4. The time we have to make sure of the heavenly kingdom is very short and uncer- tain ; take heed it doth not slip away before you have prepared for the kingdom. Time passeth on apace, — cito pede prderita vita : it will not be long before " the silver cord be loosed, and the golden bowl broken,'* Eccl. xii. The skull wherein the brains are enclosed as in a bowl, this golden bowl will soon be broken. Our soul is in our body, as the bird is in the shell, which soon breaks, and the bird flies out ; the shell of the body broken, the soul flies into eternity. We know not whether we shall live to another sabbath ; before we hear another sermon- bell go, our passing-bell may go. Our life runs as a swift stream into the ocean of e- ternity. Brethren, if our time be so mi- nute and transient, — if the taper of life be so soon waited, or perhaps blown out by violent death, — how should we put to all our strength, and call in help from heaven that we may obtain the kingdom of glory ^ If time be so short, why do we waste it about things of less moment, and neglect ' the one thing needful,' which is the kingdom of heaven ? A man that hath a great work to be done, and but one day for the doing of it, hath need to work hard : we have a great work to do, we are striving for a king- dom, and alas ! we are not certain of one
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day to work in ; therefore wliat need liave we to bestir ourselves, and wliat we do for heaven, to do it with all our might !
5. To excite our diligence, let us consider liow inexcusable we shall be, if we miss of the kingdom of lieaven. Who have had Kueh helps for heaven as we have had ? In- dians who have mines of gold, have not such advantages for glory as we ; they have the light of the sun, moon and stars, and the light of reason, but this is not enough to light them to heaven : but we have had the light of the gospel shining in our hori- zon ; we have been lifted up to heaven with ordinances ; we have had the word in sea- son and out of season. The ordinances are the pipes of the sanctuary, which empty the golden oil of grace into the soul ; they are scala paradisi, — the ladder by which we as- cend to the kingdom of heaven, Dcut. iv. 7., " What nation is tliere so great who hath God so nigh unto tliem, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ?" We have had heaven and hell set before us, — we have had counsels of friends, warnings, examples, the motions and inspi- rations of the Holy Ghost, — how should all these spurs quicken us in our pace to hea- ven ? Should not that ship sail apace to the haven, which had wind and tide to carry it ? The tide of ordinances, and the wind of the Spirit. Surely if we, through negli- gence, miss of the kingdom of heaven, we shall have nothing to say for ourselves; we shall be as far from excuse as from happi- ness.
6. You cannot do too much for the king- dom of heaven : you cannot pray too much, sanctify the sabbath too much, love God too much ; you cannot overdo. In secular things a man may labour too hard, he may kill himself with working ; but there is no fear of working too hard for heaven. In virtute non est verendum ne quid nimium sit, Seneca. The world is apt to censure the godly, as if they were too zealous, and did overstrain tliemselves in religion. Indeed a man may follow the world too much, he may make too much haste to be rich ; the ferry-man may take in too many passengers into his lx)at, to the sinking of his boat : so a man may heap up so much gold and silver, as to «ink himself in perdition, 1 Tim. vi. 9. But
one cannot be too earnest and zealous for the kingdom of heaven ; tliere is no fear of excess here, when we do all we can for hea- ven, we come short of the golden rule set us, and of Christ's golden pattern ; when our faith is highest, like the sun in the me- ridian, yet still there is something lacking in our fiiitli, 1 Thess. iii. 1., so that all our la- bour for the kingdom is little enough. W^hen a christian hath done his best, yet still he hath sins, and wants to bewail.