the Extirpation of Heresie are more immediately concerned Of this Nature are the Doctrines of Equivocation and Mental Reservation and the Lawfulness of such Artificial ways of Lying to avoid the Danger of the Law when they are brought before Heretical Magistrates and this is the common Doctrine of the most learned Casuists of all Orders in the Church of Rome And such likewise are their Doctrines of the Lawâ—ulness of extirpating Hereticks by the most barbarous and bloody Means and of breaking Faith with them tho' given by Emperours and Princes in the most publick and solemn manner both which are the avowed Doctrines of their General Councils and have frequently been put in Practice to the Destruction of many millions of Christians better and more righteous than themâ—elves But we have not so lâ—arned Christ who have heard him and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus They who are rightly instructed in the Christian Religion are so far from thinking it lawful to do any thing that is evil to bring others under suffering that they do not allow it in any Case whatsoever no not for the Cause of God and Religion and to free themselves from the greatest Sufferings that can be inflicted upon them 3. Provided also that we do trust the Providence of God and do indeed commit our selves to it relying upon his Wisdom and Goodness and entirely submitting and resigning up our selves to his Will and Disposal both as to the Degree and the Duration of our Sufferings believing that he will do that for us which upon the whole matter and in the final issue and result of things will be best for us That Blessing wherewith Moses the Man of God blest the People of Israel before his Death doth belong to good Men in all Ages He loveth his People and all his Saints are in his hand Deut. 33. 3. Innumerable are the Proâ—ises in Scripture concerning the merciful Providence and Goodness of God towards those who trust in him and hope in his Mercy Psal 32. 10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked But he that trusteth in the Lord mercy shall compass him about Psal 33. 18â— 19 20 21 22. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him Upon them that hope in his mercy To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine Our soul waiteth for the Lord he is our help and our shiâ—ld For our heart shall rejoyce in him Because we have trusted in his holy name Let thy mercy O Lord be upon us according as we hope in thee Psal 34. 22. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate Psal 37. 39 40. But thâ— salvation of the Righteous is of the Lorâ— he is their strength in the time of trouble And the Lord shall help them and deliver them He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him Psal 31. 19. O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the Sons of men Psal 55. 22. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee He shall never suffer the rightâ—ous to be moved Psal 125. 1. They that trust in thâ— Lord shall be as mount Zion which cannot be removed but aâ—idâ—th for ever Esa 26. 3 4. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusâ—eth in thee Trust ye in the Lord for ever For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength 4. Provided yet further that we pray earnestly to God for his Gracious Help and Assistance for his merciful Comfort and Support under Sufferings that he would be pleased to strengthen our Faith and to encrease and lengthen out our Patience in proportion to the Degree and Duration of our Sufferings All the Promises which God hath made to us are upon this Condition that we earnestly seek and sue to him for the Benefit and Blessing of them Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Ezek. 36. 37. After a great Deliverance and many Blessings promised to them this Condition is at last added Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them And this likewise is the tenor of the Promises of the New Testament Mat. 7. 7. Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you And in this very Case that I am speaking of God expects that we should apply our selves to him for Spiritual Wisdom and Grace to behave our selves under Sufferings as we ought Jam. 1. 2 3 4. Where speaking of the manifold Temptations that Christians would be exercised withal he directs them to pray to God for Wisdom to demean themselves under Persecutions with Patience and Constancy and Chearfulness My Brethren account it all joy when ye fall into divers Temptations meaning the Temptations and Tryals of Suffering in several kinds Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience But let patience have its perfect work And because this is a very difficult Duty and requires a great deal of Spiritual Skill to demean our selves under Sufferings as we ought therefore he adds in the next words If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him And this earnest application we are to make to God for his grace and seasonable help in time of need not to put him in mind of his Promise but to testifie our dependance upon him and expectation of all good from him And we must likewise use great importunity in our Prayers to God to assist us and stand by us in the day of Trial and the hour of Temptation And therefore our Saviour heaps up several words to denote the great earnestness and importunity which we ought to use in Prayer bidding us to ask and seek and knock And to shew that he lays more than ordinary weight upon this Matter and to encourage our importunity he spake two several Parables to this purpose the first Luke 11. 5. of the Man who by meer importunity prevailed with his Friend to rise at midnight to do him a kindness which our Saviour applies to encourage our importunity in Prayer ver 9. And I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you The other is the Parable of the importunate Widow and unjust Judge related by the same Evangelist Luke 18. 1. with this Preface to it and he spake a Parable unto them to this end that Men ought always to pray and not to faint And to speak the truth they seem at first sight two of the oddest of all our Saviour's Parables if the
off from all Employment lest you put them in the ready way to be undone have a Care of leaving them no other business but to spend what you have left them if you do so they will in all probability do that work very effectually and make as much haste to be Poor as you did to make them Rich. If Men could but be contented to do that which is best for their Children they might do a great deal better for themselves by disposing what they have to spare in Charity Thirdly Others would fain excuse themselves from this Duty at present by telling what they intend to do when they come to Die that is when they can keep what they have no longer It seems then thou wilt leave it to thy Executor to do good in thy stead This shews thou hast no great heart to the business when thou deferrest it as long as ever thou canst But why wilt thou trust another with the disposal of thy Charity rather than thy self This is hardly to offer either a Reasonable or a Living Sacrifice to God to do good only when we are dead It is well that God hath made all Men Mortal and that it is appointed for all Men once to die otherwise some Men would never do good at all Wherefore setting aside these and all other excuses which will not be admitted nor will any of us have the face to plead them at the Day of Judgment I say setting aside all Excuses whatsoever let us resolve to do good with what we have whilst we can and to that end let us lay aside some Portion of what God has blest us withal for the uses of Piety and Charity and let it bear some decent Proportion to what God hath given us There is never want of proper Objects for our largest Charity and now less than ever Besides those at home which present themselves to us in great numbers every day God hath sent us many from abroad who call loud upon us for our pity and help both as they are reduced to the greatest extremiâ—y and are Sufferers in the best Cause that of our common Religion which ought now to be dearer to us than ever Let us shew Mercy now as we expect Mercy from others in any day of our distress in this World and as ever we hope when ever we come to appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to find Mercy with the Lord in that Day Consider what I have said upon this Argument and let this extraordinary kind of Caution which our Saviour here gives make a deep impression upon your Minds Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth A SERMON ON MATTH VI. 33. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righâ—â—ousness and all these things shall be added unto you IN the latter part of this Chapter our Saviour doth in a long Discourse caution his Disciples against an Inordinate Care about the Things of this Life which he concludes with a strict Charge to make Religion their first and great Concernment and above all Things to take Care to secure to themselves the happiness of another Life But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness c. In the handling of which words I shall do these Four Things First I shall explain what is here meant by the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness Secondly What by seeking of these Thirdly I shall lay down some necessary and plain Directions which if we observe we cannot miscarry in this matter Fourthly I shall set before you some of the most proper and powerful Motives and Encouragements to the minding of this great Interest and Concernment among which I shall particularly consider the Argument or Encouragement here used in the Text and all these things shall be added unto you 1. I shall explain to you what is here meant by the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness First What is meant by the Kingdom of God And there are two Famous acceptations of this Phrase and both of them very frequent in the New Testament Sometimes it is used to signifie the State of the Gospel or the Christian Religion which by the Jews was called the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of the Messias Mark 1. 15. The Kingdom of God is at hand that is the State or Dispensation of the Gospel is now approaching and ready to take place Luke 17. 20. The Pharisees demanding of our Saviour when the Kingdom of God should come that is when the Reign of the Messias should commence he answers them the Kingdom of God cometh not with observation that is not with any Temporal Pomp and Splendor so as to draw the eyes of People after it as the Jews did vainly imagine but the Kingdom of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is among you not within you as our Translation hath improperly rendred it the Kingdom of God he tells them is already come unto you the Messias is among you and ye are not aware of him In the like sense this Phrase is used Mat. 21. 43. the Kingdom of God that is the Gospel shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof And so likewise the Phrase of the Kingdom of Heaven is used Mat. 11. 11. where speaking of John the Baptist our Saviour saith that among them that were born of Women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist that is there was no greater Person than he under the Jewish Dispensation and yet he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven that is under the Dispensation of the Gospel is greater than he Now tho' this sense of the Kingdom of God be not wholly excluded in the Text yet there is another sense of this Phrase very usual likewise in the Scripture and which is more agreeable to the scope of our Saviour's Argument and Discourseâ— and so it signifies that future state of Happiness and Glory which good Men shall be advanced to in another World in opposition to this Life and the Enjoyments of it which our Saviour had before forbidden his Disciples to be so solicitous about Take ye no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be cloathed And then it follows in direct opposition to this inordinate and solicitous Care about Worldly Things but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness That is be not so solicitous about the Conveniencies and Necessaries of this Life as about the Happiness of the other and the Means to it And this sense of this Phrase of the Kingdom of God is so very frequent in the New Testament that I shall not need to give particular Instances of it Secondly what is meant by Righteousness seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness Righteousness in the strictest and most proper sense of the word signifies the particular Virtue of Justice
miscarry For Promises of this Nature are to be interpreted by us and understood as we do our Saviour's Prayer for Peter before his Fall that his faith should not fail finally but though he fell through too much Confidence in himself he should through the Grace of God assisting him be enabled to recover by Repentance Thirdly The Sincerity or Insincâ—rity of Men in the Profession of the true Religion is a thing which we cannot certainly know because we do not see into Mens Hearts but he who knows the heart and trys the Spirits of Men in a Ballance cannot be deceiv'd in this Matter and where men are not sincere the Promise of God is not concerned to hinder them from discovering themselves and the Fall of such Persons is no Reflection upon the Faithfulness of God And it is reasonable enough to presumâ— that this may be the Case of not a few and that like Simon Mâ—gus after they have made a very solemn Profession of Christianity their hearts may not be right in the sight of God Fourthly If we put the Case at the hardest that some that were very sincere after they have hâ—ld out a great while under the Extremity of Torments have at last fainted under them and yielded to the Malice and Cruelty of their Persecutors and in this Amazement and Distraction have not long after expired without any Testimony of their Repentance In this Case both Reason and Charity ought to restrain us from passing any very positive and severe Sentence upon the State of such persons For what do we know but God whose Goodness will certainly make all the Allowance to Human Frailty that Reason can require For he knows whereof we are made and remembers that we are but dust he mercifully considers every Man's Case and weighs all the Circumstances of it in an exact Ballance I say who can tell but that in such a Case as I have mentioned God may graciously be pleased to accept such a degree of constant Suffering of great Torments for so long a time for a true Martyrdom and not expect a more than Humane Patience and Resolution where he is not pleased to afford more than Humane Strength and Support and whether he may not look upon their failing and miscarriage at last in the same rank with the indeliberate actions of Men in a Frenzy and besides themselves And thus God may be said with the temptation to make a way to escape or to give a happy issue to it since they were enabled to bear it 'till being distracted by their Torments their Understandings werâ— thrown off the hinges and incapable of exercising any deliberate acts of Reason And without some such equitable consideration of the Case of such Persons it will be very hard to reconcile some appearances of things with the goodness of God and the faithfulness of his Promise However it will become us to abstain from all uncharitable and peremptory censure of the final Estate of such Persons especially 'till we our selves have given greater and better testimony of our Constancy and in the mean time to leave them to the Righteous and Merciful Sentence of their Master and ours to whose Judgment we must all stand or fall I am sure it will very ill become those who by the Providence of God have escaped those Sufferings and are at present out of danger themselves to â—it in Judgment upon those who are left to endure this terrible Conflict and have perhaps held out as long or longer than they themselves would have done in the like Circumstances Let us rather earnestly beg of the God of all grace and patience that he would endue us with a greater measure of Patience and Constancy if he see fit to call us to the exercise of it and which we lawfully may after the Example of our Blessed Saviour that if it be his will he would let this Cup pass from us and not try us with the like Sufferings lest we also be weary and faint in our Minds I come now to the Third and last Enquiry which I proposed what Ground and Reason there is for good Men to expect the more Peculiar and Especial Care of God's Providence in case of such Sufferings The Providence of God extends to all his Creatures according to that of the Psalmist the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his Works But he exerciseth a more particular Providence towards Mankind and more peculiar yet towards those who study to please him by obeying his Laws and doing his Will He that is assured of his own heart that he loves God and would do or suffer any thing for him can have no cause to doubt but that God loves him and is concerned for his Happiness No Man was ever afraid of God that was not conscious to himself that he had offended him and by the wilful breach of his Laws had put himself out of the care of his Providence But on the contrary if our hearts give us this Testimony that we have made it our sincere endeavour to please him we are naturally apt to have good assurance and confidence of his favour and good-wilâ— towards us This comfort the Mind of every good Man is apt to give him from his own Reason and the natural Notions which he hath of God But to free us from all doubt in this Matter God himself hath told us so and given us plentiful assurance of it in his word Psal 11. 7. The Righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright that is he will be favourable unto them Psal 33. 18. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him upon them that hope in his mercy The eye of God signifies his watchful Care and Providence over good Men. So that besides the sure and well-grounded Reasonings from the Essential Perfections of the Divine Nature the mercy and goodness of God we have a more sure word of Promise in â—the express declarations of God's Word and more particularly in the case of great Temptations and Sufferings For can we think that the Scripture saith in vain Wait on the Lord and be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart Mâ—ny are the afflictions of the Righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of all The steps of a good Man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his ways tho' he fall he shall not utterly be cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand The Salvation of the Righteous is of the Lord he is their help in time of trouble The same Promises we find in the New Testament All things shall work together for good to them that love God God is faithful who hath promised that he will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able but will with the temptation make a way to escape And to mention no more Hold fast the Profession of your Faith without wavering he is faithful that bath Promised viz. to
time of the general suspension of Trade and Business from an apprehension of approaching troubles by reason whereof both the numbers and the necessities of the Poor are greatly and daily increased among us and besides the Poor of our own Nation God hath sent us great numbers from abroad I mean those who are fled hither for shelter from that violent storm of Persecution which hath lately fallen upon them for the Cause of our common Religion According to the compassion we shew to them we may expect that God will either preserve us from the like Sufferings or graciously support us under them What do we know but that God is now trying us and hath purposely put this opportunity into our hands of preventing or mitigating or shortning our own Sufferings according as we extend our Charity and Pity to those who have suffered so deeply for the Cause of God and his truth Seventhly Provided in the last place and above all that we be sincere in our Religion and endeavour to be universally good and holy in all manner of Conversation and to abound in all the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God This is the largest sense of well-doing and the most necessary of all the rest to prepare us for Sufferings and to give us Courage and Constancy under them and likewise to engage the Providence of God to a tender care of us and Concernment for us if he shall â—ee it fit to bring us into a State of Suffering But if we live in open Contempt and Violation of God's Laws if we make no Conscience of our Ways and Actions we cannot possibly have any well grounded Trust and Confidence in God for he hates all the workers of iniquity and his Providence sets it self against them for evil Bad Men draw many Mischiefs and Inconveniencies upon themselves as the Natural Consequence of their Actions but besides this the Vengeance of God haunts and pursues Evil-doers and his just Providence many times involves them in many Difficulties and Dangers besides and beyond the Natural Course of things Upon the wicked says David he will rain snares So that as ever we expect the comfortable Effects of the Divine Care and Providence we must live in a dutiful Obedience to God's Holy Will and Laws Bad Men may make a Profession of the true Religion and may in some sort believe it tho' they do not live according to it and yet perhaps for all this out of meer Generosity and Obstinacy of Mind they cannot bear to be threatned and terrified out of the Profession of the Truth and will endure a great deal of Trouble and Inconvenience before they will renounce it knowing themselves to be so far in the Right that they stand for the Truth and hoping perhaps thereby to make some amends for their bad Practice But when all is done nothing gives a Man true Courage and Resolution like the Testimony of our own Hearts concerning our own Sincerity and the Conscience of well-doing And on the contrary he that hath not the Resolution and Patience to mortifie his Lusts and to restrain his Appetites and to subdue his irregular Passions for the sake of God and Religion will not easily bring himself to submit to great Sufferings upon that Account There is considerable Difficulty in the Practice of Religion and the resolute Course of a Holy Life but surely it is much easier to live as Religion requires we should do than to lay down our Lives for it and as I have told you upon another Occasion he that cannot prevail with himself to live like a Saint will much more hardly be perswaded to die a Martyr I proceed to the Third Point namely what ground of Comfort and Encouragement the Consideration of God under the Notion of a faithful Creator does afford to us under all our Sufferings for a good Censcience and a good Cause Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator And in this I shall be very brief And this is a firm ground of Comfort and Encouragement to us under all our Sufferings for God to consider him as the Author of our Beings or as it is exprest in the Text as a faithful Creator one that is not fickle and inconstant in his Affection and Kindness to his Creatures but is true to his own Design and will not abandon and forsake the Work of his own Hands So great a Benefit as that of our Beings freely conferr'd upon us is but an earnest of God's further Kindness to us and Future care of us if by our ill Carriage towards him we do not render our selves unworthy and incapable of it That we are God's Creatures is a Demonstration that he hath Kindness for us if he had not he would never have made us as it is excellently said in the Wisdom of Solomon Cap. 11. 23. 24. Thou hast mercy upon all for thou lovest all the things that are and abhorrest nothing which thou hast made For never wouldst thou have made any thing if thou hadst hated it And ver 26. Thou sparest all for they are thine O Lord thou lover of Souls To whom then may be with so much Confidence commit our selves as to him who freely gave us our Being From whom may we expect so tender a Regard and Consideration of our Case and all the Circumstances of it as from this great Founder and Benefactor For he that made us knows our Frame and whereof we are made and how much we are able to bear he considers our Strength or rather our Weakness and what Courage and Resolution he hath endued us withal and what Comfort and Support we stand in need of in the day of Tribulation And as they who make Armour are wont to try that which they think to be good and well temper'd with a stronger Charge not to break and hurt it but to prove and praise it So God exerciseth those whom he hath fitted and tâ—mpered for it with manyfold Temptations that the tryal of their faith as St. Peter expresseth it 1 Pet. 1. 7. being much more precious thâ—n of gold tried in the Firâ— may be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ So that this Consideration that we are God's Creatures does as I may say oblige him in Faithfulness to his own Act and in Consequence of his bringing us into Being at first to be concern'd for us afterwards so as never to abandon us nor quite to take away his loving-kindness and Mercy from us till we are good for nothing and do in a manner cease to be what he made us that is Reasonable Creatures A Person or People must have proceeded to the utmost degree of degeneracy when God will consider them no longer as his Creatures nor shew any Pity or Favour to them things must be come to extremity when God deals
the lawful Enjoyments of this World as he that makes it his only Design to be Rich and Great in this World nay as to the necessaries of Life and a competency of outward things he hath a much greater and better security from the Providence and Promise of God than the Men of the World have by all their Care and Pains Besides that he hath this Considerable advantage by minding these things only as accessories that if he miss of them he hath something better to support him in the want of them being secure of a Happiness which this World can neither give nor take from him But now the Worldly Man if he be defeated in his Designs is of all Men most miserable because he hath nothing else to Comfort him nothing else to trust to he fails of his hopes as to this World and hath done what in him lies to make his Case desperate as to the other Upon all these Considerations and Encouragements you see how reasonable it is that we should make Religion and the Concernments of another Life our great Care and Business And yet how are these neglected by the greatest part of Mankind and by the best of us God knows not minded as they ought and as they deserve What can we say for our selves in excuse of so intolerable a folly There are two or three things which Men commonly prâ—tend if not in justification yet in mitigation and excuse of this great neglect First they pretend great difficulties and discouragements in the ways of Religion This I have already acknowledged to be true so far as to awaken our Care and to whet our Industry but by no means to make us despond and give over all Care of so great a Concernment because of the Difficulties it is attended withall Men who have no mind to a thing are apt to imagine great difficulties in the attaining of it and to magnifie them in their fancies beyond Reason As the People of Israel when they were to enter into Canaan which was the Type of the Kingdom of Heaven represented the Inhabitants of the Land whom they were to Conquer more terrible than in truth they were reporting to one another that the Land was full of Giants and Sons of Anak Men of prodigious Stature which reached up to Heaven And this the Wise Man observes to be the perpetual excuse of the Sloathful when they have no mind to a thing they say there is a Lyon in the way that is they fancy to themselves Dangers and Terrors which are not Thus Men who are averse from Religion and have no mind to be at the trouble and pains to get to Heaven are apt to complain of the monstrous and insuperable Difficulties of Religion and how hard it is for a Man to mortifie his Lusts and subdue his Appetites and govern his Passions and to do all those things which are necessary to bring him to Heaven Well! it is acknowledg'd to be difficult And is it not so to get an Estate and to rise to any thing in this World The true pains which Men take about these things shew that they are difficult only when Men have a mind to a thing and their Heart is set upon it they do not stand to complain of the difficulty but buckle to it and grapple with it Is Religion difficult And what is not so that is good for any thing Is not the Law a difficult and crabbed study Does it not require great labour and perpetual drudging to excel in any kind of Knowledge to be Master of any Art or Profession In a word is there any thing in the World worthy the having that is to be gotten without pains And is Eternal Life and Glory the only slight and inconsiderable thing that is not worth our Care and Industry Is it fit that so great a good should be exposed to the faint and idle Wishes to the cheap and lazy Endeavours of sloathful Men For what Reason Nay with what Conscience can we bid less for Heaven and Eternal Life than Men are contented to give for the things of this World things of no value in Comparison not worthy the toiling for not sure to be attained by all our Endeavours things which perish in the using and which when we have them we are liable to be deprived of by a thousand Accidents One fit of a Feaver may shatter our Understandings and confound all our Knowledge and turn us into Fools and Ideots an Inundation or a Fire may sweep away and devour our Estates a Succession of Calamities may in a few hours make the Richest and Greatest Man as Poor as Job and set him upon a Dunghill But be the Difficulty what it will of attaining the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness they are to be sought at any rate because they are absolutely necessary and we miserable and undone if we have them not And therefore not to dissemble in the Matter the Difficulties of Religion are considerable but then they are much greater aâ— first and will every day abate and grow less and the work by degrees will become eaâ—â—e and turn into Pleasure and Delight a Pleasure so great as none knows but he that hath it and he that hath it would not exchange it for all the sensual Pleasures and Enjâ—yments of this World Secondly Others pretend want of time for the minding of so great a Work And 't is very true that all Persons have not equal leisure for this purpose some are much more straitned than others and more taken up with the necessary Cares of this Life but God hath put no Man upon this hard necessity that for want of time he shall be forced to neglect his Body and his Health his Family and Estate to save his Soul And yet if any Man were brought to this distress it were well worth his while to secure his Eternal Salvation tho' it were with the neglect and loss of all other things But those who are most straitned for time have so much as is absolutely necessary for there is a considerable part of Religion which does not require time but Resolution and Care Not to commit Sin not to break the Laws of God not to be intemperate to make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof does not spend time but saves it for better Purposes so that every Man hath time not to do that which he ought not to do And for the positive part of Religion whether it consists in the exercise of our Minds or in the External Acts of Religion no Man is so distrest but he hath time to think of Heaven and Eternity time to love God to esteem him and delight in him above all things And this a Man may do very frequently and very acceptably while he is labouring and travelling about his Worldly Affairs while his hand is upon the Plow his heart may be with God and while he converseth here upon Earth his Thoughts and Affections may be in
Heaven Every Man hath time to pray to God every day for his Mercy and Forgiveness for his Grace and Assistance for his Preservation and Support and to thank him heartily for all his Blessings and Benefits And a little time seriously employed in this kind would have the same acceptance with God as the more solemn and longer Devotions of those who have more leisure and opportunities for them To be sure we have all of us time to serve God upon his own Day and to employ it wholly in the Exercises of Piety and in the Care and Consideration of our Souls But this when all is said is the Case but of very few most of us have no colour for this Complaint non inopes temporis sed prodigi sumus as Seneca says we are not Poor but Prodigal of our time and lavish it away profusely upon Folly and Vanity Our Vices and Lusts our Pleasures and Diversions consume and divert those precious hours which should be employed to these better purposes nay many times Time oppresseth us and is a burthen to us and lies upon our hands and we know not how to get rid of it and yet we chuse rather to let it run waste than to bestow it upon Religion and the Care of our Souls insomuch that I fear this will be the Condition of many that when they were at a loss what to do with their Time and knew not how to spend it they would not lay it out upon that which was best and most necessary for this surely is the very best use that can be made of Time to prepare and provide for Eternity Thirdly Others pretend it will be time enough to mind these things hereafter But this as bad Excuses seldom hang together and agree with one another directly contradicts the former pretence which supposeth so much time necessary and more than many have to spare and yet now they would make us believe that a very little time will suffice for this Work and that it may be done at any time even just when we are going out of this World But this of all other is the strangest Interpretation of seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness first to put it off to the very last This surely is a greater error on the other hand to think that the business of Religion is so quickly to be dispatched and that the great work of our Lives can be crowded into so narrow a corner of it that the time of Sickness and Old Age nay the hour of Death well employed to this purpose will be sufficient Alas what can we then do that is good for any thing that can in Reason be thought either acceptable to God or available for our selves When we have not Sense and Understanding enough to dispose of our Temporal Concernments and to make our Wills do we think we shall be fit to repent of the Sins and Miscarriages of our whole Lives and to make our Peace with God Every Man must not expect to have Saul's Fortune who when he was wearied with seeking his Father's Asses met with a Kingdom We must not think when we are tired with pursuing the Follies and Vanities of this World to retire into Heaven and to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God Our Saviour hath taken care to caution us against this desperate Folly by a Parable to this very purpose of the Foolish Virgins who having trifled away their time 'till the Bridegroom was coming and neglected to get Oyl into their Lamps by which we are to understand all those good Preparations and Dispositions which are necessary to qualifie us for the Kingdom of God I say having neglected their opportutunity of getting this Oyl while they were looking after it too late the Door was shut against them They thought to have repaired all at last by borrowing of others and supplying themselves that way And thus many deceive themselves hoping to be supplied out of another store when they have no grace and goodness of their own out of the Treasure of the Church from the redundant Merit of the Saints and their Works of Supererrogation of which some believe I know not for what Reason that there is a great stock which the Pope may dispose of to supply those who have taken no care to get Oyl into their Lamps But I know not for what Reason Works of Supererrogation are supposed the Wise Virgins knew not of any Merit they had to spare it was the Foolish Virgins only that entertained this senseless Conceit I am sure the Parable insinuates the quite contrary that the Best and Holiest Persons which are represented by the Wise Virgins have nothing to spare for the supply of others who have been careless of their Souls the Foolish said unto the Wise give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out but the Wise answered saying not so lest there be not enough for us and you but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for your selves It seems they had no works of Supererrogation that they knew of but they do Ironically send them to a Market that was set up somewhere and where these things were pretended to be Sold but how they sped the Conclusion of the Parable tells us that whilst they were running about in great haste to make this purchase of the Merits and good Works of others the Bridegroom came and the Wise Virgins that were ready went in with him to the Marriage and the rest were shut out And there are those likewise among our selves who having been careless to qualifie themselves for the Kingdom of God hope to be supplied out of the infinite Treasure of Christ's Merits but this also is a vain hope For tho' there be Merit enough in the Death and Sufferings of Christ to save all Mankind yet no Man can lay claim thereto who does not perform the Condition of the Gospel Others think by sending for the Minister when the Physician hath given them over to receive in a few hours such Advice and Direction as will do their business as effectually as if they had minded Religion all their Lives long and that a few Devout Prayers said over them when they are just imbarking for another World will like a Magical Wind immediately waft them over into the Regions of Bliss and Immortality But let us not deceive our selves we may defer the Business so long 'till we shall get nothing by our late application to God and crying to him Lord Lord open unto us but that severe Answer Depart from me ye workers of Iniquity I know ye not whence ye are If we would not have this our Doom let us first seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness that so having our Fruit unto Holiness our End may be Everlasting Life A SERMON ON PSAL. CXIX 96. I have seen an end of all Perfection but thy Commandment is exceeding broad THis Psalm seems to have a great deal more of