of the fruits 39. Med. AT the end of the year when I received in the crop the fruits of the earth for which I had laboured and for which I had long waited I began to consider what a poor reward this is for all my labour if I must expect no more and what a sad condition poor labouring men are in that moil and toil and cark and care and have much ado for bread to eat and cloaths to put on and this is their all yea they run in arrears to God for this also and are like to be cast into prison for ever and yet we may see the folly of the most they take no care for any other riches but frame to themselves a poor pittifull happiness in these and are never like to have any pleasure here or hereafter but what they fancy to themselves in some sinfull vanity the receiving in of these fruits of the earth as the reward of my labour put me in minde of the reward which believers shall receive at the last day at the hand of God for all the labour toil and trouble they have had which will be a better recompense then the earth can give the husbandman for his pains let us not then be weary of well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not Gal. 6.9 he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting ver 8. he that cares only to feather his nest store up riches fit the back and fill the belly and lets the soul sink or swim he is like to have a miserable harvest but they that sow in tears shall reap in joy he that goeth forth weeping bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoycing bringing his sheaves with him Psal 126.5 6. Be patient therefore brethren saith the Apostle till the coming of the Lord behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits of the earth and hath long patience for it till he receiveth the early and the latter rain be you also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh Jam. 5.7 8. Now believers sow the seed and water it with their tears but it is not long before the reward comes behold I come quickly saith Christ and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be Rev. 22.12 hold out faith and patience saith the Martyr your work will presently be at an end hope holds up the husbandmans heart and may much more the Christians these things also put me in minde of the great harvest at the end of the world when the great husbandman shall send out his servants the angels to reap down his field and gather in his corn Mat. 13.38 the field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom the tares are the children of the wicked one the enemy that sows them is the devil the harvest is the end of the world the reapers are the angels as therefore the tares are gathered together and burnt in the fire so shall it be in the end of this world the day is coming that all shall be brought to judgment and the precious shall be seperated from the vile the good corn shall be brought into the barn but the tares are reserved for the fire the tares and the wheat may grow together in one field but shall never lodge together in the same barn for as the tares cannot well be weeded out which in the blade some say much resemble the wheat and is hardly known till the fruit appears so though God can discern the hypocrite from the sincere yet hypocrisy may be spun with so fine a thread that the best discerning Christian can hardly do it but the time is coming the angels shall know them and they are not to go into the same garner they must be bundled up for the fire when the wheat must be brought into Gods barn oh my soul what seed hast thou sown against that harvest hast thou sown to the flesh then of the flesh thou wilt reap corruption if to the spirit thou wilt of the spirit reap life everlasting what grain art thou art thou wheat or tares then maist thou know whether thou art to go to the fire or into the garner rest not satisfied till thou know that thou art wheat and neither with the tares bring forth bad fruit nor with the chaff fly away with the winde it is not enough to have a flourishing blade so the stony ground had and yet came to nothing it is not enough to make a profession of religion so the foolish virgins did they had lamps but no oyl a profession but no grace it is not enough to have talents but thou must improve them or thou wilt be sentenced to outer darkness it is not enough to grow in the same field be manured by the same hand heated by the same sun and watered with the same showers thus the tares were but there must be good feed well-rooted springing up and bearing fruit in thy heart thou maist live under the same Minister enjoy the same ordinance with the wheat and yet still be but a tare oh my God discover my self to my self and let me not be deceived by a cunning devil and a deceitful heart if I be a tare Lord let me know it ere it be too late that I may sow better seed in my field that I may be gathered into thy barn and not be bundled up with the tares for the fire let my heart bring forth good fruit fit for the basket good wheat fit for thy barn solid wheat that may not be blown away with the winde and much fruit that I may glorify thy name let me not sow to the flesh but to the spirit that I may not reap corruption but life everlasting let me not be deceived in so great a business as the salvation of my soul Upon the beating out of the seed 40. Med. WHen I had gathered in the seed and the fruits of the earth my next work was to make a separation the good from the bad for though some separation was already made and the weeds and other trash were cast out and left behinde yet still there were stalks and husks and chaff adhering to it to this end I threshed rubbed pounded or beat it out according as I saw occasion for I saw it would not out without some violence and that which was most stubborn and gave most resistance received most blows till at length my end was obtained and the separation made this put me in minde of the necessity of affliction how needful it was for the soul which is pestered more with chaff and rubbish then any corn can be though now saith the Apostle for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations c. 1 Pet. 1.6 when the heart grows too light God makes it heavy with manifold
part be not devoured by unprofitable dogs and besure the recreation thou useth be lawfull what is cruel and bloudy may be suspected let it be when true need is and to fit thee for thy general or particular calling oh my God give me wisdome that I may never delight in any thing that offends thee let me not make a mock of sin lest thou call me fool for my labour and laugh at my destruction and mock when my fear comes preserve me from my bloud thirsty enemies especialy from satan that hunts after my soul Upon the labour and pains men take about worldly things 47. Med. WHen I had wearied and almost spent my self in digging delving and moiling in the garden and had unfitted my self for better and more necessary employments I began at last to check my self for it and discourse with my self after this manner vain man what have I been doing or how have I spent my time and my strength is it for heaven or for the earth for my soul or for my body for this life or that to come is there so much pains needful for a little spot of earth which will bring in little if any advantage what pains then is necessary for heaven have I been so prodigal of my time and pains and sweat and labour for this poor empty nothing and yet negligent in the main concern when did I take so much pains for heaven and happiness for Christ and glory as I have done for these trifles when did I sweat thus in Gods service and spend my self thus in doing his work am I working for a better master or is this a more delightful employment or am I like to receive or can I expect better wages then he gives that I work harder and sweat more then I would do in his work and follow my business with more diligence care and industry if the whole world be really worth so much labour pains and industry as I have bestowed upon this little angle this worthless plot of ground what pains doth heaven deserve if to the obtaining the whole world deserves one days hard work sure heaven deserves all the rest good things are not had at easy rates the more excellent the more difficult it is so in earthly enjoyments riches cannot be had without sweat and pain without cark and care nor learning without labour and study and will heaven be had with a wet finger cannot I provide for a few days without all this adoe and can I provide for eternity with less labour will an interest in Christ and a title to glory be had so easily no no doubtless a slow pace will fall short of heaven and the sluggard is never like to come there there must be striving running contending fighting or we shall not obtain the kingdome of heavsn suffers violence and the violent take it by force those only that are carried out with strength of affection after Christ shall enjoy him those are like to have the pearl that will have it at the hardest rates though they sell all to purchase it heaven is had by the violent though the earth be inherited by the meek Mat. 5.6 those that content themselves with the least mercies here as not deserving any cannot content themselves with the greatest portion the world can make up for them because they know there is a better portion laid up for them by their father there is nothing but eternity that can make us absolutely happy or perfectly miserable eternity added to happiness or misery makes it compleat and can I attain the one or avoid the other so easily toylsom days and wearisom nights may make us willing of a change but what good will a change do if it be for the worse and not the better or how can we expect better and not make preparation for it can we expect an harvest that have sown no seed or wages that have done no work can we expect the prize that never run the race or the victory that never entred into the field to fight if we bury our selves and talents in the earth can we expect they will be there improved nay may we not expect a reckoning day when they will be taken from us and given to those that are diligent and will improve them a judging time is coming when our reward will be according to our diligence and our wages according to our work if we sow vanity we shall reap folly if we sow to the flesh we shall of the flesh reap corruption if we sow to the spirit we shall of the spirit reap life everlasting if we trade only in earthly commodities we cannot expect rationally any other gain but what they afford which will never recompence the pains and care and loss we sustain upon that account but if we serve a better Master we may expect better wages oh my soul how justly here maist thou be reproved for thy diligence in trifles and neglect of the substance thou hast not only let the world run away with thy time thy hands and thy head but with thy heart also use the world thou maist but abuse it thou must not but so thou dost when thy affections close with it and thou committest spiritual adultery with it and lodgest it in the room where Christ should lodge in thy earthly business thy heart should be in heaven and thine eye upon Christ if thou be diligent it should be because he commands it and if thou do all in obedience to his command then dost thou engage him to be thy pay-master and maist expect a reward from him even for doing thy own work learn to make some spirituall use of all thy earthly enjoyments then by divine meditation thou maist enjoy heaven upon earth yea extract heaven out of the earth and God out of the creature that must needs be a rich soul that can with the bee extract honey out of every weed and flower oh my God I must confess I have been grossly faulty not only for spending my time and strength upon vanities but letting out my affections on them also Lord suffer me no longer to ramble from thee gather in my scattered affections to thy self Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean let me see more excellency in thee then the world can shew this will engage my heart to thee for ever Upon the dilligence of the spider 48. Med. OBserving the industry diligence and painful labour of the spider a contemptible creature how busy she was in weaving her nets how industriously she plys her work and though oftentimes she meet with disappointments had her work spoiled and her self indangered yet never a whit discouraged or disheartned she begins again this is one of these four things that Solomon had observed in the earth that were little but wise c. the spider that taketh hold with her hands and is in Kings palaces Pro. 30.24 c. she doth her work painfully and curiously spins saith one a finer thred
complains of such that could discern the face of the sky but could not discern the signes of the times Mat. 16.2.3 as if he should say are you so weather-wise that you can foresee the rain and are you so ignorant of Scripture that ye know not the time when the Messiah should come Mat. 23.37 oh Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not Luk. 19.41 42. when he was come near he beheld the city and wept over it saying if thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thy eyes c. they had lived under the Ministery long but no change was perceived oh poor man how art thou degenerated even below the fowls of heaven or the beasts of the earth thou wast made a prince over the works of Gods hands and all terrestrial creatures were subjected to thee and now art sent to the oxe and ass to learn of them thy duty and doth their understanding outreach thine Most men are apt enough to take advantages for the world they will not neglect seed-time nor harvest neither will they omit Fair or Market that their occasions call them to they suit their business to the season of the year the Mariner observes both the winde and tide and yet these very persons which the world calls good husbands are very fools in reference to the soul and let slip spiritual advantages they provide not in summer for winter in the day for the night nor in this life for that which is to come Now the candle of the Lord shines upon our heads and through his light we walk through darkness the secret of the Lord is upon our pavilion Job 29 3. the season of grace is yet continued the harvest is not quite over the market-day is not past and we may lay in provision for the soul and the means of grace is yet afforded us but how soon winter may approach we know not how soon the sun of the Gospel may set and night come we cannot tell when no man can work the shadows of the evening are stretched out Jer. 6.4 and the night seems to be approaching and ere long our day will be over and never dawn again there are sad symptomes that the glory is departed from Israel and that God is going from us and wo to us if he depart there are gray haires here and there upon us and we perceive them not Hos 7.9 'T is our wisdome to observe our season and strike while the iron is hot and make hay while the sun shines and work while we have the light this is the season of gathering honey with the bee and getting oyl with the wise Virgins the bridegroom is at hand and will come in an hour we know not of and at a time when we are not aware of and only those that are prepared will enter with him and the door will be shut then shall we wish as Christ doth for Jerusalem that we had known the day of our visitation but it will be too late The time of our visitation is called a day for the shortness of it and yet we are not sure this day shall have twelve hours many mens sun sets at noon God may remove his candlestick from us as he did from the seven Asian Churches or his dwelling from us as from Shiloe Jer. 7.12 and where are we then Go to my place in Shiloh where I set my name at the first and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel and may not he say thus of England what assurance have we more then they of Gods continued presence if our sins equal theirs the abuse of mercies the contempt of the Ordinance the abuse of his Ministers and the making light of Christ himself are crying sins and I fear we cannot wash our hands from them Oh my soul observe the seasons of grace afforded to thee by God for whether thou improve them or no they must be upon thine account take the opportunityes put into thy hands take time by the fore-lock or thou wilt finde that it is bald behinde improve every talent God hath lent thee and let none rust by thee cherish every motion of the spirit and blow it up into a flame this is thy seed-time where thou must sow what thou must reap in eternity Gal. 6.7.8 whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting and he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly this also is thy harvest-time lay in for winter it is thy market-day fetch in provision it is thy now or never neglect it not oh my God rouze up my dull and drowsy soul by some quickning considerations and let me not sleep away my time in security rather spur me on by some affection then suffer me to fall short of my journeys end let me live every day as if it were my last and perform every duty as if I were presently to give an account of it to God Upon a snail 71. Med. OBserving a snail that sluggish creature how slow she was in her motion how sloathfull her pace how much time was spent how little ground she rid and observing also that all the instigations I could use rather hindred then furthered her journey for when I prickt her forward she plucks in her horns and stood still and no means I could use could make her mend her pace this made me think this was a fit embleme of a sluggard as he is lively set forth by wise Solomon in his book of Proverbs the slothfull man saith he saith there is a lion in the way I shall be slain in the street Pro. 26.13 14. he forgets the roaring lion that prompts him to these silly excuses but never any came to hell that had not some excuse for their coming thither corrupt nature needs not be taught to tell her tail sin and shifting came into the world together men hide their sins from themselves by false glosses from others by idle excuses they would perswade the world they have some reason to be mad as the door saith Solomon turns upon the hinges so doth the sluggard upon his bed abroad there is a lion and at home there is a lusk that lives in the world to no purpose he hideth his hand in his bosome and it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth and much more to this purpose but of all other the snail resembleth the spiritual sluggard and the Lord knows there are many of them in our days yea which of us is not tainted with this disease for hardly can we finde any men so sluggish for the world as most men are for heaven or
of him or the son of man that thou regardest him thou hast made him a little lower then the angels thou hast crowned him with glory and dignity Psal 8.4 5. I considered that all this rule and dominion glory and dignity was given him that he might serve and honour his Creator whose image he did in the Creation most lively represent but above all sublunary creatures none have more deviated from the rule God hath given them nor transgressed his laws nor frustrated the ends of their creation more then man by whose fall the beauty of the newly burnisht world was soon stained and the glory of it soon ecclipsed This made me wonder that God suffered such enemies to live upon the face of the earth to be lords over the works of his hands Oh the patience and long-forbearance of a merciful God! that such rebels that have their life and breath and being from him and are guilty of so many acts of treason and rebellion against heaven should yet be preserved and provided for as they are and so many offers of mercy tendred to them Oh my soul hath God done so much for thee was this glorious fabrick of the world made for thy sake among others are the creatures yea the angels themselves set a work for thy good and doth thy great benefactor only require the pepper-corn of homage and the thankful acknowledgement of what thou hast received and obediential homage for the time to come and dost thou deny him that art thou fed and cloathed maintained and preserved by his providence and care and hast thou any meat to eat or drink to drink or cloaths to put on or health or strength or limbs or senses or peace or plenty or life or breath or any other enjoyment but what he gives thee and is a thankfull acknowledgment of these favours denyed by thee he doth not need thee neither canst thou add any thing to his glory yet he takes himself honoured by a thankfull obediential observation of his commands but alas how much time didst thou spend before thou dist cordially yield any thanks to him for his benefits and how much wanting art thou in it to this very day he makes his sun to shine upon thee and his rain to fall upon thee he gives thee fruitfull seasons and fills thy heart with food and gladness 't is doubtless then thy duty to devote thy self wholly to his service and give up not only thy name but thy heart to Christ Oh my God! dost thou expect service from me enable me to do it I am by nature a senceless stock or stone dead in trespasses and sins put life into me and I shall perform the actions of life I cannot act without thy assistance give me help from heaven for vain is the help of man open my lips then shall I shew forth thy praise inlarge my heart then shall I run the ways of thy commands touch my tongue with a coal from thy altar then shall I trumpet out thy praise seek thy servant and I shall be found Upon the plucking off the tops of weeds 10. Med. IN a dry season when the bottles of heaven were stopped and the clouds were bound up the rain restrained and the showers withheld from the earth so that it was parched hard and dry and gaped in vain for cooling moistning refreshing softning showers I observed some persons when they could not get up the weeds by the roots tare off their heads which when they had done the garden seemed pleasant to the beholders and gave content for a while to the spectators who imagined there had been a through-reformation but not long after when a shower of rain distilled upon it the cheat appeared the weeds sprung up as fresh and flourishing as before yea like hydra with more heads then at first so this partiall reformation was discovered This observation afforded this Meditation I thought it much resembled a partiall reformation in the soul when men begin their reformation at the wrong end or take a wrong course to kill the tree of sin as many do they crop and lop off some branches and let the root alone this is not the way to destroy it many tear off some of the tops of the weeds but let the root remain in the soul which when it is watered with the devils temptations and the worlds allurements and animated with fit occasions and suitable opportunities they spring forth afresh it may be with more heads then before and then the cheat appears that those sins were not kil'd but laid aside An evident example we have of this in Herod who convinced by Iohn Baptists preaching that his courses were not good sets upon a reformation falls out with many of his sins lops off here one bough and there another but lets the root remain firm which afterwards spring forth and shew themselves It is said he reformed many things but he left much work behinde undone to the undoing of his soul The sore was only skinned over and was not sound at the bottom and after broke out with more violence and greater anguish like a torrent of water dam'd up when the dam breaks it runs more furiously So did Herods corruption even to the taking away of Iohn Baptists head who before had set some stop to it And thus it is with many seeming Converts that after prove wicked apostates and persecute the truth that they did formerly profess the root of the matter was not in them Hazael did not believe so much wickedness to lodge in his heart as the Prophet spake of and afterwards appeared An apple rotten at the heart may have a fair outside but the rottenness within will in time rot the outside also when the fountain is corrupted it is impossible to purge the stream If the heart be rotten all that thence proceeds will have an ill savour This half reformation hath been the undoing of many forward Professors in our days they reformed their lives but not their hearts they lopt off some boughs but medled not with the root they went to clense the stream but not the fountain and in a little time the corruption within breaks forth into the life and conversation without and the unclean spirit that was cast out takes to himself seven more worse then himself and enters in and the last end of that man is worse then the beginning Mat. 12.45 The devil deals by such when he hath reduced them as a Jaylour with one that hath broke prison lays on more bolts Runagate Christians are the devils greatest devotes and such apostates very hardly if ever are reduced O my soul how stands the case with thee hast thou not weeded thy own garden thus and rather tore off the lops of the weeds then pluckt them up by the root how comes it else to pass that upon every showr of temptation they are so apt to spring up again look about thee if thou wilt not kill sin sin will kill thee and if
blazing star ominous to the beholders and hurtfull to those that enjoy it and proves ofttimes the devils lime-twigs to catch his fowls meat and drink are necessary yet to many their table becomes their snare and by a plentifull table they come to be guilty of gluttony and drunkenness wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and he that is overtaken with it is not wise I fed them to the full saith God and they were as fed horses every one neighed after his neighbours wife learning and great parts are lovely endowments and many times it proves dangerous and deadly the greatest scholars oft prove the greatest enemies to Christ and the greatest adversaries to the power of godliness In a word those that have most of the world have frequently the least of heaven Son saith Abraham remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luk. 16.25 Wealth many times swells men into a tympany not easily cured I know there are some that follow Christs counsell and make to themselves friends of this Mammon of unrighteousness but most do but encrease their account by them and at the reckoning-day will prove bankrupts and owe ten thousand talents more then they are able to pay earthly enjoyments usually rock men in the cradle of security and lull them asleep that they never wake till hell fire flames about their ears thus the rich man Luke 12.16 and that also Luk. 16.19 c. when the moon is at full it is furthest distance from the sun and nearest to an ecclips and the world many times interposeth it self between the full soul and the sun of righteousness relations and carnal friends oft-times prove snares thus they were to Job to Spira and to many more the things that are in themselves lawfull blessings yet abused prove our licitis perimus omnes immoderately used prove a sin and a snare oh my soul thou walkest in the midst of dangers snares are laid for thee in every creature in every corner trust not therefore to any the most innocent will betray thee if not heedfully observed and wisely enjoyed the most harmless nay the most necessary enjoyments are not free from snares a serpent may lie under thy feet poyson may be in thy cup or dish many temptations are in poverty more in plenty pray therefore with Agar not to have poverty nor riches but to be fed with food convenient Pro. 30.8 as a shoe too big or too little suits not the foot so an estate too big is troublesome and to little pinches a staff may help the passenger in his journey but a burden of staves will be his hinderance oh my God are there so many dangers that attend me both in reference to my body and my soul oh what need have I of divine protection Lord be thou my defender keep me under the shadow of thy wings O let not Satan the world or my own deceitful heart ever betray me but let me be kept by the mighty power of God unto salvation Upon a Toad 45. Med. OBserving as I walked in the garden in an evening a loathsom foul and ugly toad crawling in my way hasting from me as from a deadly enemy to hide her head in a hole to save her life and that from one that she had never wronged this sight occasioned me this Meditation how nigh akin am I to this poor creature this dispicable loathed and abhorred wretch there is but the sheers between us nothing but the makers will she is my sister and may claim the right of primogeniture as coming into the world before me we have the same original the same father and the same mother we were made of the same matter by the hand of the same workman but she hath the precedency in nature and came of the elder brother both of us were of the same clay and fashioned by the same potter hewn out of the same rock and digged out of the same hole of the pit and had it pleased the workman I might have been the toad and this the man no thanks to me that it was not so and it had been no wrong to me if it had been so I might have been crawling into that hole to save my life from one that desired my death and fed upon such loathsom meat that she feeds on but my God hath bestowed more upon me and denied it to her even so Lord because it hath seemed good in thy eyes oh my soul what hast thou done more for thy God then this poor creature hath done doubtless where more is given more will be required thou hast received ten talents for one nay an hundred for one how hast thou improved them and God expects from man much more service then from any other creature in the world being only fitted for communion with himself But hath not this despicable wretch which thou thinkest is not worthy to live served God in her place better then thy self and answered the end of her creation better then man and never transgrest her masters will nor her makers law as thou hast done a thousand times she desires nothing more then life and what is necessary to maintain it and fears nothing more then death and what tends to it and doth no hurt but it is imagined good to mankinde unless hurt or provoked and if she have a noxious quality it is questionable whether the sin of man hath not procured it God hath given thee the use of reason and made thee capable of communion with himself and enjoying him for ever and laid upon her far more innocent this punishment of being hated and abhorred of all and her life is put into thy hands and whosoever killeth her thinks he hath not offended thou canst walk free from fear when every one that sees her desires her death and plots her ruine and destruction what cause then have I to bless God that I was made a man and not a toad and that I had the use of reason given to me and not made a bruit but if I be not regenerate and born again if I have not the image of God renewed in me which I lost by the fall if I answer not the end of my creation and redemption if my sin be not mortified and the power of my corruptions abated if grace be not implanted in my heart by the spirit of God if I have not an interest in Christ and a title to glory if the mistical marriage be not made between Christ and my soul and my affections set upon him if any thing in the world lie nearer to my heart then he doth and be beloved above him the time will come and it will not be long first that I shall wish would God I had been made the toad and this toad the man for then my misery would have ended with my life when now it is like to begin at my death and
so careless for the body as they are for the soul the most of us sleep in harvest and are like to beg in winter slug away the day and make no provision for night when they cannot work and lose the opportunity God affords them and have a price put into their hands but have no heart to get wisdome they provide not against the winter night of death nor the days of darkness which will be many Eccl. 11.8 for as sure as the night follows the day so sure a change will come a storm will rise and such a storm as will never be blown away to wicked worldlings There is too many professors go on in heavens way as the proverb hath it on a snails gallop we can scarce see them move and many like the crab-fish rather go backward then forward they are like those silly women mentioned 2 Tim. 3.7 ever learning and never come to the knowledge of the truth many have served an apprentiship in Christianity some two some three and some more and never yet understood the mystery of their profession nay not the grounds and fundamentals of Religion those that have been listed souldiers twenty or thirty years have not yet learned to handle their arms nor known the use of their weapons those that have been as long schollers in Christs school yet have not learned the first lesson of self denyal they have the same corruption unmortifyed the same grace weak or wanting the same doubts unresolved and the same fears upon their spirits as they had long since many years are past away and their work stands at a stay no more fitter for death no more assurance of heaven no more communion with God no more knowledge of the state of their own souls and all this notwithstanding the means they have had the Ministry they have enjoyed and the seasons of grace they have lived in Now is not he a monster in nature that is as big at two years old as at twenty and is it not a dullard indeed that goes to school twenty years and cannot take out one lesson Ancient professors should grow with the oak more firmly rooted and with the apple more ripe and mellow these trees of righteousness should bring forth fruit even to old age and add every year to their experience indeed there are some that grow in opinions and think this is growing in grace and in few years run the whole circle of errors and at last end where they began at profaness if not at athiesm they grow most in the head like children that have the rickets when the rest of the body pines these errors the brats of their own brain are like suckers in a tree they draw all the sap that should feed the other branches to themselves and run up into aspiring branches fruitless yea hurtfull the strength and vigor of the soul the life and heat of their zeal is spent upon these to maintain them when the power of godliness languisheth but true grace grows uniformly like a healthy body though every member grows not to the same bigness yet every member grows in proportion to the rest and so the body is compleated but alass where is this growth of grace discerned the most professors are in a languishing condition their pulse beats weakly and their natural heat abates and they are inclining to a consumption or a lethargy oh my soul is not this thy condition that is here described art not thou fitly resembled to this sluggish creature how long hast thou been in Christs school and never the better how many apprentiships hast thou served and yet art a very dullard and little more grace appears then did many years ago well double thy diligence amend thy pace set about thy work to purpose lest God turn thee out of his vineyard for a loiterer and give thee thy portion with the unfaithfull with the unprofitable servant Mat. 25.26 had idleness been a calling doubtless thou hadst been a good husband yet at last up and be doing thou canst not serve a better Master expect better work or wages O my God what shall I say to thee or how shall I answer thee mine iniquity hath found me out and my sin shews it self it is I that resemble this snail and have sluggishly served thee all my days Lord rouse me up out of my security that I may make more haste lest I fall short of my journeys end Upon a snail carrying her house along with her 72. Med. WHen I observed a snail carrying her house upon her back and in so doing carryed all she had with her in her removes it brought to my minde how the Israelites in the wilderness when ever they journeyed they removed their tents and carryed them with them and when ever they rested there they picht them and carryed all their substance for forty years space along with them and this might well put them in minde that they were strangers and pilgrims and there rest was not here I have read of heathen Stilpo when the enemy had seazed upon all he had burnt the town he lived in and took his wife and children prisoners being asked by Demetrius what he had lost replyed nothing omnia mea mecum porto I carry all-along with me esteeming his vertues his only riches which none could take from him but all loseable riches he valued not This made me further consider if any heathen could say thus how much more a Christian that hath all his vertues adopted graces and hath an interest in Christ and a title to glory for this is a Christians all and he can properly lay claim to no more for as he hath all from God so he hath all in God and having God he hath all and a rich portion it is beyond all the gold in the Indies and all the wealth in the world it is a more soul-satisfying portion then the world can afford and such a portion that is durable for the devil and all his instruments cannot deprive them of it and this they may take along with them to a prison to a gibbet yea to the utmost parts of the earth if they are banished thither The men of the world would have their portion in the world and heaven like paper and packthred into the bargain but it will not be they would carry the world upon their backs to heaven but it is too great a burthen to carry up the hill and too big to enter with at the strait gate The only way to make the best advantage of the world is to take Christs counsel Luk. 16.9 make your selves friends of the unrighteouss mammon that when they fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations this is the way to send the world before us to heaven or to improve it to the best advantage testify your faith saith the Apostle by your works improve these talents well and God will reward you for it riches are not properly ours but Gods but if we make sure