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
is hurried on to dangerous and destructive Actions but Nature goes on evenly in making Provision for its Health and Support and it enjoys its Strength and Beauty as in the Times of Quietness and Peace In the last Place a comfortable Expectation of a much better and endless Life in the Regions of Glory can spring from nothing but sincere Religion and therefore Religion is of very great Value with Respect to this world For what can be of greater value and more to be desired in this Valley of Tears this World of Sin and Sorrow and Ignorance Vexation and Disappointment than to have a well grounded Hope that 't will not be always so with us That there will be a Time when all Tears shall be wip'd from our Eyes and Sin and Misery be at an End for ever That we shall one Day be disentangled from the Clog of Flesh the Prison Doors set open and our captiv'd Souls set free and with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory return to the great Father of Spirits and with the full Vigour of all their Faculties contemplate and enjoy the only satisfying Good That instead of Floods of Years there shall then be Rivers of Pleasures flowing in upon us to all Eternity Halleluia's instead of Groans and mournfull Accents the triumphant Rejoycings of eternal beatified Spirits instead of the bitter Complaints of miserable Mortals and in a word Love in its Perfection instead of Quarrels and Discontents Envy and Hatred and Malice and Revenge and all the dire Attendants of them That instead of spiritual Blindness and Ignorance of the most concerning Truths for here we know but in Part and see through a Glass darkly we shall e're long be admitted to contemplate Truth it self and know as we are known and shall see God as he is and in him all things For God is Light What can be more valuable than such a chearing Expectation as this How will it sweeten all the Troubles of this Mortal Life and be a sensible Foretaste of the Glory that shall hereafter be revealed But now nothing can create such a Hope as this but sincere Religion for God is infinitely pure and holy and into his Presence no unclean thing can enter And 't is expresly said in the Revelations of his Will That without Holiness no Man shall see the Lord. A wicked Mans Breast that is not seared can be full of nothing but the dire Reflections of an enrag'd Conscience and dreadful forebodings of the Wrath to come The Miseries he feels in this World are but as the Beginnings of his eternal Sorrows and while he continues in his Rebellion against God he can expect nothing but new Expresses of his Indignation here and to be doom'd to the Portion of the Devil and his Angels at the Day of Judgment He only that has liv'd piously in this World can with any Comfort think upon a future State But to him that has led this First Life by the Rule of Religion and serv'd his Maker in Sincerity of Heart no Joy comparable to that which he experiences when he thinks of being dissolv'd and conducted to the Embraces of his Saviour in the Kingdom of Heaven where he shall be for ever with him and unspeakably happy in the Joy of his dear Lord. And thus much for the Value of Religion with Relation to this World It is the Parent of the most perfect Peace and Quietness Content and Satisfaction of Mind of a long and healthy Life here and of a comfortable Expectation of a glorious Immortality in the Regions of Blessedness And were this all that could be said of it I question not but to any considering Man it would appear to be a Jewel of inestimable Price that nothing the whole World can afford is comparable to it and that he is the wisest Man who with the Merchant in the Parable immediately parts with all that stands in Competition with Religion and would hinder him in the Performance of the Duties of it But this is far from all Godliness has not only a Promise of the Life that now is but also and chiefly of that which is to come And if it appears to be so inestimable a Treasure when we look no further than this Life what shall we think of it when we contemplate that exceeding Weight of Glory which shall be its Reward in Heaven The Happiness that will crown Religion in the other World springing from the same Fountain from whence do flow the Felicities of God himself i. e. it consisting in an intimate View and full Enjoyment of the Beauties and Perfections of the Divine Nature for so St. John 1 Joh. 3.2 We shall see God as he is It must needs be inexpressible Nay the very Contemplation of it is too bright for Minds darkned with Flesh the Splendors of it flash too strongly upon our feeble Sense now we are in the Body and too long and closely gaz'd on will rather dazle than enlighten our Understandings No Mortal Man can see God's Face and live and therefore most true is that of the Apostle Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard 1 Cor. 2.9 neither can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive the things that God hath reserv'd for those that love him Indeed this includes all that can possibly be imagin'd of Excellence and much more than we poor ignorant benighted Creatures can imagin For God is the Fountain of Being and consequently of Perfection All that is charming and truly desirable in Nature to our Senses or to our Understandings in the visible or invisible Creation is but a Stream from this divine Fountain and is in him ininfinitely greater Excellency For he is Beauty and Goodness and Harmony it self And therefore since Religion will bring us to such a Happiness as the Vision and Enjoyment of this chief Good what can compare with it for Value The Depth says 't is not in me and the Sea says 't is not with me Man knoweth not the Price thereof neither is it found in the Land of the Living It cannot be valued with the Gold of Ophir with the precious Onyx or the Saphire no mention shall be made of Coral or Pearls for the Price of Wisdom is above Rubies Job 28.13 c. Such then being the Excellency of Religion that it is above all things conducive to the Happiness of Man in this World and will bring him to the Enjoyment of God himself to eternal Ages when this short Life is ended and the whole that the World can afford amounting to no more by the Confession of one that enjoy'd it all to the Full than Emptiness and Disappointment Vanity and Vexation of Spirit here and if the Word of God be true an eternal Banishment from the supreme Good shall at last be their Punishment who love this worthless World more than Religion and their Maker These things being duly weighed and considered let any Man in his Wits say which is of greatest Value Religion or
the World And which is the wisest Man he that ruins his Soul for the Gain of even the whole World or he that counts all these sublunary things as Dung in Comparison with Religion and is ready to part with all that this Earth can afford him for the Joys of a good Conscience here and the Glories of Heaven hereafter He that prefers the World in his Choice deprives himself of the greatest Comfort of this present Life and parts with the certain Reversion of eternal Happiness in Heaven for Pleasures that don't deserve that Name they are so empty and unsatisfying he brings most exquisite and everlasting Misery upon his whole self Soul and Body for a very short liv'd imperfect Gratification of his brutal Part only and purchases the Torments of the other World by making himself unhappy in this In a Word therefore as much as to be like God in Holiness and Happiness is to be preferr'd before being like the Devil in Sin and Misery as much as Satisfaction is better than Disappointment Peace and Quietness and Content than Vexation and continual Disturbance and Perplexity of Mind a confirm'd Health and long Life than the Diseases and hasty Death that follows Debauchery and the comfortable Expectation of being for ever happy with Saints and Angels and the blessed God in the Coelestial Paradise than the confounding Dread of the Judgment of the great Day As much as Immortality is more to be prized than a Life of a Span long and the Enjoyment of the chief Good than the Pleasures of a Swine of so much gerater Value is Religion than all that this World can afford and indeed the only desirable Treasure and a Pearl of inestimable Price And now if what has been hitherto discours'd be true the Application is easy If Religion be of all things the most precious let us make it more and more our Endeavour to inrich our Souls with this Treasure to adorn our rational Nature with this Pearl of great Price and with the Merchant in the Parable think nothing too much to part with that we may purchase that Heavenly Wisdom which will make us wise to Salvation For sound Wisdom as the wise King expresses it Prov. 3.18 is a Tree of Life to those that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retaineth her She shall give to thine Head an Oranment of Grace Prov. 4.9 and a Crown of Glory shall she deliver to thee But he that would have this Wisdom and find this Pearl must not only wish and desire but with the Merchant in the Parable diligently seek it seek and ye shall find says our Lord Pro. 2.4 5. and Solomon assures us That if we seek Wisdom as Silver and search for her as for hid Treasure then shall we understand the Fear of the Lord and find the Knowledge of God Religion is not acquired without Diligence for though it be the Gift of God yet the Soul must be prepared to receive it all evil Habits must be broke and rooted up and pious Dispositions planted in their Room and the Temper of the Mind changed by Repentance and all the Powers of the whole Man become pliable to the Motions of the Spirit of Holiness before the divine Likeness can be formed in the Soul And though 't is the Grace of God that enables us to go thus far for without it we can do nothing yet our own Concurrence and Co-operation with his Grace is necessary to bring the blessed Work of Regeneration to Perfection An obstinate Resistance of preventing Grace will grieve and quench that Life-giving Spirit and such a Soul shall know no more of Religion than that it was invited to it but rejected the Offer and might have been happy in the Enjoyment of so great a Treasure but it would not But when a Soul with Joy embraces the Motions of the holy Spirit to a new Life and makes it her great Endeavour to remove all Obstacles out of the Way that they may make a due Impression and hungers and thirsts after new Degrees of Righteousness This Soul shall be fill'd with the Treasures of the divine Grace and the Power of Godliness will be visible in all Manner of holy Conversation But this can't be perform'd without a watchful persevering Diligence there is so much Opposition from within and without to this great Business that like Nehemiah's Labourers Neh. 5.17 we must work with our Swords in our Hands and fight and strive that we may carry on the Building of a living Temple for our God and make our Souls Houses of Prayer adorn'd with religious Affections and sit to receive him that hates Iniquity He that is thus diligent shall grow rich towards God and daily increase in the Knowledge and Love of him 'till Mortality shall be swallow'd up of Life and then all the Labours of Religion shall for ever be at an End and nothing remain for the happy Soul to do but to enjoy to all Eternity the glorious Rewards of it Let us all therefore be stedfast unmoveable and always abound in this Work of the Lord for as much as we know our Labour shall not be in vain and to our diligent Pursuit of this inestimable Treasure of Religion let us add frequent and earnest Prayer to God who is the only Giver of every good and perfect Gift that he would send down Wisdom from his holy Heaven that being present she may labour with us that we may know what is pleasing in his Sight and set our selves to do it with all Alacrity running with Diligence and Patience the Race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the Joy that was set before him endur'd the Cross despising the Shame Heb. 12.1 2. and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God remembring that we also shall reap in due Season if we faint not And if we part with all the vile Affections for the Sake of Religion in this World and are ready in Preparation of Mind to suffer any worldly Loss even to that of Life it self for the Sake of Jesus and his Truth we shall find such a Recompence of Reward in the Kingdom of Heaven as will abundantly compensate all our Sufferings here for our light Affliction which is but for a Moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Happy is the Exchange of all that this World can afford for a Jewel of so great Price as Religion and for such inexhaustible Treasures of Bliss as are reserved to Reward it in the Presence of God What is our greatest Interest therefore let us before all things persue and where our Treasure is there let our Hearts be also The PRAYER I. O Mercifull Jesu Who hast prepared for us a Treasure in Heaven and taught us the Way to attain it and warn'd us of the Emptiness of this World 's Good that we may not be
before we proceed to consider the Parable learn this short but excellent Lesson namely That when sudden ill Accidents befall our Neighbours we do not presently make Conclusion as is too often done especially where there has been any Enmity or Difference between the Parties that God has met with them by his Judgments for some Extraordinary Wickedness of theirs and pronounce them worse Men than our selves or others that escape because they suffer such things for this is a very rash and uncharitable Sentence and may be far from Truth But rather by God's Severity upon others be inclined to reflect upon our selves and humble our selves before him for our own Iniquities and entirely resolve to forsake every Evil Way lest we likewise fall under the like Expresses of his Vengeance in this World or of infinitely worse in that which is to come In the Parable it self is represented God's Method of Proceeding with Sinners now under the Gospel from first to last and it is this First He plants them in his Vineyard the Church of Christ that there by the good Cultivating of the Ministers of his Kingdom and the refreshing Influences of his Blessed Spirit upon their Souls they may become Fruitful of such good Works as may fit and prepare them for the Enjoyments of his Heavenly Kingdom to which in due season they are to be transplanted After they are thus plac'd in his Vineyard and Cultivated by the Sermons of the Gospel he looks for a proportionable Fruitfulness from them and that after all his Care and Goodness to them they would for their Part make him a due Return of the Fruits of Evangelical Righteousness As when a Tree is remov'd from a Poorer to a Richer Soil and much Care and Husbandry used about it 't is expected it should grow and flourish accordingly and bring forth more and better Fruit. After God has with much Patience and Forbearance yearly sought for Fruit from them and is as often disappointed his Wisdom and his Justice prompt him to rid his Vineyard of the Incumbrance of those Unprofitable Trees to remove from the Society of his Faithful Disciples those that are a Trouble and a Scandal to them and as Barren Trees are laid aside to be burnt so to consign them to those everlasting Burnings prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels But though in Justice he purposes the Destruction of the Unfruitful yet his infinite Mercy through the Intercession of the Compassionate Jesus the Dresser of this his Vineyard the Head and Governor of the Christian Church inclines him to a still farther Forbearance till they shall be cultivated and manur'd afresh by the again repeated Instructions and Exhortations of his Servants the Ministers of the Gospel and the reiterated Motions of the Blessed Spirit of Life and Holiness And then if they bear Fruit well Happy will it be for them but if not after that he will cut them down and utterly destroy them Of each of these Particulars we shall now discourse in their Order The first is God's wondrous Care and Tenderness of Sinners in Planting them in his Vineyard as the Parable expresses it that is receiving them into the Church of Christ where they are cultivated by the Ministers of his Kingdom and their Souls water'd with gentle Showers from Above the blessed Influences of the Holy Spirit that they may Flourish and become Fruitful of such good Works as may prepare them for the Felicities of Heaven to which in due time they shall be Transplanted Before the Coming of our Saviour the Jewish Church was God's Vineyard his peculiar Inclosure and the Subject of his more immediate Care and Government and all but the Seed of Jacob were excluded as wild uncultivated Trees and left to Themselves in the Wilderness of the World For so in a spiritual Sense was all but the Land of Jewry the Lot of their Inheritance Afterwards when the Fullness of Time was come that God would take Pity upon the whole Race of Adam and receive all Mankind to his Favour he then enlarg'd that his Vineyard and gave a Free Admittance to all that would submit to the Culture and Government of his Eternal Son whom he sent to break down the former Inclosure and make it more capacious even as large as the World it self and committed it to his Management made him the great Dresser of this Vineyard the Head and Governour of this Universal Church that through his excellent Directions and the Care and Industry of his Servants and the Decrees from Above of his Divine Grace and Assistance And above all through the wondrous Efficacy of his Precious Blood with which he plentifully enrich'd this his new Plantation it might thrive and flourish and bring forth Fruit meet for him by whom it was dress'd even the Fruits of the Spirit and such as are meet for Repentance such as may advance the Glory of God by the Salvation of innumerable Souls that none made after his Image might perish but all come to Everlasting Life God's Vineyard then being thus enlarg'd and his Church now no longer confin'd to a Corner of the World but by the Coming of Christ made Universal that all men might come to the Knowledge of the Truth Man is again as 't were seated in Paradise and reconciled to God 'T is again put into his Power to continue in his Makers Favour and after a Happy Life in this World to be transplanted into that Heavenly Country where is the Residence of the Divine Majesty and Rivers of ineffable Pleasures which flow for evermore As through the Disobedience of the first Adam Mankind was driven out of Paradise and doom'd to Live and Labour amongst Briars and Thorns as under the Displeasure of his Creator and then to Dye and Return to his Dust so through the Obedience of the second Adam even to the Death of the Cross through the Merits of his Blood and the Atonement of his Sacrifice all that sad Sentence and Condemnation is in a spiritual Sense revers'd and we are again planted in the Vineyard and Garden of God recall'd from the Portion of Thorns and Briars and restor'd to the Favour of our Creator and at length to change this Corruptible for Incorruptible this Dishonour and Weakness for Glory and Power this Natural for a Spiritual Body this Mortal Life for Immortality and by this means is brought to pass the Saying that is written 1 Cor. 15. Death is swallowed up in Victory O Blessed Alteration O happy Change of Misery and Shame for Happiness and Glory O the Miraculous Love and Goodness of God to Mankind in thus commiserating our deplorable Condition and delivering us from the Power of Darkness and translating us into the Kingdom of his Dear Son and making us meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Happy are they who have heard of these Glad Tidings and are planted in this Spiritual Vineyard and under the Care and Cultivation of the great
't is true but he that provides not for his own Soul is still more unnaturaly cruel These are the things that our Blessed Lord says make this Heavenly Seed the Word of God unfruitful and therefore those should with the greatest Care and Application possible be provided against nothing being of so great Importance to us as the Flourishing and Encrease of the Word of God I come now to consider the last Part of this Parable viz. what it is that will make this holy Seed to thrive and bring forth plentifully the Fruits of Righteousness and which Course consequently it highly concerns us all to take that we may not be barren under the Means of Instruction that we enjoy Our Lord expresseth it thus But other Seed fell into good Ground and brought forth Fruit some an Hundred-Fold some Sixty and some Thirty That is he that receiv'd Seed into the good Ground is he that having heard the Word understandeth it and receives and keeps it in an honest and good Heart and brings forth Fruit with Patience according to his Ability whether Thirty Sixty or an Hundred-Fold In this Part of the Parable there are Five things to be consider'd First That the good Ground in which the Seed of the Word will take deep Rooting and bring forth Plentifully is an honest and good Heart Secondly That that which infixes the Seed of the Word in this good Ground is Consideration translated understanding the Word Thirdly That the Seed so planted in this good Ground must be diligently kept and preserved in it Fourthly That we must expect the Encrease of it with Patience and take care that the Fruits come to Perfection and Lastly That this Increase must be proportionable to the Quantity of the Seed that is sown and to the Strength and Power of the Soil in which it is sown that is to every Man's Ability and the Opportunities he has had of Improvement whether Thirty Sixty or an Hundred-Fold First The good Ground in which the Seed of the Word will take deep Rooting and bring forth plentifully is an honest and good Heart that is a Heart sincerely desirous to be inform'd in its Duty and that cordially proposes to perform it and is truly humble and of a modest teachable Temper St. 1 Cor. 3.5 6. Paul tell us that though he plants and Apollos water yet 't is God alone that giveth the Increase Now can any Man imagin that God will make that effectual to our Good which we despise and value not and force those Favours upon us which we neither now desire nor if we had them should do other than neglect The Graces of Religion are too precious to be bestow'd upon such brutish Natures and none but those that have Hearts earnestly desirous of his Divine Assistance that they may be purifyed and renewed by his blessed Spirit and instructed in his holy Will that they may know how to pay a more acceptable Service to him none but those that have such honest and good Hearts can expect the Word should flourish and grow fruitful and they only that thus hunger and thirst after Righteousness shall be filled And this those would do well to consider who frequent our religious Assemblies in complyance to Custom only and because their Neighbours do or to learn new Modes and Dresses or to shew their own or to while away the Time that lies useless upon their Hands or to meet a Friend or please their Ears with some new Notion or to gratify their Curiosity or the like Let not such Persons be deceiv'd God is not mock'd let not such think they shall receive any thing of God but the Fierceness of his Displeasure for their prophaning to such vile Purposes what he intends as a Means to their Salvation Those only shall receive Advantage by God's Word that sincerely and earnestly desire its Nourishment that they may grow thereby This honest and good Heart is likewise Modest and Teachable and indeed this Disposition is very necessary in order to the Fruitfulness of the Word For Pride and Conceitedness are naturally the greatest Hinderers of Improvement in all Sorts of Acquirements whatever but in Religion they do the most Mischief of all and are the great Destroyers of whatever is religious and good For besides that a high Opinion of ones own present Endowments cuts off all Endeavours of growing better and renders all spiritual Advice barren to him that thinks he hath no need of it Besides that Reproof frets and inrages one that thinks Commendations rather belong to him and Instruction in Cases of Difficulty is thrown away upon a Man that thinks himself Wiser than his Teachers Besides these and several other Natural Ill Consequences of an over-weening Opinion of ones self which might be mentioned there is this yet above all that it utterly bars and shuts out God's holy Spirit it deprives the Soul of his gracious Influences and diverts the Streams of his Grace and Benediction from watering our Hearts Prov. 16.5 For Pride is an Abomination unto the Lord a thing that he hates and detests above all things And St. James tells us that instead of assisting God resists the Proud Jam. 4.7 is his profess'd Enemy And no wonder if that Soul be barren which is thus cursed of God and denyed those refreshing Dews of his Favour which alone can make it fruitful Let us therefore lay our Foundation low in Modesty Sincerity and Humility and God will build us up to Life everlasting We shall then be like Trees planted and deep rooted by the Rivers of Water that bring forth their Fruit in their Season our Leaf shall not wither and whatsoever we do it shall prosper Psal 1.3 Secondly that which infixes the Seed of the Word in the good Ground of an honest and good Heart is Consideration and Meditation render'd in our Translation understanding the Word The Word in the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Original signifies weighing pondering and considering And St. James says agreeably whoso looketh into the perfect Law of Liberty and continueth therein that is as the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Words in the Greek signify has look'd close and dwelt upon it by serious Meditation he being not a forgetful Hearer but a Doer of the Work this Man shall be blessed in his doing Jam. 1.25 He therefore that desires the Word should encrease and multiply must not only receive it in an honest and good Heart but infix it there by serious Consideration and be not like those compar'd to thorny Ground in the Parable who having heard the Word go sorth and think no more of it but suffer the Cares and Pleasures and Riches of the World to enter immediately into their Minds and choak the Word so that it becomes unfruitful But by after Meditation and Recollection of Thought make it sink still deeper into their Souls and strike a Root to the very Bottom of their Hearts And indeed without such Consideration there can
deceiving his own Soul From him shall be taken away even that which he hath he shall be deprived of it to inrich his industrious Brother and add to his Abundance What Grace he had before shall be withdrawn and he naked and defenseless left to the Fury of his Spiritual Enemies the Dews of Heaven shall no longer drop upon his barren Soul but parch'd and sapless it shall be reserv'd to eternal Burnings Consider this all ye that forget God and are unfruitful under all his Care and fatherly Nurture and Admonition lest at length he pluck you away and there be none to deliver you And remember the Words of Solomon Prov. 29.1 He that being often reprov'd still hardeneth his Neck shall suddainly be destroyed and that without Remedy And thus have I done with the first of our Saviours Parables in which is set before us a Blessing and a Curse a Blessing if when the good Seed is sown and we have heard the Word we receive it into honest and good Hearts and according to our several Abilities bring forth Fruit to Perfection that is obey and Practise it with Constancy and Perseverance And a Curse if we remain still barren and unfruitful not Doers of the Word but Hearers only deceiving our selves into eternal Perdition It becomes us all therefore to take heed how we hear and not be like the High-way-side suffering our Thoughts to wander from the Instructions we have heard and leaving the good Seed unregarded to the Mercy of the great Enemy of Souls and exposing our Minds as a common Tract to vain and wicked Fancies and Imaginations and diabolical Suggestions nor like the stony Ground impenetrable to any deep and lasting Impressions of the Word of Life nor like that over-run with Thorns and Briars and noxious Weeds such as are the Cares and deceitful Riches and Pleasures of this Life which will choak the Word and render it unfruitful But that we treasure up this Divine Word in our Memories ponder and consider it and set our Love and Affections upon it So shall it grow and prosper and bring forth Fruit in some Thirty in some Sixty in some an Hundred-Fold to the Honour and Glory of God and the eternal Salvation of our immortal Souls Which God of his infinite Mercy grant for Jesus Christ his Sake Now 2 Cor. 9.10 He that ministreth Seed to the Sower both give us this Heavenly Bread for our Food and multiply the Seed that is sown and encrease the Fruits of our Righteousness that being inrich'd in every good thing to all Bountifulness there may be given through us Thanksgiving unto God Amen Amen The PRAYER I. MOST Holy Jesus thou blessed Author of the best Religion who hast in great Plenty sown among us the Seed of a happy Immortality even thy holy Word and watered it with the Dew of thy heavenly Grace and art wanting in nothing on thy Part to cause it to flourish and bring forth abundantly the Fruits of Righteousness I thy unworthy Servant unfeignedly bless this thy infinite Goodness and tender Care for the Children of Men but must with Shame confess that hitherto thy Care has been in too great Measure defeated by my Inconsiderateness and Obstinacy my Soul still remains barren as the High-way-side impenetrable to the Sermons of the Gospel or at best flitting and unconstant in religious Purposes which have been short-liv'd as the Grass that grows upon the Top of the Rocks or else choak'd with the Briars of worldly Cares and Distractions with covetous and sensual Desires Thus have I courted Death in the Error of my Life But now being awaken'd by thy Mercy and become sensible of the Danger I am in and the sad Consequence if my Barrenness continues I humbly beg and earnestly at the Throne of Grace that Thou from whom is all our Sufficiency wouldst aid me with thy blessed Spirit and help my Infirmities and strengthen me mightily in the inner Man that thy Word may ever hereafter take so deep a Rooting in my Soul as to produce the genuine Fruits of Christianity II. I am sadly sensible O Lord that the Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it Do thou therefore who art the Searcher of our Spirits purge my Soul of all lurking Hypocrisy and Pride and Self-conceit and every thing that will hinder the Growth and Increase of this heavenly Seed and make me apt to receive and cherish it by creating in me an honest and good Heart and renewing a sincere and right Spirit within me Grant that I may so seriously attend to and consider the great Truths thy Goodness hath revealed to us in the Gospel as intirely to assent to them and heartily endeavour to conform my Practice to my Belief and may I always heedfully preserve those divine Instructions and moving Arguments to a persevering Piety which I have learned from thy Word lest the infernal Bird of Prey deprive me of the good Seed and in its room plant devillish Affections And O that Patience and Hope and an humble Dependance upon thee for Direction and Defence may be my Support in this my Pilgrimage That so chearfully running the Race that is set before me and thankfully acknowledging the early Influences of thy blessed Spirit in my tender Years and waiting for the later Distillations of thy Grace which will bring my Fruit to Perfection and always endeavouring o proportion my Increase to the Means and Opportunities of it thy Goodness hath vouchsafed me I may at last escape the Intolerable Punishment of Unfruitfulness and having my Fruit unto Holiness the End may be everlasting Life through thy Merits and Mercies O blessed Saviour Jesus Amen PARABLE II. Of the Tares Matth. xiii 24 25 26 27 28 29 30. Another Parable put Jesus forth unto them saying The Kingdom of Heaven is likned unto a Man that sowed good Seed in his Field But while Men slept his Enemy came and sowed Tares among the Wheat and went his way But when the Blade was sprung up and brought forth Fruit then appeared the Tares also So the Servants of the Housholder came and said unto him Sir didst not thou sow good Seed in thy Field From whence then hath it Tares He said unto them an Enemy hath done this The Servants said unto him wilt thou then that we go and gather them up But he said nay lest while ye gather up the Tares ye root up also the Wheat with them Let both grow together until the Harvest and in the time of Harvest I will say to the Reapers gather ye together first the Tares and bind them in Bundles to burn them But gather the Wheat into my Barn THE Interpretation of this Parable is thus set down Vers 37. of this Chapter He that soweth the good Seed is the Son of Man the Field is the World the good Seeds are the Children of the Kingdom but the Tares are the Children of the wicked one the Enemy that sowed them
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
the Result of all this Why truly a few serious reflecting Thoughts discover'd to him that All was but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit I said of Laughter it is mad and of Mirth what doth it And what doth it indeed 'T is profitable for nothing and when excessive and attended too extravagantly 't is naturally as well as morally an Evil It unmans and effeminates the Soul and dispirits and hebetates the Body The most profuse Laughter ends in a Sigh and Uneasiness and looks much like Madness and is a certain Indication of Folly A decent chearfulness is commendable upon many Accounts but to make a Trade of Jollity to be always upon the Laugh and spend the greatest Part of a Man's Time in Recreations and Diversions as 't is a very childish thing and looks much like the Behaviour of Naturals and Changelings so 't is a very uneasie thing too and grows from a Pleasure into a Toil and Burthen Witness such Persons frequent shifting and changing one Diversion for another how at a Loss somtimes they are how to dispose of their Time and what Sport to go to next and how quickly tir'd they are with their idle Employment And it may be very truly said there is less of Pleasure in a Course of Life that is always hunting after Pleasure and intent upon nothing else than in a more severe serious Way of living which but now and then and sparingly tastes of Mirth and Recreations and soon returns to things of more Weight and Concern And the Reason is those light Sort of Enjoyments are so empty of what will gratify a rational Soul that they presently grow flat and insipid and become tedious rather than diverting when too long dwelt upon and suck'd too dry A short transient Enjoyment is most agreeable to their fading perishing Nature and as he enjoys the Fragrancy of a Rose both more and longer who smells of it gently and with frequent Intermissions than he that uses it more roughly and presses it too constantly and too hard so he experiences much more of the Sweet of Mirth and Pleasantry who but seldom and moderately uses it than he that makes it his Business and follows it as close as others do their Callings Even in Laughter when extravagant says the wise King The Heart is sorrowful Eccles 7.2 and the End of that Mirth is Heaviness Nay he says 't is better to go to the House of Mourning than to the House of Feasting for that may have some substantial good Effect upon a Man Death being the End of all Men and the living at such serious Times may be inclin'd to lay it to Heart whereas Jollity and Mirth wholly evaporate into Folly and leave nothing behind them that is any Way profitable unless it be Repentance Sorrow and Seriousness make Men consider and become receptive of wise Instructions but a light frothy Temper both exposes a Man's Folly and fatally prevents his growing wiser It shews that he is a Fool and that he is like to continue so For as the crackling of Thorns under a Pot so is the Laughter of a Fool there is much of Noise in it but it serves to no other Purpose than to shame himself And thus we have seen what the Heigth of Mirth and Jollity amounts to namely Disappointment Vexation and Uneasieness Shame and Vanity Madness and Folly Having thus summ'd up the true Value of one of the Three things in which consists the Happiness of the World the Lusts of the Flesh or those things which more immediately gratifie our bodily Appetites let us now look into the Second which is call'd by the Apostle the Lust of the Eyes that is Riches and great Abundance of this World 's Good such as ample Possessions magnificent Structures a splendid Equipage glorious Apparel and the like Which are call'd the Lusts of the Eyes because 't is the Sense of seeing that these things affect with the greatest Pleasure Now suppose a Man to have all of this Nature that the World can help him to suppose he has Riches enough to answer all these things to provide all this Splendor and Magnificence and to support and maintain it What more will it amount to than as Solomon expresses it Eccles 5.11 the beholding of it with our Eyes For as for great Treasures of Gold and Silver though they may procure many things to delight the Eye and please the Fancy yet the Man that hath 'em remains still as Nature made him none of the Powers or Faculties either of his Soul or Body receive any Improvement nor Alteration unless it be for the worse But Mony will erect magnificent and stately Buildings 't will purchase rich Furniture and all that Art can do to adorn and beautify them 'T is true it will so but will those stately Structures preserve a Man better from the Injuries of the Air and Weather than more ordinary Houses Shall a Man sleep better in a costly than a meaner Bed And will a Fever handle him more gently that lies within Curtains of Velvet and has his Chamber adorn'd in the most costly Manner than one that is contented with a cleanly Meanness If not still 't is the Eye that receives all the Pleasure As for the splendid Equipage of the Men of great Possessions a Croud of Attendants following them in gay Liyeries glittering Coaches and the like this may please the Eye too but what more does it effect 'T is but Two or Three of those Attendants that can be serviceable the rest are own'd to be for State only and are kept for little else than to eat and drink and be troublesome and the Experience of all Men will tell us that he is the happiest Man that stands in need of the fewest Servants and retains no more than he stands in need of As for fine Coaches and glorious Apparel if Gold upon a Coach and costly Trappings would make a Journy more safe and easie and if rich Clothes would keep one Warmer or last longer or be less troublesome than a more ordinary Habit there might be something said for them But since there is nothing of this in them nay rather they are less serviceable to the Ends they were at first design'd for and that over-Niceness and Curiosity in Dress or any thing else is the Occasion of much Disturbance and Uneasiness The beholding these gay things with the Eye is all that is considerable in them And what does the beholding of all these splendid Sights amount to Is there any through and lasting Pleasure in it any thing that will make a Man happy or so much as promote his Happiness Why truly Solomon 1 Kings 10. who experienc'd all of this Nature to the full gives us this Account of it Eccl. 2.4 He that loveth Silver shall not be satisfyed with Silver nor he that loveth Abundance with Increase 11. Eccl. 5.10 When Goods are increased they are increased that cat them and what Good is there
either wholly deprives the Soul of or turns it into Poison and instead of disarming a Misfortune by humble Submission to the infinitely wise and just and good Disposals of the great Governour of all things adds a thousand sharper things to it and makes that become intolerable which Religion would have made to sit light and easy Again Content is destroyed by Irreligion because it perswades Men that their whole Interest lies here below either by making them believe there is no such thing as another World or else by engaging them so fast to this as to hinder their attending to any thing beyond this Life And the Effect of this is great eagerness in acquiring these lower Goods impatient Desires of still more and more of the World as that in which is concentred their whole Happiness And what else can be the Consequence of this amidst the great uncertainties that attend these sublunary things but a World of Trouble and Discontent answerable to those numerous cross Accidents and Disappointments which every Condition is full of from the highest to the lowest Every unlucky Hit to such Men is like a Dagger stabbing to the very Heart for that which a Man looks upon as his chief Good he can by no means endure to have lessened and impaired And the World being so full of such vexatious Mishaps how full of Wounds must be the Spirit of an ungodly Worldling And as Content so Satisfaction of Mind which is much more than a submissive Acquiescence in our present Condition and supposes a Happiness that is compleat and full This is a Blessing which nothing but sincere Religion can ever make the Soul experience And he only that has learned to make God the chief Object of his Affections and Desires can indeed know what Satisfaction is For every thing besides God is unsatisfying because flitting and momentary and very imperfect and empty of that infinite Good which is the only adequate Object of that infinite Desire of Happiness which is in the Soul of Man This is the Reason that Men are so constantly disappointed in their Expectation of Happiness from the Enjoyment of this World 's Good let them continually have what they desire which yet is too much to be rationally supposed of any Man and enjoy it fully and without Controul yet still there will be something wanting to compleat their Happiness something that they desire still further and so the Soul is continually baulk'd of her Expectation and still at a Loss for Happiness and continual Longings and Desires and as continual Disappointments are her Portion in this World And what 's more uneasie and vexatious than such a Condition as this What more deplorable than even by Fruition it self to be made unhappy What other Refuge has the miserable Soul in this Case than to take off her Affections from these empty Nothings here below and as Religion directs fix them upon him who is the supreme Good and will abide the Test of an eternal Fruition In the Enjoyment of him must needs be infinite Satisfaction because there is no real Good that we can possibly desire but is in the divine Nature in the highest Degree of Excellency and Perfection and that not only for a Time but to all Eternity All the Capacities of the Soul must needs be fill'd with an infinite Good and intirely rest in it as in the very Center of Happiness Thirdly Religion is of very great Value with Respect to this World because 't is so greatly conducive to a long and healthy Life in it Long Life and Health is that which all People naturally covet and is indeed a very great Blessing and that not only because the longer Men live and the more vigorous they are the longer and more fully they enjoy or at least hope to enjoy the good things of this World which yet with too many is the main Consideration but likewise and chiefly because they have more Time and greater Opportunities to provide for the Happiness of the eternal Life to come and heap up still greater Treasures of Glory in the Kingdom of Heaven Now this great Blessing nothing is more likely to help a Man to than Religion For First it engages Men to live regularly and temperately moderates the Appetites of eating and drinking and curbs the exorbitant Desires of the flesh and by allowing no more than is necessary to the Comfortable Support of Nature makes no Provision for those many destructive Diseases which are always the Attendants of Excess How many of the meaner Sort by Labour and course Fare protract their Days than of the Rich who live in Ease and Luxury And the Reason is plain because the poor Man's scanty Fortune will not allow him to exceed but keeps him within the Bounds of Moderation and Temperance and forces him to be content with a little whereas the rich have many and great Temptations to Luxury and Excess and seldom are so religious as to resist them and so too frequently feel the sad Effects of Intemperance and live out but half their Days But now Religion is a kind of voluntary Poverty and helps Men to all the Blessings of a mean Condition though rich and out of Danger of the Sting of it and by introducing Temperance and Moderation into the Families of the wealthy brings with it Health and long Life which otherwise would seldom be found but in the Cottages of the Poor Again Religion is greatly conducive to a long and healthy Life because it regulates the Passions keeps the Soul quiet and in a Calm which has no little Influence upon the Health and Welfare of the Body That the Passions of the Mind do very much affect the Body is undeniable and when they are excessive nothing more shakes and discomposes the whole Man Even Joy which one would think should be innocent enough has sometimes been so violent as to overcharge Persons and leave them dead and Grief has been often fatal and Envy is the worst Sort of Consumption and leaves visible Tokens of it upon the Countenance and Love has had many Martyrs and Anger is a great Impoverisher of the Animal Spirits and oftentimes makes a Man his own Executioner and engages in such Scuffles and hot Inconsiderate Actions as not seldom end in Wounds and Death Every Excess of Passion of what kind soever is naturally a great Impairer of Health at least and the often Repetitions of it the ready Way to destroy it Nature not being able to bear such violent Concussions long without being much weaken'd and shatter'd by them Like the Walls of a Castle which how strong soever will receive Damage by every furious Battery and unless reliev'd must at length fall before the Cannons Irresistible Force But now Religion prevents all this Mischief and by regulating and reducing to Moderation these Passions of the Soul makes the Mind calm and quiet and keeps the Spirits in an Aequipoise and the Body consequently is undisturb'd feels no Violence nor
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
many a Man injures another in suddain Heat and Passion and in cooler Blood repents of it though he can't prevail with himself to ask Forgiveness And sometimes a Man injures another in retaliating something that he took amiss from him though perhaps far otherwise intended and it may be false Reports may have made the Difference But now this Way of Reconciliation presently sets all right again it creates a right Understanding between Party and Party it nips Quarrels in the very Bud and leaves no Room for further Malice and Ill Will And what a holy Triumph will there then be in the forgiving Soul thus to have softned his Enemy and overcome Evil with Good And such happy Effects of Forgiveness of Injuries as these methinks should engage every considering Man to put it in Practice were this all but when besides all this so great a Mercy as the perfect Recovery of the Favour of God the Forgiveness of our own vast Debt and the Enjoyment of the Glories and Felicities of Heaven shall be the Reward of it Surely no Man in his Wits but must think himself as much obliged to forgive Injuries as to make himself eternally happy if he can And that this exceeding great Reward shall attend the hearty Practice of this Vertue is plain from our Lord 's own Words Luke 6.37 Forgive and ye shall be forgiven And as it appears from what has been said that we have upon all Accounts great Obligation to imitate the compassionate Example of our merciful God so in the Second Place Our Baseness will be very great if we do not And that both with Respect to God and Man With Respect to God not to forgive a petty Injury from our Brother when God has forgiven such infinite Provocations as ours against himself is the vilest Baseness because as was said before 't is the vilest Ingratitude and Forgetfulness of his great Mercy to us I say a petty Injury from our Brother for every Injury how great soever that one Mortal can do to another is indeed but of no regard in compare with those mountainous Heaps of Wickednesses which we have been guilty of against God and bear not so great Proportion to them as an Hundred Pence does to Ten Thousand Talents as the Parable expresses both Debts that which the compassionate King forgave his Servant and that which that wicked Man would not forgive his Fellow-Servant The infinite Goodness of God to us if it has made its due Impression upon our Spirits will leave so charming an Idea of Forgiveness upon our Souls as will incline us to a suitable Practice upon all Occasions especially since we know from God's great Compassion towards us how pleasing to him Compassion is in others But notwithstanding God's unspeakable Kindness to us to cherish a Temper of Mind which we can't but be sensible he infinitely Hates and endeavour to make those miserable as far as our Malice will reach to whom God has forgiven as much as he forgave us and for whose Redemption Christ dyed and for whom are reserv'd Crowns of Glory in Heaven through the wondrous Mercy of God and all this unmercifulness for a small Matter for the Debt of a few Pence This shews the basest of Ingratitude and weak Sense of God's Compassion shewn to us that is possible Well may our Lord say to such Men with a little Variation as the King in the Parable said to that cruel Servant of his O thou wicked Servant I forgave thee all that Debt and that though thou didst not desire it of me shouldst not thou also have had Compassion on thy Fellow-Servant even as I had Pity on thee Obligation sufficient there was no Doubt and that his Ingratitude and Forgetfulness of God's Favour and his cruel hardned Temper was very provoking will appear in the Sequel But Secondly To be revengeful and implacable after such Mercy receiv'd our selves is the greatest Baseness with Respect to Men. For we are all Fellow-Servants of the same great Lord and his Mercy has been the same to all of us we are all of us through Christ under the same Covenant of Grace and Reconciliation Now this methinks should endear us to one another and our mutual Joy for each others Happiness should put an End to all other petty Quarrels and Animosities between us But instead of this to hate and mischief one another to endeavour by all means to make one another as unhappy as we can here below and with him in the Parable pluck out Throats for Trifles and become inexorable to any that have injur'd us this is such an unnatural Piece of Barbarity and betrays so much devillish Baseness of Spirit as that every sensible Man when he considers it will abominate 'T is as if a Man should escape to Shoar from a Wreck at Sea and there meet one whom Providence had bless'd with the same Deliverance and instead of congratulating his Safety and joyning with him in praising and blessing the Mercy of their great Deliverer endeavour to knock out his Brains in Persuance of some old Grudge Nothing can be more base than this nor more justly provoking to the God of Mercy and Compassion Which leads me in the Last Place to consider the miserable Consequence of this Baseness viz. We shall thereby provoke God to recall his Pardon to us and deal with us as the King in the Parable did with his wicked ungrateful and cruel Servant and deliver us over to the Tormentors till we shall have paid all that is due unto him For so likewise says our Lord shall my heavenly Father do unto you if ye from your Hearts forgive not every one his Brother their Trespasses God's Pardon to Sinners though it be very full and free and given in infinite Mercy yet is not pass'd in such a Manner as that it can never be revok'd 't was given at first upon Conditions and may be again forfeited if we fail of performing what God requires in order to his final ratifying it Now Forgiveness of Injuries is expresly mention'd by our Saviour as Part of what God expects from us in order to his comfirming his Pardon to us for thus Mat. 6.14 15. If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your heavenly Father forgive your Trespasses but as 't is in the Parable his Wrath will again wax hot against you and he will make void his former Pardon and deliver you over to the Tormentors till you shall pay all that is due unto him That is will consign you to the Portion of the Devil and his Angels Spirits of like malicious and revengeful Tempers who as the merciless Executioners of God's Vengeance will not for ever spare to torment and cruciate those wretched Souls who might have escap'd those Miseries and had their Pardon seal'd with the Blood of their Redeemer but forfeited it again by indulging to that devillish Temper of
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
me Thou holy Jesus though a stern Judg to obstinate Rebels to thy Father art yet the Bridegroom of thy Spouse the Church and infinite is thy Love to those that preserve inviolate their Fidelity to thee and happy will they be beyond Expression who at thy glorious coming to receive thy Bride into thy Kingdom shall be admitted into thy Marriage Chamber and be for ever where thou art and behold and partake of thy Glory O may I therefore like a wise Virgin preserve my Innocence untouch'd be cloath'd with Humility and adorn'd with a meek and quiet Spirit and sober and temperate in all things having my Lamp full of Oyl my Soul replenish'd with Vertue and constantly burning with the Fires of Piety and Devotion that so when the Cry shall be made Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him I may be ready to obey thy Call though it be made at Midnight and be found of thee our dearest Lord as a Virgin in Peace without Spot and blameless II. I must confess with Shame and Sorrow O merciful Jesus that I am too prone to slumber and sleep and forget to advert as I ought to this thy glorious Second Advent and the Forerunner of it Death and am apt foolishly to put that Day far from me and to think thou delayest thy coming whereby my Oyl is wasted and my Lamp almost gone out O do thou therefore quicken me in thy Righteousness blessed Redeemer and grant that the Consideration of the surprizing Suddainness of thy Appearance upon the Throne of Judgment and the great Uncertainty of the Time when I shall be call'd from hence and bound over to that great Assize there to give Account of my Works and how I liv'd and how I dy'd Grant that this Consideration may put an End to my spiritual Drouziness and engage me in Prayer and Watchfulness and pious sober Conversation because I know not the Day nor the Hour And when by the Decays of Age or Violence of Diseases my Departure into the World of Spirits seems to be near approaching O then enable me with thy prevailing Grace to trim my Lamp with an extraordinary Diligence to enliven my Religion and not be to seek for Oyl then when my Lamp should be best replenish'd with it and burn most vigorously O let me never trust to the great Uncertainty of a Death-Bed Repentance nor vainly depend upon the redundant Merit of others except that of my Saviour which is my only Hope but now in Time of Health provide for a happy Death lest my Lamp being out when thou shalt call me to attend thee Amazement and Horror seize me and the Door be shut upon me And well will my wakeful Preparation be rewarded dearest Jesus when I shall be admitted into thy glorious Presence and enjoy the endless Blisses of thy heavenly Bride-Chamber O therefore grant me thy Grace not to sleep as do others but to watch and be sober and so much the more as I see that Day approaching Amen Blessed Saviour Amen Amen PARABLE VII Of the good Samaritan Luke x. 30 31 32 33 34 35. A certain Man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among Thieves which stripped him of his Rayment and wounded him and departed leaving him half dead And by chance there came down a certain Priest that Way and when he saw him he passed by on the other Side And likewise a Levite when he was at the Place came and look'd on him and passed by on the other Side But a certain Samaritan as he journyed came where he was And when he saw him he had Compassion on him And went to him and bound up his Wounds pouring in Oyl and Wine and set him on his own Beast and brought him to an Inn and took Care of him And on the morrow when he departed he took out Two Pence and gave them to the Host and said unto him take care of him and whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again I will repay thee THIS Parable was spoken upon occasion of a Lawyer 's asking our Lord What he should do to inherit eternal Life Who upon Christ's referring him to his own Law and his Repetition of the two great Commandments of loving God with all our Hearts and our Neighbours as our selves and Christ's returning to him this do and thou shalt live being willing to justifie himself as an Observer of all this ask'd this further Question and who is my Neighbour That so knowing our Saviour's Sense in that Particular he might the better make it appear to him that he not only lov'd God with all his Heart which he thought he could safely affirm but likewise his Neighbour as himself and therefore stood fair for eternal Life To this latter Question Jesus answer'd by the Parable above recited and then ask'd the conceited Lawyer Which now of these Three thinkest thou was Neighbour to him that fell among the Thieves the Priest and Levite that were his Country-Men Children of the same Abraham who yet took no charitable Notice of him but passed by on the other Side or the Samaritan who though a schismatical Stranger to the Common Wealth of Israel and an Enemy to every Jew yet had Compassion on him and reliev'd and succour'd him with Charity suitable to his Distress To this the Lawyer answer'd as he could not choose but do he was his Neighbour that shew'd Mercy on him Then said Jesus immediately to him Go and do thou likewise Which Words struck home upon his Conscience that they put a Stop to his intended Justification of himself and we hear of no further Intercourse he had with our Lord and may imagine how he sneak'd away asham'd and confounded The Design therefore of this Parable is to give us a true Notion of Charity or Compassion and Relief of such as are in Distress and that both with Respect to the Object of it and the Manner and Measure of expressing it to such Object And therefore in discoursing upon this Parable I shall do three things First I shall shew who are the proper Objects of this Sort of Charity according to the true Sense and Meaning of our holy Religion Secondly How we are obliged to relieve them in what Manner and in what Measure Thirdly What great Encouragement we have to this excellent Duty with respect both to this World and that above or what a Blessedness it is to be able thus to give rather than receive First As for the proper Objects of this Charity they are in general the really Indigent and Calamitous and such as are unable to help themselves And that without excepting any whether they be Strangers and Foreigners or Enemies or Heathens or Hereticks or wicked Persons All that are indeed necessitous and helpless are made by our holy and most merciful Religion the Objects of our Compassion and Relief Thus the Apostle As we have Opportunity let us do good unto all Men Gal. 6.10 and our Lord Do good to
in Time of Sickness the whole Man is dejected and the Spirit which should bear up his Infirmity is then it self for the most part wounded through the near Prospect of the other World and the bold Accusations of Conscience which then unless quite sear'd is loud and clamorous Then the Man is least of all able to help himself and the Charge of Sickness is great and he that was poor in Health when sick is doubly poor and indeed there is no greater Object of Pity and Compassion than a poor sick Man And as all Charity must be universal without excepting even Enemies so in this case our Enemies should be the Objects of our Charity to choose For upon a sick-Bed 't is most likely that they will be reconcil'd and 't is highly necessary than then they should be for Sickness often ends in Death and no Man can tell but that Sickness which his Enemy then lies under may be his last And 't is a miserable thing to die in Enmity And therefore before it be too late whoever is at variance with a sick Man should go to him and endeavour a Reconcilement if he hath injur'd the sick in any respect he should ask his Pardon and make him Satisfaction and Restitution and if the sick Man has injur'd him he should go to him to let him know that he freely forgives him and desires that all Ill-Will may be at at End for the future And at that Time when the Spirit is usually more softned and compliant than in Health and the Soul more awaken'd and sensible of her Duty 't is very probable he will hearken and the Man will gain his Brother And 't is a great Charity indeed to ease a sick Man's Mind of the devilish and tormenting Passions of Malice and Revenge it provides for Peace and Amity for the future should he recover and should he dye it makes his Account much easier at the Day of Judgment 3. As for Charity to such as are depriv'd of their Liberty the Manner of it consists in visiting and discoursing comfortably to them and in endeavouring by the best Methods we can to procure their Enlargement and in the mean time in helping them to Necessaries and perswading their Keepers to be kind to them and use them tenderly And if they are imprison'd for Grimes 't is to endeavour to make them sensible of the Guilt of them before God and that unless they sincerely repent of them an eternal Bondage in Chains of Darkness and in the lowest Hell shall come in the Place of the Dungeon their Iron Shackles and temporary Confinement And the Objects of this Piece of Charity are as before all Enemies as well as Friends Strangers and Foreigners as well as Neighbours and Acquaintance Under this Head of the Manner of expressing our Charity to the Necessitous it is proper to enquire what Preference may be made of one Object of Charity before another if more should offer themselves than one Man can relieve at least at the same time For our Direction in this matter St. Paul has left us two general Rules the one Gal. 6.10 where he says as we have Opportunity let us do good unto all Men but especially to those that are of the Houshold of Faith in which we are taught to prefer Christians before Heathens and Infidels when there is no Help but one must be preferr'd and among Christians to prefer in like Circumstances the pious and sincerely good before such as live not agreeably to their holy Profession for such only as have the Power of Godliness are properly of the Houshold of Faith The other Rule is in 1 Tim. 5.8 in these Words If any provide not for his own especially those of his own House or Kindred he has denyed the Faith c. and here we are directed if a Preference must be made to make it in Favour of our Friends and Relatives before such as are Strangers to us But these Rules must be thus explained As first where 't is impossible for us to comply with all Opportunities of doing good there this Preference is to be made but when we can we must do good to all And secondly When the Necessities of pious Christians and our Friends and Relations are equally great and urgent with those of the impious and Strangers to us there likewise our Charity should begin at Home But thirdly when the Distress of an Ill Man or a Stranger is greater and more urgent than that of a good Man or my Friend and Relative so that the former will be in danger of perishing unless immediately reliev'd and the latter will not but may safely tarry longer Then there must be no Respect of Persons but the greatest Necessity where-ever it be found must be first reliev'd I shall add but one thing more relating to the Manner of expressing our Charity and that is what St. Peter advises 1 Pet. 4.9 that it be done without grudging The Word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies murmuring or an unwillingness in doing any thing as if 't were torn and forc'd from one rather than proceeded from a free Inclination And this hateful churlish way of Alms-giving St. Paul likewise expresly forbids and says our Charity must not be shewn grudgingly 2 Cor. 9.7 or as of Necessity and Rom. 12.8 He that sheweth Mercy let him do it with Chearfulness according to the Example which God himself hath set us Who giveth to every Man liberally Jam. 1.5 and upbraideth not And here I can't but admire and adore the infinite Goodness of God who has not only oblig'd us to the Substance of this Duty but has so order'd the very Circumstantials of it that the necessitous may be reliev'd with as much Decency and Ease to themselves as can be and the Alms of others look rather like their own Propriety as the Payment of a Debt or restoring of a Pledge or bestowing a Reward and that their Souls might not be griev'd by Frowns and Taunts and unkind Language when they receive Supply for the Needs of their Body For Man as well as God loves a chearful Giver and a Benefit that comes hardly and with Shews of Unwillingness is much lessened in its Value and a Man of a generous Spirit would prefer a Mite given with a free Heart and Words of Kindness before the Largess of an Emperour if he must suffer Upbraidings for it and opprobrious Treatment Super Omnia Vultus accessere Boni says Horace All the Delicates at his Friends Entertainment would have relish'd but very indifferently had not a chearful Countenance assur'd him of his Welcome And if a free Charity be given in secret too Mat. 6.4 as our Lord himself directs the poor Man will not be so much as put to the Blush for what he receives and will come short of the rich in nothing that is necessary and be free from the Vexations that attend an opulent Condition and the Advantage
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
still longer Reprieve Hoping that at length the Sinner may be awaken'd by the Sermons of the Gospel and the inward Motions and Excitations of the Spirit of Life and Holiness and see and fear his Danger and return by Repentance and do no more wickedly For so in the next Place 't is said in the Parable that when the Lord of the Vineyard gave Order that the Barren Fig-Tree should be cut down the Dresser of the Vineyard by whom our Saviour is represented answering said unto him let it alone this Year also till I shall dig about it and dung it Christ is our merciful and faithful High-Priest in things pertaining to God Heb. 2.17 18. to make Reconciliation for the Sins of the People for he knows our Infirmities and in that he himself hath suffer'd being tempted he is able also to succour those that are tempted and ever liveth to make Intercession for us Heb. 7.25 He moves for a still longer Respite and promises to use new Methods that we may become fruitful of such good Works as will be well pleasing in his Father's Sight and accordingly cultivates and manures our Souls with repeated Exhortations to Repentance presses the Discourses of his Ministers still more home upon Men's Consciences and gives new Aids and Assistances of his Blessed Spirit provides new Happy Circumstances by his Providence for our Good such as a Faithful Instructer Good Conversation and Example Pious Books and Discourses which may warm and enliven a Sense of Religion in the Soul and awaken Attention and soften the Heart of Stone and render it penetrable by the Arguments of the Gospel and receptive of the Blessed Impressions of the Spirit of God That as loosening the Mould about the Roots of a Tree and cherishing it with the kindly Warmth of Dung is very conducive to the spreading of its Fibres and making it flourish and grow fruitful so these gracious Methods of the great Dresser of God's spiritual Vinevard Christ Jesus may so influence the Souls of Christians as to make them bear much Fruit to the Glory of God and their own everlasting Salvation This is the last Course that can be taken for a Sinner's Safety and if this will not prevail with him to take care of his Happiness there is no longer Hope 'T is like the Intercession of a Favourite for a Condemn'd Criminal upon Condition of his better Conversation for the future but if he again returns to his old vile Courses his Friends then abandon him as one that deserves to perish And so here in the Parable Christ the Beloved Son of God intercedes for a miserable Sinner ready for Destruction and begs a Reprieve for him to see if Time and farther Care will cure his Wickedness but if this proves ineffectual there remains nothing but a fearful Expectation of Judgment and fiery Indignation His Intercessor will then give him over for Desperate and suffer Justice to take its Course for so said the Dresser of the Vineyard to his Lord If after I have digg'd about it and dung'd it it bear fruit well but if not then after that thou shalt cut it down And this in the last Place represents to us the deplorable Condition of such as after all the Methods of Grace for their Reformation are still hardned in their Wickedness Christ will no more appear in their Behalf no more Thought shall be taken for their Safety but their Compassionate Intercessor shall then become their stern and inexorable Judge And when the dreadful Day of Doom shall come and the miserable Wretches appear before his Throne to receive the just Recompense of their obstinate Impieties then shall That Jesus who once so earnestly pleaded with God in their Behalf pronounce the Dreadful Sentence Depart from me ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire Depart from me your Saviour and once compassionate Mediator between God and You Be from henceforch and for ever depriv'd of all Hope of Redemption and Reinstatement into the Favour of my Father Be banish'd for ever from all Intercourse with Heaven without any Intercessor any propitiatory Sacrifice any Advocate to plead their Cause and without any Place for Repentance to Eternal Ages Depart to the Regions of Endless Horror and Despair in the Society of the Devil and his Angels And this is but the just Demerit of your Obstinate Wickedness who despis'd the Goodness of God that should have led you to Repentance This is the sad End of Irreclaimable Sinners this is the Punishment of an unfruitful Profession of Christianity Wherefore let those consider this that forget God before it be too late lest he pluck them away and there be none to deliver them Let them no longer turn the Grace and Forbearance of God into Lasciviousness but work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling For God is just as well as merciful and though slow to Wrath and of great Goodness repenting him of the Evil yet he will by no means clear the obstinately guilty but to such is a Consuming Fire The PRAYER I. O Merciful God who hast planted me in the Vineyard of thy dear Son the Christian Church and by the Culture of thy Ministers and the enlivening Influences of thy Blessed Spirit hast taken tender Care of my Growth and that I thrive and flourish in all spiritual Excellencies till I be fit to be transplanted to thy Heavenly Paradise I bless thy infinite Goodness for the Enlargement of this thy Vineyard so as to extend even to us though so remote from thy first Plantation and for those extraordinary Helps we of this Church have in order to our Increase in all the Fruits of the Spirit And earnestly beg that we may not produce Leaves only the mock Appearances of Christian Vertue but the Fruit of a sincere Religion in all the Instances of Holy Conversation II. I acknowledge with Admiration at thy infinite Love to Mankind that 't is Our Happiness thou respectest in thus indispensibly requiring Fruit of us not any Acquisition to thy self who art infinitely full already and the overflowing Fountain of all possible Good Thou commandest that our Fruit should be unto Holiness because we shall otherwise be incapable of the blessed End of Everlasting Life and spend our Days in Misery in this Lower World O Lord as is thy Majesty so is thy Mercy O make me duely sensible of thy tender Care of my Happiness and may it never through my wretched Obstinacy be in vain And in vain it would be were not thy long-suffering wonderful With what amazing Patience dost thou wait to see if at length I shall be Fruitful How often have I disappointed thy just Expectations and yet thou hast still forborn me through thine own Compassions and the Intercession of my dear Redeemer the Dresser of thy Vineyard who hath ply'd me with new Methods of Conversion fresh Applications to invigorate my Piety that at the last I may return thee acceptable Fruits and escape the sad Punishment of Barrenness
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
dare to play the Hypocrite in his Devotion and have other little sinister By-Ends such as the Praise of Men that his Vanity may be tickled by being esteem'd more Righteous and Heavenly-minded than his Neighbours and that under the Covert of more Religion than ordinary he may the more securely bring to pass some wicked under-hand Design That there have been such sort of Devotionists as these is evident from what we find recorded of the Pharisees Men to all Appearance extraordinary Religious Fasting and Praying frequently and long and very Exemplary in other Instances of Piety when after all our Lord who knew their Hearts has told us they did it to be seen and to have Praise of Men and under Pretence of long Prayers to insinuate into Wealthy Widows Esteem that at length they might have an Opportunity to devour their Houses How many of this sort there is now-a-days God and their own Consciences know best but this is certain that wherever the Guilt lies 't is a great Abomination to him who is Truth it self and infinitely hates a Lye especially in Matters of Religion where his Honour is so nearly concern'd Wherefore let those who find themselves prick'd by what is now said take care that their Religion be more pure and sincere for the Future lest our Lord's Woes to the Pharisees fall upon their Heads and they be doom'd to the Portion of Hypocrites where is Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth Thirdly The Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes signifies Just and Upright without Fraud and Cheating Arts and Oppression and he that would be heard when he prays must cleanse his Hands from these must do as he would be done to and provide things honest in the Sight of all Men and despise the Gain of Oppression as Isaiah phrases it Chap. 33. Vers 15. For God is Just as well as Holy and hates the sly Windings of Deceit and Fraud He is about our Path and spieth out all our Ways and will be a swift Witness against those that oppress instead of turning a gracious Ear to their Petitions 1 Thes 4.6 Wherefore let no Man go beyond or defraud his Brother in any Matter for God is the Avenger of all such but take care that his Hands be not defil'd with unjust Gain lest it make them uncapable of receiving a Blessing Thus much for the first Requisite to our praying effectually the lifting up Holy Hands A second is That this be done without Wrath that there be a Freedom from Strife and Revenge and a Readiness to Reconciliation and Forgiveness For as for a hot angry Disposition nothing more unfits a Man for Devotion than that it makes the Mind continually in a Storm breaks the Order and Connexion of Thoughts puts the whole Soul into a Hurry and makes it like a Troubled Sea that cannot rest And therefore no wonder if it cast up Mire and Dirt Desires impure and displeasing to God rather than the sweet smelling Savour of an acceptable Sacrifice As our Religion in general so Prayer in particular is a reasonable Service and requires as great Freedom of Thought and recollected Presence of Mind as any thing whatever The Object of Prayer is a Being of infinite Sanctity and transcendent Majesty and this should move us to approach him with the most awful and sedate Temper of Mind and that which is pray'd for is or ought to be of the greatest Value and which it most of all concerns us to have bestow'd upon us and therefore it concerns us to have our Reason and Thoughts at Command lest our Petition should be rejected for our ill Management of it Now nothing more discomposes the Mind and deprives it of the Use of Reason than the Passion of Anger It puts the Spirits into such a violent and unnatural Motion as makes all the Powers of the Soul for a Time unserviceable Things are apprehended in strange Confusion and Disorder and remembred with much Imperfection and foolish and ridiculous Choices are made by the Will and all the Affections consequently out of Course Just as is the Condition of Mad Men only the Fit is sooner over And is this a fitting Temper of Mind to approach the Throne of the great God in and prefer Petitions for the greatest Blessings Let a Man after he has been brawling with his Neighbours consider if he were to go immediately to beg a Boon of his Prince whether he should not then do it with great Disadvantage how apt he should then be to commit Indecencies and to omit Matters of chief Concern in his Request and the like and then let him say what he thinks of addressing to the great King of Heaven in such an ill Disguise of Soul And whether he does not believe that he might speed much better if his Mind were calmer and more it self Now the Returns of Prayer being so frequent and angry Mens Brawlings and Quarellings so frequent it must needs often be that such Men unless they omit praying which is still worse must pray to God with Minds greatly discompos'd and and unfit for the Performance of so Holy a Duty at least with any Success As for a Revengeful Temper of Mind that is a thing so contrary to him whose Definition is Love and who has so freely forgiven us so infinite a Debt that no Desires breath'd from such a Soul but must needs stink in his Nostrils and be utterly rejected by him His Divine Son the only Mediator between him and us who presents the Prayers of the Faithful and intercedes for their Acceptance will be so far from appearing in an implacable revengeful Man's Behalf that he has declar'd in a Parable before discours'd of Mat. 18.23 he will deal with such with the utmost Severity God will accept nothing at our Hands without Charity and a Gift though brought to the Altar must not be offer'd there till he that is at Variance with his Brother be reconcil'd to him he must leave his Gift before the Altar and go his Way and first be reconcil'd to his Brother and then come and offer his Gift Mat. 5.23 24. A third Requisite to our praying successfully is that our Prayers be without doubting or as 't is express'd Heb. 22. In full Assurance of Faith According to what our Lord said upon Occasion of the Barren Fig-Tree's being dry'd up from the Roots at his Word which when St. Peter and the rest of the Disciples wondred at Mark 11 2◠Jesus answer'd and said unto them have Faith in God for verily I say unto you whosoever shall say unto this Mountain be thou remov'd and cast into the Sea shall not doubt in his Heart but believe that those things he saith shall come to pass he shall have whatsoever he saith Therefore I say unto you what things soever ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them And elsewhere Mark 9.23 All things are possible to him that believeth To which agrees
falsly and be content with their Wages Luke 3.12 13 14. A Man that considers Things would not choose to be of an Employment that carries great Temptations along with it to Wickedness but if he were brought up to such an Employment and knows not how to subsist in any other Way his Business is to consider wherein lies the greatest Temptation and Danger of it and arm himself diligently against that and then he may live as Innocently and serve God as Acceptably as his Neighbours But to live wickedly in such a Calling and then lay the Blame upon the Temptations that go along with it is too slender an Excuse to do any Service for if the Calling be lawful no doubt but it may be innocently manag'd if the Man pleases and if it be unlawful he must for no Considerations whatever continue in it And a Soldier or a Publican for Instance though of the worst of lawful Professions yet we see may keep a good Conscience and live orderly and repent and serve God as acceptably nay perhaps more so than others of higher Pretensions for the Publican as well as the Pharisee went up into the Temple to pray and the Publican went away justified rather than the Pharisee But what was the Reason of that One would think a Man of so great Sanctity as a Pharisee should be more acceptable to God than so vile a Sinner as a Publican Why the Reason of this was that the Publican notwithstanding the ill Character his Profession threw upon him and the high Pretensions of the Pharisee the Publican was the Better Man of the Two The Pharisee with much Pride and Self-esteem advanc'd high into the Temple and then vauntingly insisted in his own praise I Fast twice a Week I give Tithes of all that I possess and utterly devoid of the Fundamental Grace of poverty of Spirit he look'd upon his Righteousness as too much his own and uncharitably judg'd the Publican for the sake of his Profession and then haughtily scorn'd him as vile and profane in comparison with himself God I thank thee that I am not as other Men are or even as this Publican He that is not so wicked as other Men ought indeed to give God Thanks for 't is he that made him to differ but then it ought to be with Humility and a due Sense of his own natural Vileness and propensity to Vice and of those remaining Wickednesses which still too easily beset him giving God all the Glory of what is good in him and reserving to himself only Shame and Confusion of Face for the Sins which do still too easily beset him and for his not making so good use of the divine Grace and Assistance as he might and should have done But there was nothing of this in the Pharisee's Thanksgiving 't was only full of Pride and Vain-glory and Self-conceit and that unhallow'd every Thing else that was Good in him and render'd him and his Prayers abominable in the sight of God who resisteth the proud and giveth Grace only to the humble Such as was that Publican whom he so haughtily despis'd For he in an humble Sense of his former Wickedness and deep Shame and Sorrow for it stood afar off as not worthy to come near the Holy Majesty of God and would not so much as lift up his polluted Eyes to Heaven the place of perfect Holiness and Purity but like a true self-condemn'd Penitent smote upon his Breast and in bitter Remorse of Soul said God be merciful to me a Sinner And for this his humble Penitence He went down to his House justified rather than the Pharisee for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted A truly humble Temper of Mind is better than all the outward performances of Religion and a penitent Publican that is indeed poor in Spirit is far more esteemed of God than he that makes Long Prayers and Fasts often and Tithes all his Substance and is proud of this when he has done and despises those that make not so much Ostentation of Religion as he does Without Humility all is Vain-glory and Hypocrisie and the seemingly most sanctified Person that has it not is like a painted Sepulchre beautiful without but full of Rottenness within By what has been hitherto said by Way of Comment upon this Parable and from the Introduction and Conclusion of it as was said 't is very plain that 't is design'd to recommend the great nay fundamental Grace of Spiritual Humility or Poverty of Spirit with relation to Vertue And to shew that let a Man have never so much of Vertue or Religion if he is proud of it it renders all abominable in the Sight of God and that none but the humble Soul is his Delight In my Discourse therefore upon this Parable I shall endeavour three things First To shew what the Grace of Spiritual Humility is Secondly How excellent and beneficial a Grace it is and how vile and mischievous the contrary Vice is and Thirdly How highly this Vertue shall be rewarded As for the first What the Grace of Spiritual Humility is I in the first place think in the Negative that it can't be a thinking worse of a Man's self than he really deserves for no Man certainly can be oblig'd by Religion to be mistaken in himself it being one of the chief things that we learn in Christianity as well as Ethicks rightly to know ones self And when there is any thing in a Man that is indeed Praise-worthy I can't see why the Man himself may not be sensible of it as well as others and innocently please himself with reflecting upon it and love what bears so much Resemblance to and is an Emanation from the Eternal Fountain of Goodness and Perfection Nay He that dwells much with himself and heedfully reflects upon his Actions and the Bent and Inclination of his Mind as every Man ought to do can't be conceiv'd to be ignorant of what is good in him any more than what is evil and the same Attention which is requisite that a Man may know his Errors and Miscarriages will likewise inform him of what is vertuous in him and of good Report And further How can a Man be thankful to him who is the Giver of every good and perfect Gift for the intellectual Favours he bestows upon him of which Grace to live vertuously is the cheif who is not first conscious that he has receiv'd the Blessing The Elders in the Revelations that took their Crowns from their Heads and cast them before the Throne as an Acknowledgment from whom they had receiv'd them first must be suppos'd to know that they had them on And if there be such a thing as St. Peter calls the Answer of a good Conscience towards God a Man must first be sensible of his good Actions before he can feel that inward Approbation of them I thought fit to say thus much in the Negative
that he would turn away that fierce Anger from him which he is very sensible he has but too much deserv'd Thus David fram'd a Psalm on purpose to confess and bewail his great Transgressions in the Matter of Uriah He then forgot all that was good in him and did not expect that his former excellent Piety should cover and make Amends for those foul Sins He did not search for Excuses and endeavour to extenuate his Guilt but like a truly humble Penitent chang'd his usual Strain of Praise and Thansgiving for the Accents of Grief and Shame and better Remorse acknowledging his Transgressions and having his Sins ever before him and with the most pathetick Earnestness of a broken and contrite Heart begging God's Forgiveness and that he would again Greate in him a clean Heart and renew a right Spirit within him As if those his great Wickednesses had not only polluted all that before was good in him but quite destroy'd the Rectitude and Integrity of his Soul And as David so S. Peter when he reflected upon the great Baseness of Denying his divine Master and Saviour his Spirit was so truly humbled that without endeavouring in the least to conceal or palliate his Fault he went out and wept bitterly And so the Publican in the Parable would not so much as lift up his Eyes to Heaven but stood afar off in the Court of the Gentiles which was the lowest of all and with great Compunction of Spirit smote upon his Breast and said God be merciful to me a Sinner And thus much for the First Thing to be done upon this Parable which was to shew what the Grace of Spiritual Humility is viz. a not Over-valuing our spiritual Excellencies nor our Selves by reason of them nor despising others as less Holy but returning all the Glory to God who made us to differ nor undervaluing or endeavouring to excuse and extenuate our Wickednesses but an impartial considering the Vileness and great Aggravations of them and sincere humbling our Selves for them at the Throne of God The Second Thing to be done is to shew how excellent and beneficial this Vertue is in our Christian Course and how vile and mischievous the contrary Vice is 'T is a sufficient Argument that this Vertue is very excellent and of great Benefit to Christians that our Lord has plac'd it in the Front of his Beatitudes which he begins thus Blessed are the poor in Spirit Like a wise Master-Builder he lays the Foundation low of a Building that was to reach so very high and Humbleness of Mind must be the Ground-work of that Religion which will advance a Man to Heaven Piety without Humility is very apt to make Men top-heavy and over-set like a Ship without her Ballast 't is this that preserves the Soul unshaken amidst the Temptations of the World as that makes a Ship sail sure and steady amidst the mighty Billows The House in the Gospel that was founded upon a sandy Surface of the Earth soon yielded to the Fury of the Tempest and great was the Fall of it our Lord therefore begins with poverty of Spirit as the Basis and great security of all his other Building which he foresaw and foretold was to undergo the Shock of many a furious Storm and contend with all the Powers of the Prince of Darkness But more particularly this Grace of Spiritual Humility is so excellent and highly beneficial that nothing more conduces to a Man's Spiritual growth and Encrease in Vertue nor renders him more dear both to God and Man First Nothing more conduces to a Man's spiritual growth and Encrease in Vertue For 't is very true in Religion as well as in Worldly Affairs That nothing makes Men more industrious than a due sense of their Wants and the poorness of their Stock whereas when a Man thinks he has Abundance he is generally Slothful and Careless and Impoverishment becomes his Lot rather than a farther Improvement An humble Sense of a Man's Imperfections and Sins will make him doubly diligent and consequently to improve greatly in the School of Righteousness but haughty Conceitedness will certainly make him grow worse and worse Nay there will be no End of the humble minded Man's Improvement for 't is always found in the pursuit of Vertue as well as of Knowledge that the more real Vertue increases in the Soul of a Good Man the more and greater the Defects of his Vertue appear to be and consequently the more will his Diligence be quickned and spurr'd on as St. Paul the farther he advanced in the Christian Race the more conscious he grew that he had not yet apprehended what he endeavoured after and was not yet perfect and that made him forget what was behind his former Attainments and reach out to what was still before what he had not yet attain'd to and eagerly press forward to the Mark the Prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus Now the Consequence of this extraordinary Diligence must needs be an extraordinary growth and increase and so still onward in a quick and vigorous Motion till he finishes his Vertuous Race and is perfect as his Father which is in Heaven is perfect And as this spiritual Humility makes a Man move swiftly in the Christian Course so it makes him tread surely too it ballances him and keeps him upon his Centre and secures him from those dangerous Falls which too often are the Fate of the high-minded and proud for 't was Pride and Haughtiness of Spirit we know that ruin'd the Prince of the Fallen Angels and his Accomplices But poverty of Spirit is the great Security of a Christian against the subtle Arts of the Tempter 't is the proper Mark and Character of a Disciple of the meek lowly Jesus and is a disposition of Mind the most of all apt for Repentance which is a Grace of infinite Value as being absolutely necessary to Salvation and entitles a Man in a peculiar manner to the Divine Aid and Assistance for God giveth Grace to the Humble Secondly As this spiritual Humility is of the greatest Benefit to a Christian so does it render him highly dear both to God and Man All Men love an humble Man and look upon him as a Wise and Extraordinary Person and he that is pious and circumspect in his Conversation and yet is not proud of it nor despises or haughtily reflects upon others that live more at large than he does but advises them better seasonably and with Meekness and Humility such a Man is esteem'd as a Person sent from God to do Good to Mankind that seeing his Good Works mix'd with poverty of Spirit they may be inclined to imitate so lovely an Example and glorifie their Father which is in Heaven by treading in his Steps And as for God S. Peter and S. James and the Wisest of Men all agree that he resisteth the proud but giveth Grace to the humble And our Lord himself at the end of the Parable we