PraCtical Chrlftwnity, --------------------- 7J:eR..eward in workinp, f~r SaJvation U grtdlo CtJdwiU prr.wide for.w. • wi,let:Je a,el'l'orkir.g . 1 Tim.4. a. of Salva_tio~ upo~ yf)u? But, ~!as, tl!cre is a general ~de nee:, Mcu aud \\ 'oun.n fit as q~tet tn the1r ?e:~ts, as If thetr Seats we~·e filled rarhcr \\'ith Monuments than wtth Men; as tf Heaven and eternal Salvation were of no Concernmcnt for them to look after. And wherefore is all this, but bccaufc their Sight is fhort and their Faith weak? They do not fee afar off, nor believe afar off: Heaven they look upon as at a great diftancc, and very unwilling they are to go fo long upon Trufl:; and fenfuJ l Perfons, as they are, they look for prefent Reward and prefent Wages, and will not flir till they have received it: And this is the Rea[oll why the Confideration of this great and infinite Glory affeCts Men no more they look for fomethih g prcfent. 'o Well, be it fo. Will God's Work bring in no prefent Profit? Yes it will and that fuch as you your fclves fha\1 acknowledge to be great. And tlie/efore, ' (2.) Secondly, Belidcs thofe fer Wages that are to be received at the end of our Lives, there are many Vails and occafionallncomes that accrew to God's Servants in the performance of their Work . As, · Fir It, Such art a]{ured that God tr;.iJI provide for thtr~ tvhile they. arc doing of hiJ ~VorR; he hath affured them of the Merctes and good Th1ngs of this Life by Promife. 1 do not fay of the troublefome abundance of them, but of the Enjoyment of them fo far forth as they are Mercie$ and good Things. Godline[s, fays the Apofrle, is profitllbit for all things, having the promifo of the Lift that now U, and of that wh,cn is 10 come. It hath the Promifcs of this Life, and that is a large Charter, by vinuc whereof God feeds them and cloaths them, and provides Suftenance and comforta· ble Enjoyments for all thofc that work in his Service. And therefore that 1 mav ~ note it b)' the way, moft Men are greatly ~niftakcn that labopr and toil in the World to get Ric~es a n~ great Efta~es, this is not the right thriving Courfe; if you would grow R1ch , F1rjl feelz the kmgdom ~f Heaven and the Righuoufnrfs thereof . work out your own Salvation: Labour for the true Riches, and this will not only in~ creafe and improve your inward Graces, but increafe and improve your outward Mercies alfo. It is true indec.:d Earth Worms may by carking and caring, by pinching and drudging increafe their heap of Dirl; but let who will, for my part I will not nor cannot call that Man a rich Man, that hath more Curfes than E!ljoyments. Well thus we fee what great Vails God gives his Servants; he gives them not ouly thofe of another Life, but thofe of this Life fo far as they are Mercies, and that is one V ail•. BrttJorking for Sal11ation w~:enJ~ Commu· nion wilb God. (2.) Secondly, As God provid~s for: his Servants while they are working~ fo their very Work is Wages and Reward wough for it [elf. If God fhould only give us our Labour for our Pains, as we ufe to fay, and never beftow a Penny more upon us than what we get in his Service, we were even in that fufficiently rewarded. It was certainly a voilent Pang of diftempered Zeal in that Pcrfon, that carried Fire in the one Hand and Water in the other; and being demanded a Rcafon of it, his anfwet was, He would burn up Paradife and quench Hell- fire, that fa God might be ferved, and Holinefs embraced upon no other :\1otiv es than themfelves. This was a violent Pang and cannot be allowed; this Fire was ftrangc Fire, and this Water was too much muddied to be Water of the SanCtuary. But yet certainly, that Man, who abftratlin~ from the Confideration of H eavm and Hdl, eternal Rewards and Punifhments, would not rather chofe the \V arks of God and the Ways of Holinefs, than the Works of Sin and the Ways of Iniquity, let that Man knmv he never yet had much Acquaintance with that Way and with that Work. What fays holy David concerning the C~mmandments of God? In keeping them there iJ great Reward; not only after keepmg them, when thofe Commands that have here been the Rule of our Holinefs and Obedience, Jball in Heaven become the Meafure of our Reward and Happinefs; but in tiJt very keeping of them, while we are obferving and obeyjng, there is fo great a Reward, that we fuould have no caufe to complain, iliould God beftow no more upon us, than to fuffcr us to obey his Law. For, ( 1.) Firft, Herein we uphold Communion with God and Chrift, through tht holy Spi· rit. What is Communion, but only a mutual Intercourfe of Grace an_d Duty, w~en Grace received rcftet\:s back agai1\ in the returns of Duty? Then JS Commumon maintained between God and the Sou l, when we return Dutyfor Grace. Now is this nothing to enjoy Fellowfhip· and Communipn with the gre~t. God o~ H~aven and Earth; to be admitted eo him, to walk and convet"[C fam1harly Wlth h~m and. to enJoY
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