Blind and the Lame with many other Expressions which imply Neglect and Sleightiness in his Service Vers 14. But Cursed be the Deceiver which hath in his Flock a Male and Voweth and Sacrificeth to the Lord a Corrupt Thing As much as to say who had Opportunities and Abilities to serve God better yet through Sloath and Negligence presumes to serve Him worse The Servant who hid his Talent in a Napâ—in when he should have traded for his Master with it is first punish't with the Loss of his Talent Take the Talent from him And then with sorer Vengeance Bind him Hand and Foot and cast him into utter Darkness Not only those who rob'd and spoyl'd them but those who neglected to Relieve Christ in His poor Members Shall go away into Everlasting Punishment And other Negligence in what God requires will meet with a Proportionable Doom Secondly Negligence in God's Work casts a great Damp upon others weakens their Hands discourageth their Hearts The World is exceeding prone to be taken with such Examples as gratify their Lusts and indulge their Ease Now when Men who are too ready of themselves to be Slack and Remiss in these Matters see you who are their Betters Sleight and Sloathful How will they argue from and improve so bad a Precedent and say to themselves 'T is safe to do so as the Apostle argues in another Case 1 Cor. 8.10 Shall not the Conscience of him that is weak be emboldned So may I in this Shall not others be imboldned to be as Careless as thy self And so thou wilt destroy thy Brother for whom Christ Dyed And sin against his Soul and sin against Christ and against thy own Life all at once And I appeal to your own Consciences What is it that makes Forwardness and Zeal in Religion and Diligence in God's Work be look't upon with so shy and suspicious an Eye in most places Yea with Disgrace Reproach and Scorn as if it were more ado than needs But the general Coldness and Deadness of Men call'd Christians and professing themselves the Servants of the true God And if any do tacitely reprove them by being more forward they 'll Revenge themselves with the Lowdest Reproaches and Infamous Reflections of Affectation of Singularity Hypocrisy Hair-brain'd Zeal and what not And so when their Spiritual Interest urges them and Conscience urges them to Diligence in their Great Work they dare not endeavour it for fear of Jeers Scorns and being laught at for their Singularity and as Men who would pretend to be wifer than their Neighbour and are either cog'd out of the Power of Godlyness by the flattering Example of the Lazy or Bug-bear'd out on 't by the Reproaches of Singularity But Woe be to him by whom such Offences come It were better a Mill-stone were hanged about his Neck and he were cast into the Sea than that he should offend one Little One who believes in Christ St. Matth. 18.6 If it be so dangerous to be Partaker of other Mens Sins What is it to be the Author of other Men's Sins And if no Murderer of Men's Bodies hath Eternal Life What shall become of those who thus Murder Souls Consider our Lord's Words St. Matth. 23.13 Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites Ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men for ye neither go in your selves and them that were entring in ye hinder Thirdly Thy Sloathfulness in God's Work greatly dishonours Him not meerly as it disobeys Him but by the Sinister Reflections it makes upon Him as if His Work deserved no better 'T is Natural to us when we see any Design pursued Remisly to conclude 'T is not worth the while to bestow more Pains about it and consequently it greatly provokes him For He that despiseth Him shall be lightly esteemed God regards the manner of our Duties as much nay more than the Duties themselves 'T is not the doing Good pleaseth Him so much as the doing of it Well Not only Eat but so Eat Let a Man Examine himself and so let him Eat Not only Read Pray Hear but Read Considerately Hear Attentively Pray Earnestly So Read so Pray so Hear or else thou may'st do all these more to thy Hurt than Benefit As the Apostle speaks of some Mens Eating and Drinking their own Damnation Not only serve God but Keep thy Heart diligently when thou art about it And be not Sloathful in this Business but Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 The Luke-warm is the worst Temper God will spew such out of His Mouth Rev. 3.16 The Fourth Head from whence we may draw Moitves to excite our Diligence in this Work is by making Comparisons And this will yield us several very Cogent Ones First Compare God and the World and thy Self with thy Self in reference to These thy Worldly Self with thy Religious Self And Alas What vast odds appears even at the first View What are all the Things yea and all the Men of the World put together in Comparison of Him To whom will ye liken God or What Likeness will ye compare to Him Behold the Nations are as the Drop of a Bucket and are counted as the small Dust of the Ballance he taketh up the Isles as a very little Thing All Nations before Him are as nothing and they are counted to Him less than nothing and Vanity Isa 40.15 17 18. What miserable Comforters what deceitful Helpers when their Breath goeth out and their Thoughts perish Yea before that while they Live and are in their Best Estate they are altogether Vanity How Weak how False how soon Weary are all the Men in the World in Comparison of the Almighty All-wise All-sufficient most Faithful and Unchangeable God How Empty how Unsatisfying how Perishing how Deceitful what Lying and Vexing Vanities are all the Honours Profits Pleasures thou can'st pursue or hope to catch in Comparison of Him who is the only full pleasing satisfying Object of the Heart of Man Now argue hence If Men if thy Self yet seek for these with so great Warmth and Heat with so much Life and Vigour and Rise up Early and Sit up Late and Wear out themselves and Labour as in the Fire to grasp these Shadows What Zeal what Diligence should we use in the Work of God that we may please Him and enjoy Him for Ever Solomon observes That Many seek the Rulers Favour Prov. 29.26 How will Men fawn and flatter and crouch and debase themselves and comply with the Humours nay the Lusts of them who can Advance them Though the Psalmist who was a Mighty Prince himself bids us not to Put Confidence in Princes nor in the Sons of Men in whom is no Help Psal 146.3 And giving the Reason for it ver 4. directs us ver 5. shewing us in the Enjoyment of whom true Happiness Consists Happy is the Man who hath the God of Jacob for his Help whose Hope is the Lord his God who made Heaven and Earth and keepeth Truth for
easie to prevail with men to practise as 't is obvious to be discovered would alone save us or put a blessing upon what ever else might be innocently propounded to bring us unto safety and no good man need be afraid or ashamed to propound it and he must be a very bad man who will not be ashamed to reproach it or reject it And 't is what Christ gives to the Church of Laodicea Rev. iii. 19. Be zealous and repent 'T is that which St. John Baptist gave when wrath was coming apace and the Axe was laid to the Root of the Tree St. Matth. iii. 8. Bring forth fruits meet for repentance 'T is that which our present Parable suggests If it bear fruit Well this will cause an Arrest of Judgment this will procure the Repeal of the pronounced Sentence In what words shall I propound this Counsel with what Arguments may I so press it as to render it effectual with what Motives shall I inforce it that it may be prevalent I have many things to say when I come to apply the Parable personally to urge you to repent to save your souls And surely 't is a great word to save our Souls but may I not say 't is a greater word to save a Church to save our Religion in which and by which our Souls must be saved and thousands and millions of Souls may be saved if that be saved and may humanely speaking be lost for ever if true Religion be lost and if it be lost by our default where shall the loss of all those souls be charged How warmly how Pathetically doth the great Apostle warn his dear Timothy in this affair in a case of like concernment And how doth he reiterate the charge to make all sure O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust 1 Tim. vi 20. And 2 Tim. i. 13 14. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love And That good thing which was committed to thee keep by the holy Ghost And he must transmit to others what was committed unto him 2 Tim. ii 2. The things which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also We owe to Posterity what we received from our Progenitours He leaves his name as a blot nay as a curse to his descendents who intercepts and robs them of the Care and Providence and noble acquisitions of their common Ancestours And he deserves in the Prophets Phrase to be esteemed the Tayl and not the Head whose Lusts cut off what the Wisdom and Industry of great Grand-Fathers intayled of late and far removed Nephews for support and Honour And how shall we answer it to God our Consciences and the succeeding Ages If we sin away that Holy Truth that excellent Religion which God vouchsafed to Plant in this Nation with his own Right Hand and those from whom we had our lives transmitted to us verdant and flourishing being watered by their Pious Tears and fatned with their dearest Blood A Religion not patcht up of cunningly devised Fables nor devised by cunning men to gratifie their Lusts and serve their base and worldly Interests But the Everlasting Gospel brought by the Eternal Son from the bosom of him who is Truth it self and the Fountain of it and adapted to the promoting of his Glory and the true Interest of Souls the repairing and restoring them to their highest perfection Conformity to the Divine Image participation of the Divine Nature and full and endless injoyment of God A Religion founded upon the Prophets and Apostles having Jesus Christ for the chief Corner-Stone A Religion that dare bear the test of the true Lydian-Stone The Law and Testimony because it is not conscious to it self of any counterfeit metal stampt and imposed on unwary minds by its Authority to pass for good Coyn and currant mony A Religion which takes not away the Key of knowledg nor deprives its Children of the Scriptures the only Records of Divine Truth and Rule that God hath given mankind of Faith and Manners That cryes not up Ignorance for the Mother of Devotion seeing Solomon hath told us that without knowledg the heart cannot be good And a greater than Solomon That life eternal is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent And one of his Apostles hath informed us that The new man is renewed in knowledg and another hath described the Beasts Kingdom by its being full of Darkness And our Lord in the beginning of his Ministry laid down this early Aphorism to direct his Followers to distinguish betwixt Truth and Falsehood the way of Salvation and condemnation John iii. 19 20 21. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil For every one that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God A Religion that blots out none of Gods Commandments for fear the very Children should drink in with their Catechism an Antidote against that gross Idolatry which diffuses it self through more than half the Worship they are called to practise all their lives A Religion which directs your Prayers to him whose title is A God hearing Prayer and your Worship to him to whom alone it appertains and whom only we must serve if either Moses or Christ are to be believed in such matters And that teaches you to Pray to him in his name whom Saint Paul calls the One Mediatour betwixt God and Man being both in his own person A Religion that allows you to serve this God with reasonable service as becomes reasonable Creatures Praying with your Spirits and your Vnderstandings not like Pyes or Parrots not with noise and sounds of a Language you understand not A Religion that delivers Christs Institutions as his Apostles received them from him not disguising a Sacrament appointed for the living into an expiatory Sacrifice for the dead nor bidding you Worship what Christ bid you eat Nor giving the lye to all your Sences your Reason and your Faith together For Gods word which is the object of our Faith calls it Bread most frequently after Consecration nor robbing you of one half the Cup with a non obstante that Christ Instituted and the Primitive Church Administred in both Kinds And so avowing their presumption with an impudence as villanous and hateful as their theft A Religion which hath no Mint-house to Coin new Articles of Faith or make that needful to be believed in order to Salvation this year which the year before and ever before that was never thought on A Religion which dares neither add nor detract from our Lords Will. Nor clap seven Seals to that Testament to which he annexed but two Labels A Religion which will
neither allow you to kill your King nor eat your God nor purchase Heaven for your mony nor flatter you with hopes that you may go to Paradise in the broad way and have that done for you by others when you are dead which should have been done by your self while you were alive In a word a Religion not made up of Tricks and Artifices of Pomp and Pageantry of a Fardle of unaccountable Rites and Ceremonies and unintelligible mystesteries and contradictions to comply with all mens humours tempers constitutions Severities for the Sowr and Melancholy Carnivals and Stews for the Airy brisk and Sanguine Whips and Austere Discipline as sharp as the Lancets of Baals Priests for the sullenly Superstituous And easie Indulgences and Commutations into gentle Penances for the soft and delicate A Religion tho profest and owned by many sinful men yet neither invented nor headed by the man of sin But a Religion holy and undefiled like its Author plain and simple like the Gospel which contains and teaches it Spiritual and Heavenly like the place it leads them to who love and practise it sincerely Such is the Religion we yet injoy through Gods great goodness but he threatens to bereave us of for our sins against it Let me therefore beseech you and adjure you by all that 's dear to you be zealous and repent speedily sincerely that you force not a jealous God to cut down this Tree to remove his Kingdom and take away his Candlestick because you would not bring forth the Fruits of the one nor walk in the Light of the other and deprive your selves and your Posterity of the greatest blessing God ever did or can bestow on this or any other Nation on this side Heaven But I shall rather chuse to inlarge my self in that Application of this Parable which is more sutable to so private an Auditory tho I cannot deny neither can any man deny the former in our circumstances to be very seasonable and therefore very necessary I shall therefore in what remains consider the Fig tree as a Figure and Type of particular persons Under which notion every individual man and woman is sentenced to be cut down and cast out of the Vineyard of the Church by some Temporal or Spiritual Judgment who hath been planted and admitted into it by Baptism and stands and grows in it injoying all the advantages and priviledges which belong to a Member of it under the Gospel and yet continues Fruitless or bears no good Fruit. Gets no saving Knowledg no true Faith no sound Repentance nor sincere Amendment of Life No real sence or favour of the things of God in a prevalency of Religion in Godliness and Holiness against and above Formality Prophaneness or the love of this present world No Justice Righteousness Truth and Honesty against Defrauding Cousenage Oppression Lying and Slandering of his Neighbours No Temperance Sobriety subduing of his sensual Lusts and Appetites against Uncleanness Drunkenness Debauchery and other defiling pleasures and sensualities in a word who are not foundly Converted and turned from placing their happiness and hopes in sin and creatures to fix them on God and Christ as their only blessedness and satisfying portion Or in St. Paul's express Language who will not learn that great Lesson which the Grace of God that is the Gospel was revealed from Heaven as the clearest light to teach the Sons of men that is To deny all ungodliness and worldly Lusts and to live Righteously Soberly and Godly in this present world in hope of a blessed immortality Nor heartily and in good earnest endeavour to become such as they are by their Baptismal Vow and Covenant obliged to be To every such man to every such woman I denounce this day in the name of the great the dreadful God of Heaven and Earth if thou turn not and that speedily and throughly That God the Lord of Hosts the supream the Omnipotent the Irresistible judg of all the Earth Hath prepared for thee the instruments of death He hath whet his Sword he hath bent and made ready his Bow his Arrows are upon the string suddenly will he shoot at thee and not spare or miss his mark The Ax is laid to thy very Root to cut thee down for fire unquenchable God already despiseth reproacheth and upbraideth thee for cumbring of his Ground hath actually pronounced the Sentence against thee to cut thee down the word is gone out of his mouth only in admirable Patience he hath reprieved thee one year more a little longer to try whether thou wilt yet at last sue out a Pardon return repent amend that thou mayst live Yet if thou do it not quickly he will compensate the former disappointments of his expectation whilst year after year he came looking for Fruit and found none together with the aggravated abuse of his long-sufferance which vouchsafes another year with a severer vengeance with a greater Damnation As for our parts who are Gods Ministers it is no pleasure nor delight to us to be Messengers of so heavy tydings to come on so harsh and terrifying an Errand We had rather be sent on Embassies of Peace and speak what might be more welcome and pleasing to you provided it might also be profitable for you But we must not chuse our own Message but the Word God puts into our mouths that must we speak What we have received from the Lord that must we deliver to you according to our Commission and our Instructions written in his Word must we proceed in the discharge and execution of our Office We must not sow Pillows under your Armpits nor dawb with untempered mortar at the Price at the Peril of our own Souls Nor promise Life where God hath threatned Death Nor speak Peace where God saith there is no Peace And there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Isa lvii 21. This were but to betray you and ruin our selves To lead you blindfold into the Ditch and plunge our selves in together with you into the Lake of fire and brimstone and to have the guilt of the blood of your souls added and heapt up upon that of our own to sink us deeper in the bottomless Gulph What we may do and what we can do that by the Grace of God we will do We will Pray to God to let you alone this year also Spare thy people good Lord spare this and that other Fruitless-Tree one year more try them O Lord a little longer it may be they will consider it may be they will bethink themselves it may be they will yet bear Fruit. And then it shall be no grief of Heart to thee O blessed Lord that thou didst not cut them off suddenly in thy sore displeasure Many have made some amends for an unfruitful youth by bringing forth more Fruit in their Age. Great Sinners have become great Saints What had thy Church lost what had thy Glory lost if thou hadst struck Saul dead when thou didst