to you all the Aâ—mour of God that you may resist the battery of this worst of Satans Engines and defeat the most dangerous of all his stratagems to involve you in Procrastination by giving up your selves speedyly to God and Christ according to what ever convictions have been upon you that you ought and resolutions that you would so do and be ready quickly I would add no more did not one word remain which may seem fit to clinch and rivet that Nail I have been forcing home with so many blows And I shall take it out of your own mouths Methinks I hear some say why so many Arguments in so clear a case and others ready to make the number occasion of their laughter and others 't was good if it had not been so long but it was cruel tedious Well be it so admit it had been delivered at this length which yet by the way it was not let me in cool blood debate the case with these Objectors before we part Is the case so clear in thy opinion that 't is superfluous to multiply Arguments to prove it Out of thy own mouth shalt thou be judged thou sloathful servant Why dost thou continue to Rebel against thy light Why dost thou still delay That 's enough which doth the work it is designed to but that 's too little which doth it not The Motives may be enough to leave thee inexcusable but they are not enow for thee till they effectually persuade thee to leave thy sin and escape thy danger And for the next must I bear your petulent scorn for remembring you of returning to God with such a number and shall it cost you nothing to forget him days without number Do you now laugh because the Motives are so many And what will you do when God shall laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh because these many were too few to make you take warning To make you wise to prevent them and escape them Is it so tedious to you to hear your sins Arraigned and Condemned a long hour And what is it to God to be dishonoured and provoked by them all thy life long Is it a load which breaks the back of thy Patience to hear Motives multiplyed to turn thee Speedily And is it no dangerous tryal of Gods Patience to load him with thy multiplyed sins as a Cart is loaden with Sheaves and pressed down If it be wearisome to hear thy sins reproved How much more Just is Gods complaint They have wearied me with iniquities and made me serve with their sins In a word if I have been thought long in calling you to turn to God how long doth God think your refusing to return And how tedious will it be to bear the eternal reproaches of thy own heart and lashes of thy own enraged Conscience for that refusal Which nothing can exempt thee from but taking the Councel I have so plainly given Consider what I have said and the Lord give us understandings and hearts to close with it that when ever Christ comes He may find us Ready Amen A DISCOURSE Shewing the Sinfulness and Danger of Putting-off our Great WORK BEING The Substance of a Sermon deliver'd at the Funeral of Mr. David Geer at St. Botolph's Aldgate Upon St. JOHN ix.iv. I must work the Works of Him that sent me while it is Day The Night cometh when no Man can work THis Chapter contains the History of one of the chief Miracles which our Blessed Saviour wrought whil'st He was in this World That is His opening the Eyes of the Man which was born Blind And it is Recorded more largely than any of his wonderful Works except his Raising Lazarus from the Dead for it fills a whole long Chapter to declare the Occasion of it the Work it self and what followed upon it and affords Matter of so many useful and choyce Observations 't is some difficulty to pass them by For it did not only Confirm his Mission and Doctrine to be from God but the very Miracle it self was Doctrinal the Man 's being born Blind figuring that Spiritual Blindness under which we are all Born and Christ's Healing him and the Manner of it shewing from whence we must expect the true Eye-Salve But I must confine my self to what the present Solemn Occasion directly minds us of The Words I have read were pronounced by our Lord as an Introduction to the Work when he address'd himself to the Performance of it and discover his Faithful Obedience and Excellent Wisdom in improving the Seasons for fulfilling the Works his Father sent him into this World for And commend to us a Truth of general Use and universal Obligation tho our Lord vouchsafes to apply it to Himself in this particular Case I confess the Words have not the Form of a Precept but they have the Force yea more than the Force of a single Command press the Duty more Home than if it had been said expresly Work while it is Day For First They are an Example given in the Person of him whom we are bound to imitate and follow whose Works are Vocal and whose Actions are our Instructions He being the Son of God and our Lord and Master saying I must work 't is as if a Son in the Family should say to the Servants or a Wealthy fore-handed Man to his poor Neighbours who have nothing but their Hands to Live on What ever you do I must mind my Business I must labour and not squander away one Day after another my Father will not suffer it in me and I should quickly be undone by such a Course Such Words spoken in their own Persons are more awakening more pungent than if they only bid them mind their Business For they smartly and sarcastically reproach their Sloath and upbraid them for their Loytering For if the Master of the Family will not bear it in a Son much less will he in a Servant and if he that 's well before-hand must be industrious to prevent Poverty and Want much more must he that hath but from Hand to Mouth But the quickning Influence of the Example is not all For Secondly The Reason by which it is inforced shews it extends to many For when He had said I must work c. while 't is Day when he comes to give the Reason of it he saith not The Night cometh when I can't work but When no Man can work 't is St. Chrysostome's Note thereby clearly implying that the Duty reaches all whom the Reason of the Duty reaches and amounts to thus much That every Man who hath Work to do which must be done by Day and cannot be done by Night must hasten to dispatch it while the Day lasts lest he be surprized and prevented by the Nights Approach Having thus briefly clear'd my Passage to what I design by shewing that the Words tho spoken by our Lord of Himself yet are fairly Applicable unto others and may have Efficacious Influence both upon
which are written for our Admonition and are as Glasses in which we may see what to expect These were our Examples to the Intent we should not lust after Evil Things as they also lusted 1 Cor. 10 6 nor be Idolaters nor Commit Fornication nor Tempt Christ nor Murmur nor do the Devil's Work in any kind nor neglect God's Work in any degree taking heed lest that God who spared not them spare not us Nay concluding that He who is Impartial and no Respecter of Persons will not spare us but if we sin like them we shall suffer like them And on the other side let us be Encouraged by the Happy Issue of Good Men's Industry and Faithfulness To shew the same Diligence to the full Assurance of Hope unto the End and Not to be sloathful but Followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Heb. 6.11 12. knowing that our Labour shall be no more in vain than theirs was But if we walk in the same Path it will lead us to the same End and if we mind God's Work as they did we shall be Rewarded as they were Lastly The Prayers Recorded in the Scriptures which make a greater Part of it than is commonly taken Notice of have most of them a direct Aspect upon this Work either to beg Opportunities for doing of it One thing have I desired of the Lord That I may dwell in the House of the Lord for ever to behold His Beauty and to enquire in His Temple When shall I appear in the Presence of God! My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord My Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the Living God A Day in thy Court is better than a Thousand I had rather be a Door-Keeper in the House of my God c. Or for Grace and Help to do it Teach me to do thy Will O my God Teach me thy Statutes Incline my Heart to thy Testimonies Lead me in the Way Everlasting Or for a gracious Acceptance of our Endeavours about it Let my Prayer come up as Incense and let the Lifting up my Hands be as a Morning-Sacrifice Acceptable in thy Sight Or Lastly For Pardon of our Neglects and the Imperfections which cleave to us in performing of our VVork The Good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his Heart to seek God the Lord God of his Fathers though he be not Cleansed according to the Purification of the Sanctuary But What need I glance at any other Instances when of the Six Petitions of that most Incomparable Prayer which our Lord Himself hath taught us Five of them look directly this way Much of our Work consists in Prayer and Prayer is to influence all the rest of our Work And as our Prayer must be Fervent Effectual a Working Prayâ—r a Wrestling with God so must we pray that all the rest of our Work may be That we be not Sloathful in Business but Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. Thus you see that one Principle End for which the Holy Bible was written was to quicken and provoke us to Diligence in this Work of God Which Consideration alone might if improved as it ought be a Spur a Goad in our sides sufficient to excite us and might save the pains of adding more Motives Yet I shall subjoyn them briefly and with them shut up this whole Discourse The Motives to provoke our Diligence in this Work which occur obviously are so many 't is hard to couch them together in the Conclusion of a Discourse I shall propound some and must be forced to omit and pass by many And though I pretend not to Exactness yet to avoid being confused I shall draw them from some distinct Heads First The Nature of the Work calls for it as being the best Work and deserves the most Necessary and requires very Difficult and needs yet very Possible and therefore encourages our utmost Diligence The Motives to be drawn from these might be made appear very Forceable but I forbear to urge them further because they have been in some Measure toucht before Secondly The Nature of Diligence may allure and move us to it As we say of Virtue It is its own Reward so may we say of Diligence It contains Incentives to it in it self As living Things move by an Innate Principle as heavy Things sink downwards by their own Weight and the Fire ascends by its own Lightness so Diligence may make Men Diligent for its own sake it is attended with so many Commendable Properties Hear what the Scripture saith of it in general The Hand of the Diligent shall bear Rule Prov. 12.24 To which agrees the Greek Proverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things are made its Servants The Hand of the Diligent maketh Rich Prov. 10.4 Diligentia factitia fortuna Diligence is an Artificial Good Fortune Vnica Naturae Fortunae victrix Two things are most hardly vanquisht Nature and Ill Luck yet Diligence will Conquer both The Reluctances of Nature and the cross Accidents of Bad Fortune The Soul of the Diligent shall be made Fat Prov. 13.4 The Thoughts of the Diligent tend only to Plenteousness Prov. 21.5 Seest thou a Man Diligent in his Business he shall stand before Kings he shall not stand before Mean Men Prov. 22.29 In particular There are Three Motives to be drawn from the Excellency of Diligence to make us fall in Love with it and to excite us to it viz. the Consideration of what it is 1. To our selves 2. To others 3. To God First Be Diligent in this Work for it will be very Comfortable it will yield you the sweetest Peace of Conscience There is nothing under Heaven a Man had need be so careful to please as his own Conscience or that he should revere and stand in so great awe of Now the Man who loves the Peace or is afraid of the Disquiet of his own Conscience had need be Diligent Hear what St. Paul saith of it 2 Cor. 1.12 This is our Rejoycing the Testimony of our Conscience That in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity we have had our Conversation in this World And let me tell you Diligence and Faithfulness in the Work of God is the only Thing upon which Peace and inward Comfort do depend and from which it ariseth Oh the sweet Reflections that follow the Remembrance of it Yea disappointed Diligence will yield more Peace than successful Sloath For our Comfort dependeth upon what belongs to our selves not upon what is without us and beyond our Power Duty and Diligence that 's our part Success and to give Attainment that 's God's part And 't is the Conscience of discharged Duty which yields us Comfort If it were possible for such an one to go to Hell it would mitigate and ease the most stinging part of his Torment A Great Man us'd to say He despis'd all Glory for which he had not Laboured Laetius est quoties tibi magno constat honestum One Man who hath gain'd
easie to prevail with men to practise as 't is obvious to be discovered would alone save us or put a blessing upon what ever else might be innocently propounded to bring us unto safety and no good man need be afraid or ashamed to propound it and he must be a very bad man who will not be ashamed to reproach it or reject it And 't is what Christ gives to the Church of Laodicea Rev. iii. 19. Be zealous and repent 'T is that which St. John Baptist gave when wrath was coming apace and the Axe was laid to the Root of the Tree St. Matth. iii. 8. Bring forth fruits meet for repentance 'T is that which our present Parable suggests If it bear fruit Well this will cause an Arrest of Judgment this will procure the Repeal of the pronounced Sentence In what words shall I propound this Counsel with what Arguments may I so press it as to render it effectual with what Motives shall I inforce it that it may be prevalent I have many things to say when I come to apply the Parable personally to urge you to repent to save your souls And surely 't is a great word to save our Souls but may I not say 't is a greater word to save a Church to save our Religion in which and by which our Souls must be saved and thousands and millions of Souls may be saved if that be saved and may humanely speaking be lost for ever if true Religion be lost and if it be lost by our default where shall the loss of all those souls be charged How warmly how Pathetically doth the great Apostle warn his dear Timothy in this affair in a case of like concernment And how doth he reiterate the charge to make all sure O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust 1 Tim. vi 20. And 2 Tim. i. 13 14. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love And That good thing which was committed to thee keep by the holy Ghost And he must transmit to others what was committed unto him 2 Tim. ii 2. The things which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also We owe to Posterity what we received from our Progenitours He leaves his name as a blot nay as a curse to his descendents who intercepts and robs them of the Care and Providence and noble acquisitions of their common Ancestours And he deserves in the Prophets Phrase to be esteemed the Tayl and not the Head whose Lusts cut off what the Wisdom and Industry of great Grand-Fathers intayled of late and far removed Nephews for support and Honour And how shall we answer it to God our Consciences and the succeeding Ages If we sin away that Holy Truth that excellent Religion which God vouchsafed to Plant in this Nation with his own Right Hand and those from whom we had our lives transmitted to us verdant and flourishing being watered by their Pious Tears and fatned with their dearest Blood A Religion not patcht up of cunningly devised Fables nor devised by cunning men to gratifie their Lusts and serve their base and worldly Interests But the Everlasting Gospel brought by the Eternal Son from the bosom of him who is Truth it self and the Fountain of it and adapted to the promoting of his Glory and the true Interest of Souls the repairing and restoring them to their highest perfection Conformity to the Divine Image participation of the Divine Nature and full and endless injoyment of God A Religion founded upon the Prophets and Apostles having Jesus Christ for the chief Corner-Stone A Religion that dare bear the test of the true Lydian-Stone The Law and Testimony because it is not conscious to it self of any counterfeit metal stampt and imposed on unwary minds by its Authority to pass for good Coyn and currant mony A Religion which takes not away the Key of knowledg nor deprives its Children of the Scriptures the only Records of Divine Truth and Rule that God hath given mankind of Faith and Manners That cryes not up Ignorance for the Mother of Devotion seeing Solomon hath told us that without knowledg the heart cannot be good And a greater than Solomon That life eternal is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent And one of his Apostles hath informed us that The new man is renewed in knowledg and another hath described the Beasts Kingdom by its being full of Darkness And our Lord in the beginning of his Ministry laid down this early Aphorism to direct his Followers to distinguish betwixt Truth and Falsehood the way of Salvation and condemnation John iii. 19 20 21. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil For every one that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God A Religion that blots out none of Gods Commandments for fear the very Children should drink in with their Catechism an Antidote against that gross Idolatry which diffuses it self through more than half the Worship they are called to practise all their lives A Religion which directs your Prayers to him whose title is A God hearing Prayer and your Worship to him to whom alone it appertains and whom only we must serve if either Moses or Christ are to be believed in such matters And that teaches you to Pray to him in his name whom Saint Paul calls the One Mediatour betwixt God and Man being both in his own person A Religion that allows you to serve this God with reasonable service as becomes reasonable Creatures Praying with your Spirits and your Vnderstandings not like Pyes or Parrots not with noise and sounds of a Language you understand not A Religion that delivers Christs Institutions as his Apostles received them from him not disguising a Sacrament appointed for the living into an expiatory Sacrifice for the dead nor bidding you Worship what Christ bid you eat Nor giving the lye to all your Sences your Reason and your Faith together For Gods word which is the object of our Faith calls it Bread most frequently after Consecration nor robbing you of one half the Cup with a non obstante that Christ Instituted and the Primitive Church Administred in both Kinds And so avowing their presumption with an impudence as villanous and hateful as their theft A Religion which hath no Mint-house to Coin new Articles of Faith or make that needful to be believed in order to Salvation this year which the year before and ever before that was never thought on A Religion which dares neither add nor detract from our Lords Will. Nor clap seven Seals to that Testament to which he annexed but two Labels A Religion which will