A Saint or a Brute, Part 1 · Application 1
Uſe.
THE underſtandidg is the ſubſervient faculty, to let in that light, which may by direction and excitation, guide the will: Having ſhewed you the Truth, I am next to ſhew you how you may improve it, and ſo to apply it, as may beſt help you to apply it to your ſelves.
And if I ſhould here fall upon things impertinent, or make it my work to claw your ears, or exalt my ſelf in your eſteem, by an unſeaſonable oſtentation of learning or eloquence, or carry on any ſuch corrupt deſign, while I ſhould faithfully do the work of God, my Text it ſelf would openly condemn me. If One thing be needful, it is that One that I muſt do my ſelf, while I am exhorting you to do it: And woe be to me, if I ſhould lay by that, to do any other unneceſſary work, even to fiſh for the applauſe of Carnal wits, while my very ſubject is the Reproofs of Chriſt againſt a much more tolerable error.
And as to the manner of my admonition, if One thing be needful, I hope you will allow me to be as plain and ſerious as I can, about this One: And my firſt addreſs to you ſhall be for tryall.
And I ſhall make it now my earneſt requeſt to you, that you …ill bethink you how much you are concerned, to compare your …arts and lives with this paſſage, and judge your ſelves by the Word of God that is now before you: And for your own ſakes … it ſeriouſly and faithfully, as paſſengers that are haſting to the …eat Aſſize. What ſay your Conſciences, Sirs, to this Queſtion? Have you indeed lived in the world as men that believe that One thing is neceſſary? Hath this One had your chiefeſt care and labour, and have you choſen rather to neglect all other things then …is? Look behind you, and judge of the courſe that you have taken by the light of this one text. I do not ask you Whether you have heard that One thing is Neceſſary: nor whether you have talked of it, and confeſſed it to be true: nor whether you have been called Chriſtians by your ſelves and others, and have come to Church, and forborn thoſe ſins that would have moſt …emiſhed your honour in the world: This is nothing to the queſtion: Thus many thouſands do, that were never acquainted with the One thing Neceſſary. Nor do I ask you, Whether you have uſed to allow God half an hours lip-ſervice or formal …rowſie prayer at night, when you have ſerved the world and …esh all day? Nor whether you have been Religious on the by, and given God ſome lean devotion which coſt you little, and which your fleſh can ſpare without any great diminution or de…iment in its eaſe, and honour, and profit, and ſenſual delights: Nor whether you run to ſome kinde of duties of Religion, to make all whole, when you come from wilful reigning ſin; and ſo make Religion a fortreſs to your luſts, to quiet your Conſciences while you ſerve the fleſh: I confeſs ſuch a kind of Religiouſſeſs as this, the world is acquained with: But this is unanswerable to the Rule before us.
But the queſtion is, Whether this One thing hath been the Treaſure and Jewel of your eſtimation; the darling of your affections; the prize of your moſt diligent endeavours, and the only felicity of your ſouls?
Sirs, as lightly as you hear this queſtion now, you will One day find that your lives, yea your ſalvation lyeth upon your anſwer to it. Can you ſay truly, as before the ſearcher of hearts, that it is he that hath had your hearts? That this One thing hath been more eſteemed by you, than all the world beſides? That other things have all ſtooped unto this One, and ſerved under it? And that this hath had the ſtream of your heartieſt affections, and the drift of your endeavours, and hath been the matter that you have had firſt to do, and the thing for which you have lived in the world?
If this be not ſo, never talk of your Chriſtianity for ſhame: Your Religion is vain, if this be not your Religion. Alas I know that we have all of us yet too much of the fleſh, and are too cold in our affections, and too ſlow and uneven in our endeavours for our end: But yet for all that I muſt ſtill tell you, (as I have often done becauſe it is neceſſary) that here lyeth the difference between the truly ſanctified ſoul, and all the hypocrites and halfChriſtians in the world: [Every true Chriſtian is devoted unto God, and hath made an hearty and abſolute reſignation of himſelf and all that he hath unto him; and therefore loveth him with his ſuperlative, moſt appretiative love, and ſerveth him with the beſt he hath, and thinks nothing too good or too dear for God, and for the attainment of his everlaſting Reſt: Chriſt hath the chiefeſt room in his heart, and the bent and drift of his life is for him: He ſtudyeth how he may beſt ſerve and pleaſe him with his time, his intereſt, and all that he hath: and if he fall, as it is contrary to the habitual reſolution of his ſoul, and contrary to the ſcope and current of his heart and life, ſo he riſeth again by repentance with ſorrow for his ſin, and loathing of himſelf, and ſincerely endeavours to amend, and goeth on reſolvedly in his holy courſe.] This is the ſtate of every one that is in a ſtate of life.
But for all hypocrites and half-Chriſtians, their caſe is otherwiſe: The world and fleſh is deareſt to them, and higheſt in their practical eſtimation, though not in their speculative: and it hath their higheſt affections of Love and Delight, and the very bent and ſtream of heart and life, while God is ſerved heartleſly on the by, for fear leſt they be damned, when they can enjoy the world and ſin no longer, and is put off with the leavings of the fleſh, and hath no more of their hearts, their tongues, their time, their wealth, then it can ſpare: They ask their fleſh how far they ſhall be Religious, and will go no further then will ſtand with their proſperity in the world: With the firſt and beſt they ſerve the fleſh, and with the cheapeſt and the refuſe they ſerve the Lord: When they go higheſt in their out-ſide carnal Religiouſneſs, they go not beyond this hypocritical reſerved ſtate; (and uſually, as Cain, they hate Abel for offering a more acceptable ſacrifice): God muſt take up with this from them, or … without: They alway ſerve him with this reſerve, though it … not alwayes explicite and diſcerned by them, [Provided that … may go well with me in the world, and▪ I may have ſome competent proportion of honour, profit or pleaſure, and Religion may not …oſe me to be undone:] If God will not take them on theſe …, (as moſt certainly he never will) he muſt go look him …er ſervants: and ſo he will; and make them know at laſt … their ſorrow, that he needed not their ſervice, but it was … that needed him, and the benefits of his ſervice.
I thought meet (though I have done it oft before) to give … this difference between the Hypocrite and the ſincere: And …w it is my earneſt requeſt unto you all, that you will preſently … your ſouls to an account, and know which of theſe two …rſes you have taken; and which of theſe two is your own …ondition.
If nature had made you ſuch ſtrangers to your ſelves, as that … were unable to anſwer ſuch a queſtion, I would never trouble … with it: but I ſuppoſe by faithful enquiry, you may know … much of your ſelves, if you are but willing. You know where it is that you have dwelt, and what it is that you have been …ng in the world, and you can review the actions of your lives, though they have been of ſmaller conſequence. Why then may … not quickly know if you will, ſo great a thing, as What hath … the very End and Buſineſs for which you have lived in the …rld till now? Have you been running ſo long, and know not … what is the prize that you have run for? Have you forgot the … and that you have been ſo long going on? Have you been …ſie all your daies till now, and know not about what or why? …ertainly this is a thing that may be known, if you are willing and …igent to know it: It is for one of theſe two that you have, …ed; for the world, or for God: To pleaſe your fleſh, or to …eaſe God and be ſaved: Either to make proviſion for Earth or …raven: Which of theſe is it? Deal plainly with your ſelves, …or your ſalvation is deeply concerned in the account.
Perhaps you will ſay, that It was for both: for as you have a ſoul and a body, ſo you muſt look to both: Yea, but ſo as one …at knoweth, that One thing is Needful: As your body is but …e priſon, the caſe, the ſervant of your ſouls; ſo it muſt be pro…ded for and uſed but as a ſervant, and maintained only in a fit…eſs for its work: But the queſtion is, Which of them hath had duplicate page duplicate page the preheminence? Which hath had the life of your affections and endeavours? Which of them was your end? and about which hath been the chief buſineſs that you have moſt carefully and diligently carryed on? This is the great queſtion.
You cannot have two maſters, though you may have many inſtruments and fellow-ſervants: You cannot acceptably ſerve God, if you ſerve Mammon: Every wicked man may do ſomthing in Religion, and every good man may do ſomething that is contrary to Religion: A carnal man may do ſomething for God, and for his ſoul; and a ſpiritual man ought to do ſomething ſubordinately for his body, and too often, alas, doth ſomething for it inordinately: But which bears the ſway? and which is firſt ſought? and which comes behind, and hath but the leavings of the other?
Be not deceived: God is not mocked: Whatſoever a man ſoweth, that ſhall he reap: If you ſow to the fleſh, of the fleſh you ſhall reap corruption: but if you ſow to the ſpirit, of the ſpirit you ſhall reap everlaſting life: Gal. 6. 7, 8. Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world (for themſelves): for if any man love the world, (with his chiefeſt Love) the Love of the Father is not in him, 1 John 2. 15. Is it not a wonder that any reaſonable man can be ſuch a ſtranger to himſelf, as not to know what he lives for, and what hath had his heart, and what hath been the principal buſineſs of his life? Some by-matters you may eaſily forget or over-look: but can you do ſo by your end, which hath been your chiefeſt care and buſineſs?
If indeed you no more know your own minds, nor what you have all this while been doing in the world, ask thoſe that you have converſed with; ▪and judge by the effects and ſigns: Others can tell what you have moſt ſeriouſly talked of: They may conjecture by their obſervation, what you have moſt carefully ſought, and reſolutely adhered to. Whether it be God or the fleſh; this world or Heaven? The One thing Needful, or the many troubling trifles in your way: It is like that wiſe and godly obſervers can help you to diſcern it; though ſenſualiſts will but deceive you.
A mans Love, at leaſt his chiefeſt Love, cannot be hid, but will appear in his behaviour: If you Love God above the world, you will ſeek him and his Glory before the world: and if you do ſo, it may partly be diſcerned, if you have converſed with diſcerning men: Heaven and earth are not ſo like, nor the way to each of them ſo like, but it may partly be diſcerned which way men are going, and what they drive at in their daily courſe.
But I will urge you no further to the tryal: I will take it for granted that your Conſciences are telling many of you, that you have been troubled about many things, while the One thing Needful hath been neglected: And if indeed this be your caſe, ſuffer me to tell the guilty plainly, what it is that they have done.
1. Whatever you have been doing in the world, you have loſt your Time, if you have not been ſeeking the One thing neceſſary. If you have been gathering riches, or growing up in honour as the ruſh groweth in the mire, (Job 8. 11.) or filling your purſes or your barnes, or pleaſing your fantaſies and fleſh; you have but fooled away your time, and done juſt nothing, and much worſe: Nothing is done, if the One thing Neceſſary be undone Believe it, Time is a precious thing, and ought not to have been thus caſt away. When you come to the end of it, the worſt and proudeſt of you ſhall confeſs it is precious. Then O for one year more! O for a few daies or hours more, to make ſure of this One thing, which you ſhould have ſpent your lives in making ſure of. Will you then think thus, and yet can you now afford to caſt away twenty or thirty years upon Nothing? If Time be worth Nothing, your Lives are worth Nothing: And why ſhould a man deſire to Live for Nothing? You Love your lives too much, and yet will you ſo contemptuouſly caſt them away? He hath loſt his life, who hath loſt the End of his life. The loſs of an hundred pound in money is not (to your ſelves) ſo great a loſs, as the loſs of a dayes or hours time. What then is the loſs of ſo many years? Did you ever well conſider of this? If you live a thouſand years, it is all loſt, if you have not ſpent it in making ſure of the One thing Neceſſary. For is not that loſt, and worſe a thouſand times then loſt; that is ſpent in croſſing the End that it is given for? and which is no comfort, but terrour in the review, and which leaveth no fruit, but grief and diſappointment? Let me tell you, if you hold on thus unto the end, you will wiſh and wiſh a thouſand times, either that you had never had an hours time, or elſe that you had had hearts, to have better perceived the worth and uſe of it, then to caſt it away as you have done upon nothing. It is but One thing that is worth your Time and Lives.
2. Whatſoever elſe you have been doing, you have loſt all your Labour with your Time, if this One thing Needful have been neglected. No doubt you have been buſie ſince you came into the world, but to little purpoſe. You might as well have been idle, as ſo laboriouſly doing nothing. No doubt many a journey you have rode and gone, and many a hard daies labour you have taken, and ſharpened perhaps with care and grief: But you have loſt it all, if it were an hundred times more, if it have not been …aid out upon the One thing neceſſary.
And is it not a pittiful thing that men of reaſon, ſhould vex themſelves, and coil their bodies, and ſuffer hunger, and thirſt, and wearineſs, and make ſuch a ſtir and pudder in the world, and all for nothing, and in a vain ſhew? How many mornings have you riſen to your labour, and how many dayes and years have you ſpent in it, and now it is all loſt? How many thoughts and fears, and cares, have poſſeſſed and peſtred your minds, and now they are all loſt? Some of you have followed your trades, and ſome your husbandry, and ſome have run up and down after recreations: ſome of you have been ſcraping riches, and ſome contriving to keep up their reputation, and ſome to ſatisfie their appetites, and live in pleaſure and contentment to the fleſh; and now look back upon all that you have done and gotten, and tell your ſelves whether all this be not loſt, yea alas much worſe then loſt: If you be not ready to paſs this concluſion at the very heart, it is becauſe your hearts are yet blinded and hardened in ſin; but God will ſoon bring that to your hearts, that ſhall convince you of it. If God have made uſe of any worldly ſenſual perſon of you, for publick good, of Church or ſtate, as men do of thorns for hedging to their lands, or of bryars to ſtop a gap, or of fire-wood to warm their family; yet as to any durable benefit to your ſelves, I may well ſay that all your Labour is loſt.
And this is not all; but the pains alſo that you have taken in your formal hypocritical Religion, your hearing, reading, receiving Sacraments, and pretended prayer, all the thoughts that ever you had of death, and judgement, and the life to come, and all that you have done with reſervations and by halves for your own ſalvation, this alſo is all loſt: Except as a leſs meaſure of miſery may go for gain. If you miſs of the One thing neceſſary, you do but loſe your labour, whatever elſe you ſeem to gain.
A great ſtir you make in ſeeking for preferment, or dominion over others, or about your lands, your honours or your delights; ſo great that your neighbours can ſcarce live quietly by you; and the Kingdom cannot be quiet for ſome of you, nor your own conſciences be quiet within you for the deſperate work that you engage them in, which they know muſt be heard of another day: And when all is done, you will find you have been but hunting of a feather: You would ſee this now if God would open your eyes by grace: but if you miſs of ſo ſeaſonable an information, you will ſee it too late in the land of darkneſs: When death hath opened your eyes, and your impenitent ſouls do ſuddenly awake in another world, you will underſtand that you made all this ſtir but in your ſleep: As buſily and ſeriouſly as you acted the parts of Lords and Ladies, of Gentlemen, Tradeſmen, or Husbandmen in the world, if you did not ſeriouſly and firſt do the work of true Believers for the world to come, you will then find too late that your labour is loſt, and all was acted but as in a dream.
Do you believe this now, or do you not? If you do, will you yet go on? If you do not believe it, ſhew me now what you have gotten by all the ſtir that you have made in the world, that will follow you one ſtep further then the grave, and that you can ſay ſhall be your own to morrow? If you were to die this hour, will it be any laſting comfort to you, that you have laboured to be Rich or Honourable, or that you have attained it? or that you had your glut of ſenſual delights; and a merry life as to the fleſhly pleaſure as long as it would laſt? Will you dye the more comfortably for any of this? or much the leſs? That yet you are alive, is the great mercy of God, and not to be aſcribed to any of theſe: And when you ceaſe to live, then theſe will be your greif and torment.
Beloved Hearers, I have no deſire the Lord knows to diſcompoſe your minds, or to diſquiet you with any moleſting unneceſſary ſcruples; nor cauſeleſly to diſhonour either you or your imployments: But I muſt needs ſay, that it is a dolefull caſe, that men in their wits, ſhould ſpend a life of precious time, and alſo a great deal of care and labour, in doing▪ Nothing, and much worſe then Nothing, when they have a work of everlaſting conſequence to do, and they know that the Devils chiefeſt hopes do conſiſt in the ſucceſs of theſe diverſions! I muſt ſeriouſly profeſs to you, that I am conſtrained by the word and teachings of God, and by undenyable reaſon it ſelf, to look upon all the labour of your lives, the higheſt, and the buſieſt, but as the picking of ſtraws, or playing with a feather, or riding upon a ſtaff or a hobby-horſe, or ſuch like actions as children, fools or mad men uſe, as long as you mind not, and ſeek not after the One thing neceſſary. What ever they may be to others, they are no wiſer or better to your ſelves: This is my judgement; yea, this is the judgement of the Spirit of God: Phil. 3. 8. If Paul was not miſtaken, your gain it ſelf is to be accounted Loſs, and all but dung in compariſon of the knowing and winning of Chriſt, that you might be found in him, and have his righteouſneſs: Think not the name of dung too baſe, when God himſelf hath written it here upon your higheſt endowments and honours, by his Spirit. And indeed what will they all do more then dung to procure you the favour of God, or the pardon of your ſins? If you offer him gold, will it do any more then if you offered him ſo much dirt? Is not the prayer of a beggar heard as ſoon as of a Lord or Gentleman? If they would do any thing to buy you peace of Conſcience, or everlaſting life, or if they would but keep you alive on earth, I ſhould not marvail at your courſe: But when they will do none of this, but make your way to Heaven more difficult, yea, your ſalvation a thing impoſſible while you thus live after the fleſh (Rom. 8. 13.) how then can any eaſier ſentence be paſt upon your choice? Be you the Greateſt or the Wiſeſt in your own eſteem, or in the eſteem of others of your mind, I believe, yea, I am ſure, that you are all this while but laboriouſly idle, and honourably debaſing your ſelves, and delightfully tormenting your ſelves, and wiſely befooling your ſelves, and thriftily undoing your ſelves for ever. I have reaſon to ſay that your riſing and honourable and voluptuous imployments, are not only like childrens playing in the ſand, and making them houſes with ſticks and ſtones: but ſo much more pitifull, as the reaſon which you abuſe exceedeth theirs. And could you all attain to be Lords and Ladies, I ſhould look upon you but as a King or Queen upon a Cheſs-board, as to any felicity that it bringeth to your ſelves; whatſoever uſe the overruling providence of God may make of you for his Churches. The wiſe Merchant is he that ſeeking pearls doth find this One of greateſt price, and ſelleth all that he hath and buyeth it; even all the worldly treaſures which you ſo highly value: Mat. 13▪ 45▪ 46. There is more true Riches in this One pearl then in a thouſand loads of ſand or dirt. If you will load your ſelves with mire and clay conceiting it to be your treaſure, your backs will be broken before you will have enough to make you rich.
O Sirs, with what eyes, with what hearts do you uſe to read ſuch paſſages of Chriſt that ſpeak ſo plainly to you, as if he named you, and ſo piercingly as one would think ſhould make you feel, Luke 12. 19, 20, 21. Soul, thou haſt much goods laid up for many years; take thine eaſe, eat, drink, and be merry: But God ſaid to him, Thou fool, this night ſhall thy ſoul be required of thee; and then whoſe ſhall thoſe things be which thou haſt provided? ſo is he that layeth up treaſure for himſelf, and is not rich towards God.] Would you have Chriſt ſpeak plainer to to you: or cloſelyer apply it, that you may perceive he ſpeaks to you? You have loſt all the Labour of your lives; but thats not all.
3. But furthermore conſider, that if the One thing needfull have been neglected, whatever elſe you have been doing, or whatever you have got, (unleſs as preparatory to this) you have not only loſt your labour, but you have all this while been buſily undoing your ſelves, and labouring for your own perdition.
If it were but the loſs of your Time and Labour, you would then die but as brutes, and be as if you had never been: and to thoſe that have brutified themſelves, this will ſeem more tolerable, then to live in holineſs to God: But alas, you have done much worſe then this; You have not only been digging your own graves, but barring up againſt your ſelves the doors of heaven, and kindling the unquenchable fire to torment you; Mar. 9. 44.
I beſeech you give me a conſiderate hearing, you ambitious Gentlemen, you covetous worldlings, and you that ſerve your luſts and pleaſures! Do you think you had been doing the the work of wiſemen, if you had all this while been burning your own fingers, or cutting your own fleſh, or ſetting your own or your neighbours houſes on fire? What would you have us call that man that would live in ſuch imployments as theſe, and yet would be accounted wiſe or honourable? Do I need to tell thee, as Nathan did David, that [Thou art the man?] Do I need in ſo plain a caſe to tell you, that you have been doing worſe, (I ſpeak not raſhly) a thouſand times worſe, againſt your ſouls, then this would have been which is ſuppoſed to be only againſt your bodies! Alas ſelf-deſtroyers, what do you mean? Did God ſend you hither on no better an errand than to kindle and blow the fire of his wrath, and fall into it when you have kindled it? Have you no better work in the world to do, then to prepare your ſelves a place in hell? and with a great deal of care, and coſt, and ſtir, to labour for damnation, as if you were afraid of loſing it?
I know you will ſay, [God forbid, we hope better, we intend no ſuch thing] But alas the queſtion is not, What you intend, but what you are doing? Not whether it be your deſire that everlaſting death ſhould be the wages of ſin, but whether it be the Law and unchangeable will of God? Rom. 6. 23. If you ſeek not firſt Gods Kingdom and his righteouſneſs, and look not after the One thing needful, with your chiefeſt Eſtimation, Reſolution, and Endeavours, as ſure as Chriſt is true, this will prove your caſe at laſt, though now you wink, and wilfully go on, and will not believe it: As ſure as the Goſpel is true, this is true. There are but two Ends, Heaven and Hell; and if you miſs the former, you fall into the latter. If you live after the fleſh, you ſhall die, whatever you imagine: and you muſt mortifie the deeds of the fleſh by the ſpirit, if you will live, Rom. 8. 13. If you ſee a man cutting his own threat, and you ask him, [What are you doing man! will you kill your ſelf?] and he anſwereth you, No, God forbid; I have no ſuch meaning; I will hope better]. Would you think that this would ſave his life? or that his hopes and meanings would prove him ever the wiſer man? I tell you from the Word of God, it is one of the plaineſt truths that is there contained, that if you value not, chooſe not, and ſeek not the One thing Needful above all other things whatſoever, you are all this while but ſowing the ſeeds of endleſs miſery, whoſe fruit you muſt reap in outer darkneſs, where will be weeping, and wailing, and gnaſhing of teeth, Mat. 13. 42, 50. You are treaſuring up wrath againſt the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgement of God, who will give to every man according to his works, Rom. 2. 5, 6. You are ſowing in pleaſure to the fleſh, in eating, and drinking, and mirth, and honour: but you ſhall reap in corruption, lamentation and woe. Gal. 6. 7, 8. For woe to you that now laugh, for you ſhall mourn and weep: Woe to you that are rich (and have no better, but want the everlaſting riches), for you have received your conſelation: Woe to you that are full, (and yet are empty of Chriſt and grace) for you ſhall hunger, Luke 6. 24, 25. Theſe are the words of Chriſt himſelf; and therefore true if Chriſt be true.
Yea more then this, let me have leave to tell you, (for why ſhould I not tell you of your greateſt folly, and that which is neceſſary for you to know?) As long as you neglect the One thing neceſſary, you are acting the part of the moſt deadly enemies againſt your ſelves. No enemy that you have in all the world, could do that againſt you, as you do againſt your ſelves. You abhorr the Devil; and I blame you not; for his malice and enmity deſerveth it: But you do much worſe againſt your ſelves then the Devil himſelf could ever do. To tempt you to ſin is not ſo much as to Conſent to it and commit it. He can but entice you, and not conſtrain you: It is you that are the neglecters of your Maker and Redeemer, and the wilful rejecters of your own felicity: Satan doth bad enough againſt you by temptation; but you do worſe by yielding and ſinning; much worſe then all the Devils in hell could do againſt you. For God hath not given all of them ſo much power over you, as he hath given you over your ſelves.
Lord, what a diſtracted caſe is the ungodly world in! They hate any man elſe that they do but imagine is their enemy! Though he do but diminiſh their worldly wealth or honour, they cannot forgive him: If a man give one of them a box on the ear, he cannot bear it: And as for the Devil, who is the common enemy, they ſpit at his name, and (think they) bleſs themſelves from him: And yet theſe ſame men do ſpend all their care, and time, and labour, in doing more againſt themſelves, then all their enemies could do in earth or hell: and are worſe then Devils to themſelves; and yet they never fall out with themſelves for it; but can forgive themſelves as eaſily as if they did themſelves no harm.
This is true, too true Sirs, as harſh as it ſeemeth to your ears; And if it diſpleaſe you to hear of it, bethink your ſelves what it is to do it; and how God and all wiſe men muſt judge of you that have no more mercy on your ſelves: Certainly it is much worſe to do it, then to tell you what you do. God tells men of their ſin, and God doth nothing but what is good; but it is themſelves only that commit it: I beſeech you do but underſtand what you are doing, as long as the One thing neceſſary is neglected by you.
4. Conſider alſo, that whatſoever elſe you have been doing in the world, if you have not done the One thing needful, you have unman'd your ſelves, and lived below your Reaſon, and in plain Engliſh, you have lived as be ſides your wits.
I give you no harder language then God himſelf hath frequently given you in his Word, and then you will ſhortly give your ſelves, if you repent not; yea and ſooner if you do repent. If you have (in this) the uſe of your Reaſon, you muſt needs know what you have your Reaſon for: And I beſeech you tell me for what you have it, if not to ſerve and pleaſe your Maker, and prepare for your everlaſting ſtate? Is it only that you may know how to plow and ſow, and follow your trades and pleaſure in the world, and ſatisfie your fleſh a little while, and then die as the beaſts that periſh? None of you, I ſuppoſe, will ſay ſo, that calls himſelf a Chriſtian: If God had made you for no higher things then beaſts, he would have given you no higher faculties and endowments. As they be not made to enjoy God, ſo they have no knowledge of him: he ſendeth not his Word to them, and calleth them not to learn the knowledge of his will: But you know, or may know, that there is a God, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently ſeek him; and are capable of Loving him, intending him, and ſerving him, and therefore of enjoying him: Beaſts are not ruled by the hopes and fears of a life after this: For their nature and end do not require it. But men muſt be thus ruled, or elſe there can be no ſufficient ruling of them, in an ordinary way: Which ſhews that the Nature of man is capable of the things which are the matter of their hopes and fears.
Verily Sirs, I think, as to any good that cometh by it, there is very little difference between having Reaſon, and having none, if we had nothing to do with it, but cunningly to lay up our food, and make proviſion for this corruptible fleſh, and had not another life to mind. It were no ſuch great difference, in my opinion, as it commonly goes for, whether we were men or dogs, if it were only for the matters of this tranſitory life. For though I may not deny but yet man were the nobler creature, yet alas the difference would be but graduall and ſmall, as an Ape or Dog excells a Swine: And as to his Happineſs, it is doubtful whether Man would not have the worſt of it. For as brutes have not mans knowledge, ſo they have not his toil and trouble of mind, his care, and fear, and griefs, and diſappointments: Nor have they ſo terrible fore-thoughts of death through all their lives, as man muſt have, much leſs ſuch fears of what would follow after death.
And therefore I may boldly ſay, that you have thrown away your wits, and laid by your Reaſon as to the principal uſe of it, if you have forgot, or have not chiefly ſought the One thing neceſſary. Where were your wits when a lump of fleſh was preferred before immortal ſouls? and when the trouble and dung of a tranſitory world, was more eſteemed then God and endleſs Glory? Where were your wits when you might have had Chriſt, and Life in him, and his pardoning, healing, ſanctifying grace, and you had no mind of him, and were not ſenſible of your neceſſity, and paſt him by with as much neglect, as if you could have been ſaved without him? When you might long ago have made ſure of Heaven; and now you are even ready to drop into Hell, and ſtay but for a Feaver, or Conſumption, or ſome other diſeaſe to cut the thred, and turn the key, unleſs a ſpeedy ſound converſion ſhall yet prevent it. What have you done in all your life-time, that ſhould make a wiſe man judge you Reaſonable? Is that your Reaſon to be penny wiſe and pound fooliſh; to be wiſe to do evil, and to have no knowledge to do good? Jerem. 4. 22. To run up and down for I know not what, and to leave that undone that you were created and redeemed for? Can you think that it is Reaſonable to make ſuch ado for the air of dying mens applauſe, and to be well thought of, or to live like Gentlemen, or to the contentment of a fleſhly mind, when you know that you are juſt ready to paſs out of this world into an endleſs life of Joy or Torment, (yea certainly of torment, if you thus hold on)? Where all theſe things will afford you no relief or benefit; but the memory of your courſe will be the fuell of your miſery: Can that man be wiſe that damns his ſoul? Can he deſerve the name of a ſober man, that will ſell his ſalvation for ſo ſhort, ſo ſmall, ſo filthy a pleaſure as ſin affordeth? Is he worthy the name or reputation of a wiſe man, that hath not wit enough to ſcape eternal fire? nor wit enough to forbear laying hands upon himſelf, and doing all this againſt his own ſoul? What think you, is not the caſe here plain enough?
Be not offended if I ſpeak yet plainlyer to you; for in a caſe ſo lamentable, how can we be too plain or ſerious? Suppoſe you knew a Prince or Lord, that had an itch upon him, which the Phyſicion offereth ſpeedily and eaſily to cure; but he hath ſo much pleaſure in ſcratching, that he doth not only refuſe the cure, leſt it deprive him of his delight, but he will give his Kingdom or Lordſhip to one that will ſcratch him but a little while, though he be ſure to live a beggar after it all his dayes. I put it to your ſelves, What name you would give this man, or what eſteem you would have of him: Do you think that any ungodly worldly perſon is wiſer than this man? Alas their caſe is ſo much worſe, that there is no compariſon: They are more fooliſh then your hearts can now conceive, or then I am able fully to expreſs. You have now the itch of Pride and Luſt; and your throats muſt be pleaſed in your meats, and drinks; and you itch after riches, and honour, and recreations; and Chriſt telleth you by his Word, that theſe are but your ſick deſires, and that the pleaſing of them tends to kill you; and he offereth you for nothing, a ſafe, and certain, and ſpeedy cure: But you refuſe it, and will not hearken to him: You muſt be ſcratcht whatever it coſt you: You muſt have your riches, and honour, and fleſhly pleaſure, as the felicity which you cannot part with, though it coſt you your ſalvation. Though God be neglected, and his favour loſt, and your ſouls be loſt, and the One thing needful caſt aſide, you muſt have your carnal imaginations gratified: And is this your wiſdom? The Lord bleſs us from ſuch a kind of wiſdom.
Yet this is not the worſt: I will ſhew you one ſtrain more of the diſtraction of the ungodly world. If theſe men do but ſee one perſon of an hundred that are more diligent for Heaven then carth, to fall into Melancholy, or diſtreſs of ſoul; or ſuppoſe it were into ſome loſs of reaſon; they preſently cry out againſt Religion, and ſtrictneſs, and preciſeneſs, and making ſo much ado to be ſaved; and ſay it is the way to make men mad: Hence comes the proverb of the Papiſts [Spiritus Calvinianus eſt ſpiritus melancholicus]; and of the prophane among our ſelves, that [A Puritane is a Proteſtant frightned out of his wits]: They dare not ſtudy the Scripture ſo much, nor meddle with ſuch high matters as their ſalvation, nor be ſo godly, nor meditate on the world to come, leſt it ſhould drive them out of their wits. O miſerable men! As if it were poſſible for you to be more dangerouſly mad, then you are already! (Unleſs by growing unto greater wickedneſs!) Do you lay out your wit, and ſtrength, and time, in feeding a corruptible body for the grave, and ſpend your lives in running after your own ſhaddows, while your everlaſting life is forgotten or neglected! Do you ſell your Saviour with Judas for a little money; and change your part in God and Glory, for the brutiſh pleaſures of ſin for a ſeaſon? And are you afraid of altering this courſe of life, and turning to God, leſt it ſhould make you mad? Lord, what a beſotting thing is ſin! What a cunning cheater is the Devil! What a deluded diſtracted ſort of people are the ungodly? Will you run from God, from Chriſt, from Grace, from mercy, from Scripture, from the godly, and from Heaven it ſelf for fear of being mad? Why what greater madneſs can you fear then this? What worſe is humane nature capable of? Unleſs it be the addition of a further meaſure of the ſame, and unleſs it be to hold on in that way, and perſecute the contrary with ſuch like aggravations of your madneſs, I know not of any worſe that you ſhould fear. Will you run to Hell to prove your ſelves to be in your wits? Again I ſay, the Lord bleſs us from ſuch a kind of wit. Nay Hell it ſelf hath no ſuch diſtractedneſs as yours: The difference between the One thing needful, and your many things, is there better, though too late underſtood! Is Loving God the way to be mad? and loving the world and fleſhly pleaſures the way to be wiſe? Is converſing with God in humble prayer, and believing his love, and loving him, and delighting in him, and ſpeaking of his name, and word, and works unto his praiſe, and hoping to live with him for ever, I ſay, is this (which is the work of a Believer) a liker courſe to make men mad, then ſerving the Devil, and drudging in the world, and living under the curſe of God, and in continual danger of damnation? What men are they, that dare entertain ſuch horrid and unreaſonable ſuggeſtions?
I confeſs we are not unacquainted with the ſadneſs and melancholy that ſome perſons have contracted by Religious employments; and perhaps one of a thouſand may loſe their wits: But I muſt tell you, all theſe folowing points, that will ſhew you that Religion is not to be blamed for it, nor avoided.
1. It is ordinarily perſons of the weaker ſex, or of very weak brains and very ſtrong paſſions, that are naturally inclined to it, and are not able to bear any long and ſerious thoughts, about matters of that moment, which are apt to make the deepeſt impreſſions: But perſons that naturally are of ſound and calme diſpoſitions, are ſeldom troubled with any ſuch affects.
2. It is uſually the caſe of perſons that miſtake the nature of Religion, though not in the main, yet in ſome particulars of great concernment: That ſtudy not ſufficiently the Love of God declared to us in our Redeemer, but feed their griefs and troubles only by the thoughts of their own infirmities; and that conſider not that the chief part of Religion doth conſiſt in Love, and Joy in the Holy Ghoſt, and in Thankſgiving and delightful praiſing our Creator. So that it is not long of Religion if men will leave out the chief parts of Religion, and make themſelves a Religion of ſo much only as may breed their trouble.
3. And I muſt further tell you, that as I have had opportunity of knowing the ſtate of as many troubled diſtempered minds, as any one of you whoever he be; ſo I muſt needs bear witneſs, that I have met with many that have been diſtracted by worldly cares, or ſorrows, or diſcontents, for one that ever I knew diſtracted with the cares about the matter of their ſalvation. And yet though it be worldly care and ſorrow that moſt commonly bringeth death and madneſs, you will not therefore give over your Callings, and reſolve that you will meddle no more with meat, or drink, or cloathes, or houſes, or lands, or friends, or children: Nay it were well if you would be brought to moderation, and taken off your inordinate deſires.
4. And yet in the concluſion I muſt tell you, that, though I know that the loſs of a mans underſtanding is a very grievous affliction, and ſuch as I hope God will never lay upon me, yet I had a thouſand times rather go diſtracted to Bedlam with the exceſſive care about my ſalvation, then be one of you that caſt away the care of your ſalvation for fear of being diſtracted, and will go among the infernal Bedlams into hell for fear of being mad. The height of your carnal wiſdom is more deplorable then their diſtraction. For God will condemn no man becauſe he is diſtracted, nor ſo much as blame him for it, (unleſs as it is the fruit of ſin,) no more then he will condemn or blame an Ideot or a beaſt, becauſe they have no uſe of reaſon: If David had been as he ſeigned himſelf to be, 1 Sam. 21. 13, 14. it would not have caſt him out of Gods favour, ſo far as one ſin did, much leſs ſo far as the ungodly are. A man may go to Heaven from ſuch a madneſs. But you that have Reaſon for the world, but none for God; that are wiſe to do evil, that have wit to deſtroy your ſelves and ſerve the fleſh, but none to look after your recovery and ſalvation, its you that ſhall have the ſtripes, the many, the great, the endleſs ſtripes. You that have ſo much wit as that you glory in it, and think your ſelves wiſer then the reſt of the world, and yet have not wit to know, and love, and ſerve your maker: nor to value and ſeek firſt the One thing neceſſary, it is you that will prove the miſerable fools.
If you had not had a natural capacity of underſtanding, you had had no ſin: But now you have no cloak for your ſin, when you have the worldly wiſdom which is fooliſhneſs with God, and have a ſinning, ſelf-deſtroying wit, and are wilfully void of the wiſdom that ſhould ſave you, (1 Cor. 1. 25. & 3. 19. Jer. 8. 9.) when you have not a neceſſitated, but a voluntary diſtraction: and this is your condemnation, that Light is come into the world, and you have loved darkneſs rather then Light, becauſe your deeds were evil, John 3. 19.
If you think this wilfull and ſenſleſs neglect of the One thing needfull is not a ſufficient evidence to prove that miſerable diſtraction which I charge upon you, will you but believe your Maker, and let the word of God be Judge between us, and mark what language it giveth to ſuch as I now deſcribe 2 Theſſ. 3. 2. Jer. 4. 22. Eccleſ. 7. 25. 2 Pet. 2. 12. Pſalm 92. 6. & 94. 8. Jer. 10. 8. 14. Deut. 32. 6. Pſalm 73. 3. 22. 2 Sam. 14. 10. In theſe places your courſe hath no better titles, than unreaſonable, fooliſh, brutiſh, ſottiſh, &c. even from the God of Wiſdom himſelf, who is the fitteſt to give you the character that you deſerve. When you have truly conſidered of your way, if indeed you find that you have dealt like wiſe men, hold on and ſay ſo at the laſt, when you have eaten the fruit of your doing, and have ſeen the End.
5. Furthermore Conſider, that what ever elſe you have been doing in the world, if the one thing neceſſary be yet undone, you have loſt and abuſed all the mercies that God hath beſtowed on you: Many a thouſand pretious mercies have been given you: And to what uſe, but to help you to everlaſting mercy, and to prevent your everlaſting miſery! This is the End, and this is the Life and excellency of all your mercies: For all preſent mercies have the Nature of a Means to a further End: And the Goodneſs and nature of the Means conſiſteth in its fitneſs to promote the End. And therefore you have loſt all the Mercies that you have received, if you are never the nearer your End for them; and if they have not promoted the Love of God, and your ſalvation. You have had health, and ſtrength, and time, and peace, and liberty, and ſome of you alſo wealth and honour in the world. But you have loſt them all, if your ſalvation be not furthered by them. Many a preſervation you have had, when others have been cut off before your faces, and many a deliverance from dangers known or unknown, and much of the fruit of that Patience of God, which hath till now attended you in your ſin: Many a Sermon you have heard, and many a warning you have had, and you have been planted in God, Vineyard, and daily watered with the Ordinances of grace: But all theſe are loſt if the One thing neceſſary hath been neglected: Nothing in this world doth you good indeed, any further then it promoteth your Everlaſting good. And do you think that you have dealt kindly or juſtly with God, to deal ſo contemptuouſly with all his mercies, as to caſt them away, and tread them under foot? When you want but food, or rayment, or liberty or health, you value them and pray for them; and when you have them, what do you with them, but throw them as in the channel, and ſacrifice them to your luſts and enemies: When Death looketh you in the face, you begin to know the worth of Time, and then O what would you not give for a little more, and that God would try you a few years longer: And when you have Time, what do you with it, but ſerve the Devil, and caſt it away for nothing, and ſpend it in preparing for everlaſting ſorrows? How can you for ſhame cry to God for Mercy in your next diſtreſs, when you have contemptuouſly thrown away the Mercies of twenty, or thirty, or forty years already: If your own children ſhould ask you for meat or drink, and when they have it ſhould throw it to the dogs; or ask you for money, and caſt it into the dirt, and do thus an hundred and an hundred times over, would you go on to give it them becauſe they cry for it?
O Sirs, that you could but uſe your Reaſon in the matters for which it was given you by your Maker! Either time and mercy is worth ſomething, or nothing: If it be worth nothing, never beg for it, and never be ſad when it is taken from you. Why make you ſuch a ſtir for that which is nothing worth? (I mean your corporal mercies, for ſpiritual mercies you can be too well content to be without) But if they be worth any thing, why do you caſt them away, and make no better uſe of them? What good do you with them? or what good do they do you? Believe it, ſinners, God doth not deſpiſe his mercies as you do. He will not alway give you meat, and drink, and health, and ſtrength, and life, to play with, and do nothing with. He will teach you better to value them before he hath done with you. Not that he thinks them too good for you; but he would have them be better to you then you will let them be. He would have every bit you eat, to be uſed to ſtrengthen you in your walk to heaven, and every hour of your time to help you towards eternal happineſs, and every preſent mercy to further your everlaſting mercy; that ſo by the improvement, their value may be advanced, and they may be mercies indeed to you. Be ruled by God, and you ſhall receive more in one mercy, then you do now in a thouſand. But if you will do nothing with them, blame him not if he take them from you, and leave you deſtitute of what you knew not how to uſe.
Nay your ſin is greater then meerly to caſt away your mercies: You do not only loſe them, but turn them all into a curſe, and undo your ſouls with that which is given for the ſuſtentation of your bodies: While you know no better uſe of mercies, then to pleaſe your ſenſes, and accommodate the fleſh, and forget the One thing needful, which is the End of all, you turn them all into ſin, and fight againſt God by them, and ſtrengthen his enemy and your own, and block up your way to Heaven by them, and treaſure up wrath for the dreadful day, when your wealth ſhall be a witneſs againſt you, and ſhall eat your fleſh as it were fire, Jam. 5. 1, 2, 3. Rom. 2. 5. You contemptuouſly caſt that bread to dogs, which he giveth you to ſupply your own neceſſities: You treacherouſly carry over his proviſion to the enemy. Conſider this, you that ſay you hope to be ſaved, becauſe God is merciful: You have found indeed that God is merciful, by large experience: But if you do not learn, and quickly learn to make a better uſe of his mercies, abuſed mercy will prove your everlaſting miſery: O what a reckoning will you have? What a load to preſs you down to Hell? Unleſs you would have uſed them better, it had been eaſier for you, if theſe temporal mercies had been denyed you: Can that man look to be ſaved by mercy, that would not be intreated to conſent that mercy ſhould ſave him in the day of ſalvation? in the accepted time? but ſerved the Devil with thoſe very mercies that would have ſaved him? God ſendeth you his mercies to kill your ſins, and ſanctifie you, and engage you to himſelf; and if you will feed your ſins with them, and make them your idols, and forſake God for them, and be falſe to him, to your Covenant, and your duty, and neglect that One thing for which he gave them to you, you do not only loſe them, but turn them to a curſe. And, alas, poor ſinners, what will you have to fly to, to truſt in, or to comfort you, when mercy abuſed hath not only forſaken you, but falls upon you as a mountain, and feedeth your aggravated endleſs miſery?
6. Moreover, whileſt you neglect the One thing neceſſary, you neglect Chriſt himſelf, and reject the ſaving benefit of his bloodſhed, and refuſe the healing work of his Spirit, and the precious benefits which he hath offered you in the Goſpel. And how can you eſcape if you neglect ſo great ſalvation? Heb. 2. 3. How will you be ſaved, when you refuſe the only Saviour? There is indeed enough in Chriſt to heal and ſave the humbled ſoul, that thirſteth for his righteouſneſs and ſalvation, and valueth and ſeeketh him as a Saviour: and if you would thus come to him, you might have life, John 5. 40. But whiles you give your ſelves to pleaſe the fleſh, and follow the world, and look ſo little after Chriſt, or after the ends and benefits of his ſufferings and grace, Chriſt is as no Chriſt to you; and Grace is as no Grace to you; and the Goſpel is as no Goſpel to you; and you will be never the more ſaved, then if there had no Saviour ever come into the world, or there had never Grace been given to the world, or there had never been promiſe made, or Goſpel preached to the world: For Chriſt will not ſave them that continue to neglect him, and ſet light by all the mercy that he offereth, and the ſalvation which he hath purchaſed, and do not eſteem and uſe him as a Saviour, and cannot find enough in God and Glory, to take off their hearts from the pleaſures and idols of the fleſh. If Chriſt would have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and you would not (Matth. 23. 37.) you will be as far from being ſaved by him, as if you had never heard of his name.
And yet that is not all: If you prevent it not by true Converſion, you will wiſh a thouſand and a thouſand times, that this were all: But there is worſe then this: For Chriſt will not leave a man of you as he finds you: If you are ſo far in love with worldly wealth and fleſhly pleaſure, that you can taſte no ſweetneſs in his Grace, and ſee no deſirable glory in his Kingdom, he will make you taſte the bitterneſs of his wrath, and feel the weight of his ſevereſt juſtice. The moſt compaſſionate Saviour is the moſt dreadful Judge, to thoſe that will not be ſaved by his grace. It will be eaſier for Sodome and Gomorrah in the day of Judgement, then for thoſe that were the obſtinate refuſers of his Goſpel, Matth. 6. 11, 12. He that deſpiſed Moſes Law dyed without mercy, under two or three witneſſes; of how much ſure puniſhment ſhall he be thought worthy, that hath trodden under foot the ſon of God? Heb. 10. 28, 29. See therefore that ye refuſe not him that speaketh: For if they eſcaped not that refuſed him that spake on earth, how much more ſhall not we eſcape, if we turn away from him that ſpeaketh from heaven? Heb. 12. 23.
7. As long as you neglect the One thing Needful, whatever good conceits of your ſelves you have entertained, and whatever hopes, or peace, or comfort, you have built upon thoſe conceits, they are all but meer deluſions and irrational, like the laughter of a mad man, that is no comfort to the ſtanders by, who know that it is but the fruit of his diſtemper, and maketh him an object of more compaſſion. What wiſdom is it to look high and carry it gallantly in the world, when you know not but vengeance may overtake you the next hour? Alas man, thou haſt to do with God: Though thou ſee him not, it is he that upholds thee, and obſerveth thee, and looketh for Love and Duty from thee, and will be Glorified by thee, or thou ſhalt dearly anſwer it: God will not be neglected and abuſed at ſo cheap a rate as ſottiſh Infidels imagine. He deſpiſeth thee, if thou deſpiſe him, 1 Sam. 2. 30. and thou deſpiſeſt him, if thou deſpiſe his Meſſengers, and Word, and Wayes, Luke 10. 16. 1 Theſ. 4. 8. And if God deſpiſe thee, what duplicate page duplicate page honour is it to thee to be ſtout-hearted and high in thy own conceit, and to live applauded by thy ſelf and others? Think of your ſelves as well as you will, God counteth you worſe then the baſeſt brutes, as long as you make your ſelves ſo, by neglecting the One thing for which you have your reaſon. When you ſwagger it out in the world, you do but gingle your fetters, and glory in your ſhame, Phil. 3. 18, 19. While fools admire you, God abhorreth you; he langheth you to ſcorn, and hath you in deriſion, as he expreſſeth himſelf after the manner of men, Prov. 1. 26. 27, 28. Pſalm 2. 4. When you are proud of your riches, or honour with ſuch as your ſelves, you are but proud of the bonds of your captivity, 2 Tim. 2. 26. Though you live as careleſly and merrily, and laugh as heartily, and ſport your ſelves as fearleſly as if all were ſafe, and nothing ailed you, yet your mirth is but your madneſs, Eccleſ. 7. 4, 6. and 2. 2. and God ſeeth that your day (a woful day) is coming, Pſalm 37. 13. and you know not but you may the next hour be tormented in hell, that this hour are ſo pleaſant and confident on earth. And is this a deſirable or rational kind of mirth? Did you but now foreſee the end; did you ſee what you muſt ſee, or feel a little of what you muſt feel, you would preſently be far from mirth or laughter; it would ſpoil your ſport, and turn your tune to doleful lamentations. O ſhort unſatisfactory pleaſure! O endleſs, eaſeleſs woe, how quickly wilt thou ſurprize them that little dream of ſuch a change! You ſay Religion is a Melancholy thing, but verily your condition is ſo much worſe then melancholy, that it may make a man melancholy to think of men in ſo ſad a caſe. If any thing in the world will make a man melancholy, methinks it ſhould be to ſtand in your unhappy ſtate, and thence to look into eternity! and to think of your enmity to heaven, and that you have no part in Chriſt, no title to his Kingdom, and to think what haſte you are making to your infernal home, and how faſt the wheels of night and day do hurry your unprepared ſouls to Judgement, and that your judgement lingreth not, and your damnation ſlumbreth not, as the Holy Ghoſt ſpeaketh, 2 Pet. 2. 3. Whether you ſleep or wake, be ſure it ſleepeth not. In a word, to neglect the One thing needful, is to neglect Heaven it ſelf and your ſalvation: to neglect Heaven is to loſe it: and loſe Heaven and loſe all. And what comfort can the fore-thoughts of life everlaſting afford a ſoul in a ſtate of ſin, that is paſſing to everlaſting miſery? And what comfort can any thing in this tranſitory life, afford that man that hath no matter of comfort in the life to come, yea that muſt there live in endleſs ſorrows! O let me not taſte of that frantick and unreaſonable mirth, that tendeth to ſuch heavineſs, and driveth away thoſe wiſe recovering thoughts that are neceſſary to prevent it! For the Lords ſake, and for your ſouls ſake, all you that neglect the One thing needful, will you but ſearch the Scripture, and ſoberly conſider whether all this be not certain truth: and if it be, how it ſhould affect you, and what a change in reaſon it ſhould make upon you! I have done with this Use: If you have taken a ſurvey of your own hearts and lives, will you next for the exerciſing of your compaſſion look a little further.