Objection. But many will be ready to object and say, We have Triuch busiTiess upon our hands, anA we canTwt spare time for private prayer; we have so much to do in our slwps, and in our ivarehouses, and abroad with others, that we cannot spare time to wait upon the Loi^d in our closets.
Now to this objection I shall give these eight answers, that this ob- jection may never have a resurrection more in any of your hearts.
(1.) First, Wlud are all those busxTiesses that are upon your hands, to those businesses and weighty affairs, that did lie upon the hands of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Elias, Nehemiah, Peter, Cornelius P and yet you find all these worthies exercising themselves in private prayers. And the king is commanded every day to read some part of God's word, notwithstanding all his great and weighty employ- ments, Deut. xvii. 18-20. Now certainly, sirs, your great businesses are little more than ciphers compared with theirs. And if there were any on earth that might have pleaded an exemption from private prayer, upon the account of business, of much business, of great business, these might have done it ; but they were more honest and more noble than to neglect so choice a duty, upon the account of much business. These brave hearts made all their public employments stoop to private prayer ; they would never suffer their public employments to tread private prayer under foot. But,
(2.) Secondly, I answer, No men's outward affairs did ever rfim^e prosper than theirs did, who devoted themselves to private prayer, notwitlistanding their many and great worldly employments. Witness the prosperity and outward flourishing estates of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Nehemiah, David, Daniel, and Cornelius. These were much with God in their closets, and God blessed their blessings to them. Gen. xxii. 1 7. How did their cups overflow ! What signal favours did God heap upon them and theirs ! No families have been so prospered, protected, and graced, as theirs who have maintained secret communion with God in a corner, 1 Chron. xi. 9. Private prayer doth best expedite our temporal affairs. He that prays weU in his closet, shall be sure to speed well in his shop, or at his plough, or whatever else he turns his hand unto, 1 Tim. iv. 8. It is true, Abimelech was rich as well as Abraham, and so was Laban rich as well as Jacob, and Saul was a king as well as David, and Julian was an emperor as well as Constantino ; but it was only Abraham, Jacob, David, and Constantino, who had their blessings blessed unto them, all the rest had their blessings cursed unto them, Prov. iii. 33, Mai. ii. 2. They had many good things, but they had not ' the good will of him that dwelt in the bush' with what they had ; and therefore all their mercies were but bitter-sweets unto themu Though all the sons of Jacob returned laden from Egypt with corn and money in their sacks, yet Benjamin only had the silver cup in the mouth of his sack. So though the men of the world have their com and their money, &c., yet it is only God's Benjamins that have the silver cup, the grace cup, the cup of blessing, as the apostle calls it, for their portion, 1 Cor. x. 1 6. O sirs ! as ever you would prosper and flourish in the world ; as ever you would ' Seo the first conaideratiou. [Pages 166-169 ante. — G.]
Mat. VI. 6.J the privy key of heaven. 203
have your water turned into Avine, your temporal mercies into spiritual benefits, be much with God in your closets. But,
(3.) Thirdly, I answer, It is ten to one but that the objector evei^ day fools away, or trifles away, or idles away, or sins away, one hour i/n a day, and why then should he object the want of time? There are none that toil and moil and busy themselves most in their worldly employments, but do spend an hour .or more in a day to little or no purpose, either in gazing about, or in dallying, or toying, or courting, or in telling of stories, or in busying, themselves in other men's matters, or in idle visits, or in smoking the pipe, &c.^ And why then should not these men redeem an hour's time in a day for private prayer, out of that time which they usually spend so vainly and idly ? Can you, not- withstanding all your great worldly employments, find an hour in the day to catch flies in, as Domitian the emperor did ? and to play the fool in ? and cannot you find an hour in the day to wait on God in your closets ?
There were three special faults whereof Cato professed himself to have seriously repented : one was, passing by water when he might have gone by land ; another was, trusting a secret in a woman's bosom ; but the main was, spending an hour unprofitably. This heathen will one day rise up in judgment against them who, notwithstanding their great employments, spend many hours in a week unprofitably, and yet cry out with the Duke of Alva, that they have so much to do on earth, that they have no time to look up to heaven. It was a base and sordid spirit in that King Sardanapalus, who spent much of his time amongst women in spinning and carding, which should have been spent in ruling and governing his kingdom. So it is a base sordid spirit in any, to spend any of their time in toying and trifling, and then to cry out, that they have so much business to do in the world, that they have no time for closet-prayer, they have no time to serve God, nor to save their own precious and immortal souls. But,
(4.) Fourthly, I answer. No man dares plead this objection before the Lord Jesus in the great day of axicount, Eccles. xi. 9 ; Rom. xiv. 10 ; 2 Cor. V. 10. And why then should any man be so childish and foolish, so ignorant and impudent to plead that before men, which is not plead- able before the judgment-seat of Christ. 0 sirs I as you love your souls, and as you would be happy for ever, never put off your own con- sciences nor others' with any pleas, arguments, or objections now, that you dare not own and stand by, when you shall lie upon a dying bed, and when you shall appear before the whole court of heaven, &c. In the great day of account, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest, and God shall call men to a reckoning before angels, men, and devils, for the neglect of private prayer, all guilty persons will be found speechless : there will not be a man or woman found, that shall dare to stand up and say, ' Lord, I would have waited upon thee in my closet, but that I had so much business to do in the world, that I had no time to enjoy secret communion with thee in a corner/ It is the greatest
* Myrmecides, a famous artist, spent more time in making a bee, than an unskilful workman would do to build a house. — [Plutarch, o. v. Varro L. Ivii. ix. 62 ; Cicero, Acad. ii. 38.— G.]
204 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.
wisdom in the world, to plead nothing by way of excuse in this our day, that we dare not plead in the great day. But,