THE CHBISTIAN S WATCH.
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And then it is a rich and most beneficial service ; for we serve a Lord that will reward to a cup of cold water. It is not such a service as Pharaoh's was, to gather stubble ourselves ; but he will enable us to do, and where we fail he will pardon, and when we do anything he will reward, and when our enemies oppress us he will take our parts.
Observe here how the Scripture speaketh, when we are servants, but do not our duty, and when we do it. When David had committed that sin in numbering the people, he said to Nathan, ' Go tell David,' 2 Sam. xii. 1 ; but when he had an intent to build a temple to the glory of God, then he said, ' Go tell my servant David,' 2 Sam. vii. 5. When we are doing our duty towards God, then we are his * servants,' but when we are about other service, God will not own us. Israel were the people of God when they were good, but when they committed idolatrv, then, ' Go tell thy people,' saith God to Moses, * that thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt,' Deut. ix. 12. Let us therefore remember that we are God's servants, and if servants, then God will own us.
2. Now to go on : ' Blessed are those servants whom their Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching.'
We see here that there must be a constant waiting and watching for the coming of the Lord ; whence we may learn that it is the duty and office of every Christian constantly to watch and wait for the masters coming.
Watching, you know, presupposes life ; and hence first waking and then watching.
Sense springs from spiritual life, and then waking. All that have spiritual life are not all watchers, and all that wake do not watch. Waking is when the spirits return into the senses, and are in exercise. You know sleep binds up the senses ; but when the spirits return the obstruction is dissolved.
And then there is waking when all the powers are in a readiness, and when there is a discessation* of vapours that stopped the senses before.
So, then, waking is the return of the spirits, either by some motion, as stirring up the body, or by some great shining light. So it is in the spiritual life. The vapours causeth sleep, but the Spirit of God, scattering a light, awakens us. By this light is meant either the light of his judg- ments, or the light of his mercies, or the light of divine truth ; for by all these sometimes we are awakened.
There is first a waking condition, and then we watch. I intend to speak of watching. Now waking is a preparation to this.
' Watching' is when upon waking all the povvers and graces are in exercise, preparing for good and avoiding of evil.
Now, for bodily watching, we have nothing to do with that here, because here it is spiritually meant ; but yet taken so far as the body is an instru- ment of the soul in the action both of soul and body. As, when the body is surprised with any inordinate affection of the blessings of God, then the soul is unfit for watching ; and therefore it is specially meant of spiritual watching.
In the primitive church, they had watchings bodily and spiritually ; for, being under the tyranny of the heathen emperor, they had not liberty to serve God in the day. But afterwards they had their vigils, watching times, called vigils, preparations, which were before the word and sacraments, or when there was any gi-eat business in hand. And when superstition grew, they had their vigils too ; but they made laws to bind the people to observe them three times in a night ; but their prayers were in Latin. It was a per- * That is = discession, i.e. going away, departure. — G.
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verse imitation of Davul, that rose at midnight to praise God ; that was when he was stirred up upon some extraordinary occasion, when there was some danger or some other occasion near, not that he did it ordinarily. But we are fallen into a contrary course than the ancient church was, to spend whole nights in prayers ; for we have those that spend whole days in sleep. We cannot watch one hour with Christ; but we can spend whole nights in vanity.
Doct. That which I mean to stand upon at this time shall be this : that the carriaije of a Christian in this world is an estate of watching till Christ come home.
I will shew this by some reasons why it should be so, and give some directions how we must be in a waking condition.
Reason 1. The first reason is this : because we are in danger of sin, and in danger hg sin. This occasions watching, especially being ever in danger of sin ; and besides many other sins, that sin of drowsiness, deadness, and heaviness of spirit ; for every man by experience finds this spiritual drowsi- ness hanging upon him sometimes mora than other. Therefore we ought to have the soul in a better condition.