would have return'd again to their Dream of Vanity when this their Fright was a little over And so it is with those that think not of Repentance till Death and Judgment stare 'em in the Face they are then wondrous sorry for having offended God because they see they are like to be for ever punish'd for it with the Devil and his Angels and wish they had liv'd better and beg God to forgive 'em and promise Amendment for the Time to come But all this very seldom proceeds from Love to God or his holy Religion as appears by their being as bad as ever when God has been pleased to restore them to their former Health But such Repentance as this is but a Piece of Mockery and will not be accepted it must be a real and thorough Change of Mind express'd in an intire Reformation of Life and Manners that will incline God to pardon and forgive Notwithstanding all the Hurry of the foolish Virgins to get Oyl for their Lamps upon this suddain Notice of the Bridegroom 's coming because their Lamps were before suffer'd to go out we see the Door was shut upon them By the wise Virgins that were ready their going in with the Bridegroom to the Marriage Feast is represented the great Happiness of the sincerely good who by holy living are ready and prepar'd for their Departure hence into the World of Spirits That is as there was great Preparation made to receive the Bridegroom among the Jews and other Easterns great Joy and Festivity and which the Children of the Bride-Chamber or those that attended the Bridegroom did partake of singing Epithalamiums or nuptial Songs in Praise of the Bridegroom and his Bride and rejoycing in their Happiness and wishing them long Prosperity So the Joys of the highest Heavens which are the Marriage Chamber of this divine Bridegroom our Saviour in the Society of innumerable Saints and Angels and glorified Spirits are prepar'd for those that love our Lord Jesus in Sincerity and by a constant holy Life are ready to leave these earthly Habitations and enter with him into that holy Place Where they shall enjoy a most blisful Eternity for ever singing Halleluja's to the Praise and Honour of that glorious Name in which all the Nations of the World are blessed praising God and saying Rev. 19.7 9. Let us be glad and rejoyce and give Honour to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready and blessed are they which are call'd to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And well is that Care and Watchfulness and holy Preparation repay'd which will procure an Entrance into that holy Place where Christ is sitting at the right Hand of God and make us Sharers in the Joys of Angels and in the Happiness of our dear Redeemer In the last place by the foolish Virgins coming after the Door was shut and saying Lord Lord open unto us and his answering I know you not is express'd the sad and remidiless Condition of those whom Death and Judgment surprize unawares and that are not prepar'd by a holy Life They may cry Lord Lord long enough in the Bitterness and Anguish of their Souls and profess that they believe in him and are his Disciples and call'd by his Name that they have eat and drunk in his Presence and that he hath taught in their Streets and the like but yet for all this without a constant persevering Piety Christ will tell them I know you not whence you are depart from me all ye that work Iniquity And what inconceivable Agonies will those excluded Wretches then be in What Horror and Despair will then take Seisure of their Souls What Outcries what hideous Wailings will there be How will some frame fruitless Excuses Lord we have eaten and drank in thy Presence and thou hast taught in our Streets c. while others with deep Sighs in vain beg Pity and Commiseration of him who never before deny'd it What intolerable Anguish will they feel to see those whom they hated and despis'd on Earth then enter'd into the glorious Marriage Chamber of the Son of God and they themselves they who are prosperous here and to all Appearance the Friends and Favourites of the divine Bridegroom eternally shut out from his Presence and the Joys of those celestial Regions and left behind in unconceivable Torments and in the Company of malicious Fiends and Devils to linger under an Eternity of Misery No Words can ever reach those Horrors nor can our Thoughts conceive them and may none of us ever be so unhappy as to feel them But be so wise as to watch and be ready and have our Lamps burning and our selves always prepar'd for this great coming of our Lord for we know not the Day nor the Hour And thus have I given a particular plain and practical Interpretation of this Parable of the Ten Virgins whereof five were wise and five foolish and shewn as I went along how aptly expressive it is of the Sense our Lord couch'd under it I proceed now to the other thing to be done which is to urge that Watchfulness and Preparation by all manner of holy living against this coming of our Lord which is necessary to our being admitted into his Joy and to shew how great the Wisdom of so doing is and how great the Folly of the Contrary For those that were ready and trimm'd their Lamps are call'd wise Virgins in the Parable and those that were not ready and their Lamps out are call'd foolish As for the Folly of not taking Care to be ready and prepar'd against that great Change of Death shall come it is a thing justly to be wonder'd at that Men who know that one Time or other they must surely die and are wholly in the Dark as to the precise Time of their Death and that they must die but once and that without any any further Probation after Death comes Judgment it is much to be wonder'd at that those who know all this to be true as Christians are suppos'd to do should live so much at random and be so foolishly careless in managing their last Stake so heedless in doing that well which admits of no Repetition and which if done ill they are for ever miserable 'T is the very Height of Folly this and which one would think a Man of any Sense could not be guilty of There is nothing that Men are more afraid of than dying and yet so strangely contradictious are they to themselves they make the least Provision against this greatest Evil. In other Matters Men are so wise as to endeavour to secure themselves against their Fears they provide against Poverty by Diligence and Parsimony against Pain and Diseases by proper Antidotes and Preservatives against the Approach of Enemies by the best Defence they are capable of making and the like and this many times when there is only a Probability of these Evils coming upon them And yet against
Malice and Revenge Wherefore to conclude this Parable If we are touch'd with a due Sense of the wondrous Compassion of God to us miserable Sinners in forgiving us the vast Debt we had contracted to the divine Justice by Reason of our Sins and which 't was impossible for us ever to have discharg'd our selves whereby we are deliver'd from the intolerable and endless Punishment of them and moreover made Sons of God and Heirs of celestial Glory If we are duly touch'd with a Sense of this infinite Goodness of God to us which to effect was the Endeavour of the first Part of this Discourse let us express our deep Resentment of his gracious Forgiveness of us by imitating so excellent an Example and forgiving one another Let us consider the great Happiness that both here and hereafter will attend the Performance of this Duty and reflect upon the endless Misery that will closely follow the contrary We must forgive if we would be forgiven we must shew Mercy and Compassion to our Brethren that offend us if we hope to find any at the Hands of God And let us remember that how sweet soever we may fancy Revenge to be now we shall find the Consequence of it if not speedily repented of to be eternal Damnation From which sad Condition and that hellish Temper that will bring us to it let us pray earnestly that the good Lord would deliver us through Jesus Christ our merciful Saviour The PRAYER I. O Holy and most merciful King of Heaven who hast forgiven a World of miserable Wretches an infinite Debt and deliver'd those who had nothing to pay from the extremest and eternal Misery and hast commanded that in Return we do to others as thou hast done to us I who am a happy Sharer in thy wondrous Compassion do praise thee from the Bottom of my Soul and earnestly entreat the Assistance of thy Grace that I may never be wanting in a sincere and chearful Imitation of thy blessed Example but delight to copy after so lovely an Original and freely and intirely forgive nay love and do good to my most inveterate Enemies And since thou lov'dst us first and didst prevent us with the Riches of thy Goodness O that I could in this resemble thee too and even court my Injurers to Peace and Reconciliation and with a Christian Bravery of Spirit offer them that forgiveness which they will not ask This is indeed a hard Saying to my deprav'd Nature and Revenge seems sweeter far to Flesh and Blood and though my Reason I confess is satisfyed of the great Excellency of the Performance yet my Passions I must with Shame own likewise run violently the contrary Way and bear me down with their rapid Course Thy Aid I therefore beg Almighty God and that thy Spirit may enable me to stem this dangerous Current and strenuously to resist and master all Motions to revenge remembring that this is the Condition of my open Forgiveness at thy Hands and that Judgment without Mercy shall be my Portion if I shew no Mercy II. Convince me daily more and more of my base Ingratitude to thee and inhumane Barbarity to my Brethren in bearing Malice and Rancour for trifling Injuries such as are the greatest we can offer to each other in Compare with what thy Mercy hath forgiven us And do thou O meekest Jesus sweeten our Tempers and turn all Bitterness of Spirit into Love and mutual Endeavours to promote each others Happiness and may we all conspire in offering up our joint Praises to our merciful God who has remitted to every one of us infinitely more than Ten Thousand Talents O that this thy Mercy may be imprinted in lively and everlasting Characters upon my Soul so as powerfully to incline me to transcribe it in my Intercourse with Men Then shall I experience the blessed Influence this thy Commandment will have upon my Happiness even here and in the most acceptable Manner express my Thankfulness for thy Pity shew'd to me and at last by bearing this thy Badge upon my Soul be own'd by thee as thy true Disciple and receiv'd into the Joy of thee our dearest Lord. Which grant O most compassionate Jesus for thine own Mercies Sake Amen Amen PARABLE V. Of a King that made a Marriage for his Son Matth. xxii 2 3. Luk. xiv 18 19 20. Matth. xxii 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14. The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a certain King Mat. 22.2 that made a Marriage for his Son And sent forth his Servants to call them that were bidden to the Wedding And they would not come And they all with one consent began to make Excuse Luk. 14.18 The first said unto him I have bought a Piece of Ground and I must needs go and see it I pray thee have me excused And another said I have bought five Yoke of Oxen and I go to prove them I pray thee have me excused And another said I have married a Wife and therefore I cannot come Again he sent forth other Servants Mat. 22.4 saying Tell them which are bidden Behold I have prepared my Dinner my Oxen and my Fatlings are killed and all things are ready come unto the Marriage But they made light of it and went their Ways one to his Farm another to his Merchandise And the Remnant took his Servants and entreated them spitefully and slew them But when the King heard thereof he was wroth And he sent forth his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City Then saith he to his Servants the Wedding is ready but those that were bidden were not worthy Go ye therefore into the High-ways and as many as ye shall find bid to the Marriage So those Servants went out into the High-ways and gathered together all as many as they found both bad and good and the Wedding was furnish'd with Guests And when the King came in to see the Guests he saw there a Man that had not on a wedding Garment And he saith unto him Friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding Garment And he was speechless Then said the King to the Servants Bind him Hand and Foot and take him away and cast him into outer Darkness There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth For many are called but few are chosen THIS Parable I suppose was in its first Intention design'd to reprove the hardned Infidelity of the Jews their obstinately rejecting the Mercy of God to them in Christ Jesus and their vile Ingratitude to him for his peculiar Care of them in so ordering it that the Gospel should be first preach'd to them to which Purpose also was spoken the Parable of the wicked Husbandmen in Mat. 21.33 which for its great Affinity to the first Part of this Parable and intire Relation to the Jews I thought fit to pass by and it was likewise intended to shew God's great Anger against them for that their Stubbornness and malicious Treatment of
are now considering says expresly He that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted and the humble Publican went down to his House justified rather than the haughty Pharisee so beneficial and highly valuable both with God and Man is Humility of Spirit But on the contrary to be opinionated and proud of ones Vertue is a great Misfortune as well as Fault and brings a great deal of a peculiar sort of Trouble and Uneasiness along with it 'T is a Thing hated both by God and Men and is despis'd and disgrac'd by every Body To what would otherwise be really praise-worthy it brings the greatest Disparagement in the World and if a Man's Conversation be but indifferent and like other Mens then nothing makes him more ridiculous than much to value himself upon what is of so little or no Excellency And what a Pain 't is for Men that look upon themselves as extraordinary Persons to see others so far from that Opinion as rather to slight and deprecate them may easily be imagin'd And indeed 't is the Mishap of this sort of People always to meet with such kind of Entertainment as this Men setting themselves on purpose to tease and worry 'em that if possible they may make them ashamed and weary of a thing so generally hated But besides this peculiar sort of Vexation and Uneasiness that attends spiritual Pride there is something much worse to be said of it viz. that 't is almost impossible for Men infected with this Vice ever to improve in Religion and grow better For in the Nature of the Thing nothing slackens Diligence and Industry more than this without which no progress can be made in any thing or at best a very slow one especially where there are such Difficulties to be struggled with as in Religion and what signifies Instruction or Reproof unless it be to gall and enrage him to a Man that thinks his Vertue very extraordinary if not compleat already And besides God from whom we derive all our Sufficiency resists the proud and therefore as Solomon says no wonder if when pride cometh then cometh destruction and a haughty Spirit be the forerunner of a fall Besides as the Condition of Mankind is now to be proud of Vertue is to be proud of Imperfection for such is the Vertue even of the best Men upon Earth nay 't is to be proud of that which is not for no Man that is proud of his Vertue is indeed Vertuous that poverty of Spirit being wanting which gives the Value to all Religious Actions and renders them acceptable in the Sight of God And it not only pollutes and unhallows what might otherwise deserve the Name of Vertue but as was hinted before it keeps a Man from growing better it blinds him that he cannot discern his Faults and he is so taken up with admiring his Excellencies and with the Pharisee thanking God that he is not as other men are Extortioners Unjust Adulterers or the like that his great Defects pass unobserv'd by him And with the Man in the Fable he is so busie in gazing upon things above himself that he perceives not the Dangers under his feet till he falls into them Having thus endeavour'd to shew what is the Grace of spiritual Humility and how excellent and highly beneficial a Grace it is and how vile and mischievous the contrary Vice is destructive of all Religion and hateful both to God and Man I proceed now in the Last Place to shew how highly this Vertue shall be rewarded which is exprest thus in the Close of this Parable He that humbleth himself shall be exalted That is in short Mens Humbleness of Mind in point of Vertue their Self-Annihilation and returning all the Glory of their Good Actions to God as the Author of whatever is commendable in them and without priding themselves in their present Attainments pressing on still to greater Degrees of Perfection and Heavenly Life This shall in the World of Eternal Felicity and Glory be rewarded with the Impression of a near Resemblance to that Divine Fountain of Holiness and Perfection whom here they acknowledg'd to be the Giver of every good and perfect gift They shall then see him as he is and they shall be like him No Failures no Slips or Imperfections no Avocations from the happy Employment of Admiring and Loving God shall be There which in this Life are the perpetual Clogs and Vexations of a Holy Soul but with their Faculties free and vigorous they shall fully enjoy this supreme Good without Interruption to all Eternity This is that which makes a Heaven this is to enjoy the Happiness of God himself and this Heaven and this Happiness shall be the Portion of the poor in Spirit who here ascribe to God the Praise and Glory of their vertuous Actions And their Humbling themselves before his Majesty in a deep Sense of the Vileness and Ingratitude of their Sins which the best Man living is not wholly without shall be rewarded with the Pardon of them they shall be lifted up from their Prostration at the Feet of their God and Saviour and be received into his Bosom and Joy extraordinary Joy shall be in Heaven in the Presence of the Holy Angels for their Repentance They shall be exalted from the State of Penitents to that of Friends nay Sons of God and all Tears for the Future shall be for ever wip'd from their Eyes and they shall participate of the Joy of their Lord from Everlasting to Everlasting And such an Exaltation as this is no doubt an abundant Recompense for all the Pains of spiritual Mortification and a Repentance so rewarded will never be repented of To conclude therefore If we hope to have a share in that ineffable Felicity which shall be the Reward of this Humility of Spirit we have been discoursing of we must make it our Endeavour to tread the Path that leads to it We must humble our selves before God according to the Measures above described that he may exalt us in due time And as without whom we can do no good Thing we must with all Earnestness and Importunity beg his gracious Assistance who was meek and lowly in Heart that we may follow his Steps and return him all the Glory of our pious Advances who worketh in us to will and to do of his good Pleasure and be so duly affected with Shame and Sorrow for our Wickednesses as with the Publican in bitter Remorse and with sincere Purposes of Amendment to smite upon our Breasts and say God be merciful to us miserable Sinners The PRAYER O Meek and Lowly Jesus who resistest the Proud and givest Grace to the Humble and hast plac'd Poverty of Spirit in the Front of thy Beatitudes as the Foundation and Ground-work of thy Holy Religion Teach me this excellent Grace I humbly beseech thee and grant that I may hate and shun Pride above all Things as the most dangerous and destructive Vice which defiles every thing however otherwise commendable and excellent and naturally tends to the Pit of Destruction And to allay all vain Tumors that shall arise give me O Blessed Saviour a true Sense of the Corruption of my Nature my many heinous Violations of my Duty my vile Ungratitude to thee my greatest Benefactor and the great Imperfections of ev'n my best Services and that whatever I have done that is praise-worthy is owing to thy gracious Assistance and that of my self I can do nothing that is good O may I therefore never arrogate to my self what should be wholly thine nor despise any Man like the haughty Pharisee who have nothing my self but what I have receiv'd from thee but in sincere Humility of Spirit return thee all the Glory saying after I have done all that I can I am still an Unprofitable Servant and have done but what was my Duty to do And grant that in an humble Sense of my still great Defects considering what vast Assistances I have had I may smite upon my Breast and say with the Publican God be merciful to me a miserable Sinner Grant this thou meek and humble Lamb of God for the sake of thine own Tender Mercies Amen and Amen FINIS
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
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
obstinate Infidelity and their murdering their Saviour was to urge the Jewish Christians to a Preparation and watchful Care against that Time of Sorrows and that they would be so wise as to make Provision for their Safety by being very careful that that Time surprize them not in wicked Courses but that living like faithful Disciples of Christ in all Obedience to his holy Commands his Providence might watch over them and secure them from perishing in that dreadful Destruction Though this might be the first Intention of this Parable yet I suppose it designed likewise to represent the Necessity of Men's constant Preparation for Death and Judgment by a sedulous Care and Watchfulness over themselves and diligent Practice of all religious Duties and Obligations Because 't is very uncertain when God will summon any of us to leave this World and appear before his just Tribunal and his Call may be very suddain and unexpected and because the Consequence of being unready and not fit to obey it will be inexpressibly miserable Watch therefore says our Lord in the Conclusion of this Parable for ye know neither the Day nor the Hour when the Son of Man cometh In my Discourse upon this Parable thus understood I shall do two things First I shall give a particular Interpretation of the Parable and shew how aptly expressive it is of the Sense our Lord couch'd under it And Secondly I shall urge that upon the Practice of Christians which is express'd by it namely that they would watch and be ready because they know not the Day nor the Hour First I shall give a particular Interpretation of this Parable and shew how aptly expressive it is of the Sense our Lord couched under it The Parable is an Allusion to a Custom among the Jews of the Friends and Neighbours of the Bridegroom when there was a Wedding conducting him to the Bride-Chamber with Songs and burning Lamps and partaking of an Entertainment that was prepar'd for them and shutting the Door when the Bridegroom was enter'd to keep out the intruding Rabble and afterwards admitting none that were not ready to attend him at the Hour he came which was uncertain And the Sense which our Lord couch'd under this Representation is this That 't is highly necessary every Christian should be always ready and prepar'd by a holy Life to attend the Call of Christ whenever he shall summon him out of this World by Death in order to his final Judgment because the Time of that great Summons is so very uncertain and eternal Happiness or Misery respectively depends upon Men's being prepar'd or not prepar'd for it Now how aptly and movingly expressive this Parable is of this Sense will appear from the following Interpretation of it By the Virgins in the Parable is represented the Society of Christians those that profess to believe in and to be Disciples of the holy Jesus who like Virgins ought to be pure and spotless innocent and modest and humble solâ— and temperate in all things pious and devout and the like And as the Want of these or any of these good Qualifications is to a Virgin the greatest Blackening and Disparagement so the Want of them in Christians is likewise the greatest Dishonour to them exposes them to the Scorn and Contempt of God and all good Men renders them unworthy of that holy Name by which they are call'd and defiles and stains those Souls which Christ purified with his precious Blood that they might be his own Peculiar zealous of good Works By half of those Virgins being wise and half foolish is represented the great Difference there is among those that go under the same general Character of Christians some vain and idle careless and unthoughtful taken up with the Gaieties and Follies of the World lavish of their Reputation and loose in their Conversation and Behaviour while others are so wise as to consider the Character they bear and live as those that make Profession of Holiness that is with Care and Circamspection Watchfulness and a diligent and attentive Piety That so they may preserve their Honour and the Dignity of their Profession inviolate and unstain'd and be presented as chaste Virgins unto Christ that divine Bridegroom whenever he shall come By the Lamps of those Virgins is expressed the Souls of Christians which are to burn with holy Fires of Love and Devotion to God and their Saviour and make them as so many Lights in this dark and benighted World for ye are the Light of the World says our Lord to his Disciples therefore let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Mat. 5.14 16. That is as the Souls of Christians are illuminated by the Spirit of him who is the Father of Lights and in whom is no Darkness at all as they are warm'd by his Influences who descended upon the Apostles in the Likeness of Fire and have divine Affections by his holy Breathings inkindled in them so they should influence the whole Man and make those that name the Name of Christ like so many burning and shining Lights in the Midst of a crooked and perverse Generation so many eminent Examples of Piety and real Goodness such as by theis own Practice should recommend their most hloy Religion and set before Men's Eyes the Beauty of Holiness by their own Conversation By the Bridegroom whom these Virgins with their Lamps went forth to meet is represented our dear Saviour that heavenly King 's divine Son for whom he made so glorious a Marriage in the Parable I last discours'd of where the Reasons why the Gospel is compar'd to a Marriage and our Lord to a Bridegroom are particularly insisted on And by going forth to meet this divine Bridegroom is signifyed our preparing against his calling us from this World by Death and providing against his Advent to Judgment that is by frequently contemplating our Mortality reflecting on the Shortness and Uncertainty of Life and therefore making the best Use of our Time while we have it as not knowing how soon our Breath may be required of us and because after Death comes Judgment therefore endeavouring to make ready our Accounts by frequent Self-Examination and from the serious Consideration of the Terrors of that great Day and the severe Scrutiny into our Thoughts as well as Words and Actions that we must then undergo collecting with S. Peter 2 Pet. 3.11 what manner of Persons we ought to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness that we may be found of the great Judg in Peace and as Virgins without Spot and blameless By the Oyl in the Virgins Lamps and which they took with them in their Vessels when they went to meet the Bridegroom is represented the Graces and Vertues of Christianity which are the proper Nourishment of the Soul that Lamp of the Lord as Solomon calls it and will brighten and enliven it as Plenty of Oyl does a
would they have Men forcibly with-held from being guilty of such Vices as ruin Thousands such as Pride and Luxury and Wantonness and Excess Or if as well they may they think this too unreasonable to be desir'd would they have God when Men are thus reduc'd to Poverty immediately work Miracles for their Relief Would they have Ravens bring Food to the Hungry as they did to Elijah 1 Kings 17.6 or would they have every Poor Widows Cruise of Oyl and Barrel of Meal be as lasting as the Widow 's of Sarepta was 16. or would they have Water spring from Rocks and be immediately turn'd into Wine to chear and refresh such as are parch'd with Thirst Would they have our Lord come down a second Time from Heaven to heal Diseases or an Angel always set open the Prison Doors when good Men are confined and macerated or the like That such extraordinary things have been sometimes done is sufficient to evince that God is not an idle Spectator of Humane Affairs but to expect it should be always so is foolishly presumptuous But it may be those that are asham'd of this would yet by all means have God take a severer Course with his unfaithful Stewards than he does and at least displace them and give their Riches to others that Men might see and fear and do no more wickedly Thus Man will be replying against God and the Clay saying to the Potter Why hast thou made me thus But I would fain know whether these Counsellours of the All-wise God would have all that are unfaithful in their Stewardship us'd in this Manner or only some for a Terrour to the rest If all the World would quickly be in Confusion by such frequent Changes in States and Governments and Private Families as would then be made if some only in Terrorem and to affright the rest into a more Conscientious Discharge of their Duty why that is often done nothing is more common than the Rise and Fall of Men and Families and sometimes their Decay is made very remarkable by some extraordinary Accidents Which if Men would observe it is warning enough to them to be faithful in their Stewardship but if they will be thoughtless and regard it not the Blame ought to be their's not God's and their's will be the Punishment too at the long Run when he shall call every Man before him to make up his Accounts Wherefore let no Man any more for the future pass Impious and Rash Censures upon the All-wise and Good Governour of the Universe because his Servants neglect their Duty in this Matter but rather humbly and earnestly intreat him to incline their Hearts to a better Observance of his Holy and Just and Merciful Commands And if the Poor shall still go unpitied and unreliev'd let us commit their Cause unto him who if with Patience they persevere in well-doing will at length abundantly recompence their Sufferings here with Glory Honour and Immortality in the Kingdom of Heaven Secondly From what has been said I infer the great Baseness and Ingratitude of those who thus wickedly betray their Trust and thereby bring such Odious Aspersions upon their great Benefactor and so much Sin and Misery upon Mankind Good God! That ever Men should be so low sunk so vilely brutish and degenerate as to prefer a Shining Coach and Gay Livery 's and Vanity and profuse Folly in many other Instances before the Honour of their God and the Comfort and Reward of a Poor Afflicted Christian That they should be contented to hear the Groans of the Distressed and the Blasphemies of Atheists against that God who gave them all they have rather than by retrenching any thing from their Excessive Way of Living to silence either 'T is a Monstrous Complicated Impiety this and will at last pull down a Heavy Vengeance Wherefore from the whole I infer in the last place how highly it concerns us all to imitate the Example of the discreetly and thoroughly charitabe Samaritan in the Parable and be more careful of this our Duty for the future For if we prove ill Stewards of the Talents God has committed to our Trust for the Relief of the Calamities of our Brethren we shall not only have the Sins of Unfaithfulness and base Ingratitude to answer for but the Prophane Flouts and Cavils of the Atheistical the Curses and Imprecations of the desperately Miserable the Thefts and Murthers and other Villanies of such whose Unrelieved Poverty forced to be thus wicked and the Blood of such as dy'd for want of Succour All this will be charg'd upon us and overwhelm us with Eternal Horrour and Confusion Wherefore to conclude while we have Time let us do good unto all Men but especially to those of the Houshold of Faith let us make Friends with the Mammon of Unrighteousness that when all this World 's Good shall fail us we may be receiv'd into Everlasting Habitations Let us lay up for our selves a good Foundation against the Time to come and be Faithful Stewards of the manifold Grace of God committed to us lest our great Lord should come in a Time when we think not of him and place us on the Left Hand and pass this Dismal and Irreversible Sentence upon us Depart from me ye cursed into Everlasting Fire prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels For I was Hungry and ye gave me no Meat Thirsty and ye gave me no Drink a Stranger and ye took me not in Naked and ye cloathed me not Sick and in Prison and ye visited me not From which terrible Condemnation and that hardned Disposition that deserves it and will inevitably bring it down upon us if not speedily amended the Merciful and Good Lord deliver us all for the Sake of his Compassion in Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen Amen The PRAYER O Most Compassionate Jesus The great Pattern of Charity who in the Days of thy Flesh wentest about doing Good to Mankind relieving the Necessities both of Body and Soul and hast commanded thy Disciples to go and do likewise give me the Grace I beseech thee according to my Ability to be charitable to all that are really Necessitous without excepting any but always to guide these good Works with Discretion Lest by my ill-plac'd Alms I encourage Debauchery and Sloth and have the less to give to those that truly want And since the Poverty and Sickness of the Soul is of all the most dangerous and deplorable O that I may be so happy as by Fraternal Correption and Seasonable wholsom Counsel and Advice according to my Opportunities and Capacity to relieve the Spiritual Necessities of my Brethren and convert a Sinner from the Errour of his Way and save a Soul from Death And may I always chearfully perform this Godlike Duty and take Delight in being Instrumental in the Blessed Work of chearing the Hearts of the Distressed and making light the Burthens of the Afflicted and thereby vindicating thy Providence from the Vile Aspersions of
Wicked Men and occasioning much Thanksgiving unto God O may I never forget that I am the Steward only of that Portion of this World 's Good with which thou hast intrusted me for the Good of thy great Family And that thou wilt one Day call me to give an Account of the Discharge of this my Stewardship particularly enquire into my Acts of Charity and infinitely reward me if I be found Faithful in this Trust and for ever punish me with the Devil and his Angels if I be not And that I may abound the more in this excellent Grace of Charity Assist me effectually and immediately to cut off all Excesses and vain Superfluities of Life and never let me be so forsaken of all Piety and Humanity as to suffer my poor Fellow-Servants to want Necessaries rather than retrench my vile Extravagancies May this most excellent and royal Law of thine be always present with me as my Rule to do to others as I would be done by in like Circumstance and in all the Expresses of my Charity let thy Glory and the Good of my Brethren and the Public be my sole End and remove far from me all Pride and Vain-Glory for thy Mercies Sake This and whatever else is necessary to the Perfection of this great Duty grant me I beseech thee O most Compassionate Saviour Jesus Amen PARABLE VIII Of the Talents Matth. xxv 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30. The Kingdom of Heaven is as a Man travelling into a far Country who called his own Servants and deliver'd unto them his Goods And unto one he gave five Talents to another two and to another one to every Man according to his several Ability and straightway took his Journey Then he that had received the five Talents went and traded with them and made them other five Talents And likewise he that had received two he also gained other two But he that had received one went and digged in the Earth and hid his Lords Money After a long time the Lord of these Servants cometh and reckoneth with them And so he that had received five Talents came and brought other five Talents saying Lord thou deliver'dst unto me five Talents behold I have gain'd besides them five Talents more His Lord said unto him Well done thou good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. He also that had receiv'd two Talents came and said Lord thou deliver'dst unto me two Talents behold I have gained two other Talents besides them His Lord said unto him Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been c. Then he which had received the one Talent came and said Lord I know thee that thou art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strew'd And I was afraid and went and hid thy Talent in the Earth lo there thou hast that is thine His Lord answer'd and said unto him thou wicked and slothful Servant thou knowest that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I have not strewed Thou oughtest therefore to have put my Money to the Exchangers and then at my coming I should have received mine own with Vsury Take therefore the Talent from him and give it unto him that hath ten Talents For unto every one that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath And cast ye the unprofitable Servant into outer Darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth THE Interpretation of this Parable may be this By a Man travelling into a far Country is represented our Saviour's leaving this World and Ascending into Heaven after he had finish'd the great Work of our Redemption and by his calling to him his own Servants and delivering to them his Goods is signified his enabling his Disciples with sufficient Grace and the Assistance of his Holy Spirit to perform that Duty and Service which he requires of them in his Absence By his giving to one Five Talents to another Two and to a third but One according to their several Abilities is expressed that God affords his Grace according to Mens natural Capacity of serving him for there is a previous Ability first supposed and suitable to that is the number of Talents that are given and to the Kind and Degree of Service that he thereupon expects from them He that by the previous Gift of God in his natural Endowments is capable of doing him great Service and of being an excellent Example to others and is therefore by the Providence of God design'd for or actually plac'd in an eminent Station and employ'd in a Service of great Weight and Difficulty to him is given greater Aid from Above because he is more capable of improving what he receives to God's Glory and the Good of the Church and has likewise greater Need of the Divine Assistance by reason of the Difficulty of the Duty he is to perform And he that naturally is not so capable receives proportionably less Aid from Heaven but yet such as is sufficient to enable him to discharge that Duty which according to his natural Capacity is required of him By His Trading that had received Five Talents and gaining other Five and his gaining other Two that had received but Two is shewn that according to the Measure of Grace and supernatural Assistance that Men have received so should their Improvement be and that faithful Christians will be careful to make such Improvement And by His hiding his Talent in the Ground that had but One is represented the inexcusable Sloth and Idleness of wicked Men who will not take so much Pains as to improve tho but One Talent in order to their Salvation By the Lord of those Servants coming after a long time and reckoning with them is represented the Coming of Christ to Judgment at the End of the World then to enquire into every Man's Works and Reward or Punish as there is just Occasion By His receiving the Diligent into his Joy is express'd the Reward of the Righteous in the Blissful Kingdom of Heaven and by the Slothful and Wicked Servant who was therefore Wicked because Slothful by his bringing his One Talent to his Lord unimprov'd and excusing his Unprofitableness by saying that he knew him to be a hard Man unreasonably griping expecting to reap where he had not sown and the like and that therefore he brought him his own again as he gave it him fearing to employ it lest he should have lost it and yet been oblig'd to make it good to his Lord By this is represented the Base Thoughts too many have of God and Religion as if it were impossible to bear his Yoke and keep his Commands he exacting such unreasonable Services from us but this is only to excuse one Wickedness by
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
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
Affections and cannot afford to take any pains to be Religious are frequently heard to say They serve God as well as they can and they can do no more and that such a Religion as we urge Men to is much too hard for Flesh and Blood 'T is a Law fitter for Angels than Men and tho they wish they could observe and do it and can't but consent to the Excellency of it in the Inner Man yet they find a Law in their Members warring against the Law of their Minds and bringing them into Captivity to the Law of Sin and so the good that they would they do not and the evil that they would not that they do And they take up with this as a sufficient Excuse and because God is infinitely merciful and good they think he will accept the Plea of the great Hardship of his Commands and their Inability to perform them instead of Obedience to them But as the Lord in the Parable said to his slothful Unprofitable Servant Out of their own Mouths will I judge those wretched Persons that thus mock and abuse God and deceive their own Souls into Ruin For if God be infinitely good and merciful then certainly he will not expect any Thing from Men beyond their Ability nor command their Service and Obedience any farther than they are able to pay it And consequently what this merciful and good God commands by All Men to be done without any Exception or Dispensation and threatens Eternal Misery to such as shall dare wilfully to disobey him this Every Man no question is able to perform through the Divine Grace and Assistance which as I have before prov'd is in sufficient measure given to every Man And to deny this is in effect to charge God with the greatest Cruelty Oppression and Injustice that is possible For what less is the giving Men such Commands as they are not able to perform and withal threatning and actually inflicting unconceivable Torments for such are those of Hell upon all that shall be found disobedient to the impracticable Law This would be indeed to require Brick without Straw as the Egyptian Task-masters did and then to lay on Stripes for a Failure in the Work nay 't would be infinitely worse because the Punishment for Irreligion and not improving our Talents is infinitely greater and shall be inflicted to all Eternity Since therefore God knows whereof we are made and remembers that we are but Dust and can tell how difficult his Commands will be to us and how proportionable our Ability is to keep and do them better than we our selves for 't is he that hath made us and gave us our natural Powers and Faculties and the Superadditions of Grace and Aid from Above since he is infinitely good and will not overload his Creatures nor exact impossible Tasks or such as are extremely difficult and but one degree below impossible since he is likewise infinitely just and will not damn Myriads of poor Wretches to all Eternity for not making an impossible Improvement of their Talents and expects only that they should give a reasonable Account according to what they have received from him From all this it will follow Not that therefore a Man shall be excus'd for pleading Inability but that every Man is Able through the never deficient Grace of that good God to such as heedfully attend to it to keep his holy just and good Commands and make Improvement suitable to the Talents he hath receiv'd and if for all this he perish his Blood will be upon his own Head Wherefore let no Man for the future be so Impious as to charge God with expecting impossible Services from his Creatures or think to palliate his Irreligion by crying out of the extreme Hardship of living like a Christian but let every Man set heartily and sincerely about his Duty and he will find that God's Grace will be sufficient for him to his daily Improvement and that the Ways of Religion are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace I come now to the last Thing to be consider'd in this Parable which is That the Condition of the diligent Improvers of their Talents will be unspeakably happy but the Condition of the Unprofitable beyond Expression miserable and that both in this World and in the next First The Condition of the diligent Improvers of their Talent will be unspeakably happy both in this World and that above In this World a quiet and serene Conscience will be to them a continual Feast the Sense of having perform'd their Duty according to their Ability of having been good Stewards of the Grace of God bestow'd upon them and that they can give a sincere Account though not a perfect one to their great Master when he shall come to look into their Behaviour in their Stewardship this will fill their Breasts with unspeakable Satisfaction their Soul will be calm and their Thoughts at Rest in Conscience of their Fidelity their Life not imbitter'd with anxious Fear and Dread of a sad After Reckoning but like that of a faithful Servant who is in his Master's Favour steady and easie and moving cheerfully in the Circle of his Duty and in joyful Expectation of the Reward of his Diligence when his great Lord shall advance him from the State of a Servant to that of a Friend and Bosom Favourite nay of a Coheir with himself of the Joys and Felicities of the Eternal Kingdom of Heaven And besides this Serenity and Satisfaction of Mind and comfortable Prospect of so glorious a Recompense of Reward which are Blessings of the first Magnitude and to which nothing in this World is comparable the improving Christian shall have more Talents given him more Grace shower'd down upon his Soul what the Slothful have forfeited shall be conferr'd upon him and he shall abound still more and more in every good Word and Work And what Condition can approach nearer to the state of Heavenly Glory than that of a holy Soul thus plentifully stor'd with the divine Grace And if Grace and Glory differ only in degree and the One be but the Completion and Perfection of the other a Soul so filled with Grace as the improving Soul will be must needs live a Heaven upon Earth and have frequent Antepasts of Glory And in that other World when the Glory shall be reveal'd that is prepared for them that love and serve our Lord Jesus in Sincerity then will their Happiness be as ineffable as endless It is express'd in this Parable by entring into the Joy of our Lord that is partaking of his Glories and Felicities in the Presence of the Immortal God They shall be conducted after having given a good Account of their Stewardship by the Blessed Angels into the Presence of the great King of Heaven where they shall see him face to face and with wondring Eyes and enravish'd Hearts behold his Glory gaze upon his Splendors and nearly view his Beauty who is the Fountain of
before we proceed to consider the Parable learn this short but excellent Lesson namely That when sudden ill Accidents befall our Neighbours we do not presently make Conclusion as is too often done especially where there has been any Enmity or Difference between the Parties that God has met with them by his Judgments for some Extraordinary Wickedness of theirs and pronounce them worse Men than our selves or others that escape because they suffer such things for this is a very rash and uncharitable Sentence and may be far from Truth But rather by God's Severity upon others be inclined to reflect upon our selves and humble our selves before him for our own Iniquities and entirely resolve to forsake every Evil Way lest we likewise fall under the like Expresses of his Vengeance in this World or of infinitely worse in that which is to come In the Parable it self is represented God's Method of Proceeding with Sinners now under the Gospel from first to last and it is this First He plants them in his Vineyard the Church of Christ that there by the good Cultivating of the Ministers of his Kingdom and the refreshing Influences of his Blessed Spirit upon their Souls they may become Fruitful of such good Works as may fit and prepare them for the Enjoyments of his Heavenly Kingdom to which in due season they are to be transplanted After they are thus plac'd in his Vineyard and Cultivated by the Sermons of the Gospel he looks for a proportionable Fruitfulness from them and that after all his Care and Goodness to them they would for their Part make him a due Return of the Fruits of Evangelical Righteousness As when a Tree is remov'd from a Poorer to a Richer Soil and much Care and Husbandry used about it 't is expected it should grow and flourish accordingly and bring forth more and better Fruit. After God has with much Patience and Forbearance yearly sought for Fruit from them and is as often disappointed his Wisdom and his Justice prompt him to rid his Vineyard of the Incumbrance of those Unprofitable Trees to remove from the Society of his Faithful Disciples those that are a Trouble and a Scandal to them and as Barren Trees are laid aside to be burnt so to consign them to those everlasting Burnings prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels But though in Justice he purposes the Destruction of the Unfruitful yet his infinite Mercy through the Intercession of the Compassionate Jesus the Dresser of this his Vineyard the Head and Governor of the Christian Church inclines him to a still farther Forbearance till they shall be cultivated and manur'd afresh by the again repeated Instructions and Exhortations of his Servants the Ministers of the Gospel and the reiterated Motions of the Blessed Spirit of Life and Holiness And then if they bear Fruit well Happy will it be for them but if not after that he will cut them down and utterly destroy them Of each of these Particulars we shall now discourse in their Order The first is God's wondrous Care and Tenderness of Sinners in Planting them in his Vineyard as the Parable expresses it that is receiving them into the Church of Christ where they are cultivated by the Ministers of his Kingdom and their Souls water'd with gentle Showers from Above the blessed Influences of the Holy Spirit that they may Flourish and become Fruitful of such good Works as may prepare them for the Felicities of Heaven to which in due time they shall be Transplanted Before the Coming of our Saviour the Jewish Church was God's Vineyard his peculiar Inclosure and the Subject of his more immediate Care and Government and all but the Seed of Jacob were excluded as wild uncultivated Trees and left to Themselves in the Wilderness of the World For so in a spiritual Sense was all but the Land of Jewry the Lot of their Inheritance Afterwards when the Fullness of Time was come that God would take Pity upon the whole Race of Adam and receive all Mankind to his Favour he then enlarg'd that his Vineyard and gave a Free Admittance to all that would submit to the Culture and Government of his Eternal Son whom he sent to break down the former Inclosure and make it more capacious even as large as the World it self and committed it to his Management made him the great Dresser of this Vineyard the Head and Governour of this Universal Church that through his excellent Directions and the Care and Industry of his Servants and the Decrees from Above of his Divine Grace and Assistance And above all through the wondrous Efficacy of his Precious Blood with which he plentifully enrich'd this his new Plantation it might thrive and flourish and bring forth Fruit meet for him by whom it was dress'd even the Fruits of the Spirit and such as are meet for Repentance such as may advance the Glory of God by the Salvation of innumerable Souls that none made after his Image might perish but all come to Everlasting Life God's Vineyard then being thus enlarg'd and his Church now no longer confin'd to a Corner of the World but by the Coming of Christ made Universal that all men might come to the Knowledge of the Truth Man is again as 't were seated in Paradise and reconciled to God 'T is again put into his Power to continue in his Makers Favour and after a Happy Life in this World to be transplanted into that Heavenly Country where is the Residence of the Divine Majesty and Rivers of ineffable Pleasures which flow for evermore As through the Disobedience of the first Adam Mankind was driven out of Paradise and doom'd to Live and Labour amongst Briars and Thorns as under the Displeasure of his Creator and then to Dye and Return to his Dust so through the Obedience of the second Adam even to the Death of the Cross through the Merits of his Blood and the Atonement of his Sacrifice all that sad Sentence and Condemnation is in a spiritual Sense revers'd and we are again planted in the Vineyard and Garden of God recall'd from the Portion of Thorns and Briars and restor'd to the Favour of our Creator and at length to change this Corruptible for Incorruptible this Dishonour and Weakness for Glory and Power this Natural for a Spiritual Body this Mortal Life for Immortality and by this means is brought to pass the Saying that is written 1 Cor. 15. Death is swallowed up in Victory O Blessed Alteration O happy Change of Misery and Shame for Happiness and Glory O the Miraculous Love and Goodness of God to Mankind in thus commiserating our deplorable Condition and delivering us from the Power of Darkness and translating us into the Kingdom of his Dear Son and making us meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Happy are they who have heard of these Glad Tidings and are planted in this Spiritual Vineyard and under the Care and Cultivation of the great
'T is Fruit then God expects from Christians not Leaves not the Form of Godliness but the Power of it not to be call'd Lord Lord but to have his Commands Obeyed But since God is infinitely full already and can receive no Addition to his Inexhaustible Store since our Goodness extendeth not to him neither is it any Profit to him that we make our Way perfect It will not be amiss to enquire upon what Accounts God so strictly and indispensibly requires that we should be Fruitful And 't is upon our own Account that we might be happy in this World and made capable of enjoying the Glories and Felicities of the Kingdom of Heaven First God expects the Fruits of Righteousness from all that name the Name of Jesus and are planted in his Vineyard that they may be happy in this World 'T is the great Design of our good God to make his Creatures happy and because we are plac'd in this World to fit and prepare our selves for Heaven and are to spend a Life here below he has given us a Rule which if we walk by we shall be happy here as well as in the world above and which if we disregard and deviate from a double Misery will be our Portion And in this God deals with us as a wise and good Parent with his Children he keeps them close to what will conduce to their Happiness though he himself receives no other Benefit by it than the Hope of seeing his Off spring happy 'T is for this Reason that our Saviour the great Dresser of God's Vineyard and his Servants the Apostles so often press the Observance of such Rules as have chiefly Relation to the Comfortable Living in this World as with Relation to others Mercifulness Charity Meekness Forbearance and Forgiveness of Injuries Peaceableness Compassion and Pity together with exact Justice and Honesty without which there would be be no Comfort of Society and Men would be like so many Wild Beasts preying upon and devouring one another And with Relation to our selves we are taught Temperance and Sobriety and Chastity and Moderation in all things Contentment of Mind Patience and the like without which neither a Man's Mind or Body would be at Ease nor taste any Comfort and Happiness in Life Indeed God has been pleas'd to annex the Rewards of Heaven to the sincere and constant Practice of these Virtues as a further Encouragement to Men chearfully and diligently to set about them but 't is the Happiness of this World that they have a direct Influence upon and are therefore commanded and therefore encourag'd that much Sin and Misery might be prevented and Men might be happy in this lower World For as for the contrary Vices as Cruelty and Unmercifulness Rage and Intemperate Anger Uncharitableness and Revenge Strife and Envy Injustice and Oppression and the like these would make a Hell upon Earth and quite destroy Society and all the Comforts of it and make the World like a Desert and force Men to the Shelter of Rocks and Mountains and Dens and Caves of the Earth And where-ever they should go if Intemperance and ungovern'd Lust and Inordinate Desire and Use of the Gratifications of Sense Discontent and Anxiety of Mind Impatience and the like should follow them their Misery would be endless and Happiness an utter Stranger to them And therefore as much as the Happiness of Life is to be valu'd so much are we bound to praise and adore the Infinite and Disinteressed Goodness of God who hath given us such Rules of Living as if observ'd will procure that Happiness and who besides that we may not fail to observe them has over and above propos'd to us ineffably Glorious Rewards in Heaven if we do and threatned as great a Misery in Hell if we do not That is he has done all that is possible to be done to make a free Agent happy in the World that now is as well as that which is to come and therefore 't is highly reasonable that we give all possible Praise and Thanksgiving to that his Infinite Goodness and use all possible Diligence to co-operate with his Gracious Intentions for our Good for 't is our Happiness that will be promoted by it not his And this is the first Reason why God so indispensibly requires of us the Fruits of Righteousness because 't is impossible we should be happy even in this World without them A second Reason of this is because otherwise 't is impossible we should be happy in the next Life The Happiness of the next Life we are well assur'd consists in an intimate Vision and Enjoyment of God who is the Fountain of Excellency and Perfection and consequently of Bliss and God being an infinitely Pure and Holy Being and it being necessary to Enjoyment that there should be a Correspondence and Agreeableness between the Object and the Faculty no Soul but what is Pure and Holy is capable of enjoying a Pure and Holy God The Soul therefore of every Man being since the Fall of Adam stain'd and polluted full of vile Affections and Lusts such as render it uncapable of so pure and Divine a Happiness 't is necessary that it should be refined and purified and have Heavenly Affections and Desires planted in the Room of those Vile and Brutish ones and recover the Divine Likeness which has been so shamefully defac'd that so at length by the Actual Excercise of the Divine Life here we may become in some Measure capable of enjoying the Celestial Happiness that flows from the Contemplation and Love of the Supreme Good Or in the Words of St. John that being like him in this State of Probation we may be prepar'd to see see him as he is in the Regions of Glory And this an Observance of the Precepts of our Holy Religion will effect and they were therefore given that they might effect it We are exhorted to be poor in Spirit humble and resign'd to the Will of God that so we may be conducted safely to the Kingdom of Heaven to hunger and thirst after Righteousness that we may be fill'd with Grace here and Glory hereafter to mourn for our former Vileness and Degeneracy and Estrangement from God and flee from all Wickedness and sincerely endeavour a Reformation that so we may be comforted in the Day of Retribution and as good and faithful Servants be receiv'd into the Joy of our Lord. We are urg'd to Purity of Heart that we may see God to be holy as he is holy perfect as he is perfect pure as he is pure because he hates Iniquity and into his Presence no unclean thing can enter and without Holiness no Man can see the Lord. So that the Reason why God requires that we should bring forth Fruit unto Holiness is that the end may be everlasting Life These are the Reasons why God so strictly and indispensibly requires that we should be fruitful of good Works after he has planted us in his Vineyard and
that of St. James If any Man lack Wisdom let him ask of God but let him ask in Faith nothing wavering for such a Man shall not receive any thing of the Lord James 1. 5 6. The meaning of all which I suppose to be this That as the Apostles upon their firm Belief of the Truth of our Lord's Promise of enabling them to work Miracles for the Advancement of the Christian Religion and of his Power to do accordingly should when they pray'd for his Help be enabl'd to do as they desired so all other Believers if their Prayers are accompanied with a strong Belief of his Veracity in promising to hear the Prayers of the Faithful of his Ability to relieve and help them and of his infinite Goodness and Willingness to grant them their Desires if it be expedient for them they shall certainly speed well and receive a Blessing at the Hand of God The very Petitions they offer up if for their Good shall be granted them and if not for their Good God in his infinite Wisdom will bestow something else upon them that shall be more for their Advantage And they may depend upon it they shall not be sent away empty But he that wavereth and is of doubtful Mind in these Particulars and prays with great Diffidency and distrust of prevailing as his Prayers must needs be very cool and without that Life and Fervour and Importunacy which we shall see presently is likewise necessary to our Success so his Mind must be in strange Agitation and toss'd between the Waves of two contrary and very perplexing Passions Hope and Fear and the latter having manifestly the Advantage with such a Man for if his Hope were stronger than his Fear he would be more fix'd and steady than he is 't is a Thousand to one but at length after intollerable Disquietudes and Anxiety of Mind he will split upon Despair or down-right Atheism So true is that of St. James Chap. 1. Vers 6 8. He that wavereth is like a Wave of the Sea driven about and tossed a double minded Man is unstable in all his Ways and so necessary is it that we should firmly believe and be actually perswaded when we pray that our Petitions if for our Good shall be granted us by our Heavenly Father There is yet one thing more requir'd if we would succeed in our Devotions and which is of very great Avail in this Matter and that is a Holy Earnestness and Importunity And 't is a thing so much to be observ'd that our Lord deliver'd two Parables cited at the Beginning of this Discourse to this very Purpose That Men ought always to pray and not to faint In both there is a Delay and Denial for a Time but at length the Importunate prevail Now though the Reason why our Saviour directs to this Importunity cannot be the same with that mention'd in the Parables God's Quietness and Happiness being not to be disturb'd nor he teas'd and weari'd into Compliance as those in the Parables were yet there may be several other Reasons given for it 'T is a Manifestation of our earnest Desire of prevailing and that we indeed highly value what we thus importunately beg for 't is a means to make us prize a Blessing the more which we so hardly come by and to be the more thankful for it when we receive it and the more careful not to lose or forfeit it 'T is a Tryal of our Patience an Exercise of our Faith and Hope and Dependence upon God it teacheth Humility and Self-Denial and Amendment of our Faults lest our Continuance in them render us unworthy of God's Favour it makes Devotion burn bright and vigorously and is of great Advantage to all the Purposes of Religion For these and such like Reasons it is that our good God who giveth to all Men freely and upbraideth not has made Importunity a Condition in order to the obtaining our Requests and indeed the Blessings God encourages us to ask and bestows upon us are so great that the utmost Earnestness and most importunate Addresses and the longest Attendance will be abundantly repaid with a Grant at last Having thus done what I at first propos'd to do upon the Parable of the importunate Widow and prov'd that Prayer is not only the Privilege but the Duty of every Christian and shewn how far the Obligation to this Duty does extend and what those Requisites are which are necessary to the effectual Performance of this Duty viz Purity of Life and Manners Sincerity of Intention Just and Upright Dealing with one another express'd by St. Paul by lifting up Holy Hands and likewise a quiet peaceable Temper of Mind not given to Strife and Wrath but apt to be reconcil'd and to forgive together with a full Assurance of Faith in the Veracity and Power and Goodness of God accompanied with a Holy Earnestness and Importunity It remains only that we all of us be exhorted diligently and heartily according to the Measures before describ'd to put in Practice this so beneficial a Duty There is no Place no Time but we have need of God's Favour and Protection and we may always and in every Place beseech it of him and he has promis'd to hear and accept us whenever we address to him as we ought 'T is Prayer that sanctifies Prosperity and makes light the Burthens of Adversity and brings a Blessing upon our Business and Callings and is the greatest Cordial upon the Bed of Sickness wherefore Let us pray every where lifting up Holy Hands without Wrath and doubting and by an Importunity not to be denied do a pleasing Violence to Heaven For every one that thus asketh Matth. 11.10 c. receiveth If a Son shall ask any of us that is a Father Bread or a Fish or an Egg will we give him a Stone or a Serpent or a Scorpion If we then being evil know how to give good Gifts to our Children how much more shall our Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit and all other needful Blessings to them that ask him The PRAYER MOst Gracious God who not only permittest but dost encourage nay command us to make our Requests known unto thee and hast promised by thy Blessed Son that whatever we ask in his Name if it be expedient for us we shall receive assist me with thy Grace so to advert to the All-sufficiency and Almighty Goodness of thy Divine Nature and the miserable Indigency of my own that I may have a due Value for this inestimable Favour and be so much my own Friend as often to bend my Knees before the Throne of thy Grace and lay my Supplications before thee I humbly confess O Lord and deplore my hitherto great and stupid Backwardness in this Heavenly and most beneficial Duty and earnestly beseech thee that for the time to come thou would'st prepare my Soul by the Inspirations of thy Blessed Spirit that it may become a House of Prayer and a fit Habitation for
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
that he would turn away that fierce Anger from him which he is very sensible he has but too much deserv'd Thus David fram'd a Psalm on purpose to confess and bewail his great Transgressions in the Matter of Uriah He then forgot all that was good in him and did not expect that his former excellent Piety should cover and make Amends for those foul Sins He did not search for Excuses and endeavour to extenuate his Guilt but like a truly humble Penitent chang'd his usual Strain of Praise and Thansgiving for the Accents of Grief and Shame and better Remorse acknowledging his Transgressions and having his Sins ever before him and with the most pathetick Earnestness of a broken and contrite Heart begging God's Forgiveness and that he would again Greate in him a clean Heart and renew a right Spirit within him As if those his great Wickednesses had not only polluted all that before was good in him but quite destroy'd the Rectitude and Integrity of his Soul And as David so S. Peter when he reflected upon the great Baseness of Denying his divine Master and Saviour his Spirit was so truly humbled that without endeavouring in the least to conceal or palliate his Fault he went out and wept bitterly And so the Publican in the Parable would not so much as lift up his Eyes to Heaven but stood afar off in the Court of the Gentiles which was the lowest of all and with great Compunction of Spirit smote upon his Breast and said God be merciful to me a Sinner And thus much for the First Thing to be done upon this Parable which was to shew what the Grace of Spiritual Humility is viz. a not Over-valuing our spiritual Excellencies nor our Selves by reason of them nor despising others as less Holy but returning all the Glory to God who made us to differ nor undervaluing or endeavouring to excuse and extenuate our Wickednesses but an impartial considering the Vileness and great Aggravations of them and sincere humbling our Selves for them at the Throne of God The Second Thing to be done is to shew how excellent and beneficial this Vertue is in our Christian Course and how vile and mischievous the contrary Vice is 'T is a sufficient Argument that this Vertue is very excellent and of great Benefit to Christians that our Lord has plac'd it in the Front of his Beatitudes which he begins thus Blessed are the poor in Spirit Like a wise Master-Builder he lays the Foundation low of a Building that was to reach so very high and Humbleness of Mind must be the Ground-work of that Religion which will advance a Man to Heaven Piety without Humility is very apt to make Men top-heavy and over-set like a Ship without her Ballast 't is this that preserves the Soul unshaken amidst the Temptations of the World as that makes a Ship sail sure and steady amidst the mighty Billows The House in the Gospel that was founded upon a sandy Surface of the Earth soon yielded to the Fury of the Tempest and great was the Fall of it our Lord therefore begins with poverty of Spirit as the Basis and great security of all his other Building which he foresaw and foretold was to undergo the Shock of many a furious Storm and contend with all the Powers of the Prince of Darkness But more particularly this Grace of Spiritual Humility is so excellent and highly beneficial that nothing more conduces to a Man's Spiritual growth and Encrease in Vertue nor renders him more dear both to God and Man First Nothing more conduces to a Man's spiritual growth and Encrease in Vertue For 't is very true in Religion as well as in Worldly Affairs That nothing makes Men more industrious than a due sense of their Wants and the poorness of their Stock whereas when a Man thinks he has Abundance he is generally Slothful and Careless and Impoverishment becomes his Lot rather than a farther Improvement An humble Sense of a Man's Imperfections and Sins will make him doubly diligent and consequently to improve greatly in the School of Righteousness but haughty Conceitedness will certainly make him grow worse and worse Nay there will be no End of the humble minded Man's Improvement for 't is always found in the pursuit of Vertue as well as of Knowledge that the more real Vertue increases in the Soul of a Good Man the more and greater the Defects of his Vertue appear to be and consequently the more will his Diligence be quickned and spurr'd on as St. Paul the farther he advanced in the Christian Race the more conscious he grew that he had not yet apprehended what he endeavoured after and was not yet perfect and that made him forget what was behind his former Attainments and reach out to what was still before what he had not yet attain'd to and eagerly press forward to the Mark the Prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus Now the Consequence of this extraordinary Diligence must needs be an extraordinary growth and increase and so still onward in a quick and vigorous Motion till he finishes his Vertuous Race and is perfect as his Father which is in Heaven is perfect And as this spiritual Humility makes a Man move swiftly in the Christian Course so it makes him tread surely too it ballances him and keeps him upon his Centre and secures him from those dangerous Falls which too often are the Fate of the high-minded and proud for 't was Pride and Haughtiness of Spirit we know that ruin'd the Prince of the Fallen Angels and his Accomplices But poverty of Spirit is the great Security of a Christian against the subtle Arts of the Tempter 't is the proper Mark and Character of a Disciple of the meek lowly Jesus and is a disposition of Mind the most of all apt for Repentance which is a Grace of infinite Value as being absolutely necessary to Salvation and entitles a Man in a peculiar manner to the Divine Aid and Assistance for God giveth Grace to the Humble Secondly As this spiritual Humility is of the greatest Benefit to a Christian so does it render him highly dear both to God and Man All Men love an humble Man and look upon him as a Wise and Extraordinary Person and he that is pious and circumspect in his Conversation and yet is not proud of it nor despises or haughtily reflects upon others that live more at large than he does but advises them better seasonably and with Meekness and Humility such a Man is esteem'd as a Person sent from God to do Good to Mankind that seeing his Good Works mix'd with poverty of Spirit they may be inclined to imitate so lovely an Example and glorifie their Father which is in Heaven by treading in his Steps And as for God S. Peter and S. James and the Wisest of Men all agree that he resisteth the proud but giveth Grace to the humble And our Lord himself at the end of the Parable we