VeR. 4.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 179
owned me in my abasement, and I will own them in my exalted state. You cannot lionom- Christ so much as he will honour you : Mat. xix. 28, ' Ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' Ye who are here exposed to sorrows and sufferings for his sake. It is fond to think of glorifying God in heaven, and singing hallelujahs to his praise, when thou dost not stand to his truth on earth. Esse honum facile est, ubi quid vetat est remotum. The trial of duty is self-denial.
Thirdly, Quomodo .^ ' I have finished the work which thou hast given me to do.'
1. It is work that glorifieth God ; it is not words and empty praises, but a holy conversation : Job xxxi. 20, * If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;' Mat. V. 16, ' Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ; ' Ps. 1. 23, ' Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me ; and to him that ordereth his conversa- tion aright, will I show the salvation of God ;' John xv. 8, ' Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my dis- ciples.' A godly fruitful life is the real honour, the other is but empty prattle. It is our work and actions, not our bare profession only ; you may pollute God else, Ezek. xxxvi. 20, you may exalt him in profes- sion, and pollute him in conversation. Many christians' lives are the scandal of their religion. Again, it is not wishes that glorify God, but practice. We would have God glorified, but do not glorify him. We would have him glorified passively, but do not glorify him actively, and are more careful of events than duties. We are troubled about God's name, and are more ready to ask, ' Lord, what wilt thou do for thy great name?' than, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' A christian should rather be troubled about what he should do, than about what he should suff'er.
2. That every man hath his work. Life was given to us for some- what ; not merely that we might fill up the number of things in the world, as stones and rubbish : not to grow in stature ; so life was given to the plants, that they might grow bulky and increase in stature : nor merely to taste pleasures ; that is the happiness of the beasts, to enjoy pleasures without remorse. God gave men higher faculties of reason and conscience, to manage some work and business for the glory of God, and his own eternal happiness. The rule is general, that all Adam's sons are ' to eat their bread in the sweat of their brows,' to follow some honest labour and vocation. Adam's two sons were heirs- apparent of the world, the one employed in tillage, the other in pastur- age. The world was never made to be a hive for drones and idle ones. It is true there is a difference between callings ; some live by manual labours, others by more noble employments, as magistrates, ministers, who study for public good. Manual labour is not requhed of all, be- cause it is a thing that is not required pro]jter se, as simply good and necessary, but propter aliud, as for maintenance and support of life, to ease others, and to supply the uses of charity : Eph. iv. 28, ' Let him that stole, steal no more ; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have to give to him that
180 SEKMONS UPO>^ JOHN XYII. [SeR. V.
needeth.' When the ends of labour cannot otherwise be obtained, then handy labour is required. All others ore ' to serve their genera- tion according to the will oi God,' Acts xiii. 26. As instruments of providence to serve the common good, to promote the welftire of their family, neighbourhood, country. Those that spend their whole life in eating, drinking, sporting, and sleeping, are guilty of brutish idleness, one of Sodom's sins : Ezek. xvi. 49, ' Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom ; pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters.' And therefore those that are freed from service and handy labour are not freed from work and business. If any man must be allowed to be idle, then one member must be lost in the body politic. A man is born a member of some society, family, or city, and is to seek the good of it : he is ^mov ttoXltlkuv. We see in the body natural there is no member but hath its function and use, whereby it becometh serviceable to the whole. All have not the same office, that would make a confusion ; but all have their use, either as an eye, or as a hand, or as a tooth. So in the body politic, no member may be useless, they must have one function or another wherein to employ themselves, otherwise they are unprofitable burdens of the earth. Again, every man is more or less intrusted with a gift, which he is to exercise and improve for the good of others, and at the day of judgment he is to give up his accounts ; as you may learn from the parable of the talents, Mat. xxv. If he hath but one talent, it must not be hidden in a napkin. Well, then, if every man hath a gift, for which he is accountable to God, he must have a calling : 1 Cor. vii. 17, ' But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every man, so let him walk,' and choose his state of life. Be- sides, a calling is necessary to prevent the mischiefs of idleness, and those inconveniences that follow men not employed. Standing pools are apt to putrify, but running waters are sweetest. An idle man is a burden to himself, a prey to Satan, a grief to the Spirit of God, a mis- chief to others. He is a burden to himself, for he knoweth not what to do with his time ; in the morning he says. Would God it were evening ; and in the evening. Would God it were morning. ^ The mind is like a mill ; when it wanteth corn, it grindeth upon itself. He is a prey to Satan : * The house is emptied, swept, and garnished ; and then he goeth and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there,' Mat. xii. 44, 45. The devil findeth them at leisure. When David was idle on the terrace, he was tempted to adultery. Birds are seldom taken in their flight, but when they pitch and rest on the ground. He is a grief to God's Spirit : Eph. iv. 28, ' Let him that stole, steal no more ; but rather let him labour, working with his hands, that he may have to give to him that needeth ; ' with ver. 30, ' And grieve not the Hoi v Spirit of God.' Idle men quench the vigor of their natural gifts, and lose those abilities that are bestowed on them. He is a mischief to others : 2 Thes. iii. 11, ' For we hear there are some that walk among you disorderly, firjBev epya^ofievov^;, dWa irepiep'^afyiJ^evov^, working not at all, but are busy bodies.' They that do nothing will do too much ; no work maketh way for ill work, or for censure and busy in- quisition into other men's actions, and so they prove the firebrands of