denying and abstaining from all known sin and applying himself to perform all known Duties with a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men To be heartily Religious Just and Sober Crucifying the Flesh with its affections and lusts Walking before God with respect to all his Commandments in a word to be Christs true and faithful servant For the Scripture is express and plain that God will do good to them that are good and upright in their hearts Psal cxxv 4. That he will give eternal life to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Immortality Rom. ii 7. and Christ himself hath told us that Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Matth. vii 21. and St. Paul If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye but if ye by the Spirit mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Rom. viii 13. And again Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life eve lasting Gal. vi 7 8. And the terms upon which St. Peter assures you of entrance into the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ are that ye abound in Faith Vertue Knowledg Temperance Patience Godliness Brotherly kindness Charity 2 Pet. i. And David in Psalm xv gives the description of a Citizen of Sion who shall dwell in Gods Holy Hill by the same measures And in Gods name saith Psalm l. 23. To him that ordereth his Conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God And lastly 't is Christs promise Where I am there shall also my servants be John xii 26. And indeed it is the Scope and import of the whole Scripture both Old Testament and New to shew that wicked and bad men shall go to Hell and only Righteous and good men shall go to Heaven Psalm iv 3. Know that God hath set apart him that is Godly for himself But Psalm ix 17. The wicked shall be turned into Hell Ezech. xviii 20. The Righteousness of the Righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him John v. 29. They that have done good shall come forth to the Resurrection of life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of damnation For we must all appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. v. 10. And I beseech you neither to censure nor misinterpret this method of proceeding by beginning to declare in such general terms wherein Readiness for Christ consists But consider the wisdom of God leads me in it for tho the Scriptures do treat of these things some times more accurately and distinctly yet for the most part they speak of them in these general expressions And that for Wise and Holy Reasons For the Scriptures were written not only for the Wise and Learned but for the unwise and Ignorant for Babes in Christ and beginners as well as for grown men and Proficients For the Lamb to waid in as well as for the Elephant to swim in Now for the sake of the first sort who are not able to discern critical differences of things nor to comprehend the more mysterious and intricate expressions nor to understand Artificial and Figurative words in which some times the Truths of the Gospel are wrapt up and veiled It seems very agreeable to the goodness of God to condescend to the weakness and capacities of those to whom he speaks And to propound the way of Life and Death to Heaven and Hell in such general and easie terms as all may understand And such as are suited to affect a Natural Conscience and to be an initial and leading way to the receiving what the Gospel speaks more distincly and accurately to those who are awakened to be inquisitive and rendered capable of what is more high and difficult by the use of general words and easie to be understood Such as these are with which I have begun To be ready for Christ is to be a good man for none but such shall go to Heaven Secondly To be ready for Christ is to be a good Christian And what that implies we shall best understand by our Baptismal Covenant in which we enter upon the profession of Christianity Now as in that God promiseth to accept us as Members of his Son to own us for his Children and make us Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven so we on our parts engage and promise three things first to renounce the World the Flesh and the Devil Secondly to believe all the Articles of the Christian Religion viz. with an Applicatory Faith Thirdly to keep Gods Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of our life and he that keeps this Covenant is a good Christian and as a Child of God shall inherit his Kingdom and is ready to go to it when ever Christ comes Now these three answer the three great Graces which are the condition of the New Covenant Repentance Faith and new Obedience And tho the last is included in and be reduceable to the first because no man truely repents of past disobedience who resolves not and who endeavours not to yield unreserved obedience for the future and therefore the two former are oft put alone for the full and whole condition of the Gospel Covenant The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand repent and believe the Gospel Yet I hope we may inoffensively reckon them all three distinctly especially considering that tho they all have a general respect to the whole Holy Trinity yet they may not improperly be said to have a peculiar reference to the distinct Persons to whose name we are expresly Consecrated in our Baptism The Father Son and Holy Ghost Repentance towards God that is the Father Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ So St. Paul expresly speaks Acts xx 21. New Obedience towards the Holy Ghost who is the immediate Author of Sanctification and to walk in newness of life is to walk in the spirit Gal. v. 25. And to be led by the spirit Rom. viii 14. If therefore thou wouldest be a good Christian and as such ready for Christ First With Holy shame and Godly sorrow turn from sin and creatures in which thou hast too long sought satisfaction to God as thy all-sufficient portion and happiness Secondly Come to him by Christ the great and only Mediator who hath made our peace with him and wrought that reconciliation by which alone thou art capable of injoying him Thirdly yield up thy self to the conduct of the Holy Ghost as thy Sanctifier to inable thee both to believe and to bring forth the Fruits
supposeth it when it bids ye be ready And another Text expresseth it which tells you The marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready Rev. xix 7. And both the Jaylers question Sirs what must I do to be saved Acts xvi 30. And the answer to it imply so much And that common saying of St. Austin hath obtained Universal consent That he who made thee without thy self will not save thee without thy self It being therefore taken for granted that we can and must do somewhat let us now enquire and so direct you what it is First Be throughly convinced of thy own unreadiness Sence of want is the first the most Natural and most effectual motive to seek supply Jacob would never have sent his Sons much less his Benjamin into Egypt to buy Food if the Famine had not pincht him and his Houshold in the Land of Canaan The full soul loatheth an Hony Comb but to the hungry soul even bitter things are sweet They who are whole care not for the Physitian but the sick will both send for him and Fee him willingly Christ calls those who are weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin Curse of the Law sence of Gods wrath and 't is well if these will come there is most hope of them but for others he may stretch out his hand all the day long and they regard it not There was enough said before to convince thee of thy unreadiness if thou beest an Vnsanctified man this is only added to persuade thee to consider it and to yield to conviction of thy sin and misery Secondly Be persuaded of the infinite concernment of this matter the water will rise no higher than the Spring Head and the motion will answer the weight which causeth it a small weight produceth but slow motion but a great and heavy one such as is quick and violent They that have slight thoughts of the concerns of another world 't is no wonder they are so little concerned about them But they that consider well what is the Consequence of not being ready when Christ comes what it is to have all the doors of Grace and Mercy Hope and Glory shut against them what it is to lose an Immortal Soul which the gain of an whole world could not compensate What it is to be driven from God and Christ and the Regions of Bliss with a depart ye Cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels to be shut up in that Dungeon of utter darkness where shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth under the gnawings of the Worm which shall never dye and in midst of a fire that shall never be quenched in a word they that wisely lay to heart this Truth that the injoyment or loss of infinite and everlasting happiness and the suffering or escaping endless and unconceivable torments infallibly depends upon being or not being ready for Christ when he comes by Death or Judgment will have other thoughts of these things and will be awakened by them to make ready in good earnest Which I heartily wish we all may Thirdly Get clear and distinct knowledg of the main Grounds of Religion Knowledg is a loading Grace the new man is renewed in knowledg Col. iii. 10. And without it the heart cannot be good tho it be too often without a good heart But of all Knowledg get as full and clear a Knowledg as you can of the Covenant of Grace by which alone the enmity is removed and reconciliation is made between an offended God and lost mankind And herein especially study to know the Mediator of this Covenant as to his Person Natures and Offices and the Efficacy of his Death Resurrection and Intercession with the terms upon which he will receive thee as one of his redeemed ones and what returns he expects from thee What be those sure Mercies of David that Covenant conveighs and what Obligations they are brought under who are received into it the Knowledg of these things is so useful so necessary so excellent comprehending the true knowledg of Salvation 't is hard to desist from farther inlarging upon it or pressing of it An Interest in this Covenant being the only means left us for our Eternal safety and welfare Fourthly Frequently reflect upon thy Baptismal Covenant I know no one thing in all the world more hopefully likely to restore the life of sollid Christianity to the world which is so miserably decayed and dead in it than this would be For first It would mightily restrain sin the bane of Christianity to remember how solemnly we have renounced all the temptations and inducements to it and no less provoke us to Faith and Obedience the two great Pillars upon which Christianity is built to think what Vows of God are upon us and make us say with David I have sworn and I wilâ— perform it that I will keep all thy Righteous Judgments Psal cxix 106. Secondly It would put warmth and Holy fire into all our Devotions which are mostly so formal cold and dead To consider what mutual engagements have past betwixt us and that God to whom that Mediator through whom and that blessed Spirit by whose assistance we perform them They being all by true interpretation farther inforcements oâ— those engagements as were easie to shew in all the particulars of Prayer Hearing the Word and Receiving the Holy Supper Thirdly It would heal our Divisions and close up our Breaches and restore that blessed Spirit of Love and Peace The Bond of Perfection and Badg of Christs Disciples and help us to keep and hold the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace as you may see from the Apostles arguing Eph. iv 4 5 6. To call to mind that we are all Baptised into one Body joyned to one Head received into the Family of one Father obliged by the same Laws made Candidates and Expectants of the same Jerusalem above which is the Mother of us all And what would have so beneficial an influence upon the life of Christianity cannot fail to prepare us for the coming of Christ I therefore again inforce my importunate requests to you that you would often and dayly meditate upon your Baptismal Engagements to the great God Fifthly Apply thy self sincerely and seriously to the use of all Gods means with an earnest expectation and design to receive from them what God hath appointed them to conveigh to those who use them aright Men for the most part use them customarily and for fashion sake expecting little from them and receive as little as they expect They proving dry Breasts and empty Channels But if thou wouldest use them as thou shouldest thou wouldest find it good to draw nigh to God and that he never bid the house of Jacob seek his face in vain 'T is the Nature of means to come in the middle between what a man can do and what he can not do to help him by what he can do to
of man cometh in an hour when ye think not 'T is the Motto and brand of a Fool to say non putaram I never thought of this excuss therefore this stupidness shake off this folly and bethink your selves there 's no watch in the night there 's no hour in the day when Christ may not come therefore be ever preparing and prepared to meet him I have thus brought the occasion and the Text together and led you through the Context to the Words as clearly and as briefly as I could So that nothing remains but to make the best improvement of them that I can Be ye ready First 'T is vox Respectiva The very word implies a respect to somewhat He that is ready is ready for some person or some thing And 't is so obvious the naming of it is next to needless 'T is for the coming of our Lord. Secondly 'T is vox Praeceptiva 'T is a word of command from our Great Lord and Master making that our duty which is our greatest interest and happiness Thirdly 't is vox Directiva Directing us to that in which our true our only wisdom which makes wise unto Salvation doth consist Fourthly 'T is vox Comprehensiva a very large and comprehensive word in two regards first including all things which concern our being Good and Happy For to be ready for Christ implies our being compleat in Christ There 's a receiving fulness of Grace from him 2. It implies our going to Heaven with him For they that were ready went with him in to the marriage Matth. xxv 10. there 's our happiness Secondly It comprehends all persons ye that 's all this indefinite is Universal as Thou in the Commandments is every one So here Ye signifies All. These put together fall naturally and without any strayning into this Doctrine 'T is every mans indispensible Duty and highest Interest to be presently Ready for Christs coming A Principle of Duty to Gods Authority requiring it And a Principle of Wisdom for our safety necessitating it are the two unshaken Pillars on which this Truth is so firmly built that it can never be moved No Cavils from men or Devils can overturn it no evasion can ever dispence with mens Obligation to it But as long as man is bound to do what God bids Or believe what God tells him As long as 't is the part of a wise man to escape the utmost misery and to desire and persue after infiâ—ite happiness and glory So long will this truth abide more fixed than the Earth Yea establisht in and as the very Heavens So that I shall say no more for its confirmation in this place but proceed 1. To shew wherein this Readiness consists 2. What is required on our parts to attain to it 3. Press the performance with most cogent Arguments But because a wise Builder will carry off the Rubbish and clear his Ground before he lays his Foundation I shall First Negatively shew you wherein Readiness doth not consist or what is not sufficient to make you so And this is very needful to be done because prepossession of the mind by error hinders the Truth from entring and leaves no room in the Heart to entertain it And too many are prone to rest satisfied with that which will deceive them supposing 't is enough to make their condition safe and happy and would go farther did they not verily think they had gone far enough Many saith Seneca had become wisemen had they not thought themselves already such And Gregory Nazianzen the greatest hindrance of proficiency is an Opinion of sufficient proficiency 'T is no wonder those Marriners strike Sail who think themselves in safe Harbour Nor that he sets by his Staff and takes up his rest who verily believes he is at the end of his journey Now to pass by the excuses many make for neglecting to be ready there seem to be six things which men are prone to trust to as sufficient to make their condition good and safe which really are not so 1. Their being born of Godly Parents 2. Being of very good Natures or sweet Dispositions 3. Being Baptized and using and injoying the means of Grace 4. Outward Conformity to the Letter of the Law in the practice of Moral Vertues and Duties 5. Being of the true Church or of such a Party or persuasion 6. Believing in Christ or presuming rather that they do so without those Fruits which prove their Faith to be Holy and Lively It would require more time than our present streights will allow to speak fully to all these it must suffice to Nonsuit every of these Pleas in a word to undeceive those who are prone to deceive themselves with shaddows and appearances instead of Realities For 't is an error very incident to weak and partial minds as we are all prone to be partial to our selves to judg every thing which is good to be enough and good enough Which is a great mistake as you may be easily convinced by a plain similitude Your mony may be very good both for Mettal and Stamp and as currant as any in the Kingdom Yet twenty Shillings of such mony will not pay a Debt of ten pounds What 's the reason Not because the mony is not good but because there is not enough of it So in our present Case these things I have named will not make us ready for Christ why so Not because they are not good in their place and kind they are good in tanto but not in toto but because they are not good enough In degree and measure Therefore I beseech you think not I condemn or dispraise them or discourage your attainment of them I only warn you not to rest in them as sufficient to make you ready for Christ or fit to go to Heaven For this they cannot do First not the being born of Godly Parents tho it is a great mercy to be so and is attended with many advantages and many have put confidence in it How often do we hear it from the Jews mouths we are Abrahams seed we have Abraham to our Father John viii 43 39 and St. John Baptists warning them against it think not to say within your selves we have Abraham to our Father Matth. iii. 10. intimates their hearts were full of it and placed much confidence in it But our Saviour tells those very men John viii 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil And St. John Baptist call these a generation of vipers 'T is not generation from the best men but regeneration from the good Spirit must do our business non nascimur sed â—enascimur Christiani Men beget children not as good men but as men and therefore beget not good men but meer men As Circumcised Israelites begot children which needed Circumcision And the best drest Wheat grows up again with Chaff So those whose Parents were Circumcised in heart come into this world with a Foreskin on their hearts which must be taken off Whatever
becomes of the dispute of the Original of the Soul 'T is without dispute that Grace in the Soul is not by traduction but by infusion and acquisition Secondly Not good Nature or the sweetest disposition I deny not but there is a vast difference betwixt the tempers of men As great as any thing can make but the Soveraign Grace of God Some are such Ishmaels such Nabals Caligulas Others such Jonathans Titus's the darlings and delights of mankind So sweet so affable kind obliging ready to good that nothing below the Image of Christ is more lovely than the impress of such a temper But still the best of Nature is but Nature and the Fruit of the unpâ—un'd Vine will be but wild Grapes and by Nature we are all Children of Wrath. Not Sons of God or Heirs of Heaven Thirdly Not being Baptised and injoying and using all the means of Grace I tell you therefore first 't is a very great Mercy and Favour of God to allow thee these priviledges I tell you secondly 't is thy duty and thou dost very well to attend constantly on them 't is well thou wert Baptized thou dost well to hear the the Word pray to God keep thy Church c. Yet I tell thee thirdly thou mayest go to Hell after all this yea and have a hotter place there than one of Tyre and Sidon than the men of Sodom and Gomorrah who never heard of or injoy'd such things Nay I tell thee fourthly 't is one of the commonest and most dangerous practical errors of them within the Church to think to Compound with God and excuse themselves for the neglect of the Duties those Priviledges oblige them to by a formal using of these Priviledges And therefore there is nothing in which the Scriptures are more express and copious than in warning men against this mistake And that both in the Old Testament and New Jeremiah tells them they trusted in lying words who cryed the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord. And continued in their sins Jer. vii 4. to the 12. and Chap. ix 26. He levels Judah and Israel for being Vncircumcised in heart with Egypt Ammon and Moah who were Vncircumcised in Flesh I beseech you read with attention yea with fear and trembling the second Chapter to the Romans especially from the 17. verse and you will find that Circumcision may become Vncircumcision and so Baptism as no Baptism And that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly but he that is one inwardly And Circumcision which profits is not the outward in the Flesh and in the Letter but in the Heart and in the Spirit And St. Peter tells expresly that the Baptism which saves is not the washing of the flesh but when we can answer with a good Conscience the questions usually propounded in the Administration of it 1 Pet. iii. 21. So for Prayer Isaiah supposes they may make long Prayers whose hands are full of blood And David that some mens Prayers may be turned into sin And Soloman tells you that the Prayer of the wicked and of him that turns away his ear from hearing the Law shall be abomination The blind man John ix 31. could see the truth that God heareth not sinners such as allow themselves in sin And David saith of himself if I regard iniquity in my heart God will not hear my Prayer If thou hast gifts to Pray like an Angel and yet livest like an Incarnate Devil thou mayst indeed be Gods remembrancer But 't is but to put him in mind to take vengeance on thee As the Philosopher said smartly to the wicked marriners who began to Pray when a storm arose Hold your peace hold your peace for the Gods will certainly destroy us if they take notice you are hear Not that I would discourage a Simon Magus to Pray to God Acts viii 22. But then let him repent of his wickedness And take Eliphaz's Counsel Job xxii 23 26. Put iniquity far from 〈◊〉 Tabernacle So mayst thou lift up thâ— Face unto God and Pray unto him aâ—â—he shall hear thee tho sincere Prayer 〈◊〉 make thee leave sinning or sin will make thee leave Praying sincerely Yet many cry Lord Lord who shall never go to Heaven So for Hearing Rom. ii 13. Not the hearers of the Law are just before God but the doers of the Law shall be justified For whosoever heareth Christs sayings and doth them is like to a wise man who buildeth his House upon a Rock But he that Heareth and doth them not is like a foolish man which builds his House upon the Sand and when the Floods beat upon it it will fall and great shall be the fall of it Matth. vii 24 27. For they only are blessed who hear the word of God and keep it Nor will the approving and praising of the Preacher but the practice of his Doctrine render your selves approved or turn to your praise with God see Ezech. xxxiii 31 32. So for the receiving the Holy Sacrament tho that blessed Ordinance be too much and too shamefully neglected yet â—ayst thou eat Christs Body and drink â—â—s Blood Sacramentally and swallow down the pledges of thy own Damnation in so doing 1 Cor. xi 29. and bring upon thy self the guilt of Christs Body and Blood verse 27. Consider well 1 Cor. x. 2.5 For both the Sacraments They were all Baptised unto Moses in the Câ—â—â—d and in the Sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink for they all drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ But with many of them God was not well pleased And seeing the means are so evidently appointed for the sake of the end and to lead us to the attainment of it 'T is matter of just wonder how men can so impose upon themselves as to rest in the means instead of the end The Stairs are the means by which you ascend to your Lodging Chamber but if any man should therefore strip himself and lye down upon the Stairs he might find both a cold and hard Lodging how warm and soft soever the Bed is which stands in â—he Chamber at the Stairs head Fourthly Not outward Conformity to the Letter of the Law in the practice of Moral Vertues and Duties Not but that this is very amiable and very necessary and cursed be the man that will dispence with himself or others to neglect it and it cannot without great ignorance or greater malice be charged on any because they shew the insufficiency of this and urge you to more I confess an Vngodly honest man is half a Contradiction But I declare a Godly Knave is a whole one For he may be sincerely Just and Honest in his Dealings with men who wants a sence of Religion towards â—od But he is a gross Hypocrite towards God who pretends to Religion and allows himself to deal unjustly with his Neighbour Not that I exclude the Duties of the first
ever And Psal 118.8 9. It is better to Trust in the Lord than to put Confidence in Man than to put Confidence in the Greatest or the Best of Men. And if Men will be so Diligent to please a Landlord a Justice a Master or a Father How much more Careful should we be to please the Great God of Heaven And the Apostle argues Heb. 12.9 We have had Fathers of our Flesh and we gave them Reverence Shall we not much rather be in Subjection to the Father of Spirits and live And God himself Mal. 1.6 And so for the Things of the World No Study or Contrivance of the Head no Labour nor Travel of the Hands or Feet is thought too much How did Jacob Serve for Rachel See how he describes his Diligence Gen. 31.40 In the Day the Drought consumed me and the Frost by Night and my Sleep departed from mine-Eyes And 't is easier to find an Hundred following him in this than Two or Three in his Wrestling with God and not letting Him go till they obtain the Blessing Most Men being serious about Trifles and only trifling and dallying about this Serious Work The One Thing necessary Spending their Money for that which is not Bread and their Labour for that which satisfies not Isa 55.2 Forsaking the Fountain of Living Waters and hewing out broken Cisterns that will hold no Water Jer. 2.13 Being wise to do Evil but void of Knowledge to do Good Compare thy Self with other Men How many Younger than thy Self have got more Knowledge How many Poorer than thy Self can spare more Time to Read and Meditate and Pray How many of weaker Parts and under smaller Helps and intrusted with fewer Talents yet have far out-stript thee in your common Master's Work And thou wilt say 'T is like 't is well done of them And thy Judgment approves and praises them For shame then Practise thy Self what thou canst not but applaud in Others Yea let Shame to find thy Self out-stript by so Many that were once behind thee and are so still in many Respects quicken thee to double thy Diligence till thou recover and over-take them yea get again before them Again Compare thy Self with GOD if thou be not afraid to entertain a Thought of so unequal a Comparison Lord What is Man a Worm a Clod a Bubble a Shadow Yea Man in Honour is like the Beast that perisheth and in his best Estate is altogether Vanity And yet as Mean and Inconsiderable a Thing as thou art thou standest upon it thou wilt have it thus and thus and thy Will must be done with Diligence and thy Work with Care and with Exactness and art presently upbraiding those about thee for the least Neglect with What do I keep you for And wilt rid thy self of such unprofitable Incumbrances and wilt not retain an Idle Faithless Servant in thy Family a Jade in thy Stable a Barren or Unthristy Creature amongst thy Caâ—ttle or a Fruitless Tree in thy Orchard And How darest thou be such towards the Great King of all the Earth as thou wilt not suffer any of thy Fellow-Creatures to be towards thy self who art so far below Him so Inconsiderable a Nothing in comparison of Him Once more Compare the Sweet and Easie Indulgence the Gospel hath provided for thee in the Work of God with the Hard Service imposed and exacted under the Law and the Gracious Assistance offer'd and communicated under this Dispensation with the little Help afforded then How Chargeable and Costly were the Sacrifices How Long and Tyring the Journey 's up to Jerusalem How Insupportable the Yoke of those Observances And How small the Aids afforded What would'st thou have done then if thou stickest if thou grudgest if thou repine at what is now expected and shall be accepted As Naaman's Servants said wisely to their Master My Father if the Prophet had bid thee do some great Thing Wouldst thou not have done it How much more when he saith unto thee Wash and be Clean 2 King 5.13 If God if Christ had bid thee do some Harder Work Wouldst thou not do it to save thy Soul for ever How much more when he hath made the Way more Easie than of Old and offer'd and assur'd greater Help than then to enable thee to do it Lastly Compare thy Work for the True God with what Idolaters and Hypocrites perform to False Ones or to the True One Falsly That you may be moved to Jealousie with those which are not a People and provoked by a Foolish Nation Deut. 32.21 How do the Worshippers of Baal cry whole Dayes and Cut themselves with Knives and Lances till the Blood gushes out How do the Profelytes of Rome Whip themselves pour out their Money to their wily Priests which make Merchandize of them for Masses Indulgences c. How do they Lavish out Gold and Impoverish themselves and Families to inrich the Shrines of Dead and Dumb Idols and undergo hard Penances and tedious Pilgrimages And all in vain led only by a False Opinion of Meriting by what God will despise And How Profuse will Hypocrites be Thousands of Rams and Ten Thousand Rivers of Oyl Yea what is Dearer still The First-Born of their Bodies for the Sin of their Souls Mich. 6. How Shall not only the Queen of the South but the Great Whore of the West Rise up against you and Condemn your Sloath Fifthly We are under many Great and Indispensible Engagements to Diligence in this Work We are bound in Conscience and 't is our Duty that we must We are bound in Gratitude upon receiving so many Talents and Opportunities by which we may We are bound in point of Interest our own Safety and Happiness depends upon it and 't is our Wisdom if we will thus work A word of every one of these may serve First 'T is our Duty and we are bound by His Authority who is our Lord. He hath commanded us to keep His Precepts diligently The First and Great Command is To Love the Lord our God which is the very Soul and Life of this Work with all our Heart and all our Soul with all our Might and all our Strength Every Step in this Way must be trodden heedfully See that ye Walk circumspectly not as Fools but as Wise Not at Peradventure Keep thy Heart with all Diligence Prov. 4.24 Joshua's Words are very pressing Chap. 22.5 Take diligent heed to do the Commandment and the Law which Moses the Servant of the Lord charged you to Love the Lord your God and to Walk in all His Wayes and to Keep His Commandments and to Cleave to Him and to Serve Him with all your Heart and all your Soul As we must agree quickly with our Adversary so we must give Diligence to be delivered from him We must not only Work at but Work out our own Salvation As we must Receive the Word with all readiness so we must take most Diligent heed to the Things we have heard lest at any time we