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370 SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. [SeR. XX.
9. The slight price we are to give for time. You part with nothing but wliat is better lost than kept ; with a little ease of the flesh, vain pleasure which passeth away as the wind, a little worldly profit, which at death will be of no use to thee. Now these are of no worth in com- parison of time.
[1.] The ease of the flesh, whnt is that to the gain of the soul ? Pains must be endured first or last. Now what a foolish thing is it to go to hell to save a little labour? to live in endless pains, because we are loath to put ourselves to the trouble of prayer and other holy duties for a little while, or to work out our salvation with fear and tremljling? The body was made for labour, and is the more active the more it is exer- cised, as wells are the sweeter for draining, whereas its necessities and infirmities are multiplied and increased by a fond indulgence. There- fore do not spare the body and stand upon a little ease. God's children have given up their bodies to him as well as their souls: Rom. vi. 13, ' But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God ; ' and Eom. xii. 1, ' That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, hol}^ acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.' And what ia given up to him must be used for him, though it be with some pain and self-denial ; and the least part of self-denial is the labour of holy duties. It is said, Dan. iii. 28, they ' yielded their bodies that they might not worship any god but their own God.' If they yielded their bodies to such cruel tortures, are we not ashamed to complain of the toil and burden of a little service done to God, which also carrieth its own comfort and solace along with it ? A christian, whether he looketh backward or forward, upward or downward, seeth no reason to insist upon the ease of the body. Look backward ; what pains did Christ endure in his body ! his face spit upon and buffeted, his hands and feet nailed to the cross, his head crowned with thorns. In his life he neglected his refreshings, when hungry, to do good to souls, John iv. ; and shall we be so delicate and tender of the body as not to endure a little pains for God's sake ? If we look forward, this earthly taber- nacle must be dissolved, 2 Cor. v. 1, a poor clay house, that must be crumbled into dust ; it is better to be worn out with labour, than eaten out with rust. Ay ! but look a little further ; it shall be raised up a glorious body, and then it will be no grief of heart to us that we have lived fruitfully and painfully in the exercise of godliness, and been much in fasting and prayer; though you have deprived your bodies of some delight and pleasure which others take, then you shall find all recompensed to you. Those knees which were made hard like camels' hoofs (as it was said of James) by kneeling in your daily addresses to God in prayer shall then be a testimony of your diligence ; those spirits that have wasted in godly exercises shall then be recompensed to you ; and when those that lived in vanity, ease, and idleness, shall be full of horror and amazement, you shall lift up your heads with joy. Look upward ; we hope this body shall be one day in heaven ; there is the place of your rest from all that is painful and troublesome : Eev. xiv. 13, ' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from hence- forth ; yea, saitli the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works shall follow them.' Then the body shall become an ever-
VeR. 16.] SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. 371
lasting temple, wherein the soul fully sanctified shall ever dwell, and never part more ; then we shall not begrudge the labours of the body in prayer, preaching, and other holy duties. Look downward ; the bodies and souls of the wicked are cast into hell fire : Mat. x. 28, ' Fear not them that can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.' There are pains immediately inflicted on the body, not only such as ]-esult from the agonies and horrors of the soul. Well, then, better take pains for a while than to endure pains for evermore, to be held in the bands of duty than in chains of darkness.
[2.] Vain pleasures and delights, which spend time immeasurably. All pleasure should be used with fear and caution, lest it strengthen the sensual inclination, and enchant our minds and hearts, and divert us from God and heaven. Now this vain pleasure and delight is inconsiderable in itself, for it is short, gone as soon as come, like a wind it passeth away. If it leave anything behind it, it is a sting in the conscience, for obeying appetite before reason, or spending our time so unprofitably for a thing of nought : Prov. xiv. 13, ' Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful ; and the end of that mirth is heaviness ; ' and therefore elsewhere it is compared to the ' crackling of thorns under the pot,' Eccles. vii. 6, that maketh a great blaze and a loud noise, none of the most pleasing, but soon vanisheth. So all their songs, jests, frothy discourses, mimical and antic practices, they do not good, rather much hurt. Therefore to be so caught with empty and light pleasures, so as to neglect the glory of God and saving our own souls, is extreme madness. It is misbecoming a man, an active creature, and made for business : Eccles. ii. 2, ' I said of laughter. It is mad , and of mirth. What doeth it ? ' What solid good or considerable profit bringeth it to us ? A man maketh himself a brute when he giveth his heart to it and maketh it the business of his life. Tully saith he is unworthy the name of a man qui unum diem velit esse in voluptate, who would spend one day in pleasure. Surely much more it misbecometh a christian : James v. 5, ' Ye have lived in pleasure upon earth, and been wanton ; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.' For a christian, that looketh for everlasting pleasures in another world, to set his heart upon the poor pitiful delights and joys of this earth, and to live delicately and luxuriously, and to forget God and heaven, and all serious preparation for the world to come, what is it but to defy his Christianity, and live as a carnal worldling, to seek his joys in the place of his exile and banishment? yea, to carry himself like a beast appointed for the shambles, rather than to carry himself as an heir of glory ? and therefore to part with this vain mirth should not be tedious. Part with it we must, because it spendeth much time, and diverts the heart from better cares; and it should be no grievous thing, considering how unreasonable it is to frolic it in the midst of so many sins and dangers.