Invisibles, realities, demonstrated in the holy life and triumphant death of Mr. John Janeway,…

HE was not a little troubled at the barrenness of Christians in their discourse, and their not improving their society for the quickening and warming of their hearts; the expense of precious time unaccountably, the ill ⟨p. 72⟩management of visits, and the impertinency of their talk, he oft reflected upon with a holy indignation. It vexed him to the soul, to see what prizes sometimes, were put into the hands of Christians and how little skill and will they had to improve them, for the building up one another in the most holy faith: and that they who should be encouraging of one another in the way to Zion, communicating of experiences, and talking of their Country, and of the glory of that Kingdom which the Saints are heirs of, could satisfy themselves with empty common vain stuff; as if Christ, Heaven and Eternity were not things of as great worth as any thing else, that usually sounds in the ears and comes from the lips of professors. That the folly of common discourse among Christians might appear more, and that he might discover how little such language did become those that profess themselves Israelites, and that say, they are Jews; he once sate down silent and took out his pen and ink, and wrote down in shorthand the discourses that passed for some time together, amongst those which pretended to more than common understanding in the things of God: and after a while he took his paper and read it to them, and asked them whether such talk was such as they would be willing God should record. This he did, that he might shame them out of that usual unobserved & unlamented unprofitable communication and fruitless squandering away that inestimable Jewel, ⟨p. 73⟩Opportunity. Oh, to spend an hour or two together, and to hear scarce a word for Christ or that speaks peoples hearts in love with holiness; Is not this writing a brave rational divine discourse? Fie fie. Where's our love to God and souls all this while, where's our sense of the preciousness of time, of the greatness of our account? Should we talk thus, if we believed that we should hear of this again at the day of judgement? And do we not know that we must give an account of every idle word? Is this like those that understand the language of Canaan? Did Saints in former times use their tongues to no better purpose? Would Enoch, David, or Paul, have talked thus! Is this the sweetest communion of Saints upon earth!