prevent their running into Courses ruinous and to shield 'em from the mischievous Assaults of wicked Spirits And to mention but one Place more St. Paul charges Timothy 1 Tim. 5.21 Before or as in the Presence of God and of Jesus Christ and of the elect Angels that he would observe those things he had taught him without Prejudice or Partiality Which plainly supposes that there were Angels then present as Observers and Witnesses of what they were doing and discoursing It being then thus plain from Scripture that the blessed Angels are Observers of Mens Lives and Actions especially of those of Christians as by God's Appointment and as Ministers of his divine Government I shall not trouble my self to make curious Enquiries into the Reasons why God appoints Angels to observe and minister to us since nothing escapes his own all-seeing Eye and his own all-mighty Arm can do whatsoever he pleases in Heaven and in Earth in the Sea and in all deep Places Nor of what Rank and Order those Angels are and how many that are thus employ'd And whether every Man has a particular Angel assign'd him as his Guardian and the Inspector of his Actions Which things are too high for us Mortals we cannot attain unto them But shall make this good Use of this Particular relating to our Practice That since we are under the Inspection of such pure and holy Spirits and whose Concern for our Happiness is very great since they are Witnesses of our most secret Actions and though invisible and unobserv'd themselves are our curious Observers Methinks we that are our selves but in one Rank of Being below 'em here and shall hereafter be equal to them should not endure to be found by 'em wallowing like Swine in the Filth of Sin degrading our selves to a Level with the Beasts that perish and in base Hypocrisy pretending to be Christians when indeed we act like Infidels Nay too often like Devils incarnate How do those good Spirits tho' they may pity our deplorable Condition yet withal despise and abominate the servile Baseness of such excellent Natures Who notwithstanding they have such glorious Hopes yet quit their heavenly Reversion for the low Enjoyments of this contemptible Earth Methinks Shame should deter us from vile and impious Actions if nothing else and the Thoughts of the Dignity of our Nature not suffer us to act so much beneath our selves and a Man not brutishly impudent should not endure to expose himself to the Observation of an Angel in such vile Circumstances as he would be loath to be found in by any Man he reverences and respects nay by a Servant or a Child And as the Angels are Observers of Human Actions so are they God's Intelligencers to give him account of them not that God needs such Information for every thing lies naked and open to his own all seeing Eye but for the greater Order and Decorum of his Government And this their Office they perform with great Diligence and Watchfulness and ardent Zeal for his Glory for no sooner were the Tares discerned by 'em to be among the good Corn the formal empty Christians to be intermix'd with the sincerely good but they hasten to give account of it to their great Master and as not being able to indure the great Dishonour reflected upon God and the purest of Religions by their base Hypocrisy and impious Conversation they offer with his Permission to remove those evil Doers those not only unprofitable but wicked Servants as unworthy to continue any longer in so sacred a Society as that of Christians Wilt thou that we gather them up say they wilt thou permit us to weed this thy great Field of those noxious Tares to cull out the empty nominal Christians and exert that Power thou hast given us to their deserved Ruin that the Residue of thy Servants may see it and fear and keep from their Abominations And that those blessed Spirits that angelick Host is able to perform this Service no Man can doubt that remembers how one Angel in one Night destroy'd all the First-born in Aegypt Now this their Diligence and Watchfulness in the Service of God and Zeal for his Glory should put us upon a holy Emulation of doing God's Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven That is that we who here on Earth Luk. 20.36 are but a little lower than the Angels and shall in Heaven be equal to them should now endeavour to be as like them as we can and with the utmost Chearfulness Alacrity and Diligence perform the Duty our great Governour has set us and with a prudent Zeal endeavour in our several Stations by discountenancing Vice and encouraging and promoting Vertue to the utmost of our Power to advance the Glory of God and the Interest and Reputation of our holy Religion If Magistrates would take due Notice of those that live scandalously and wickedly and not bear the Sword in vain but be as they ought to be a Terrour to Evil-Doers and praise and encourage those that do well if the Governours of the Church who are stil'd Angels in Scripture would act like the Angels in this Parable and curiously inspect the Religion of their Charge and by such Methods as the Laws allow either turn the Tares into good Seed which though impossible in Nature yet may be and I hope often is done in Religion or pluck 'em up if stubborn and irreclaimable if Governours of private Families warm'd with the like holy Zeal would take the like Measures and either reform their irreligious Servants and Dependents or else rid themselves of 'em and bring 'em to due legal Punishment If this wholesome Course were taken with due Diligence Watchfulness and Prudence Vice would soon be dishearten'd and Vertue more and more thrive and Increase God's Honour would be vindicated the Credit of Religion redeemed our own temporal Happiness advanced and innumerable Souls sav'd that otherwise would for ever have perish'd And this would be a Work truly worthy of Christians 't is an angelick Undertaking and every Man that prays hallow'd be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as 't is in Heaven is bound in his own Sphere and according to his best Ability to promote what is contain'd in those Petitions to the Glory of God and the Interest of Religion as he expects and hopes to have an Answer of the following Petitions and receive his daily Bread and have his Trespasses forgiven him and to be preserved or supported in Temptation and delivered from Evil. The fifth thing this Parable informs us of is the Reason why God will not suffer the Angels as yet to gather out the Tares from among the good Seed to discriminate Hypocritical from sincere Christians and give them their due Punishment namely lest while they gather up the Tares they root up also the Wheat with them and therefore he suffers both to grow together until the Harvest That is in other Words the Reason of
what Instruction he hath met with in the School of Righteousness what plenty of Religious Discourses and Exhortations he has enjoy'd and how frequently he has felt Motions from within to a still more and more holy and exemplary Life He that hath experienc'd all this in a great degree that hath had his pregnant natural Capacity well cultivated by an early and excellent Instruction and had the whole of Religion plainly laid before him in all the Doctrines Duties Rewards and Punishments of it and been often and affectionately exhorted to live accordingly in all holy Conversation and Godliness and has frequently felt secret internal Motions and Perswasions to it this Man has received much more than One Talent at the hands of God and God will expect from him a proportionable Improvement and he must abound in every good Word and Work For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much requir'd and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more But because all Men are not of equal Abilities naturally neither have the same Opportunities of Instruction and Improvement nor the same immediate Impulses of the Blessed Spirit where there is any defect in these Respects God will abate proportionably in his Expectations and he that received the One Talent had he gained but One other with it would have been call'd a good and faithful Servant and been receiv'd into the Joy of his Lord. Let us all therefore endeavour to grow in Grace according to the measure of this unspeakable Gift to perform our Duties each in his Station and according to his Ability faithfully and industriously that when our Lord comes to make Enquiry into each ones Improvement of his Talent and call for every ones particular Account we may all from the least to the greatest chearfully give it up and receive the immense Reward of a sincere Diligence For In the third Place There will most certainly be a Time when our Great Lord will come to take Account of every Man's Improvement of the Grace that was given him and reward every Man according to his Deserving That there will certainly be a Day of Judgment both of Quick and Dead when every Man shall be rewarded according to that he hath done in the Body whether it be good or evil is a Truth so evident from Scripture that those who have read and do believe those Writings can make no doubt of it And the Proof of this from Reason has been so convincingly manag'd by several Learned Pens particularly of late by Dr. Sherlock in his Excellent Discourse upon Judgment that I think nothing can be added to it I shall only therefore Collect such a Description of that Great Day and the Proceedings in it out of the Revelations where it is the most movingly represented as may incline us all with the greatest Diligence and immediately by self-Examination and Amendment of every evil Way to prepare for that great Audit that we may give up our Accounts with joy and not with grief In the 20th Chapter of the Revelations ver 12. after the divine Apostle had given a Description of the Appearing of the great Judge upon his Throne I saw a great White Throne says he and him that sat on it from whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no place for them He proceeds I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened And another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the dead were judged out of those Things that were written in the Books according to their Works and the Sea gave up the dead that were in it and Death and the Grave deliver'd up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their Works And whosoever was not written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire That is The Records shall then be laid open wherein every Man's Receipt of Grace is enter'd and those whose Works shall be found proportionably good according to the Assistance they have receiv'd from Above or in the Stile of the Parable that have made an answerable Improvement to the Number of Talents committed to them their Names shall be written in the Book of Life and they received into the eternal Joy of their Lord. But those who can then give no good Account of their Talents shew no suitable Improvement in Holiness according to the measure of Grace they have received shall never see Life but be cast into the Lake of Fire which is the second Death And because so very few will be so wise as to make due Preparation for this great Day of Account by improving the Grace God has given them to the great Ends for which it was design'd therefore as 't is describ'd Rev. 3.15 The Kings of the Earth and the great Men and the rich Men and the chief Captains and the mighty Men and every Bond-man and every Freeman many of all Qualities and Conditions from the highest to the lowest shall hide themselves in Dens in Rocks and Mountains and say to the Rocks and Mountains fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb for the great Day of his Wrath is come and who shall be able to stand May these Terrors of the Lord perswade us to provide in this our day for the Things that belong to our Peace before they be hid from our eyes looking for by frequent Meditation and hastning unto by a diligent Improvement of our Talents the coming of this dreadful day of God and being above all things careful That we be found of him in Peace without spot and blameless for God will bring every secret Thing into Judgment whether it be good or evil and exactly adapt every Man's Recompense to his Work Which brings me to the next Thing I am to consider in this Parable namely Fourthly That at that great Day of Account when every Man's Work is fully known and his Improvement compar'd with what he has receiv'd the Diligent shall not only in general be receiv'd into the Joy of their Lord and the unprofitable cast into outer Darkness but the most Diligent those that have made the greatest Improvement shall receive the greatest share of Happiness And those that have been most careless and Unprofitable shall be doom'd to the greatest misery That is in short there will be degrees of Happiness or Misery respectively awarded to Men according to the degrees of their Holiness or Impiety I know this has been much question'd by some and wholly deny'd by others and their main Reason against it I conceive to be this That since the Happiness of the Just in Heaven consists in the Vision of God or the Excellencies and Beauties of the Divine Nature which will fill a holy Soul with eternal and inexpressible Delight for so St. John expresses the Bliss of Heaven by seeing God as
to redeem their mis-spent Time and talk of nothing but Raptures and of reaching great Hights and Eminencies of Piety when all on the suddain they are at a Stand there 's a Lyon in the Way a right Hand must be cut off or a right Eye put out i. e. some Favourite Vice must be cashier'd if they move any further and that 's a hard Saying and the Men begin to cool a Stifness seizes their over-heated Limbs and a senseless Torpor invades every Part of 'em Mark 10.21 and like the young Man in the Gospel whom our Lord began to love for his discreet Answers and towardly Disposition when they must part with their Riches to the Poor and deny themselves their corrupt Desires and Inclinations and take up their Cross and follow their Saviour Then they become sad and with Grief and Dissatisfaction leave him and fold their Hands and return again to their Dream of Vanity Just like those in the former Parable compar'd to stony Ground who receiv'd the Word at first with Joy but having not sufficient Deepness of Earth i.e. for want of through Consideration and beholding the smooth Side of Religion only endure but for a while and in Time of Temptation and Difficulty fall away and their forward Piety becomes dry and wither'd Or like those mention'd in another Parable Luke 14.28 which was spoken upon this very Account and which for its great Affinity with this Part of the Parable we are now upon I shall not particularly discourse of who begin to build and sit not down first and count the Cost whether they be able to finish and so proceeding no further than Foundation become the Scorn of all Men. But Secondly as a State of careless Inadvertency to the things of Religion is like Sleep in its Cause and Beginning so likewise is it in its Progress and Effects For like Sleep it locks up all the Powers and Faculties of the Soul and suspends their Action it dulls its Apprehension and makes it take Evil for Good and Good for Evil it vitiates its Reasoning and makes it draw false and fantastick Consequences and Conclusions and therefore corrupts its Will and Affections and makes its Choices strangely foolish and ridiculous such as preferring Earth before Heaven a little Ease and imperfect Pleasure here before Rivers of ineffable Pleasures that are at God's right Hand for evermore and the like The lower Life is in this Case predomimant and wild Dreams and incoherent Fancies make up such Men's Divinity and their Rule of Life and Manners In short the Life of such Men is but a Dream their Notions like those of Men in a Slumber dark hovering and uncertain their Discourse about religious Marters broken disjointed unconcluding full of Fallacies and dangerous Sophistry to cheat themselves of all Expectation here and Enjoyment hereafter of what is their greatest nay their only Happiness Their Actions are like those done in a Dream too extravagant brutish and unaccountable startled at Chimaera's and the Shadows of Danger and insensible of the Approaches of real and substantial Misery though just ready to overtake them fond of a Bundle of Feathers in love with an aery Nothing whilst their true Interest is not in all their Thoughts And to compleat the Parallel they are as deaf to all Reproofs as Men asleep as little affected with good Instruction and Advice and so bewitch'd with the Fanci'd Sweetness of their Slumber that they are as loath to be awaken'd And when by rudeer Applications they are like Men that have taken too large a Dose of Opium they are presently o'ercome with Heaviness and shut their Eyes against all Conviction and fall asleep again And the final Event is this that as natural Drowsiness cloaths a Man with Raggs so the moral will cloath him with Shame and utter Confusion And now from this short Parallel which I have drawn between the Sleep of the Soul and the Body as we may see the Fitness of the Expression in the Parable so we may learn what Guard to keep upon our selves to prevent our infernal Enemies sowing his Tares or making us become as such by his wicked Insinuations and Suggestions 'T is while Men thus sleep are thus thoughtless and inadvertent to Religion and taken up with the Gaieties and Pleasures of this World which like pleasant Dreams entertain the Fancy and Imagination with much Delight but soon vanish and become utterly unprofitable then it is that this subtle Enemy makes use of his Opportunity and unobserv'd steals in his wicked Injections which divert the Soul still more and more from attending to her main Interest and promote this spiritual Slumber so long 'till too often it becomes chronical and habitual and an utter Oblivion of all religious Obligations an incurable Numness and Stupidity of Soul God knows too often follows and Men become like Tares empty of all substantial Goodness and at best but Christians in Name and Shew and fit for nothing but when God shall see fit to be gathered up from among the Wheat and burnt Wherefore it highly concerns all those that hope to be sav'd not to sleep as do others but to watch and be sober to awake to Righteousness and walk circumspectly not as Fools diverted by every Feather and gay Appearance but as Men that are wise to Salvation always in a Posture of Watchfulness and Defence Fixing our Attention upon our Duty and the exceeding great Reward of it and often reflecting upon that intolerable Misery which will certainly be the Consequence of such fatal Slumberings and still pressing on with greater Courage as the Difficulties of Religion increase upon us and daily endeavouring still more and more to shake off dead Stupidity to Religion which so easily besets us and to rouze up the Faculties and employ 'em upon those noblest of Objects patiently receiving Instruction and Reproof rejecting every Notion and Opinion that would destroy the Necessity of a good Life and studiously avoiding Idleness and Sloth and according to our Lord 's most excellent Advice adding Prayer to Watchfulness that we enter not into Temptation This Course if we take we shall defeat this generally prevailing Stratagem of the subtle Tempter and being always in a Readiness to resist him make him fly from us with Shame and Disappointment And our Souls will then grow more and more substantial in Piety and abound in it as the good Corn and at length being grown ripe for the Glories and Felicities of Heaven be gather'd in Peace and laid up in Repositories of eternal Rest and Safety as in the blessed Garner of our Lord. Thirdly this Parable informs us of the Time of Discovery of the Tares the hypocritical Religionists namely the Time of bringing forth Fruit When the Blade was sprung up and brought forth Fruit or when the Grain appear'd in the Ear then appear'd the Tares also Then appear'd the Difference between the good Corn and the Cockle which at first coming up look'd as flourishing
may I always so attend to the Dignity of my Nature and the constant Inspection of thy holy Angels and glorious Self in all my Ways as not to dare to play the Hypocrite in thy Presence who seest the very Secrets of my Heart and be asham'd to expose my Vileness to those excellent Spirits and reflect upon the Confusion I shall be in at the Day of Judgment when the Goat and the Swine shall be discover'd under the Profession of a Christian And O that the Zeal and Alacrity of these ministring Spirits in thy Service and for thy Glory may put me upon a holy Emulation to do thy Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven That so when the great Harvest shall come and thou shalt say to the angelick Reapers Gather ye together first the Tares and bind them in Bundles to burn them but gather my Wheat into my Barn I may find Mercy at that terrible Day and be receiv'd to a Participation of the Glories of thy heavenly Kingdom Which grant O blessed Jesus I most earnestly beseech thee Amen PARABLE III. Of the Pearl of great Price Matth. xiii 45 46 The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Merchant-man seeking goodly Pearls Who when he had found one Pearl of great Price he went and sold all that he had and bought it BY this and the Parable immediately before it of a Treasure hid in a Field which when a Man hath found he hideth and for Joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that Field The transcendent Excellency of the Christian Religion above all things in the World is represented And that 't is the greatest Wisdom to part with every thing that this World can afford all the Pleasures Honours and Riches of it rather than be without the inward Power and Life of this holy Religion which is a Pearl of so great Price so immense a Trasure that nothing here below can stand in Competition with it 'T is as David expresses it more to be desir'd than Gold yea Psal 19.10 than much find Gold and he professes that himself had more Delight in God's Commandments than in all Manner of Riches And Solomon says almost in the Words of these Parables Happy is the Man that findeth Wisdom or Religion for the Merchandise of it is better than the Merchandise of Silver and the Gain thereof than of find Gold Prov. 3.13 c. She is more precious than Rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compar'd unto her Length of Days is in her right Hand and in her left Hand Riches and Honour her Ways are Ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace Such great things as these being spoken of Religion by those that best knew its Excellency and the World being so very backward in the Belief of their Testimony and so foolish as to prefer every little worldly Good before this inestimable Treasure to which all that the whole Creation can afford is not comparable and the Consequence of this Delusion being so fatal no less than the eternal Ruin of both Body and Soul It highly concerns us by due Consideration to rectify our Apprehensions in this Matter and no longer childishly doat upon empty Gayes and Trifles and neglect what is of infinite Excellency and the most substantial Good It is therefore the Design of this Discourse upon the Parable above recited to weigh the Excellency of Religion against all that the World can afford in the Ballance of Reason that upon a fair Experiment we may see which does preponderate and accordingly be convinc'd which of the Two is most worthy our Choice And then if we still retain our Affection for the World against the Judgment of our Reason in behalf of Religion we shall likewise be convinc'd that we act more like Brutes than Men and that we deserve to feel the Consequences of our unreasonable and wicked Choice and taste no other Happiness than what this unsatisfying empty World can afford and in the next World be for ever miserable because we would not be for ever happy when we might First then let us see what the Whole that this World can afford will amount to All that is in the World St. John tells us is the Lust of the Flesh 1 Eph. 2.16 the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life i. e. to these Three may be reduc'd the Whole of what is valuable in the World And by the Lust of the Flesh is meant Pleasure of all Sorts by the Lust of the Eye Riches great Plenty and Abundance and by the Pride of Life Honour Power and Dominion This is that Trinity which the generality of Men adore and impatiently desire and place their greatest Happiness in the Enjoyment of and of each of these Particulars we will now enquire what they amount to and consequently what is the Sum total of the World And first to observe the Apostles Method we will begin with the Lusts of the Flesh or the Pleasures of the World and which are generally first in Men's Esteem and for which they are often content to part with the other Two Now these may be rank'd in this Order viz. the Pleasures of Lust and Uncleanness of luxurious Eating and Drinking and of great Jollity and Mirth all agreeing in the Character of the Lusts of the Flesh that is all highly gratefull to the Desires and Appetites of the Body And in the first Place I observe this in general of all worldly Pleasures that the longer a Man lives to enjoy them the more insipid still they grow to him and that not only upon Account of their own empty Nature but by Reason of the Decays of our own Faculties and consequent Disability to enjoy them As old Barzillai said to David 2 Sam. 19.35 Can I discern between Good and Evil c. when he invited him to the Pleasures of his Court. And what Happiness can be expected from that which is very unsatisfying in its own Nature and which were it not after a few Years we shall be incapable of enjoying But to be more particular As for the Pleasures of Lust and Uncleanness whatever Men's Expectations may be of receiving great Satisfaction from them they can't but find by their Experience that there is much of Disappointment in 'em and the Pleasure much greater in Imagination than Reality They are indeed deceitful Lusts and often make Men miserable even here but never happy And for the Truth of this that it may not be look'd upon as a thing only said not prov'd and the cinical Conclusion of a frozen dispirited Student whose narrow Course of Life has made him a Stranger to such Sort of Enjoyments and caus'd him to give a worse Character of them than they deserve I shall vouch the Testimony of Solomon who fill'd the Throne of a rich and flourishing Kingdom and was accountable to none but God for Actions of this Nature and his Desires perfectly
the World And which is the wisest Man he that ruins his Soul for the Gain of even the whole World or he that counts all these sublunary things as Dung in Comparison with Religion and is ready to part with all that this Earth can afford him for the Joys of a good Conscience here and the Glories of Heaven hereafter He that prefers the World in his Choice deprives himself of the greatest Comfort of this present Life and parts with the certain Reversion of eternal Happiness in Heaven for Pleasures that don't deserve that Name they are so empty and unsatisfying he brings most exquisite and everlasting Misery upon his whole self Soul and Body for a very short liv'd imperfect Gratification of his brutal Part only and purchases the Torments of the other World by making himself unhappy in this In a Word therefore as much as to be like God in Holiness and Happiness is to be preferr'd before being like the Devil in Sin and Misery as much as Satisfaction is better than Disappointment Peace and Quietness and Content than Vexation and continual Disturbance and Perplexity of Mind a confirm'd Health and long Life than the Diseases and hasty Death that follows Debauchery and the comfortable Expectation of being for ever happy with Saints and Angels and the blessed God in the Coelestial Paradise than the confounding Dread of the Judgment of the great Day As much as Immortality is more to be prized than a Life of a Span long and the Enjoyment of the chief Good than the Pleasures of a Swine of so much gerater Value is Religion than all that this World can afford and indeed the only desirable Treasure and a Pearl of inestimable Price And now if what has been hitherto discours'd be true the Application is easy If Religion be of all things the most precious let us make it more and more our Endeavour to inrich our Souls with this Treasure to adorn our rational Nature with this Pearl of great Price and with the Merchant in the Parable think nothing too much to part with that we may purchase that Heavenly Wisdom which will make us wise to Salvation For sound Wisdom as the wise King expresses it Prov. 3.18 is a Tree of Life to those that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retaineth her She shall give to thine Head an Oranment of Grace Prov. 4.9 and a Crown of Glory shall she deliver to thee But he that would have this Wisdom and find this Pearl must not only wish and desire but with the Merchant in the Parable diligently seek it seek and ye shall find says our Lord Pro. 2.4 5. and Solomon assures us That if we seek Wisdom as Silver and search for her as for hid Treasure then shall we understand the Fear of the Lord and find the Knowledge of God Religion is not acquired without Diligence for though it be the Gift of God yet the Soul must be prepared to receive it all evil Habits must be broke and rooted up and pious Dispositions planted in their Room and the Temper of the Mind changed by Repentance and all the Powers of the whole Man become pliable to the Motions of the Spirit of Holiness before the divine Likeness can be formed in the Soul And though 't is the Grace of God that enables us to go thus far for without it we can do nothing yet our own Concurrence and Co-operation with his Grace is necessary to bring the blessed Work of Regeneration to Perfection An obstinate Resistance of preventing Grace will grieve and quench that Life-giving Spirit and such a Soul shall know no more of Religion than that it was invited to it but rejected the Offer and might have been happy in the Enjoyment of so great a Treasure but it would not But when a Soul with Joy embraces the Motions of the holy Spirit to a new Life and makes it her great Endeavour to remove all Obstacles out of the Way that they may make a due Impression and hungers and thirsts after new Degrees of Righteousness This Soul shall be fill'd with the Treasures of the divine Grace and the Power of Godliness will be visible in all Manner of holy Conversation But this can't be perform'd without a watchful persevering Diligence there is so much Opposition from within and without to this great Business that like Nehemiah's Labourers Neh. 5.17 we must work with our Swords in our Hands and fight and strive that we may carry on the Building of a living Temple for our God and make our Souls Houses of Prayer adorn'd with religious Affections and sit to receive him that hates Iniquity He that is thus diligent shall grow rich towards God and daily increase in the Knowledge and Love of him 'till Mortality shall be swallow'd up of Life and then all the Labours of Religion shall for ever be at an End and nothing remain for the happy Soul to do but to enjoy to all Eternity the glorious Rewards of it Let us all therefore be stedfast unmoveable and always abound in this Work of the Lord for as much as we know our Labour shall not be in vain and to our diligent Pursuit of this inestimable Treasure of Religion let us add frequent and earnest Prayer to God who is the only Giver of every good and perfect Gift that he would send down Wisdom from his holy Heaven that being present she may labour with us that we may know what is pleasing in his Sight and set our selves to do it with all Alacrity running with Diligence and Patience the Race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the Joy that was set before him endur'd the Cross despising the Shame Heb. 12.1 2. and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God remembring that we also shall reap in due Season if we faint not And if we part with all the vile Affections for the Sake of Religion in this World and are ready in Preparation of Mind to suffer any worldly Loss even to that of Life it self for the Sake of Jesus and his Truth we shall find such a Recompence of Reward in the Kingdom of Heaven as will abundantly compensate all our Sufferings here for our light Affliction which is but for a Moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Happy is the Exchange of all that this World can afford for a Jewel of so great Price as Religion and for such inexhaustible Treasures of Bliss as are reserved to Reward it in the Presence of God What is our greatest Interest therefore let us before all things persue and where our Treasure is there let our Hearts be also The PRAYER I. O Mercifull Jesu Who hast prepared for us a Treasure in Heaven and taught us the Way to attain it and warn'd us of the Emptiness of this World 's Good that we may not be
Scripture exhorts us to walk worthy of our holy Profession Ephes 4.1 Phil. 1 2â— and to have our Conversation as becomes the Gospel of Christ And agreeably said our Lord to the Seventy Disciples whom he sent as Harbingers to the Places whither he himself intended to come he that despiseth you despiseth me and 't is in some Proportion true of all other sincere Believers Christianity is a most honourable Profession and what David said to Saul when he offered him his eldest Daughter to Wife for his great Services â— Sam. 18.18 who am I and what is my Life or my Fathers Family in Israel that I should be Son in-law to a King may with infinitely greater Reason be said by every true Christian who am I and what is my Life that I should be taken into the nearest Relation to the eternal Son of the Majesty of Heaven and Earth No Title comparable to this no Relation so much to be glori'd in nor any Care too great to live up to so august a Character But In the last place the Gospel intitles Believers as to a Participation in some Degree of the Honour of Christ so likewise of his Glory and Happiness And as a Husband is to provide for his Wife suitable to his own Quality and make her a Sharer in his Happiness and Prosperity so will Christ confer upon sincere Believers a plentiful Share of his Glories and Felicities in Heaven Thus John 14.2 3. a little before his Passion in my Father's House says he are many Mansions and I go to prepare a Place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to my self that where I am there ye may be also And in that solemn Prayer to his heavenly Father John 17.22 The Glory says he which thou gavest me I have given them and Vers 24. Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold thy Glory which thou hast given me i. e. may share in the Beatifick Vision which is the Summit of all Happiness And Rom. 8.17 St. Paul says we are joint Heirs with Christ and if we suffer with him i.e. still continue faithful Believers notwithstanding the Discouragements and Temptations of the World we shall be glorified together And 1 Cor. 14.23 Christ is call'd the first Fruits of a glorious Resurrection to immortal Bliss which supposes a general Harvest to follow Christ the first Fruits afterwards those that are Christ's at his coming For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a Shout with the Voice of the Arch-Augel and with the Trump of God and the Dead in Christ shall be raised first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds and so shall we ever be with the Lord 1 Thes 4.16.17 And if to all this we add that this intimate Union of Believers with Christ as of a Wife with her Husband and these immense Privileges that are consequent upon it will be everlasting that nothing can put a-sunder whom God has in infinite Mercy joyn'd thus close together but our wilful Unfaithfulness to this our divine Husband As it will make up the Account of the Wonders of God's Love to the Children of Men and should in Return make us all over Love and Gratitude to that good God who hath done such great things for us so it should make us exceeding careful upon no Considerations whatever to divorce our selves from this our glorious Husband but for ever pay all possible Love and dutiful Obedience to him Which brings me in the next Place to shew that as the Gospel effects the same Relation between Christ and Believers as Marriage does between a Man and his Wife and intitles to the like Privileges so it obliges likewise to the like Duties And first As a Wife is bound to bear unspotted Love and Fidelity to her Husband so is every Believer bound to demean himself towards Christ That is to love him above all things and to be intirely his not to suffer his Affections to wander after strange Loves such as the World and the Vanities of it not to be debauch'd by the Devil and his Temptations and share his Heart between Christ and Belial But since his Maker is his Husband Isa 54.5 as the Prophet Isaiah expresses it to be intirely faithful to him and admit no Creature to that Dearness of Affection which he alone should have For this is that Crime which the Scripture calls spiritual Fornication and Adultery and which St. Paul told the Corinthians he began to fear they were guilty of I am jealous over you says he with a Godly Jealousie for I have espous'd you to one Husband that I may present you as a chaste Virgin unto Christ But I fear lest by any means as the Serpent beguiled Eve through his Subtilty so your Minds should be corrupted from the Simplicity or Purity and Integrity that is towards Christ 2 Cor. 11.1 2. This is that Fornication for which Christ will give us a Bill of Divorcement and for ever put us away from him depart from me ye cursed c. Mat. 25.41 This is in a spiritual Sense to take the Members of Christ and make them the Members of an Harlot and these spiritual as well as carnal Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge And therefore as much as it concerns us to continue in this near and dearest Relation to Christ which is attended with such inestimable Privileges so much it concerns us to bear an intire and unspotted Love to him for he hath hought us with a Price therefore we should glorifie him in our Bodies and our Spirits which are his Secondly As a Wife is bound to submit her self to her Husband to comply with his Government and reverence his Person and Authority so and much more is every Believer bound to do to Christ That is to be satisfied with the Disposals of his Providence to submit to his Guidance and Conduct to reverence all the Expresses of his good Pleasure to be in Subjection to his holy Discipline to have one Will with him the same Likes and Dislikes and in no Case to oppose or resist his Sovereign Authority This is no more than what the Apostles command from a Woman to her Husband as every one that has read their Writings knows very well and that though they are both alike frail sinful Mortals much more then ought we to be subject and bear the profoundest Reverence to Christ our Saviour who is the King of Glory the Son of God who upholds all things by the Word of his Power and sits on the right Hand of the Majesty on high whom all the Angels of God worship and who besides is most tender and affectionate to us and his Government directed by infinite Wisdom Thirdly As a Wife ought not only to be subject to the Disposals of her Husband and
necessary Advice even to the best Man living be watchful and strengthen the things that remain which are ready to die for I have not found thy Works perfect before God And what our Lord says Rev. 16.15 deserves to be seriously consider'd Behold I come as a Thief blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his Garments lest he walk naked and they see his Shame By a Cry being made at Midnight behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him is very lively and movingly represented how unexpectedly the Day of Judgment shall surprize the drouzy World and how suddain for any thing we can tell to the contrary the Time of our Death may be which is to us the Forerunner of it Midnight is a Time of great Silence and destin'd to Rest and a Forgetfulness of the Toils and Troubles of the Day and then suddain Outcries and Alarums are doubly scaring and affrighting and seize with an inexpressible Confusion Horror and Consternation And thus when Men are in the Midst of their Wickedness that spiritual Night employ'd in Deeds of Darkness given up to Ease and Luxury and forgetful of the great Business of working out their Salvation then shall that Time of Sorrows steal upon them as a Thief in the Night the terrifying Cry shall be made behold the great Judge of the World cometh go ye forth to meet him For when they shall say Peace and Safety says the Apostle Then suddain Destruction cometh upon them as Travail upon a Woman with Child and they shall not escape 1 Thes 5.3 Then shall the Kings of the Earth and the great Men and the rich Men those that were thought happy upon Earth instead of going out to meet this Judg hide themselves in Dens in Rocks and Mountains and say to the Mountains and Rocks fall on us and hide us from the Face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb for the great Day of his Wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Rev. 6.15 16 17. And no wonder if a guilty Wretch dreads to go meet his angry Judg and all on the suddain with all his Stains and Pollutions about him appear before his Tribunal who hateth Iniquity and into whose Presence no unclean thing can enter And who is a consuming Fire to those who by their obstinate Impieties have provoked him to become their Enemy And since all this is so a Man of any Thought and that has any Apprehension of the sad Condition of being thus surpriz'd and hurried into the other World by so quick and unforeseen a Summons which no Man is sure shall not be his Case since many have been call'd away with little or no Warning that have no more expected than we do now a Man of any Thought and Apprehension of things will surely be mov'd by such Considerations to shake off that fatal Drouziness which too easily besets him and by a constant Attendance to his Duty and Preparation for his Departure hence be ready chearfully to obey his great Master's Call whether at Even or at Midnight or at the Cockcrowing or in the Morning lest coming suddainly he find him sleeping By the wise Virgins arising and trimming their Lamps when that Midnight Cry was made is represented the more than ordinary Care that even good Persons ought to take when by Age or the Violence of any Distemper the Time of their Departure hence seems to be near approaching to enliven their Piety and by putting a Recruit of Oyl into their Lamps acquiring new Degrees of Sanctity and warming their Souls with greater Ardors of Devotion and holy Love prepare to go chearfully to meet their Lord. Then is the Time when every sincere Christian should endeavour to adorn his Soul with all the Graces of the holy Religion he professes to improve every remaining Minute of his Time to this best of Purposes to redeem the many Hours formerly mispent in Vanity and Folly and by frequent Contemplation of the infinite Glory Sanctity and Bliss of that heavenly World to which he then so sensibly draws near inflame his Defires of being at the End of his wearisom Journey to it and fit himself for the spiritual unspotted Enjoyments of that happy Place by having as little Commerce as is possible with this World below and have his Conversation in Heaven which will so quickly be the Place of his everlasting Abode By the foolish Virgins saying to the wise give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out is represented the Want of Preparation among the careless and inconsiderate for this so great and suddain Change and their mighty Consternation upon it and the vain and insignificant Courses they will take in their Surprize to make up if possible their own Defects by borrowing of others that have Souls better furnish'd with Piety than theirs And by the wise answering not so lest there be not enough for us and you and bidding them go rather and buy for themselves is shewn that 't is utterly groundless to expect at that great Day of Retribution when every Man shall be rewarded according to his own Works to fare the better for the Sanctity of others and that every Man has enough to do to work out his own Salvation and must keep his Lamp alive with his own Oyl must nourish his Soul with his own Vertue for there was never nor ever shall be any meer Man so holy and excellent but must return this same Answer as the wise Virgins did to such as should beg them to bestow some of their Vertues or Merits upon them not so lest there be not enough for our selves and you And if this be true what will become of the Popish Doctrin of Works of Supererrogation If the best Man in the World has but Vertue enough to secure his own Condition and that through infinite Mercy too and upon Account of the all-sufficient Merits of Christ where is there any left for him to bestow upon others But this is one of those doctrins that bring much Mony into their Coffers and therefore right or wrong they 'l be sure to maintain it By the Bridegroom's coming while those foolish Virgins went about so unlikely an Employment as then immediately to furnish their Lamps with Oyl which before were unregarded and suffer'd to go out and the Door before they were provided being shut is represented the Invalidity generally speaking of a Death-Bed Repentance that 't is too late to begin to be good when the Bridegrom comes and those that would enter with him into the Marriage Chamber must be ready and prepar'd by a previous Course of holy Living and that for some considerable Time This Hurry of the foolish Virgins at that Time to get Oyl for their Lamps was only the Effect of the Terrors of that Midnight Call had it not been for that they would have drouz'd on still in their thoughtless Way of living and in all Probability had it prov'd a false Alarm they
he is 1 Joh 3.2 and St. Paul by seeing him face to face and knowing him even as we are known 1 Cor. 13.12 And since the Misery of the Wicked in Hell consists in an eternal Banishment from his Divine Presence for so the Sentence runs that shall be pass'd upon them at the Day of Judgment Depart from me ye Cursed c. Upon these Accounts it seems to them most agreeable to Truth that All the Just being admitted to the Beatifick Vision of God should be equally Happy and All the Wicked being for ever exil'd to him should be equally Miserable But this Argument in my Apprehension is so far from destroying the Doctrine of the Degrees of Happiness and Misery in Heaven and Hell that I think 't is rather the best Supporter of it For since 't is very true that the Happiness of Heaven consists in the Beatifick Vision of God and the Misery of Hell in an eternal Banishment from him and since 't is as true that some good Men in this Life approach nearer to him and see more of his Excellencies and bear a greater Resemblance to him than others and so become capable of a more intimate Vision of him in Heaven and some bad Men on the contrary wander to a greater distance from him here and become more unlike him by their great Impieties than other Sinners do and so become more incapable of that pure and holy Vision than others that are less wicked Since this is so methinks it should be most agreeable to Truth that those that were the Holiest Men here should be the Happiest Saints in Heaven as bearing a nearer Resemblance to the Divine Nature and consequently capable of a more close and intimate Vision of him and that those who by their great Impiety beyond other Men were most estranged from God here should be banish'd farthest from him in the Regions of Despair and Darkness as being the most hateful to him because the most unlike nay contrary to him and the most uncapable of seeing and enjoying him and consequently feel the most exquisite Pangs of Horror and Despair the hottest Boilings of Rage and Impatience and most bitter Remorse of Soul for bringing this most miserable Condition upon themselves when once they might with much Ease and Pleasure have avoided it and been for ever happy in the Vision and Enjoyment of God Indeed as to plain Proof from Scripture of the Degrees of Misery in Hell I must confess I cannot recollect any and would by no means strain God's Word beyond its due Extent but as to Degrees of Glory and Happiness in Heaven I think there are several Places of Scripture that plainly enough establish that Doctrine of which I shall mention but one and that because 't is part of a Parable exactly the same in the concealed sense of it with that I am now discoursing upon only something differently related by S. Luke 'T is in the 19th Chapter the 15th and 4 following Verses where we find when the King came to take Account of his Servants Improvement of what he left in their Hands to trade with in his Absence he exactly proportion'd every Man's Recompense to the Increase he made of what was committed to his Charge to him that had gain'd Ten Pounds with the Pound his Lord left with him was given Authority over as many Cities and so to him that had gain'd Five proportionably Authority over Five Which I think can mean no less than this that where there is different Degrees of Mens Improvement of Grace in this World there shall be as different Degrees awarded of Glory and Happiness in Heaven and there being great Difference between the Degrees of Christians Improvement here there will be as great Difference in the Degrees of their Happiness hereafter And though every Saint in Heaven shall have as clear and intimate Vision and Enjoyment of God as he is capable of and partake in an agreeable Measure of the Happiness that will flow from such Vision and Enjoyment and be as Happy as 't is possible for him to be yet the Capacity of every Saint will not be equal Some Souls will be more enlarg'd than others and able to receive more Rays of the Divine Glory and so though every of those Vessels of Honor shall be full yet all will not hold alike and one Star there will differ from another Star in Glory 'T is true indeed that the Mind of every good Man shall then be clarified and refined purg'd from the Dross and Soil contracted during its Residence in the Flesh and rendred more agile and expedite in the Exercise of its several Faculties and its Knowledge and Love of God vastly improved But that Souls of less Improvement here shall immediately upon their Departure from the Body receive extraordinary new Additions to equalize them to those of higher Attainments is hard to imagine and would mightily discourage the generous Endeavours of Heroick Piety and Exemplary Religion But when every Man shall in that glorious Kingdom above be rewarded according to the Degrees of his Piety and a great Love to God and zealous Prosecution of the Interest of Religion and an eminent Sanctity shall be crown'd with a more than ordinary Glory and Felicity in Heaven 't will mightily encourage a holy Soul to forget with St. Paul the things that are behind and press on to what is still before always aiming at still greater Degrees of Perfection till Mortality shall be swallow'd up of Life The Improvement of this Speculation to Practice is this That since the Degrees of Glory and Happiness in Heaven shall be answerable to the Degrees of Mens Holiness and Improvement of their Talents upon Earth we would run with Diligence the Race that is set before us and gird up the Loins of our Mind and set our selves to the Performance of every thing that is well-pleasing in the sight of God with Cheerfulness and not pretend Difficulty when the Reward is so exceeding great and shall be proportion'd to the Degrees of our Vertue For can we be too happy Can we be too like God Can our Crown be too glorious and resplendent Away then with that mean-spirited Religion which thus lessens and confines our Happiness let us unfold our Hands and pluck them out of our Bosoms and encourage our selves in a vigorous Pursuit of an excellent Piety forasmuch as we know that our Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. Fifthly In the next Place I am to shew that 't is abominably false and impious with the Unprofitable Servant in the Parable to charge God with being unreasonably rigid and severe in taking so strict an Account of Mens Improvement of his Divine Grace and Assistances and expecting to find a good Use made of what he committed to their Trust That God is often charg'd with such unreasonable Severity by Men that care not to perform their Duty is too true to be question'd and such as love to indulge their vile
Riches or Abundance of Gold and Silver in which now-a-days we esteem Riches chiefly to consist they are really no better than Heaps of Earth of different Colours impress'd with different Stamps and made of different Sizes and to which Men have given a different Value and Esteem according to their different Colour Size and Impression and which in themselves are good for little but to be look'd on and which he that would live must part with when he has them in Exchange for other Things that are necessary for his Subsistence Now what can be more vile and base than for so Noble and Excellent a Creature as Man so far to degrade himself as to employ his greatest Love and Admiration and Desire upon a Piece of Earth which was originally made for him to tread upon and produce Things for his Food and Pleasure To make that his Master nay his God which was made to be his Servant For a Rational Soul to doat upon a sensless Clod to neglect the Contemplation of the Excellencies of his infinitely perfect Maker and admire one of the lowest of his Creatures to desire a Piece of Earth with the greatest Application and have no Value for the Immortal Glories of Heaven to place his Happiness in what is so very much inferiour to him and upon that which is indeed his Happiness to bestow no Thoughts what can be more vile and abject than this what more unbecoming the Dignity of the Rational Nature and of a Creature that has such glorious Hopes Where is the Reason of a Man that lays out all his Endeavours to acquire a Trifle and in the mean time disregards that which is his chief good and where is the Religion of a Christian that has been redeem'd not by Corruptible Things such as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without Blemish and without Spot where is his Religion that notwithstanding this makes Silver and Gold the chief Object of his Affections and treads under foot the Son of God and counts the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy or common Thing and does despight to the Spirit of Grace and loves and admires Mammon more than his Saviour What more vile and brutish than this what more stupidly ungrateful This is to come down to a Level with the Beasts that perish nay 't is to sink much lower for They act according to their Natural Instincts and choose as they are directed by their Great Creator and serve him obediently in that Rank of Being in which he has plac'd them But that Man much more that Christian that makes perishing Riches the main Object of his Desires and Endeavours acts directly contrary to the Reason that God has given him degenerates many degrees below the Dignity of his Nature disobeys the Orders of his Creator slights the Heavenly Counsel of his Saviour despises the Glories and Felicities of the Kingdom of Heaven and of a Man and a Christian makes himself a vile Muckworm delighted in nothing Noble and Excellent but groveling upon the Earth as if that were the Centre of his Happiness And what can more vilifie and degrade a Reasonable Soul made after the Image of God than such base Affections as these 'T is certainly a most vile Degeneracy and renders a Man the most contemptible Creature in the Universe both to God and Angels and all wise and good Men. And thus much may suffice to expose the Folly and Vileness of an immoderate Desire of Riches as in them placing the Happiness of Life I shall now shew The ill Consequences that attend it which besides that great Perplexity of Mind they cause mention'd before are chiefly these two 1 It mightily hinders a Man's Progress in Religion which is the one Thing necessary 2. It exposes a Man more than any thing to the Danger of Apostacy or falling from the Truth First An immoderate Love of Riches does mightily hinder a Man's Progress in Religion which is the one Thing necessary We may remember our Lord in his Interpretation of a Parable before discours'd of Matt. 13.22 says that the Cares of this World and the Deceitfulness of Riches like Thorns that spring up with Seed choke the Word of God and render it unfruitful and in another Parable of a great Supper made at the Marriage of a King's Son Matt. 22. Luk. 14.18 by which as was discours'd upon that Parable is represented the glad Tidings and Invitations of the Gospel he tells us That that which detain'd Men from it was likewise the Cares of the World and the Love of Riches they had Ground to look after and Oxen to prove and therefore they could not come to the Wedding Supper And accordingly says our Saviour in as express Words as can be Matt. 6.24 No man can serve two Masters ye cannot serve God and Mammon Now the Reason of this is twofold For first Nothing so much distracts a Man's Thoughts as an eager Desire and Pursuit of Wealth for Riches are so difficult to be acquir'd as has been said and so very slippery when gain'd that as to get them will exercise all a Man's Contrivance employ all his Thoughts and Attention and consume his whole Time so to keep them when once gotten will to a Man that knows the Hardship of getting them and how soon they are lost again engage him in constant Care and Solicitude to watch his Idol lest he be depriv'd of it and so his Mind becomes distracted with continual Apprehensions of Danger and at leisure for no other Thoughts than how to secure his Riches And this those that are acquainted with Men much wedded to the World may soon perceive by their careful anxious Looks and distrustful Timorous Discourse Now the immoderate Love of Riches thus engrossing a Man's Soul and the great Business of Religion or making Provision for Another World and laying up a Treasure of good Works in Heaven being a Thing that likewise requires Time and Diligence and a close Application of all our Faculties to the Performance of it and it being impossible for a Man to attend closely to two Things at once and the Love of this World and of the next being not only different but contrary the one to the other How can it be but that he that eagerly loves Riches and has his Soul prepossess'd with a strong Desire of them and all his Faculties before engag'd in their Pursuit must move very slowly in the Way of Religion if he moves at all nay indeed rather move backward than forward and the more he loves the World grow colder still in his Affections to God Another Reason of this is Because an Immoderate Love of Money is a kind of Fascination and Enchantment it casts a Mist before a Man's Understanding and makes him less sensible and apprehensive of the great Obligation to a Religious Life and so dulls and stupifies the Soul that it becomes very little moved with the Sermons of
still longer Reprieve Hoping that at length the Sinner may be awaken'd by the Sermons of the Gospel and the inward Motions and Excitations of the Spirit of Life and Holiness and see and fear his Danger and return by Repentance and do no more wickedly For so in the next Place 't is said in the Parable that when the Lord of the Vineyard gave Order that the Barren Fig-Tree should be cut down the Dresser of the Vineyard by whom our Saviour is represented answering said unto him let it alone this Year also till I shall dig about it and dung it Christ is our merciful and faithful High-Priest in things pertaining to God Heb. 2.17 18. to make Reconciliation for the Sins of the People for he knows our Infirmities and in that he himself hath suffer'd being tempted he is able also to succour those that are tempted and ever liveth to make Intercession for us Heb. 7.25 He moves for a still longer Respite and promises to use new Methods that we may become fruitful of such good Works as will be well pleasing in his Father's Sight and accordingly cultivates and manures our Souls with repeated Exhortations to Repentance presses the Discourses of his Ministers still more home upon Men's Consciences and gives new Aids and Assistances of his Blessed Spirit provides new Happy Circumstances by his Providence for our Good such as a Faithful Instructer Good Conversation and Example Pious Books and Discourses which may warm and enliven a Sense of Religion in the Soul and awaken Attention and soften the Heart of Stone and render it penetrable by the Arguments of the Gospel and receptive of the Blessed Impressions of the Spirit of God That as loosening the Mould about the Roots of a Tree and cherishing it with the kindly Warmth of Dung is very conducive to the spreading of its Fibres and making it flourish and grow fruitful so these gracious Methods of the great Dresser of God's spiritual Vinevard Christ Jesus may so influence the Souls of Christians as to make them bear much Fruit to the Glory of God and their own everlasting Salvation This is the last Course that can be taken for a Sinner's Safety and if this will not prevail with him to take care of his Happiness there is no longer Hope 'T is like the Intercession of a Favourite for a Condemn'd Criminal upon Condition of his better Conversation for the future but if he again returns to his old vile Courses his Friends then abandon him as one that deserves to perish And so here in the Parable Christ the Beloved Son of God intercedes for a miserable Sinner ready for Destruction and begs a Reprieve for him to see if Time and farther Care will cure his Wickedness but if this proves ineffectual there remains nothing but a fearful Expectation of Judgment and fiery Indignation His Intercessor will then give him over for Desperate and suffer Justice to take its Course for so said the Dresser of the Vineyard to his Lord If after I have digg'd about it and dung'd it it bear fruit well but if not then after that thou shalt cut it down And this in the last Place represents to us the deplorable Condition of such as after all the Methods of Grace for their Reformation are still hardned in their Wickedness Christ will no more appear in their Behalf no more Thought shall be taken for their Safety but their Compassionate Intercessor shall then become their stern and inexorable Judge And when the dreadful Day of Doom shall come and the miserable Wretches appear before his Throne to receive the just Recompense of their obstinate Impieties then shall That Jesus who once so earnestly pleaded with God in their Behalf pronounce the Dreadful Sentence Depart from me ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire Depart from me your Saviour and once compassionate Mediator between God and You Be from henceforch and for ever depriv'd of all Hope of Redemption and Reinstatement into the Favour of my Father Be banish'd for ever from all Intercourse with Heaven without any Intercessor any propitiatory Sacrifice any Advocate to plead their Cause and without any Place for Repentance to Eternal Ages Depart to the Regions of Endless Horror and Despair in the Society of the Devil and his Angels And this is but the just Demerit of your Obstinate Wickedness who despis'd the Goodness of God that should have led you to Repentance This is the sad End of Irreclaimable Sinners this is the Punishment of an unfruitful Profession of Christianity Wherefore let those consider this that forget God before it be too late lest he pluck them away and there be none to deliver them Let them no longer turn the Grace and Forbearance of God into Lasciviousness but work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling For God is just as well as merciful and though slow to Wrath and of great Goodness repenting him of the Evil yet he will by no means clear the obstinately guilty but to such is a Consuming Fire The PRAYER I. O Merciful God who hast planted me in the Vineyard of thy dear Son the Christian Church and by the Culture of thy Ministers and the enlivening Influences of thy Blessed Spirit hast taken tender Care of my Growth and that I thrive and flourish in all spiritual Excellencies till I be fit to be transplanted to thy Heavenly Paradise I bless thy infinite Goodness for the Enlargement of this thy Vineyard so as to extend even to us though so remote from thy first Plantation and for those extraordinary Helps we of this Church have in order to our Increase in all the Fruits of the Spirit And earnestly beg that we may not produce Leaves only the mock Appearances of Christian Vertue but the Fruit of a sincere Religion in all the Instances of Holy Conversation II. I acknowledge with Admiration at thy infinite Love to Mankind that 't is Our Happiness thou respectest in thus indispensibly requiring Fruit of us not any Acquisition to thy self who art infinitely full already and the overflowing Fountain of all possible Good Thou commandest that our Fruit should be unto Holiness because we shall otherwise be incapable of the blessed End of Everlasting Life and spend our Days in Misery in this Lower World O Lord as is thy Majesty so is thy Mercy O make me duely sensible of thy tender Care of my Happiness and may it never through my wretched Obstinacy be in vain And in vain it would be were not thy long-suffering wonderful With what amazing Patience dost thou wait to see if at length I shall be Fruitful How often have I disappointed thy just Expectations and yet thou hast still forborn me through thine own Compassions and the Intercession of my dear Redeemer the Dresser of thy Vineyard who hath ply'd me with new Methods of Conversion fresh Applications to invigorate my Piety that at the last I may return thee acceptable Fruits and escape the sad Punishment of Barrenness
and if they do not Thrive they will be inclined to follow the Course of those that do as looking upon Prosperity to be an Argument of the Favour and Blessing of God But All this is throughout a great and dangerous Mistake and Worldly Prosperity is neither a certain Argument of God's Favour to Men in this World or of their Happiness in the next Neither is Affliction a certain Sign of God's casting Men off here or a sure Forerunner of Eternal Misery hereafter but frequently on the contrary the Good are calamitous in this World but received into Abraham's Bosom in the other and those that are Prosperous and Happy here too often have their Portion in the Flames of Hell hereafter Prosperity is in it self indeed a Blessing and promis'd as a Part of the Reward of Godliness and accordingly many good Men are Happy even here and were All truly good All would be Prosperous and Happy for 't is Sin only that makes the World miserable And on the other side Affliction is in it self a great Evil and by no means joyous but grievous and is always the Punishment of some Offence But oftentimes Worldly Prosperity is sent as a Curse rather than a Blessing and is the Effect of God's Displeasure and the only Happiness that some shall e'er enjoy And Adversity proves a great Blessing and is an Expression of God's Favour and Paternal Regard the only Misery some shall ever feel and an Introduction to Eternal Happiness some in mercy being corrected here for their Faults that they may escape the everlasting Punishments of the other World and others fatted up here as to a Day of Slaughter and suffered since they choose it to have their Portion in this Life As Abraham in the Parable said to the Rich Man who through the Excess of his Torment begg'd that he would send him who was once a poor Lazarus but then in a Place of Happiness to dip his Finger in Water and come and cool his Tongue Son remember that thou in thy Life-time receivedst thy good Things and likewise Lazarus his evil Things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented And indeed it is no wonder that it should be so and that Prosperity in this World should so often end in Misery in the next and the Afflictions Men meet with here be turn'd into Happiness hereafter For Worldly Prosperity however charming it may appear to us is a State so full of Dangers so beset with Temptations to Vice so apt to divert Men from attending to Things of infinitely greater moment and laying up a Treasure in Heaven and Adversity on the contrary though very uneasie to Flesh and Blood yet is so apt therefore to wean Men from the World and the fading Vanities of it and make them out of Love with what is so fickle and uncertain and full of Trouble and is a State that humbles Men much and increases Devotion and Trust in God and puts 'em upon Repentance and a Desire of enjoying that Heavenly Treasure which shall never be taken from them That for a Rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven seems by far the greater Difficulty and more likelihood is there of the Calamities of this World bringing a Man to that happy Place than the prosperous Enjoyment of its Pleasures And accordingly says the Apostle Not many Rich not many Mighty are called and that Riches are a Temptation and a Snare and drown Men in divers hurtful Lusts and bring them to Destruction and Perdition and therefore exhorts Men to count it all Joy when they fall into divers Temptations or Afflictions The Use then that we may make of this first Part of the Parable is this not to be dejected under Adversity as if cast off by God and utterly depriv'd of his Favour nor puff'd up by Prosperity as if peculiarly dear to Heaven but in every State to make it our greatest Care and Endeavour to secure our main Interest and with Fear and Trembling in the one Condition as well as the other to work out our Salvation by the Practice of that Holiness without which no Man whether Rich or Poor Calamitous or Prosperous shall see the Lord and with which any Man in whatsoever Circumstances he is in this Life shall be sure of a glorious Eternity in the Presence and Enjoyment of his Maker If Riches increase by honest Industry and conscientious Dealing and prudent Management we ought to esteem it as a Blessing and humbly thank God for it but by no means should we set our Hearts upon them nor grow high-minded and conceited of our selves as if greatly in Favour and Esteem of God and our Prosperity the Reward of our extraordinary Vertue nor despise the Poverty of others looking upon them as less Holy because not so prosperous as we Neither should we grow vain and luxurious or covetous and sordid but make Friends with the Mammon of Unrighteousness and act like good Stewards of the manifold Grace of God being given to Hospitality and ready to relieve the Necessities of such as are in want remembring always that many have all their Share of Happiness in this Life and while they dote immoderately upon the World and place their chief Good in being prosperous here forfeit their Glorious Reversion hereafter And always fearing lest our Prosperity become a Snare to us in this Matter and we turn it into a Curse by our ill Use of it and become such Fools as for the Gain of a little of the World to lose our Immortal Souls What Comfort had the Rich Man in the Parable of all his former Prosperity when he lay weltring in the Flames of Hell All his Purple and Fine Linnen and Sumptuous Fare because he abus'd 'em to Luxury and Excess and grew negligent of laying up a Treasure of good Works in Heaven ended at length in the Want of a Drop of Water to cool his inflam'd Tongue If Affliction and Poverty should be our Lot 't is then our Duty to endeavour to be contented and not despond as if utterly rejected of God but to remember that there is a better World in which those shall be unspeakably and for ever happy that are patient and resign'd in this Vally of the Shadow of Death that the Lord loveth whom he chasteneth and that if we comply with the Ends of his Correction and amend under his Paternal Rod our light Affliction which is but for a Moment shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Lazarus in the Parable we read was miserably poor desirous though but of the Fragments that fell from the Rich Man's Table and full of noisom painful Sores a sad Spectacle both to himself and others and yet when he died was carried up by Angels into Abraham's Bosom 'T is not a Man 's outward Circumstances that God respects but the inward Temper of his Mind and often makes his outward Condition calamitous 1 Sam. 16.7 that his Mind may grow
better and if a Man be as poor and despicable in the Eye of the World as Lazarus yet if he is of a contented resign'd Soul and make it his Endeavour to be rich towards God he at length shall be fill'd with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory while many rich that have their Portion in this Life shall be sent empty away And thus much for the first thing this Parable informs us of namely that from a Man's prosperous or adverse Condition in this World there is no Judgment to be made concerning his final Condition in the next The second thing it informs us of is that whatever Change is made in the Condition of the Soul after its Departure from this World its State shall be from thenceforth for ever unalterable For so in the Parable when the Rich Man being in Torments lifted up his Eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his Bosom and cry'd and said Father Abraham have Mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the Tip of his Finger in Water and cool my Tongue for I am tormented in this Flame Abraham after he had told him that he had in his Life-Time receiv'd his good things and Lazarus his evil things and that then there was a great and unexpected Change and Lazarus was comforted and he tormented he adds moreover that between him and them there was a great Gulf fix'd so that those which would pass from thence to him could not neither could any pass from him to them What is meant by this Gulf fixed between Heaven and Hell which hinders any Comfort or Relief coming from thence to that miserable Place or any Trouble or Annoyance from that Place to Heaven so that the Condition both of the Wicked and the Righteous remains unchangeably happy or miserable respectively Has been much controverted especially amongst the School-men But it tending to very little Edification to relate their Opinions most of which are very frivolous I shall only say what is the most receiv'd Opinion in our Church By the Gulf fixed we suppose is only meant God's irreversible Decree that those whose Wickednesses made them incapable of the Vision and Enjoyment of God and sunk them down to Hell shall for ever remain there without any Hopes of Comfort or Relief and that the Righteous likewise shall be receiv'd into Life and Happiness everlasting and such as all the Powers of Hell shall never be able to lessen or disturb And this methinks to any sensible Man should appear to be an Opinion the most reasonable and most agreeable to the Holy Writings Now here 't will be worth our while since the rich Man's Punishment is express'd by his being tormented in Flame and doom'd to be for ever so to satisfie two Queries usually put in this Case as first Why the Torments of Hell are express'd by Flames and Burning And secondly How it can be consistent with the Divine Justice to punish the transient Acts of Sin with such an endless Misery To the first I return this Answer as to me the most satisfactory Though I believe that at the general Conflagration when the Heavens shall be shrunk up as a scorch'd Parchment and the Elements melt with fervent Heat and the World and all that 's in it be burn'd up though I believe that God will then take Vengeance of his Enemies in real Flames of Fire which shall for ever encircle and prey upon their Bodies yet I think that will be the least Part of their Torment and that the Extremity of it will consist in the inward Trouble of their Minds arising from an impatient Appetite and continual Thirst after that Felicity which they know through their own Default they shall never come to enjoy And that such vehement Desires and the Passions consequent upon the disappointment of them should be call'd Flames and Burning is no more than what is usual in our common Manner of speaking and the Expression of fervent and ardent Desires is often met with in the holy writings too particularly where David says My Soul breaketh out with the very fervent desire it hath always to thy Commandments And Rage and Fury and Impatience and the like which attend unsatisfied Desires are likewise frequently attended with the Epithet of Fire as every one must needs have observ'd Now Man having an innate uncontrolable Thirst after Happiness and which is always equally intense and that to the highest Degree when as the Punishment of his Rebellion against God his foolish and wicked Choices here his Pursuit after lower Good and Neglect of the supreme he shall be for ever banish'd to an infinite Distance not only from the Fountain of Happiness but from every Stream and Participation of it which here below cool'd his Heat a litle and for the present gratified that his Desire and yet the Appetite and Thirst after it continuing as great as ever and the Wretch withal sensible of the utter Impossibility of attaining it and that not so much as one Drop from that Fountain of Bliss shall ever be given to allay his Thirst and cool his parch'd and inflam'd Tongue His Desire must for ever be to the highest Degree craving and importunate in vain and being continually thus disappointed his Impatience will still grow hotter and hotter and his Remorse for bringing this upon himself turning to eternal Rage and Fury and boyling up like Rivers of enflam'd Brimstone the Fire will be everlasting And what a Calenture think we will the whole Man be in when without the fiercest material Flames shall prey upon the Body and hotter Fires within torment the Soul And this Notion of the Flames of Hell seems to me not obscurely hinted in the Rich Man's lifting up his Eyes in his Torment and when he saw the happy State of Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom begging him to impart though but one Drop of that Bliss he enjoy'd to cool his parched Tongue His Desire of that Happiness was in the greatest Degree of Ardency and when he saw Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom then he cry'd out Father Abraham have Mercy on me for I am tormented in this Flame Thus much for the first Query To the second I return this in Brief That since Sin is the greatest Possible Evil it being a Violation of the strongest Tyes and Obligations an Opposition and Contrariety to the Supreme Good and in no Case eligible as every considering Man must needs confess it can't be too rigorously dealt with even by the Infliction of the greatest possible Punishment for there is the same Proportion between the greatest Evil and the greatest Punishment as between a lesser Evil and a lesser Punishment And therefore unless we 'll say there can never be any Proportion between a Fault and its Punishment I think we must own there is Proportion here Now the Use we may make of this second Part of the Parable is this That since the Consequence of a Life of Wickedness is so dreadful and remediless a
the Dangers of the Night past God's careful watching over us while we slept and lengthning out our Opportunity for Repentance and making Provision for a Better Life ought certainly to bring us upon our Knees in humble Adoration of that Good God in whom we live and move and have our Beings in humble Submission to his Providence for the Future and devout Oblation of our whole Selves and our whole Time to His Service who has continu'd to us Life and Health and all Things And since all our Sufficiency is of God and we can do no good Thing nor so much as think a good Thought without him to beg his Blessed Presence with us That he would work in us to will and to do according to his Good Pleasure That he would guide and protect us and bless and prosper our honest Undertakings and still continue to watch over us for Good That we may be undefil'd by the Temptations of the Day and look back with Comfort upon our Actions when we cast up our Accounts at Night 2. As for our Mid-day Devotions because we are then in the midst of the Dangers and Temptations of the Day beset on every side with Allurements to do Evil 't will highly concern us afresh to beg the Divine Aid and Support that we may stand upright If we have pass'd securely the former part of the Day it becomes us to pay our humble Acknowledgments to our Divine Guardian and Guide and if we have fallen it becomes us with Shame and Sorrow to confess our Vileness and deprecate God's Anger and beg his Grace that we may be more circumspect the Remainder of it And besides the Works of the Creation the wonderful Order of the Universe the Variety Beauty and Usefulness of the Creatures and the plentiful Provision God hath made for all our Necessities will then be very proper to engage our Thoughts and will minister abundant Matter for Devotion and be very apt to fill our Breasts with Holy Breathings and Aspirations towards that inexhaustible Fountain of Beauty and Perfection and Power infinite who by his Word spake all this into Being 3. And for Prayer at Evening our Protection from the many evil Accidents and the many great Blessings of the Day past the Miscarriages likewise and Failures of it if no worse and the Dangers of the approaching Night are sufficient Motives and Engagements to renew our devout Addresses to the Almighty And as private Prayer ought to be thus constant and without wilful Intermission so and more especially no Opportunity of praying to God in the publick Congregation should be omitted For this Attendance upon the publick Worship of God is that which is chiefly and primarily intended by the Apostles in what they wrote about this Duty of Prayer Most part of the first Epistle to the Corinthians is spent in giving Directions for the more decent Management of the publick Service of God and 1 Tim. 2.8 the Command of Praying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in every place and that Ephes 6.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon every opportunity must primarily relate to the publick as any capable Person may perceive by considering the Context And accordingly those Converts made by S. Peter Acts 2.42 Continu'd stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking Bread and in Prayers and v. 46. They continu'd daily in the Temple with one Accord and on the Day of Pentecost we find them all with one accord in one place Acts 2.1 And thus it was in all Ages of the Church till Iniquity abounded and the Love of many began to wax cold But methinks the Consideration of the great Advantages of these Publick Devotions above the Private should have some Influence upon us in order to our more constant Attendance at the places of Divine Worship for our Lord has expresly promis'd his peculiar Presence there and that the Prayers there offer'd shall be successful Thus Matt. 18.19 I say unto you says he that if two of you shall agree on Earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven for where two or three are gather'd together in my Name there am I in the midst of them The Church is an Emblem of Heaven and the Congregation of the General Assembly of the First-born which are written there whose happy Employment is to Admire Adore and Extol the Infinite Mercy and Majesty of God for ever and ever and as there so here the Devotion of others will raise our Affections and their Zeal and Fervor quicken our Devotion To which purpose is that of the Apostle Heb. 10.24 25. Not forsaking the Assembling of your selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and provoking to Love and Good Works by pious Example and devout Behaviour in the Church And the Blessing pronounc'd by the Minister at the Close of those publick Offices was in the Primitive Times thought a Thing of no mean Regard whatever low Thoughts Men now-a-days may have of it To this Head of Publick Prayer may be reduc'd the Assembling of a Family together to offer up their joint Petitions to God whether by the chief of the Family or by some Minister of Religion if present And this has been a Practice of very long standing and is of excellent Use It keeps a Family in a serious Sense of Religion it accustoms Youth to it betimes and is an excellent Example to Children and Servants who are apt to mark and imitate their Parents and Masters Steps more than they are aware of and Young People will be inclin'd to think there is something more than ordinary in Religion when they see those of whose Prudence and Experience they have an Opinion so seriously set about it The Returns of these Family-Devotions at the Beginning and Close of the Day ought not without good Reason to be omitted for they naturally tend to make People more Industrious and Just in their Dealings in the World as keeping up in their Minds a sense of their being in the Sight and Presence of a Just and Holy God and to prevent Abundance of Folly and Levity and Loosness of Manners and make the Days Sober and Honest and the Nights Innocent and Chaste And this appears evidently to be true in the great Difference any Man may discern between Families where this Holy Custom is and is not observ'd Idleness and Laziness Pilfering and Cheating Swearing and Lying Lewdness and Intemperance and Debauchery of all sorts generally where 't is neglected and good Order Modesty and Sobriety Diligence and Faithfulness where 't is observ'd For it tending so much as it evidently does to the making Men Good Christians it consequently must needs tend to the making them good in every Relation These solemn Family Devotions are likewise a very good preparation for the better performance of the more publick Offices in the great Congregation For they tend to create that habitual Seriousness
falsly and be content with their Wages Luke 3.12 13 14. A Man that considers Things would not choose to be of an Employment that carries great Temptations along with it to Wickedness but if he were brought up to such an Employment and knows not how to subsist in any other Way his Business is to consider wherein lies the greatest Temptation and Danger of it and arm himself diligently against that and then he may live as Innocently and serve God as Acceptably as his Neighbours But to live wickedly in such a Calling and then lay the Blame upon the Temptations that go along with it is too slender an Excuse to do any Service for if the Calling be lawful no doubt but it may be innocently manag'd if the Man pleases and if it be unlawful he must for no Considerations whatever continue in it And a Soldier or a Publican for Instance though of the worst of lawful Professions yet we see may keep a good Conscience and live orderly and repent and serve God as acceptably nay perhaps more so than others of higher Pretensions for the Publican as well as the Pharisee went up into the Temple to pray and the Publican went away justified rather than the Pharisee But what was the Reason of that One would think a Man of so great Sanctity as a Pharisee should be more acceptable to God than so vile a Sinner as a Publican Why the Reason of this was that the Publican notwithstanding the ill Character his Profession threw upon him and the high Pretensions of the Pharisee the Publican was the Better Man of the Two The Pharisee with much Pride and Self-esteem advanc'd high into the Temple and then vauntingly insisted in his own praise I Fast twice a Week I give Tithes of all that I possess and utterly devoid of the Fundamental Grace of poverty of Spirit he look'd upon his Righteousness as too much his own and uncharitably judg'd the Publican for the sake of his Profession and then haughtily scorn'd him as vile and profane in comparison with himself God I thank thee that I am not as other Men are or even as this Publican He that is not so wicked as other Men ought indeed to give God Thanks for 't is he that made him to differ but then it ought to be with Humility and a due Sense of his own natural Vileness and propensity to Vice and of those remaining Wickednesses which still too easily beset him giving God all the Glory of what is good in him and reserving to himself only Shame and Confusion of Face for the Sins which do still too easily beset him and for his not making so good use of the divine Grace and Assistance as he might and should have done But there was nothing of this in the Pharisee's Thanksgiving 't was only full of Pride and Vain-glory and Self-conceit and that unhallow'd every Thing else that was Good in him and render'd him and his Prayers abominable in the sight of God who resisteth the proud and giveth Grace only to the humble Such as was that Publican whom he so haughtily despis'd For he in an humble Sense of his former Wickedness and deep Shame and Sorrow for it stood afar off as not worthy to come near the Holy Majesty of God and would not so much as lift up his polluted Eyes to Heaven the place of perfect Holiness and Purity but like a true self-condemn'd Penitent smote upon his Breast and in bitter Remorse of Soul said God be merciful to me a Sinner And for this his humble Penitence He went down to his House justified rather than the Pharisee for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted A truly humble Temper of Mind is better than all the outward performances of Religion and a penitent Publican that is indeed poor in Spirit is far more esteemed of God than he that makes Long Prayers and Fasts often and Tithes all his Substance and is proud of this when he has done and despises those that make not so much Ostentation of Religion as he does Without Humility all is Vain-glory and Hypocrisie and the seemingly most sanctified Person that has it not is like a painted Sepulchre beautiful without but full of Rottenness within By what has been hitherto said by Way of Comment upon this Parable and from the Introduction and Conclusion of it as was said 't is very plain that 't is design'd to recommend the great nay fundamental Grace of Spiritual Humility or Poverty of Spirit with relation to Vertue And to shew that let a Man have never so much of Vertue or Religion if he is proud of it it renders all abominable in the Sight of God and that none but the humble Soul is his Delight In my Discourse therefore upon this Parable I shall endeavour three things First To shew what the Grace of Spiritual Humility is Secondly How excellent and beneficial a Grace it is and how vile and mischievous the contrary Vice is and Thirdly How highly this Vertue shall be rewarded As for the first What the Grace of Spiritual Humility is I in the first place think in the Negative that it can't be a thinking worse of a Man's self than he really deserves for no Man certainly can be oblig'd by Religion to be mistaken in himself it being one of the chief things that we learn in Christianity as well as Ethicks rightly to know ones self And when there is any thing in a Man that is indeed Praise-worthy I can't see why the Man himself may not be sensible of it as well as others and innocently please himself with reflecting upon it and love what bears so much Resemblance to and is an Emanation from the Eternal Fountain of Goodness and Perfection Nay He that dwells much with himself and heedfully reflects upon his Actions and the Bent and Inclination of his Mind as every Man ought to do can't be conceiv'd to be ignorant of what is good in him any more than what is evil and the same Attention which is requisite that a Man may know his Errors and Miscarriages will likewise inform him of what is vertuous in him and of good Report And further How can a Man be thankful to him who is the Giver of every good and perfect Gift for the intellectual Favours he bestows upon him of which Grace to live vertuously is the cheif who is not first conscious that he has receiv'd the Blessing The Elders in the Revelations that took their Crowns from their Heads and cast them before the Throne as an Acknowledgment from whom they had receiv'd them first must be suppos'd to know that they had them on And if there be such a thing as St. Peter calls the Answer of a good Conscience towards God a Man must first be sensible of his good Actions before he can feel that inward Approbation of them I thought fit to say thus much in the Negative