Ruin and the Wages of Sin this eternal Torment and Death we would be above all things careful to avoid this Place of everlasting Torments and make use of our Time and Opportunity while we have it in providing for a happy Eternity The End of every Man's Life is the Beginning of Eternity to him then Time shall be no more no more Space for Repentance and working out our Salvation and after the great Change that Death will make in our Condition no more Changes from thence forward for ever no intermediate Purgatory to cleanse our remaining Filthiness but as Death leaves a Soul so shall Judgment find it and an irreversible Sentence be pass'd upon it And this great Truth can never be too often call'd to Remembrance and there is so much of Terror in it to a wicked Liver that whoever thinks at all must needs be inclin'd by it to husband well this his only Opportunity of making himself for ever Happy and immediately endeavour to clear himself from that Guilt which if he dies in will make him for ever miserable and that without the least Alleviation The last thing this Parable informs us of is That every Man may be sufficiently assur'd of this great Truth that reads the Scriptures and powerfully enough inclin'd to avoid that future Misery and secure his eternal Happiness without any more extraordinary Ways of Conviction in this Matter or Perswasives to act accordingly And that those who are not satisfied with what has already been reveal'd of future Rewards and Punishments in all Probability will never be satisfied though one should come from the Dead to assure them of it This is express'd in the Parable by the Rich Man's desiring after he was sadly assur'd by Abraham that there was no Remedy for himself that he would send Lazarus to his Father's House for I have five Brethren says he that he may testifie unto them lest they also come into this Place of Torment To this Abraham answers They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them But this would not satisfie the miserable Rich Man and he said nay Father Abraham but if one went to them from the Dead they will repent To this Abraham gives this final Answer If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one arose from the Dead As if he had said There is all the Assurance given to Men by the Holy Writings of the Truth of these things that any reasonable Man can desire and the same Obstinate and Atheistick Infidelity and Debauchery of Manners that makes Men disbelieve what the Scriptures affirm of another Life would make them still disbelieve it though one arose from the Dead to assure them of it And if this was true before the Gospel when these things were but darkly reveal'd in comparison of what they are now and the Jews might then be sufficiently assur'd of them by attending to the Writings of Moses and the Prophets it is a much more confirm'd Truth to us Christians the Scriptures of the New Testament assuring us of it in the most plain and express Terms that can be According to what the Apostle says 2 Tim. 1.8 that our Lord has brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel And yet some are so unreasonable as when we discourse about Judgment to come and the Rewards and Punishments of another Life not to tremble at it as Foelix did but with perverse Infidelity question the Truth of the thing and ask us how we can be sure it is and shall be so and whether we have been told it by one that came from the other World and has experienc'd what we say to be true And that nothing less than such a Proof shall ever make them believe it And when they are urg'd with the Testimony of Moses and the Prophets and of the Son of God himself they have the Confidence to laugh at this as an Invention of Church-Men and no better than a Religious Cheat. They are not ignorant they say that the Writings which we affirm were divinely inspir'd do very plainly and expresly assert That there shall be a Judgment to come and that every Man shall be rais'd from the Dead and plac'd before the Almighty Judge and consign'd to eternal Happiness or Misery according to what they have done in this Life whether it be good or evil But they deny the Truth of those Writings and consequently the Reality of what they assert of this Nature Our Business therefore must be to prove the Truth and Divine Authority of those Holy Scriptures and then 't will follow that he that still disbelieves the Doctrine of future Rewards and Punishments and is not inclin'd to live accordingly will neither be convinc'd nor perswaded in this Instance though one rose from the Dead The Opposition Anti-scripturists make against the Holy Writings is in short this Either they will deny that those Books were written by the Men whose Names they bear or if they are forc'd to grant that they will deny the Truth of the Matters of fact which they set down and endeavour to pick out Inconsistencies and Contradictions in their Relation and if beaten from that Post they 'll deny that the Writers were Men divinely inspired and affirm that the Doctrine they wrote was meerly the Product of their own Brains and what strange Occurrences they record of their Master Jesus as of his Resurrection from the Dead as an Argument that there shall be another Life after this is ended and all Men then arise likewise and be call'd to give account of their Works that this and the like strange Passages they record of Jesus supposing them to be true were not done by a Divine Power but by Art Magick and the Power of the Devil And this could it be made good would be a shrewd Blow indeed and all reveal'd Religion soon sink into Ruine But in short for to inlarge here would far exceed the Bounds of a single Sermon a Christian's Defence of the Truth and divine Authority of the Holy Writings may be this First Though some have deny'd that the Books of the Old and New Testament were written by the Men whose Names they bear yet no Man ever yet could prove it nay on the contrary they have been receiv'd as Genuine for many Hundreds of Years and by Men of very different Religions and Perswasions and that were bitter Enemies to the Religion there taught and the Professors of it and would have been extreamly glad to have prov'd the Whole a Forgery if they could But since they did not when 't was so much for their Interest to have don 't 't is plain they could not and since they are to this Day approv'd by all Sorts of Religions as genuine 't is as much as can be said in the Case and as much as can be said for any other Book in the World And we must either throw aside all Books as spurious or believe this which we
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
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
obstinate Infidelity and their murdering their Saviour was to urge the Jewish Christians to a Preparation and watchful Care against that Time of Sorrows and that they would be so wise as to make Provision for their Safety by being very careful that that Time surprize them not in wicked Courses but that living like faithful Disciples of Christ in all Obedience to his holy Commands his Providence might watch over them and secure them from perishing in that dreadful Destruction Though this might be the first Intention of this Parable yet I suppose it designed likewise to represent the Necessity of Men's constant Preparation for Death and Judgment by a sedulous Care and Watchfulness over themselves and diligent Practice of all religious Duties and Obligations Because 't is very uncertain when God will summon any of us to leave this World and appear before his just Tribunal and his Call may be very suddain and unexpected and because the Consequence of being unready and not fit to obey it will be inexpressibly miserable Watch therefore says our Lord in the Conclusion of this Parable for ye know neither the Day nor the Hour when the Son of Man cometh In my Discourse upon this Parable thus understood I shall do two things First I shall give a particular Interpretation of the Parable and shew how aptly expressive it is of the Sense our Lord couch'd under it And Secondly I shall urge that upon the Practice of Christians which is express'd by it namely that they would watch and be ready because they know not the Day nor the Hour First I shall give a particular Interpretation of this Parable and shew how aptly expressive it is of the Sense our Lord couched under it The Parable is an Allusion to a Custom among the Jews of the Friends and Neighbours of the Bridegroom when there was a Wedding conducting him to the Bride-Chamber with Songs and burning Lamps and partaking of an Entertainment that was prepar'd for them and shutting the Door when the Bridegroom was enter'd to keep out the intruding Rabble and afterwards admitting none that were not ready to attend him at the Hour he came which was uncertain And the Sense which our Lord couch'd under this Representation is this That 't is highly necessary every Christian should be always ready and prepar'd by a holy Life to attend the Call of Christ whenever he shall summon him out of this World by Death in order to his final Judgment because the Time of that great Summons is so very uncertain and eternal Happiness or Misery respectively depends upon Men's being prepar'd or not prepar'd for it Now how aptly and movingly expressive this Parable is of this Sense will appear from the following Interpretation of it By the Virgins in the Parable is represented the Society of Christians those that profess to believe in and to be Disciples of the holy Jesus who like Virgins ought to be pure and spotless innocent and modest and humble solâ— and temperate in all things pious and devout and the like And as the Want of these or any of these good Qualifications is to a Virgin the greatest Blackening and Disparagement so the Want of them in Christians is likewise the greatest Dishonour to them exposes them to the Scorn and Contempt of God and all good Men renders them unworthy of that holy Name by which they are call'd and defiles and stains those Souls which Christ purified with his precious Blood that they might be his own Peculiar zealous of good Works By half of those Virgins being wise and half foolish is represented the great Difference there is among those that go under the same general Character of Christians some vain and idle careless and unthoughtful taken up with the Gaieties and Follies of the World lavish of their Reputation and loose in their Conversation and Behaviour while others are so wise as to consider the Character they bear and live as those that make Profession of Holiness that is with Care and Circamspection Watchfulness and a diligent and attentive Piety That so they may preserve their Honour and the Dignity of their Profession inviolate and unstain'd and be presented as chaste Virgins unto Christ that divine Bridegroom whenever he shall come By the Lamps of those Virgins is expressed the Souls of Christians which are to burn with holy Fires of Love and Devotion to God and their Saviour and make them as so many Lights in this dark and benighted World for ye are the Light of the World says our Lord to his Disciples therefore let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Mat. 5.14 16. That is as the Souls of Christians are illuminated by the Spirit of him who is the Father of Lights and in whom is no Darkness at all as they are warm'd by his Influences who descended upon the Apostles in the Likeness of Fire and have divine Affections by his holy Breathings inkindled in them so they should influence the whole Man and make those that name the Name of Christ like so many burning and shining Lights in the Midst of a crooked and perverse Generation so many eminent Examples of Piety and real Goodness such as by theis own Practice should recommend their most hloy Religion and set before Men's Eyes the Beauty of Holiness by their own Conversation By the Bridegroom whom these Virgins with their Lamps went forth to meet is represented our dear Saviour that heavenly King 's divine Son for whom he made so glorious a Marriage in the Parable I last discours'd of where the Reasons why the Gospel is compar'd to a Marriage and our Lord to a Bridegroom are particularly insisted on And by going forth to meet this divine Bridegroom is signifyed our preparing against his calling us from this World by Death and providing against his Advent to Judgment that is by frequently contemplating our Mortality reflecting on the Shortness and Uncertainty of Life and therefore making the best Use of our Time while we have it as not knowing how soon our Breath may be required of us and because after Death comes Judgment therefore endeavouring to make ready our Accounts by frequent Self-Examination and from the serious Consideration of the Terrors of that great Day and the severe Scrutiny into our Thoughts as well as Words and Actions that we must then undergo collecting with S. Peter 2 Pet. 3.11 what manner of Persons we ought to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness that we may be found of the great Judg in Peace and as Virgins without Spot and blameless By the Oyl in the Virgins Lamps and which they took with them in their Vessels when they went to meet the Bridegroom is represented the Graces and Vertues of Christianity which are the proper Nourishment of the Soul that Lamp of the Lord as Solomon calls it and will brighten and enliven it as Plenty of Oyl does a
Death though they dread it above all things and know that it will certainly come and are uncertain how soon they make as little Provision as if they were immortal as the Angels in Heaven what a Bundle of foolish Inconsistencies is here They look upon Death as the greatest of Evils and yet regard it the least of all things they know it highly concerns 'em to make Preparation for it by a good Life and they know the sad Consequence if it surprize 'em unawares and they are not sure they shall not be surpriz'd the next Hour or Minute and yet for all this they put the evil Day far from them and by all Arts endeavour to remove such melancholy Thoughts as if they were resolv'd not to avoid but suffer what they fear and secure to themselves the Miserie 's consequent upon an untimely and unprepar'd Death And what is this but just the same Piece of Folly and Madness as for a Man because he greatly dreads the Plague therefore to run into an infected House because he is afraid of Poverty therefore to grow prodigal and squander away what he hath And what can be more strangely foolish and contradictious than this Indeed a Sinners whole Life is the greatest Folly and Contradiction but 't is most gross and palpable with Relation to dying for because a Man loves his Body therefore so to indulge it in this World as to make it become eternally miserable in the next and live in such a Course of sinful Pleasures as will be repaid with a double Death is unaccountably foolish and against all the Dictates even of natural Reason I need not say more I think to expose the Folly of not making Preparation for so great a Change as Death will effect in every Man's Condition or in the Phrase of this Parable of not keeping Oyl in our Lamps nor watching against the divine Bridegroom's coming but slumbering in a careless Inadvertency to those great things of Religion Death and Judgment till they overtake us as a Thief in the Night And from what has been said of the Folly of not preparing for that Time of Terrors and greatest Concern to every Man we may in a few Words collect the great Wisdom of being always in a Readiness to obey the Summons of our great Lord with Chearfulness For in short to be ready and prepar'd to die when God shall please to call us has all the Wisdom in it of making a constant due Provision against the greatest and most concerning Change that can befall us and which we must certainly undergo and how soon we know not and that but once neither and which will be follow'd by the final Judgment without any new Opportunity being afforded wherein to amend the Errors of our then irrecoverably past Life 'T is to make such a Preparation for this great Change as may render it advantageous to us whenever it shall come than which no greater Piece of Wisdom can be imagin'd For that certainly is the greatest Wisdom that makes a Man wise to Salvation Wherefore to conclude this Parable Since it is appointed to Men once to dye and after that the Judgment or in the Stile of this Parable since Jesus the divine Bridegroom will one time come to summon every particular Member of the Christian Church his mystical Spouse to leave this World and attend him in the World of Spirits there to partake with him if ready and adorn'd with the Wedding Garment and their Lamps burning with the Oyl of Righteousness of the everlasting Felicities of this heavenly Kingdom or else if not prepar'd to appear before him then to be for ever excluded his Presence and thrust into the dire Abodes of the Devil and his Angels Since this is so let us all make it our sincere Endeavour by a serious and hearty Observation of those holy Rules of living which our Lord has mark'd out to us as the Way to Immortality and a Preparation for his Appearance to be always ready to go out and meet him that we may enter with him into the Marriage Chamber before the Door be shut and not hear that dismal Sound I know ye not depart from me ye Workers of Iniqutity And because this great Coming of the Bridegroom will be but once for 't is appointed to Men but once to dye and after that but one final Judgment let us by no means trifle away this only Opportunity of working out our Salvation in Folly and Impertinency much less in Wickedness and Vice but often reflect upon the Agonies we shall feel when we shall find this one only Life which we have so wretchedly mispent drawing to a Conclusion and no Hopes of any further Opportunity to recover our selves in but just as we then are in that deplorable unprepar'd Condition be hurried away to give Account of our Works Lord What Confusion must such wretches feel what horrid Tortures must needs pierce their Souls to see Hell gaping to receive 'em and no Possibility of Escape or so much as a Reprieve but plunge they must into those Lakes of Fire and Brimstone which yet they might have avoided if they would If this be a Case infinitely deplorable and if this be not certainly nothing is then it nearly concerns us all while we have Time that is while this one only Life does last to make Provision for a happy Departure out of it by a more holy and circumspect Conversation in it And because the Time when this one only Life shall end is wholly in the Dark to us and we know not the Day nor the Hour when our Lord will come let this awaken us into serious Thoughts and Resolutions of making the best Use of the remaining Portion of our Lives and break off immediately our sinful Course of living lest the Opportunity for so doing be gone before we think of it and we be surpriz'd into endless Misery e're we are aware Let us always keep our Lamps burning our Souls employ'd in holy Meditations and our selves in a Readiness by a good Life and then though it is appointed for us all to die and that but once and after that the Judgment and we know not the Day nor the Hour when the Summons shall be given We may with Comfort wait for our dear Lord's appearing and say Come Lord Jesus come quickly The PRAYER I. O Glorious Jesus The Saviour and the Judg of Mankind before whose just Tribunal we must all certainly appear but when we know not and there give Account of our Works and be rewarded according to them assist me I beseech thee with thy Grace that I may make it my chief Care with Cheerfulness and Comfort to obey thy Summons to this great Audit whenever thou shalt call And to that End grant I may be frequent in the Contemplation of my Mortality how short and frail my Life is here how inevitably and closely Judgment follows Death and how certainly the one will find me as the other leaves
what Instruction he hath met with in the School of Righteousness what plenty of Religious Discourses and Exhortations he has enjoy'd and how frequently he has felt Motions from within to a still more and more holy and exemplary Life He that hath experienc'd all this in a great degree that hath had his pregnant natural Capacity well cultivated by an early and excellent Instruction and had the whole of Religion plainly laid before him in all the Doctrines Duties Rewards and Punishments of it and been often and affectionately exhorted to live accordingly in all holy Conversation and Godliness and has frequently felt secret internal Motions and Perswasions to it this Man has received much more than One Talent at the hands of God and God will expect from him a proportionable Improvement and he must abound in every good Word and Work For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much requir'd and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more But because all Men are not of equal Abilities naturally neither have the same Opportunities of Instruction and Improvement nor the same immediate Impulses of the Blessed Spirit where there is any defect in these Respects God will abate proportionably in his Expectations and he that received the One Talent had he gained but One other with it would have been call'd a good and faithful Servant and been receiv'd into the Joy of his Lord. Let us all therefore endeavour to grow in Grace according to the measure of this unspeakable Gift to perform our Duties each in his Station and according to his Ability faithfully and industriously that when our Lord comes to make Enquiry into each ones Improvement of his Talent and call for every ones particular Account we may all from the least to the greatest chearfully give it up and receive the immense Reward of a sincere Diligence For In the third Place There will most certainly be a Time when our Great Lord will come to take Account of every Man's Improvement of the Grace that was given him and reward every Man according to his Deserving That there will certainly be a Day of Judgment both of Quick and Dead when every Man shall be rewarded according to that he hath done in the Body whether it be good or evil is a Truth so evident from Scripture that those who have read and do believe those Writings can make no doubt of it And the Proof of this from Reason has been so convincingly manag'd by several Learned Pens particularly of late by Dr. Sherlock in his Excellent Discourse upon Judgment that I think nothing can be added to it I shall only therefore Collect such a Description of that Great Day and the Proceedings in it out of the Revelations where it is the most movingly represented as may incline us all with the greatest Diligence and immediately by self-Examination and Amendment of every evil Way to prepare for that great Audit that we may give up our Accounts with joy and not with grief In the 20th Chapter of the Revelations ver 12. after the divine Apostle had given a Description of the Appearing of the great Judge upon his Throne I saw a great White Throne says he and him that sat on it from whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no place for them He proceeds I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened And another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the dead were judged out of those Things that were written in the Books according to their Works and the Sea gave up the dead that were in it and Death and the Grave deliver'd up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their Works And whosoever was not written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire That is The Records shall then be laid open wherein every Man's Receipt of Grace is enter'd and those whose Works shall be found proportionably good according to the Assistance they have receiv'd from Above or in the Stile of the Parable that have made an answerable Improvement to the Number of Talents committed to them their Names shall be written in the Book of Life and they received into the eternal Joy of their Lord. But those who can then give no good Account of their Talents shew no suitable Improvement in Holiness according to the measure of Grace they have received shall never see Life but be cast into the Lake of Fire which is the second Death And because so very few will be so wise as to make due Preparation for this great Day of Account by improving the Grace God has given them to the great Ends for which it was design'd therefore as 't is describ'd Rev. 3.15 The Kings of the Earth and the great Men and the rich Men and the chief Captains and the mighty Men and every Bond-man and every Freeman many of all Qualities and Conditions from the highest to the lowest shall hide themselves in Dens in Rocks and Mountains and say to the Rocks and Mountains fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb for the great Day of his Wrath is come and who shall be able to stand May these Terrors of the Lord perswade us to provide in this our day for the Things that belong to our Peace before they be hid from our eyes looking for by frequent Meditation and hastning unto by a diligent Improvement of our Talents the coming of this dreadful day of God and being above all things careful That we be found of him in Peace without spot and blameless for God will bring every secret Thing into Judgment whether it be good or evil and exactly adapt every Man's Recompense to his Work Which brings me to the next Thing I am to consider in this Parable namely Fourthly That at that great Day of Account when every Man's Work is fully known and his Improvement compar'd with what he has receiv'd the Diligent shall not only in general be receiv'd into the Joy of their Lord and the unprofitable cast into outer Darkness but the most Diligent those that have made the greatest Improvement shall receive the greatest share of Happiness And those that have been most careless and Unprofitable shall be doom'd to the greatest misery That is in short there will be degrees of Happiness or Misery respectively awarded to Men according to the degrees of their Holiness or Impiety I know this has been much question'd by some and wholly deny'd by others and their main Reason against it I conceive to be this That since the Happiness of the Just in Heaven consists in the Vision of God or the Excellencies and Beauties of the Divine Nature which will fill a holy Soul with eternal and inexpressible Delight for so St. John expresses the Bliss of Heaven by seeing God as
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
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
call the Bible to be genuine Well but though this may be true yet they object further that there is no Truth in the Matters of fact which these Men set down and particularly that the whole Story of our Saviour's Life and Death and Resurrection is a Falshood and that their Relations are contradictious But to this we may return That though this has been by some Men said yet it has never been prov'd nay on the contrary several Heathen Writers as Pliny Tacitus Lucian Suetonius and others of great Antiquity quoted by * De veritat Christ Rel. Lib. 2. Grotius and †Demomsta◠Evangel Propos 3. prope Initium Haetius have given in their Evidence as to the Matters of fact on the Christian Side and though they have made it their Business to vilifie the whole Story of our Lord's Life and Death yet they could say much less prove that there were no such Occurrences are as recorded by the Evangelists And truly the Evangelists are so punctual in all Circumstances of Time and Place so particular in naming of Persons concern'd and that were Eye-Witnesses of those Transactions and those too Enemies as well as Friends Jews and Heathens as well as Christians and those Transactions were so publick and in the Face of the World and the Account of them was written so soon after they were done that it would then have been a very easie Matter to have detected the Falshood of the Whole or of any Part of the Story if there had been any and both Jews and Heathens were very much concern'd to do it if they could and no doubt they endeavour'd it to the utmost of their Power But yet after all we find that neither then nor since any thing of this Nature has been fastned upon these Writings but rather the Truth of them has been approv'd by the Confession of the Enemies of Christianity than which no better Argument can be produc'd for the Truth of any Ancient History in the World And as for the Contradictions and Inconsistencies which they say are in the New Testament though to Men unlearn'd or else deeply prejudic'd some things may at first sight seem to clash a little yet upon a closer View of any competent and unprejudic'd Person they will be found to be far from being irreclaimable And these seeming Differences are likewise in things not material in the main there is an unquestionable Harmony Which considering that four several Men were the Writers and that they writ in different and distant Places is no mean Argument that what they so punctually and agreeably relate is true And indeed those little Differences that are taken Notice of are rather an Argument for the Truth of their Relation than any thing to the contrary for had it been a pack'd Business they would have been careful not to have differ'd in a Title As for their last Reserve that supposing the Matter of fact to be true which they relate yet those strange things that are recorded of Jesus might be performed by Art Magick and the Power of the Devil And that what he or his Apostles have deliver'd by Way of Precept and Doctrine was meerly the Product of their own Brains and no Inspiration of God To this we may return in this Manner 'T is certain that the coming of Jesus Christ into the World was to destroy the Works and Kingdom of the Devil as is evident from his casting so many evil Spirits out of possess'd Persons and from their trembling at his Presence and crying out for Dread and from his teaching so Holy and Heavenly a Religion than which nothing can more weaken his Infernal Kingdom And to attest the Truth of this his Doctrine and that he was sent by God to teach it to the World he wrought diverse and very amazing Miracles and those highly beneficial ones too such as giving Sight to Men that were born blind and curing long and desperate Diseases and raising to Life those that had been dead and one of them four Days buried and this only with a Word or with his Touch John 11◠15. which is Part of those Matters of fact set down by the Evangelists which we before prov'd to be true Now can any Man in his Senses think that the Devil were he able would so far assist one that come on purpose into the World to destroy his Kingdom 'T is our Lord's own Answer to the foolishly masicious Pharisees who when they saw him work a stupendious Miracle upon one possessed with a Devil both Blind and Dumb insomuch that the Blind and Dumb both spake and saw objected presently This Fellow casteth out Devils by Beelzebub the prince of the Devils And Jesus knew their Thoughts and said unto them every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to Desolation and if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself How then shall his Kingdom stand A Demonstration this that 't was not by the Power of the Devil that he wrought his Miracles but by the Power of God For though deluded Men may be so foolish as to frame such an Objection the Devil is too wise to put the thing in Practice As for the other Part of what is objected That what our Lord and the Writers of the New Testament the Evangelists and Apostles have deliver'd by Way of Precept and Doctrine was meerly the Product of their own Brains and not the Inspiration of God I might only appeal to the Precepts and Doctrines themselves which are of so Exalted and Heavenly a Nature and far above any thing that either before or since was ever written by Man that they themselves will prove their Original to be Divine But there is a farther Proof of this the many and great Miracles that were wrought both by Christ and his Apostles in Confirmation of the Doctrine they taught and of their being commission'd by God in an extraordinary Manner to declare it as the Rule of their Obedience to him and of their Conversation in the World For no reasonable Man can think that God would have so wondrously assisted those above all other Men had they not been his peculiar Messengers to make known his Will to Mankind And this in short may be sufficient to prove to any reasonable and unprejudic'd Man the Truth and Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures and consequently we have sufficient Assurance that there shall be another Life when this is ended wherein Men shall be for ever recompenc'd according to their Works For this is very plainly and expresly asserted in those Writings as every Man knows that has read them And therefore 't is as plain that 't is an unreasonable Obstinacy and too great Love of the sinful Enjoyments of this World that makes Men deny their Assent to so great a Truth and hinders them from being inclin'd by it to lead a more Innocent and Holy Life And the same Obstinacy and Infidel Hardness of Heart and Vileness of Manners would make them
better and if a Man be as poor and despicable in the Eye of the World as Lazarus yet if he is of a contented resign'd Soul and make it his Endeavour to be rich towards God he at length shall be fill'd with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory while many rich that have their Portion in this Life shall be sent empty away And thus much for the first thing this Parable informs us of namely that from a Man's prosperous or adverse Condition in this World there is no Judgment to be made concerning his final Condition in the next The second thing it informs us of is that whatever Change is made in the Condition of the Soul after its Departure from this World its State shall be from thenceforth for ever unalterable For so in the Parable when the Rich Man being in Torments lifted up his Eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his Bosom and cry'd and said Father Abraham have Mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the Tip of his Finger in Water and cool my Tongue for I am tormented in this Flame Abraham after he had told him that he had in his Life-Time receiv'd his good things and Lazarus his evil things and that then there was a great and unexpected Change and Lazarus was comforted and he tormented he adds moreover that between him and them there was a great Gulf fix'd so that those which would pass from thence to him could not neither could any pass from him to them What is meant by this Gulf fixed between Heaven and Hell which hinders any Comfort or Relief coming from thence to that miserable Place or any Trouble or Annoyance from that Place to Heaven so that the Condition both of the Wicked and the Righteous remains unchangeably happy or miserable respectively Has been much controverted especially amongst the School-men But it tending to very little Edification to relate their Opinions most of which are very frivolous I shall only say what is the most receiv'd Opinion in our Church By the Gulf fixed we suppose is only meant God's irreversible Decree that those whose Wickednesses made them incapable of the Vision and Enjoyment of God and sunk them down to Hell shall for ever remain there without any Hopes of Comfort or Relief and that the Righteous likewise shall be receiv'd into Life and Happiness everlasting and such as all the Powers of Hell shall never be able to lessen or disturb And this methinks to any sensible Man should appear to be an Opinion the most reasonable and most agreeable to the Holy Writings Now here 't will be worth our while since the rich Man's Punishment is express'd by his being tormented in Flame and doom'd to be for ever so to satisfie two Queries usually put in this Case as first Why the Torments of Hell are express'd by Flames and Burning And secondly How it can be consistent with the Divine Justice to punish the transient Acts of Sin with such an endless Misery To the first I return this Answer as to me the most satisfactory Though I believe that at the general Conflagration when the Heavens shall be shrunk up as a scorch'd Parchment and the Elements melt with fervent Heat and the World and all that 's in it be burn'd up though I believe that God will then take Vengeance of his Enemies in real Flames of Fire which shall for ever encircle and prey upon their Bodies yet I think that will be the least Part of their Torment and that the Extremity of it will consist in the inward Trouble of their Minds arising from an impatient Appetite and continual Thirst after that Felicity which they know through their own Default they shall never come to enjoy And that such vehement Desires and the Passions consequent upon the disappointment of them should be call'd Flames and Burning is no more than what is usual in our common Manner of speaking and the Expression of fervent and ardent Desires is often met with in the holy writings too particularly where David says My Soul breaketh out with the very fervent desire it hath always to thy Commandments And Rage and Fury and Impatience and the like which attend unsatisfied Desires are likewise frequently attended with the Epithet of Fire as every one must needs have observ'd Now Man having an innate uncontrolable Thirst after Happiness and which is always equally intense and that to the highest Degree when as the Punishment of his Rebellion against God his foolish and wicked Choices here his Pursuit after lower Good and Neglect of the supreme he shall be for ever banish'd to an infinite Distance not only from the Fountain of Happiness but from every Stream and Participation of it which here below cool'd his Heat a litle and for the present gratified that his Desire and yet the Appetite and Thirst after it continuing as great as ever and the Wretch withal sensible of the utter Impossibility of attaining it and that not so much as one Drop from that Fountain of Bliss shall ever be given to allay his Thirst and cool his parch'd and inflam'd Tongue His Desire must for ever be to the highest Degree craving and importunate in vain and being continually thus disappointed his Impatience will still grow hotter and hotter and his Remorse for bringing this upon himself turning to eternal Rage and Fury and boyling up like Rivers of enflam'd Brimstone the Fire will be everlasting And what a Calenture think we will the whole Man be in when without the fiercest material Flames shall prey upon the Body and hotter Fires within torment the Soul And this Notion of the Flames of Hell seems to me not obscurely hinted in the Rich Man's lifting up his Eyes in his Torment and when he saw the happy State of Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom begging him to impart though but one Drop of that Bliss he enjoy'd to cool his parched Tongue His Desire of that Happiness was in the greatest Degree of Ardency and when he saw Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom then he cry'd out Father Abraham have Mercy on me for I am tormented in this Flame Thus much for the first Query To the second I return this in Brief That since Sin is the greatest Possible Evil it being a Violation of the strongest Tyes and Obligations an Opposition and Contrariety to the Supreme Good and in no Case eligible as every considering Man must needs confess it can't be too rigorously dealt with even by the Infliction of the greatest possible Punishment for there is the same Proportion between the greatest Evil and the greatest Punishment as between a lesser Evil and a lesser Punishment And therefore unless we 'll say there can never be any Proportion between a Fault and its Punishment I think we must own there is Proportion here Now the Use we may make of this second Part of the Parable is this That since the Consequence of a Life of Wickedness is so dreadful and remediless a