3. Idleness and sloth are consumers of all the mercies of God. You are the barren ground where he soweth his seed, and none comes up. You return him but a crop of thorns and briers, and such ground is "nigh to cursing" (the final curse); "whose end is to be burned," Heb. vi. 8. Doth God daily feed, and clothe, and keep you, and protect and support you, and teach and warn you, and all for nothing? Is idleness that for which he hired you? Will you accuse your Maker of so great imprudence, and your Redeemer of more, as if he created and redeemed you to do nothing, or that which is as bad or worse than nothing? He calleth to you, "Why stand you idle?" Matt. xx. 3, 6. And it is a terrible sentence that such shall receive, "Thou wicked and slothful servant; cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness," &c. Matt. xxv. 26.
4. Idleness is a robbing God, who is the Lord of us and all our faculties, and all our service is his due. You rob him of the honour and service that you might have done him by your diligence.
5. And it is a robbing yourselves of all the good to soul or body, which by your labour and industry you might have got. The slothful man lieth wishing till he perish, Prov. xxi. 25.[575]
6. And it is a robbing of the commonwealth, and of all those to whom your labours, or the fruit of them, was due. You are burdens to the commonwealth, like drones in the hive, Col. iii. 22.
7. Slothfulness is a great consumer of time (as is showed, chap. v.) You lose not only all the time when duty is omitted, but much of the time in which you perform it, while you rid no work, and do it as if you did it not. He that goeth but a mile an hour, loseth his time, though he be still going, even as much as he that goeth two miles one hour and sits still the next. Oh what abundance of their lives do idle persons lose! When time is gone, they will better understand the greatness of their sin and loss, that now make light of it.
8. Idleness is not a single sin, but a continued course of sinning: an idle person is sinning all the while he is idle; and that is with some a great part of their lives: and therefore it is the greater, because the continuance showeth that it is not effectually repented of.
9. Idleness is a destroyer of grace, and gifts, and natural parts; they will rust for want of use. "The slothful is brother to the great waster," Prov. xviii. 9. Weeds will grow up and choke the fruit.
10. Idleness and sloth is a fruit of flesh-pleasing; and so cometh from the most pernicious vice. It is but to please the flesh that one is drunk, and another gluttonous, and another a fornicator, and another covetous; and your idleness and sloth is but pleasing the same flesh in another way, which is forbidden as well as those. "And if ye live after the flesh ye shall die," Rom. viii. 13.
11. It is a strengthening the flesh against the Spirit, by indulging it in its ease and sloth; and maketh it not only unruly and unserviceable, but masterly and earnest for its own desires.
12. Idleness is the mother and nurse of many heinous sins. 1. It cherisheth lust, and draweth people to fornication, which hard labour would have much prevented. 2. It is the time for foolish sports, and vanity, and wantonness, and excess of riot, and all the mischiefs which use to follow it. 3. It is the time for idle talk, and meddling with other folk's matters: and therefore Paul reprehendeth the idle as busy-bodies, or meddlers with matters that concern them not, and twattlers, and tale-carriers, 2 Thess. iii. 11: 1 Tim. v. 13; 1 Thess. iv. 11.[576] They that do not what they should, will be doing what they should not. 4. It is the time for gluttony, and drunkenness, and gaming, and all other sensuality. 5. Yea, it is the time for seditions and rebellions; as in armies it is the time for mutinies.
13. Idleness is the season of temptation: it is Satan's seed-time. It is then that he hath opportunity to tempt men to malice, revenge, and all other villany that is committed.