A42350:41
The Christians labour and reward, or, A sermon, part of which was preached at…
The Christians labour and reward, or, A sermon, part of which was preached at the funeral of the Right Honourable the Lady Mary Vere, relict of Sir Horace Vere, Baron of Tilbury, on the 10th of January, 1671, at Castle Heviningham in Essex by William Gurnall ...
London: printed by J.M. for Ralph Smith, 1672
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Secondly, They who think they are good Christians, and fair enough for Heaven, though they have no more then a Negative Holiness; the best that can be said of them, is, they are not so bad as the worst; they do not take so much pains for Hell as others; but none for Heaven; they labour not so much in the Devils work; but work not at all for God: like those in the Gospel, they stand idle all the day long, and yet hope for a penny at night, though they never entered into Christs Vineyard: they are so far from labouring in the ⟨p. 38⟩work of the Lord, that they will not touch his work with one of their fingers. Do not these think it very easy to be Christians? as if God was bound to save them, but they not bound to serve them. Is not Heaven called a reward? and what reward can be expected where no work is done? if some that work shall be denied all reward, because they did not labour at it; and some seek, that shall not be able to enter; because they do not strive; then miserable must thy condition be, who fallest short of those, who themselves fall short of Heaven.
Secondly, They who think they are good Christians, and fair enough for Heaven, though they have no more then a Negative Holiness; the best that can be said of them, is, they are not so bad as the worst; they do not take so much pains for Hell as others; but none for Heaven; they labour not so much in the Devils work; but work not at all for God: like those in the Gospel, they stand idle all the day long, and yet hope for a peny at night, though they never entred into Christs Vineyard: they are so far from labouring in the ⟨p. 38⟩work of the Lord, that they will not touch his work with one of their fingers. Do not these think it very easie to be Christians? as if God was bound to save them, but they not bound to serve them. Is not Heaven called a reward? and what reward can be expected where no work is done? if some that work shall be denyed all reward, because they did not labour at it; and some seek, that shall not be able to enter; because they do not strive; then miserable must thy condition be, who fallest short of those, who themselves fall short of Heaven.