Certain sermons, first preached, and after published at several times, by M. Thomas Gataker…Certaine sermons, first preached, and after published at severall times, by M. Thomas Gataker…

Lastly, men would be content to take more pains for the compassing and increasing of it in themselves, if they held godliness to be gainful. ^*Men can well endure to sit telling and taking money, and it were all day long, from morning to dark night: but to hear the word, but an hour, whereby the spiritual gain is gotten, the most can hardly endure: they sit all that while on thorns, and think every minute an hour, and are never well till all be done. They say, or think at least with themselves, as the profane Jews sometime said,^e What a toil, or a tediousness is here? what needeth so much preaching? what needeth so long praying? they think they might be as well, if not much better, without either: Yea many cannot endure so long as till the hour be at an end. To whom God may well say, as our Saviour to his drowsy Disciples,^f What, could ye not watch an hour with me? So, Can ye not endure to wait an hour on me, that watch so many over you? On^g worldly Mammon they could be well content to wait all day long, with forbearance not of disport only, but of ordinary diet too, that would think much but half an hour in the day to wait upon him.

Lastly, men would bee content to take more paines for the compassing and increasing of it in themselves, if they held godlinesse to be gainfull. ^*Men can well endure to sit telling and taking money, and it were all day long, from morning to darke night: but to heare the word, but an houre, whereby the spirituall gaine is gotten, the most can hardly endure: they sit all that while on thornes, and thinke every minute an houre, and are never well till all be done. They say, or thinke at least with themselves, as the prophane Jewes sometime said,^e What a toyle, or a tediousnesse is here? what needeth so much preaching? what needeth so long praying? they thinke they might be as well, if not much better, without either: Yea many cannot endure so long as till the houre be at an end. To whom God may well say, as our Saviour to his drowsie Disciples,