Sermons Volume 4, Sermons on Titus · Sermon 7
SERMON VII.
TITUS II.12.
—We might live soberly, &c.
THE Lesson which Grace teacheth was propounded Privatively and Positively. Privatively, wherein I have shewed what we must eschew and avoid, viz. Vngodliness, and worldly Lusts.
II. I now come to the Positive Part, where the Duty of Man is distributed into three kinds. Look as in a moral Consideration, there are but three Beings, God, Neighbours, and Self; so here the Apostle makes three Parts and Branches of our Duty; that we should live soberly as to our selves; righteously as to our Neighbour; godly, that the Lord may not be defrauded of his Portion. Sobriety respects the Duties of our personal Capacity; Righteousness the Duties of our Relation to others; and Piety the Duties of immediate Intercourse with God.
I begin with the first of the Apostle's Adverbs, That we should live soberly. Sobriety is a Grace very necessary, we can neither be righteous nor pious without it; for he that is not sober, he takes to himself more than is due, and so can neither give God nor Man their Portion. If he be unsober, he will be unjust; he robs the Church of his Parts which are quenched in Pleasure, the Common-wealth of his Service, the Family of their Maintenance and necessary Provision; and then the Poor are robbed, because that which should be spent in their Relief, is wasted in Luxury. And then he that is unsober, cannot be godly, for he doth not give God his Portion, he robs God of his time, and (which is worse) of his Heart; for that being carried out to Pleasure, it is deprived of the Fruition of God, and transported from better Delights. So that if we would discharge our Duty to God or Man, if we would live righteously and piously, we must live soberly. Once more (that you may a little conceive of the Weight and Consequence of this Discourse) Sobriety is a part of Vertue's Armor; so much is intimated by the Apostle, 2 Pet. 1.5, 6. Add to your Faith Vertue, and to Vertue Knowledg, and to Knowledg Temperance, and to Temperance Patience. Vertue or Strictness of Life is rooted in Faith, directed by Knowledg, defended and maintained by Temperance and Patience; by Temperance on the right hand, and Patience on the left: as Fortitude or Patience is necessary to arm Grace against Dangers, so is Temperance or Sobriety to arm it against Pleasures and worldly Comforts. It is hard to say which we need most, Temperance or Patience; we must expect Hardships, and still we live among Snares, but only Snares are more frequent than Troubles; as more Birds are ensnared by the Net than killed by the Birding-piece. Persecution hath slain its Thousands, but Pleasures their ten Thousands: Therefore you see Sobriety is of great Use in the spiritual Life: As we need to press Faith as the Root of Vertue, and Knowledg as the Guide of Vertue; so we need to press Temperance and Patience as the Guard and Defence of Vertue; Patience against the Troubles and Hardships that we meet with, and Sobriety against the Comforts and Allurements of the present World.
Before I enter upon the Discussion of the present Argument, let me first remove some Prejudices.
1. Some Men think, that to discourse of Sobriety, will be to give you a moral Lecture, not an Evangelical Discourse; they would have us to preach Christ, as if pressing the Duties of Religion were not a preaching Christ. Certainly we may preach that which Grace teacheth; now Grace teacheth to live soberly. The Truth is, Men would be hinged and oiled with Grace, and cannot endure the Strictness of moral Duties. Here Conviction is easy, and Conscience maketh Guilt fly in the Face, and therefore Men cannot endure this kind of Preaching. I tell you, to preach Sobriety and Temperance, is to preach Christ. It is said, Acts 24.24. After certain Days, when Felix came with his Wife Drusilla, which was a Iewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the Faith in Christ. Paul, Let us hear somewhat of Christ. Now what doth Paul preach of? ver. 25. And as he reasoned of Righteousness, Temperance, and Iudgment to come, Felix trembled. There is his preaching Christ. To preach Christ, is to press whatever the Christian Religion requireth, and in that manner, and upon those terms. And when Paul saith, 1 Cor. 2.2. I have determined not to know any thing among you, save Iesus Christ and him crucified; it was because that was the controverted Truth, the Truth then in Question, and most opposed: for the Doctrine of the Cross was to the Iews a Stumbling-block, and to the Greeks Foolishness; 1 Cor. 1.23. Now saith the Apostle, as foolish a Doctrine as it is, I have determined to know nothing else among you, not to prescribe in other Cases, but to confine our Meditations to the Doctrine of the Cross. There are other Arguments necessary, and must take their turn and place.
2. Some Men think that they are above these Directions, to be taught how to eat and drink, and that every Man hath Prudence enough to govern his Appetite. But consider, Christ thought meet to warn his own Disciples; Luke 21.34. Take heed to your selves, lest at any time your Hearts be over-charged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness, and Cares of this Life. A Man would think it a needless Direction to such holy Men; yet saith Christ, Take heed. And certainly Sin is not grown less dangerous, nor we more holy than the Apostles. Besides, now, if ever, is there need of such kind of Preaching; some Men profess to live to the Height of the Creature, and so make Lust as wanton, as it is dangerous always to go near the Pit's Brink; and he that doth all that he may, will soon do more than he should. It is a Character of prophane Men, Iude 12. Feeding themselves without Fear. The Throat is a slippery Place, and had need be watch'd and kept with Fear. We find that an over-spiritual Preaching hath made Men loose and careless, and that moral Duties need to be pressed.
3. Another Prejudice there is against this Doctrine, Men shift it off to others. We conceive of Gluttony, Drunkenness and Covetousness, otherwise than Christ did, and therefore do not judg such Discourses necessary. We conceive Drunkenness and Gluttony to be an outragious Excess; when we hear of Gluttons and Drunkards, we think of them vomiting, staggering, reeling, not being able to speak, or able to go, faltring in Speech and Language: But the Scripture sets out other manner of Drunkards, these are the Effects, the Punishment rather than the Fault. And so when we hear of Covetousness, then we think of some sordid Wretch, or else of some Oppressor that gets Wealth by Rapine and Extortion, or the apparent use of unlawful means; and so we wipe our Lips, and think we are clean. But now that which is counted Surfeiting and Drunkenness, and Covetousness before God, is the over-charging the Heart; Luke 21.34. Take heed to your selves, lest your Hearts be over-charged, &c. A Man's Heart may be over-charged, though his Stomach is not, when he cannot freely meditate upon heavenly things, though he doth not remit and give up his luxurious Morsels in loathsome Ejections. And that is Covetousness before God, when the Ca…e of earthly things hinders us from Heavenly-mindedness and Heavenly Desires, the Heart is then over-charged, and loseth the Sense of spiritual things.
These things premised, I come now to the Doctrine.
Doct. One of the Lessons which Grace teacheth us, is Sobriety. Here,
1. I shall shew you what Sobriety is in the General.
2. I shall open the particular Branches of it.
First; I shall shew what Sobriety is in the General: Sobriety is the Moderation of our Affections in the Pursuit and Vse of all earthly things.
To explain the Description [It is the Moderation.] Grace doth not take away the Affection, but governs it: It bridles the Excess, and then reduceth the Affection it self to a just Stint and Temper. Now the Rule according to which this Moderation must be made, must be either the Word; or where the Word interposeth not, then spiritual Prudence and Conveniency is to be a Judg. How the Word judgeth, I shall shew in the Branches; but in matter of Conveniency, what is most convenient for our selves, that we be not brought under the Power of any Creature, spiritual Prudence must be the Rule; 1 Cor. 6.12. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the Power of any. A Christian is to see, while he makes Use of one part of his Liberty, that he doth not forfeit and lose another, yea, the better part. As Men go to Law for Trifles, and spend a real and solid Estate; so by an intemperate Use of Christian Liberty, we forfeit that which is the best part, Freedom from Lusts, and from the Bondage of Sin. As for Instance; a promiscuous Use of Meats and Drinks, is a part of Christian Liberty; but Freedom from Lusts is another part: and therefore while a Man useth this Liberty in the Creature, and hereby brings himself in Bondage to his Lusts, or is inslaved to such a Creature, how inconvenient soever the Use of it be, he cannot leave it; he disappoints the main End of Christ's Blood, and forfeits the fairest part of that Liberty Christ hath purchased for him. God hath given us a large Liberty in Christ; let us not go too far, lest we forfeit the spiritual part of it: therefore it is a part of Sobriety, if it be likely to prove a Snare, to moderate and bridle the Affections. Yea, in another Case, which concerneth others, that may be lawful to one, which is not lawful to another: if the thing affected be lawful, yet if it be likely to give Offence, or to procure a Blot upon our selves, it is a part of Sobriety to moderate our selves, and abstain from it. In such a Case we owe so much to one another's Weakness, and to our own Credit, which should be preferred before the Satisfaction of any Appetite whatsoever; Phil. 4.8. Finally, Brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good Report; if there be any Vertue, and if there be any Praise, think of these things. And again, 1 Cor. 8.13. Wherefore if Meat make my Brother to offend, I will eat no Meat while the World standeth, lest I make my Brother to offend. Rather wholly abstain from this Liberty than give Offence. So that this Moderation is a reducing the Affections to the Limits of the Word, and the Rules of Conveniency and Charity.
Of the Affections] I mean such as are accompanied with Pleasure in the Exercise; these are under the Command of Sobriety. There is a Moderation of our Passions that belongeth to Fortitude and Patience, as Sorrow and Anger, the Moderation of these belongeth to other Graces. But now such Affections as are accompanied with Pleasure in the Exercise, as Delight and Desire; Desire in the Pursuit, and Delight in the Use of worldly things; these belong to Sobriety. It is indeed a Question, which is worst, not to bridle Anger, or not to restrain Pleasures? Anger is unruly and violent, but Lusts work both ways; foreign, James 1.14. Every Man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own Lust, and inticed. The most generous Natures are subject to Anger, and the basest to Pleasures. Anger is stirred up by Reason, though it runneth away without Deliberation; but Lust prescribeth to Reason: there is more of Plot and Counsel in Lust than in Anger. Reason sooner cleareth up, when the Storm of Passion is over, and then Men repent; but in Lust and Pleasure there is a long Bondage: So that not to restrain Lust, or those Affections that carry us out to corporal Delights, seemeth worst. But then again it may be inquired, which is harder, to endure Griefs, or renounce Pleasures? I shall answer, To renounce Pleasures; and Sobriety is more put to it than Fortitude. Many that have born Griefs with a stubborn Mind, yet have yielded to their own carnal Affectio…, …s Sampson that broke so many Cords and Bands, yet could not break the Bonds of his own Lusts. It is true, Nature flieth from Grief, and therefore it is hard to take up our Cross; but Nature flieth from Grief, because it is addicted to Pleasures, and it is our Lusts that make the Cross so burdensome. Renounce the Desire and the Delight, and the Lust will be more easily overcome.
In the Pursuit and Vse] I name both, because as we must use worldly things moderately, so we must desire them moderately. The Sin is first in the Affection, and there may be an Immoderation in the Desire, when the Practice is restrained by Fear, or by Difficulty, or by danger of compassing our Lusts; and therefore the great work of Sobriety is to moderate the Lust. As a Bird when its Wing is broken, is eager to fly; so a Man that may abstain from excessive Practice, yet he may have much inordinate Affection: Col. 3.5. Mortify therefore your Members which are upon the Earth, Fornication, Vncleanness, inordinate Affection.
Of all earthly Things] Profits, Pleasures, Pomps, Meats, Drinks, Apparel, Recreations; Sobriety reacheth all those Affections that are carried out to any of the good things of this natural Life. There is a dry Drunkenness, as the Prophet saith in another case, Isa. 29.9. They are drunken, but not with Wine; they stagger, but not with strong Drink. The Cares of this World have an inebriating Power, as well as voluptuous Living; and therefore Christ couples them together, Surfeiting and Drunkenness, and Cares of this Life, Luke 21.34. Look, as Wine disturbeth Reason, and oppresseth the Senses; so do these worldly Cares besot the Mind, and deprive us of the sense of spiritual Things: And therefore Sobriety is necessary to moderate our Cares, as well as to govern the use of Meats and Drinks.
Secondly; I shall handle Sobriety in these four Branches.
I. As to Pleasures and Recreation, Sleep and Pastime.
II. In Meats and Drinks, and the necessary Supports of Humane Life.
III. In Pomp and Apparel.
IV. In the Cares of this World.
Ist Branch, Sobriety in Recreation.
The first Branch of Sobriety, in Recreation, in Sleep and Pastime, and other the Delights of Humane Life.
For Sleep I need say but little; it is a soft Enemy, that steals away half our Time, and should be reckoned among our Burdens, and not our Pleasures; as a thing to be born with Patience, rather than to be taken with Delight. It is our Unhappiness, that so much of our Lives should be spent, and not one Act of Love and Kindness should be shewed to God. The Angels that are wholly spiritual, are exempted from this Necessity; Night and Day they are always praising God, doing his Will, and hearkning to the Voice of his Word. Yea, we may see many other Creatures are restless in their Motions, and obey the Law of their Creation without weariness: The Sun in a constant unwearied Course, moves from East to West, and from West to East, and never ceaseth. When thou liest upon thy Bed in the Morning, thou mayest think of it, how many thousand Miles the Sun hath travelled since thou wenest to rest the last Night, that he might come again this Morning to give thee Light to go about thy Labour and Exercise, and yet thou liest snorting upon thy Bed, and turning hither and thither, as Solomon saith, like a Door upon the Hinges. David contended with the Sun, who should be up first; as the Sun to represent God to the World, so he to acknowledg God in his Prayers and Supplications, Psal. 119.147. I prevented the dawning of the Morning, and cried. But of this I will speak no more; Common Prudence, and the Light of Nature, will give us sufficient Direction.
But now for Sports, and other the Delights of Humane Life; accept of God's Indulgence with Thankfulness, and use it with Moderation. Adam in Innocency was placed in a Garden of Delight: and since the Fall, God hath provided not only for Necessity, but Pleasure. Certainly in Christ we have a great Liberty, but we should not use it as an Occasion to the Flesh. To the Pure all things are pure, Titus 1.15. Only let us take heed that we are pure in the use of these outward Comforts and Refreshments. Now we need not fear the Uncleanness of Meats and Sports, but let us fear the Uncleanness of Lusts. There is a double exercise of Sobriety in our Sports and Recreations, and the Delights of the Humane Life, to direct us in the Choice of them, and in the Use of them.
1. In the Choice of them, that they be lawful, not the Pleasures of Sin, Heb. 11.25. There is a strange Perverseness in Man's Nature: those Pleasures relish best that are seasoned with Sin; as if we could not do Nature Right, without Wrong to God, and putting an Affront upon his Laws. He that breaks the Hedg, a Serpent shall bite him, Eccles. 10.8. Now to prevent danger in this kind, and that we may not break through the Hedg, and the Restraints which God hath set us, and so find Remorse upon our Death-Beds, Conscience must be informed. Generally we may observe, that we offend God more in our Recreations than in any other Affairs of Life, and are more guilty of unlawful Recreations, than of unlawful ways of Gain and Traffick: and therefore it is good to be wary, and keep at a distance from Sin. And because Recreations are not among things absolutely necessary, but only convenient, if they be questionable, or of ill Fame, it is better to forbear; Phil. 4.8. Whatsoever things are of good report, &c. think of these things; that we may be sure not to be guilty of any contempt of God, and that we may not give offence to others. As for Instance, a Lusory Lot in Cards or Dice is very questionable, therefore better to be forborn than used, especially where they give offence. And again, because every thing is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer, 1 Tim. 4.4. therefore we should seek to understand our Liberty by the Word, and venture upon nothing in this kind, but what we can commend to God in Prayer, and upon which we can ask a Blessing. Thus Sobriety directs you in the choice of Recreations.
2. In the Use. Usually we offend in such things as are for the Matter lawful, there the Soul is more secure: as in the Gospel, the Excuse is put in the handsomest terms, Luke 14.20. I have married a Wife, and therefore I cannot come. For the understanding of it, note, Christ's Parables do put the Dispositions of Mens Hearts into Words: Now the Sensualist, or the Man that is addicted to Pleasures, is there represented; and mark, he doth not urge dalliance with Harlots, but I have married a Wife, and therefore I cannot come; implying, that excess in lawful Pleasures, keepeth many from Christ, and from the things of Grace: and therefore here is the Work of Sobriety, to set bounds and limits to the use and exercise of our Liberty, that it may not degenerate into Licentiousness.
Well, but what Rules shall we observe? In short, then we offend in Sports, when they waste our Estate, rob us of our Time, cheat us of opportunity of Privacy and Retirement with God, and when they unfit the Heart for the Duties of Religion.
1. When they waste their Estates. You may not do with your Estates as you please; you are Stewards, and are to be accountable to God at the last Day for every Penny. Why should a Prodigal have a greater Liberty and Dominion over his Estate, than a covetous Man? I will tell you for what reason I speak it; Prodigals that waste their Substance with riotous Living, as he described in Luke 15.13. when they are taxed for this, they say, It is my own, and I may do with my own as I please. We are not content to take such an Answer from a rich and covetous Man, when you press him to Charity; if he should say, It is my own, and I shall give what I please: as Nabal said, 1 Sam. 25.11. Shall I take my Bread, and my Water, and my Flesh that I have killed for my Shearers, and give it unto Men whom I know not? The truth is, it is a mistake on both sides, it is not theirs, but God's, he is the great Owner. Therefore when Recreations are costly, and waste your Estates, you cannot give an account of it to God at the great Day; you rob your Families, at least the Poor. Lust starves Charity, and makes it a Beggar. It is sad when a Lust can command thee to do more than the Love of God can; when you can lavish away thus much upon your Pleasures, and account nothing too dear for them, and every Penny be begrudged that is for a Use truly good: You are guilty of Sacrilege to God, you rob him of his Tribute, and you rob the Poor of their Support, who are God's Receivers.
2. When they engross your Time, which is the most precious Commodity that can be, for it cannot be bought with Gold and Silver, and when once lost, can never be repaired. God hath appointed Pleasures after Labour, and when we are grown dull with Exercise; but then they should be moderate, that as little Time be wasted as may be. But now when Men make a Calling of their Recreation, and their Life is nothing else but a Diversion from one Pleasure to another, and they spend more time than will serve to quicken them to their Work, certainly this is a Sin; for then they alter the nature of them, and make it a Work, and not a Sport. They that spend their whole Time in Eating, Drinking and Sporting, live like Beasts rather than Men; for it is the Beasts Happiness to take pleasure without remorse; nay, they live rather like Plants, which are a less noble sort of Beings than Beasts: Beasts have their Labour, but Plants have only Life, and Time given them that they may grow bulky; for it is the perfection of Plants to grow bulky, and increase in Stature. And yet this is the Life of many Gallants, and idle Gentlemen, who live as if they were not born for Business, but Recreation. Nay, tho you do not make a Trade of it, yet too much Time is not to be spent for the measure, only so much Time as will serve to quicken you again to the Labours of your general and particular Calling. An eminent Divine gives this Rule concerning Recreations; It is not lawful for a Man in an ordinary course, to spend more Time in the Day upon any Pastime, than in Religious Exercises: He means private Religious Exercises; he limits him only thus, not constantly. Now if we be tried by this Rule, how many of us would be taken tardy, and guilty of Sin? As one said, when he read Matth. 5. Aut hoc non est Evangelium, aut nos non sumus Evangelici; Either this is not Scripture, or we not Christians. So let us look upon this Rule, Either it is not true, or we do not act aright. Therefore let us debate it a little, and see whether is defective; Either we come short of Strictness and Circumspection, or the Rule comes short of Truth and Weight. Think of it: certainly it is most equal, that the most needful Duties should have most time bestowed upon them. To get Assurance, and enjoy Communion with God, this should be first in your Care; Matth. 6.33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and the Righteousness thereof, and all these things shall be added to you. It is true, we cannot spend so much time in private Communion with God as in Business, because of the urgency of bodily Necessities; yet this is but equal that we should spend as much time in Duties of Religion, as we do in Recreation. Consider, the Soul hath its Delights, and Repasts, and Recreations, as well as the Body, and needs it as much: and therefore if our first Care should be for the Soul, it is but equal, that at lea…t as much Recreation as we bestow upon the Body, so much also should we allow to the Soul: Especially when we consider this, that it is some Refreshment to the Body to go aside from manual Labour, and converse with God. Once more, (that you may think charitably upon this Rule) there is a sad Character in Scripture given of that sort of Men, 2 Tim. 3.4. that are lovers of Pleasure more than lovers of God. Now consider, will not this too much describe the Temper of our Hearts? Will not this Text stare in the face of Conscience, when we are loth to give an equal time to God and to Religion, as to our carnal Sports and Delights? If your Expences of Time were written in your Debt-Books, you would blush to look over the Accounts, so much for Pleasure, so much for Sports, so much for Business, and so little for Duty and private Converse with God. The Rule is too true, let Conscience be Judg. Certainly if we did prize Heavenly Comforts as much as Carnal, we should not complain of the Rule as too strict. What shall we think of them, who grudg no Time spent in Pleasure, and yet grudg all Time spent in God's Service?
3. When they unfit the Heart for any serious Work, by putting the Affections out of Joint, then they become a Snare, and it is high time to think of setting a restraint. All Things are to be measured by their End: Now the end of Pleasure is only this, to quicken the Mind, and revive the Body, and fit it for Work and Service. The end of Pleasure is not for Pleasure, but Work and Service. Well then, a thing is no longer good, than it conduceth to its End. Now when the Heart is set back, and unfitted more for Duty, and less able to pray and meditate, and labour in our Callings, by reason of our Sports and Recreations, it is a sign we have too much let loose the Reins to Pleasure: For Pleasure was appointed to make us better, not worse, more chearful in the Duties of our Callings; but now it proveth a Clog and a Snare.
4. Then is Sobriety to interpose, when our Pleasure doth cheat us of opportunity of Retirement, and religious Privacy with God and our selves. Certainly it is a Duty to maintain a constant Converse with God; Iob 22.21. Acquaint thy self with him, and be at Peace. He delights to speak with his Creatures, and be familiar with them. This is that which is called Communion with God, a constant Correspondency that is kept up between God and the Soul. Now will a Man rob God? this is strange and monstrous. Well then, when Ease and Pleasure will not give way for Communion with God, and stops the Voice of Conscience when it pleads for God, then it is naught. And so for privacy with our selves; it is a duty to commune with our own Hearts; Psal. 4.4. Commune with your own Heart upon your Bed, and be still. We and our Hearts should be often together. Now carnal Men give themselves up to Pleasure, because they cannot endure Solitariness and Self-conversing; they are loth to look into themselves: like a Mill, when it wants Corn, it will grind upon it self; they shall be forced to speak to themselves, which they cannot endure. Now Pleasures are unlawful, when they use them against holy Soliloquies, and as a Remedy against Conscience: as Saul would drive away his evil Spirit by David's Musick. This is a great Sin: Amos 6.3. They put far from them the evil Day. And ver. 6. They drink Wine in Bowls, but remember not the Afflictions of Joseph. Men beguile their Consciences by turning from Pleasure to Pleasure, and so put off suing out a Pardon, the sense of their Sins, and humbling themselves before God, and making their Peace with God. This is the Work of your Lives. Therefore when Business, Entertainments, Sports and Pleasures, take up your Time, and will not allow you to be solitary, and you and your Hearts be together, you sin against God. Job 21.13. They spend their Days in Wealth, and in a moment go down to the Grave. It is dangerous to employ your whole Time in Mirth, and in Visits, and in Company, that should be spent in examining your Hearts, humbling your Souls, and seeking the Face of God; so that your Hearts grow dead and barren.
Helps to Sobriety are two; to consider the Preciousness of Time, and the Vileness and Danger of Pleasure.
First; The Preciousness of Time; that will appear in sundry Considerations.
1. Time is short. We have a great deal of Work to do, and but little Time; therefore we should redeem it from Pleasure, and rather incroach upon our Recreation, and spend it in Matters that most concern us. All complain of the shortness of Time, and yet every one hath more Time than he useth well. We should rather complain of the Loss of Time, than of the Shortness of Time; as Seneca said, Non accepimus brevem vitam, sed fecimus; nec inopes Temporis, sed prodigi sumus: We make our Lives far more short than otherwise they would be; and we do not want Time, but waste it. We spend it freely upon Mirth and vain Pleasures, as if we had more than we could well tell what to do withal. Life is short, and yet we throw it away, as if we had not such great work to do, as to mortify Corruptions, and to make our Peace with God; as if that Eternity, which cannot be exhausted in our Thoughts, did not depend upon this Moment. When Men are writing of a Sermon, and have but little Paper left, they write close. O consider, our Work lies upon our Hands; and therefore the Acts of Duty should be more close and thick: The Sun is even going down; we know not how soon Day may be over.
2. Too much Time hath been spent already; so will all the Godly-wise judg: 1 Pet. 4.3. For the Time past of our Life may suffice us to have wrought the Will of the Gentiles. Rom. 13.12. The Night is far spent, the Day is at hand. And there's but little left to express your Love and Thankfulness, in glorifying God. Our Infancy was spent in Ease, and Youth in Sin, and Age in Business. Certainly that part of your Lives was merely lost, which was spent in an unregenerate Condition: Saith Austin, Perdit quod vivit, qui te non diligit; He loseth that Time which he lives, that doth not love the Lord. Properly we are not said to live, till we live in Christ. A Man may be long at Sea, tossed to and fro upon the Waves, and yet be but little from his Port, and cannot be said to have made a long Voyage: so a Man may abide long in the World, but cannot be said to live long, if he doth not live in Christ. Reflect this Truth upon thy Heart; Alas! my Life hitherto hath been a Death rather than a Life, useless, and lost to all spiritual Purposes; and shall I still waste my Time, and spend my Days in Ease and Idleness? Travellers that have tarried long in their Inn, mend their Pace, and ride as much in an Hour, as before they did in many: so we have staid too long, O let us now mend our Pace! Say, I have lived thus long vainly, sinfully, carnally, in an earthly manner; I have little thought of God, and treasuring up for Heaven, or providing for my latter End: O how rich might I have been, if I had been a good Merchant for my Soul! How am I now out…tripp'd by many my Equals, my Youngers in Age, but Seniors in Grace! They are in Christ before me. O why doth God spare me, but to recover that which is lost?
3. Consider, it is uncertain how long thou shalt enjoy the Season: the present time is always best, and shall we waste it vainly? We have not a Lease of our Lives. Ludovicus Capellus tells of a Rabbin, that being asked, When was the fittest time for a Man to repent? he answered him, One day before he dies, meaning presently, for this may be your last day. We know not how soon God may call us to himself. In an Orchard some Fruits are pluck'd green, few are left to rot upon the Tree. Mariners that have not the Wind in a Bottle, are ready to tackle the first Gale. We shall never have a better opportunity to consider our ways; in Youth we want Wisdom and Zeal, and in Age Strength; in the midst of Business we want Leisure, and in the midst of Leisure we want a Heart. There is not more Efficacy in the latter season than in the former. Do not think that Sickness and old Age will help you more in the work of Repentance than Youth? Moral Arguments work not without Evangelical Grace. The bad Thief had one foot in Hell, and yet he blasphemed. There will be more Difficulty in old Age, but no Help; Sickness and Age needs a Cordial, and not Work; and therefore no Season like the present.
4. They that have lost Time, know the worth of it. O, if they might have the happiness to live again that are now in Hell, would they waste their precious hours so wantonly and lavishly as you do? Dying Men that are afrighted in Conscience, discover to us the Passions of the Damned; they would give all the World for one Year, or one Month to repent. He that so passionately begged for a drop to cool his Tongue, how would he have indented with God for a Year's Respite from Torment? In the day of Death, all the Wealth of the World will not purchase one day longer. We never know what we lose in losing Time, till it be too late: It is better to be sensible of the worth of Time in Earth than in Hell. Knowledg of things that are evil and bitter, is more easily gained by Teaching, than by Experience and Feeling: But we do not lay these things to Heart. Christ mourned over Ierusalem, because she lost her day: Luke 19.42. If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy Peace: but now they are hid from thine Eyes.
5. We must give an account for Time, and therefore let not Pleasure engross and take up too much of it. Whenever God comes to reckon with his People, the great thing for which he calls them to an account is their Time; he keeps an exact reckoning of the Years of his Patience, Psal. 95.10. Forty Years long was I grieved with this Generation: I have given them thirty, forty, fifty Years Respite to think of their Sins, and apply their Hearts to be wise for Eternity. So of the Times and Seasons of Grace, and Methods and Dispensations of Mercy; Luke 13.7. Behold, these three Years came I, seeking Fruit of this Fig-tree, and find none: by which is meant the three Years of Christ's Ministry with the Jews; for he was then entring on his last half-year. When the Scripture speaks in a round number, there's no Mystery in it; but when the Numbers are uneven and odd, there is something to be noted; these three Years Christ had been labouring with them. And Ier. 25.3. From the thirteenth Year of Josiah the Son of Amon King of Judah, (that is the three and twentieth Year) the Word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early, and speaking, &c. Such Passages are but Pledges of the great Process of the Day of Judgment. God will call to account then for the time of his Patience, and the Means and Mercies you have had. O then reflect this Truth upon your Hearts, and say, I must die and give an account for Time, and alas, I cannot give an account of one day among a thousand! my Time hath been spent in foolish Mirth, in troublesome Cares, in idle Company, in vain Sports and Revellings; and how shall I be able to look God in the Face, and answer him? Do but pass the Account with your selves, and if you cannot answer Conscience, you will never be able to answer God. So much Time spent in Meals and Banquets, so much in Visits, so much in Sports, so much in Sleep, so much in Worldly Employments, and then think how little a Remainder there is for God! O if we did but now and then cast up our Accounts, it would extreamly shame us. If you hire a Labourer for the Day, and he should come at Night, and demand Pay, and the Master should say, What hast thou done for me? would he not be ashamed to say, thus much Time have I spent in Meals, thus much in loitering and sporting with my Companions, thus much in mending my own Apparel, and an hour, or half an hour in your Work and Service; can this Man expect a day's Wages? Christians! do you believe that there is a God of Recompences? and that there will be a Day of Account, that you dare loiter thus, and waste away your Time, that should be spent in God's Service?
Secondly; Consider the baseness and the danger of Pleasures, in four Considerations.
1. The baser a Man is, the more he affects carnal Delights, and is addicted this way; Eccles. 7.4. The Heart of the Wise is in the House of Mourning; but the Heart of Fools is in the House of Mirth. That which wise Men prefer, certainly is better than that which Fools make choice of. Now this is the choice of Fools; wise Men know there is more to be gained by grave Exercises, and by Spectacles of Sorrow, than in the places of carnal rejoycing: They know there is nothing to be seen or heard there, but Snares or Baits; little Wisdom to be gained, and little improvement of Grace and Reason to be made.
2. All carnal Pleasures are mixed with Grief, and leave a Sting and Bitterness in the Issue. You never came away from your Sports with such a merry Heart as you do from the Throne of Grace. If Men would but consider their Experiences after Duty, and after Recreation, there's a Calm and Serenity in the Conscience after the saddest Duties when they are ended. Who ever repented of his Repentance? they yield some chearing and reviving to the Soul: As it is said of Hannah, 1 Sam. 1.18. That she went away, and did eat, and her Countenance was no more sad. Prayer gives Ease, as the opening of a Vein in a Fever. If all come not away alike chearful from the Throne of Grace, and this be not a general Rule, yet it is no Addition to their Grief, that they have been with God; rather it is some lessening of their Trouble. As the pouring out of a Complaint into a Friend's Bosom, though it do not help, it is some Ease to the Mind: So though God do not come in with a high Tyde of Comfort to the Soul, yet it is some Ease we have been with God, and presented the case to his Pity; there is some spiritual Mirth and Delight kindled, at least some lessening of Grief. But now (not to speak of wicked Men, when they come from their Pleasures) even the Children of God to whom all things are pure; yet because of the tenderness of their Hearts, there is always some Remorse after their Pleasures: And therefore Solomon propounds it as a general Rule, Prov. 14.13. Even in Laughter the Heart is sorrowful, and the end of that Mirth is Heaviness: it is an Allusion to outward Laughter, which causeth Pain by the too much dilation of the Spirits, and straining the Body, which is a Figure of that Remorse which accompanies all Worldly Joy. All Worldly Joy begets a sudden damp upon the Spirit in the departure. God will still remember us, that we are in our Pilgrimage, and compleat Joy is not to be had here; that every Rose in the World grows with a Thorn, and would teach us to look after more solid Comforts.
3. Pleasures, if they be not watched, will soon make us unfit for Communion with God, and for any solemn Duty. Eccles. 2.2. I have said of Laughter, It is mad, and of Mirth, What doth it? Solomon in the former Verse was resolved to make an Experiment, and to let loose his Heart to Carnal Pleasures, that he might see what would come of it; to loosen the Reins, and turn his Heart loose to carnal Pleasure; and what was the Issue? O, it is mad! it soon transports the Mind, and puts Reason out of frame; it makes a wise Man to be like a mad Man: as mad Men in their freaks of Mirth have little use of Reason. And of Laughter it said, What doth it? that is, whither hast thou carried me? whither art thou now going and carrying my Soul? Satan hath a greater advantage upon you in your Sports, than in your Business; therefore to affect them is but playing with the Baits; and as the Bird sings in the Fowler's Snare, so do we in the midst of Temptation. If Christians would but consult with their Experience, how often have we smarted when we fall into it? A poor Beast fallen into an Hole, will not fall into the same Hole again. Tho we see the Inconveniency of it, yet our Hearts are addicted.
4. It is a sign Men have not received the Power of Grace, when they are immoderately addicted to Pleasures. It is a Description of the carnal State; Titus 3.3. We our selves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, serving divers Lusts and Pleasures. So much Grace as you have, so much Victory and Command over your selves; and therefore when Men are wholly led by Sense, they are at a great distance from the Life of Grace. Therefore as we would not be accounted carnal, we should be more sober in this kind; we may use Pleasures, but should not serve Pleasures; but rejoice as if we rejoiced not. If we use a thing, it is for some other end; we enjoy the End, and use the Means. You may use Pleasure for to quicken the Mind, and revive the Body, that it may be quick in the Service of God, and not unfit the Heart for Duties of Religion.