will unhallow and make ineffecutal one Duty of Christianity I can't see why it should not do the like to all the rest And if a Separation were admitted upon such Accounts as as these there would be no such thing as an external Communion of Saints because such is the State of the Gospel in this World that the bad will be intermix'd with the Good as Tares are in a Field of Wheat And as to the Practice of particular Ministers I charitably hope none do admit of notorious Offenders to the Communion without receiving satisfactory Marks of their Repentance or at least by previous Discourse or writing When they know of their Intention to communicate let 'em know the great Danger of receiving unworthily and urge them to an immediate sincere Repentance or else forbid 'em at their Peril to approach the holy Table And if after all this they will come we are to suppose in Charity that they have repented except we are sure to the contrary And if a Minister sees one at the Table whose Life has in many Instances to his Knowledg been very faulty unless the Crimes have been very great and very notorious to reject such an one I think with Submission would be arrogant and uncharitable and might exasperate the Man to so high a Degree as to make him throw off all Regard to Religion for the future and in such a Case the Exhortation appointed to be read at the Time of celebrating those Holy Mysteries should one would think be Warning sufficient for such an one if unrepentant to withdraw and if he stays Charity would incline one to believe that he was penitent And if a Person kneeling by who perhaps knows much more of the Man's Course of Life than the Minister shall be offended at his communicating one that receives so unworthily and speak hard things of him and abstain from that blessed Ordinance upon this Account for the future as prophan'd by such mix'd Company at it this is highly unreasonable uncharitable and unnatural 'T is unreasonable with Relation to their hard Thoughts and Censures of the Minister because Charity obliges him to think well of such as present themselves at the holy Table unless there be great and undeniable Evidence of their obstinate and continu'd Wickedness and in such a Case I dare say no pious Minister would prostitute those holy Symbols to such Swine And where there is not such Evidence Ministers can search Mens Hearts no more than other Men and therefore must hope the best and judge according to the outward Appearance and should they communicate some that receive unworthily by this Means as 't is to be fear'd they too often do why should they be blam'd for that which 't is impossible for 'em to help and aspers'd and all further Communion with them deserted for suffering that ignorantly which God though the Searcher of all Hearts permits in his Church without any open Discrimination namely the bad to join in all holy Offices with the good And this Practice is as uncharitable as 't is unreasonable because 't is judging and condemning those as Reprobates obstinate unrepenting Sinners whose Hearts we cannot see and who though formerly egregiously wicked yet now through the mighty Efficacy of God's converting Grace may for ought we know to the contrary be better than our selves And 't is an unnatural Practice too because 't is the depriving our selves of the Comforts that attend the Reception of that holy Sacrament and those of Vnion and brotherly Love meerly upon a groundless Nicety Let us all rather learn not to judge others before the Time but leave every Man to stand or fall by the unerring Judgment of our great Master at the last Day lest by judging others we condemn our selves who do the same things and it may be worse And instead of abstaining from the Sacrament because some come and are admitted to it whom we think and it may be not without Reason are not so well prepar'd as they should be endeavour to make our selves still more and more fit for so holy an Ordinance by a dayly Amendment of Life and then our Fleece like that of Gideon shall be moistned tho' other Men's be dry The Apostles were never the less dear to our Saviour for Judas his being amongst 'em but the more so rather and though through the Wickedness that was in his Heart Satan enter'd into him after he had receiv'd the Sop our Lord gave him at the Celebration of the Passover and in all Probability did partake of what he consecrated in Memory of his succeeding Death and Sufferings yet the rest receiv'd miraculous Assistances of the holy Ghost and were faithful to the Death and for certain have receiv'd the Crown of Life And I hope this will satissy for the future such as upon this Account have abstain'd from the blessed Sacrament and censur'd the Ministers of our Church and though without all Reason our Church it self And as what has been said upon this Matter has been no impertinent Digression so I hope it may be a beneficial one Let us now proceed to the second thing this Parable informs us of namely The Time when God's and our great Enemy the Devil sowes his Tares among the Wheat and that is while Men sleep For so the Parable while Men slept the Enemy came and sow'd Tares among the Wheat and went his Way Then is the Time of his injecting his wicked Insinuations into Men's Hearts whereby to make 'em become like empty Tares Christians in Name and Appearance only but devoid of the substantial Graces and Vertues of that holy Profession By Men's sleeping is here meant a careless Inadvertency and Neglect of the things of Religion a stupid Security in a thoughtless Way of Life And this is a Metaphor which the sacred Writers have often made use of to this Purpose and 't is so expressive of what they would represent by it that 't will be worth our while briefly to consider wherein the Likeness of such thoughtless Inadvertency in religious Matters to sleep does consist It is like it in the first Place in its Cause For as Toil and Labour and any thing that brings Weariness and consumes the Spirits disposes the Body to Sleep and makes it desire Rest and Ease that it may have a Recruit so this moral Drowsiness or Hebetude of the Soul generally begins to creep upon Men when they find difficulty in Religion a little striving soon puts 'em out of Heart their Hands fall their Knees grow feeble their Soul faints within 'em all Hope of Victory is then laid aside and they sit them down as Men quite spent and then steals that deep Sleep upon them which too often ends in Death Thus we often see Men set very briskly upon the Practice of Religion at First and seem wondrously pleas'd with their new Choice and admire at their Stupidity that they did not sooner discover the transcendent Beauties of Holiness and are resolv'd
satisfie his Justice some other Way As a convict Criminal we say has not satisfyed or is indebted to the Law till he has suffered the Punishment for his Crime which the Law thinks fit to inflict or else finds Favour and has it remitted him As for the Greatness of the Debt which Mankind by his Sin has thus contracted to the divine Justice 't is express'd in this Parable by ten thousand Talents which according to our Way of Reckoning is above a Million of Pounds A vast Sum this but yet far short of what we owe to the Justice of God by Reason of our Iniquities which are not only Millions but Innumerable even as the Stars in Heaven and the Sand upon the Sea-Shore Nor are they only numberless but very great not only many Thousands but many Thousands of Talents Every Sin as 't is a wilfull Violation of the Laws of God has Weight enough if God should be extreme to mark what is done amiss to sink a Soul into eternal Ruin And the Reason is because God's is the highest Authority and his Laws most just and equal and we have an infinite Obligation to obey him both as his Creatures and Dependents who live by his Favour and Bounty and have received numberless and inestimable Blessings from him and likewise as rational Creatures that we may perfect our own Nature by the Practice of those Virtues which will conform us to the Image and Likeness of God himself And therefore Sin being an Opposition to the highest Authority a Violation of the best Laws a Breaking through the strictest Bonds those of Submission to the Author of our Being and of Gratitude to the Giver of all the Blessings we enjoy and likewise of Self-Love and Preservation in rejecting the Means of advancing our own Nature to the Similitude and Enjoyment of God which is our chief Happiness Sin being all this must needs be exceeding sinful and indeed the greatest Evil and in no case eligible And therefore the oftner 'tis repeated and the more of Choice there is in the Commission of it and the more heinous the Instances of it are and the greater Obligations Men are under by Reason of God's Bounty and Goodness to them whether as to natural or spiritual Endowments to serve and obey him the higher proportionably rises the Guilt of Sin And he that often and wilfully commits great Impieties notwithstanding infinite Obligations to the contrary which was and is the Case of every Sinner is indebted to God's Justice not only Ten Thousand Talents but Ten Thousand Millions of Talents i. e. his Debt is infinite and unless some Miracle of Mercy intervene the divine Justice cannot be satisfyed but by his undergoing an infinite Punishment And all the World must acknowledge it just that Sin being the greatest possible Evil should be repay'd with the greatest Possible that is eternal Punishment So vast a Debt then lying upon all Mankind by reason of their Sins it is most true in the Second Place That 't was utterly impossible for them of themselves ever to clear this Debt and make Satisfaction to the divine Justice and the sad Consequence should it have still remain'd upon Account would have been no less than eternal Misery Which is represented very lively in the Parable by the King's Debtor having nothing to pay and the King thereupon commanding that he should be sold and his Wife and Children and all that he had and Payment made According to the Custom of the Jews in so using Debtors that were not able to pay 2 Kin. 4.1 'T is utterly impossible for Mankind of themselves ever to have paid this vast Debt because every individual meer Man is deeply engaged and always will be so in the same Account so deeply that he can never clear himself much less make Satisfaction for others Nor is there any thing valuable enough in all the Treasures of Nature to buy off this Sentence just though sad The Soul that sinneth it shall die Wherewith shall I come before the Lord Mic. 6.6 says the Prophet Micah when he had a Controversy with the People for their Sins and wherewith shall I bow my self before the high God Shall I come before him with Burnt Offerings with Calves of a Year old will the Lord be pleased with Thousands of Rams or Ten Thousands of Rivers of Oil Shall I give my First-born for my Transgression the Fruit of my Body for the Sin of my Soul As if he had said what 's all this to him that is the Creator of every thing the Lord and great Proprietor of all already and whose Glory and Happiness is infinitely above even our most exalted Thoughts and Conceptions He is an Ideot that does not confess that all the Riches of the Universe are utterly insufficient as the Psalmist expresses it to redeem the forfeited Souls of Mankind so that that must be let alone for ever All therefore that is in Man to give being far from sufficient to commute for the Punishment his Sins has deserv'd God's Justice must be satisfyed by his undergoing that Punishment that is eternal Death for ever dying yet never dead extremely miserable and for ever so A Punishment so inexpressibly great that Annihilation is much to be preferr'd before it for who can dwell with everlasting Burnings Who can bear an eternal Banishment from the supreme Good and Confinement to the dire Abodes of the Devil and his Angels those merciless Executioners of the divine Justice who will exact the Pains we are to suffer with the utmost Cruelty Who can bear the Gnawings of that never dying Worm Remorse of Conscience for forfeiting such infinite Happiness and plunging our selves headlong in such a bottomless Misery and that for the Sake of what was always empty and unsatisfying even when we did enjoy it And who can bear the Horrors of Despair of ever seeing an End of such Torments as these which yet might have been intirely avoided if we would This is indeed an unconceivably miserable Condition and all Men that ever lived must have been involv'd in it had not the Wisdom and the Goodness of God found out a Means both to satisfie his Justice and at the same Time to be merciful to his miserable Creatures To forgive the Debt to those that had nothing to pay and yet to have full Satisfaction made him for it 'T is what could never have enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive 't is the great Mystery of divine Love which even the Angels desire to look into and 't is that which is and shall be the Subject of eternal Hallelujah's in Heaven Thirdly therefore let us consider the wondrous Compassion of our good God in pitying our sadly deplorable Condition and forgiving us all that Debt which we could never have paid though we had suffer'd the Pains of Hell for those shall never have an End and this is express'd in the Parable by the King 's being mov'd with Compassion at the miserable
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
of Wicked Men when they give themselves up to the Guidance of their own Wills and Affections and are weary of the Government of God their Heavenly Father 'T is represented here by a Prodigal Young-Man's leaving his Father and rambling into a far Country and there wasting his Substance with Riotous Living Impatience of Government and Restraint and a Desire of being Free and at Liberty to follow their own Inclinations and Propensions is that which first prompts Men with the young Prodigal in the Parable to leave their Heavenly Father and get as far from his Government as they can and when they have laid aside the Thoughts of Religion then to take their Swing and do what seems good in their own Eyes And with this fancied Liberty they are at first mightily pleas'd and wish it could be always so that is that there were no God or no Religion to awe and confine their Desires but that they might be a Law unto themselves and their own Will the sole Measure of their Actions For so the Foolish Young-Man in the Parable we read could not be satisfied till he had his Fortune in his own Hands to dispose of as he listed Father give me the portion of Goods that belongeth to me and as soon as he had it he got as far from his Father as he could and then denied not his Soul whatever it desired or as the Parable hath it Not many days after the younger Son gather'd all together and took his Journey into a far Country and there wasted his Substance with Riotous Living And just so it is with a Sinner He finds Religion will oblige him to a serious and circumspect Conversation and that if he continues in the Family of the Faithful he must live soberly righteously and godly in this present World and deny his Bodily Appetites and Desires and keep them under Subjection to the Spirit and imitate the Excellencies of his Heavenly Father be holy pure and perfect as he is because he abominates Iniquity and into his Presence no unclean Thing can enter But these are hard Sayings this is a Servitude that he looks upon as unsufferable and he has as he thinks a much easier and pleasanter way of Living in his Eye and which he longs to experience and therefore resolves once for all to shake off the galling Yoke of Religion and get as far from the Government of his divine Parent as he can and become his own Master and then he thinks he shall be happy So blinded are Sinners by the Deceitfulness of Sin as to shun Happiness and embrace Ruin to look upon the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God as the greatest Slavery and exchange it for the vile Drudgery of Vice to run from that blessed Being who is the Fountain of Perfection and Happiness and insist in the Track that leads to Eternal Ruin An unfortunate End is always the Consequence of lawless Liberty and as a Ship without a Helm or Governour instead of arriving at the Haven is soon split upon Rocks or overwhelm'd with Quicksands such is the Case of a Sinner that impatient of the gentle Restraints of Religion is resolved to quit it and take his own Course But why should Men be so weary of the Government of God and desire so earnestly to be at their own Disposal Is not Religion the most Reasonable Service And should it not be the greatest Pleasure to a Rational Creature to act according to the best Reason Is not God the wisest the most powerful and the most kind and indulgent Being too And is it not more eligible to be govern'd by infinite Wisdom and directed in the right Track to Happiness by infinite Goodness and shielded from Dangers by infinite Power than to be hurried on by the blind Force of brutish and unruly Passions to our Unhappiness and Destruction and expose our selves to all the Malice of Hell by yielding to the Temptations of the Devil and forfeiting the Protection of the Almighty Certainly if Men would but consider instead of desiring with the Prodigal Son to be free from the Government of this our Heavenly Father and to take their own Course at a Distance from him they would say with Holy David One Day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand I had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of Ungodliness and confess in the Words of our Church that his Service is perfect Freedom And the silly young Prodigal in the Parable soon found by a costly Experience the Difference between living under the mild and prudent Government of his Father and being left to the Conduct of his own ill instructed and green Head But before I proceed to this Consideration I shall briefly shew how fitly Vice is represented by Prodigality Prodigality in the Words of this Parable is wasting a Man's Substance or Estate in riotous or profuse and extravagant Living or without any Regard to the future squandring away what he has in excessive Luxury And therefore a wicked Man is certainly the greatest Prodigal in the World because he wastes and destroys what is of the greatest Value and Esteem and that in the most profligate Manner without any thought of what shall be hereafter only that he may gratifie his present Appetites and Desires For First Nothing is a more substantial Good and more to be priz'd and carefully preserv'd than the Grace of God or those Blessed Motions and Inspirations of the Holy Spirit whereby Men are inwardly inclin'd to pursue what will make for their Eternal Happiness and disswaded from and warned to avoid what will bring them to endless Ruine Now this Grace of God a Sinner turns into Lasciviousness despises and neglects nay resists the Motions of the Spirit of Life and Holiness and closes with the Temptations and Suggestions of the Spirit of Vileness and Impurity and does this so continually and with so much Obstinacy that he daily wastes that inestimable Treasure and more and more grieves that Blessed Spirit and forces him to withdraw his Influences till at length they are quite extinguish'd in his Soul and a desperate spiritual Poverty succeed an utter Want of that Divine Grace which they so profligately wasted when they had it And no Poverty certainly so miserable as that which will starve and famish the Soul and bring it to Eternal Death and therefore no Prodigality like that which squanders away that which is the only Nourishment of the Spiritual Life Especially if we consider for what it is that a Sinner is thus prodigal of so great a Treasure namely the gratifying a few Brutish Lusts and the acting such Vices as bring no true Satisfaction along with them but are full of Vexation and Disappointment in this World and will at last sink the Soul into the lowest Hell Secondly Time is likewise a very substantial Good and highly to be valu'd and carefully improv'd because 't is the only Opportunity we have of
securing our main Interest the Happiness of Eternity and when Time shall be at an End that is to every particular Person when Death shall put a Period to this Life then comes that Night in which no Man can work then the Opportunity shall be for ever at an End and according as Men have improv'd or wasted their Time in this World so shall their Eternity be happy or miserable in the next And therefore he is indeed very foolishly prodigal who without any Thought of hereafter wastes this precious Treasure this only Opportunity of making himself for ever happy in Vanity and Folly in pleasing and humouring his Body and neglects the Improvement of his Soul and instead of working out his Salvation with Fear and trembling secures to himself Eternal Misery And this does every wilful Sinner when with the Prodigal in the Parable he wastes this his Substance in Luxurious and Riotous Living and studies nothing but how to gratifie the lower Life looking no further than this present World for Happiness 'till his Opportunity be quite lost and he is surpriz'd into an unchangeably Miserable Condition because when 't was put into his Hand to make himself happy if he would he neglected it and chose the Track to Ruine Thirdly The Glorious Reversion of our Heavenly Inheritance is a Treasure likewise that can never be sufficiently valu'd for Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive the Felicities and Glories of it Now this we are assur'd by him that cannot lie and whose it is to bestow shall be the Reward of Vertue and sincere Religion all this is laid up for them that love God and keep his Commandments And therefore for a Man that knows all this to be so prodigally to throw away all Expectation of and Title to such a Reversion as this upon such low and profligate Accounts as the wallowing in the filthy Pleasures of a Goat or a Swine or the heaping up Treasures of Gold and Silver which are as unsatisfying as they are uncertain and perishing or for the Sake of a little empty Honour or the like This is the very Highth of profligate Extravagancy and such as one would think no sensible Man should ever be guilty of Upon these and many other nay indeed all Accounts 't is very true that a wicked Man is the greatest Prodigal in the World for he wastes and throws away what is of highest Value to a Man and that for what is no better than Vanity and Vexation of Spirit And thus much for the first thing expressed in this Parable viz. the great Extravagancy of ungodly Men when they give themselves up to the Guidance of their own Wills and Affections and grow weary of the Government of God their Heavenly Father Like the Prodigal Son they waste their most precious Substance in riotous and profligate living The second thing express'd in this Parable is the sad Condition such Men soon reduce themselves to by that their Extravagancy and loose self-will'd Course of Life or in other Words the Miserable Consequences of Debauchery and Riot and of following so Blind a Guide as Mens unruly Passions and Lusts For so in the Parable when the prodigal Young Man had spent all there arose a mighty Famine in that Land and he began to be in Want and went and joyn'd himself to a Citizen of that Country who sent him into his Fields to feed Swine And he would fain have fill'd his Belly with the Husks that the Swine did eat but no Man gave unto him The first ill Consequence then of this Prodigality or Lawless Extravagant Living is Spiritual Want or a Scarcity and Famine of the Divine Grace in the Soul which is by so much more to be dreaded than a Famine of Provisions for the Body as Eternal Misery and Death is more terrible than Temporal The Grace of God is questionless the Nourishment of the Divine Life and which if once withdrawn will leave the Soul dead in Trespasses and Sins Now an obstinate Course of Disobedience to the Divine Will drives out that Life-giving Power and makes the Soul uncapable of Vital Union with so pure a Spirit and as a Humane Soul is forc'd to leave a Body rotten and wasted and unapt any longer to entertain it so this Divine Spirit is thrust out from a corrupted sinful Soul And consequently there must be a famine in that Soul of that Heavenly Bread which is absolutely necessary to eternal Life and the Consequence of that is Eternal Death And certainly no Man that considers what a Dismal Condition that Soul is in which is reduced to such Extremity of Spiritual Want as this how full of Horrour and Despair as doom'd to endless Misery and seal'd up to Destruction which he sees dayly nearer and nearer approaching and no way to escape but like a Wretch immur'd between two Walls there to be starv'd to Death in continual Expectation of her sad End No Man that considers this with that Seriousness he ought but will be very careful not to waste what is so necessary to his Spiritual Subsistence i. e. by no means grieve or resist or quench that Life-giving Spirit by whom all true Religion lives and moves and hath its Being and which if neglected and oppos'd will be withdrawn and that perhaps for ever If like Esau we sell this inestimable Blessing for a Mess of Pottage forfeit the Food of our Souls that we may indulge our Sensual Appetites we may fear that a Spiritual Famine will be our Punishment and no Place left for Repentance no Blessing remaining for us though we seek it earnestly with Tears As the Prodigal in the Parable when after he had wasted his Substance in riotous Living and then wanted and was ready to perish with Hunger so that he would have been glad of the meanest and coarsest Fare would fain have sill'd his Belly with the Husks that the Swine did eat even that he could not obtain for no Man says the Parable gave unto him Another ill Consequence of this Spiritual Prodigality and loose wicked Course of Life and to name no more amongst a numerous Train of them is that it extreamly degrades and debases a Man and engages him in the vilest Drudgery imaginable the serving Bestial Lusts and Devilish Passions This is express'd in the Parable by the Prodigal's being sent into the Feilds to feed Swine a thing the most abject in it self and the most detestable to the Jews to whom our Lord spake the Parable who were taught by their Law to esteem that Creature among the most unclean And as low or lower than this does he debase his Nature who neglecting the Noble Precepts of Religion makes his Sensual Appetite the Rule and Measure of his Actions For what more Beastly and Detestable than ungovern'd Lust The wretch himself that is guilty of it is asham'd publickly to commit it and takes Advantage of Holes and Corners and
better and if a Man be as poor and despicable in the Eye of the World as Lazarus yet if he is of a contented resign'd Soul and make it his Endeavour to be rich towards God he at length shall be fill'd with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory while many rich that have their Portion in this Life shall be sent empty away And thus much for the first thing this Parable informs us of namely that from a Man's prosperous or adverse Condition in this World there is no Judgment to be made concerning his final Condition in the next The second thing it informs us of is that whatever Change is made in the Condition of the Soul after its Departure from this World its State shall be from thenceforth for ever unalterable For so in the Parable when the Rich Man being in Torments lifted up his Eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his Bosom and cry'd and said Father Abraham have Mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the Tip of his Finger in Water and cool my Tongue for I am tormented in this Flame Abraham after he had told him that he had in his Life-Time receiv'd his good things and Lazarus his evil things and that then there was a great and unexpected Change and Lazarus was comforted and he tormented he adds moreover that between him and them there was a great Gulf fix'd so that those which would pass from thence to him could not neither could any pass from him to them What is meant by this Gulf fixed between Heaven and Hell which hinders any Comfort or Relief coming from thence to that miserable Place or any Trouble or Annoyance from that Place to Heaven so that the Condition both of the Wicked and the Righteous remains unchangeably happy or miserable respectively Has been much controverted especially amongst the School-men But it tending to very little Edification to relate their Opinions most of which are very frivolous I shall only say what is the most receiv'd Opinion in our Church By the Gulf fixed we suppose is only meant God's irreversible Decree that those whose Wickednesses made them incapable of the Vision and Enjoyment of God and sunk them down to Hell shall for ever remain there without any Hopes of Comfort or Relief and that the Righteous likewise shall be receiv'd into Life and Happiness everlasting and such as all the Powers of Hell shall never be able to lessen or disturb And this methinks to any sensible Man should appear to be an Opinion the most reasonable and most agreeable to the Holy Writings Now here 't will be worth our while since the rich Man's Punishment is express'd by his being tormented in Flame and doom'd to be for ever so to satisfie two Queries usually put in this Case as first Why the Torments of Hell are express'd by Flames and Burning And secondly How it can be consistent with the Divine Justice to punish the transient Acts of Sin with such an endless Misery To the first I return this Answer as to me the most satisfactory Though I believe that at the general Conflagration when the Heavens shall be shrunk up as a scorch'd Parchment and the Elements melt with fervent Heat and the World and all that 's in it be burn'd up though I believe that God will then take Vengeance of his Enemies in real Flames of Fire which shall for ever encircle and prey upon their Bodies yet I think that will be the least Part of their Torment and that the Extremity of it will consist in the inward Trouble of their Minds arising from an impatient Appetite and continual Thirst after that Felicity which they know through their own Default they shall never come to enjoy And that such vehement Desires and the Passions consequent upon the disappointment of them should be call'd Flames and Burning is no more than what is usual in our common Manner of speaking and the Expression of fervent and ardent Desires is often met with in the holy writings too particularly where David says My Soul breaketh out with the very fervent desire it hath always to thy Commandments And Rage and Fury and Impatience and the like which attend unsatisfied Desires are likewise frequently attended with the Epithet of Fire as every one must needs have observ'd Now Man having an innate uncontrolable Thirst after Happiness and which is always equally intense and that to the highest Degree when as the Punishment of his Rebellion against God his foolish and wicked Choices here his Pursuit after lower Good and Neglect of the supreme he shall be for ever banish'd to an infinite Distance not only from the Fountain of Happiness but from every Stream and Participation of it which here below cool'd his Heat a litle and for the present gratified that his Desire and yet the Appetite and Thirst after it continuing as great as ever and the Wretch withal sensible of the utter Impossibility of attaining it and that not so much as one Drop from that Fountain of Bliss shall ever be given to allay his Thirst and cool his parch'd and inflam'd Tongue His Desire must for ever be to the highest Degree craving and importunate in vain and being continually thus disappointed his Impatience will still grow hotter and hotter and his Remorse for bringing this upon himself turning to eternal Rage and Fury and boyling up like Rivers of enflam'd Brimstone the Fire will be everlasting And what a Calenture think we will the whole Man be in when without the fiercest material Flames shall prey upon the Body and hotter Fires within torment the Soul And this Notion of the Flames of Hell seems to me not obscurely hinted in the Rich Man's lifting up his Eyes in his Torment and when he saw the happy State of Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom begging him to impart though but one Drop of that Bliss he enjoy'd to cool his parched Tongue His Desire of that Happiness was in the greatest Degree of Ardency and when he saw Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom then he cry'd out Father Abraham have Mercy on me for I am tormented in this Flame Thus much for the first Query To the second I return this in Brief That since Sin is the greatest Possible Evil it being a Violation of the strongest Tyes and Obligations an Opposition and Contrariety to the Supreme Good and in no Case eligible as every considering Man must needs confess it can't be too rigorously dealt with even by the Infliction of the greatest possible Punishment for there is the same Proportion between the greatest Evil and the greatest Punishment as between a lesser Evil and a lesser Punishment And therefore unless we 'll say there can never be any Proportion between a Fault and its Punishment I think we must own there is Proportion here Now the Use we may make of this second Part of the Parable is this That since the Consequence of a Life of Wickedness is so dreadful and remediless a
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
divine Love and Philanthropy upon the Souls of his Creatures to see 'em love and compassionate one another according to his glorious Example we are infinitely obliged to imitate his Pity and Forgiveness towards us in passing by the Offences of our Fellow-Servants Further those to whom God has forgiven so vast a Debt as that which miserable Sinners ow'd to the divine Justice are questionless bound and that with the strictest Ties to love him infinitely again but now St. John says plainly 1 Joh. 4.20 21. that he that loves God must love his Brother also and if a Man say I love God and yet hateth his Brother he is a Lyar and the Truth is not in him For as he says Chap. 3.17 He that shutteth up his Bowels of Compassion from his Brother how dwelleth the Love of God in him And therefore as much as we are bound to love our good God who has forgiven us our numberless Iniquities so much are we bound to manifest that our Love to him by being pitiful and gentle to our brethren that have injur'd us and ready to forgive them For so says our Lord shall ye be my Disciples and so shall ye be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven And doubtless that wicked Servant in the Parable had not so due an Apprehension of his Lord 's great Compassion to him nor so grateful a Sense of it as he ought to have had who could immediately forget the miserable Condition he was so lately in himself and how much he dreaded lest his Lord should rigidly exact his great Debt of him and how importunately he begg'd that he would have Patience with him and yet use so much Cruelty to his Fellow-Servant for a Debt very inconsiderable He could not but know that such Barbarity would be very contrary to the compassionate Temper of his Lord and therefore was bound in Gratitude if upon no other Account to imitate his Lord's Example and not immediately act what would be so displeasing to him And so it is in our Case God is Love and has wondrously manifested his Love in forgiving us miserable Sinners and therefore we are bound in Gratitude and because 't will be pleasing to him were that all to imitate that his Charity and mutually to love and forgive one another But when besides we have our Saviour's express Command for it Mat. 5.44 and Luk. 6.37 and that not until seven times only but until seventy times seven as in the Verse before this Parable As much as Men are obliged obliged to obey the Commands of God their Saviour so strong is their Obligation to forgive Injuries with Respect to God Secondly Our Obligation is very great to imitate God's compassionate Example with respect to our selves For 't is the best Way to secure Quiet and Peace and Happiness and as much as every Man is bound to provide for his own Quiet and the Peace and Happiness of Society and of his own Soul too in the other World so much is every Man bound not to be malicious and revengeful but of a Temper ready to forgive For however sweet Revenge may seem to be to malicious Spirits in the Execution it must needs make the Mind very uneasie before 't is executed and bring great Calamities along with it afterward and is the most base devillish Temper in the World and makes a Man a Fiend incarnate Whereas an Aptness to forgive is a Godlike Disposition for God is Love the Spring of Kindness and Compassion of Mercy and Forgiveness and as his Happiness is the Result of the Excellencies and Perfections of his Nature so those who resemble him in the most glorious of those Perfections must needs likewise enjoy a great Share of Tranquillity and inward Bliss But if God be the great Exemplar of Forgiveness how groundless is the usual Objection against this excellent Vertue of Christianity that it betrays a mean servile Spirit and is a thing much below a Gentleman Can any Man of common Sense think it a Disgrace to be like God and that in his most glorious Perfection too If God be the Fountain of Honour we must allow it to be rather the most noble generous Action in the World It is the best Way likewise of ending Strifes and overcoming our Adversaries by rendring Good for Evil. It eases the Mind of those great Disquietudes that constantly attend Desires of Revenge it prevents all the Mischiefs that follow it such as fresh Injuries from the Party we revenge our selves upon if we leave him his Life and the Stroke of Justice if we persue him to the Death But besides these evil Consequences of Revenge and many others which Forgiveness prevents there is more true Pleasure and Sweetness in the Act of Forgiveness and Reconciliation as was hinted above than in that of Revenge For however the Devil may hurry Men on in an eager Persuit of Revenge and flatter 'em with the Hopes of great Satisfaction when 't is perfected yet there is a secret Horrour and Aversion to it from within which as 't were pulls back the Hand when going to strike or what other way soever it be expressed endeavours to hinder it and makes the Heart recoil and repent of the Undertaking and execute it with trembling and misgivings of Soul and immediately after come dire Forebodings of the Venge ance of him to whom Vengeance belongeth and a Kind of Hell upon Earth But Forgiveness is attended with Applauses of Conscience and the Approbation of Reason and Chearfulness of Spirit There is an inward Pleasure and Satisfaction of Mind quite throughout the Action and when 't is compleated no Man can express the silent Joy that runs through the whole Soul and it seems a Foretaste of the Joys of the Blessed in Heaven Even that Part of Forgiveness which seems most of all impracticable and contrary to Flesh and Blood that of suing to a Man to be reconciled that has done the Injury and still continues to be one's Enemy this does of all yeild the greatest Pleasure to the Soul And that not only because 't is the nearest Resemblance to the Mercy of God who sent his Son to mediate between him and us and by his Death to reconcile us to himself when 't was we miserable Wretches that had offended and were then in actual Rebellion against him but from the Nature of the thing it self For 't is a kind of surprizing a Man into Charity before he is aware When Men do Injuries they generally stand upon their Defence and expect to receive Injuries again but when a Man finds instead of this Acts of Friendship and Good will and Readiness to forgive and Peace and Quietness offer'd so freely and upon such easie Terms without the Shame and natural Regret in seeking it and asking Pardon and making Satisfaction and the like How pleas'd must the Man needs be to find a Friend when he fear'd and expected an Enemy Few Men love Strife for Strife's Sake and
alone could save them and took no Care of good Works How came you in hither How came you into this Society of Christians not having on the Wedding Garment What will they be able to say in their Excuse Will they not be like him in the Parable confounded and ashamed and utterly speechless What will they have to plead in Bar of that dire Sentence which will then be past upon them bind them Hand and Foot and take them away c. certainly nothing but with inexpressible Horror and Despair and Self-Condemnation must submit to their sad Punishment From all this there is in the last Place this general Observation drawn that many are call'd but few chosen The plain Meaning of which I suppose to be this That though the Gospel is preach'd to Myriads of People and all that hear of it are invited alike to embrace it and 't is God's good Pleasure that all should be sav'd and come to the Knowledg of the Truth Yet the most will make a very ill Use of their Liberty of Choice and many utterly reject this Invitation and more though they do embrace it yet become never the better for it by not leading their Lives agreeably to their holy Profession And by this means among the many that are call'd there will be but few that will approve themselves to God as elect or choice and right good Christians and but few consequently that will enter into the eternal Joy of their Lord according to what our Lord said in another Place strait is the Gate and narrow is the Way that leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it Wherefore to conclude this Parable As we have all of us been call'd and invited to a sincere Faith in and intire Obedience to the holy Jesus and do make open Profession of such Faith and Shew of such Obedience it concerns us as much as our Souls are worth and as we would avoid that outer Darkness where is eternal weeping and gnashing of Teeth to take all possible Care that our Faith be so sincere and lively as to produce good Works such as may make our Calling and Election sure Not to rest contented with the Form of Godliness or outward Profession of Christianity but to endeavour after the Power of it and lead our Lives according to our Belief to imitate our Lord's most blessed Example and obey all his holy Precepts and submit to the Disposals of his Providence chearfully and bear unspotted Love and Fidelity to him through the whole Course of our Lives And by this means shall we be reckon'd among his choice Jewels elect and precious and be receiv'd into the nearest and dearest and even an inseparable Relation to him and when this Life 's at an End be conducted by his Angels into his glorious Presence there to share in his Happiness to eternal Ages The PRAYER MOST blessed God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who in infinite Mercy and amazing Condescension hast invited me miserable Creature though poor and maim'd halt and blind and destitute of every thing that may recommend me to thee except it be my Wretchedness to the most intimate Union with thy glorious Son and as the Bride of that divine Bridegroom to enjoy his Love and be blessed with his tenderest Regard his Protection and Desence and to partake of his Honour and Glory and Happiness How can I enough praise and magnifie this thy wondrous Goodness And with what Transports of Joy should I embrace so inestimable a Favour But I alas stupid as I am and bewitch'd with the Cares and Business and Gain and Pleasures of this World have hitherto stood in the Way of my own Happiness and disregarded this gracious Offer and preferr'd every thing before this spiritual Marriage with the Son of God or at best have deferr'd it still till another Time provoking thereby most justly thy Wrath and Indignation against me and deserving to be for ever excluded thy blessed Presence as infinitely unworthy But now O Lord I do earnestly repent and am heartily sorry for so ungratefully sliting such infinite Mercy The Remembrance of this Vileness is grievous unto me the Burden of it is intollerable and with the utmost Earnestness of a troubled Spirit I beg thy heavenly Aid that now without the least Delay I may chearfully embrace the blessed Invitations of the Gospel and love and honour the Messengers which bring me those glad Tidings and since my Maker is my Husband be always mindful of my Duty to him and bear him unspotted Fidelity and Love be his intirely and for ever submit without Reserve to his heavenly Government reverence his Authority and glorifie him with my Body and my Spirit which are his And grant O merciful God I humbly intreat thee that the Spirit of Infidelity may never possess my Soul lest I totally reject this blessed Invitation or having embrac'd it and enter'd into so near a Relation to my Saviour again divorce my self from him by entertaining strange and forbidden Loves And since I am so highly honour'd by the Son of God O may I always be careful to preserve the Dignity of so high a Calling and not debase my self by low sunk brutish Actions but as befits the spiritual Spouse of Christ be cloath'd with the wedding Garment of sincere Purity and Holiness that so I may never be separated from my dearest Lord but ever enjoy the unconceivable Happiness of his heavenly Kingdom Which grant O merciful Father for the Sake of that blessed Jesus Amen Amen PARABLE VI. Of the Ten Virgins Matth. xxv 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13. Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto Ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom And five of them were wise and five were foolish They that were foolish took their Lamps and took no Oil with them But the wise took Oil in their Vessels with their Lamps While the Bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept And at Midnight there was a Cry made Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him Then all those Virgins arose and trimmed their Lamps And the foolish said unto the wise Give us of your Oil for our Lamps are gone out But the wise answer'd saying not so lest there be not enough for us and you but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for your selves And while they went to buy the Bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him to the Marriage and the Door was shut Afterwards came also the other Virgins saying Lord Lord open to us But he answer'd and said verily I say unto you I know you not Watch therefore for ye know neither the Day nor the Hour wherein the Son of Man cometh THough the first Intention of this Parable as may be probably collected from the foregoing Chapter which is a Description of the sad State that was e'er long to overtake Jerusalem for the Jews
them that hate you Mat. 5.44 and Rom. 12.20 If thy Enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him Drink and in this Parable our Lord proposes to our Imitation the Example of a Samaritan taking great Care of an unfortunate Jew though there could be no greater Enmity than between the Jews and the Samaritans and that grounded upon what of all things makes Ill Will the most inveterate Diversity of Opinion in Religion And indeed 't would be a barbarous Piece of Cruelty and Inhumanity if I should let a Man perish without any Commiseration or Help from me when I am able to give it him because he has formerly it may be been unkind or injurious to me or is of a different Religion and of a Nation that is in Hostility with that to which I belong This certainly is not doing as I would be done to nor loving my Neighbour as my self for every Man in a religious Sense is my Neighbour 't is more like the Rage of a Tiger than the Bowels of a Man or the Malice of a Devil than the Charity of a Christian As for Charity to Strangers and Foreigners that is expresly commanded in several Places of Scripture particularly 1 Pet. 4.9 where what we translate use Hospitality one to another is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be kind to Strangers Hob. 13.2 and by the Author to the Hebrews the Probability of receiving Angels unawares in that Disguise as Abraham and Lot did Gen. 18.3 and 19.2 is made the Motive to it And how excellent a Piece of Charity this is and how conducive to the Prevention of much Sin and Misery I need not spend much Time to prove There are few that have liv'd any considerable Time in the World and have seen more Parts of it than one but have some Time or other either tasted the Comfort of an hospitable Disposition or smarted for the Want of it and such Men are the fittest to tell their Thoughts of either That is how inhumane 't is to be without Bowels to an indigent Stranger and how happy Mankind would be in every Place were the Orders of the great Governour of the World duly observ'd in this Matter And as for wicked-Persons who deserve the least Compassion of any if they are in other Respects real Objects of Charity their Wickedness must not put a Bar to it for we are to imitate the Example of the merciful God who is kind and Beneficent to the unthankful and to the evil But all this is to be understood with Respect only to the really necessitous and helpless whose Wants and Calamities are not feign'd and who are unable to help themselves to better Circumstances For there are a very vile Sort of People who make a Trade of going about from House to House and with doleful Accents and a forlorn Appearance and formal Complaints endeavour to melt People into Compassion towards them who yet are far from being Objects of this Sort of Charity their Necessities being counterfeit or at least they being very well able to supply them by their own Labour if they would 'T is well known how gainful they make this lazy Course of Life how unwilling they are to work when any would employ them how much abominable Debauchery there is in those vagrant Societies and how great a Pest they are to the Publick they being no better than a Band of Villains and Robbers and unprofitable idle Drones that live upon the Labour and Spoil of others and are no Way useful or serviceable themselves And therefore to relieve their pretended Necessities is to encourage the worst Men living in a Course of Life highly dishonourable to God injurious to the State and ruinous to their own Souls Nay further 't is to deprive those that indeed deserve our Charity of considerable Supplies which are though insensibly bestow'd upon those vile Wretches and were it computed what some charitable Persons give in a Year in Mony to common Beggars at their Doors or otherwise 't would amount to a Sum big enough to cheer the Hearts of many Fatherless and Widows and decay'd Houskeepers that are in greater Want than those Vagrants though not so whining and so affectedly nasty and ragged And 't would be worth while for a Person that has us'd hitherto to scatter his Charity among those counterfeit Objects of it to try the Experiment what such Gifts would amount to in a Twelve Month's Time by laying aside what he would otherwise have bestow'd that Way whenever he is importun'd by such Wretches for an Alms and then see whether he can't dispose of it to better Purpose Indeed Labour and Correction is the best Sort of Charity to such Kind of Beggars And would Men in Authority resolve to do their Duty in this Matter and other Persons resolve to send such Vagabonds away empty and with Reproof and Shame the Case would soon be altered and they would find it better to work than starve and look upon honest Industry more eligible than the Lash Much Wickedness would by this Means be prevented and it would be a double and treble Charity 't would provide for the Happiness of both Body and Soul of such as should be reformed by it from such a hellish Course of Life 't would be a great Benefit to the Publick and Men would find themselves more able to support such as are really oppress'd with Want and utterly unable to help themselves And such Behaviours as this to sturdy Vagrants however harsh and severe it may seem to some indiscreetly compassionate Persons is plainly commanded by the great Apostle 2 Thes 3.10 He that will not work neither let him eat He that Will not work that is that appears to be able to labour but rather chuses an idle wandring Life and there is not One in Twenty of our common Beggars but are of this Sort hail and lusty and strong and in more Heart and better fed than many honest and industrious People And they that can travel as they do around the Kingdom we can't suppose whatever they may pretend to be incapable of Labour Indeed sometimes a real Object of Charity may present it self at ones Door or Abroad such as the blind and aged and maimed and the like and these no Question ought to be reliev'd but there being so many Counterfeits and the ill Consequence of misplacing ones charity upon them being so very great He is very indiscreet in bestowing his Alms that will not be first very well satisfied whether they are what they pretend to be and deserve his Charity or no. But this Severity must be used with Prudence and he that does deserve Correction as a Vagrant may yet by some calamitous Accident in following his lew'd Trade be at present in urgent Necessity of Relief and here the Way is first to supply the Necessity and afterwards in due Time to superadd the Correction For I must let no Man how wicked soever perish if I can prevent
where shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth And thus much may suffice to be spoken to the second Enquiry How we are to express our Charity to the proper Objects of it in what Manner and in what Measure But before I proceed to what remains to be done according to the propos'd Method I think it will not be amiss to enquire whether in the Expresses of our Charity to the sick Danger of infection will not excuse from visiting them To this I answer first in general that Danger of Infection will not excuse all from visiting the sick For 't would be strangely inhumane and contrary to this Christian Pity and Compassion which we are now discoursing of to desert a poor helpless Creature in his greatest Necessity only because there is a Probability of falling into the like Calamity And would any Man be willing to be serv'd so himself Some then ought even in Case of Contagion to visit and attend the sick but who are they for every one will be ready to shift it from himself In the first place I think the nearest Relations of the Party ought to do it for they have a double Tye upon them that of Nature as well as of Religion and among these Relations those that are the most disengag'd from Business and the Affairs of this World and have therefore the least Obligation to come into other Company where there may be Danger of spreading the Infection further and likewise such as have the fewest Dependents upon them That is Private and single Persons are oblig'd to this Duty before those that are of more publick Callings and have Families and among these he that is most free and disengag'd and capable withal is the most oblig'd If there be no Relations of the infected Person whether he be Poor or Rich Friend or Enemy Good or Bad the Case is the same or none that will venture upon such hazardous Attendance I think the nearest Neighbours are oblig'd to do it i.e. the single and disengag'd from a Necessity of publick Converse For those that have Wife and Children and Families their Charity must begin at home to take care of their own Relatives is the prime Obligation and the Safety of a whole Family is in most Cases to be preferr'd to that of a single Person And those whose necessary Employments call them into much Company are bound to avoid what would endanger their bringing Infection to that Company and that for the same Reason as before because the Safety of many is generally to be preferr'd to that of one And those upon whose Life depends under God the Maintenance and Support of divers Persons for the sake of those Persons should be very careful to preserve themselves Only this ought to be observ'd by such as upon these and the like Accounts cannot personally visit and attend the infected Person viz. That they take great care to procure others that may do it and according to their Ability and the Wants of the Person to send Supplies of all things necessary And there are very many who though they will not venture their Lives for Conscience sake and to gain the Reward of being merciful in the other World yet for Mony they will do it and therefore such Encouragements must not be wanting from those that are of Ability As for Physicians and Clergy-Men whose Professions engage them to converse with great Numbers of People how far they are oblig'd in this Matter I think may be resolv'd thus If only one Person in a Parish or Neighbourhood or but a few in comparison with the whole Body of Men be contagiously sick to me it seems that neither Physician nor Divine are in such case oblig'd personally to visit them but rather to forbear and only to convey to them by other Hands what is needful for their Bodily and Ghostly Health respectively The Reason is because the Physicians and Divines being often sent for to divers Families must either not go after they have visited an infected Person and so neglect their Duty and many suffer and some perish for want of their Assistance or if they should go would very probably endanger the whole Neighbourhood And therefore the Safety of great Numbers of People being to be preferr'd before that of one or but a few they ought I think in this Case to keep at distance But when a Contagion spreads so that it becomes epidemical and the greater Number of Persons are seiz'd with it then the Case is alter'd and then I think both Physicians and Divines are bound to visit personally For in such Case to send Relief by other Hands whether Medicines or ghostly Comfort and Advice would by reason of the Numbers of the sick become impracticable and 't would be unreasonable for the sake of a few that were well to deprive a greater Number that are sick of the great Benefit of personal Visits of Physicians which for many Reasons prove more effectual than prescribing at a Distance and of the Comfort of the Prayers and more close and particular Discourses of Divines which no doubt are much more beneficial and make a deeper Impression upon the Soul than several Advices and Exhortations sent in Writing And Divines in this Case seem to be more oblig'd than Physicians though the Obligation is very strong upon Physicians too and that because the Safety of the Soul is infinitely to be preferr'd before that of the Body And if it perishes it perishes for ever and will at length involve the Body too in the same eternal Ruin And for a Shepherd to desert his Flock in their greatest Necessity to leave the Care of their Souls when there is the greatest Need of his Help and the infernal Lyon roaring about seeking whom he may devour This I think is the greatest Barbarity and most base betraying that great Trust that is possible The good Shepherd says our Lord giveth his Life for his Sheep And he the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls set the Example but the Hireling fleeth because he is a Hireling and careth not for the Sheep and the Wolf catcheth and scatters and devours them John 10.12 13. We should remember that God is infinitely powerful and can protect even from the noisom Pestilence if he thinks fit and nothing more intitles a Man to the peculiar Protection of the Allmighty than a faithful Discharge of his Duty And however it may fare with us here there is a glorious Recompence reserved for so great a Charity in a better World Proceed we now to the third and last thing to be done upon this Subject which is to shew what great Encouragement we have to this excellent Duty of Charity or what a Blessedness it is to be able thus to give rather than to Receive and that both with Respect to this World and that to come For in the first place with Relation to this World What can be a greater Pleasure to a Generous Spirit than to be the Happy
amends for If abundance of Gold and Silver would certainly make a Man wiser and better if 't would clear his Apprehension or strengthen his Memory or improve his Reasoning if 't would make him more prudent and discreet and of a riper Judgment if 't would increase Piety and Religion and promote a Godlike Frame of Spirit nay if 't would but so much as refine a Man's Temper and make him of more sweet and obliging Behaviour or regulate the Passions and Affections of the Soul and help him to Tranquility of Mind and cure Anger and Pride and Envy and Lust and Revenge or the like if abundance of Riches would work any of these good Effects 't would be worth while earnestly to desire them and industriously to endeavour to procure them But when 't is so far from this that the direct contrary is general observable in those that have greatest Riches in Possession it must I think be allow'd to be a very great Piece of Folly for a Man to endure so much for what when he has it will not countervail But though greedy Worldlings may own that great Riches have little or no Influence upon the Happiness and Improvement of the Inner Man yet because a Man has a Body as well as a Soul to take care of they are thus greatly desirous of much Wealth because 't will help them to the Enjoyment of much of this World's Happiness and acquire what will highly please and gratifie the Body as the Rich Man in the Parable said they may take their ease eat drink and be merry when they have much Goods laid up for many Years I shall therefore in the Second Place shew the folly of expecting even this World's Happiness from Abundance of Riches For besides that the Appetites of the Body are generally observed to be more sickly and deprav'd in rich than poorer Persons their Sleep worse rather than better than other Mens Eccl. 5.12 the Abundance of the Rich will not suffer him to sleep says Solomon but the Sleep of the Labouring Man is sweet eat he little or eat he much and that Health is much more a Stranger to the Rich than to the Meaner sort and the Pleasures of having a Body Vigorous and Active without the Encumbrance of Weakness and Diseases almost engross'd by the Labouring Poor Besides this which yet alone is enough to prove that 't is a folly to expect even this World's Happiness from Abundance of Riches for without Health which Luxury destroys the most of any thing there is no Taste or Relish in any other of its Enjoyments there is this One Reason more among others that will farther and I think evidently prove that 't is a very great Folly to expect to be happier even in this World by growing Richer and it is this That Riches are of all Things the most unsatisfying and the most perplexing Other Good Things of this World do in some sort satisfie and Men are often cloy'd with Pleasures have enough of Mirth and Jollity of Recreations and Diversions and the like and the Mind is for a while eas'd and refresh'd by them But as for Riches as they increase the Desire of still more increases proportionably nay rather disproportionably with them and 't was never yet known that a worldly-minded Man ever thought he had enough but that his Appetite grew keener after Wealth the more 't was fed with it And 't is not unusual to hear the greatest Complaints Murmurings and Repinings from the richest Men. And as for the Perplexity that attends Abundance of Wealth that likewise is as evident to common Observation The more a Man hath the more Care he must take to preserve it the more Quarrels and Law-Suits will he be embroil'd in and when there are Troubles and Commotions in the State and Times grow dangerous and uncertain then are the greatest Worldlings fullest of Fears and dreadful Apprehensions and not only real but imaginary Dangers terrifie their Unman'd Souls Things always appearing with the worst Aspect to their troubled Fancies who have made Gold their Deity and ty'd up their Happiness in their Bags And nothing certainly can be more perplexing to a Man's Mind than such great Fears of losing That in the possession of which his whole Happiness is concentred And accordingly Solomon who had great Possessions above All that were before him and gather'd him Silver and Gold in such Abundance that Silver was in Jerusalem common as the Stones in the Street 1 Kings 10.27 after all says he Eccles 5.10 11. He that loveth Silver shall not be satisfied with Silver nor he that loveth Abundance with Increase And what Good is there to the Owners thereof saving the beholding of it with their Eyes And even the Eye is not satisfied with seeing neither And St. Paul says very plainly That the Love of Money is the Root of all Evil and they that will be Rich fall into Temptation and a Snare 1 Tim. 6.9 10. and pierce themselves through with divers Sorrows and that Contentment with only Food and Raiment is a far greater Happiness And therefore good Reason had the Wisest King to say after all his Increase and the Abundance he had amass'd together that it was not only Vanity but Vexation of Spirit Eccles 2.11 Now that which can never satifie and as it increases increases a Man's Trouble and Perplexity which is true we see of Riches is no doubt far from conducing to a Man's Happiness in this World and therefore 't is a very great Folly for any Man to depend upon Abundance of Wealth for Happiness for 't is rather the Cause of much Trouble and Disquietude Or however God may suddenly deprive a rich Worldling of all he has by Death and say as in the Parable Thou Fool this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee then whose shall those Things be which thou hast provided For As we brought nothing into the World so 't is certain we can carry nothing out And thus much for the Folly of Immoderate Desire of Riches in Expectation of a Happy Life from Abundance I proceed now to shew The Vileness of this sort of Covetousness and of placing the Happiness of Life in great store of Wealth That 't is a very vile Thing for a Man immoderately to covet Riches and place the Happiness of his Life in Abundance of them will be very evident if we briefly consider what a Man is and what Abundance of Wealth is and what little or no proportion the one bears to the Dignity of the other A Man is a Creature endow'd with a Rational and Immortal Soul capable of Knowing Admiring Loving and Enjoying God who is the Supreme Good and the Centre of Felicity As a Christian he is an adopted Son of God Coheir with Christ of a Crown of Glory in the Eternal Kingdom of Heaven and design'd to participate of those Rivers of divine Pleasures that are at God's Right-hand for ever and ever As for
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