the Nature of the Type and to fill up all the Parts of it and all the Colours of the Picture For the meaning is no more than this Look well to this That you have a Provision a Treasure of Grace that will last out the whole Time of the Wedding-Solemnity For if you have not you will not be able to make a Provision then you will be as those that are unready Now that this is the meaning of Watching is very plain from hence because the Virgins that had Oil in their Lamps and in their Vessels too they Slumbred and Slept yet they went immediately into the Wedding But all those that had only Oil in their Lamps and not in their vessels they were shut out there was no possibility of making Provision for themselves at that time From all which particulars then that I have given you at this Time but the Generals of I collect Let it be our care let us seriously look to it that we make such a provision now that may last out that whole State that is That we have such Grace as will bear out the Tryal of that Day and that Time That 's the main Importance of this so great Parable so excellent Parable that every one of us should look to it That we have such Treasure such real Riches of Grace in the Blood of Jesus and in the power of his Death and Resurrection upon us that will comport with that great Solemnity of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ And let us not say among all the Professions and Ways that there are in the VVorld we have chosen out what we think the best and the purest It is not enough that we are Virgins in our Profession but we must have this rich Treasure this real Treasure of Grace in our Hearts This I say is the main Importance of this great Parable and it Issues into this That we should take heed of pleasing our selves in a Profession and that we should be under the power of this Apprehension That the most excellent Profession that there is in the World in the whole Christian Name whatever it is that shall have the Precedency above any other yet if our Hearts are not Enriched with the true Grace of God and of Jesus Christ we do not know the Truth as it is in Christ effectually And therefore indeed there is not any place of Scripture that Imports a greater Severity or makes more necessary tryal and search into our State and Condition than this very Parable does For when it gives a Representation of the purest State that can be given that is to call all Virgins and yet that some of these are shut out for ever from the Glory of the Kingdom of Christ How should it as our Saviour speaks in a like Parable engage us to strive to enter in at the strait Gate For many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Many of the Children of the Kingdom shall be thrust out as Christ speaks in another place This is the great care therefore that should lie upon us to secure the inward part the vital part the true Power the true Light of Christianity that shall never be as a Lamp put out in obscure Darkness If you look upon the 14 Revel you may see what a high Importance this very Word or Representation of Virgins hath saith the Spirit of God there concerning those that were in the purity of Christian Religion These saith he are VIRGINS and have not defiled themselves with Women as other Professors of the Name of Christ had with the Impurity that others were defiled with For they are Virgins and they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth So that though this be so great a Representation of the purity of Christian Religion yet you see here in this Parable our Saviour hath taken this very Representation to set forth the State that yet shall miscarry in the End to Eternity And so the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 11. 2. I am Jealous over you with a godly Jealousie for I have espoused you to one Husband that I may present you as a chast Virgin to Christ You see sometimes this Representation Metaphor or Emblem of a Virgin is made use of to speak the highest and truest Purity And yet our Lord doth as it were abase and humble it here in speaking of the Foolish Virgins that he might gain his main point and end That is to tell us The most excellent Profession let it be what it will it will not avail us if there be not the truth and power of Christianity in it I shall therefore according to the particulars I have laid down to you endeavour to open this great Point all along by those lively Resemblances that our Lord hath given us in this Parable In the first place I shall consider the State of the Gospel as it is here called the Kingdom in its setting out from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ 'till it attains that great Point of Glory its manifestation in the visible Appearance of our Lord Jesus It is all the while the Kingdom of Heaven Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened So as I have Represented to you from Gal. 4. and Ephes 1. Here 's the whole State or Time of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of all the course and motion it runs It begins in the preaching of the Gospel and it ends in the Glory of it Gal. 4. 4. I look upon it to be a great Foundation of all that Discourse that I have endeavoured to Instruct you by concerning the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ But when the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law The first Appearance of Christ it is called the Fulness of Time that 's the beginning point of it And then there 's the Recapitulation the gathering of all things again into Christ and that is as the Apostle tells us Eph. 1. 10. In the dispensation of the fulness of Times he will gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are in Earth even in him In the Fulness of Time Christ came to bear the sins of many In the fulness of Times he gathers all into himself So that the Kingdom of Heaven it hath its beginning in the first Appearance of Christ and it hath its uttermost Glory in the gathering together in one all things into Christ And then it is delivered up into the Kingdom of Eternity We should therefore apprehend our selves even now under the preaching of the Gospel that we are under the motion of the Kingdom of Heaven here 's the beginning of it And then we should look to our selves and draw All to the Issue and last Result For the Kingdom of Heaven lasts till that great Solemnity of the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb it lasts to that very time and so it continues till the Kingdom is delivered up to God all in all You
take him in who is the Great Melchisedeck that King of Righteousness that King of Peace Let us never go without him let us never say Here 's such and such a Grace and such and such a good Action but let it lead us to the Spring and to the Fountain If we can but Chatter as Hezekiah the Name of Christ It is the Blessed Name that is poured forth It is the Savour of the Knowledge of Christ that makes acceptable to God If we can but only lie down at the Foot of God and Christ and earnestly beg for his Sake according to the Great Expressions of Scripture in Prayer If we want Quickning if we want Comfort if we want Humiliation if we want the Sense of Sin Sorrow for it I have no Intention in these Discourses that you should throw these Things away or think lightly of them But that you should have them all from the Fountain and in the Fountain by a continual Union with him and Communication from him Therefore if any of us want any of these the more we should cry to him If such a Sin grow too hard and such a Lust and Corruption will take hold upon us and Domineer in our Souls whether should we go but to the Great Redeemer And when we come to have a continual Converse with him and to have all our Graces from him and in him consisting wholly in him this will bring us to such a Love such an Acquaintance with him that it will cast out fear As those that we continually Converse with our Love arises far above our Fear and so when we Converse thus with Jesus Christ I beseech you that you would take the Name of Christ And if you cannot get your Hearts so affected as you desire yet let not that Name go but press it upon your Hearts in Prayer to God through Christ I am surely perswaded the Flinty Rock will be turned into a Standing-Water If you say How There 's no need to give a Man Satisfaction if a Man slights it and has no care about this But if our Souls are indeed and in earnest Affected as Bartimeus cry more earnestly And if any thing bids you hold your Peace yet you 'll find that it will be said to you He calleth thee And so stand up and lay the Weight and Burden of all upon him as I said before From the Off-spring to the Issue from Flagons of great Quantity even to little Cups the least Thing in Religion let all be hung upon this Nail in the sure Place And then The Second Thing Because I desire still to make mention to you of the Great and Gladsome Expectation of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus to come into its Succession Let us all earnestly beg That it may be so And then I am sure these Things will be cleared there will be no clashing then For the Name of Christ will swallow up every thing The Glory of the Doctrine of Christ when a Few years are but over I make no Question the Name of Christ will sound so loud that all Things will be drawn up to him and be united into that Blessed and Excellent Name of Christ And therefore we will say with which I 'll conclude this Discourse Thy Name is as Oyntment poured forth therefore do the Virgins love Thee c. SERMON IX On Matthew 25. Beginning at the First Verse but more particularly at the Tenth Verse 10. And while they that is the Foolish Virgins went to Buy the Bridegroom came And they that were Ready went in with him to the Marriage and the Door was shut 11. Afterward came also the other Virgins saying Lord Lord open to us 12. But he answered and said Verily I say unto you I know you not I Have past through this Parable And there remain only Two Points that I proposed further to Discuss And that is First Concerning the Peremptory and Positive Answer that our Lord gives the Foolish Virgins They cry Lord Lord open to us The Door was shut while they went to Buy of which I have spoken to you before And when they came and knocked to have the Door opened the Positive and Peremptory Answer that they received was this Verily I say unto you I know you not And then The Last Point is the Application of all Watch therefore for ye know neither the Day nor the Hour when the Son of Man cometh I intend by the Assistance of God to speak to you of the First of these two Latter Propositions at this time That is Concerning the Positive Answer I know you not Both the Shortness and the Irrevocableness and Irreversableness of it is dreadful It is in vain any further to make Application For I know you not And then The Phrase or the Term in which it is conveyed It is not in any thing but this I know you not So then the Proposition or Doctrine that I shall lay down to you is this That it must be sadly acknowledged and every one is to take it to himself That a Virgin if a Foolish Virgin shall not be admitted nor suffered to enter into the Glory of that Marriage-Feast that Marriage-Supper of the Lamb. For that 's the Meaning of the Door being shut where a Great Festival-Room is and where those that are Ushered in as Guests are Received and Entertained The Door is shut And they that have not a Right to Enter are for ever Debarred They cannot Enter The Door is shut and no Entreaty will prevail Christ Answers them plainly That he knows them not Now therefore I would propose these several Things to Discourse to you at this Time First I would take notice of our Lord's Language I know you not And then In the Second Place I would open to you who these are by way of Earnest pressing the Consideration upon you who these are to whom Christ saith I know you not Which may very well Startle and Amaze In the Third Place I would Discourse to you the Reasons Why Foolish Virgins though Virgins cannot have the Door opened to them And then In the Fourth Place I 'll Answer the Scruples and Objections that may arise in your Thoughts against the Great Doctrine of the Gospel upon this Account And then In the Last Place I would conclude with the Application of it First Concerning the Phrase that is here used by Christ And it is very Remarkable That whenever Persons that seem to have a Claim and a Challenge and a Right to Christ upon the Account of Profession and upon the best Profession as I shall shew you Whenever they make Approach to Christ as if he were mistaken he does not consider who they are that knock at the Door and desire him to open yet still he Represents himself and Remonstrates to them in this very Phrase I know you not And so I shall enter into a Brief Consideration of the Meaning and Importance of it First That it is the Ordinary or Stated Phrase and
I only draw out the main scope of the Parable by way of Recollection unto you and so conclude I say seriously consider What ever you think to do for your souls do it now because there is no Time after Work while it is day the night cometh when none can work All the time that persons have lain in the Grave as we speak or that their Spirits have been in Happiness or in Misery they have not done the least thing for their souls they have not added one Cubit nay not one Hairs breadth to their Stature they have not made one Hair as our Lord speaks Proverbially either white or black as to the State of their Spirits And when Spirits come to meet their Bodies in the Day of the Resurrection every thing will be in such a speed such a World in highest motion That you cannot stay to change one ill Posture or Appearance ot Representation of your souls You must not stay I would speak according to the Language of the Parable Can the Bride forget her Attire If any of us have forgot our Attire we cannot mind any thing that is amiss We cannot fasten one Pin in that distress of our souls We must be in the Wedding Garment perfectly attired and arrayed For what is done then as I have often said is done in an Atome of Time The dead shall be raised incorruptible Wicked Men and Foolish Virgins shall be raised just as they die And therefore mind seriously to do for your souls what you 'd do in this present state And then Lastly As I have said I say again That you would earnestly pray for the Preparation of that Time Pray earnestly for the pouring out of the Spirit Do you think it will not be better for you when God shall pour out his Spirit upon all flesh when your Sons and your Daughters shall Prophesie when your old men shall dream Dreams and your young men shall see Visions When there shall be an universal Prophesie upon the People of God as I have greatest reason to hope that the time is very near Why should we not earnestly pray for it and desire it You think there will be too much Clutter and ado about Religion then don't mistake Whatsoever is done shall run so easie and quiet then with such advantage and the Great Cares and Disadvantages of the World shall be taken off and every thing shall be in a merciful order that we may be prepared for that Great and Notable Day of the Lord. And therefore Let us earnestly pray and wait That a better state both of Christianity in General and the Reformation in particular may come forth That those Thunders that have been Sealed since the Reformation for almost an Hundred and Eighty Years That their Mouths may be open and their Voices may utter themselves That every thing may be that tends to increase and promote Holiness Purity and Spirituality and Heavenliness for I am not speaking nor never did speak to you of a Kingdom of Eating and Drinking and putting on Glorious Apparel but that there shall be an universal knowledge of God and Jesus Christ And that none but those that are resolved to be filthy should remain filthy and those who give up themselves in Holy ways should be Encouraged and should mount up with Eagles Wings and Grow stronger and stronger And therefore that there is but the Hopes of these things Let us Bless God Exceedingly For many Prophets and Wisemen and Kings and Righteous Men have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them And yet for all that If any of us are called to Die who are Sincere and faithfull God will give us so much certainly of that Spirit of Prophesie of Illumination of Revelation That shall carry us safe to Heaven and shall Search and Try us so That we shall be led out of any wicked way into the way that is Everlasting And therefore Let not these things Discourage you But let them Enflame our Care Zeal Endeavours and Desires That we may Watch Because Nothing con be done when our Lord comes but only They that are Ready Go in with Him to the Wedding FINIS AN APOLOGY For the Hope of the Kingdom of Christ Appearing Within This Approaching Year 1697. Wherein some of the Principal Arguments for such an Expectation are briefly Couch'd and the Greater Objections Answered Presented to the Notice and Examination of the Arch-Bishops and Bishops Now in PARLIAMENT Assembled By T. BEVERLEY Ezek. 10. 13. As concerning the Wheels It was cryed to them in my Hearing Oh! Revolution LONDON Printed for and Sold by Will Marshal at the Bible in Newgate-Street and John Marshal at the Bible in Grace-Church-Street 1697. An APOLOGY for the Hope of the Kingdom of Christ Entring Its Succession within this Now Beginning 1697. And an Answer of Principal Objections presented with It. To the Archbishops and Bishops as in Parliament at This Time Assembled Most Reverend Right Reverend I Have now by the Space of Fourteen or Two Weeks of Years been Serving for that Beautiful Rachel-State of the Church of Christ in the place of that Rachel in the Wilderness weeping for her Children in Sackcloth and under Death and would not be comforted Because They were not I have set my self all along by Meditation and Supplication to the Father of Lights to search out and by the Assistance of the Spirit of Prophecy to Find What or What Manner of Time the Spirit of Christ did signify for the Fullfilling that Grand Petition of his Servants Thy Kingdom come That thy Name may be Sanctified and Thy Will done as in Heaven and upon Earth and I am now Wrestling to the Break of Day and I Hope the Dawn of the Morning and Resolv'd not to Let Go Till I obtain the Blessing of it The Time that from the First and throughout it pleased the Lord of Time to fix upon my Mind as the Time of That Kingdom Entring into its Succession and Preparation for its Glory was and is This Approaching 1697. A Year to which I could have no Temptation either in Regard of Nearness or Distance or on any Account whatever but as a Scripture-Line of Time and Concurrent Reasons of Prophecy and History very many and in a Series and Continuation have Led me On this Foundation having Setled I have by Gracious Vouchsafements of Help from God Turn'd my Self to All the Grand Prophetick Points of Scripture and Found New Confirmations and have Given as Publick Accounts of them as I could attain and presented some of Them to Your Selves and to the Great Councel of the Nation And in as much as Supreme Goodness hath Granted me to Set up an Eben Ezer now at the Portal of 97. I have Thought it my Duty to offer this Apology for the Kingdom of Christ so near Approaching And that The Great Isaac The Son of Promise of
likened unto Ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom 2. And five of them were wise and five were foolish 3. They that were foolish took their Lamps and took no Oil with them 4. But the wise took Oil in their Vessels with their Lamps 5. While the Bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept 6. And at midnight there was a Cry made Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him 7. Then all those Virgins arose and trimmed their Lamps 8. And the foolish said unto the wise Give us of your Oil for our Lamps are gone out 9. But the wise answered 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 10. 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 11. Afterward came also the other Virgins saying Lord Lord open to us 12. But he answered and said Verily I say unto you I know you not 13. Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh I Have often had it in my Thoughts and Desires to open this Great Parable of the Kingdom to you Wherein as Christ saith he hath declared things that had been kept secret from the very Foundation of the World But indeed I fear an Inability to open this Parable according to the Greatest Importance and Sense of it I have yet by the Assistance of God and through the Great Author of it undertaken to offer to you the utmost of Light that I can from so Rich a Portion of Scripture But still saying Who is sufficient for these things I know it contains in it self a Point of the Greatest Concernment to every one of us And the Greater and the Fairer our Profession of Christianity is the Greater is our Obligation to consider it For you see here is nothing in the Text but a Virgin-State and that imports the Purity of a Profession the Highest and the Purest Profession of Christ and of his Name And yet as you may easily observe what a great Danger and Hazard there is in the Purest Profession that we should come short of the Great End For why were Five of these Virgins shut for ever out of the Glory and Happiness of the End The Point that I aim at to discourse upon I 'll give you in the General And then shew you in every Particular how the Parable Answers to it And how Great the Wisdom of Christ is He spake indeed as it is said in the Gospel as never man spake No meer Created Man was ever able to find out such Lively Images and Representations of Things as he did and as he hath given us the Instance and Example of in this very Parable I say therefore here is the main Point that I propose to you That even the Highest and most Excellent Professors of Christianity have great need and an Obligation lying upon them to take care that while they make so excellent a Profession they have that that will bear out and will last in that State of the Kingdom of Christ and of the Glory of it I say the Highest and Purest Professors Suppose any of us say We are not as Heathens and we are not as Antichristians and we are not as the Looser and General Professors of Christianity are But we are Virgins we are of the Purest and of the most Refined Profession of Christianity Our Lord here allows it to us we may be so and yet notwithstanding this we are to be under this severe Caution That we are not found foolish Virgins that have not the Truth and Power of Christianity or only a Profession that will go out as a Lamp extinguished and quenched and cast out into utter Darkness when it comes to the strictest and highest Examination Now this our Saviour hath comprized under Three Generals that you may observe in this Parable which I will at this time first of all but in gross and in short deliver to you and then Endeavour by the Assistance of God to be more Exact upon the Particulars of it First Therefore that we may understand it we are to observe That this Parable represents the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven is to be understood First In the opening of it in the Preaching of the Gospel and in the drawing of the Minds and Hearts of those that hear it unto it That 's the first Notion of the Kingdom of Heaven The Kingdom of Heaven shall be likened unto Ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom This speaks the whole State of the Gospel from that Fulness of Time as I have Stiled it from the Apostle Paul to the Fulness of Times or of All Times from the time of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ from that time 'till the Bridegroom himself comes The Kingdom of Heaven It is the Preaching of the Gospel daily and continually to all those to whom it is offered and tendred And as to this He that hath an Ear to hear let him hear Secondly This Kingdom of Heaven it is to be considered As it shall open it self in the Glory of the Appearance of Jesus Christ For the Kingdom of Heaven doth not lose it self when the Preaching of the Gospel is at an end and when that which we count the Day of Judgment comes but it passes then into another State into its Glory and into its visible Appearance It comes then into the highest Celebration of the Nuptials and of the Wedding For they went forth to meet the Bridegtoom And it is said That the Bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him into the Wedding and the Door was shut So the Kingdom of Heaven lasts from that Preaching of the Gospel from the Death and Resurrection of Christ unto the Glory of the Kingdom in the Appearance of Christ and of all his Saints with him Which as I say and as you shall after hear is the highest Celebration of the Wedding and of the Nuptials The Second Head of Discourse on this Parable in which our Lord hath presented this great Truth to us is the Representation of those that make Profession of him in the purest and in the most refined way and therefore they are all called Virgins Even those that had not Oil in their Lamps yet still they are called Virgins And those that were not only the wise but the foolish still they are called Virgins And what is the Reason of this but that Christ might press the harder and closer upon every one of our Consciences If you say and you know we are ready to value and rate our selves by it we have a better Profession and a better Worship and we do not as others do whose way and whose worship and whose profession we condemn but we are as Virgins in our Worship
into a Condition to meet the Bridegroom with Oil in their Vessels as well as in their Lamps Argum. 3. There is such a Space of Time Determined by God Settled Fixed and Declared in the Sure Word of Prophecy Lin'd out by Four Monarchies that must Runn out Themselves And there is a Particular Assignation of Time to the Last State of the Fourth the Last of Them Viz. Time Times and Half a Time Expounded into One Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Days of Years Revel 12. 6. 14. And in this Time Wickedness Fills up its Ephah or Measure and is carried as by the Wings of a Stork and Settled for Ever upon its own Base And to this Assignation of Time Jesus Christ Consented and Testified his Consent by Lifting up Both his Hands to Heaven and Swearing There should be this Time Times and Half And therefore no Injury is Done to Him And that then and not before All the Wonders of his Kingdom shall be Finished On this very Account the Apostle so Solemnly Declares 2 Thess c. 2. 1 c. That That Day of Christ could not come Except that Apostacy the Last State of the Fourth Monarchy was Revealed and Blown off by the Spirit of Christ's own Mouth and at Last utterly Consumed by the Brightness and Glory of his Appearance at that his Coming Before it could come to this those Times and Half must be Expired Immediately therefore after the Death and Resurrection of Christ Vision and Prophecy were Sealed Daniel 9. 24. with Relation to that Greatest and Richest Effect of Prophecy Viz. the Kingdom of Christ It was Sealed But then Immediately at the very Beginning of Half Time Christ took the First Opportunity of making a Seizure viz. at the Reformation and of Swearing there should be Time of such sort no more but in the Days of the Seventh Trumpet When he shall begin to found the Mystery of God Viz. The Kingdom of Christ shall be Finishing as he hath spoken by all his Servants the Prophets Which shall begin at 1697 So near approaching All which things have been fully by the Assistances of God made out and publickly set forth And are now onely so far briefly Represented as to give satisfaction to this doubt How comes it to pass that the Coming of the Bridegroom hath been thus long Delay'd And no further Insisted upon in these Sermons Sett for Preaching the Gospel especially under the Grace of the Divine Spirit to work upon the Heart and to engage in all Holiness of Conversation I come therefore to the Practical Reflection on what hath been spoken in these short Applications Appli 1. That we would take heed of the Atheistick and prophane boldness of Scoffers Who because the Bridegroom on so Holy and Wise Reasons as Scripture hath given us Delays his Coming say where is the promise of his Coming They believe no such thing And indeed all Discourses against the Kingdom of Christ and the Prophesies of Scripture or turning them into Allegory and Metaphor Give Countenance and Assurance to such Prophaneness and Boldness of Scoffing Let us aherefore be mindful of the Words of the Holy Prophets and of the Doctrines of the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour 2 Peter c. 3. v 1 c. Appli 2. Let us beware of the Accounting the delay of the Bridegrooms Coming to any thing in the Course of Nature or as if the World could bear up it self or Perpetuate it self As they of whom the Apostle speaks who are willfully Ignorant that the World by the very Word of God was settled so out of and yet in such a Neighbourhood to the Water that it depended wholly on the Word of his Power not to be overflown by it And that the Heavens and Earth that now are are so Reserv'd are Treasured up for Fire at the Time Appointed by God for Perdition of such and of All Ungodly Men That we may be in a continual Dependence upon Him and Preparation for the Bridegroom 's Coming Applicat 3. Let us have Just Apprehensions of the Patience and Long-Suffering of God in the Delay of the Bridegroom 's Coming And that it is no Sluckness concerning his Promise As if He were altogether such a one as our Selves And Let us Account it Salvation And so it will be if we are His For He will let None of His Perish but Every One of Them shall come to Repentance But if we are not His though we Know it not Yet His Goodness Leads to Repentance by its Gracious Invitations and Excitements And if through our Hard and Impenitent Hearts It does not Lead us so we Treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath and the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God at this Coming of the Bridegroom Rom. 2. 3 4 c. Applicat 4. Let us not Think it Boldness or Presumption to Search the Scriptures and 2 Peter 1. 19 c. to Give Heed to the Sure Word of Prophecy as to a Light that shineth in a Dark Place Till the Day Dawn and the Day-Star Rise in our Hearts Especially to that Line of TIME Times and Half Time For our Lord charges it as Hypocrisie not to Discern the Signs of the Times That is the Characters of Time Scripture hath Impress'd upon it And though there are many Providential Signs as Wars Commotions Earthquakes Yet these will not Define Time to us Onely the Line of Time can Do that And let us Humbly wait upon God therein and take in All Other Marks God hath Given by His Providence therein But as I say The Line of Time is the Sure Rule by which we are to walk and I have full Assurance if we behold according to that the Course of Scripture-Prophecies the Emblems or Prophetical Types and Figures given therein the Numbers of Time proportion'd to and Running all along from Time to Time through those Figures and compare All with the Providences and Great Events God hath taken Care should be Recorded in History brought to our Knowledge or be coming down to our very sight we may be fully Confirmed as by a Threefold Cord not to be Broken and that it is a Line Reaching to 1697. Applicat 5. Let us have Continual Apprehensions of the Glory and Greatness of That Day Let us consider That Day Malac. 3. 18. When we shall Return and Descern between the Righteous and the Wicked Him that Serveth God and Serveth Him not Him that Sweareth and Him that Feareth an Oath and between the Wise and the Foolish Virgins and not put off the Thoughts of it Because we see the World so Earnest in Eating and Drinking Buying and Selling Building and Planting Marrying and Giving in Marriage For so it was in the Days of Noah and of Lot until the very Day And so our Lord saith It shall be in the Day of the Son of Man Applicat 6. Let us so Consider and Apply our Selves to the Examining what manner of Men we ought to be in All Holiness and Godliness
Application of it And I take it out of that 5th Chapter of Solomons-Song Here 's the great Difference that is between the one sort and the other sort Ver. 2. I Sleep saith she but my heart waketh That is there is a Principle within me there is a Spirit within me A Spirit within every Wise Virgin that keeps a watch even while it is in a Slumber As you know many Persons they have a wariness of things though they are in a sort of Slumber yet they are presently sensible if any thing comes either as to advantage or disadvantage So there is a Spirit in every true Christian that is aware of the Great Concernments of Eternity that knows the Excellency of Christ and that loves Jesus Christ and that knows the Vanity of this World and the things of it Even while they are in a Slumber their heart wakes concerning these things And then again you read They cannot be quiet they have such kind of Items and Intimations from Christ that they are presently aware That when Christ speaks presently the Beloved the Church of Christ the true Church answers him ver 4. Saith she My Beloved put in his hand by the hole of the Door and my bowels were moved for him Indeed she could not get quickly up Indeed saith she I have put off my Coat how shall I put it on That is I have set my self in a way of Religion that I hope will do and will be enough and it is as much as others do and as much as generally is to be found among Christians and as much as can suit with the present state of this World but Christ gave her an Intimation and Item from himself And presently saith she My Bowels were moved for him And I arose to open to my Beloved and then she went seeking up and down the City And the Watchmen said it is too much for you to take upon you they take away her Vail from her they impeach her Modesty as it were But she goes on I Charge you O Daughters of Jerusalem if ye find my Beloved that ye tell him I am sick of love There is an earnest and vehement and inward affection in the heart that is in every true sincere Christian in every wise Virgin Though they sleep yet their heart waketh There is a Principle and a Power that shall never be deserted and forsaken of God even in the midst of this inclination to Slumber God will bring it forth in Power and to Perfection and so you may Trace the thing along in your own souls Do you find that a little Intimation makes you very earnest and vehement after Christ Do you find that there is such a stable desire of Christ and his Grace and Spirit That you desire he should know that you are sick of love And that you declare to the World that you love him above all things else And so I shall proceed no further in this Discourse but only close with Application 1. In the first place It teaches us That we should not magnifie the present state of any Church or Churches whatsoever or their way for all of them come far short though one much shorter than another yet all come short And so we should see in our own state Alas it is but suitable to the Day or rather as I may say to the Night that is yet continuing and is not yet past off from us Though indeed God is exceedingly to be magnified and adored in all the good of the Gospel and Christianity that we see in the World I am far from putting a Blemish or Diminution upon what God hath done seeing there are so many Excellent Preachers of Christianity and so many Excellent Christians and such a great Light of the Gospel as we have That such as were heretofore would have wondred at the Goodness and Grace of God if there should have been such a freedom of Preaching his Word every where and gathering Souls to himself And that there are so many of his Servants have a desire towards his Name and towards the Remembrance of him And therefore I say I desire to fore-caution as to that part That I am not at all censorious but acknowledging of the Infinite Grace of God But yet I say still That I would not have you think we are at the Excellency of Christianity as it is in Publick or as it is in Particulars I make no doubt but he that fears God now shall fear him much more and he that loves Christ now shall love him much more and they that speak and think of his Name shall do it much more when this Slumber is taken off I tell you you cannot do now what you would do you cannot love God and Christ you cannot be so free and undistracted and retired in to the way of Christianity as you would be And therefore look upon it That the present Day is the Day of the Slumber of the Glory of Christianity and therefore let us bewail our selves that we can get up no higher awakened much more that we cannot shake off that Slumber that is so much upon us But still I say we must expect a clearer and lightsomer and a brighter Air of the Gospel and Sun-shine of it We must expect the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his Wings Do but consider how you come on upon a Duty and how you come off and how you lose what you would retain and how hard it is to gain and how quickly it is gone off Our souls should be in a constant posture in this World our Vessels for ordinary uses should be Holiness to Jehovah but if one Treats of this way or that way one finds that the Glory of it does not sparkle and glister as it should I speak not what I speak from my own spirit but what God will speedily make good to all those that shall live in that Time Then they shall say How hath the Glory of Christianity changed me We shall find the Vacancies and the Emptinesses and Blemishes that are upon us shall be fill'd up and taken off and we shall walk in a higher Power and Spirit of Christianity And therefore let no one boast in regard of this or that Church-State whatsoever it be For certainly All is under a Spirit of Slumber now and there shall come a far more excellent State upon the Churches of Christ and so it shall descend upon every particular Person And then 2. In the Second Place Let us earnestly aspire to this state in our selves as David says I will not give Sleep to my eyes nor Slumber to my Eye-lids till I make an Habitation for the God of Jacob So let us aspire now as high as we can and let us earnestly desire this Glory of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ that shall awaken us as a Man is awakened out of sleep as the expression is in the Prophet For I am perswaded God will awaken all his Servants as
riches of his Glory to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith I look upon this to be Oyl in the Vessel It is Christ abiding in the heart For tho indeed the Vessel is not the Fountain yet it speaks the Vessel closely conjoyned with the Fountain and the Fountain continually springing into 't Another place of Scripture that I would give you You know Faith and Love they are much required and insisted on in the Gospel now observe what the Apostle saith in the 1 Tim. 1. 14. And the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Where is the Treasure of Faith and Love It is in Christ Jesus it is never out of him the Spring of it is never out of him Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus The Spring overflows to the Vessel with Faith and Love but the Spring and the Fountain is Christ himself And so 2 Tim. 2 1. Thou therefore my Son be strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus Be strong in the Grace that is in him It is never out of him though it flows to the Souls and Spirits of Believers yet it is never out of Christ So that here is the Oyl in the Treasure of it it is when the Soul is united to Christ the Fountain of it here is the Oyl that is able to bear up For in two things I think the comparison lies that our Lord intended in this Parable between Grace and Oyl First It must needs be of such an excellent quality that it can bear up with the Glory of that Day And then In the Second place It must be so abundant that it can last with the Glory of that Day For if the Oyl be not of the high and excellent kind it will presently go out As you know the higher Light of the Sun it puts out the lower Light of Fire or Tapers that we have below so the Glory of that Day will put out any Light but only the Light of the Righteousness and Grace that is in Jesus Christ and none else will last There 's no Spring of Light but only that which comes from him Heb. 7. 16. who is after the power of an endless life It is only Christ that is Oil in the Treasure Therefore take the most Excellent Grace That 's the Point that I would endeavour to carry out to you Take the most Excellent Grace if it be out of Christ if it be only in the Person himself it is a Lamp that will go out but if the Vessel be at the Fountain Head and is joined to the Fountain then it is able to supply to the Glory of that Day And I shall represent it to you therefore by a History of Scripture that may serve as an excellent Parallel to Expound the Parable that I am now upon In 2 Kings 4. 1. There cried a certain Woman of the Wives of the Sons of the Prophets unto Elisha saying Thy Servant my Husband is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord and the Creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons to be Bond-men And Elisha said unto her What shall I do for thee Tell me What hast thou in the House And she said Thine Hand-Maid hath not any thing in the House save a Pot of Oil. Then he said Go Borrow thee Vessels abroad of all thy Neighbours even empty Vessels borrow not a few And when thou art come in thou shalt shut the Door upon thee and upon thy Sons and shall pour out into all those Vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full So she went from him and shut the Door upon her and upon her Sons who brought the Vessels to her and she poured out And it came to pass when the Vessels were full that she said unto her Son bring me yet a Vessel And he said unto her There is not a Vessel more And the Oil stayed Now this is the thing only That I would represent to you That to us that are in a miserable and needy and wanting condition and in danger to be Bond-Men and Bond-Women to the Wrath and Justice of God for ever Here is the Oil multiplied The Oil multiplies from the Fountain from the Infinite Grace that is in Jesus Christ that we may stand at that Day And therefore That which I would advise and press upon every one of us from this very Point is That above all things we would mind our being in Christ I shall endeavour to free it from all Objections that you may be ready to make before I close the Point But to give you a Parable or a Representation that is nearer and does indeed intend this very thing If you look into the Prophet Zachary you shall see what it is to have Oil not only in the Lamp but in the Vessel that is to have a continual supply For though indeed this Parable seems to go no further than Oil in the Vessel yet when we come to enter into it we must needs find that it must be Oil from the Fountain alone that can do us good Zach. 4. 1 2. And the Angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a Man that is wakened out of his sleep And said unto me what Seest thou and I said I looked and behold a Candlestick all of Gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his Seven Lamps thereon and Seven Pipes to the Seven Lamps which were upon the top thereof And two Olive-Trees by it one upon the Right side of the Bowl and the other upon the Left side thereof And it came to that The Sons of oyl as they are called v. 12. through the Golden Pipes empty the Golden Oil out of themselves into the Golden Bowl Now What 's the Meaning of all this Not by Might nor by Power but by my Spirit saith the Lord that 's the Meaning of all They Empty the Golden Oil out of themselves That Golden Oil by which our Lamps will bear up and shine at that Day it must come from those Sons of Oyl That is From those Olive-branches Both which are only a Representation of Christ's Fulness in his Righteousness and in his Spirit So that here is that that alone can bear us up and bear up the Shining of our Lamps in that Day of the Glorious Solemnity of the Marriage of the Lamb That which alone can bear us up is the Righteousness and Spirit of Jesus Christ Which are always Connected and Joyned one with another And Proportionable hereunto are other Similitudes The Wedding-Garment that we read of Matt. 22. which a Man not having on when he came to the Wedding he was sound Speechless That is Nothing but the Garment of the Righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Graces of his Spirit The King came in to see the Guests he saw there a Man which had not
of Grace than to look up to Electing Grace Knowing Brethren your Election of God and giving diligence in every Grace to make our Calling and Election sure The Apostle hath given us a great Admonition for Adoring Supream Grace Rom. 11. 32 c. God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all That is upon all that he will have mercy upon He hath shut them up in such a way that they could not stir if his Grace did not open the way O the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out For who hath known the Mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counseller Who could direct God what he should do in the eternal concernments of Souls Or Who hath first given to him and it shall be recompenced unto him again Can any say to God Thou hast done unjustly or unrighteously that thou hast not chosen me Why what hast thou done or any Creature done to oblige him If he hath I dare assure him it shall be recompenced to him to the uttermost But I assure him he that replies thus he is a Bold Man and Proud and Haughty is his Name And as Christ saith Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to Babes For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be Glory for ever And therefore I desire to be among the number of those that do not quarrel with God That dare not enter a contest and a contention with him concerning his Eternal Choice Let us humble our selves every one at his foot and say Of thee and through thee and to thee are all things and I desire to be to thy Glory Thus let us make our selves nothing before God nothing at all but make him all We never did any thing for him we could never lay an Obligation and therefore we have nothing to say but Free Grace Free Grace Free Love and Free foreknowledge of God 2. In the Second Place This Parable in this dreadful part teaches That we should all be beholding to Christ and to the Free Grace that is in him the Pardon of Sin the Righteousness of Christ his Bloud and his Redemption Here 's our all I say here is our all For as I opened to you the Great Point is Whether in Christ or not Whether Christ be in us and whether we are in him Whether we are found in him as the Apostle speaks Phil. 3. 7 c. Here 's the Point That every one may depend upon the Righteousness of God in Christ It is not the works that we have done but according to his own mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit And here the wise Virgins reached out themselves to be found in Christ and only in him but the Foolish Virgins fell short here 3. Thirdly We can do nothing but by the Spirit of Christ Our only hope is in the Spirit of the Lord our God And therefore the foolish Virgins were mistaken That they did all in their own strength and power They trusted in their own Beauty they trusted in their own Virginity and did not mind the Righteousness of Christ the Free Grace of God and the Spirit of Jesus Christ I come to the Fourth thing I proposed and that is To answer the Objections that may be made against this state of this Case I have given you And I desire to speak plainly yet in very short to you in this matter You may say then What can any one do What hope can there be Though I am in the True Religion and in the True Worship of God and though I am in an unblameable Conversation and yet I may be lost and undone because I have not Wisdom because I have not something that I am not able to apprehend or to be sensible of Now therfore I 'll satisfie you in this because you may think In all Religion there lies a discouragement upon us If things be thus Therefore I 'll Answer you in Two things very briefly First Let no man mistake for I am sure Let any thing be preached that can be preached yet there shall not so much as be one Moral Person fewer in the World I am sure that the measure of Restraining Grace of Preventing Grace of Morallizing Grace that God will give to the World nothing of Discourse or Opinion shall be able to straiten it or to lessen it I say I am sure of this There shall not be one Honest Man in the World less because Christ preached to that young Man that had kept all the Commandments from his youth Thou art yet under a great difficulty as to the Kingdom of Heaven A man might have taken the Advantage of that discourse of Christ with this young man and have made a Clamour and noise of it and said here 's one that despises and discourages a good young man for he saith How hardly shall such a young man that hath kept all the Commands from his youth enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but Christ knew very well that he should not hinder or lessen or straiten Moral Honesty or Goodness in the World by what he said for he knew all these things are in God and from God and there shall not one hair from the head of Morality as I may so speak Fall to the Ground because of any thing that can be said for There is a Common Grace of Morality and Honesty given out from God and Christ and whomsoever he thinks fit to Receive it They shall receive it and must receive it and they shall be under the power of it and live suitably to it And so for the Grace of God There shall no one be hindred of his Graee Let men have as many Conceptions as they can have of things and however Discouraging if his Truth be duely spoken and in the season Therefore dont think that the preaching of the Truth of Scripture can do any hurt for God is allwayes present breathing in the Word both with a Spirit of Morality and common Gifts of Righteousness and also with a Spirit of Grace and none shall be ever able to straighten his Spirit in any of the Effects of it And the Truths of God spoken according to his Word shall be subordinated to it In the Second Place I do always acknowledge and Declare with Greatest Freedom and Sincerity That this is the onely way of Preaching the Gospel To preach it so that Every one should be Sensible of True Holiness and True Grace And yet withal They must be Sensible of Free Grace the free Grace of God the free Choice of God Free Grace in the Righteousness of Christ of the Spirit Blowing where it listeth and where it pleaseth as our Lord tells us These things are not to be Divided nor Justled out one by another for they both stand
of Man cometh at an hour ye think not that is if you are not ready For the very sence of knowing or not knowing the time is being ready or not ready if not ready we are not aware The knowing of time or not knowing is but the cover and outside of this true effective knowing or not so knowing I will therefore first endeavour to open to you the true state of this thing and then lay down to you several particular Directions for the right Exercise of this Watch And in a Second Head give you the Arguments of Persuasion to this Watch and so close the whole with Application 1. To shew you then in the First Place the true sence of this great Proposition from this our Lord's Application of the Parable And in the general You know the Conclusion of a Discourse is the Practical Application and that you know is regularly drawn out of the main substance of it This Application is then drawn out of the substance of the Parable and that most evidently is the having Oil in our Vessels as hath been explain'd The watching is therefore our looking well to that having Oil in our Vessels for they watch'd who were so ready though the Bridegroom delaying his coming they slumbred and lay down in Death they did not watch who so slumbred and went out of the World by Death that they had not a provision ready for the Bridegrooms Coming so that the knowing or not knowing the Time is not at all touched upon But more particularly to attain our Lord's sence in the most plain and practical instances of a Spiritual Life according to the Gospel as Directions to watching 1. Look diligently that we are taken out of the Gall of Bitterness and from under the Bond of Iniquity That we are taken out of the state of Children of Wrath by being implanted into Christ and translated into the Kingdom of his dear Son in whom is Redemption in his Bloud even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his Grace that we awake from that sleep and stand up from the dead that Christ may give us life Let us look well that we are brought into the State of Grace for that is the principal and fundamental Point of Watching and the Essential Difference between a wise and a foolish Virgin to be brought into Christ and to have his Spirit 2. Let us be continually carnest and fervent in Prayer watch unto Prayer as the Apostle Peter speaks 1 Pet. 4. 7. And as our Lord commands Watch and pray that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man at his Coming Luke 21. 36. Pray earnestly with importunate Crys that you may not be given over and found in a state of Ruine and Condemnation at that Great Day Christ was whole Nights in Prayer with strong Crys and Tears he offered up Supplications unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared And how then should we think to meet him without that exercise let us therefore be instant in Prayer 3. Let us be very diligent in meditating on the Word of God Blessed is the Man that meditates in his Law day and night that 's watching to meditate day and night and whereas Christ says I know you not it is said The Lord knows the way of such holy righteous servants of his through his Grace in Christ And it is an evidence of being in him Psal 1. 6. 4. Let us shew our watching by keeping our selves from our iniquity and from all the Temptations to it Watch and pray saith our Lord that ye enter not into Temptation Luke 22. 43. Be sober saith the Apostle Peter and watch unto Prayer Gird up the loins of your mind and hope perfectly for the glory that shall be brought to you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 13. with c. 4. 7. And be sober be vigilant or watchful for your Adversary the Devil goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour c. 5 2. All this shews the great Watchfulness our Souls should maintain against our own Iniquity that we may be upright before him and not be as foolish Virgins And it is the more admonishing that in like Discourses of our Lords with this Parable when he discovers such foolish Virgins he says Depart from me ye that work iniquity 5. Our Watchfulness must be exercis'd in adding Grace to Grace for otherwise as the Apostle saith we shall be blind and not see so afar off as to behold the King in his beauty and the Land that is very far off 2 Pet. 1. 9 c. with Isa 33. 17. Thus an abundant and rich Entrance shall be ministred unto us into the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ We shall be ready and not go to buy and find the Door shut 6. We Watch by continual Meditation upon being dissolved and being with Christ and upon the Glory of his Coming We need not be written to of the Times and Seasons for we our selves shall know that the Day of God so cometh as a Thief in the night and as sudden destruction cometh on them that say Peace Peace but they that watch thus and are sober are not in darkness and in the night but are of the Day and not asleep 1 Thes 5. 5. c. 7. We must Watch against the Sin of the very Age and Day wherein we live when we live in a prophane Age take heed of that when you live in a formal hypocritical time take heed of having a Name to live and being dead for Christ comes on such as a Thief at unawares They shall not know at what time he will come upon them Rev. 3. 3. If a Sensual Luxurious Worldly Age Take heed of being overcharged with those evils and the Cares of this Life 8. Let us possess our selves with the most clear and distinct Apprehensions of the Appearances of the Kingdom of Christ as the Kingdom of the Resurrection and of the Appearances of Saints in Bodies of Light and Glory Rev. 16. 15. Behold I come as a Thief Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his Garments that is that looketh to the presenting his Body now as a sacrifice a living and acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God in Christ Rom. 12. Thus we shall appear in Bodies of Glory and not of Contempt in the Redemption of our Bodies and Men cannot see our shame when Christ cometh and all his Saints with him Head 2. I come therefore to the Second Head to lay down the Arguments of Perswasion that we may be moved to this watch Argument 1. The Time of Watch is only the Time of the present Life Whatever we would do for the After State it is to be done in the Present State in the Time of the present Life There is no Counsel nor Device in the Grave whither we are going and therefore whatever Our Hands find to
such so Educated and Prepared yet to be a Preaching-Soul to our selves none can be scandalized or offended at that 4. In the Fourth Place Let us take heed and keep our selves from our Iniquity that there may be no Sin that we shall be found in at the coming of Christ that we give Indulgence to now no course of known sin or of the neglect of any known Duty Let us take care of this that we do not allow our selves in any way of sin that we search and try our ways continually that we may turn unto God Il'l give you two notable Scriptures to this very purpose though a great many more might be given I was also upright before him and kept my self from mine iniquity Psal 18. 23. That 's a very great Scripture though I have already spake of it that especially that I would direct you to now is in the 139th Psalm 23. 24. Search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way Everlasting You see here It is a very Difficult point For If a Virgin may be shut out for ever what Reason have we to lay our thoughts open before God and to say unto him Search me O God I know not how to Search my Self I am so Dark and Blind to my self in my own peculiar Iniquity That I know it not But do thou Search me and know my heart Try me and know my thoughts And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting Any wicked way in me That is The way of living in any Sin or giving up my self to any Lust Let us be mighty Cautious very careful in This to lay our selves before God for Indeed If any one would say to me Which way shall I help my self You say That a Virgin may be a Foolish Virgin You say That Virginity is the Best State in the profession of Christianity And yet There may be such a Worm at the Root of it as may wither it all What then shall I do Does not this Discourage in the way of Religion If I may be so Mistaken and Deceived in it Were not the Foolish Virgins as likely in their own Eyes as the Wise Therefore I say No other way but to lie at the Foot of Christ and of the Spirit of Christ and Earnestly to pray Search me O God and know my heart Try me and know my thoughts and my Secret Retirements and see if there be any any Secret wickedness in me and lead me in the way Everlasting If we did continually This and if our hearts were fully Set upon it certainly God would bring forth our Righteousness as the Light and our Judgment as the Noon-Day Surely God will Discover This if we are Sincere It is the best counsel that can be given and the best Example that can be laid before us And so That of our Saviour I look upon as the peculiar duty in order to our waiting for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ I say I look upon it to be the very peculiar Duty Our Lord saith concerning this Let your Loins be girded about and your Lights burning Luke 12. 35. And so the Apostle Peter expounds this Scripture more fully to us and he directs it to this very Point of Looking to the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 13. Wherefore gird up the Loins of your Mind be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ Besides all the Grace of the Gospel at the present there is the Crowning-Grace There is the Triumphing-Grace that is to be brought to us at the appearing of Christ Gird up the loins of your mind be sober and hope to the end for that salvation You know the loins they are taken for those parts of Human Nature wherein is the Seat of Sensuality and Corruption most of all the Bodily-Lust that men are affected with And as the loins are girded a Man is the more expedite and ready for Motion So when all that superfluity of the Flesh and impure sensual affection is girt up and we hope perfectly for the Grace that is to be brought to us at the Revelation of Jesus Christ Let us earnestly therefore pray Keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sins that they may not have dominion over me Then shall we lift up our face clear as the Morning and we shall lift up our head without spot as Job If Pride if Lust if any inclination to the love of this World to sensual Pleasures and Delight if any of this we find to be our sin any immoderate Lust or Sin whatever it is Let us gird up the loins of our minds wherein we find any extravagant and impetuous Motion to evil prevail upon us 5. In the Fifth Place Let this be our great care to meditate much upon Death Judgment and Eternity Let those common and general Notions prevail upon us For my part I have always and desire always to Declare That I do not bind up any one to any particular apprehensions of my own in these things although I do fully believe such an appearance of the Glory and Kingdom of Christ Yet I say to every one Let those general and agreed Notions and Principles be strong upon your hearts And the less you can intend and encline to believe such an Appearance and Kingdom of Christ be the more Intent upon those Four Last Things as they are generally called that is Death Judgment Heaven and Hell Let those General and acknowledged and impressed Points be always upon your Minds O! What kind of persons should we be if we did but grow up to the acknowledged Points of Christianity Death Judgment Heaven and Hell Let us always take these into consideration and there is no Christian but owns them even Papists themselves those of them that have been more Devout than others have written very excellently and very notably upon these things these Principles that run so mightily into all the sence of Christianity God forbid that any thing should be said to take off the plain Consideration and the strong Apprehension and the close Meditation and the mighty influence of those Four Things from us For who can enough speak of them or consider them Take them in the plainest sence that you can And Oh that God would give you to feel even every one of us to feel the full work of them upon our hearts that they may have every one their perfect work upon our hearts That as I may allude the Chariots of our Souls may be always moving upon these Four Wheels and that our Chariots may never stand still but lift us up continually above the Earth It is my earnest Prayer for every one of us speaking and hearing That our Souls may be as the Chariots of Aminadab carried upon these Four Wheels of Death and
Judgment Heaven and Hell And indeed though I look upon it as a great Scripture-Truth and which hath so great Evidence as cannot be contradicted yet I am far from pressing any one to take into Consideration I mean those Apprehensions concerning such a Kingdom of Christ So that they should take off any thing from the serious Meditation of Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell And I would desire only those persons to take them into Consideration that find they are more enlivened and more enlarged and more enflamed by the strong Consideration of the Great Things Scripture hath spoken and that are in a visible and apparent way to bring forth the Glory of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ And therefore I hope there is nothing that can be justly Taxed in endeavouring to seek further into the Doctrines of Christianity beyond those that are but the Beginning Principles of the Doctrine of Christ I would exhort every serious Christian to make these it his continual Meditation and that nothing may take off the edge of his Spirit in these things Say now Am I not to die And must I not come to Judgment Is it not said It is appointed to all men once to die and after this the Judgment Am I not immediately to come into a Judgment and determination of my Eternal Condition And am I not to stand before Christ in Judgment Don't we all own that And is there not a Heaven and an Eternity of Happiness And is there not on the other hand a black and dark Eternity even utter darkness and for ever O that God would enable us to carry this all in our Minds the Eternity of Happiness and the Eternity of Misery You know great Princes are Pictured with great Globes in their hands but Jesus Christ hath those Two great Globes the Keys of Death and Hell and Eternal Life to give Let these things be our plain and constant Meditation Let us cut off every thing that we think is singularity I am still of the same Apprehension that the Scripture hath declared a visible Kingdom and Glory that is near Yet I beseech you that you would get these into your constant Apprehension And O that they might fall upon every one Let nothing of Notion or Opinion take off from these Great Things Let us continually take our Walk and Meditation into those Regions beyond this World Let us say I am to go out of this World and this State and O how Great must the Change be That I must immediately enter into an Eternity of Happiness or an Eternity of Misery Nothing will make the Doctrine of Christ so powerful as to have a strong Meditation of these Things And then In the Seventh Place Let us take heed of the sins of the Time wherein we live though by all means we are to take heed of the open Prophanenesses that are in the Wortd but I beseech you That we may all look to this There are the peculiar Sins of those that are called Virgins There 's something peculiar to every Time And therefore as I have intimated to you in that Rev. 3. 1. That Church of Sardis I have for some time look'd upon it to be the Pourtraiture of these very Times and this very State we are upon It is a Picture of the Church of Christ in that State we call Protestant and in that State we call The Reformation And therefore observe how that is described and let us look very diligently that we don't fall into those very sins And unto the Angel of the Church in Sardis Write These things saith he that hath the Seven Spirits of God and the Seven Stars I know thy works That thou hast a Name that thou livest and art dead O Let us take heed of having a Name To be a Protestant is a Name to live To be of the Reformed Churches is a Name to live Take heed Is it not the General State of this very Age of this very Time We have a Name to live and yet are dead Among all the several Professions and Churches of Christianity in the Reformed way at this Day surely it is a Sin that lies upon every one They have a Name to live and yet are dead We find it one in another but every one may find too much that he hath a Name to live but is dead We may say to our selves Is this like one that is come out of Popery upon the account of Conscience and upon the account of Truth and the Word of God This is a Name to live because say we the things that Papists profess and that they do are not according to the Word of God Why now if it be a Name to live to come out from among them Take heed that we are not dead If we have not the Power of Godliness in the Profession of the Reformed and Protestant Religion It is but a Name to live be watchful and strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die O! how truly may we say That the Things in order to the Kingdom of Christ they are ready to die every where among all sorts of Professors How ready is the Publick Way of Worship to die for want of the Power of what they Profess And if you look upon the Congregated Professors with what reason do they complain They are grown very Proud very Worldly very Vain notwithstanding all their Profession So here 's a Name to live in order to the Kingdom of Christ but they are ready to die Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die Here 's that Watch that Christ speaks of We should take heed and watch that the things which remain and are ready to die might be quickned and have a new life For saith he I have not found thy Works perfect before God I have not found them filled out and filled up They are just like a Stalk of Wheat that looks as if it were something and yet like one of Pharaoh's lean Ears if we come to search and enquire into it and to Rub it as we speak in our hands we find it to be nothing so indeed we may sadly complain when we come to Rub Profession either in others or in our selves it is very thin and lean and lank And therefore our works are not filled up before God Now what saith Christ I will come upon thee as a Thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee Let us therefore be very diligent in this thing to look to have the Power of our Profession to have the Power of the Protestant Religion to have the Power of the Reformation For indeed It is a very sad thing that so many of us as have a Zeal against Popery a Zeal against the Corruption of that State That yet we should sink so much below some of the Devotionists among them For undoubtedly There are some among them that seem to be under a greater Profession than many Protestants
defire or have a greater value for than to see the Dawns of the Kingdom of Christ Oh! That God would give any of us leave to see this We should have great advantage of making our Calling and Election sure of working out our salvation with fear and trembling of being perswaded of the things that pertain to the Kingdom of God we should have great opportunities every way And therefore as Christ speaks when he propounded the Parable to them Matth. 13. 17. I say unto you That many Prophets and Righteous Men have desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them So if God shall continue any of our lives but a few years to see the Kingdom of Christ appearing in this First Glory O happy and blessed shall we be For from the very beginning and foundation of the World to this day Many Prophets and Righteous Men have desired to see those things which we shall see then and have not seen them and to hear those things that we shall hear and have not heard them In the mean time Let none of us be discouraged if God call us sooner out of the World For as the Apostle saith All those that are Christ's he will certainly bring with him And it will certainly be a happier and securer state to be sleeping in Jesus and dying in Jesus For though we do not see these things here our Spirits shall see them above and our Bodies shall be raised in Glory for us to come with Christ in And as to those who are not as they desire to be for my part I know not any thing can be spoken for better Tydings or any thing that should more earnestly engage our Faith and Prayer than to have that great opportunity to wind up our Faith and Love and Repentance to their own height even that of the Coming of the Kingdom of Christ into its Succession and to see those blessed things and to hear them that many excellent persons have desired to see and hear and have not And therefore let none be offended that the Kingdom of Christ is near at hand for we shall have greater and more blessed advantages and opportunities to make our Calling and Election sure when that time comes Let us therefore desire to hear those loud Voices from Heaven Proclaim That the Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ On which will soon follow that pouring out of the Spirit and the Preaching the Everlasting Gospel SERMON VIII On Matthew 25. v. 6 c. 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 c. I Have led you through several parts of this great and admirable Parable The last thing I Discoursed to you was concerning the Midnight-Cry and endeavoured to shew you That though there might be some use made of it as a Description of any Judgment that should come upon the Churches of Christ before his Coming Yet That the Principal Intention is That Cry That Voice of the Son of God That Shout that the Lord will descend in That Voice of the Archangel That Trump of God that shall raise all that are asleep in their Graves and shall bring them forth I Endeavoured to open to you That every one shall rise in the very same Circumstances wherein they lay down in Death and in the Grave And therefore That the Day of Judgment coming upon Prophane and Insolent Persons upon the Fools that say in their hearts There is no God will be like the Writing of the Fingers on the Wall before Belshazzar that we read of Dan. 5. And as it comes upon ignorant Persons in Christianity and upon the Worldlings those Fools that say We have much Goods laid up for many Years and therefore Soul Take thy ease Eat Drink and be Merry O! what an Earthquake will it be upon them to see the Kingdom of Christ Now They shall be raised both the Fools that say That there is no God and the Worldlings c. They shall be raised just in the same Terror in the same Consternation as if the Earthquake was now upon them or in the Time of Life now on Earth But I proposed to shew you also Wherein the state of the foolish and the wise Virgins differ wherein this great difference lies That one enter into the Wedding and the other are shut out And that is it which now by the assistance of God I would undertake and go forward to give you a clear Representation of this great Matter For as I told you Virgins bespeaks a being of the Pure and True Religion the true Religion of the Gospel the Doctrine of God in the Gospel For all whatsoever false Doctrine or false Worship does adulterate this it is called in Scripture not by the Name of Virginity but by the Name of Whoredom by the Name of Adultery and Fornication Whatever defiles the Religion of Jesus Christ is not stiled Virginity but by other Names And therefore it is certain That these Virgins must be of the truest and of the purest Religion of Jesus Christ In the second Place I told you That they must needs be of a tollerable sober Conversation They are not of the Prophane the Drunkards or the Swearers or the Sensualists of the World but they are those that walk in such unblameable life that they are worthy to be counted and to be stiled Virgins What a critical Case therefore What a very nice and curious Point is this that distinguishes between the wise and the foolish Virgins If therefore God shall be pleased in any measure to enable me to open this to you and that you may aright conceive and understand so great a Point I hope That by his Blessing our coming together may be for the better and not for the worse I shall therefore apply my self to it First By considering the scope of the Parable in this Matter And I find That it lies here The one had Oyl in their Lamps but they had not Oyl in their Vessels The other had Oyl in their Vessels as well as in their Lamps So that it comes to this One hath a Treasure a Store of Grace beyond the Profession the other hath not I shall Answer very plainly and down-right Discourse in this thing by leading you to some great Expressions of Scripture which do to me assure what our Lord intends In the Third Chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians v. 16 c. The Apostle in that Great and Excellent Prayer begs of the Father of Glory the Father of Glory An Expression most suitable and agreeable to the Kingdom of Christ appearing in its Glory to which this Parable refers That he would grant you according to the