blushest *o see, and pitiest to find in another, take heed it befall not thyself; if thou sufferest a spiritual slumber to grow upon thee, thou wilt be the man thy- self that all this may come upon, and what not besides? Sleep levels all ; the wise man then is no wiser than a fool, to project for his safety ; nor the strong- man better than the weak, to defend himself: if slumber falls once upon thy eye, it is night with thee, and thou art, though the best of saints, but as other men, so far as this sleep prevails on thee.
Thirdly, By thy watchfulness thou shalt invite such company in unto thee, as will make the time short and sweet, and that is thy precious Saviour, whose sweet communication and discourse, about the things of thy Father's kingdom, will make thou shalt not grudge the ease sleepy Christians get, with the loss of such a heavenly entertainment as thou enjoyest. Who had not, that loves his soul better than his body, rather have David's song than David's sleep in the night? And who had not rather have Christ's comforting presence with a waking soul, than his absence with a sleepy, slothful one? It is the watchful soul that Christ delights to be with, and open his heart unto. We do not choose that for the time of giving our friends a visit, when they are asleep in their beds ; nay, if we be with them, and perceive they grow sleepy, we think it is time to leave' them to their pillow, and verily Christ doth so too. Christ withdraws from the spouse, till she be better awake, as a fitter time for her to receive his loves. Put the sweetest wine into a sleepy man's hand, and you are like to have it all spilled; yea, jmt a purse of gold into his hand, and the man will hardly remember in the morning what you gave him over night. Thus in the sleepy state of a soul, both the Christian loseth the benefit, and Christ the praise of his mercy ; and therefore Christ will stay to give out his choice favours, when the soul is more wakeful, that he may both do the creature good, and his creature may speak good of him for it.
Quest. But how must the Christian stand upon his watch ?
Answ. First, constantly. The lamp of God in the tabernacle was to ' burn always,' Exod. xxvii. 20, and xxx. 8; that is, always in the night, which sense is favoured by several other places. And I pray, what is our life in this world but a dark night of temptation ? Take heed. Christian, that thy watch- candle go not out in any part of this darksome time, lest thy enemy come upon thee in that hour. He can find thee, but not thou resist him in the dark ; if once thy eye be shut in a spiritual slumber, thou art a fair mark for his wrath; and know, thou canst not be long off thy watch, but the devil will hear on it. The devil knew the apostle's sleeping time, and then he desires leave to winnow them, Luke xxii. He saw they were in some disorder ; the eye of their soul began to be heavy : the thief riseth when honest men go to bed. The devil, I am sure, begins to tempt when saints cease to watch; when the staifis thrown . away, then the wolf appears. When the soid puts her danger furthest off, and lies most secure, then it is nearest; therefore labour to be constant in thy holy care ; the want of this spoils all. Some you shall have, that after a great fall into a sin that hath bruised them sorely, will seem very careful for a time where they set their foot, how they walk, and what company they come in ; but as soon as the soreness of their consciences wears off, their watch is broke up, and they are as careless as ever ; like one that is very eai-eful to shut up his shop strongly, and may be sit up late to watch it also, for two or three nights after it hath been robbed, but then minds it no more. Others in an affliction, or newly come out of the furnace, O how nice and scrupulous are they while the smell of fire is about them, and memory of their distress fresh ! They are as tender of sinning as one that comes out of a hot, close room is of the air ; they shrink at every breath of temptation stirring; but alas, how soon are they hardened to commit those sins without remorse, the bare motion of which, but a little befoi-e, did so trouble and afflict them ! Josephus, in his ' Antiquities, ' tells us, that the sons of Noah, for some years after the flood, dwelt on the tops of high moimtains, not daring to take up their habitation in the lower ground, for fear of being drowned by another flood ; yet in process of time, seeing no flood came, they ventured down to the plain of Shinar, where their former fear we see ended in one of the boldest, proudest attempts against God that the sun was ever witness to; the building, I mean, of a tower, whose top should reach heaven, Gen. xi. 2, 3. They, who at first were so maidenly
20Q STAND THEREFORE.