68 SERMONS upon the SERM.IX before thou ftirreft from this place. God flandeth upon his Authority, and will have a ,prefent anfwer : if he fay is day, *is flat difobedience for you to fày to mor- ro;v. Now is the time of Salvation, at this inftant, a Çor. 6. o. You are charged in his name, as you will anfwer the contrary : You fay, No, I will pleafe the flefh a little longer : It may be juft with God, if you refute him, never to call you more. 3. In point of Ingenuity: We receive a plenteous recompense for a /mall fervice. When a man thinketh what God hath provided for them that love him, and ferve him, he fhould be afhamed that he receives fo much, and does fo little ; and there- fore he fhould redeem all the time that he can, that he may anfwer his expeEtati- ons from God. Shall we adjourn and putoff God to our decrepid time, when he bath provided for us eternal happinefs ? Can a man that bath any ingenuity in his breaft, be content to difhonour God longer, grieve his Spirit longer, provided that at length he may be faved ? Thofe that have any due fenfe of Gods kindnefs, or their own duty, will think God hath too long been kept out of his right, and that all the time that remaineth is too little to exprefs our love and thankfulnefs to him, 1 Per. 4. 3. Men that do delay, do in effect fay, Let me defpife thy Commands, and abufè thy Mercy a little longer ; but then when my Lufts are fatisfied, and youth- ful heats are fpent, I will fee what I an do to be fared. What bafenefs of Spi- rit is this ! 4. 'Tis our advantage to begin betimes, both here and hereafter. (I.) Here. T hefooner you begin to pleafe God, the fooner you have an evidence of your intereft in his. favour, more experience of his Love, more hopes of living with him in Heaven. Oh theft things are not flight things ! When once you come to tafte the comfort of them, you will be forry that you had begun no fooner ; as Paul complaineth that he was bar* out of due time, 1 Cor. 15. 8. becaufe he loft the advantage of fèeing Chrift in the flefh, and fo of many fweet conferences, and many fweet vifits of Love, and experiences of Grace, that otherwife might fall to his íhare, Rom. 16. 7. They were in Chrift before me. An early Acquaintance with Chrift bringeth many benefits with it, as peace, and comfort, and joy, and. which others that fet forth later want. The Confolations of God fhould not be vile and cheap with us : If you were acquainted with them, you would leave your husks for bread in your Fathers houfe, (a.) The fooner you begin with God, the greater will your glory be Hereafter. For the more we improve our Talents here, the greater will our reward be in Heaven, Luk. 19. 16, 17, 18, 19. And he /aid unto him, VVell, thou good Ser- vant ; betaute thou haft been faithful in a little, have thou authority over ten Cr- . ties. And the fecond came, and faid, Lord, thy pound bath gained five pounds : And be faid likewife to him, Be thou alfo over five Cities. And when the Mother of.ç- bedee's Children came to Chrift, and defrred that her two Sons might fit one at his right hand, and the other at his left, Mat. so. 23. Chrift doth not deny the thing, that there are degrees of Glory, fet forth by fitting on the right hand, and on the left ; but telleth her, that !t fhall be given to them for whom it is pre- pared of his Father : As in Hell there is an hotter and cooler judgment. Cer- tainly then they that have long pleafed God, and made it the whole bufinefs of their lives, fhall have larger meafures of happinefs. V S E, Is to reprove thofe that adjourn and put of the work of Religion from time to time, till they have loft all time. 'Tis Sathan's Artifice to cheat men of the prefent opportunity, by promifes of a future Obedience. Oh confider the work is much, and life is fhort : If we did live as many years as days, all would be lit- tle enough ; therefore let us begin betimes. There are three Arguments to prefs this. If this work muff be once done, why not Now ? your Hearts will not be better, nor the Terms lets. 1. Tour Hearts are not like to be better : For the longer we continue in fin, the heart is the more hardened : as the High-way by continual treading groweth the harder, and the Anvil by continual fmiting is hardned the more ; fo long ufe in fn.obdureththe Heart, and long refiftance gr eveth the Spirit, and carnal affe &ions grow upon us, fer. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his Spots ? then may ye a fo do good that are accullomed to do evil. 'Tis hard to tranfplant an old Tree. The Affections are now more fettled in a courfe of fin. s. The
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