereby justified So when we comâ— to know nothing of Trouble Fear or Misery as to futurity and our Heart upon the utmost search and examination and enquiring diligently as to these thingâ— to come doth not meditate terrour as very few do comâ— up to this state yet still even here we should not livâ— securely nor over confidently but according to thâ— counsel of the Spirit of God who knoweth all things Pass the time of our sojourning here in fear And work oâ— our Salvation with fear and trembling But then here agaiâ— is a great difference between a fear which excites caution and care and another fear which hath Torment anâ— gendreth bondage as is the case of those who haâ—â— not a well grounded hope It is the mind of the most high God that his Seâ—vants as long as they are on this Earth should be keâ—â— in a Low Trembling and Dependant state and coâ—dition Accordingly we Read in the Scriptures Thâ—â— the best Saints have been most fearful and apprehensive partly of the Judgments Wrath and Indignation of Goâ— as also what is consequent to that of their own futuâ—â— state and condition When I heard my Belly tremblâ— my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entred into my bones and I trembled in my self that I might have rest in the day of trouble when he cometh up unto the people he will invade me with his troups Hab. 3. 16. For if when the Lord appeared on mount Sinah by his Angel only so terrible was the sight that Moses one of his best Servants and favourites Said I exceedingly fear and quake Much more shall we exceedingly fear and quake just as our Soul is taking flight into the invisible World where we shall come nearer unto and have a much more sensible and lasting apprehension of the great God himself then ever the Israelites had of the presence of his Angel on Mount Sinah The Lord shall judge his people It is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God Which yet we must all do Unto thee shall all flesh come And when the Lord shall Judge his People even his own Saints and Servants by reason of the exceeding strictness thereof will have fears arising in their hearts also And enter not into Judgment with thy Servant for in thy sight shall no Man living be justified Psal 143. 2. A Wo being pronounced against us indefinitely in the Text for the day goeth away this reaches and extends to the House of God even his Children and Servants For the time is come that Judgment must begin at the House of God and if it first begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God And if the Righteous scarcely be saved wher shall the ungodly and sinner appear 1 Pet. 4. 17 18. The result of the whole is The Spirit of the Lord doth speak and his word is gone out indefinitely Wo unto us for the day goeth away Therefore all we dying Creatures should go softly all our years in the bitterness of our Soul We should be in a very low and trembling condition and wait all the days of our appointed time till our change come Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man Luke 21. 36. Do your utmost diligence that ye may be accounted worthy to escape that Wo which is pronounced For the day goeth away for the shadows of the evening are stretched out I shall now wind up the foregoing Discourse with these two practical uses and inferences The first use is of Warning The second
that we wâ—â—â— rejoyce in thy Salvation and in the name of our God 〈◊〉 will set up our banners even when we have scaled anâ— are ascended up into the Kingdom of Heaveâ— Which from the days of John the Baptist Suffereth viâ—lence and the violent take it by force He that overcometh I will his God and he shall be my Son And yâ—â— ought in the mean while to praise our God for giviâ—â— unto us exceeding great and precious promises For aâ—fording us the means of grace and for the hope Glory and for putting us into a possibility of seekinâ— now and at last of obtaining those great and gloriâ—â—â— things that are spoken of thee O City of God Amidst all the castings down and disquietudes Soul Under all the thoughts which trouble us 〈◊〉 should go on still in the way of Duty with this Faith and assurance I shall yet praise God Though perhaps the affliction is so sore and the disappointment so vexatious that we are tempted in heart in like manner as Job's Wife did him curse God and die We may beat back and answer the temptation with a like saying of his Thou speakest as one of the foolish Women speaketh For this would be the utmost folly that can be if we should go the way and do those things to be miserable here and miserable hereafter also as that would be if we â—hould curse him whom we ought to praise What if we do now receive evil at the hand of God nothing â—s so sure as that we shall receive good at the latter and provided that like unto his Servant Job we do not sin in the mean while nor yet charge God foolishly I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God This thing health of my countenance is a relative term and doth answer unto and presuppose some sickness of Body or Mind which the Psalmist in probability was than under As sickness of Body is a forerunner of dying and Death the Subsequent word My God contains in it life for evermore For the same Creator that gave life at first will again renew and restore it Who turneth Man to Destruction will say return ye Children of Men. Herein he doth take care of and provide against the evil of Mortality Corruption and Dissolution The same God who is a very present help in the time of trouble is also all things sutable and proportionable to the several needs and requirings of his Creatures For thou hast been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in his distress a refuge from the storm and a shadow from the heat Now what is more proper and sutable under scorching neat than to get into the shade and so when a storm beats upon us to get somewhat for refuge from it As it is written And when all things shall be subdued unto him than shall also the Son himself be Subject to him that put all things under him that God may be all in all So in the future state God will be all in all towards the making up the persection and happiness of his Creatures That he shall not be ashamed to be called their God By Providing for and securing unto them things worthy of so great and good a God and as much as a Creature can receive Behold what a mighty word of consolation is here As also it is a most quickening Exhortation to enforce that of the Apostle What manner of persons ought ye to be in all Holy conversation and Godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God that ye may get the favour and love of God whilst ye are yet in the way But if these things are so as most certainly they are then some may be apt to put me in mind of my Text and ask how it comes to pass that a wo is pronounced for the day goeth away Which going away of the day doth set us yet nearer to these happy things Might it not be more properly said instead of that Wo pronounced Blessed and Happy it is for us that the day goeth away And truly because of that vanity and vexation of Spirit which is in all things under the Sun Because of that Tediousness and Irksomeness of life because of that finall variety of all the things below and it is all but almost the same thing over and over again In my thinking it would be Wo unto us if the day did not go away For we should be even weary and not able to abide here for ever if we might abide so in this state and as things now are But the answer to the former part of this objection may be had by discoursing on our second Proposition viz. Because that all the Wo's and Threatnings denounced in Scripture are therefore made known unto the Inhabitants of Earth in order that they may take warning and avoid that same Wo or Threatning we are to learn from the Scriptures and from out of the truth oâ— things how our conversation may be so ordered aright that the Salvation of God may be shewn unto us And then though our life goeth away we shall avoid the Wo that it will not belong unto us This is most certain that a Wo doth belong unto us and will at last fall down upon our head to our endâ—ess confusion and misery if we do not finish that work which God our Creator sent us severally on this this Earth for to do Said Jesus the forerunner who is entred before us into the vail I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work I have glorified thee on the Earth I â—ave finished the work which thou gavest me to do Christ's work was laying the foundation for all to build on He finished the Work which God gave him to do And so every Soul should Work out that which he hath wrought and accomplished for us Which same Work is to be done in this life that being the accepted â—ime for the Night or darkness of Death draws on and there is No work nor devise nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest And therefore if we neglect to finish that Work Wo unto us for the day goeth away for the shadows of the Evening are stretched out The Son of Man hath given to every Man his work and commanded the Porter to watch So that of necessary consequence there must be a Wo if that time should slip away and the same Work is not done for which that same time was originally set out and intended There is the same rule of contraries And seeing that the Scripture pronounces that Servant blessed whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Then on the other hand that Servant or rather idle Person is cursed and a Wo is unto him if the Lord when he cometh shall not find him so doing but loytering or doing that which is sinful or evil There is a