sabbath, or hour. How active should they be, who know they have so short a space for so great a work! -And we have enemies that are always plotting and labouring for our destruction. How diligent is Satan in all kind of temptations?—Therefore be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist, stedfast in the faith.(i) How diligent are all the ministers of Satan! False teachers, scoffers, persecutors, and our inbred corruptions, the most busy and diligent of all! Will a feeble resistance serve our turn? Should not we be more active for our own preservation, than our enemies are for our ruin?

§ 11. It should excite us to diligence, when we consider our talents, and our mercies, our relation to God, and the affliction he lays upon us. The talents which we have received are many and great. What people breathing on earth have had plainer instructions, or more forcible persuasions, or more constant admonitions, in season and out of season? Sermons, till we have been weary of them; and sabbaths, till we profane them; excellent books in such plenty that we knew not which to read. What people have had God so near them? or have seen so much of Christ crucified before their eyes? or have had heaven and hell so open unto them? What speed should such a people make for heaven! How should they fly, that are thus winged! And how swiftly should they sail, that have wind and tide to help them! A small measure of grace beseems not such a people, nor will an ordinary diligence in the work of God excuse them. All our lives have been filled with mercies. God hath mercifully poured out upon us the riches of sea and land, of heaven and earth. We are fed and clothed with mercy. We have mercies within and without. To number them, is to count the stars or the sands of the sea-shore. If there be any difference betwixt hell and earth, yea, or heaven and earth, then certainly

() 1 Pet. v. 8, 9.

we have received mercy. If the blood of the Son of God be mercy, then we are engaged to God by mercy. Shall God think nothing too much, nor too good for us; and shall we think all too much that we do for him? When I compare my slow and unprofitable life, with the frequent and wonderful mercies received, it shames me, it silences me, and leaves me inexcusable. Besides our talents and mercies, our relations to God are most endearing. Are we his children, and do we not owe him our most tender affections and dutiful obedience? Are we the spouse of Christ, and should we not obey and love him? If he be a Father, where is his honour? and if he be a Master, where is his fear?(m) We call him Master, and Lord, and we say well.(n) But if our industry be not answerable to our relations, we condemn ourselves in saying, we are his children, or his servants. How will the hard labour, and daily toil, which servants undergo to please their masters, judge and condemn those who will not labour so hard for their great Master! Surely there is no master like him; nor can any servants expect such fruit of their labours as his servants. And if we wander out of God's way, or loiter in it, how is every creature ready to be his rod to reduce us, or put us on! Our sweetest mercies will become our sorrows. Rather than want a rod, the Lord will make us a scourge to ourselves: our diseased bodies shall make us groan; our perplexed minds shall make us restless; our conscience shall be as a scorpion in our bosom. And is it not easier to endure the labour than the spur? Had we rather be still afflicted, than be up and doing? And though they that do most meet also with afflictions; yet surely, according to their peace of conscience, and faithfulness to Christ, the bitterness of their cup is abated.

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12. To quicken our diligence in our work, we should also consider what assistances we have, what principles we profess, and our certainty that we can

never do too much. For our assistance in the service of God, all the world are our servants. The sun, moon, and stars, attend us with their light and influence. The earth, with all its furniture of plants and flowers, fruits, birds, and beasts; the sea, with its inhabitants; the air, the wind, the frost and snow, the heat and fire, the clouds and rain; all wait upon us while we do our work. Yea, the angels are all our ministering spirits.(0) Nay, more, the patience of God doth wait upon us; the Lord Jesus Christ waiteth, in the offers of his blood; the Holy Spirit waiteth, by striving with our backward hearts; besides the ministers of the gospel, who study and wait, preach and wait, pray and wait, upon careless sinners. And is it not an intolerable crime for us to trifle, while angels and men, yea, the Lord himself, stand by, and look on, and, as it were, hold us the candle while we do nothing? I beseech you, Christians, whenever you are praying, or reproving transgressors, or upon any duty, remember what assistances you have for your work, and then judge how you ought to perform it.-The principles we profess are, that God is the chief good; and that all our happiness consists in his love, and therefore it should be valued and sought above all things; that he is our only Lord, and therefore chiefly to be served; that we must love him with all our heart, and soul, and strength; that our great business in the world is to glorify God, and obtain salvation. Are these doctrines seen in our practice? or, rather do not our works deny what our words confess?-But however our assistances and principles excite us to our work, we are sure we can never do too much. Could we do all, we are unprofitable servants; (p) much more when we are sure to fail in all. No man can obey or serve God too much. Though all superstition, or service of our own devising, may be called a being righteous over much; yet as long as we keep to the rule of the word, we can never be righteous too

much. The world is mad with malice, when they think, that faithful diligence in the service of Christ is foolish singularity. The time is near when they will easily confess, that God could not be loved or served too much, and that no man can be too busy to save his soul. We may easily do too much for the world, but we cannot for God.

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13. Let us further consider, that it is the nature every grace to promote diligence, that trifling in the way to heaven is lost labour, that much precious time is already mis-spent, and that in proportion to our labour will be our recompence.-See the nature and tendency of every grace. If you loved God, you would think nothing too much that you could possibly do, to serve him and please him still more. Love is quick and impatient, active and observant. If you love Christ, you would keep his commandments, nor accuse them of too much strictness. If you had faith, it would quicken and encourage you. If you had the hope of glory, it would as the spring in the watch set all the wheels of your souls a-going. If you had the fear of God, it would rouse you out of your slothfulness. If you had zeal, it would inflame and eat you up. In what degree soever thou art sanctified, in the same degree thou wilt be serious and laborious in the work of God.-But they that trifle lose their labour. Many who, like Agrippa, are but almost Christians, will find in the end they shall be but almost saved. If two be running in a race, he that runs slowest loses both prize and labour. A man that is lifting a weight, if he put not sufficient strength to it, had as good put none at all.How

many duties have Christians lost, for want of doing them thoroughly! Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able; (g) who, if they had striven, might have been able. Therefore put to a little more diligence and strength, that all you have done already be not in vain. Besides, is not much precious time already lost? With some of us, childhood and youth

(9) Luke xiii. 24.

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are gone; with some, their middle age also; and the time before us is very uncertain. What time have we slept, talked, and played away, or spent in worldly thoughts and cares! How little of our work is done! The time we have lost cannot be recalled; should we not then redeem and improve the little which remains? If a traveller sleep, or trifle most of the day, he must travel so much faster in the evening, or fall short of his journey's end. Doubt not but the recompence will be according to your labour. The seed which is buried and dead, will bring forth a plentiful harvest. Whatever you do or suffer, everlasting rest will pay for all. There is no repenting of labours or suffering in heaven. There is not one says, Would I had spared my pains, and prayed less, or been less strict, and done as the rest of my neighbours!" On the contrary, it will be their joy to look back upon their labours and tribulations, and to consider how the mighty power of God brought them through all. We may all say, as Paul, I reckon that the sufferings, and labours, of this present time, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.(r) We labour but for a moment, but we shall rest for ever. Who would not put forth all his strength for one hour, when for that hour's work he may be a prince while he lives? God is not unrighteous to forget our work and labour of love.(s) Will not all our tears be wiped away, and all the sorrow of our duties be then forgotten.

§ 14. Nor does it less deserve to be considered, that striving is the divinely appointed way of salvation, that all men either do or will approve it, that the best Christians at death lament their negligence, and that heaven itself is often lost for want of striving, but is never had on easier terms.-The sovereign wisdom of God has made striving necessary to salvation. Who knows the way to heaven better than the God of heaven? When men tell us, we are too strict, whom do they accuse? God or us? If it were a

(r) Rom. viii. 18.

(s) Heb. vi. 10.