such scandalous practices, that others may question whether thei'e be any life of grace indeed in him. And therefore it behoves the Christian to stand wake- fully ; sleep steals as insensibly on the soul, as it doth on the body. The wise virgins fell asleep as well as the foolish, though not so soundly ; take heed thou dost not indulge thyself in thy lazy distemper, but stir up thyself to action, as we bid one that is drowsy, stand up, or walk. Yield to it by idleness and sloth, and it will grow upon thee ; bestir thyself in this duty and that, and it will be over. David first awakes his tongue to sing, his hand, to play on his harp, and then David's heart awakes also, Psa. li. 8. The lion, it is said, when he first wakes, lashes himself with his tail, thereby to stir and rouse up his courage, and then away he goes after his prey : we have enough to excite and provoke us to use all the care and diligence possible.
First, The Christian's work is too curious to be done well between sleeping and waking, and too important to be done ill, and slubbered over, no matter how. He had need be awake that walks upon the brink of a deep river, or brow of a steep hill. The Christian's path is so narrow, and the danger is so great, that it calls for both a nimble eye to discern, and a steady eye to direct, but a sleepy eye can do neither. Look upon any duty or grace, and you will find it lie between Scylla and Charybdis, two extremes alike dangerous. Faith, the great work of God, cuts its way between the mountain of presumption and gulf of despair ; patience, a grace so necessary that we cannot be without it a day, except we woidd be all that while besides ourselves ; this keeps us that we fall neither into the sleepy apoplexy of a blockish stupidity, which deprives the creature of its senses ; nor into a raging fit of discontent, which hath sense enough, and too much, to feel the hand of God, but deprives the man of his reason, that he turns again upon God, and shoots back the Almighty's arrows on his fiery face in the fury of his froward spirit. The like we might say of the rest. No truth but hath some error next door to her ; no duty can be per- formed without approaching very near the enemy's quarters, who soon takes the alarm, and comes out to oppose the Christian ; and ought he not then to have always his heart on the watch ?
Secondly, The trouble of watching is not comparable to the advantage it brings.
First, By tliis, thou frustratest the designs Satan hath upon thee : it is worth watching to keep the house from robbing, much more the heart from rifling by the devil. 'Watch, that ye enter not into temptation,' Matt. xxvi. 41. He buys his sleep dear, that pays his throat cutting for it; yea, though the wound be not so deep, but may be cured at last. Thy not watching one night, may keep thee awake many a night upon a more uncomfortable occasion. And hadst thou not better wake with care to keep thyself from a mischief, than afterwards thy eyes be held open, whether thou wilt or not, with pain and anguish of the wound given thee in thy sleep? You know how sadly David was bruised by a fall got in his spiiitiial slumber ; for what else was he, when in the eventide he rose from his bed, and walked upon the roof of his house, like a man walking in his sleep '! 2 Sam. xi. 2 ; and how many restless nights this brought over this holy man's head, you may perceive by his own mournful complaints of this sin, which is the foot and sad burthen of several mournful psalms.
Secondly, By thy watchfulness thou shall best learn the evil of a sleepy state ; one asleep is not sensible of his own snorting, how uncomely and trou- blesome to others it is ; but he that is awake is apprehensive of both. The man asleep is not sensible, if laid naked by some that would abuse him ; but he that is awake, observes, is ashamed, and covers him ; thus while thou art in a spiritual sense awake, thou canst not but observe many uncomely passages in the lives of those professors, who do not watch their hearts, which will fill thy heart with pity to them, to see how they are abused by Satan and their own passions, which, like rude servants, take this their own time to play their pranks in, when they have made sure of their mistress, (grace I mean, now laid asleep,) that should keep them in better rule : yea, it will make the blood come into thy face for shame to see how by their nakedness, profession itself is flouted at, by those that pass by, and see how it is with them. Well, what thou
STAND ■ THIiREFOKE. OQj