And, 1. Hearken to the voice and call of Christ, you that are exalted by providence above your poorer neighbours ; you that have your heads, hands, and hearts full of the world ; men of trade and business, I have a few solemn questions to ask you this day.
(1.) You have made many gainful bargains in your time, but .what will all profit you if the agreement be not made betwixt Christ and your souls ? Christ is a treasure which only can enrich you. Mat. xiii. 44. Thou art a poor and miserable wretch, what- ever thou hast gained of this world, if thou hast not gained Christ, thou hast heaped up guilt with thy riches, which will more tor- ment thy conscience hereafter, than thy estate can yield thee com- fort here.
(2.) You have made many insurances to secure your floating estates, which you call policies ; but what insurance have you made for your souls ? Are not they exposed to eternal hazards .? O im- politic man ! to be so provident to secure trifles, and so negligent in securing the richest treasure.
(3.) You have adjusted many accounts with men, but who shall make up your accounts with God, if you be Christless ? " What *' shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own " soul 't"^ Mat. xvi. 26. Say not, you have much business under your hands, and cannot allow time i you will have space enough hereafter to reflect upon your folly.
2. You that are poor, and mean in the worlds what say you, will you have two hells, one here, and another hereafter.? No comfort in this world, no^c hope for the next ? Your expectations here laid in the dust, and your hopes for heaven built upon tlie sand ? O if you were once m Christ, how happy were you, though you knew not where to fetch your next bread ! " Poor in the >' world, but rich in faith ; and heirs of the kingdom which God " hath promised,'' Jam. ii. 5. O blessed state ! If you had Christ, you had then a right to all things, 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. you had then a father to take care for you : But to be poor, and christless, no comfort from this world, nor hopes from the next ; this is to be truly miserable indeed. Your very straits, and wants, should prompt you to the great duty I am now pressing on you ; and m^thinks it should be matter of encouragement that the greatest
number of Christ's friends, and followers, come out of that rank, and order of men, to which you belong.
3. You that are seamen, floating so often upon the great deeps, you are reckoned a third sort of persons between the living and the dead; you belong not to the dead, because you breathe, and scarcely to the living, because you are continually so near death. What think you, friends, have you no need of a Saviour ? Do you live so secure from the reach and danger of death ? Have your lives been so pure, righteous, and innocent, who have been in the midst of temptations in the world abroad ? Ponder that scripture, 1 Cor. yi. 9, 10. " Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor ^' adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with man- " kind,'"* &c. ponder it, I say, and think whether you have not as great and pressing a necessity of Jesus Christ, as any poor souls under heaven ? You have had many temporal salvations from God, great and eminent deliverances, and will these satisfy you ? Is it enough that your bodies are delivered from the danger of the sea, though your souls sink, and perish in the ocean of God's wrath for ever ? If you will yet accept Christ upon his terms, all that you have done shall be forgiven, Isa. Iv. 2. The Lord now calls to you in a still voice ; if you hear his voice, well ; if not, you may shortly hear his voice in the tempestuous storms without you, and a roaring conscience within you. Poor man, think what an interest in Christ will be worth, wert thou now (as shortly thou mayest be) floating upon a piece of wreck, or shivering upon a cold and desolate rock, crying, mercy. Lord, mercy ! Well, mercy is now offered thee, but, in vain wilt thou expect to find it, if thou continue thus to despise ^nd reject it.
4. You that are aged and full of days, hearken to the voice of Christ, God hath called upon you a long time : When you were young you said, it is time enough yet, we will mind these things when we are old, and come nearer to the borders of eternity. Well, now, you are old, and Just upon the borders of it ; will you indeed mind it now.? You have left the great concernments of your souls to this time, this short, very short time : And do the temptations of your youth take hold upon your age ? What ! delay and put off* Christ stil) as you were wont to do ? Poor creatures, you are almost gone out of time, you have but a short time to de- liberate ; what you do must be done quickly, or it can never be done. Your night is even come upon you when no man can work.
5. You that are young, in the bud or flower of your time, Christ is a suitor for your first love ; he desires the kindness of your youth ; your spirits are vigorous, your hearts tender, your iaffections ffowmg and impressive, you are not yet entered into the
incumbrances and distracting cares of the world : Hereafter a crowd and thick succession of earthly employments and engagements will come on ; sin will harden you by custom and continuance. Now is your time ; you are in the convertible age ; few that pass the season of youth (comparatively speaking) are brought over to Christ after- wards. It is a rarity, the wonder of an age, to hear of the conver- sion of aged sinners. Besides, you are the hopes of the next generation : Should you be Christ-neglecting and despising souls ; how bad soever the present age is, the next will be worse. Say not we have time enough before us, we will not quench the sprightly vigour of our youth in melancholy thoughts : Remember there are skulls of all sizes in Golgotha ; graves of all lengths in the church- yard: You may anticipate those that stand nearer the grave than you seem to do. O you cannot be happy too soon : As young as you are, did you but taste the comforts that be in Christ, nothing would grieve you more than that you knew him no sooner, Behold he standeth at thy door in the morning of thy age, knocking this (day for admission into thy heart.