and there be no remedy, yet say not another day but that thou wast faithfully warned, and hadst a friend, that would fain have prevented thy damnation. [Footnote 261] Nahum i, 6. CHAP. VII. The necessity of diligently seeking the Saint's Rest. § 1. The Saint's Rest surprizingly neglected; particularly, § 2. By the worldly-minded—§ 3. The profane multitude—§ 4. Formal professors—§ 5-8. and by the godly themselves, whether magistrates, ministers, or people. § 9. The author mourns the neglect, and excites the Reader to diligence, by considering, § 10. The ends we aim at, the work we have to do, the shortness and uncertainty of our time, and diligence of our enemies; § 11. Our talents, mercies, relations to God, and our afflictions; § 12. What assistances we have, what principles we profess, and our certainty never to do enough; § 13. That every grace tends to diligence, that to trifle is lost labor, that much time is mispent, and that our recompense and labor will be proportionable; § 14. That striving is the Divine appointment, all men do or will approve it, the best Christians at death lament their want of it, heaven is often lost for want of it, but never obtained without it; § 15. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are in earnest; God is so in hearing and answering prayer, ministers in their instructions and exhortations, all the creatures in serving us, sinners in serving the devil, as we were once, and now are, in worldly things, and in heaven and hell all are in earnest. § 16. The chapter concludes with proposing some awakening questions to the ungodly, and, § 17. also to the godly. § 1. If there be so certain and glorious a rest for the saints, why is there no more industrious seeking after it? One would think, if a man did but once hear of such unspeakable glory to be obtained, and believed what he heard to be true, he should be transported with the vehemency of his desire after it, and should almost forget to eat or drink, and should care for nothing else, and speak of and inquire after nothing else, but how to get this treasure. And yet the people who hear of it daily, and profess to believe it as a fundamental article of their faith, do as little mind it, or labor for it, as if they had never heard of any such thing, or did not believe one word they hear. This reproof is more particularly applicable to—the worldly-minded,—the profane multitude,—the formal professors,—and even to the godly themselves.