for the Goods I had entrusted thee withal? If thou haft any thing to fay for thy felf, if thou haft any colour or pretence for thy bafe ungrateful Behaviour, let me hear it. But I know thou canft plead nothing to any purpose in thine own Vindication, and therefore prepare thy felf, To give an account of thy Stewardship, for thou mayst be no longer Steward. The time of thy Service is now expired, and I am refolved to keep thee no longer in thy place. Thou haft had time and Opportunity enough in my Service to enrich thy felf fufficiently. If thou hadft been a good and provident Steward of my Goods thou haft done well for thy felf, thou haft wanted nothing hitherto, nor fhalt want any thing hereafter; but if it be true that I have heard of thee, that thou haft vainly wafted my Goods, fhift for thy felf as well as thou canft, for thou haft loft thy Opportunity, and my Favour. Bring in therefore thy Accounts, and let us fee how things ftand between us, and accordingly expect either Reward or Punishment. The lofs of thy Stewardship will be no lofs at all to thee, if thou haft been faithful; for I have provided a better place for thee. And if thou haft been unfaithful, and canst not bring in a good account, the lofs of thy Stewardfhip is the leaft part of thy Punishment, I will make thee an Example to all unjuft Stewards, and let them fee in thee what they are like to get in the end by their unfaithful Dealings. Thus will God deal with every one of us, that goes on wafting his Goods, if we repent not, and make not our Accounts ready in good time,

In this Verse then we learn thefe four things for our Inftruction.

1. That

1. That there will be an end of our Stewardship, when we must be no longer Stewards.

2. That God will call us to a Reckoning, and to give an Account of our Stewardship.

3. That it concerns us to confider well how we are able to answer God, faying, How is it that I hear this of you?

4.

That God is not wanting to mind us of this Concern, but calls upon us to prepare our Accounts.

I. There will be an end of our Stewardship, when we must be no longer Stewards. We are to continue in our refpective Offices, and have the Husbanding of the feveral Portions of Goods committed to us here, only for a time, and either for a longer or fhorter term of Years or Days, as our great Mafter God Almighty pleafeth. Our times are in God's Hand. Pfal. 31. 15. Our Stewardfhip is at longeft for a Term of Life, and how long, or how fhort that will be, not one of us can tell. Neither how long before that short term end, fome part of our Stewardship may be taken from us. Our Condition in this World is always uncertain to us, and changeable as it pleafeth God to make it. Sometimes we have more, and fometimes a lefs Portion of his Goods in our Hands; he giveth, and taketh away as he will, and it is fit he should do fo, seeing he alone knoweth what in every moment of our Life is fitteft for us. However our condition may change, and pur charge thereby be lefs or greater, we are ftill

God's

God's Stewards for all we have fo long as we live, and that will not be long. For what is our Life? It is even a Vapour, which appeareth for a little while, and then vanifheth away. Jam. 3. 14. A very Jhadow which fleeth away, and continueth not. Job 14. 2. Pfal. 144. 4 A time of fojourning at moft, 1 Pet. 1. 17. Is there not an appointed time to Man upon Earth? Are not his Days also like the Days of an Hireling? Job 7. 1. He accomplisheth as an Hireling his Day. Job 14. 6. This Day is a Day of Labour and Trouble, when we are every one to work, as our Place and Station requireth, it will have it's Night when no Man can work.

Let us then behave our felves diligently and wifely in our Stewardship while it lafts, and always remember, that it will fhortly end. The reafon why we are generally fo negligent in our Office, is, because we prefume too much of our long continuance in it, and of time enough yet behind to do what is yet undone. Whereas not one of us knows what fhall be on the Morrow. Fam. 3.14. Or what a Day may bring forth. Why then ftand we here all the Day idle? Why are we not about our Mafter's Bufinefs, whilft we have time and strength to go about it? Both these will fail us e'er we be aware of it. It is driven off by too many of us from Youth to Manhood, and from Manhood to Old Age, and in Old Age from Day to Day till Death furprize us. Thus, I fay, we drive off our Work, but the Term of our Stewardship is every day nearer than other, how unready foever we are for it. And how near it is we know not. Only this we know, that the lefs of our Business is done, and the more negligent we have hitherto been; the more Work

have we made our felves, and for ought we know a great deal too much for the fhort time that is behind. Moreover, our LORD hath told us, that he will come as a Thief in the Night, that is, he will come fuddenly when we leaft think of it to call us to give an account, and in what confufion fhall we be when he comes to call for our Accounts, if we have them not then in readiness?

If we behave our felves as we fhould do during the time of our Service, what difficulties or troubles foever we may meet with in it, this fhould encourage us to ftruggle through them all, that the time is but fhort, and then all our troubles will be at an end with it. And as foon as our Stewardship is at an end, we enter into the poffeffion of a glorious Inheritance, the Reward is ready as foon as the Work is done. In due time we shall reap if we faint not, and therefore let us not be weary of welldoing. Gal. 6.9. Behold (faith Chrift) i come quickly, and my Reward is with me, to give to every Man according as his Work Shall be. Rev. 22. 12.

II. God will call us to a Reckoning, and to give an Account of our Stewardship. There fhall certainly be an Account called for. God, tho' he be a moft liberal and bountiful, and in every respect a good and gracious Mafter, yet is no prodigal and regardlefs Difpofer of his Goods. He gives them for good ufes, and expects that good ufe fhould be made of them, and will call upon every one of his Servants to fhew what good use he hath made of fo much as he had the management of. Where he giveth Talents to Trade withal, he cometh at his own time to reckon

with thofe Servants to whom he delivered them. Matt. 25. 19. All shall give Account to him who is ready to judge the Quick, and the Dead. 1 Pet. 4. 5. That is, We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Chrift. 2 Cor. 5. 10. Where we must give account even for every idle Word. Mat. 12. 36. And every Man must account for his own Stewardfhip, whatsoever it hath been, and answer for his Abuse of every thing or Perfon that was committed to his care and charge. Every one of us Shall give account of himself to God. Rom. 14. 2. This is a thing fo plainly taught us in the holy Scripture, that no more needs to be faid to convince us of it.

Let us therefore, as we defire to be acquitted when that Day of Account comes, fhake off that grofs fupinefs and fecurity wherein most of us feem even to bury our felves alive, as tho' we were paft all danger of ever being brought into quetion for what we do. Because Sentence against an evil Work is not speedily executed; therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully fet in them to do evil. Eccl. 8.11. Becaufe God in much patience a long time hath forborn us, we are too apt to flatter our selves with a vain hope that he will do fo ftill. But the longer we are here fpared, and the flower God is to punish us, and by taking vengeance on us to vindicate his abused patience, the heavier will his Wrath fall upon us in the great Day of Accounts. Tho' he therefore may fuffer us to live long, and to thrive by our ill Behaviour as long as we live, yet are we affured of this, That it is appointed for Men once to die, and after that the Judgment. Heb. 9. 27. So that Judgment is as fure as Death, and this moft Men think themfelves too fure of.

And