eousness, will meet with a favourable acceptance from him who desireth not the death of any sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness, and live. But then, he must redeem the time he hath lost with extraordinary diligence for the future, and walk exceeding circumspectly, and improve every minute to the best advantage, as the only way to make some amends for his former idleness and great neglects, and wasting so much of the precious opportunity God gave him of working out his salvation, either in doing nothing towards it, or else in the service of the Devil and his lusts. Having often in his mind, as a means to excite and quicken his industry, the words of our great Lord, Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall bez.

III. But thirdly, be it early or late that we have begun to labour in the vineyard, and though our diligence hath been never so great; though we have really borne the burden and heat of the day, or else done the work of many hours in one, by an extraordinary industry and zeal; yet we must have a care of thinking too highly of our performances, and pretending to merit any thing by them, much less any extraordinary recompense at the hands of God, and likewise of envying those whom he pleases to make the objects of his peculiar favour.

It is true, God hath in general promised, that whatever is right he will give usa, and if we abound in the work of the Lord, our labour shall not be in vain; and more particularly, that everlasting life in

z Rev. xxii. 12. a Matth. xx. 4. John x. 27, 28. 1 John ii. 25.

his glorious kingdom above shall be the reward of those who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honour and immortality, which is the hire of the Christian labourer; as a long and prosperous life in the land of Canaan was the penny a day for which he agreed with the Jews. This he has promised to all that will perform the conditions, and do the duty he requires of them with faithfulness and diligence; and what he hath promised he is able to perform, and will most certainly, unless the fault be our own. For no man ever did or shall serve God for nought; doubtless there is a reward for the righteous, and their expectation shall not be cut off; for God is not unjust, that he should forget their work and labour that proceedeth of lovec. And when the evening comes, when time shall be swallowed up of eternity, we shall every one be called to receive our hire; as we are assured in the close of this parable.

All this is very true, and we may and ought to labour in prospect of it, encouraging ourselves by often looking at the recompense of reward, to a constant diligence in full assurance of hope unto the end: that so we may not be slothful, but followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises. But then we must consider, that these promises did proceed from the mere grace and favour of God, who had a previous right to our utmost service; as being our great Creator, in whom we live and move, and have our being, and who cannot possibly receive any the least benefit or advantage from the joint labours of his whole

b Rom ii. 7. e Heb. vi. 11, 12.

c Heb. vi. 10.

d Heb. xi. 26.

creation. And therefore, says our Lord, When ye have done all those things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which upon innumerable obligations already laid upon us, was our duty to do, without any further expectation of reward. We are abundantly paid beforehand for all that we can ever do for our good God, should we labour in his service with all fidelity to eternal ages.

With what face then can any one pretend, with those in the parable, to merit more than God has promised, when those very promises are of his mere bounty and goodness, and infinitely beyond what the best of us can pretend to deserve! Indeed, we all deserve alike; that is, none of us deserve any thing but indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, which is the just due of every soul that doeth evil. And therefore, if God of his great mercy is pleased to make us such large and inestimable promises, as the reward of our poor, worthless duty, and we are as sure of them if we perform the duty as if we had them in hand; methinks we should rather go away rejoicing, and magnify our great Master's undeserved bounty and goodness, than enviously think much and repine that others share in his bounty and fare as well, and it may be better, than we.

For as for God's making some the peculiar objects of his favour here, and thereby seeming to design them for greater degrees of glory than others in heaven, which is apt to raise our envy, and make us murmur at God's unequal dealing; I am sure I should be very unworthy, not only of the lowest 8 Rom. ii. 8, 9.

f Luke xvii. 10.

room in that blessed place, but of the least blessing here below, should I have one dissatisfied thought about it. If God makes good his promise of eternal life to me, who have been so failing in my performance of the condition he required in order to it; this is so great a mercy, as should fill my soul so full of praise and love and joy, as to leave no room in it for any discontent at another's greater happiness, let that other be who and what he will: For why should my eye be evil because God is so wonderfully good? Is it not lawful for him to do what he will with his own, and bestow his peculiar favours as he pleases?

The blessed in heaven are wiser and better, and more grateful to their great Benefactor, than to think much at any of his disposals of this nature; and there is nothing there but mutual love and rejoicing at each other's happiness, though one star differs from another star in glory, and many that were here supposed to be first are last, and the last first. But all join together with the greatest ardour and transport in hymns of praise to God, and songs of triumph. And thus should we on earth be perfectly satisfied, whatever difference he shall please to make between one man and another in conferring his divine gifts and graces, or any other of his blessings on them, and choosing out some before others to be extraordinary instruments of his glory in this world, and to enjoy as extraordinary degrees of happiness in the next. For he that knows the hearts of men is the best judge whom to prefer before others; and it is not what we think of our brethren or ourselves that signifies, or should signify, any thing in this matter, but what God thinks, who

cannot think amiss, or be mistaken. Besides, were there no other reason for his proceeding thus, but his good-will and pleasure; this would be sufficient, and there needs no other. For he that can pretend to deserve nothing at all himself, has no wrong done him, though another is preferred before him. If a company of condemned rebels are pardoned, and received to great degrees of their prince's favour, the very least of which the best of them does not deserve; they have no reason certainly to complain that some of them are distinguished with peculiar marks of his affection, and receive extraordinary expressions of his bounty, and are admitted to a nearer attendance upon his person, and greater intimacy with him than the rest, for reasons best known to himself. Perhaps this might create envy in those that are not of the happy number, and a hard thought of the prince too for his partiality; but without all reason, and with a great deal of ill nature and ingratitude. For no man is the less happy, (unless he makes himself so,) because another is happier than he; and it is nothing but pride and self-conceit, and an unthankful undervaluing of what we already enjoy, that makes us envy and grudge at one another's better fortune.

Were we throughly sensible of the happy difference between condemnation and pardon, between being vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy, between a fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, and the blessed hopes of eternal happiness in heaven; we should not be so ready to murmur that some are made vessels of greater honour than we, and shall have a greater share of the celestial glory. O no! One drop of mercy to such