610 Prafliettl Chriftianity, Salvation, that if Men be not very lowly fpiritcd, they may be excited unto this . lionourable Work. . I~ is 4 {pi- ( 1:) Firft, It i& pure, fpiritzur_l, _refintd Work. In Scrvi~cs among Men, the lefs ml'ul 11nd of Ftlth and Drudgery there IS m them, the more creditabl e they are accounted. pu,eWork. It is an Honour to be imployed in higher and more cleanly \Vork, when others are bufied about bafer Imployments . Now, Chriftians, your Work is the hiuhcft and moft noble Service i~agin able ; y_ou are not _at all to ~et Y?Ur Bands to ~ny foul Office ; you have n_othmg to do w1th that Mtre and Smk ll1 which wicked Men are raking, yea, and it is their Work to do it; no, but your Work is all fpi~itual, c?nfifti ng of th_e fame pure I~p~9yment ~hat t?e Angels in. Heaven fpend their Etermty about: Holy Thoughts, dwme AjfdhonJ, heavenly Medrtation.s, {pirhu- ~~~:::~sbt:.n thefe lyes your \h' ork, which becaufe of its Purity is thcref?re very It ;, rhe (1..) SecorrdlJ, Your Work is l1onourable becaufe it is the Service of a moil: ho# S t rviee of nourable Mal'ter. We account it a great Credit to tend immediately upon the "~/';;ur. Perfon of fome Prince or 'fotcmate; but what is this to their Honour who are fie: .1· called always to attend upon the Perfon of God himfelf, who is King of Kings • and Lord of Lords, to be continual Waiters about his Throne! God hath but two Thrones; his Throne of Glory in the higheit Heav'ens, about which Angels and glorified Saints are the Attendants: And his Throne of Grace to wbich you are called. Angds and Saims are but your Fell9w-Attendants; and if they ree his Glory in the higheft Exaltation, you are adw.itted to fee it in the next degree; yea, and herein is your Honour fo great, that you arc capable but of one Prefer• ment more, and that is of being removed from one Throne to the other, from at· tending upon the Throne of Grace, to auend upon the Throne of Glory, fo great is your Honour. Tbe Ser. (3.) Thirdly, Your Work U fuch M make"s you not fo much Servants, M Friends : 11 iceafGo[iunto God. Jt is an Honour to be Servant unto a King, but much more of a Serm_o~ke~ us vant to become a Favourate. Why thus it is in the fervice of God; you are not bNinends. only Servants, but Friends and Favourites. You are my Friends, if you do whatfo.. ever 1 command you. A ftrange Speech ; one would think the doing of what i• commanded is the Office of a Servant, rather than of a Friend: No, fays Chrift Henceforth I call you not Servants but Friends; you • are my Friends if you do what{o~ ever I command you. And certainly no Title fo truly glorious as that which God put upon .Abrah"m, To be the Friend of God, Well then, let wicked Men go on fcoffing and mocking at Obedience in the People of God , let them look on them as poor and low fpirited Perfons, yet can there be no Honour like unto theirs, to be Att~ndants upon, yea, the Friends of the great God of Heaven; and there can be no Difcredit fo bafe as theirs who are Slaves to the Devil, who is God's Slave; to be a Slave unto the Devil, whom the People of God have in part fubdued and overcome, and over whom they Ihall fuortly at once perfeltly triumph. And now having thus , by feveral Arguments, prcft this great Duty of working out of our own Salvation, I !hall now proceed to fome other Things that are ne· ceffary to be fpoken unto from this DoCtrine: But becaufe this is a Duty of fo vaft: Importance, and of fo univerfal Concernment unto all, and the Slothfulncfs and Backwardnefs of many fo great, and if perfifted in, will be fo ruinous and defl:ru• CHve, 1 fua\l further urge the praCtice of this Duty upon the Confciences of Sinners, by thcfe following Confiderations. · Working (1.) Firft, 'ThM 1Vorking for Salvation U the moft ·delightful Worl and Imployment far Salv.t- that a Chriftian can be int11ged in. What is it that makes the whole World fo r~an il de- bury in the Service of Sin and Satan, but only Pleafur"e which they either find ~'r[ul or imagine? The Devil baits all his Temptations with this enticing Witchcraft, ~r • which the World calls Pleafure, and this is that makes them fo fuccefsful. But bath the D evi. l ingroffed all Pleafure unto his Service? Can the Ways of God promife no Delight? Are they only roue:h and rugged Ways? David certainly thought otlierwife, when fpeaking of the Commandments of God, he tells us, Pfa.I. 19 • They we~e J.weerer than the Honey and rhe Honey-comb. He could fqueeze Honey o~t of 10. them ; lt IS an Expreffion that fets forth the exceeding PleafJntnefs and Delight that is to be found in the ways of Obedience. And trul y the whole JJoqk of Pfalms is abundantly copious in fctting forth that Delight that is to be found in the wa~f
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