^d Infer. What a spur is here to ministerial diligence andjaitli- J'ulness ? It is an awful work that is under our hands ; the eifects of the gospel which we preach, will be the savour of life or death to them that hear us. If the Lord prosper it in our hands, we shall be Avitnesses for you, it \vill be an addition to our glory in heaven ; Dan. xii. 3. " They that turn many to righteousness, shall shine <' as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and " ever." But if we be ignorant, lazy, men-pleasers, our people will come in as swift \vitnesses against us, and their blood will be required at our hands ; it will be an intolerable aggravation to our misery in hell, to have any that sat under our ministry thus up- braiding us ! O cruel man I thou sazvest my soul in danger, and never dealtst faithfully and plainly with me ; the sa^ne time and hreath that was spent in idle and worldly discourse, might have been instrumental to have saved me from this place of torment. Let minis- ters consider themselves as witnesses for God, and their people as witnesses for or against them ; and under that consideration, so study, preach and pray, that they may with Paul take God to record, that they are free from the blood of all men ; no sort of men upon earth have more spurs to diligence and faithfulness than we have.
^d Infer. What a pill is this to purge formality out of all that hear us ; Every sabbath, every sermon, is recorded in heaven for or against your souls ; at what rate soever you attend to the word, all that you hear is set down in the book of your account : think not you shall return as you came, the word will have its effect and end, it shall not return in vain, Isa. Iv. 11. but shall accomplish the end for which it is sent. The decrees of heaven are executed by
the gospel, some souls shall be quickened, and others shall be slain by the word of God's mouth. The gospel is a river of the waters of life, which quickens and refreshes every thing that lives ; but the miry and marshy places shall not be healed. How weighty therefore is that caution of our Lord, Luke viii. 18. Take heed how you hear ! When you come under an ordinance, you are sowing seed for eternity, which will spring up in the world to come. Preaching and hearing may be considered two ways, phT/sicaUi/ or morally ; in the former respect, these acts are quickly over ai/J pass away. I shall by and by have done preaching, and you hearing ; this sermon will be ended in a little time, but the consequences thereof will abide for ever ! Therefore, for the Lord's sake, away with formality ; no more drowsy eyes or wandering thoughts. Oh, when you come to attend upon the ministry of the gospel, that such thoughts as these might prepare your minds ! The word I am go- ing to hear will quicken or kill, save or damn my soul ; if I sit dead under it, and return barren from it, I shall wish one day that I had never seen the face of that minister, nor heard his voice that preached it.
^th Infer. What a dreadful conditiori are all those in that are real and professed enemies to the gospel^ and them that preach it! That instead of embracing and obeying the message of the gospel, reject and despise it ; instead of opening their hearts to receive it, open their blasphemous mouths against it, to deride it, and hiss it (if it were possible) out of the world. Ah ! what a book of remembrance is written for such men.? I fear there never was an age, since Christianity blessed this nation, that was more deeply drenched in the guilt of this sin than the present age. How are the messengers of the gospel slighted and rejected ? What have we done to de- serve it ? Is not our case this day much like that of the prophet ? " Shall evil be recompensed for good ? For they have digged £^ " pit for my soul ; remember that I stood before thee to speak " good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them,"" Jer. xviii. 20. What brutish madness hath possessed the souls of the se men ? But alas ! it is not so much they, as Satan acting in them ; he is a jealous prince, the gospel alarms him, his subjects are in danger of revolting from him : no wonder therefore he makes an outcry at the liberty of the gospel, as is used to be made when an enemy invades a kingdom. In this case Christ directs his mi- nisters to shake off the dust of their feet for a testimony against them, Mark vi. 11. The signification and meaning whereof is this, that look as you shake off the dust of your feet, even so Jesus Christ will shake qf those men that despise the gospel, and abuse his messengers.
6th Infer. Hence it Hkewise follows, Tliat the case of the Pagan
world will he easier in the day of judgment^ than tJieirs tJmt live and die unrcgenerate and disobedient under the gospel of Christ. There are more witnesses prepared, and records filled against the day of your account, than can possibly be against them ; they have abused but one talent, the light of nature ; but we thousands, even as many thousands as we have had opportunities and calls under the gospel. Upon this account Christ saith, " Whosoever shall not receive *' you, nor hear your words, shake off the dust of your feet. Ve- *' rily, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of *' Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that *^ city," M-at. X. 14, 15.
Ah, what a fearful aggravation doth it put upon our sin and misery, that we are not only accountable for all the light we had, but for all that we might have had in the gospel-day ! Capernaum was lifted up to heaven in the enjoyment of means and precious opportunities, Mat. xi. S3, and had an answerable downfal into the depth of misery from that height of mercy ; as the higher any one is hfted up upon a rack, the more terrible is the jerk he receives by the fall.
Qth Infer. La^stly^ Hence it appears. That the day of judgment must certainly take up a vast space of time: For if God will bring every thing into judgment, Eccl. xii. 14. not only sinful actions, but words, Matth. xii. 36. not only words, but heart-secrets, Rom, ii> 16. If all the records and registers now made, shall then ba opened and read ; all the witnesses for or against every man exa- mined and heai'd; judge then what a vast space of time will that great day take up. Some divines zire of opinion it may last as long as the world hath lasted ; but this is sure, things will not be hud- led up, nor shuffled over in haste : you have taken your time for sinning, and God will take his time for judging.