Section I. — Is this the plea that thou meanest to use when thou comest to tlie bar, and art called to give thy answer to Christ, thy judge, upon this matter ? Does not thy heart quake witliin thy breast, to tliink how he will knit his brow, and throw this thy apology, with disdain and wrath, upon thy face ? Did so much anger sit on the countenance of meek Jesus when on earth, and such a dreadful doom proceed from his sweet lips against those that made their farms and oxen an excuse for not coming to his su))pcr, sentencing them never to taste thereof? Oh, what then will glorious Christ say, when mounted on his tribunal, not to invite, but to judge sinners, to such an excuse as this ! Could God iind heart and time to pen and send this love-letter to thee, and thou find none to read and peruse it! The sick man no time to look on his physician's bill ! The condemned malefactor to look on his prince's letter of grace, wherein a pardon is signed ! Poor wretch, n^ust the worhl have all thy time, and swallow thee up alive ! a curse not less than that of Korah. Art thou such a slave to thy pelf, as to tie thy soul to thy purse-strings ; and take no more time for the saving of it, than this cruel master will afford thee ! Thou and thy money perish with thee ! His soul is in a bad state, which hath its allowance from so base a lust : this is so far from mending the matter, that thou dost but cover one sin with another. Who gave tliee leave thus to overlade thyself with the incumbrance of the world ? Is not God the Lord of thy time ? Is it not given by him, to be laid out for him ! He allows thee, indeed, a fair portion thereof for the lower employments of this life, but did he ever intend to turn himself out of all .' This is as if the mariners, who are allowed by the merchant some small adventure for themselves, should fill the ship, and leave no stowage for his goods ; will it suffice them to say there is no room left for his commodities? Or a servant, when his master asks why he neglected such a business committed to his care for despatch, should answer that he was drunk, and therefore could not do it. Why did you not read my word, and meditate thereon? will Christ say at that day. Darest thou, then, be so impudent as to say. Lord, I was overcharged with the cares, and drunk with the love of the world, and, therefore, I could not 1 Well, if this be the thief that robs thee of thy time, get out of his hands, lest it also rob thee of thy soul. The devil can desire no greater advantage against thee ; he may better boast over thee, than Pharaoh could over Israel, — He is entangled, he is entangled, in the wilderness of the world, and shall not escape my hands ! If a friend should tell you that you kept so many servants as would beggar you, would you not listen to his counsel, and rather turn them out of doors, than keep them ? And wilt thou not be as careful of thy soul ? Wilt thou keep such a rout of worldly occasions, as will eat up all thoughts of God and heaven ? Certainly, thou must either discharge thyself of these, or dismiss thy hope of salvation. This ordinarily is but a cover to men's sloth : if they had hearts, they would find time to converse with the word in the greatest throng of their worldly occasions. These can find time to eat and sleep, to sport and recreate themselves, but no time for God and his word ; would they but allow their souls those spare ends of time to search the Scripture, which they spend in pastimes, idle visits, reading of empty pamphlets, it would not be long before they might give a happy account of their proficiency in their spiritual knowledge. What calling more encumbering than a soldier's, and, of all soldiers, the general's, to whom all resort? Such an one was Joshua, yet he had a strict command given him to study the Scriptures : Josh. i. 8, ' This book shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.' Must Joshua, in the midst of drums and tnmipets, and distractions of war, find time to meditate on the law of God, and shall a few trivial occasions in thy private calling discharge thee from the same duty ? Dost thou think that the closet is such an enemy to thy shop, and the time spent with God a thief to thy tempoi-al estate? God, I am sure, intends his people better, as appears in the former place, — 'Then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.'
Section II. — But I cannot read ; how, therefore, can I search the Scriptures? It is sad, I confess, that parents, who are God's trustees, to whom the nurture of their children is committed, sliould take no more care for their souls than the
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^g.J, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.