6o6 Practical Cbriftiallity. W,~~a'B~u ( t.) Firft, Confider, we arc all of us very bnfy, aCtive Creatures ; the frame and ~~~:ur~~~ conftitntion of our Natures is fuch .as we mufi: be working fame \Vork or other: And therefore finc:e we muft be workmg, why lhould we not work the Works of God? V..:e do not ~m ply ex_ho~·t Sin~er~ to w~rk? neither indeed need we: You have a(hve Facu lties and fbrnng Pnnctples wtthm you, that muft and wiU be fti\l in Impl9j'ment; and when your Hands ceafe, yet then your Hearts and Thoughts are at work: Your whole Lives are nothin~ but Actions; yea, when yoUt:Thonghts themfelves are moft: unbent and moft remtfs, when they arc mofl: vanlfhing and r,limmerin~, fa that yOur felves _fcar_ce· know what they ~r~, yet then are they vi· fibly workmg, though you pcrcc1ve 1t !lot. Now what rs 1t that God requires of you? It is not that you Otould be more rmployed than you arc, that you Jhould do more than yo11 do; fOr that is impoffible, becaufe y~m never arc idle doing no· thing; but it is, that what you do Jhould be done in order unto Heaven and Salva· tion; and how reafonable i5 fuch a Command as this? lt is not more Work that God expea: from you, only other Work; your Thoughts need not be more than they are, but they muft be more Spiritual than they are; yOur Defires n0 more but only more Gracious; your Attions no mOre, but only they mufi: be more Ho~ ly than now they arc: Let but Grace regulate what Nature doth, and the Art of working out of your Salvation in attained. The Wheels of a Watch move as fafi: and as I.')_Uick when it goes falfeas when it goes true; and if the Watch be but at firfi: fet right and t,rue, the fame aCtivity that makes it go f.1lfe, will make the motiOJlS go right and orderly: Truly you your felves are like your Watches; your Faculties are the Wheels of your Souls, and they move and click as faft when they go falfe, as when they go right; and if Grace doth but once fet them right, the fame ac:tivity of Nature that makes tbem work faiOy and go amifs, will alfo continue their Motion orderly and regular when once they are fer right. Well then, whatever your Trade be, whether it be a Trade of Sin, or whether it be a Trade of Holinefs, you mufi: be working at it. And let me tell you, Religion and Holinef~ are fo far from increafing of your Work, that they rather leffen and contraa it: What fays our Saviour ? Martha, Marth4, thou ar~ careful about · Luke 10. many things; but one thing is necedary. So may I fay ; Sinners, you arc careful and +1 • bufy your felves about many things, but there is but one thing that is neceffary; many things indeed you trouble your felves with, the Cares of the World, the Temptations of Satan, the Corruptions of your own Hearts, thefe difi:raa you., yea, very Trifles and lmpcrtinencies t_hemfelves give you full Imployment; this Lufi: ftorrns and rageth, that Luft flatters and enticeth; this is impetuous, that is infinuating; the one impells, the other allures; and it may be after all, Confci.. ence begins to grow terrible, giving the Sinner no quiet in doing ot that which Luft would let him have no reft till he had done: So that betwixt them, of all Mens Lives in the World his is the moft toilfome and vexatious. Since then you can fave noLabourbybeing as yob. are, why will you not change your Work? You are now in confi:ant lmploym'ent as you are, and no more is required of. you in the ways of Obedience; nay, you are now divided, difl:raaed and even torn in pieces, betwixt divers .Lufts and Pleafures, all which cry give, give, and all are eager and importunate, fo that you know not whic.h to turn to firft. But in working tor Sal· vation your Imployment is but the. one thing neceffary, which though indeed it calls for the fame Endeavours and lnduftry which nqw you ufe in the Service of Sio, yet by reafon of its Uniformity, islefs diftratl:ive and lef:; cumberfomc: And thar: is the 6rft Gradation. AU Men (2.) Secondly, Confider this, You muft work either in GtJd'J Strvict, or in the Dcvit's "';'/';/i:i· Drudgery: And choofe you whether you had rather be Satan's Slaves, or God's SerGod's I er· vants; nay, indeed choofc whether ? Is it a matter of Choice with Men, who 11he or have rational and immortal Souls? Do you not all profefs your felvcs to be the rbeDniJ's Servants of the Living God? Do you not all wear his Livery? Would not the Drudt.erJ• vileft and mort profligate Sinner willingly lurk under the Name and Badge of a Chriftian, and count it a great Wrong done him, ihould any fo much as doubt of his~Salvation? And wherefore _is this, but becaufe they are alltamed of their Service, and of their own black Mafi:er ? But alas ! It is in \'ain to renounce him in Words; for if your Works be not for God, if they be not fuch as Religi .. on exaCts, as the Holy Ghoft infpires, as Grace performs, and as SalVation calls for
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