passively obedient but likewise actively so and ready chearfully to obey his Commands so ought every Believer to be to Christ Indeed this is the main Tryal of true conjugal Affection and is the best Demonstration of the Sincerity of all other Shews of Love and Fidelity and Reverence and Submission For where true Love Reverence and Submission is a chearful Obedience will surely follow and on the contrary where there is no willing chearful Obedience there is but very little if any sincere Affection And therefore says our dear Lord if ye love me keep my Commandments And why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things that I say And of Sarah 't is said she obey'd Abraham as well as call'd him Lord. And St. John agreeably 1 John 2.5 whoso keepeth his Word in him verily is the Love of God perfected and hereby know we that we are in him And therefore Obedience to the Commands of this our glorious Husband is above all things necessary to continue that our near Relation to him and his Commandments are not grievous but his Yoke is easie and his Burthen light And 't would be strange if we should not obey him who commands us nothing but what is in its own Nature necessary in order to our Happiness in both Worlds In the last place the Gospel is productive of like Effects to those of Marriage and from this so near Relation of Believers to Christ proceeds the Increase of such as shall be the Children of God a numerous Progeny to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and fill up the Vacancies left by the Fall of the rebellious Angels Thus our Lord calls the becoming Christian 's a being born again John 3.3 and teaches us when we pray to God to say Our Father And St. Paul agreeably in a Quotation from the Prophet Jeremiah says as in the Person of God I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord Allmighty 2 Cor. 6.18 And the Jerusalem which is from above or the Christian Church is said to be the Mother of us all Gal. 4.26 and Chap. 3.26 we are all the Children of God by Christ Jesus And if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and joynt Heirs with Christ of that glorious Kingdom of his which is not of this World but eternal in the Heavens Well therefore may we cry out with Admiration as St. John does 1 John 3.1 Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestow'd upon us that we should be call'd the Sons of God! And every Man that hath this Hope in him of being receiv'd into the Bosom of his heavenly Father and seeing him as he is must purifie himself even as he is pure And having such glorious Expectations cleanse himself from all Filthyness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holyness in the Fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 This then is the Nature of the Gospel 't is as a Marriage between Christ and Believers There is one thing more to be consider'd under this first General namely who they are that are admitted to the Joys and Happiness of this blessed Condition They are describ'd in the Parable by the poor and the maim'd the halt and the blind And truly just such was Man's Condition before God was pleased to call him to this happy Marriage Despicably poor we were and destitute of any real Excellency that could recommend us to the Favour of God our Souls were like a parch'd and barren Wilderness burnt up with vile Lusts and Passions no Fruits of Holiness appearing but drawing still nearer and nearer to everlasting Perdition Maim'd we were in all our Faculties by our frequent desperate Falls from our Obedience to God and full of Wounds and Bruises and putrifying Sores and our best Performances very lame and imperfect like the Haltings of a Cripple and our Understandings withall blinded by the Deceitfulness of Sin which put out that Candle of the Lord and made it uncapable of directing us in the right Way that leads to Happiness so that we lay groping in the Dark surrounded with Terrors rack'd by Uncertainties miserably poor and indigent and utterly unable to help our selves When lo There arose up a Light in this Darkness and through the infinite Mercy of our God the Day-spring from on high did visit us we were pitied and commiserated by the Father of Mercies and in this forlorn Condition call'd to partake of the ineffable Joys and Felicities that attend the nearest and dearest Relation to the Son of God The Lord anointed him to preach the Gospel to the poor he sent him to heal the broken-hearted to preach Deliverance to the captives and Recovery of Sight to the blind and to set at Liberty them that are bruised Luke 4.18 And accordingly he inrich'd our Poverty restor'd our Sight heal'd our Bruises and confirm'd our Strength and of his Fulness have we all receiv'd and nothing for the Future can ever make us miserable but our selves Wherefore as we should adore and magnifie with all our Souls the wondrous Goodness and Compassion of God and our Saviour in receiving such wretched polluted Creatures as we were by Nature into so intimate a Relation to himself and making us Partakers of the Comforts of his blessed Spirit in this World and providing Crowns of Glory for us in the next So above all things should we dread to fall back into the same Condition again and work out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling For otherwise 't would have been better for us never to have tasted of the divine Compassion in so extraordinary a Manner as we have done and our latter End will be worse than our Beginning And thus much for the first thing to be consider'd in this Parable namely the Nature of the Gospel or Christian Religion represented by the Marriage of a King's Son and the poor and the maim'd the halt and the blind being call'd in to partake of the Joys and Festivities of that great Solemnity I proceed now to the Second thing to be consider'd namely God's great Care in having this Gospel preach'd this Religion publish'd and made known to all Men and his repeated Invitations to all Men to embrace it represented by that King 's sending forth his Servants to call those that were bidden to the Wedding and again sending other Servants and commanding them to tell those that were bidden that he had prepar'd and made all things ready and therefore to urge them to come unto the Marriage How great God's Care has been that this Gospel should be publish'd and how repeated his Invitations to Men have been that they would embrace it is evident from the whole Story of the first planting of the Gospel and from the Course that by God's Appointment has been taken ever since At first many were endow'd with very extraordinary Abilities for this Purpose such as the Gift of Tongues whereby they were enabled wherever they should go to preach the Gospel to Men
more and more to soften their Hearts and make them pliable to the Impressions of the Word of Life that it may sink deep into their Souls and be fix'd there beyond the Danger of yeilding to every Temptation and withering when Adversity shall come They must not boggle at any thing that appears to be their Duty but be diligent and industrious in ridding their Minds of their former Evil Habits and Inclinations and inure themselves to the Obedience of Christ not pretending Hardship or Impossibility when He commands not endeavouring to lessen the Obligation of any of his Precepts or shifting it from themselves nor expecting Heaven upon easier Terms But knowing their Lord's Will endeavour to do it in Sincerity upon such Obedience only through the Merits of Christ hoping for the Promises And this Course like good Tillage and Manuring of our Ground will soon mollify the Heart and make it not only superficially but intirely Plyable to the Word of God receptive of its Impressions to the very Bottom so that it shall dwell in us richly and bring forth Fruit not only in Times of Security and Peace but even then when Tribulation shall arise because of the Word and take still deeper Root and bring forth greater Abundance notwithstanding all the Storms and Scorchings of Persecution or even a fiery Tryal Thirdly in order to the Fruitfulness of the Word we must be very careful that it be not like Seed that falleth among Thorns lest the Thorns spring up and choak it so that it yield no Fruit. That is that after the hearing of the Word we go not forth and suffer the Cares of this World and the Deceitfulness of Riches and the Lusts and Pleasures of this Life to enter in and choak the Word and it become utterly unfruitful or at least bring no Fruit to Perfection 'T is by a lamentable Experience too true that the Love of this World very much hinders our Provision for the next and 't is as true that this is the greatest Folly and Madness in Nature because the World to come is upon all Accounts so infinitely to be preferr'd before the present that there cannot be the least Competition between them For how can a World of Cares and Vexations of Misery and Affliction of all Sorts of Hazards and Uncertainties of Sickness Pain and Death as this is compare with a World of eternal unmix'd and uninterrupted Happiness as is the other And therefore one would think Men should be so wise and so much their own Friends as to bestow their greatest Endeavours in Pursuit of their main Interest and not on the contrary such egregious Fools as for the Gain of an empty Bubble to forfeit an happy Eternity So far as is consistent with the Care of the Soul 't is very allowable to mind the Affairs of this Life Nay 't is a Duty of our Holy Religion for every man to be industrious in his Calling and to enjoy with Thanksgiving the Portion that God hath given him here below But to invert God's Order and place that First in our Esteem which should be Last when he says seek ye First the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and then all needful things of this World shall be added unto you to run quite counter and First provide for Abundance here and then and that but very coldly God knows think a little of the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness this is such a preposterous Course as can never end in any thing but Shame and Confusion If it be true that the Gain of even the whole World would be a very unprofitable Exchange when compared with the Loss of the Soul and if it be true that the Loss of the Soul will follow upon the Unfruitfulness of the Word of God for Faith alone will not save but must bring forth the Fruits of the Spirit And finally if it be true that a too great Love and eager Prosecution of the things of this World will choak the Word of God and make it unfruitful as our Lord in this Part of the Parable affirms it will If all this be true I see not how it can be avoided but that such as have a Desire that the Word of God should be fruitful in their Souls in order to the eternal Salvation of them must love the World less and their Souls more must be careful in the First place to grow in Grace and be rich towards God and clear their Minds of these worldly Thorns and Briars lest the Divine Life be stifled and that Seed choak'd which alone can fructify to a happy Immortality We must use this World yet so as not to abuse it but certainly he abuses it and all the Blessings that God affords him in it who so immoderately Doats upon it as to prefer it before the Service of his great Benefactor and spends most of his Thoughts and Endeavours about the encreasing Wealth and the Enjoyment of these sublunary Pleasures and can spare but very little if any of his Time and Pains to prepare himself for the Enjoyment of God in Glory And yet as plain as this is Men are generally so little affected with it as not only to neglect Religion as much as ever and love the World still more and more but even to plead the Cares of the World as an Excuse for their Coolness in Religion and the Unfruitfulness of the Word of God in their Souls We would be oftner at the Sacrament and more constant in at the Prayers of the Church and in reading and meditating upon the Holy Scriptures but that the Cares of the World and the Hurry of Business takes up most of our Time and Thoughts But for God's Sake let such consider is that an Excuse which is it self as great a Fault as any Will God accept such an Excuse at the Day of Judgment Has he not plainly forewarn'd us of the Danger of too much worldly Mindedness Has not St. John said plainly 1 Joh. 2.15 love not the World nor the things of the World for whoso loveth the World the Love of the Father is not in him And our Lord as plainly ye cannot serve God and Mammon How strange a Plea then is it for the Neglect of Religion to say we are deeply engag'd in the Persuit of this World 's Good If we believe we have Souls to be saved methinks we should take care of them in the First place and as for this World a moderate Industry such as does by no means intrench upon Religion is all that can be justifyed And what our Lord said to the Scribes and Pharisees about their taking care of lesser Matters and neglecting the weighty things of the Law should be our Rule in providing for our Families and providing for our Souls These things ought ye to have done and not to have left the other undone He that provides not for his own House according to the Measures of Necessity and Moderation is worse than an Infidel
and the great Obligation we have to imitate this Example of our merciful God To forgive one another in Imitation of the Divine Example is first to forgive such as have injured us freely and without Reserve and that though they still continue to shew themselves our Enemies and are ready to do us fresh Mischiefs when it lies in their Power For thus as we have seen God dealt with us miserable Sinners he first lov'd us and while we were yet Sinners and consequently in open Hostility and Rebellion against him even when he sent his Son to dye for us and be the Propitiation for our Sins He took pity upon us when we were still adding new Wickednesses to our long Account and when we deserved nothing but eternal Misery thought upon Mercy And in Imitation of this our Lord commands us to love our Enemies not to render Evil for Evil but contrariwise Blessing that so we may be the Children of our Father which is in Heaven For to use our Saviours Enforcement of this if those only share in our Affections or Esteem who are as beneficial and kind to us as we to them what Thank have we Self-Love and Interest may there be the Motives and very little of True Piety and Goodness nay even the very worst of Men may be as eminent for such Sort of Charity as the best Publicans and Sinners as our Lord observed doing the same But Christians should be of a more Godlike Temper their Charity more free and disinteressed the greater and more frequent their Injuries the more ready should they be to pardon and forgive and not only be reconciled after a seven-fold Wrong but after one repeated seventy times seven And our Saviour has likewise further inforced this by his own Example who with his last Breath pray'd for the Forgiveness of his cruel Murtherers Secondly We must not only forgive such as but little deserve it but likewise in Correspondence to our divine Pattern whether they desire it or no For thus it was in God's Forgiveness of Sinners he prevented us by the Riches of his compassionate Goodness and entreated us his rebellious Creatures first by his Prophets then by his only Son to be reconcil'd to him and embrace their Pardon And thus those that will be Imitators of God as dear Children must likewise do Rather than Enmity should continue we must seek to our Enemies to be reconcil'd though they were the first that offered the Offence And this however hardly it may sound is not only our Duty by Vertue of that general Conâ—â—â—d of forgiving one another as God has forgiven us but is expresly commanded by our compassionate Saviour Mat. 18.15 which occasion'd that Question of St. Peter Vers 21. How often shall I forgive my Brother Upon which our Lord deliver'd this Parable his Words are these and deserve our serious Attention Moreover if thy Brother trespass against thee go and tell him his Fault between thee and him alone If thy Brother trespass against thee or as we usually express it first did the Injury or gave the Affront go thou to him stay not till he comes and acknowledges his Fault to thee for that 's a thing Men are very backward in doing either for fear or for Shame or out of Pride and Greatness of Spirit as it must be term'd or for other Reasons and Time usually widens such Breaches and encreases Strangeness and Aversion But go thou therefore to him in Meekness and the Spirit of Forgiveness and with Resolutions of passing by all further Unkindnesâ—â— and it may be reproacheâ— for your good Will calmly tell him his Fault expostulate the Case with him and in all Likelyhood he will hear thee a right Understanding between you will ensue and thou shalt gain thy Brother This is indeed to be like God in this great Excellence of forgiving Injuries and is as a most noble Expression of christian Charity so we see very plainly commanded by our Lord and should be taken into our serious Consideration in order to our agreeable Practice Thirdly We must not only so far forgive as not to revenge but in Imitation of the divine Pattern of Forgiveness set before us be ready to do all Acts of Kindness and Beneficence to our Enemy as Occasion shall serve and his Needs require Remembring the Words of our great Master Do good to them that hate you and pray for those that despightfully use you and persecute you for so sâ—â— ye be the Children of the Highest who is 〈◊〉 to the unthankful and to the evil And we must endeavour to confirm the new made Agreement by more than ordinary Expressions of good Will that we may heap Coals upon our Enemies Head to melt him into a Correspondent Charity and likewise that there may be no Place left for our Enemy or our selves to doubt the Sincerity of our Forgiveness For the smoothest Words may be rotten and deceitful and the not revenging an Injury may be for want of Power or Opportunity but when to good Words beneficial Actions are added then may a Man well be thought to love and forgive not in Word only but in Deed and in Truth This is Christian Forgiveness of Injuries or Ephes 4. ult in the Apostle's Words the forgiving one another if any have a Quarrel against any even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us i.e. freely and intirely though their Malice still cotinues against us nay to go and offer 'em Forgiveness and Reconciliation tho' they neither desire nor deserve it and to accompany our Forgiveness with Acts of Kindness and good Turns But what has been said upon this Account must have a Limitation lest it bound indiscriminately upon all Men and at all Times that is in all Instances of Wrong it thwart and run Counter to other Duties of our holy Religion Now in order to our being inform'd of the just Limits of this great Duty we must consider that Injuries may be of three Sorts affecting either Men's Persons their good Names or their Estates And each of these may be either in Danger of Ruin by the Injuries of a wicked Man or only greatly damag'd or the Injury may be but small and trifling and such as brings no considerable and lasting Ill Effects along with it Now such Injuries as threaten Ruin to a Man in any of those Respects ought not to be silently let pass nor the Man so forgiven as to have no Notice taken of him and such a legal Prosecution of him as is necessary to secure a Man's Person or to vindicate or recover his blasted Reputation and to preserve his Estate all or either of which would be ruin'd by the injurious Person if tamely let alone a legal Prosecution in such Cases as these is allow'd by the Law of God and Nature as well as that of the Land And the Case is proportionably the same as to Injuries that greatly endamage a Man in any of those Respects before mentioned And were all
Riches or Abundance of Gold and Silver in which now-a-days we esteem Riches chiefly to consist they are really no better than Heaps of Earth of different Colours impress'd with different Stamps and made of different Sizes and to which Men have given a different Value and Esteem according to their different Colour Size and Impression and which in themselves are good for little but to be look'd on and which he that would live must part with when he has them in Exchange for other Things that are necessary for his Subsistence Now what can be more vile and base than for so Noble and Excellent a Creature as Man so far to degrade himself as to employ his greatest Love and Admiration and Desire upon a Piece of Earth which was originally made for him to tread upon and produce Things for his Food and Pleasure To make that his Master nay his God which was made to be his Servant For a Rational Soul to doat upon a sensless Clod to neglect the Contemplation of the Excellencies of his infinitely perfect Maker and admire one of the lowest of his Creatures to desire a Piece of Earth with the greatest Application and have no Value for the Immortal Glories of Heaven to place his Happiness in what is so very much inferiour to him and upon that which is indeed his Happiness to bestow no Thoughts what can be more vile and abject than this what more unbecoming the Dignity of the Rational Nature and of a Creature that has such glorious Hopes Where is the Reason of a Man that lays out all his Endeavours to acquire a Trifle and in the mean time disregards that which is his chief good and where is the Religion of a Christian that has been redeem'd not by Corruptible Things such as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without Blemish and without Spot where is his Religion that notwithstanding this makes Silver and Gold the chief Object of his Affections and treads under foot the Son of God and counts the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy or common Thing and does despight to the Spirit of Grace and loves and admires Mammon more than his Saviour What more vile and brutish than this what more stupidly ungrateful This is to come down to a Level with the Beasts that perish nay 't is to sink much lower for They act according to their Natural Instincts and choose as they are directed by their Great Creator and serve him obediently in that Rank of Being in which he has plac'd them But that Man much more that Christian that makes perishing Riches the main Object of his Desires and Endeavours acts directly contrary to the Reason that God has given him degenerates many degrees below the Dignity of his Nature disobeys the Orders of his Creator slights the Heavenly Counsel of his Saviour despises the Glories and Felicities of the Kingdom of Heaven and of a Man and a Christian makes himself a vile Muckworm delighted in nothing Noble and Excellent but groveling upon the Earth as if that were the Centre of his Happiness And what can more vilifie and degrade a Reasonable Soul made after the Image of God than such base Affections as these 'T is certainly a most vile Degeneracy and renders a Man the most contemptible Creature in the Universe both to God and Angels and all wise and good Men. And thus much may suffice to expose the Folly and Vileness of an immoderate Desire of Riches as in them placing the Happiness of Life I shall now shew The ill Consequences that attend it which besides that great Perplexity of Mind they cause mention'd before are chiefly these two 1 It mightily hinders a Man's Progress in Religion which is the one Thing necessary 2. It exposes a Man more than any thing to the Danger of Apostacy or falling from the Truth First An immoderate Love of Riches does mightily hinder a Man's Progress in Religion which is the one Thing necessary We may remember our Lord in his Interpretation of a Parable before discours'd of Matt. 13.22 says that the Cares of this World and the Deceitfulness of Riches like Thorns that spring up with Seed choke the Word of God and render it unfruitful and in another Parable of a great Supper made at the Marriage of a King's Son Matt. 22. Luk. 14.18 by which as was discours'd upon that Parable is represented the glad Tidings and Invitations of the Gospel he tells us That that which detain'd Men from it was likewise the Cares of the World and the Love of Riches they had Ground to look after and Oxen to prove and therefore they could not come to the Wedding Supper And accordingly says our Saviour in as express Words as can be Matt. 6.24 No man can serve two Masters ye cannot serve God and Mammon Now the Reason of this is twofold For first Nothing so much distracts a Man's Thoughts as an eager Desire and Pursuit of Wealth for Riches are so difficult to be acquir'd as has been said and so very slippery when gain'd that as to get them will exercise all a Man's Contrivance employ all his Thoughts and Attention and consume his whole Time so to keep them when once gotten will to a Man that knows the Hardship of getting them and how soon they are lost again engage him in constant Care and Solicitude to watch his Idol lest he be depriv'd of it and so his Mind becomes distracted with continual Apprehensions of Danger and at leisure for no other Thoughts than how to secure his Riches And this those that are acquainted with Men much wedded to the World may soon perceive by their careful anxious Looks and distrustful Timorous Discourse Now the immoderate Love of Riches thus engrossing a Man's Soul and the great Business of Religion or making Provision for Another World and laying up a Treasure of good Works in Heaven being a Thing that likewise requires Time and Diligence and a close Application of all our Faculties to the Performance of it and it being impossible for a Man to attend closely to two Things at once and the Love of this World and of the next being not only different but contrary the one to the other How can it be but that he that eagerly loves Riches and has his Soul prepossess'd with a strong Desire of them and all his Faculties before engag'd in their Pursuit must move very slowly in the Way of Religion if he moves at all nay indeed rather move backward than forward and the more he loves the World grow colder still in his Affections to God Another Reason of this is Because an Immoderate Love of Money is a kind of Fascination and Enchantment it casts a Mist before a Man's Understanding and makes him less sensible and apprehensive of the great Obligation to a Religious Life and so dulls and stupifies the Soul that it becomes very little moved with the Sermons of
'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
to his Heavenly Father what rejoycing is there With what endearing Kindness does the Divine Goodness entertain a miserable self-condemn'd Wretch that sees his Error is asham'd and griev'd for it and returns with hearty Purpose to obey him better 'T is represented in the Parable by the highest Expressions of Joy that were in those Eastern Countries the Prodigal's Father ran to meet him fell on his Neck and kissed him commanded the best Robe to be put on him and a Ring on his Hand and Shooes on his Feet and made merry with Feasting and Musick and Dancing One would have thought his wild Extravagancy should have met with rougher Entertainment at least at first Interview and Reproof have been given to his Folly which brought him to so much Misery But his Father's Compassion was above his Anger and because he whom he thought was dead and lost was alive again and found he forgot all Resentment and embraced him with Tenderness and Endearment And thus it is with God when he sees a Returning Sinner Though the Sinner has indeed deserved nothing but the Expresses of his Wrath and Indignation and to be for ever rejected by him yet he who gives freely to every man and upbraideth not and whose Mercy is over all his Works will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax but in infinite Goodness not only give Admittance to but receive with joy his Returning Prodigals And how can we enough praise and admire these Wonders of the Divine Compassion and Love to poor miserable and polluted Creatures 'T is an Abyss that can never be fathom'd our Thoughts are lost and swallow'd up in the Contemplation of it and silent Admiration does best express that which no Words can reach And now for a Conclusion of the whole Since Vice and a Lawless Course of Living is the Parent of so much Misery and has so many ill Consequences closely attending it even in this World and is as the most extravagant so the most unhappy Prodigality and since the Miseries of a wicked Life here are but the Beginnings of unconceivable and eternal Sorrows hereafter and since there is but one Cure for this great Evil and nothing but sincere Repentance will save us from Destruction and since God is so infinitely good as greatly to desire we would Repent and return to our Obedience to him and affords us all possible Helps in order to it and greatly rejoyces to see a Sinner penitent and receives him with the highest Expressions of Tenderness and Love since all this is so let us put off no longer what if we would be happy must be done at last but with the greatest Thankfulness embrace the inestimable Favour of being again receiv'd into the Arms of our merciful God and Saviour Let us immediately turn from every Evil Way and that we may do so effectually let us lay to heart how vexatious and full of Shame and utterly unprofitable a wicked Course of Life is and how full of Pleasure and unspeakable Delight it is to advance from Grace to Grace and to perfect Holiness in the fear of God And having resolv'd well and fully purposed our Return to the wise and good Government of our Heavenly Father without Delay do as we have resolv'd and arise and go to our Father and say with all Humility and Confusion of Face and sincere Contrition Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son and he whose Compassions never fail will embrace us with the Arms of his Mercy and forget our former Provocations and take us to his Favour and Protection in this World and at length make us Partakers of the Joys of his Heavenly Kingdom where there shall be Rejoycing in his Presence for our Happiness and Salvation Because we were dead but are alive again were lost but are found The PRAYER I. ALmighty and most merciful Saviour whose Government is directed by infinite Wisdom and proceeds in infinite Goodness so that happy are they in whose Hearts are thy Ways and that turn not aside from thy Commandments I confess with Shame and Confusion of Face and I hope with a truly humble penitent and obedient Heart that my vile Extravagancy and Impatience of thy blessed Restraint and Foolish Desire of Liberty and following the Byass of my own brutish Inclinations has hitherto been too notorious and sad have been the Consequences of my Departure from thee I have prodigally wasted thy Divine Grace and turn'd it into Wantonness I have squander'd away my Time in Vanity and Folly which is the only Opportunity of securing my Salvation and without Infinite Mercy have forfeited my Reversion of my Heavenly Inheritance and all this for what is below the Affections of a Rational Creature and indeed as I have found by a costly Experience no other than Vanity and Vexation of Spirit And just it is thou should'st withdraw thy Grace which I have so slighted and abused and leave my Soul to starve and famish and dayly draw nearer and nearer to Eternal Death But thou O Father of Mercies whose Compassions fail not and who desirest not the Death of a Sinner but rather that he should repent and live look graciously upon thy Returning Prodigal II. I now am sadly sensible of my deplorable Condition and beg importunately that I may so effectually hearken to the inward Shame and Remorse that now I feel for my past inexcusable Madness and Folly as that I may immediately return to my Obedience to thee my infinitely wise and indulgent Parent who art ready I know to stretch out thy Arms to receive me and to whose preventing Grace I owe these pious Resolutions of humbling my self before thee Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son make me but as one of thy meanest Servants I am now fully sensible that one Day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand and had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of Ungodliness O continue to strengthen these good Affections in me and send out thy Light and thy Truth even thy Blessed Spirit that he may conduct me to thy Dwelling-Place and secure my Retreat from the Kingdom of Darkness O may I never defer what if I would be happy must be done at last but instantly Return to thee O Father of Compassions Then shall I experience the happy Exchange of Misery and Shame for Joy unspeakable and full of Glory and instead of being the Triumph of Malicious Fiends in Hell occasion extraordinary Joy in the Presence of thee my God and thy Holy Angels because I was dead but am alive again was lost but am found O Blessed God verifie this Bliss upon me for thy Mercies sake in Jesus our Redeemer Amen PARABLE XII Of the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke xvi 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31. There was a certain