more and more to soften their Hearts and make them pliable to the Impressions of the Word of Life that it may sink deep into their Souls and be fix'd there beyond the Danger of yeilding to every Temptation and withering when Adversity shall come They must not boggle at any thing that appears to be their Duty but be diligent and industrious in ridding their Minds of their former Evil Habits and Inclinations and inure themselves to the Obedience of Christ not pretending Hardship or Impossibility when He commands not endeavouring to lessen the Obligation of any of his Precepts or shifting it from themselves nor expecting Heaven upon easier Terms But knowing their Lord's Will endeavour to do it in Sincerity upon such Obedience only through the Merits of Christ hoping for the Promises And this Course like good Tillage and Manuring of our Ground will soon mollify the Heart and make it not only superficially but intirely Plyable to the Word of God receptive of its Impressions to the very Bottom so that it shall dwell in us richly and bring forth Fruit not only in Times of Security and Peace but even then when Tribulation shall arise because of the Word and take still deeper Root and bring forth greater Abundance notwithstanding all the Storms and Scorchings of Persecution or even a fiery Tryal Thirdly in order to the Fruitfulness of the Word we must be very careful that it be not like Seed that falleth among Thorns lest the Thorns spring up and choak it so that it yield no Fruit. That is that after the hearing of the Word we go not forth and suffer the Cares of this World and the Deceitfulness of Riches and the Lusts and Pleasures of this Life to enter in and choak the Word and it become utterly unfruitful or at least bring no Fruit to Perfection 'T is by a lamentable Experience too true that the Love of this World very much hinders our Provision for the next and 't is as true that this is the greatest Folly and Madness in Nature because the World to come is upon all Accounts so infinitely to be preferr'd before the present that there cannot be the least Competition between them For how can a World of Cares and Vexations of Misery and Affliction of all Sorts of Hazards and Uncertainties of Sickness Pain and Death as this is compare with a World of eternal unmix'd and uninterrupted Happiness as is the other And therefore one would think Men should be so wise and so much their own Friends as to bestow their greatest Endeavours in Pursuit of their main Interest and not on the contrary such egregious Fools as for the Gain of an empty Bubble to forfeit an happy Eternity So far as is consistent with the Care of the Soul 't is very allowable to mind the Affairs of this Life Nay 't is a Duty of our Holy Religion for every man to be industrious in his Calling and to enjoy with Thanksgiving the Portion that God hath given him here below But to invert God's Order and place that First in our Esteem which should be Last when he says seek ye First the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and then all needful things of this World shall be added unto you to run quite counter and First provide for Abundance here and then and that but very coldly God knows think a little of the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness this is such a preposterous Course as can never end in any thing but Shame and Confusion If it be true that the Gain of even the whole World would be a very unprofitable Exchange when compared with the Loss of the Soul and if it be true that the Loss of the Soul will follow upon the Unfruitfulness of the Word of God for Faith alone will not save but must bring forth the Fruits of the Spirit And finally if it be true that a too great Love and eager Prosecution of the things of this World will choak the Word of God and make it unfruitful as our Lord in this Part of the Parable affirms it will If all this be true I see not how it can be avoided but that such as have a Desire that the Word of God should be fruitful in their Souls in order to the eternal Salvation of them must love the World less and their Souls more must be careful in the First place to grow in Grace and be rich towards God and clear their Minds of these worldly Thorns and Briars lest the Divine Life be stifled and that Seed choak'd which alone can fructify to a happy Immortality We must use this World yet so as not to abuse it but certainly he abuses it and all the Blessings that God affords him in it who so immoderately Doats upon it as to prefer it before the Service of his great Benefactor and spends most of his Thoughts and Endeavours about the encreasing Wealth and the Enjoyment of these sublunary Pleasures and can spare but very little if any of his Time and Pains to prepare himself for the Enjoyment of God in Glory And yet as plain as this is Men are generally so little affected with it as not only to neglect Religion as much as ever and love the World still more and more but even to plead the Cares of the World as an Excuse for their Coolness in Religion and the Unfruitfulness of the Word of God in their Souls We would be oftner at the Sacrament and more constant in at the Prayers of the Church and in reading and meditating upon the Holy Scriptures but that the Cares of the World and the Hurry of Business takes up most of our Time and Thoughts But for God's Sake let such consider is that an Excuse which is it self as great a Fault as any Will God accept such an Excuse at the Day of Judgment Has he not plainly forewarn'd us of the Danger of too much worldly Mindedness Has not St. John said plainly 1 Joh. 2.15 love not the World nor the things of the World for whoso loveth the World the Love of the Father is not in him And our Lord as plainly ye cannot serve God and Mammon How strange a Plea then is it for the Neglect of Religion to say we are deeply engag'd in the Persuit of this World 's Good If we believe we have Souls to be saved methinks we should take care of them in the First place and as for this World a moderate Industry such as does by no means intrench upon Religion is all that can be justifyed And what our Lord said to the Scribes and Pharisees about their taking care of lesser Matters and neglecting the weighty things of the Law should be our Rule in providing for our Families and providing for our Souls These things ought ye to have done and not to have left the other undone He that provides not for his own House according to the Measures of Necessity and Moderation is worse than an Infidel
say to his angelical Reapers gather ye first together the Tares and bind them in Bundles to burn them but gather the Wheat into my Barn And accordingly they shall gather out of his Kingdom all that have been a Scandal to it and under the Disguise of Christianity have done Iniquity and shall cast them into a Furnace of Fire where shall be wailing and gnashing of Teeth And then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father That is when the Close of the World shall come and the whole intelligent Creation be met together at the Summons of the Trump of God Men to receive their several Sentences whether of Absolution or Condemnation according to their several Deserts and Angels to execute these Sentences Then shall the sincerely good Christians indeed and in Truth be plac'd by the blessed Angels of God on the right Hand of the glorious and just Judg and after a Display of their excellent Piety and Charity to all the World hear this joyful Sound Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepar'd for you from the Foundation of the World and then be immediately caught up into the Clouds to meet their dear Lord in the Air and from thenceforth be for ever with him and shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father having Crowns of eternal Glory plac'd upon their Heads and loud and rapturous Halleluja's in their Mouths Whilst those miserable Wretches that knew no more of Christianity than the Name in whom Religion was only Shew and Formality having no real Influence upon thir Lives and bringing forth no Fruits of Piety whilst these shall find to their Confusion that God is not to be mock'd and be plac'd on the left Hand as Vessels of Wrath and be doom'd to depart for ever from the Fountain of Happiness into eternal Burnings prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels Then will the good find by a happy Experience that there is indeed a Reward for the Righteous and that however they were laugh'd at and discourag'd here their Labour is not in vain in the Lord. And then will the Mock Hypocritical Christians be sadly assur'd notwithstanding all their Plea of having eaten and drank in the Presence of the Judge and at his Table and of his having taught in their Streets that without real and substantial Holiness no Man shall see the Lord. And instead of being receiv'd into their Master's Joy for cringing and fawning upon him and giving him magnificent Titles Lord Lord Jesus Saviour but heeding little his Commandments they shall be rejected with I know you not depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity And then will God be justifyed in the Face of the whole World and found to be not an unconcern'd Spectator of the Affairs of Man-kind but a wise all-knowing and just Governour of the Universe And though Clouds and Darkness seem here to be round about him yet Righteousness and Judgment are the Establishment of his Throne Then will there be eternal Joy and Exultation of the blissful beatify'd Souls of the righteous and weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth in the wretched Companies of the Damn'd for ever Mal. 4.1 Behold the Day cometh saith the Prophet Malachi that shall burn like an Oven and all the proud and all they that do wickedly shall be as Stubble and the Day that cometh saith the Lord of Hosts shall burn them up that it shall leave them neither Root nor Branch Rev. 9.6 And in that Day shall Men seek Death and shall not find it and shall desire to die and Death shall flee from them And now for a Conclusion of the whole Matter Since from this Parable of our Lord's it appears that though an empty Shew of Religion may pass well enough in this World and meet with no open Discrimination or Punishment from God here yet there shall most certainly be an after Reckoning when all the Thoughts and Intentions of Men's Hearts shall be reveal'd and their vile Hypocrisy and secret Impiety laid open before Men and Angels and an irreversible Doom of greatest Severity pay'd upon them according to their Deservings Since this is true it nearly concerns us all to be Christians in Reality as well as in Name and Appearance to obey the Commands of Christ as well as call him Lord and to approve our selves true Disciples of this holy Institution by leading our Lives in all holy Conversation and Godliness diligently endeavouring to be found of this great Judg in Peace without Spot and blameless Remembring that God shall bring every Work into Judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or evil and that the wicked shall go into everlasting Punishment but the righteous into Life eternal The PRAYER I. O Holy Saviour Jesus from whom are deriv'd all our Possibilities of Salvation the Means of Grace and the Hopes of Glory but who expectest our Concurrence with thy gracious Endeavours for our Hapiness and for the Tryal of our Sincerity permittest thine and our great Enemy to scatter his hellish Injections where thou sowest thy heavenly Doctrin I earnestly intreat thee so to assist me with thy Life-giving Spirit that my Faith and Obedience which thou hast made the Condition of my Happiness may be so vigorous and active as to manifest that I am thine not only in Word and in Shew but in Deed and in Truth Grant that I may ever esteem those inward Motions which I feel to a progressive Holiness to be what indeed they are thy gracious Endeavours to promote my eternal Welfare and may I always thankfully and chearfully embrace and follow them And whatever Thoughts and Inclinations tend to discourage sincere Religion and perswade to rest in the Formality of it for thy Mercies Sake help me to reject them with the greatest Abhorrence and Indignation as the Endeavours of Satan to involve me in his own Ruin And since 't is while we sleep that our great Adversary sowes these his Tares Give me Grace O blessed Jesus to awake to Righteousness and rouze from my thoughtless Inadvertency and shake off my Dreams of Vanity lest this spiritual Slumber at length prove fatal and betray me into eternal Death II. Thou hast assur'd us O Lord to whom the Father hath committed all Judgment that this Life is the only Time of our Probation O therefore grant that now in this our Day all we that name the Name of Christ may depart from Iniquity and embrace the things that belong to our Peace before they be hid from our Eyes That by serious Consideration we may make Religion our Choice and adhere to it firmly with all our Powers and Faculties and be in Reality thy peculiar People zealous of good Works remembring thy blessed Words why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things that I command And that though here the wicked go unpunish'd it will not be always so and at last Hypocrisy shall meet with its Deserts And
Malice and Revenge Wherefore to conclude this Parable If we are touch'd with a due Sense of the wondrous Compassion of God to us miserable Sinners in forgiving us the vast Debt we had contracted to the divine Justice by Reason of our Sins and which 't was impossible for us ever to have discharg'd our selves whereby we are deliver'd from the intolerable and endless Punishment of them and moreover made Sons of God and Heirs of celestial Glory If we are duly touch'd with a Sense of this infinite Goodness of God to us which to effect was the Endeavour of the first Part of this Discourse let us express our deep Resentment of his gracious Forgiveness of us by imitating so excellent an Example and forgiving one another Let us consider the great Happiness that both here and hereafter will attend the Performance of this Duty and reflect upon the endless Misery that will closely follow the contrary We must forgive if we would be forgiven we must shew Mercy and Compassion to our Brethren that offend us if we hope to find any at the Hands of God And let us remember that how sweet soever we may fancy Revenge to be now we shall find the Consequence of it if not speedily repented of to be eternal Damnation From which sad Condition and that hellish Temper that will bring us to it let us pray earnestly that the good Lord would deliver us through Jesus Christ our merciful Saviour The PRAYER I. O Holy and most merciful King of Heaven who hast forgiven a World of miserable Wretches an infinite Debt and deliver'd those who had nothing to pay from the extremest and eternal Misery and hast commanded that in Return we do to others as thou hast done to us I who am a happy Sharer in thy wondrous Compassion do praise thee from the Bottom of my Soul and earnestly entreat the Assistance of thy Grace that I may never be wanting in a sincere and chearful Imitation of thy blessed Example but delight to copy after so lovely an Original and freely and intirely forgive nay love and do good to my most inveterate Enemies And since thou lov'dst us first and didst prevent us with the Riches of thy Goodness O that I could in this resemble thee too and even court my Injurers to Peace and Reconciliation and with a Christian Bravery of Spirit offer them that forgiveness which they will not ask This is indeed a hard Saying to my deprav'd Nature and Revenge seems sweeter far to Flesh and Blood and though my Reason I confess is satisfyed of the great Excellency of the Performance yet my Passions I must with Shame own likewise run violently the contrary Way and bear me down with their rapid Course Thy Aid I therefore beg Almighty God and that thy Spirit may enable me to stem this dangerous Current and strenuously to resist and master all Motions to revenge remembring that this is the Condition of my open Forgiveness at thy Hands and that Judgment without Mercy shall be my Portion if I shew no Mercy II. Convince me daily more and more of my base Ingratitude to thee and inhumane Barbarity to my Brethren in bearing Malice and Rancour for trifling Injuries such as are the greatest we can offer to each other in Compare with what thy Mercy hath forgiven us And do thou O meekest Jesus sweeten our Tempers and turn all Bitterness of Spirit into Love and mutual Endeavours to promote each others Happiness and may we all conspire in offering up our joint Praises to our merciful God who has remitted to every one of us infinitely more than Ten Thousand Talents O that this thy Mercy may be imprinted in lively and everlasting Characters upon my Soul so as powerfully to incline me to transcribe it in my Intercourse with Men Then shall I experience the blessed Influence this thy Commandment will have upon my Happiness even here and in the most acceptable Manner express my Thankfulness for thy Pity shew'd to me and at last by bearing this thy Badge upon my Soul be own'd by thee as thy true Disciple and receiv'd into the Joy of thee our dearest Lord. Which grant O most compassionate Jesus for thine own Mercies Sake Amen Amen PARABLE V. Of a King that made a Marriage for his Son Matth. xxii 2 3. Luk. xiv 18 19 20. Matth. xxii 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14. The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a certain King Mat. 22.2 that made a Marriage for his Son And sent forth his Servants to call them that were bidden to the Wedding And they would not come And they all with one consent began to make Excuse Luk. 14.18 The first said unto him I have bought a Piece of Ground and I must needs go and see it I pray thee have me excused And another said I have bought five Yoke of Oxen and I go to prove them I pray thee have me excused And another said I have married a Wife and therefore I cannot come Again he sent forth other Servants Mat. 22.4 saying Tell them which are bidden Behold I have prepared my Dinner my Oxen and my Fatlings are killed and all things are ready come unto the Marriage But they made light of it and went their Ways one to his Farm another to his Merchandise And the Remnant took his Servants and entreated them spitefully and slew them But when the King heard thereof he was wroth And he sent forth his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City Then saith he to his Servants the Wedding is ready but those that were bidden were not worthy Go ye therefore into the High-ways and as many as ye shall find bid to the Marriage So those Servants went out into the High-ways and gathered together all as many as they found both bad and good and the Wedding was furnish'd with Guests And when the King came in to see the Guests he saw there a Man that had not on a wedding Garment And he saith unto him Friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding Garment And he was speechless Then said the King to the Servants Bind him Hand and Foot and take him away and cast him into outer Darkness There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth For many are called but few are chosen THIS Parable I suppose was in its first Intention design'd to reprove the hardned Infidelity of the Jews their obstinately rejecting the Mercy of God to them in Christ Jesus and their vile Ingratitude to him for his peculiar Care of them in so ordering it that the Gospel should be first preach'd to them to which Purpose also was spoken the Parable of the wicked Husbandmen in Mat. 21.33 which for its great Affinity to the first Part of this Parable and intire Relation to the Jews I thought fit to pass by and it was likewise intended to shew God's great Anger against them for that their Stubbornness and malicious Treatment of
Death though they dread it above all things and know that it will certainly come and are uncertain how soon they make as little Provision as if they were immortal as the Angels in Heaven what a Bundle of foolish Inconsistencies is here They look upon Death as the greatest of Evils and yet regard it the least of all things they know it highly concerns 'em to make Preparation for it by a good Life and they know the sad Consequence if it surprize 'em unawares and they are not sure they shall not be surpriz'd the next Hour or Minute and yet for all this they put the evil Day far from them and by all Arts endeavour to remove such melancholy Thoughts as if they were resolv'd not to avoid but suffer what they fear and secure to themselves the Miserie 's consequent upon an untimely and unprepar'd Death And what is this but just the same Piece of Folly and Madness as for a Man because he greatly dreads the Plague therefore to run into an infected House because he is afraid of Poverty therefore to grow prodigal and squander away what he hath And what can be more strangely foolish and contradictious than this Indeed a Sinners whole Life is the greatest Folly and Contradiction but 't is most gross and palpable with Relation to dying for because a Man loves his Body therefore so to indulge it in this World as to make it become eternally miserable in the next and live in such a Course of sinful Pleasures as will be repaid with a double Death is unaccountably foolish and against all the Dictates even of natural Reason I need not say more I think to expose the Folly of not making Preparation for so great a Change as Death will effect in every Man's Condition or in the Phrase of this Parable of not keeping Oyl in our Lamps nor watching against the divine Bridegroom's coming but slumbering in a careless Inadvertency to those great things of Religion Death and Judgment till they overtake us as a Thief in the Night And from what has been said of the Folly of not preparing for that Time of Terrors and greatest Concern to every Man we may in a few Words collect the great Wisdom of being always in a Readiness to obey the Summons of our great Lord with Chearfulness For in short to be ready and prepar'd to die when God shall please to call us has all the Wisdom in it of making a constant due Provision against the greatest and most concerning Change that can befall us and which we must certainly undergo and how soon we know not and that but once neither and which will be follow'd by the final Judgment without any new Opportunity being afforded wherein to amend the Errors of our then irrecoverably past Life 'T is to make such a Preparation for this great Change as may render it advantageous to us whenever it shall come than which no greater Piece of Wisdom can be imagin'd For that certainly is the greatest Wisdom that makes a Man wise to Salvation Wherefore to conclude this Parable Since it is appointed to Men once to dye and after that the Judgment or in the Stile of this Parable since Jesus the divine Bridegroom will one time come to summon every particular Member of the Christian Church his mystical Spouse to leave this World and attend him in the World of Spirits there to partake with him if ready and adorn'd with the Wedding Garment and their Lamps burning with the Oyl of Righteousness of the everlasting Felicities of this heavenly Kingdom or else if not prepar'd to appear before him then to be for ever excluded his Presence and thrust into the dire Abodes of the Devil and his Angels Since this is so let us all make it our sincere Endeavour by a serious and hearty Observation of those holy Rules of living which our Lord has mark'd out to us as the Way to Immortality and a Preparation for his Appearance to be always ready to go out and meet him that we may enter with him into the Marriage Chamber before the Door be shut and not hear that dismal Sound I know ye not depart from me ye Workers of Iniqutity And because this great Coming of the Bridegroom will be but once for 't is appointed to Men but once to dye and after that but one final Judgment let us by no means trifle away this only Opportunity of working out our Salvation in Folly and Impertinency much less in Wickedness and Vice but often reflect upon the Agonies we shall feel when we shall find this one only Life which we have so wretchedly mispent drawing to a Conclusion and no Hopes of any further Opportunity to recover our selves in but just as we then are in that deplorable unprepar'd Condition be hurried away to give Account of our Works Lord What Confusion must such wretches feel what horrid Tortures must needs pierce their Souls to see Hell gaping to receive 'em and no Possibility of Escape or so much as a Reprieve but plunge they must into those Lakes of Fire and Brimstone which yet they might have avoided if they would If this be a Case infinitely deplorable and if this be not certainly nothing is then it nearly concerns us all while we have Time that is while this one only Life does last to make Provision for a happy Departure out of it by a more holy and circumspect Conversation in it And because the Time when this one only Life shall end is wholly in the Dark to us and we know not the Day nor the Hour when our Lord will come let this awaken us into serious Thoughts and Resolutions of making the best Use of the remaining Portion of our Lives and break off immediately our sinful Course of living lest the Opportunity for so doing be gone before we think of it and we be surpriz'd into endless Misery e're we are aware Let us always keep our Lamps burning our Souls employ'd in holy Meditations and our selves in a Readiness by a good Life and then though it is appointed for us all to die and that but once and after that the Judgment and we know not the Day nor the Hour when the Summons shall be given We may with Comfort wait for our dear Lord's appearing and say Come Lord Jesus come quickly The PRAYER I. O Glorious Jesus The Saviour and the Judg of Mankind before whose just Tribunal we must all certainly appear but when we know not and there give Account of our Works and be rewarded according to them assist me I beseech thee with thy Grace that I may make it my chief Care with Cheerfulness and Comfort to obey thy Summons to this great Audit whenever thou shalt call And to that End grant I may be frequent in the Contemplation of my Mortality how short and frail my Life is here how inevitably and closely Judgment follows Death and how certainly the one will find me as the other leaves
and Recollection of Thought which our Publick Prayers command and without which we shall offer but the Sacrifice of Fools The more Men are affected with the Prayers of a Family at home the more sacred and awful will the publick Service in the House of God appear to them if attentive and devout there much more so here and the more they feel the Comfort of joint Devotions in their own Houses the more desirous will they be of and the more benefited and refreshed by the Harmony of a full Choir of Saints in the Holy Temple I 'm afraid this pious Custom is now-a-days too much neglected some grudging to take so much Time from their other Employments as this Duty requires and others on Evenings especially making themselves unfit for the Performance of it by tarrying long at the Wine and enflaming themselves with Strong Drink and some truly thinking it too precise and puritanical a Thing to be practis'd now-a-days But these last should have a Care how they throw ill Names upon what our Religion has made our Duty and what has all along been observ'd by the best Men in the World and they would do well to consider those Words of our Lord Mark 8.38 Whosoever shall be asham'd of me and of my Words in this adulterous and sinful Generation of him also shall the Son of Man be asham'd when he cometh in the Glory of his Father and of the Holy Angels Is it a fitting Reason that a thing so excellent as this should be despis'd and disus'd because those that in other Matters dissent from us are so careful to observe it Let their Piety in this Instance rather shame us into Amendment that we may be behind them in no Good Work and leave them no Occasion of Caviling and making Objections against our Church by reason of the careless indifferent Religion of some that are of our Communion In particular this Neglect of Family-Devotions is often thrown in our Teeth and the best way to take off the Aspersion is heartily to set about the Practice of the Duty 'T is our great Happiness were we duly sensible of it that we are Members of the most Primitive Church in the World and the greatest Encouragers of True Piety and Religion and methinks we should be very careful had we any Love for this Church any desire that it should flourish and prosper not to disparage it by our so disagreeable Conversation Other Sects and Parties we see extraordinary diligent to gain Honour and Reputation by all means to their Profession that their Antagonists may discover no Flaw or Indecency no Breach of the Orders and Customs they have embrac'd while we that have the best Cause are generally the worst Managers of it For Shame let us at length grow wise and live up to what we profess in this and every other Particular and transcribe the excellent Rules of our Church in our Conversation let us act like true Sons of the Church of England as well as talk as such and then no Doubt but God and his Truth will prevail We are as a City built upon a Hill a Light set in an eminent Place many envious Eyes are upon us and rejoyce to see our Taper burn dim and our City defil'd by Wickedness and Impurity wherefore we should be the more careful to trim our Lamps and purge out our Stains and shine brightly in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation That these Men seeing our good Works may at length glorifie our Heavenly Father by a Hearty Union and Communion with us and return to the Fold which they have so groundlesly deserted As for such as grudge Time for this Duty of praying in their Families let them consider whether they can indeed improve it more to their Advantage whether the Gain of a little Money is to be compar'd to having the Blessing of God and the Guidance and Protection of his good Providence And whether their Time was not chiefly given them to worship God in and to make Provision for another World And as for such as make themselves unfit for this Holy Duty by Night Revels and Intemperance they can't but be sensible that that 's a very ill Excuse such as they should blush and be asham'd of and a Fault which it highly concerns them speedily to amend remembring that Drunkards are in that black List of such as shall not enter into the Kingdom of Christ and of God 1 Cor. 6.10 Having thus shewn that Prayer is not only the Priviledge but the Duty of a Christian and how far the Obligation to this Duty does extend I proceed to the Third and last thing to be done which is to shew what is requir'd in order to the effectual Performance of this Duty and what St. Paul says 1 Tim. 2.8 added to the Importunity recommended in the Parable we are now discoursing upon will doubtless make our Prayers to be availing The Apostles Words are these I will that Men pray every where lifting up Holy Hands without Wrath and doubting and of these Requisites I shall first discourse and then of Importunity First If we would be accepted at the Throne of Grace we must lift up Holy Hands The Word in the Original signifies pure and undefil'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 't is an Allusion to the Custom of the Jews who constantly us'd the Ceremony of washing before they pray'd which was intended to signifie the Necessity of a clean Heart in order to Acceptance with God For God is a Being infinitely Pure and Holy and that cannot behold Iniquity and into whose Presence no unclean thing can enter and therefore the Sacrifice of the Wicked as Solomon observes must needs be an Abomination to him and bring down a Curse rather than a Blessing and the Prayer of the Upright only his Delight Prov. 15.8 More particularly by this Expression of lifting up Holy Hands is meant these three Qualifications First That the Suppliant be one of a good Life or if he has not formerly been so repents and is sincerely resolv'd to live as becomes the Gospel of Christ for the future For how can he that is a Rebel to God a Traytor and Judas to his Saviour and that will obey none but the Devil and his own vile Lusts how can such an one think that God should hearken to his Requests who consumes God's Blessings upon his Lusts Jam. 4.3 as St. James expresses it and as S. Paul Turns the Grace of God into Lasciviousness and sins still more that Grace may still abound and is encourag'd by God's Goodness to persist in his Wickedness He only can with Reason expect to be heard by a Holy God who is either actually pious and good or heartily desires and intends to be so Secondly By lifting up Holy Hands is meant Purity of Intention unmix'd Desires of advancing the Glory of God and of the Supply of our real Needs and of promoting our Eternal Salvation That is no Man must
is planted wherever the Word is preach'd he expects the Fruit of Righteousness The Seed is good and most of all agreeable to the Soil wherein 't is sown for Religion is the best Reason and therefore most natural to a reasonable Soul and 't is sown in great Plenty there is no Scarcity of God's Word among us and 't is water'd sufficiently with the Dew of Heaven the Grace of God which is not wanting to any Man that will receive it and therefore at our Peril we must all be fruitful none of us must appear before our great Lord empty lest the Punishment of Barrenness be our Portion and we be burnt up with unquenchable Fire This Seed then or the Word of God being thus actually sown the Christian Religion planted in the World and all things done on God's Part in order to its being fruitful and which accordingly he expects it should be it highly concerns us in the next Place to take care that it be so and that nothing make it otherwise That is that in the First Place it be not like Seed sown or scatter'd by the Way Side which is trodden down by the Feet of Men and Beasts or devoured by the Fowls of the Air. We must not be thought less and inconsiderate after we have heard the Word and suffer our Souls to be like a High-way laid open and exposed to all Comers to all Sorts of wandring useless and wicked Thoughts which thronging in Abundance will trample down the Good Seed that was sown that it shall never more appear be no more thought of or remembred by us Nor must we leave it to the Mercy of the Fowls of the Air the Devil and his Legions who like Birds of Prey hover over us continually and are always ready to catch away immediately those good Instructions instill'd into our Minds lest they should grow into Faith and Salvation and which they see lye scattered and unregarded by us and unobserved throw in their Places the Seeds of Sin and Misery which like ill Weeds will flourish any where and grow apace Thus heedless of so great a Treasure must we by no means be but by Recollection of Thought advert closely to the great Truths of the Gospel and exclude all wandring and vain Imaginations and carefully gather up those Notions of Religion which lie scattered in our Minds and reduce them to some Order and Connexion and infix them by Meditation still deeper in our Souls and instead of a dry barren and common Way for all Temptations and Injections of the Devil for numerous and vain and incoherent Phancies we should by serious Attention to those concerning Truths that we have read or heard make our Souls as Solomon expresses it a Garden enclosed a Spring shut up Cant. 4.12 and a Fountain sealed And then no Fear of the Seeds being trodden down or devour'd by the Fowls of the Air but 't will remain rooted and grounded in our Hearts and will bring forth its Fruit in its Season Secondly We must take care that the Word be not like Seed sown in stony and rocky Places where there is no Deepness of Earth lest it spring up too hastily and when the Sun is hot it be scorch'd and wither away because it hath no Root That is as our Lord interprets it we must be carefull not only to receive the Word with Joy and have an extempore superficial Religion and believe and obey only for a while but likewise to endure and not be offended or discouraged though Tribulation or Persecution arise because of the Word nor to fall away in Time of Temptation I doubt there are too many of these Rocky Hearers that perhaps are well enough pleas'd to be handsomsely told of their Duty to hear a well-pen'd Sermon and for the present readily assent to the Truth and Reasonableness of what is discours'd to them and believe it their Interest to live as becomes Christians and rejoyce at the News of being freeed from the Tyranny of the Devil and their own unruly Lusts and Passions of being made Children and Heirs of God and Coheirs with Christ of an Eternal Inheritance and that there are never-fading Crowns of Glory reserv'd for them in the highest Heavens and are resolved to set about the Performance of that Duty immediately which is so excellent in it self and shall be so infinitely rewarded And indeed the Christian Religion is so highly reasonable in its own Nature so conducive to the Comfort and Happiness even of this Life and the sure Way to such endless Bliss hereafter that it can't but be very pleasing in the Theory to any Man of Sense and Reason But after all this I fear there are too many Hearers that like Rocky Places have only a Surface of good Earth and retain this good Affection to Religion but for a while and at the Bottom are impenetrable as a Rock and will not suffer the good Seed to shoot so deep into their Hearts and take so firm a Rooting as is necessary to its Fruitfulness and Increase Their Spring is quickly over a Blade or a Stalk is the farthest Progress their Religion makes and never arrives to the full Corn in the Ear but when they meet with any Difficulty in the Practice of it in it self or any Opposition to it either without from Men or from the Devils Temptations within For want of Deepness of Earth and Moisture they fall and wither away If there were nothing else for 'em to do but to receive the Promises they would with Joy indeed give ear to the glorious Descriptions of the Happiness of a Christian Nay that Happiness is so exceeding great that at present they may very well be glad to hear of the Way to attain it and for a spurt set chearfully about it and a shallow Crust of Earth will be sufficient to make some Shew and Appearance of Fruitfulness and Increase But unless the Heart be throughly plyable and there be Deepness of Earth an humble Sense of the great Need we have that this Divine Seed should take Root and grow up in our Souls and likewise the Moisture of a sincere Repentance for our former Barrenness and stony Hardness of Heart the Word will take but shallow Rooting for all our suddain Raptures and upon upon every Difficulty and Temptation be ready to languish and wither especially when the Heats of Persecution strike upon it and then too often the latter End is worse than the Beginning and the Men grow more hardned and insensible than ever Those therefore that find themselves of this rocky Temper so difficult to be perswaded to be Christians indeed so ready to look upon the smooth Side of Religion only and please themselves in the Theory of it admire the Promises of Christianity but find great Resistance in their Breasts when the Word would take deeper Root and they are exhorted to a still more and more excellent and fruitful Piety These Persons are by all means to endeavour still
deceiving his own Soul From him shall be taken away even that which he hath he shall be deprived of it to inrich his industrious Brother and add to his Abundance What Grace he had before shall be withdrawn and he naked and defenseless left to the Fury of his Spiritual Enemies the Dews of Heaven shall no longer drop upon his barren Soul but parch'd and sapless it shall be reserv'd to eternal Burnings Consider this all ye that forget God and are unfruitful under all his Care and fatherly Nurture and Admonition lest at length he pluck you away and there be none to deliver you And remember the Words of Solomon Prov. 29.1 He that being often reprov'd still hardeneth his Neck shall suddainly be destroyed and that without Remedy And thus have I done with the first of our Saviours Parables in which is set before us a Blessing and a Curse a Blessing if when the good Seed is sown and we have heard the Word we receive it into honest and good Hearts and according to our several Abilities bring forth Fruit to Perfection that is obey and Practise it with Constancy and Perseverance And a Curse if we remain still barren and unfruitful not Doers of the Word but Hearers only deceiving our selves into eternal Perdition It becomes us all therefore to take heed how we hear and not be like the High-way-side suffering our Thoughts to wander from the Instructions we have heard and leaving the good Seed unregarded to the Mercy of the great Enemy of Souls and exposing our Minds as a common Tract to vain and wicked Fancies and Imaginations and diabolical Suggestions nor like the stony Ground impenetrable to any deep and lasting Impressions of the Word of Life nor like that over-run with Thorns and Briars and noxious Weeds such as are the Cares and deceitful Riches and Pleasures of this Life which will choak the Word and render it unfruitful But that we treasure up this Divine Word in our Memories ponder and consider it and set our Love and Affections upon it So shall it grow and prosper and bring forth Fruit in some Thirty in some Sixty in some an Hundred-Fold to the Honour and Glory of God and the eternal Salvation of our immortal Souls Which God of his infinite Mercy grant for Jesus Christ his Sake Now 2 Cor. 9.10 He that ministreth Seed to the Sower both give us this Heavenly Bread for our Food and multiply the Seed that is sown and encrease the Fruits of our Righteousness that being inrich'd in every good thing to all Bountifulness there may be given through us Thanksgiving unto God Amen Amen The PRAYER I. MOST Holy Jesus thou blessed Author of the best Religion who hast in great Plenty sown among us the Seed of a happy Immortality even thy holy Word and watered it with the Dew of thy heavenly Grace and art wanting in nothing on thy Part to cause it to flourish and bring forth abundantly the Fruits of Righteousness I thy unworthy Servant unfeignedly bless this thy infinite Goodness and tender Care for the Children of Men but must with Shame confess that hitherto thy Care has been in too great Measure defeated by my Inconsiderateness and Obstinacy my Soul still remains barren as the High-way-side impenetrable to the Sermons of the Gospel or at best flitting and unconstant in religious Purposes which have been short-liv'd as the Grass that grows upon the Top of the Rocks or else choak'd with the Briars of worldly Cares and Distractions with covetous and sensual Desires Thus have I courted Death in the Error of my Life But now being awaken'd by thy Mercy and become sensible of the Danger I am in and the sad Consequence if my Barrenness continues I humbly beg and earnestly at the Throne of Grace that Thou from whom is all our Sufficiency wouldst aid me with thy blessed Spirit and help my Infirmities and strengthen me mightily in the inner Man that thy Word may ever hereafter take so deep a Rooting in my Soul as to produce the genuine Fruits of Christianity II. I am sadly sensible O Lord that the Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it Do thou therefore who art the Searcher of our Spirits purge my Soul of all lurking Hypocrisy and Pride and Self-conceit and every thing that will hinder the Growth and Increase of this heavenly Seed and make me apt to receive and cherish it by creating in me an honest and good Heart and renewing a sincere and right Spirit within me Grant that I may so seriously attend to and consider the great Truths thy Goodness hath revealed to us in the Gospel as intirely to assent to them and heartily endeavour to conform my Practice to my Belief and may I always heedfully preserve those divine Instructions and moving Arguments to a persevering Piety which I have learned from thy Word lest the infernal Bird of Prey deprive me of the good Seed and in its room plant devillish Affections And O that Patience and Hope and an humble Dependance upon thee for Direction and Defence may be my Support in this my Pilgrimage That so chearfully running the Race that is set before me and thankfully acknowledging the early Influences of thy blessed Spirit in my tender Years and waiting for the later Distillations of thy Grace which will bring my Fruit to Perfection and always endeavouring o proportion my Increase to the Means and Opportunities of it thy Goodness hath vouchsafed me I may at last escape the Intolerable Punishment of Unfruitfulness and having my Fruit unto Holiness the End may be everlasting Life through thy Merits and Mercies O blessed Saviour Jesus Amen PARABLE II. Of the Tares Matth. xiii 24 25 26 27 28 29 30. Another Parable put Jesus forth unto them saying The Kingdom of Heaven is likned unto a Man that sowed good Seed in his Field But while Men slept his Enemy came and sowed Tares among the Wheat and went his way But when the Blade was sprung up and brought forth Fruit then appeared the Tares also So the Servants of the Housholder came and said unto him Sir didst not thou sow good Seed in thy Field From whence then hath it Tares He said unto them an Enemy hath done this The Servants said unto him wilt thou then that we go and gather them up But he said nay lest while ye gather up the Tares ye root up also the Wheat with them Let both grow together until the Harvest and in the time of Harvest I will say to the Reapers gather ye together first the Tares and bind them in Bundles to burn them But gather the Wheat into my Barn THE Interpretation of this Parable is thus set down Vers 37. of this Chapter He that soweth the good Seed is the Son of Man the Field is the World the good Seeds are the Children of the Kingdom but the Tares are the Children of the wicked one the Enemy that sowed them
would have return'd again to their Dream of Vanity when this their Fright was a little over And so it is with those that think not of Repentance till Death and Judgment stare 'em in the Face they are then wondrous sorry for having offended God because they see they are like to be for ever punish'd for it with the Devil and his Angels and wish they had liv'd better and beg God to forgive 'em and promise Amendment for the Time to come But all this very seldom proceeds from Love to God or his holy Religion as appears by their being as bad as ever when God has been pleased to restore them to their former Health But such Repentance as this is but a Piece of Mockery and will not be accepted it must be a real and thorough Change of Mind express'd in an intire Reformation of Life and Manners that will incline God to pardon and forgive Notwithstanding all the Hurry of the foolish Virgins to get Oyl for their Lamps upon this suddain Notice of the Bridegroom 's coming because their Lamps were before suffer'd to go out we see the Door was shut upon them By the wise Virgins that were ready their going in with the Bridegroom to the Marriage Feast is represented the great Happiness of the sincerely good who by holy living are ready and prepar'd for their Departure hence into the World of Spirits That is as there was great Preparation made to receive the Bridegroom among the Jews and other Easterns great Joy and Festivity and which the Children of the Bride-Chamber or those that attended the Bridegroom did partake of singing Epithalamiums or nuptial Songs in Praise of the Bridegroom and his Bride and rejoycing in their Happiness and wishing them long Prosperity So the Joys of the highest Heavens which are the Marriage Chamber of this divine Bridegroom our Saviour in the Society of innumerable Saints and Angels and glorified Spirits are prepar'd for those that love our Lord Jesus in Sincerity and by a constant holy Life are ready to leave these earthly Habitations and enter with him into that holy Place Where they shall enjoy a most blisful Eternity for ever singing Halleluja's to the Praise and Honour of that glorious Name in which all the Nations of the World are blessed praising God and saying Rev. 19.7 9. Let us be glad and rejoyce and give Honour to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready and blessed are they which are call'd to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And well is that Care and Watchfulness and holy Preparation repay'd which will procure an Entrance into that holy Place where Christ is sitting at the right Hand of God and make us Sharers in the Joys of Angels and in the Happiness of our dear Redeemer In the last place by the foolish Virgins coming after the Door was shut and saying Lord Lord open unto us and his answering I know you not is express'd the sad and remidiless Condition of those whom Death and Judgment surprize unawares and that are not prepar'd by a holy Life They may cry Lord Lord long enough in the Bitterness and Anguish of their Souls and profess that they believe in him and are his Disciples and call'd by his Name that they have eat and drunk in his Presence and that he hath taught in their Streets and the like but yet for all this without a constant persevering Piety Christ will tell them I know you not whence you are depart from me all ye that work Iniquity And what inconceivable Agonies will those excluded Wretches then be in What Horror and Despair will then take Seisure of their Souls What Outcries what hideous Wailings will there be How will some frame fruitless Excuses Lord we have eaten and drank in thy Presence and thou hast taught in our Streets c. while others with deep Sighs in vain beg Pity and Commiseration of him who never before deny'd it What intolerable Anguish will they feel to see those whom they hated and despis'd on Earth then enter'd into the glorious Marriage Chamber of the Son of God and they themselves they who are prosperous here and to all Appearance the Friends and Favourites of the divine Bridegroom eternally shut out from his Presence and the Joys of those celestial Regions and left behind in unconceivable Torments and in the Company of malicious Fiends and Devils to linger under an Eternity of Misery No Words can ever reach those Horrors nor can our Thoughts conceive them and may none of us ever be so unhappy as to feel them But be so wise as to watch and be ready and have our Lamps burning and our selves always prepar'd for this great coming of our Lord for we know not the Day nor the Hour And thus have I given a particular plain and practical Interpretation of this Parable of the Ten Virgins whereof five were wise and five foolish and shewn as I went along how aptly expressive it is of the Sense our Lord couch'd under it I proceed now to the other thing to be done which is to urge that Watchfulness and Preparation by all manner of holy living against this coming of our Lord which is necessary to our being admitted into his Joy and to shew how great the Wisdom of so doing is and how great the Folly of the Contrary For those that were ready and trimm'd their Lamps are call'd wise Virgins in the Parable and those that were not ready and their Lamps out are call'd foolish As for the Folly of not taking Care to be ready and prepar'd against that great Change of Death shall come it is a thing justly to be wonder'd at that Men who know that one Time or other they must surely die and are wholly in the Dark as to the precise Time of their Death and that they must die but once and that without any any further Probation after Death comes Judgment it is much to be wonder'd at that those who know all this to be true as Christians are suppos'd to do should live so much at random and be so foolishly careless in managing their last Stake so heedless in doing that well which admits of no Repetition and which if done ill they are for ever miserable 'T is the very Height of Folly this and which one would think a Man of any Sense could not be guilty of There is nothing that Men are more afraid of than dying and yet so strangely contradictious are they to themselves they make the least Provision against this greatest Evil. In other Matters Men are so wise as to endeavour to secure themselves against their Fears they provide against Poverty by Diligence and Parsimony against Pain and Diseases by proper Antidotes and Preservatives against the Approach of Enemies by the best Defence they are capable of making and the like and this many times when there is only a Probability of these Evils coming upon them And yet against
me Thou holy Jesus though a stern Judg to obstinate Rebels to thy Father art yet the Bridegroom of thy Spouse the Church and infinite is thy Love to those that preserve inviolate their Fidelity to thee and happy will they be beyond Expression who at thy glorious coming to receive thy Bride into thy Kingdom shall be admitted into thy Marriage Chamber and be for ever where thou art and behold and partake of thy Glory O may I therefore like a wise Virgin preserve my Innocence untouch'd be cloath'd with Humility and adorn'd with a meek and quiet Spirit and sober and temperate in all things having my Lamp full of Oyl my Soul replenish'd with Vertue and constantly burning with the Fires of Piety and Devotion that so when the Cry shall be made Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him I may be ready to obey thy Call though it be made at Midnight and be found of thee our dearest Lord as a Virgin in Peace without Spot and blameless II. I must confess with Shame and Sorrow O merciful Jesus that I am too prone to slumber and sleep and forget to advert as I ought to this thy glorious Second Advent and the Forerunner of it Death and am apt foolishly to put that Day far from me and to think thou delayest thy coming whereby my Oyl is wasted and my Lamp almost gone out O do thou therefore quicken me in thy Righteousness blessed Redeemer and grant that the Consideration of the surprizing Suddainness of thy Appearance upon the Throne of Judgment and the great Uncertainty of the Time when I shall be call'd from hence and bound over to that great Assize there to give Account of my Works and how I liv'd and how I dy'd Grant that this Consideration may put an End to my spiritual Drouziness and engage me in Prayer and Watchfulness and pious sober Conversation because I know not the Day nor the Hour And when by the Decays of Age or Violence of Diseases my Departure into the World of Spirits seems to be near approaching O then enable me with thy prevailing Grace to trim my Lamp with an extraordinary Diligence to enliven my Religion and not be to seek for Oyl then when my Lamp should be best replenish'd with it and burn most vigorously O let me never trust to the great Uncertainty of a Death-Bed Repentance nor vainly depend upon the redundant Merit of others except that of my Saviour which is my only Hope but now in Time of Health provide for a happy Death lest my Lamp being out when thou shalt call me to attend thee Amazement and Horror seize me and the Door be shut upon me And well will my wakeful Preparation be rewarded dearest Jesus when I shall be admitted into thy glorious Presence and enjoy the endless Blisses of thy heavenly Bride-Chamber O therefore grant me thy Grace not to sleep as do others but to watch and be sober and so much the more as I see that Day approaching Amen Blessed Saviour Amen Amen PARABLE VII Of the good Samaritan Luke x. 30 31 32 33 34 35. A certain Man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among Thieves which stripped him of his Rayment and wounded him and departed leaving him half dead And by chance there came down a certain Priest that Way and when he saw him he passed by on the other Side And likewise a Levite when he was at the Place came and look'd on him and passed by on the other Side But a certain Samaritan as he journyed came where he was And when he saw him he had Compassion on him And went to him and bound up his Wounds pouring in Oyl and Wine and set him on his own Beast and brought him to an Inn and took Care of him And on the morrow when he departed he took out Two Pence and gave them to the Host and said unto him take care of him and whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again I will repay thee THIS Parable was spoken upon occasion of a Lawyer 's asking our Lord What he should do to inherit eternal Life Who upon Christ's referring him to his own Law and his Repetition of the two great Commandments of loving God with all our Hearts and our Neighbours as our selves and Christ's returning to him this do and thou shalt live being willing to justifie himself as an Observer of all this ask'd this further Question and who is my Neighbour That so knowing our Saviour's Sense in that Particular he might the better make it appear to him that he not only lov'd God with all his Heart which he thought he could safely affirm but likewise his Neighbour as himself and therefore stood fair for eternal Life To this latter Question Jesus answer'd by the Parable above recited and then ask'd the conceited Lawyer Which now of these Three thinkest thou was Neighbour to him that fell among the Thieves the Priest and Levite that were his Country-Men Children of the same Abraham who yet took no charitable Notice of him but passed by on the other Side or the Samaritan who though a schismatical Stranger to the Common Wealth of Israel and an Enemy to every Jew yet had Compassion on him and reliev'd and succour'd him with Charity suitable to his Distress To this the Lawyer answer'd as he could not choose but do he was his Neighbour that shew'd Mercy on him Then said Jesus immediately to him Go and do thou likewise Which Words struck home upon his Conscience that they put a Stop to his intended Justification of himself and we hear of no further Intercourse he had with our Lord and may imagine how he sneak'd away asham'd and confounded The Design therefore of this Parable is to give us a true Notion of Charity or Compassion and Relief of such as are in Distress and that both with Respect to the Object of it and the Manner and Measure of expressing it to such Object And therefore in discoursing upon this Parable I shall do three things First I shall shew who are the proper Objects of this Sort of Charity according to the true Sense and Meaning of our holy Religion Secondly How we are obliged to relieve them in what Manner and in what Measure Thirdly What great Encouragement we have to this excellent Duty with respect both to this World and that above or what a Blessedness it is to be able thus to give rather than receive First As for the proper Objects of this Charity they are in general the really Indigent and Calamitous and such as are unable to help themselves And that without excepting any whether they be Strangers and Foreigners or Enemies or Heathens or Hereticks or wicked Persons All that are indeed necessitous and helpless are made by our holy and most merciful Religion the Objects of our Compassion and Relief Thus the Apostle As we have Opportunity let us do good unto all Men Gal. 6.10 and our Lord Do good to
of the Wealthy over the Poor would then consist chiefly in this That they are by God's Providence enabled to be the Supporters of the weak it being according to the Words of the Lord Jesus Acts 20.35 more blessed to give than to receive Especially if we in the Next Place consider the Measure of this Charity And in general it must be equal to the Necessities of the Poor or at least agreeable to every Man's Ability A great Necessity must have a great Supply as suppose a whole Family be in want the Relief ought to be greater than to a single Person If a Forreigner is distress'd and has not wherewithal to carry him to his own Country he should be more plentifully reliev'd than a Traveller that is in his Native Country and has comparatively but a little Way to go He that is a Prisoner or Captive for a great Debt or Ransom should receive more liberally of our Charity than one that may be releas'd for less the Necessities of a poor Man that is sick being doubly great the Relief that is given him should bear Proportion and be more liberal than ordinary And the more dangerous and lasting and consequently chargeable the Sickness is the Charity should rise the higher still and greater Care be had of him and Visits oftner made to him He that is utterly helpless and uncapable of working ought to receive more largely of our Charity than one that is in some Measure able to help and provide for himself In these and all other Cases of this Nature he that has the greatest need must have the greatest Supply and he that has the greatest Ability his Charity must be answerable and he must give most But to prevent all unnecessary Scruples in this Matter we should remember that Charity does not consist in an Indivisible Point less than which shall not be accepted for a Mite given with a free Heart and good Intention by a poor Widow that could afford no more was not only accepted but the Charity highly commended by our Lord himself and no doubt but was crown'd with a great Reward The general Rule in this Case is that of the Apostle 1 Pet. 4.11 As every Man has receiv'd the Gift even so minister the same one to another as good Stewards of the manifold Grace of God That is every Man's Charity must be proportionable to his Ability he that has much must give plenteously and he that has little must chearfully give of that little and no Man that has any Share in this World 's Good must wholly shut up his Bowels of Compassion from his Brother that hath need Remembring That he that soweth sparingly 2 Cor. 9.6 shall reap sparingly and he that soweth plenteously shall reap also plenteously So that according to the Order of our good Creator we see Riches are like our Blood to circulate and ought to be convey'd in due Proportions to every Part of the great Body of Mankind The greater Channels are to supply the lesser and the fuller they are the more they must communicate And none must presume upon Pain of the worst of ill Consequences to stop this Course or divert it to unprofitable Uses When our own Needs and those of our Relatives are modestly and reasonably satisfied and provided for all the rest God gives us to bestow upon the poor and needy 't is their Inheritance and we shall be unjust in our Stewardship if we with-hold it from them And in the Words of the excellent Bishop Taylor Certainly there is not any greater Baseness than to suffer a Man to perish or be in extreme want of that which God gave me for him and beyond my own Needs And it must ever be remembred That as Men's Estates increase their Charity must in due Proportion increase likewise it must not lie an useless Lump in a Chest or be improv'd only to increase the Hoard or minister to Luxury and Excess or the Extravagancies of a prodigal Heir but this Blessing of God must be distributed according to the Will of God to sweeten and alleviate the Miseries of Man And now would Men but act according to this their Duty what abundant Supply would there be for the Necessities of every one That of Isaiah 49.9 10. would then be literally fulfill'd Say to the Prisoners Go forth to them that are in Darkness shew your selves they shall feed in the Ways their Pastures shall be in all high Places They shall not hunger nor thirst neither shall the Heat nor Sun smite them for he that hath Mercy on them shall lead them even by the Springs of Waters shall he guide them How many bitter Complaints how many Sighs and Tears how much Misery and how much Sin would by such Charity be prevented How many more might most Men relieve than they do How very many might a Man of a large Estate take care of and what vast Numbers of poor might have a very comfortable Subsistence if all such Men would conscientiously perform their Duty in this Matter And with what Ease might this be done too That which is every Day squander'd away to no Purpose or consum'd in Vice and Vanity could it be computed would amount to a prodigious Sum and were but so much bestow'd in Charity by every rich Man as heedlesly and unaccountably slips from him how many would enjoy a comfortable Maintenance who now want Necessaries and are ready to be starv'd and all the while the rich Man be not discernably the poorer for it And if so little when rightly dispos'd of would go so far in this blessed Work what happy Effects should we soon see if Men of large Possessions would be perswaded to obey their great Benefactor and give largely of their Abundance And in order to this they would do well to remember that Riches are not properly and intirely Men's own but Talents committed to them by God to improve and lay out to his Glory That 't is he that is the great Lord and Proprietor of all and Men how opulent soever no other than his Stewards inrich'd on purpose that they may supply those that have need and take care that none in this great Family of the World perish for want of what is needful for their Support And that of the Discharge of this their Steward-ship they must render an Account at the Day of Judgment the general Audit of all Mankind and then the faithful and good Stewards that have fulfill'd their Lord's Command and gave the poor of this great Family their Portion of Meat in due Season shall be receiv'd into their Master's Joy But the unfaithful and wicked Stewards that were cruel and hard-hearted to their fellow-Servants and only feasted and pamper'd themselves grew excessive and luxurious with their Lord's Allowance and did eat and drink with the Drunken their Lord will come in a Day when they look not for him Luk. 12.42 and cut them asunder and appoint them their Portion with Unbelievers
Perfection He who is Light it self and in whom is no Darkness at all will hide nothing of his Glory from the Eyes of their pure and prepar'd Minds but communicate the Knowledge of his most Excellent Nature to the utmost Capacity of their Beatified Souls and make 'em full of Divine Gladness with the Joy of his Countenance Their Apprehensions shall be clear'd and brightned their Faculties act upon this best of Objects vigorously and without any Hindrance or Distraction and every View of the Divine Beauty shall discover new Graces and Perfections for God is an Immense and Fathomless Ocean of Beauty as Plato excellently expresses it and their Capacities by every such View shall be enlarg'd and made still more and more capacious for the Reception of a following greater Manifestation And so their Love and Admiration of this Divine Being always increasing and their Enjoyment of him compleat and sull to the utmost of their Capacity their Joy and Happiness will be like that of God himself because springing from the same Fountain Unspeakable and Eternal And since the Reward of a Pious Industry will be such an Exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory methinks we should take off our Affections from these lower Goods and doat no longer upon these vain and worthless Trifles nor throw away our Love upon that which satisfieth not and spend our Labour for that which is not Bread but make it our great Endeavour to be rich towards God and by improving the Talents he hath given us lay up a Treasure in Heaven 1 Cor. 2.9 Remembring That Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive the things which God hath prepar'd for them that love him And certainly that Diligence is well bestowed which shall be rewarded with a Crown of Glory Eternal in the Heavens But with the Unprofitable and Slothful Servant it is not so neither in this World nor in the next In this World the Lashes of a guilty Conscience will be unto him a Continual Torment the Sense of his having carelesly neglected his Duty and not performing according to his Ability the Just Commands of his great Lord but being an Unfaithful Steward of the Grace of God bestowed upon him and that he is far from being able to give in a good Account when his Lord shall come expecting the Improvement of his Talent This will fill his Breast with unspeakable Trouble and Perplexity and imbitter all his Worldly Enjoyments with the Mixture of Anxious Fear and Dread of a severe After-Reckoning and the terrifying Expectation of his sad Fate that will ensue will be to him even like a Hell upon Earth and cruciate his Soul with unspeakable Pangs and Agonies And which is much worse still the Grace that has so long lain unimprov'd shall at length be taken from him and the Man as desperate and irreclaimable be given over and as 't were seal'd up to Remediless Misery And in the next World at that great Day when he shall be actually call'd to give Account of his Works the Dire Sentence of Depart from me ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire prepar'd for the Devil and his Angels shall strike him through with Horror and Confusion and he shall be driven into Outer Darkness where he shall Eternally bewail his Miserable Condition and gnash his Teeth in bitter Remorse for bringing himself to that Place of Torment by slothfully neglecting the Improvement of that Divine Grace with which he might if he would have work'd out his Salvation Crying out to Eternal Ages in utter Despair and most tormenting Agonies of Soul O that I had consider'd in that my Day the things that did belong unto my Peace but now they are for ever hid from mine Eyes And now for a Conclusion of this Discourse Here is in this Parable we see on the one Hand all the Encouragement in the World to Diligence and Industry and a Lively Improving Piety such as more and more Abundance of Grace with all the Blessed Attendants of it in this World and a full Enjoyment of God himself in Heaven And on the other side here is what if duly consider'd will make any Man afraid of Spiritual Sloth and Idleness and not dare to neglect the Improvement of his Talent for if he does he shall be depriv'd of God's Grace here and doom'd to Eternal Misery at the Day of Judgment Wherefore let us seriously consider what has been now commented upon this Parable and beg of God so to bless it to our Good that we may be inclin'd by it to make a due Improvement of the Talents he has committed to our Management to his Honour and Glory and our own Eternal Salvation The PRAYER MOST Glorious God the Fountain of Perfection whom I humbly acknowledge to be the Giver of every good and perfect Gift I beseech thee assist me with thy Grace that according to thy Just Expectation I may make a suitable Improvement of the Talents I have receiv'd from thy Bounty to thy Glory and the Publick Good And may my Industry be excited by this great Consideration That thou wilt certainly call me to give an Account of my Improvement and very speedily perhaps and wilt proportionably reward or punish me in the Eternal World I thankfully own most merciful Father that thou hast given me sufficient Grace wherewith to arrive at the End of my Hopes and art not at all wanting to me in this unspeakable Gift O may I not be wanting to my self and neglect and bury this Precious Talent but with Diligence and Carefulness endeavour to work out my Salvation with it in Fear and Trembling Remembring what Confusion I shall be in how utterly without Plea or Excuse when for my Wicked Slothfulness thou shalt consign me to outer Darkness since thou didst enable me to perform all thou expectedst from me And may the unspeakably Happy Condition of the Diligent encourage me to an Active Persevering Piety and always to abound in the Work of thee my Lord since I know my Labour shall not be in vain but be rewarded with still larger Additions of thy Grace in this World and with the Participation in great Degrees of thy Glory in the next O God assist me more and more with this thy Heavenly Grace and may I always gratefully acknowledge from whom I have receiv'd it and return thee all the Praise of what I shall do well by thy Assistance and always fear lest by my Negligence I forfeit it That so faithfully improving the Talent thou hast here committed to my Trust I may at the great Day of Retribution hear these Blessed Words Well done good and faithful Servant enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. Which grant O Gracious God for the Sake of Jesus thy Beloved Amen PARABLE IX Of the Covetous Rich Fool. Luke xii 16 17 18 19 20 21. And Jesus spake a Parable unto them saying The Ground of a certain Rich Man brought forth plentifully And
Dresser of it Christ Jesus who have such great Helps and Assistances to bring forth fruit unto Holiness and consequently such full Assurance of Hope Heb. 6.11 that the End will be Everlasting Life Let Them give Thanks from the Bottom of their Hearts whom the Lord hath thus Redeem'd and deliver'd from the Hand of the Infernal Enemy and be telling of his Salvation from Day to Day And let us of these Happy Islands in the first place magnifie him for this his Infinite Goodness for none have had a greater share of it than we none better Planted nor better Cultivated than the Members of this Church of England and which does much advance the Blessing none were in a more sad and deplorable Condition than the Inhabitants of these Islands before the Preaching of the Gospel And indeed what the Prophet Isaiah says of God's dealing with the Jewish Church which was then his Vineyard Isa 5.4 may be very truly said of his gracious Dealing with this our Church What could have been done more to his Vineyard that he hath not done in it He hath planted it in a very fruitful Hill and fenced it by his Providence from the Incursions of its Enemies and gather'd out the Stones thereof purg'd it from scandalous Heresies and Superstitions which are Stones of Stumbling and Rocks of Offence and built a Tower in the midst of it guarded it with the Civil Power making Kings its Nursing Fathers and Queens its Nursing Mothers and made a Wine-press in it furnish'd it with all Necessaries of Holy Instruction and the Service of an Excellent Ministry to inforce the great Truths of Religion and lay all the Beauties and Excellencies of it before the People And now what could have been done more for this Church than the Lord has already done for it And what an inestimable Happiness is it that we enjoy who were Born in this Church early Consecrated to God in Baptism and thereby planted in this Vineyard and sed with the sincere and unmix'd Milk of the Word plainly and without Reserve or the cunning Craftiness of Men that lye in wait to deceive We are invited to a Frequent and Entire Reception of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper that great Conveyance of the Divine Grace and Aid and have as many and as moving Exhortations to live up to our Holy Profession as are enjoy'd by any Part of the Christian World What an inestimable Happiness is this And what great Reason have we as to bless God for this his unspeakable Goodness to us so to bring forth the Fruits of Righteousness in great Abundance 'T is but Just and Right that we should do it and God expects it from All that are Planted in his Vineyard much more from such as have had extraordinary Care and Cultivation bestow'd upon them as we have had For so in the Second Place we find in this Parable that the Owner of the Vineyard came to the Fig-Tree he had planted in it expecting Fruit from it The Fruit that God expects from Christians that have enjoy'd the Means of Grace and spiritual Improvement is that which is call'd Fruit meet for Repentance and the Fruits of the Spirit Fruits meet for Repentance are the Advances to a New and Spiritual Life such as shall demonstrate a sincere Renovation and Change of Mind a Turning from a Course of Rebellion against God and Hatred of him to entire Obedience to him and hearty Love But he that to the Profession of Christianity adds Debauchery of Manners and instead of bringing forth the Fruits of the Spirit such as Love Joy Peace Long-Suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance and such like Drudges in the Works of the Flesh such as Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murthers Drunkenness and such like such Men as these are as St. Jude expresses it Trees Jude 12. whose Fruit withereth without Fruit twice dead or dead a second Time after they were enliven'd by the Grace of Christ and planted in his Vineyard where they might have lived and flourish'd and brought forth much Fruit well pleasing unto God and by this their Barrenness are as 't were pluck'd up by the Roots and to whom is reserv'd the Blackness of Darkness for ever and whose End is to be burn'd When our Lord as he was returning from Bethany to Jerusalem saw a Fig-Tree at a Distance very promising and full of Leaves and went to it expecting to find Fruit upon it but finding nothing thereon but Leaves only curs'd it and said unto it let no Fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever he plainly enough told the World that the Profession of Christianity must always be attended with the Fruits of Piety that he expects to find it so and will severely punish where he finds it otherwise The Leaves of a Fig-Tree are broad and strong and hang thick and are of a lovely Colour and therefore very apt to represent the Profession of Christianity which makes the fairest Appearance of any Religion that was ever taught the World and the Title of a Christian does include all that can be suppos'd excellent and good in a Man But as the Fig-Tree besides flourishing Leaves bears a Delicious Fruit and has always upon it Fruit coming to Maturity so Christianity must not be all Shew and Profession but the Fruits of Holiness must appear as well as the Leaves of Fair Speeches and the outward Performance of some of the more Customary and Publick Duties of it and as is observ'd in the Fig-Tree there must always be some Fruit growing to Ripeness and Perfection God expects to find it so and where he is disappointed the Fate of the Barren Fig-Tree will be their Portion We are all of us too apt with our first Parents to cover our Spiritual Nakedness with Fig-leaves and by tacking together a few External Observances of Religion think to hide our Shame and pass for good Servants and Disciples of the Lord Jesus But this is too thin a covering to conceal our Vileness from his Eye to whom all things lie naked and open and who knows the very Secrets of the Heart He that is indeed a Follower of Christ and loves him in Sincerity must walk as he walk'd imitating his Example and treading in his Blessed Steps departing from all Iniquity denying himself and all his vile Lusts and Affections obeying chearfully the Holy Commands of his great Lord and giving all diligence to add to his Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledg and to Knowledg Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity 2 Per. 1.5 6 7 8. for if these things be in us and abound they make us that we shall be neither Barren nor Unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ And he only that has thus his Fruit unto Holiness shall in the End attain Everlasting Life
miserable Wretch is he unnatural to Himself and Ungrateful to his God who by his Obstinacy shall frustrate so great Tenderness of God as this and break through so many Obligations to his own Ruin and with Devilish Pride and Sullenness starve and famish his Soul rather than Pray to God to Relieve and Help him How many of those that call Themselves Christians are thus wretchedly miserable God and their own Consciences know best but let not any Man be deceiv'd 't is not only a Privilege now but is become a necessary Duty and by the Neglect of it we shall not only lose the Benefit consequent upon the Peformance of it but receive the Punishment due to the Breach of the Laws of God which in all probability will be so much the more severe as the Benefit would have been great For nothing is more provoking than to have great Favours and Condescensions such as is this slighted and despis'd And thus much may suffice to prove that Prayer is not only the Privilege but the Duty of every Christian I proceed in the Second Place to shew How far the Obligation to this Duty does extend Our Lord in the Proeme to this Parable says That Men ought always to pray and S. Paul 1 Tim. 2.8 says I will that Men pray every where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in every Place and Ephes 6.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon every Occasion with every Opportunity and 1 Thess 5.17 he joyns both together and commands that we pray 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without Intermission So that 't is a Duty that extends to all Times and Places to all Seasons and States and Conditions of Life and as at all Times we stand in need of the Favour and Blessing the Protection and Support the Mercy and Forgiveness of God so 't is at all Times our Duty to beseech it of him But this will need a farther Explication For this Praying without ceasing or Intermission cannot be understood in the strictest Sense as if there were to be no Cessation of the Act for that would be impossible and there are many other Things that we are as much oblig'd to which will take up great Portions of our Time Many Necessities of Nature there are that must be adverted to and supplied many honest Employments that must be follow'd many other Christian Graces that must be exercised and sometimes even innocent Recreations must take place there being as Solomon says a Time for all Things a Time to Weep and a Time to Laugh a Time to Mourn and a Time to Dance This as well as other Affirmative Commands does Obligare semper as the Schools distinguish but not pro semper that is There is no Time or Season or Place so exempt but that in due Circumstances we are oblig'd to this Duty but it does not oblige as Negative Commands do to every Moment without any Exception There is no Minute of our Life but the Commands Thou shalt do no Murder Thou shalt not commit Adultery Thou shalt not Steal and the like do oblige us to observe them but there are very many Portions of our Time wherein such Precepts as these Be Afflicted and Mourn and Weep and the contrary to it Rejoyce evermore and Pray without ceasing and the like neither do nor can oblige To keep our Minds in an habitual Frame and apt Disposition for the Performance of these Duties in proper Circumstances is all that is expected from us But more particularly to Pray always or every where and without ceasing is to do these Three Things First 'T is to be very frequent in offering up pious Ejaculations or short mental Prayers as Occasion shall offer which will be very often and the most usual and common Occurrences of Life may be improv'd to this sort of Devotion without the least Hindrance or Encroachment upon any other Employments In the Field in the Shop in the Bed when Sleep departs in a Journey every where and at all Times this may be done without Expence of Time without Shew or Observation and is a Service highly acceptable to God and keeps the Mind in an excellent Frame and Temper and is out of Danger of being polluted by Hypocrisie and other base and little Ends which too often mingle with our more set and publick Prayers And the Soul may more vigorously dart forth these short Accidental Breathings and storm Heaven more successfully by these quick lively Efforts than by whole Armies of Words and Legions of long-breath'd Petitions which are rather apt to tire the Soul and rebate the Edge of her Devotion Of this Nature is the Prayer which our Lord has taught the Church the whole far from long and the particular Petitions very short but withall full and comprehensive to Admiration In Imitation whereof have the wise Compilers of our Liturgy divided the Service into short Collects and comprised their Sense in as few Words as is possible that so the Mind may be more intent and recollect and have time to breath as 't were between each of them and return with fresh Vigour and Spirit to the succeeding parts according to our Lord 's express Advice Use not vain Repetitions when ye pray and that of the Wise Preacher Eccl. ◠2 Be not rash with thy Mouth and let not thine Heart be hasty to utter any Thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth therefore let thy Words be few And this way of Ejaculatory Devotion comes very near to Praying without ceasing in the strictest Sense and much resembles that Heavenly Employment of those Rev. 4.8 Who rest not Night and Day saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come But Secondly To Pray always is never willingly to omit the Morning and Evening and Noon-day Returns of our more set and solemn private Addresses to the Throne of Grace the Morning and Evening especially which is the least Homage we can pay to the Almighty and which are Seasons the most of all in our power to employ as we think fit The Morning and Evening Sacrifice was constant among the Jews the Fire was ever Burning upon the Altar and never was suffer'd to go out David pray'd Morning and Evening and at Noon and God heard his Voice yea seven Times a Day did he praise him because of his Righteous Judgments and Daniel made his Petition three Times a Day towards Jerusalem as the Jews Custom was The Morning and Evening are the two Extremes of the Day and the Noon is like an intermediate Link between them that is joyned to both and so makes one continued Day so that he that prays Morning and Evening and at Noon may not improperly be said to spend the Day in Prayer and to continue instant in it And how very fitting it is that these Returns should without any wilful Intermission be observ'd will soon appear to any one that considers For First As for our private Morning Devotions our Preservation from