. 138 The Improvement of 'lime , or, and a' Cup ofdrink inmy chum , and clothes in my nakeonefs , there is all that I care for. Real. ;. Thirdly, The laft and main Argument to prove that every true Believer mall. The things of be, as ifnot, inall the thingsof thisworld , is, becaufe if he be any otherwife in the world hin- then, hewill be fo intangled, that he (hall not be fit for the service ofGod. And des a Believer D this third Argument will beof the greaten force to a true Believer. For the other o the [etvic fGod, two, you will fay, if they be none of mine , why do I meddle with them ? and if they be empty, why likewìfe do I meddle with them ? But now thirdly, if I med- dlewith them, they will makemedire&ly that I Ihallnot be a Chriflian ; theywill hinderme from the Crevice of my God, thiswill make me a believer ofall things, to Simile. o k about him. The Apoftle faith dire&ly, that uonethat warreth entangleth him- fell ; that is thus , Suppofe a man havereceived Prefs-money to go a Souldier, will r ,e fo mad as to lay out his money upon a Farm in the Country, when upon the Command of his Captain, upon painof death, he muff followprefently. Beloved he that entangleth himself with the things of the World, andof the Fief"), ifhis wife, his pleafures, his credit, or any thing have taken up his heart ; or if forrows andaf- fli&ionsdiink up his fpirits, and eat up his very foul ; when Godcalls this man now to come to prayer, to come to the Church,to hear his Word, to fight again(' his lugs, or todo anyduty, alas I his head, hisheart, and all, are eaten up with his Farm, with his Oxen, with his Wife, with his Croffes and AfRieiions ; fo that he is alto- gether unfit for any fervice, that God bath called him to. Therefore ( faith Saint John ) he that entangleth himfelj' with thefe things below, he cannot poffrbly have the loveof the Father dwelling in him. Tnis (ball fuffce for the clearing of thepoint, I have fpent the more time in it, becaufe I would fain lay as good a foundation as I might, that.the- AK ',cation may take the deeper imprelfion in yourhearts, l[fe. We that live in the Country, whenwe come up by motion into theCity,and here fee all men fo full of trouble, every man fo toiled in his work, fo full ofbufinefs, and o little time taken for any thing elfe, methinksthat fucha point as this to Brethren, to Believes, 1l ould be of fpecial ufe. Now (beloved) this is the fumof that I. have I have to fay ; Be in all there things, at ifnot. Shall weall refoive, asobedient children to carry this point home, and examine indeed and in truth, whether we bein ihefe things, as if not. But alas what (hall Repehenfion. I fay I I remember a Rory of one Thomas Lennot, a learned Engli(hman , who reading once in the fifth, fixth, and feventh Chapters of S. Matthews Go(pel, how our Saviour faith, ria have heard how iì both beenfaid of old, youmall do thru, and chits ; but 1fay anteyou, you mall loveyour enemies, prayfor them that carte you , do good to them that hate you, and perfecuteyou; and fo he goeth on in injoyning inch ('range duties toRe(hand bloud.. He breaks out, Oh3rfue, either this is not thy Gofpe!, or we are not Chriflian. Truly (beloved) I would to God a Minifler might not have juR caute to fay fo in this point, that whenhe cometh, and reads this of the ApoRle , It remains (brethren) that he that barb a wife, be as if he had none; hethat afetb the world, as not abufing its and he that bayeth, go ifhe pof- feffed not, &c. Arad mu(' it be thus if we mean to be Chriftians? I would to God (I fat) a man might not break out, and fay, OPaul,either thouart not the writer .f this, or we are no î,hrifians. We talk and profefs it in words, thatwe purpofe to do it, but if we ,come to the deed, and the truth, it is clean contrary, we are not at all moderate in the ufe of ebete thing'. In matters ofHeaven, and in things that concern our everla(ling welfare, where God would have is take the kingdom of heaven with violence. Where we should cry out as the Harfe-leach his daughter , Give, give, and never fay it is enough, We are even like children that go to School, that care not how little they have for their money. In hearing, if the Sermon bebut.half an hour, we think it enough ; and in prayer and in conference, a little will ferve the turn. Like the Jefuit, that when he thought he had a revelation, he cried out, Saris Domine, enough Lord, I have revelation enough ; So we in matters of Religion , Enough Lord. But turn us to wives, to children', to clothhs, to h efoura to
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