duty Latet ultimus dies ut observentur omnes the last day is not known that everyday might be observed An accus'd Malefactor is not sollicitous concerning the hour wherein the Iudge comes to Town but concerning what friends he shall engage what desence he shall make at his trial Thus it concerns us not to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put Act. 1. 7. in his own power to secure Christ as our Advocate his merits as our Plea to watch that our Oyle be not to Buy when it should be to Mat. 25. Burn. It was a good answer of a sage Father that a day before death was time enough to Repent but a better question on second thoughts of the youg gallant Oh Sir how shall I know when I shall die Nay said the Father that may be presently Hoise therefore your Sails while the wind serves VVatch for ye know not the hour wherein the Lord cometh Secondly the time of that day will be suddain § 5 it comes ere 't is thought on v. 44. in such an hour as you think not the son of man cometh We are not Freeholders in these houses of Clay but Tennants at will at best Tennants for Life Three Lives are no long term our's is shorter it 's but for one Life and what a Bubble what a Puff what a VVink is that Life Plos Fabula Foenum Vmbra cinis punctum vox sonus aura nihil A thousand years are to God but as one day 2. Pet. 3. 8. and the longest liv'd Methuselah reached Gen. 5. 27 not the length of this day Immediately after the Floud this day was contracted one half Eber liv'd longest yet came short of Five hundred Gen. 10. 16. 17. v. 18. 19. In the next age another half Peleg reach'd not Three hundred Iacob not two Gen. 47. 9. And in Moses time the cloth shrunke up to seventy years and what was more then this was but a course list Labor and Sorrow Psal 90. 18. VVe compute the life of a man to be seven years and seven years all men will grant are not many but suppose we did live many years yet many years are no long life for though we are apt to misjudge them long before hand because we desire to live them yet when once they are past and transacted how short do we find them Salomon assignes a time to be born and a time to die none to Eccl. 3. 2. live as if our VVinding-sheets were laid in our Cradles or our Cradles rock'd in our graves Scilicet ex illâ quâ primum nascimur horâ Prorepunt juncto vitaque morsque pede Certainly these Houses of Clay cannot be our Mansions both on a legal and physical accompt on the former because by Sin they are forfeited into the Lords hands thus death enters by Sin per removens prohibens On the latter because they are Earthly Tabernacles 2. Cor. 5. 1. 22 Ier. 29. Oh Earth Earth Earth mark thrice earth made of Earth maintain'd by Earth and anon turned into Earth Earth was the matter of our generation Earth is the matter of our augmentation Earth shall be the matter of our dissolution Sperma faetidum saccus stercorum cibus vermium a deal of froth a sack of filth and a gobbet for the grave Wherein as in a pitcht Feild heat cold draught and moisture are continually fighting and striving which should be master until at length one becomes praedominant and then the battle being ended each Element returns to his old home and how small a matter is great enough to end this battle it is a usual speech that a man may live of a little it is a certain truth that he may die of less The weapons of death are as many as the waves in the Sea Beasts in the field the tiles in the City yea as diseases in mans body the least of all these even a prick of a pin is sufficient to put an end to this battle when the Lord gives the charge 'T is easy to believe this of others hard of our selves and by so much more hard by how much the approach of death is more nigh In an hour which ye think not of your Lord cometh and therefore Thirdly That hour will come when least § 6 expected to come The weapon wherewith our first Parents were wounded was not dying 6. Gen. 4. but the broad point thereof dayly experience hath blunted wheresore Satan whets out another more contracted and no less deadly Ye shall not die this day or this week or this month or this year and thus concluding to the last period what doth he but retail that to us which he sold in gross to our first Parents for is not the total of all these parcels ye shall not die and are we not apt on this score to put off death farther by how much it cometh on faster thus 't is observed that Old men are most what most covetous when dying then most buisie how to live such was that fool in the Gospel a fool in grain as one cal's him who measured his years by his barnes and his life by his stores and thereon sang requiems to his own Soul but death comes and both puts a stop in his note and turns his longs and his larges into briefs and semibriefs Thou fool this night shall thy Soul be taken from thee Therefore 17. Luk. 20. be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the son of man cometh His coming is uncertain suddain unexpected In these respects that day is compared to the § 7 coming of a thief v. 43. Know this that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be broken up The coming of a thief is uncertain he gives no signals precedent Sudden he makes what speed he can Vnexpected the time he choses is that of deep sleep and security So you have heard is the day of the Lords coming To which we may add a fourth A thief comes not to break the house up and so be gone but to make whatever is portable to be his booty Thus death strips men of all their externals Of all our buildings it onely leaves us a tomb of all our lands onely a grave and of all our goods onely a Tablecloth for the worms We are here like Boys playing for counters which come and go one while the heap is on this side another while on that at length comes the Master and sweeps all away And alas how great losers will Great men then be if for nothing they must part with all Said I for nothing Surely if it be not for better it will be for worse For better it will be to the servants who keep on for worse to those who keep off this Watch. The Subjects and Adjuncts of both are described § 8 Of the former v.
bosom he rested had been a mighty Prince In Gods-house are both Rulers and Ruled 2. All in Gods house are not Rulers The question implies this VVho is that faithfull and wise Servant whom the Lord hath made Ruler The body of the Saints and them who have the rule are clearly distinguished Heb 13. 24. We are all Crabstocks by nature God grafts upon us what fruit he pleaseth On some one kind on others another If all were Rulers who should be Ruled 3. Such as are Rulers in the Lords house should be of Gods making The hand out of the Cloud must put on the Crown with this motto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à Deo coronatus What servant dates own him as a Steward whom the Master ordains not God hath set us our ranks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the breaking of them must cause confusion 4. Those who are made Rulers over us are Servants under God and are to serve God in their places as God hath plac'd them in his service If Rulers as Rulers serve not God God will not as Rulers own them That duty which God requires of us reacheth every capacity especially that of our spheres we are bound to serve God as others cannot serve him Rulers therefore as Rulers And indeed that we are in Gods service which we are in our proper places Rulers are called Gods as bearing Gods image Wherefore as God is Optimus Maximus so those who are like to God good in serving And this is the proper act of these Rulers they are to distribute to give The gifts and graces which Gods servants § 6 receive they receive to give To profit withall for edification As the Sun hath light a fountain water not onely by way of abundance but redundance And to him who thus hath shall be given As milk in the breast is Luke 8. 18. both more and better for being suckt That which these Rulers distribute is meat § 7 not poyson nor altogether sauce but meat Not what may infect or puff up the soul but feed it This food must not onely be good but proper § 8 What is one mans food is anothers poyson Vice may be nourish'd with the milk of virtue Each servant must have his own mess his proper portion demensum suum Prov. 30. 2. And herein lastly must Rulers over God's § 9 houshold observe time and season Though it be worse in them than any others to be time-servers and in that sense to turn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by ringing changes to the time Yet above all others is it required in them like these Heads of Issachar to know the times what Israel ought to do In a word Gods servants must do his service § 10 in a right manner faithfully wisely Faithfully as Rulers over his houshold giving his servants meat wisely giving meat proper in proper seasons VVho is that faithfull and wise servant whom the Lord hath made Ruler over his houshold to give them meat in due season Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing CHAP. V. The reward of Working aright Servants Friends and Children are distinct relatives § 1 among men but they meet in one and the same to God Such as are the Lord's Servants are his Friends such as are his Friends are his Children also And being his Children shall not miss their Childrens Portion Blessedness The first Sermon of Christ on the mount § 2 was filled with blessing so shall the last sentence on the bench He concludes as he begins The influence of this Sun of righteousness to his disciples in Virgo was and in Libra shall be Blessed 'T is the last Scene denominates the play in § 3 a Tragedy or Comedy Though the Children of God may tast blessedness now as Ionathan did honey on the top of the rod yet they shall not eat with a full hand till the Lord's coming The contract is made now but then shall the Marriage be consummated Blessed when the Lord cometh The Lord comes both to the good and ill Servants § 4 but to the good as a special messenger with a writ of ease to the ill as a Iaylor with a mittimus and in both warrants this clause ne omittas propter aliquam libertatem His coming to the evil is like the coming of an Husband provoaked to an Adulteress wife dreadful ungrateful To the good like the coming of a living Husband to a faithful spouse cheerful welcom The Lords servant loses nothing by death but what is better lost then kept Sin and misery He dies in life and therefore lives in death and is Blessed at the Lord 's coming Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Though there be nothing for the Lord 's § 5 Servants to pay the Lord hath done that to the utmost farthing yet is there somewhat for them to do Men and Brethren what 2. Acts. 37. shall we do to be saved God finds his doing and then gives the blessing Holiness goes before happiness And indeed were it possible for an unholy person to enter Heaven yet to him Heaven would not be Heaven For communion with God is not onely ungrateful but grievous to an unholy person and by so much more by how much more close and spiritual as appears in all ways of communion in grace And this communion with God is the Heaven of Heavens which to an unsanctified man would be rather a Hell then a Heaven Without holyness we cannot see God That Servant whom the Lord blesseth he finds so doing It is not ita fecisse so to have done but ita § 6 facientem so doing Perseverance is the Queen of graces Others may strive well but she alone shall be crowned Iudae laudantur exordia sed finis proditione damnatur Many who have blossom'd fairly at spring have been blasted before Gal. 5. 7. Harvest Ye did run well is no honour but I have finished my course Those are blessed 2. Tim. 4. 7. whom the Lord finds so doing Nor doth this order of blessing restrain Gods freeness in blessing for as he freely gives grace to do so he freely gives glory on doing Blessed is that servant whom the Lord finds so doing That servant The subject is one both of § 7 the duty and priviledge of doing and blessing The substance the same the accidents onely changed The garment the same onely new trimmed Blessed is that Servant that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing CHAP. VI. Application to the occasion THis whole Sermon in all its parts might be § 1 exemplified in his single instance whose Funeral we at present solemnize The harmony is full I shall touch and but touch a few strings First he was the Lords Servant and as a § 2 Servant in all his doings made his Lords will his rule his Lords glory his end 1. His Lords will his rule in sacred things
a Command that thou mayest eat thou must sweat which way soever we consider it these two are inseparably joyned sweating or working and eating Cain and Abel were Heirs apparant to the whole Earth yet the one a tiller of the ground the other a feeder of Cattle And Christ himself was Lord both of Heaven and Earth yet is he called not onely the Carpenters Son but the Carpenter It seems before he entered into Mark 6. 5. his publick Ministery he wrought at that Trade Though all Gentlemen are not bound to be Tradesmen yet all are the Lord's Servants and therefore bound in one kind or other in Church or State to do the Lord Service First Nothing is next to evil therefore the § 2 next way to do evil is to do nothing When the Devil finds the House empty swept and garnished 12. Mat. 44. he enters with seven worse Devils an House emptied by Idleness and garnished by Pride is as it were swept for the Devil It is therefore good advice to be still so emptyed that when the Devil tempts us to Sin we may be able to answer that we are not at leasure we have somewhat else to do Davids Idleness made way for Adultery Murther Blasphemy Secondly Even not doing provoketh God's § 3 wrath The evil Servant in the Gospell did 19. Luk. 20. not riotously mispend his Talent but wrapt it up and for that reason was rejected the Tree cut down as cumbring the ground not for 13. Luk. 7. bringing forth evil fruit but for not bringing forth good And that dreadful sentence depart ye cursed c. is grounded on Sins of omission 25. Mat. 4. not feeding not cloathing not visiting not doing Thirdly Our time of doing service for God § 4 is one of our moveables yea bonum periturum But by well-doing we shall make that fix'd which is fluide and settle that in effect with us which in it self flyeth from us Fourthly the Time of our doing is but short § 5 measured by a day an hour part of a day a moment part of an hour I cannot but weep sayes one when my Hour-Glass stands by me and I consider how slowly my work goeth on and how fast my time goes as fast as one grain of sand followeth another Subduct the time of Infancy Dotage and Sleep which are times of not doing the time spent in Sin which is ill doing and the time requisite for supply of the necessityes of Nature which is besides our main business that we are to do and how little time remains for us to do service for God Fifthly A great part of our short time is already § 6 mispent It may be we have lived 20. 30 or 40. years and what have we done for God all this time it concernes us now to make the best improvement of our Old Lease and to do much in that little time which remains Sixthly On this short time of doing hangs Eternity § 7 What time is Lost now will be Lost for ever doth it not then concern us to do that well which being once well-done will make us Men more then Men Angels more then Angels for ever doth it not corcern us so to imploy our time that we may eternally rejoyce so to have imployed it doth it not concern us to be doing and so doing that when the Lord cometh he may find us so doing CHAP. IIII. The manner of Our Work So run So fight So do One blemish in the § 1 face is enough to make it deformed One flaw in the grant invalid Malum ex quolibet defectu If the manner of doing be defective a great part yea the better part is wanting and therefore a deed done is in Gods account a deed not done where the manner of the doing answers not the matter of the deed 1. Cor. 11. 20. This is not to eat the Lord's-Supper Alas how many of these few good deeds which we score up to our selves to have done how many will shrink like Gideons Army at the great day of reckoning and prove good deeds not done Sermons not heard prayers not made Sacraments not received Almes not given in a word good deeds not done because not done in a right manner because not so done So referrs to the verse precedent and thence § 2 borrows light to discover its emphasis So i. e. faithfully wisely justly 1. The Lords servants must be faithfull in doing faithfull in Divinity and faithfull in morality faithfull in head and in heart as faithfulness is opposed to unsoundness in principles or heresie and as opposed to unsoundnes in practice or hypocrisie First as faithfulness is opposed to heresie All sin is damnable yet we find not this epithete in such sort affixed to any as heresie damnable heresie The leprosie 2 Peter 2. 1. of the head was under the Law reputed the worst Errors of judgment are not under the Gospel the least They are works of the flesh Galat. 5. 20 and shut out of heaven and if this be no little punishment neither are heresies peccadilloes or little sins The Lords faithfull servants hold fast the form of sound words in faith and contend 2 Tim. 1. 13. earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Jude 3. Saints Once delivered as Christ once died A new Creed supposes a new God and new Gods prove Old Devils New faiths old heresies The Lords servants must be faithfull as faithfulness is opposed to heresie And 2. As faithfulness is opposed to hypocrisy Hypocrites § 3 are the Devils first born Heirs to hell as their portion the portion of Hypocrites But sincerity is Christian perfection VValk before me and be thou perfect Compleatness is required in the Law sincerenefs accepted in the Gospell Gen. 17. 1. And where this is seen in Gods Servant even gross sins are past by unseen as in Asa 2. The Lords servants must be wise in doing § 4 service Wisdom is usually defined Scientia operandorum distributed into Ecclesiastical and Civil But the wisdom here spoken of is of another nature or rather Wisdom above nature VVisdom from above Not onely that Jam. 3. 17. auriga virtutum without which virtue is not virtue but sin even zeal without knowledg is but like fire in the thatch like swift horses without a skilfull wagoner But that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that complex of all virtue discovering to our cost the right mark happiness and directing the right ground and byas holiness This is Summa Summarum in one word Religion Be Psa 2. 10 11. 12. Eph. 3. 15. wise Serve the Lord. Kiss the Son Let us walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise Though this faithfulness and wisdom be § 5 necessarily required in all the Lords Servants yet more especially in them whom he hath made Stewards or Rulers over his houshold Many things are here considerable 1. Rule and Religion are not inconsistent Though Lazarus had been a begger yet Abraham in whose