(8.) Eighthly, and lastly, I answer, The more worldly business lies upon thy hand, the more need hast thou to keep dose to thy closet. Much business lays a man open to many sins, and to many snares, and to many temptations. Now, the more sins, snares, and temptations a man's business lays him open to, the more need that man hath to be much in private prayer, that his soul may be kept pure from sin, and that his foot may not be taken in the devil's trap, and that he may stand fast in the hour of temptation. Private prayer is so far from being a hindrance to a man's business, that it is the way of ways to bring down a blessing from heaven upon a man's business, Ps. i. 2, 3 ; cxxvii. 1, 2; cxxviii. 1, 2; as the first-fruits that God's people gave to him brought down a blessing from heaven upon all the rest, Deut. xxvi. 10, 11. Whet is no let ; prayer and provender never hinders a journey. Private prayer is like to Jacob, that brought down a blessing from heaven upon all that Laban had. Gen. xxx. 27, 30. Private prayer gives a man a sanctified use, both of all his earthly comforts, and of all his earthly business ; and this David and Daniel found by experience : and therefore it was not their great public employments that could take them off from their private duties. Time spent in heavenly employ- ments, is no time lost from worldly business, Deut. xxviii. 1-8. Private prayer makes all we take in hand successful. Closet-prayer hath made many rich, but it never made any man poor or beggarly in this world. No man on earth knows what may be the emergencies, or the occur- rences of a day : Prov. xxvii. 1, ' Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.' Every day is as it were a great-bellied day ; every day is as it were with child of something, but what it will bring forth, whether a cross or a comfort, no man can tell; as whilst a woman is with child, no man can tell what kind of birth it will be. No man knows what mercies a day may bring forth, no man knows what miseries a day may bring forth ; no man knows what good a ^ay may bring forth, no man knows what evil a day may bring forth ;
210 THE PRIVY KEY OF HEAVEN. [MaT. VI. 6.
no man knows what afflictions a day may bring forth, no man knows what temptations a day may bring forth ; no man knows what liberty a day may bring forth, no man knows what Vwnds a day may bring forth ; no man knows what good success a day may bring forth, no man knows what bad success a day may bring forth ; and therefore, a mnn had need be every day in his closet with God, that he may be prepared and fitted to entertain and improve all the occurrences, successes, and emergencies that may attend him in the course of his life. And let thus much suffice for answer to this first objection. But,
Ohj. 2. Secondly, Others may object and say. Sir, we grant that private prayer is an indispensable duty that lies vpon the people of God; but %ve are servants, and we have no time that xve can call our ofivn, and our masters business is such as will not allow us any time for private prayer, and therefoi^e we hope we may be excused.
Solution (1.) First, The text is indefinite, and not limited io any sort or rank of persons, whether high or low, rich or poor, bond or free, sonant or master. ' But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet ; and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.'^ Here are three thous, thou, thou, thou, which are to be understood indefinitely : thou servant as well as thoii master, thou bondman as well as thou freeman, tliou poor man as well as thou rich man, thou maid as well as thou mistress, thou child as well as thou father, thou wife as well as thou husband. Private prayer is an indis- pensable duty that lies upon all sorts and ranks of persons. A man may as well say that that pronoun tu, thou, that runs through the ten commandments, — Exod. xx. 3-18, 'Thou shaft have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Six days shalt thou labour. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neigh- bour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's,' &c., — relates to the rich, and not to the poor, to masters and not to servants, to the free and not to them that are in bonds, &c., as he may say, that the three thous in the text relates to the rich and not to the poor, to masters and not to servants, to those that are free but not to those that are bound ; but certainly there is no man in his wits that will say so, that will affirm such a thing. Doubtless this pronoun thou reacheth every man, of what rank or quality soever he be in this world. But,
(2.) Secondly, I answer. That the first, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth ansivers that are given to the first objection, are here very applicable ; and oh that all masters and servants were so wise, so serious, and so ingenuous, as to lay all those answers warm on their own heartsl It might be a means to prevent miich sin, and to bespeak masters and mistresses to give their pious servants a little more time to lift up their hearts to Christ in a corner. But,
(3.) Thirdly, I answer, // thou art a servant that hast liberty to choose a new master, thou wert better remove thy station than live * Private prayer is a duty, that lieth upon saints as saints.
Mat. VI. 6] the privy key of heaven. 211
under such a master's roof, who is such an enemy to God, to Christ, to religion, lo himself, and to the eternal welfare of thy "poor soul, as that he vjill not give thee half an hour's time in a day to spend in thy chamber, thy closet, though the glory of God, the goad of his own fami'y, and the everlasting happiness of thine own soul, is concerned i/iiit, Ps. Ixxxiv. 10, cxx. 5. It is better for thee to shift thy master, than to neglect thy duty: 1 Cor. vii. 21, 'Art thou called, being a servant ? care not for it ; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.' We lost our liberty by sin, and we affect nothing more than liberty by nature.^
The Rabbins say of liberty, that 'if the heavens were parchment, the sea ink, and every pile of grass a pen, the praises of it could not be comprised nor expressed.' Laban's house was full of idols. Great houses are often so. Jacob's tent was little, but the true worship of God was in it. It is infinitely better to live in Jacob's tent, than in Laban's house. It is best being with such masters where we may have least of sin, and most of God ; where we may have the most helps, the best examples, and the choicest encouragements to be holy and happy.