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A58607 The parable of the ten virgins in a sermon preached before Her Royal Highness Princess Ann of Denmark at Tunbridge-Wells, September the 2d, 1688 / by John Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. Tillotson, John, 1630-1694. 1694 (1694) Wing S1205; ESTC R28124 15,203 31

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went in wi●h him to the marriage and the door was shut Afterwards came also the other Virgins saying Lord Lord open to us But he answered and said verily I say unto you I know you not Fifthly I observe that there is no such thing as Works of Super-erogation That no man can do more than needs and is his duty to do by way of preparation for another World For when the foolish Virgins would have begg'd of the wise some Oyl for their Lamps the wise answered not so lest there be not enough for us and you It was only the foolish Virgins that had entertain'd this foolish conceit that there might be an over-plus of Grace and Merit in others sufficient to supply their want But the wise knew not of any they had to spare but suppos'd all that they had little enough to qualify them for the reward of eternal life Not so say they {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} lest at any time lest when there should be need and occasion all that we have done or could do should prove little enough for our selves Sixthly and lastly I observe That if we could suppose any persons to be so over-good as to have more grace and goodness than needs to qualify them for the reward of eternal life yet there is no assigning and transferring of this over-plus of Grace and Virtue from one man to another For we see verse 9 10. that all the ways which they could think of of borrowing or buying Oyl of others did all prove ineffectual because the thing is in its own nature impracticable that one Sinner should be in a condition to merit for another All these Observations seem to have some fair and probable foundation in some part or other of this Parable and most of them I am sure are agreeable to the main scope and intention of the whole I shall speak to them severally and as briefly as I can First I observe the charitable Decorum which our B. Saviour keeps in this as well as in the rest of his Parables as if he would fain suppose and hope that among those who enjoy the Gospel and make Prof●ssion of it the number of those who make a firm and sincere Profession of it and persevere in goodness to the end is equal to the number of those who do not make good their Profession or who fall off from it I shall not be long upon this because I lay the least stress upon it of all the rest I shall only take notice that our B. Saviour in this Parable represents the whole number of the Professors of Christianity by ten Virgins the half of which the Parable seems to suppose to have sincerely embraced the Christian Profession and to have persever'd therein to the last The Kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto ten Virgin which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom And five of them were wise and five were foolish And this Decorum our B. Saviour seems carefully to observe in his other Parables As in the Parable of the Prodigal Luke 15. where for one Son that left his Father and took riotous courses there was another that stayed always with him and continued constant to his duty And in the Parable of the ten Talents which immediately follows that of the ten Virgins two are supposed to improve the Talents committed to them for one that made no improvement of his He that had five Talents committed to him made them five more and he that had two gained other two and only he that had but one Talent hid it in the earth and made no improvement of it And in the Parable which I am now upon the number of the Professors of Christianity who took care to fit and prepare themselves for the coming of the Bridegroom is supposed equal to the number of those who did not And whether this be particularly intended in the Parable or not it may however be thus far instructive to us That we should be so far from lessening the number of true Christians and from confining the Church of Christ within a narrow compass so as to exclude out of its Communion the far greatest part of the Professors of Christianity that on the contrary we should enlarge the Kingdom of Christ as much as we can and extend our charity to all Churches and Christians of what Denomination soever as far as regard to Truth and to the foundations of the Christian Religion will permit us to believe and hope well of them and rather be contented to err a little on the favourable and charitable part than to be mistaken on the censorious and damning side And for this reason perhaps it is that our B. Saviour thought fit to frame his Parables with so remarkable a Byass to the charitable side Partly to instruct us to extend our charity towards all Christian Churches and Professors of the Christian Religion and our good hopes concerning them as far as with reason we can And partly to reprove the uncharitableness of the Jews who positively excluded all the rest of Mankind besides themselves from all hopes of Salvation An odious temper which to the infinite Scandal of the Christian Name and Profession hath prevail'd upon some Christians to that notorious degree as not only to shut out all the Reform'd Part of the Western Church almost equal in number to themselves from all hopes of Salvation under the notion of Hereticks but likewise to un-church all the other Churches of the Christian World which are of much greater extent and number than themselves that do not own subjection to the Bishop of Rome And this they do by declaring it to be of necessity to Salvation for every Creature to be subject to the Roman Bishop And this Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over all Christian Churches Bellarmin calls the Sum of the Christian Religion So that the Roman Communion is plainly founded in Schism that is in the most unchristian and uncharitable Principle that can be namely that they are the only true Church of Christ out of which none can be saved which was the very Schism of the Donatists And in this they are so positive that the Learned men of that Church in their Disputes and Writings are much more inclinable to believe the Salvation of Heathens to be possible than of any of those Christians whom they are pleas'd to call Hereticks The Faith of the Church of Rome is certainly none of the best but of one of the greatest and most essential Vertues of the Christian Religion I mean Charity I doubt they have the least share of any Christian Church this day in the World Secondly I observe not from any particular circumstance but from the main Scope and design of this Parable How very apt a great part of Christians are to neglect this great concernment of their Souls viz. a careful and due preparation for another World and how willing they are to deceive themselves in this matter
commandments in the general course of a holy and virtuous Life the Merit of Christ's perfect Obedience and Sufferings will be available with God for the acceptance of our sincere though but imperfect Obedience But if we take no care to be righteous and good our-selves the perfect righteousness of Christ will do us no good much less the imperfect righteousness of any other man who is a Sinner himself And the holiest man that ever was upon Earth can no more assign and make over his Righteousness or Repentance or any part of either to another that wants it than a man can bequeath his Wisdom or Learning to his Heir or his Friend No more than a sick man can be restored to Health by virtue of the Physick which another man hath taken Let no man therefore think of being good by a Deputy that cannot be contented to be happy and to be saved the same way that is to go to Hell and to be tormented there in Person and to go to Heaven and be admitted into that Place of Bliss only by Proxy So that these good Works with a hard name and the making over the Merit of them to others have no manner of foundation either in Scripture or Reason but are all mere Fancy and Fiction in Divinity The Inference from all this shall be the application which our Saviour makes of this Parable Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh as if he had said the design of this Parable is to instruct us that we ought to be continually vigilant and always upon our guard and in a constant readiness and preparation to meet the Bridegroom because we know not the time of his coming to Judgment nor yet which will be of the same consequence and concernment to us do any of us know the precise time of our own Death Either of these may happen at any time and come when we least expect them And therefore we should make the best and speediest provision that we can for another World and should be continually upon our watch and trimming our Lamps that we may not be surprized by either of these neither by our own particular Death nor by the general Judgment of the World Because the Son of man will come in a Day when we look not for Him and at an hour when we are not aware More particularly we should take up a present and effectual resolution not to delay our Repentance and the reformation of our Lives that we may not have that great Work to do when we are not fit to do any thing no not to dispose of our temporal Concernments much less to prepare for Eternity and to do that in a few moments which ought to have been the care and endeavour of our whole Lives That we may not be forced to huddle up an imperfect and I fear an insignificant Repentance and to do that in great haste and confusion which certainly does require our wisest and most deliberate thoughts and all the consideration in the world And we should provide store of Oil in our Vessels wherewith to supply our Lamps that they may burn bright to the last I mean we should improve the Grace which we received in Baptism by abounding in the fruits of the Spirit and in all the substantial Virtues of a good Life that so an entrance may be ministred to us abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ By this means when we are called to meet the Bridegroom we shall not be put to those miserable and sharking shifts which the foolish Virgins were driven to of begging or borrowing or buying Oyl which will all fail us when we come to depend upon them And though the Dying man may make a hard shift to support himself with these false Comforts for a little while yet when the short Delusion is over which will be assoon as ever he is stepp'd into the other World he will to his everlasting confusion and trouble find the door of Heaven shut against him and that notwithstanding all his vast Treasure of Pardons and Indulgences which have cost him so much and are worth so little he shall never see the Kingdom of God And lastly we should take great care that we do not extinguish our Lamps by quitting the Profession of our Holy Religion upon any temptation of advantage or for fear of any loss or suffering whatsoever This Occasion will call for all our Faith and Patience all our Courage and Constancy Nunc animis opus Aenea nunc pectore firmo When it comes to this Trial we had need to gird up the loins of our minds to summon all our forces and to put on the whole armour of God that we may be able to stand fast in an evil day and when we have done all to stand And now my Brethren to use the words of St. Peter I testify unto you that this is the true Grace of God wherein ye stand The Protestant Reformed Religion which we in this Nation profess is the very Gospel of Christ the true ancient Christianity And for God's sake since in this hour of Temptation when our Religion is in so apparent hazard we pretend to love it to that degree as to be contented to part with any thing for it let us resolve to practise it and to testify our love to it in the same way that our Saviour would have us shew our love to Him by keeping his commandments I will conclude all with the Apostle's Exhortation so very proper for this purpose and to this present Time Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ that is chiefly and above all take care to lead lives suitable to the Christian Religion And then as it follows stand fast in one Spirit with one Mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel And in nothing terrified by your Adversaries which to them is an evident token of perdition but to you of Salvation and that of God Now unto Him that is able to stablish you in the Gospel and to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy To the only wise God our Saviour be Glory and Majesty Dominion and Power both now and ever Amen FINIS Books Published by his Grace JOHN Lord Archbishop of Canterbury THirty Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions in Three Volumes Octavo The Rule of Faith Or An Answer to the Treatise of Mr. Sergeant c. Octav. A Discourse against Transubstantiation Octavo Alone Price 3d. A Persuasive to frequent Communion in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Octavo alone price 3d. In Twelves bound price 6d A Sermon preached at Lincoln's-Iun Chappel on the 31st of January 1688. being appointed for a Publick Thanksgiving to Almighty God for having made his Highness the Prince of Orange the Glorious Instrument of the Great Deliverance of this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power A Sermon preached before the Queen at Whitehall on Matth. 5. 44. A Sermon preached before the King and Queen at Hampton Court on Luke 10. 42. A Sermon preached before the Queen on Matth. 25. 46. A Sermon preached before the House of Commons upon a Monthly Fast on Eccles. 9. 11. A Sermon preached before the Lord Mayor at Bow-Church upon the Monthly Fast on Jer. 6. 8. A Sermon Preached before the Queen on Acts 24 16. A Sermon preached before the Queen at Whitehall upon the Monthly Fast Septemb. 16 1691. on Zech. 7. 5. A Sermon preached before the Queen at Whitehall March 20. 1692. on Psalm 73. 25. A Thanksgiving Sermon preached before the King and Queen at Whitehall Octob. 27. 1692. on Jer. 9. 23 24. A Sermon preached before the King and Queen at Whitehall Feb. 25th 1693 4. Being the first Sunday in Lent On Titus the 3d. and the 2d Sermons concerning the Divinity and Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour Octavo A Sermon preached before the Queen at White-hall concerning the Sacrifice and Satisfaction of Christ on Heb. 9. 26. Octavo A Sermon concerning the Unity of the Divine Nature and Trinity on 1 Tim. 2. 5. Octavo V. 8 9 10 11 12. V. 8. V 9. V. 10. V. 8. V 9. V 13. 1 Pet 5. 12. Philip 1. 27.