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tends them in all their undertakings. So that excepting the cafe of perfecution, (which God will particu larly confider and reward in another world), the religious and good man, who fincerely feeks the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, ftands as fair, and is upon as good terms, for all 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 neceffaries of this life, and a competency of outward things, he hath a much greater and better fecurity from the providence and promife of God, than the men of the world have by all their care and pains.

Befides, that he hath this confiderable advantage, by minding these things only as acceffories, that if he mifs of them, he hath fomething better to fupport him in the want of them; being fecure of a happinefs which this world can neither give nor take from him. But now the worldly man, if he be defeated in his defigns, is of all men moft miferable, because he hath nothing elfe to comfort him, nothing else to truft to; he fails of his hopes as to this world, and hath done what in him lies to make his cafe desperate as to the other.

Upon all these confiderations and encouragements, you fee how reasonable it is, that we should make religion, and the concernments of another life, our great care and bufinefs. And yet how are thefe neglected by the greatest part of mankind! and by the belt of us (God knows) not minded as they ought, and as they deferve! What can we fay for ourfelves in excufe of fo intolerable a folly? There are two or three things which men commonly pretend, if not in juftification, yet in mitigation and excufe of this great neglect.

First, They pretend great difficulties and difcou ragements in the ways of religion. This I have already acknowledged to be true, fo far as to awaken our care, and to whet our induftry; but by no means to make us defpond and give over all care of fo great a concernment, becaufe of the difficulties it is attended withal. Men who have no mind to a thing, are

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apt to imagine great difficulties in the attaining of it; and to magnify them in their fancies beyond reason. As the people of Ifrael, when they were to enter into Canaan, (which was the type of the kingdom of heaven), reprefented 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 fons of Anak, men of prodigious flature, and cities walled up to heaven. And this the wife man obferves to be the perpetual excuse of the flothful; when they have no mind to a thing, they lay, there is a lion in the way; that is, they fancy to themselves dangers and terrors which are not. Thus men who are averfe from religion, and have no mind to be at the trouble and pains to get to heaven, are apt to complain of the monftrous and infuperable difficulties of religion, and how hard it is for a man to mortify his lufts, and fubdue his appetites, and govern his paffions, and to do all thofe things, which are neceffary to bring him to heaven. Well! it is acknowledged to be difficult: And is it not fo to get an eftate, and to rife to any thing in this world? The true pains which men take about thefe things, fhew that they are difficult; only when men have a mind to a thing, and their heart is fet 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 fo that is good for any thing? Is not the law a difficult and crabbed ftudy? Does it not require great labour, and perpetual drudging to excel in any kind of knowledge, to be master of any art or profeffion? 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 flight and inconfiderable thing, that is not worth our care and induftry? Is it fit that fo great a good thould be expofed to the faint and idle withes, to the cheap and lazy endeavours of flothful men? For what reafon, nay, with what confcience, can we bid lefs for heaven and eternal life, than men are contented to give for the things of this world; things of no value in comparifon, not worthy the toiling

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for, not fure to be attained by all our endeavours; things which perish in the ufing, and which, when we have them, we are liable to be deprived of by a thousand accidents? One fit of a fever may shatter our understandings, and confound all our knowledge, and turn us into fools and idiots; an inundation or a fire may fweep away and devour our estates; a fucceffion of calamities may in a few hours make the richest and greatest man as poor as Job, and fet him upon a dunghill.

But be the difficulty what it will of attaining the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, they are to be fought at any rate; because they are abfolutely neceffary, and we miferable and undone if we have them not. And therefore, not to diffemble in the matter, the difficulties of religion are confiderable; but then they are much greater at first, and will every day abate and grow lefs, and the work by degrees will become eafy, and turn into pleasure and delight; a pleasure fo great, as none knows but he that hath it; and he that hath it, would not exchange it for all the fenfual pleasures and enjoyments of this world.

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Secondly, Others pretend want of time for the minding of fo great work. And it is very true, that all perfons have not equal leifure for this purpofe; fome are much more ftraitened than others, and more taken up with the neceffary cares of this life but God hath put no man upon this hard necef fity, that for want of time he fhall be forced to neglect his body and his health, his family and eftate, to fave his foul. And yet if any man were brought to this diftrefs, it were well worth his while to fecure his eternal falvation, though it were with the neglect and lofs of all other things. But those who much as is ab

are moft ftraitened for time, have fo folutely neceffary: for there is a confiderable part of religion which does not require time, but refolution and care. Not to commit fin, not to break the laws of God, not to be intemperate, to make no proifion for the flesh to fulfil the lufts thereof, does not

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fpend time, but faves it for better purposes: fo that every man hath time not to do that which he ought not to do. And for the pofitive part of religion, whe. ther it confifts in the exercise of our minds, or in the external acts of religion, no man is fo diftreffed but he hath time to think of heaven and eternity; time to love God, to esteem him, and delight in him a bove all things. And this a man may do very fre quently, and very acceptably, while he is labouring and travelling about his worldly affairs; while his hand is upon the plough, his heart may be with God; and while he converfeth 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 affiftance, for his prefervation and fupport, and to thank him Keartily for all his bleffings and benefits. And a little time fe

riously employed in this kind, would have the fame acceptance with God, as the more folemn and longer devotions of those who have more leifure and opportunities for them. To be fure, we have all of us time to ferve God upon his own day, and to employ it wholly in the exercises of piety, and in the care and confideration of our fouls.

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But this, when all is faid, is the cafe but of very few most of us have no colour for this complaint; non inopes temporis, fed prodigi fumus, (as Seneca fays); we are not poor, but prodigal of our time, "and lavish it away profufely upon folly and vanity." Our vices and lufts, our pleasures and diver. fions, confume and divert thofe precious hours which fhould be employed to thefe better purposes; nay, many times time oppreffeth us, and is a burden to us, and lies upon our hands, and we know not how to get rid of it; and yet we chufe rather to let it run wafte, than to beltow it upon religion, and the care of our fouls; infomuch 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 fpend it, they would not lay it cut upon that which was beft and most neceffary; for this furely 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 excufes feldom hang together, and agree with one another) directly contradicts the former pretence, which fuppofeth fo much time neceffary, and more than many have to spare; and yet now they would make us believe that a very little time will fuffice 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 ftrangeft interpretation of feeking the kingdom of God, and his righteoufnefs firft, to put it off to the very last. This furely is a greater error on the other hand, to think that the bufinefs of religion is fo quickly to be dispatched, and that the great work of our lives can be crouded into fo narrow a corner of it, that the time of fickness and old age, nay, the hour of death, well employed to this purpofe, will be fufficient. Alas! what can we then do that is good for any thing? that can in reafon be thought either acceptable to God, or available for ourselves? When we have not fenfe and understanding enough to difpofe of our temporal concernments, and to make our wills, do we think we fhall be fit to repent of the fins and mifcarriages 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 wea ried with feeking his father's affes, 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 fit down with Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.

Our Saviour hath taken care to caution us against this defperate 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 oil into their lamps, (by which we are to understand all thofe good preparations and difpofitions which are neceffary to qualify us for the kingdom of God); I fay, having neglected their opportunity of getting

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