Practical DISCOURSES UPON THE Morality OF THE GOSPEL Printed MDCXCIX TO THE READER MOrality is my Business Morality Improv'd Exalted and Rais'd nearer Heaven by Religion If Controversie ever happens to lye fairly in my way I shall as fairly pass it by without taking any Notice of it I am not at all desirous to Dispute with my Reader but to do him good Which I believe is seldom done by Arguing and Disputing The best thing that Controversie can do is to shew us clearly which is the True Religion And I presume All Parties are Agreed that This is a very Necessary Point or otherwise they would not think it worth their quarrelling so fiercely and so obstinately about it But yet when This is done we are only beginning the Great Work of our Salvation The Best Religion in the World can never Save us without a constant Practice of the Best Morality The Faith and Law of Christ must always go together The Creed and the Commandments must never upon any Terms be parted The First Part will not do without the Second 'T is always defective and wants the other Half to make up a Whole Christian I may therefore boldly say The Subject which I Treat of is the Best I could have chosen I know no Entertainment Better for a Christian than the Morality of the Gospel which is the Law of Christ As for the Style and Method of the following Discourses I leave them to speak for themselves They were the usual Employment of my Morning-Thoughts intended chiefly for my own Private Improvement And tho' I am far from Admiring them yet having found some benefit in the Writing I do not quite despair but that some few may find the like in Reading them My Friends perhaps may wonder to see me again in Print especially after having Publickly Declar'd That I had now done Scribling But however I hope they will not Accuse me of Inconstancy when I assure them that my Judgment and my Inclination are still the same and that 't is only by Advice that I have chang'd my Resolution They may also please to Reflect that having taken some pains to prove in Doubtful Cases the Security of Blind Obedience it would look a little strangely if I durst not venture to Practise it The Contents Discourse I. Of Hearing the Word of God Discourse II. Of the Advantages of Christianity and Duties of a Christian Discourse III. Of the Love of God and the World Discourse IV. Of Worldly Policy and Christian Prudence Discourse V. Of Christian Humility Discourse VI. Of Christian Marriage and the Means to Sanctifie it Discourse VII Of True Repentance Discourse VIII Of the small Number of the Elect. Discourse I. Of Hearing the Word of God WHEN many People were gathered together and made haste out of the Cities to come to Jesus he spoke by a Parable The Sower went out to Sow his Seed and as he Sowed some fell by the way and it was trodden down and the Fowls of the Air devour'd it And some fell upon a Rock and being sprung up it wither'd away because it wanted Moisture And some fell among Thorns and the Thorns springing up with it choked it And the other fell upon good Ground and being sprung up bore Fruit an Hundred-fold And when he had said these things he cried He that has Ears to hear let him hear Whereupon his Disciples ask'd him What this Parable might be And he said Vnto you it is given to know the Mystery of the Kingdom of God but to others in Parables that Seeing they may not See and Hearing they may not Vnderstand Now the Parable is this The Seed is the Word of God Those whose Seed falls by the Way are they that Hear and then comes the Devil and takes the Word out of their Hearts lest they should Believe and be Saved They whose Seed falls upon the Rock are they who when they have Heard Receive the Word with Joy and these have no Root Who for a time Believe and in time of Temptation fall away And that which fell among Thorns are they who have Heard and going forth are choked with Cares and Riches and Pleasures of this Life and bring no Fruit. But that which falls on the good Ground are they who in a good and honest Heart having Heard the Word Keep it and bring forth Fruit with Patience Luk. 8. ver 4 to 16. The Word of God is the Seed of Salvation the Seed of those Vertues by which we save our Souls The Heart of Man is the Ground in which this Seed is Sown And if the Ground be good it will Receive the Seed and Keep it and bring forth Fruit with Patience 'T is no wonder therefore that the Prophet exhorts us to prepare our Hearts to God and Serve him only because we cannot Serve him unless we first prepare our Hearts and fit them for his Service It is not Grace alone that makes the difference 'twixt Saints and Sinners The very same Degree of Grace which is Receiv'd by some is many times Refus'd by others And the Receiving or Refusing of it very much depends upon the preparation of our Hearts The Seed miscarried Three several ways 'T was Devour'd Wither'd and Chok'd Not because there were Three forts of Seed but because the same Seed Fell upon Three sorts of Ground The First did not Receive it the Second did not Keep it the Third brought no Fruit to perfection I. The First Ground did not Receive it Because 't was totally Neglected and continually Trampled under Foot The Husbandmen were Idle and never offer'd to Cultivate it The Passengers were ever busie to and fro and made it too hard for any Seed to Enter And this is the common Case of many People's Hearts 1. They take no Care to Prepare them 2. They spare no Pains to Harden them 1. They take no Care to Prepare their Hearts for the Reception of the Word of God They never make it any Considerable part of their Business to be well acquainted with it If they read it or hear it 't is either Curiosity or Custom 't is not Inclination that prompts them to it And when all is done they seldom or never seriously Consider it For want of a free acquaintance with it they never know how lovely it is in it self And for want of loving it as it deserves they give it a very cold reception in their Minds and none at all in their Hearts The Word of God is in their Ears when they hear it in their Minds when they think of it but never is in their Hearts till they Love it Hatred indeed belongs to the Heart as well as Love But Hatred banishes and drives it away 't is only Love receives it and embraces it And how should they Love it without knowing the Value of it Or how should they rightly Understand it without Conversing freely and familiarly with it As partial as we are in favour of our selves we cannot reasonably
expect that our Salvation should cost us nothing and that God should either force our Happiness upon us whether we will or no or let us find it by chance without enquiring after it 'T is enough that he is always ready to help us and that because he takes delight in Crowning and Rewarding our Labors therefore he will always have us take some pains to help our selves He bids us seek He tells us we shall find And if we do not think the finding worth our seeking whose fault is it but our own Such Sinners as we are have little reason to complain that God deals hardly with us because he does not speak more plainly to us 'T is true our Knowledge of Heavenly things is so Mysterious and Obscure that St. Peter Compares it to a Light that shines in a Dark place But however the least Degree of Knowledge is more than is due to those who deserve Eternal Darkness And besides 't is better for us that it should be so Obscurity is an Advantage to the Good It Exercises their Faith Encreases their hearty Desires of Knowing more and more in this World and Enflames their fervent Prayers for the Happiness of Seeing All in the next 'T is then that we are truly Happy when all the Desires of our Heart are fully and securely Satisfied And since our Hearts expect to be so well Rewarded there it is but just they should be put upon their Trial and do something to deserve it here The Obscurity of our Faith is the great Trial of our Hearts If God had pleas'd to let so strong a Light break in upon our Minds as might Convince us evidently and force us to See clearly what now we only Believe our Heart would have lost its Liberty of Chusing and could not have deserv'd any Thanks for taking the right side The worst of Hearts as well as the best would have equally submitted to the Conquering Power of Evidence And tho' God's Mercy might perhaps appear his Justice could not shew it self either in punishing Sinners or in the more delightful part of it the just Rewarding of Saints Whereas according to the present Course of Providence his Justice is as glorious as his Mercy He Mercifully gives us Light and Strength sufficient to See and Do what he Commands He Reconciles our Liberty with his Decrees He sets before us Good and Evil and puts it in our own free Power to make what Choice we please All this is infinitely Merciful and more than we deserve His Light is always ready to Direct our Steps There 's nothing wanting on our part but that we Open our Eyes to see it A good and honest Heart is always willing and prepar'd to See and Do its Duty But a Perverse and Wicked One that frowardly and wilfully Refuses to See its Duty because it has no mind to Do it A Heart that will not apply the Mind to an impartial and sincere consideration of its Choice but blindly follows where its inclination leads A Heart I say which thus Neglects and Slights God's Mercy very well deserves to fall into the Hands of his Severest Justice and be given over to the Power of Darkness which it is so fond of We read in the Gospel That when many People were gather'd together and made haste out of the Cities to come to Jesus he spoke to them by a Parable The Eternal Word is made Flesh His Doctrine is deliver'd in Parables The one and the other are both of them partly Manifested to us and partly Hidden from us not that they may not be found by us but that we may seek for a more perfect Knowledge of them and seeking it we may deserve to find it We read moreover That when he had said these things he cried He that has Ears to Hear let him Hear That is He that Hears let him take Care to Vnderstand They had all of them Ears to Hear But alas it is not sufficient to Hear with our Ears our Minds and Hearts must be Attentive to what we hear or else we hear in vain Whereupon his Disciples asked him What this Parable might be And he said Vnto you it is given to know the Mystery of the Kingdom of God but to others in Parables The reason was because altho' these others had Curiosity enough to gather together and make haste out of the Cities to See and Hear him yet when they had Seen and Heard him they were so Unconcern'd and Careless that Seeing they did not care to See and Hearing they did not desire to Vnderstand But the Disciples were more hearty and sincere and therefore unto them it was given to know the Mystery of the Kingdom of God The Parable gave them some little Light This little excited a great desire of more They sought for it and they found it They ask'd for it and they had it for asking 2. It commonly happens that they who take no Care for the reception of the Word of God are otherwise very busie and spare no pains to Harden their Hearts against it A Heart that lyes in common open to all that comes or goes a constant thorough-fare of idle vain impertinent Amusements is hardned like the beaten Road the best Counsels make little or no Impression upon it 't is insensible of the sharpest Reproof and impenetrable to all good Advice Whatever Seed falls there it takes no Root but is immediately Trodden down or presently devour'd We read in the Gospel That when they hear the Word the Devil comes and takes the Word out of their Hearts He leaves it in their Minds but at the same time fills their Heads with Crowds of other Thoughts which Trample it under Foot and make their Hearts too hard to receive it He leaves it in their Minds not to Direct them but to Self-condemn them and takes it out of their Hearts for fear lest they should Believe and be Saved He fears they would love it if they began to like it He fears they would believe it firmly and hold fast to it if they loved it And therefore is afraid they would be Saved if they Believ'd it For this reason he is ever busie in contriving Ways and Means to Secure their Hearts to himself He manages all manner of Temptations with his utmost Skill to enslave them to the Pleasures of this Life He never fails in time and season to Suggest such Thoughts as he imagines may Create a Prejudice against their Duty and the Difficulties of it He pushes them on from one Folly to another and drives them into a perpetual Circle of Diversions and Employments which leave no room for Reading Meditating Praying and Endeavouring to Save their Souls And thus at length he Corrupts them to such a Degree that they cannot endure to Hear the Word of God because they cannot abide to Believe it They are so far from caring for the Light of Faith that they take all Care imaginable to avoid it They despise and hate it
who is Solicitous for this World may easily deceive himself in this Matter He may Esteem God a great deal more and yet Love him a great deal less The Disciples had a great Esteem of our Saviour and thought they loved him better than their Lives They All declared they would rather die with him than deny him And yet immediately after the Chief of them denied him and all the rest forsook him When they look'd upon the time of Trial at a distance they had a great Opinion of their Strength But when the Occasion was present they soon discover'd their Weakness This was once their Case And God only knows how often it has been ours Their Case you 'll say was different because they were Guilty of a great Presumption But pray consider a little Are not we as guilty as they Do we not presume as much Are we not as confident of our own Strength We know very well that the Love of this World is a Mortal Enemy to the Love of God And therefore if we do not daily watch the Motions of this Enemy oppose its Progress and cut off all Communications which may any way Fortifie it if on the contrary we daily furnish it with all Provisions Ammunitions and Arms against us if we thus despise the Strength of our Enemy is it not Visible that we too much confide in in our own And if we commonly neglect those daily Considerations Exercises and Endeavours which are necessary to Encrease and Fortifie the Love of God is not this a downright Presumption in our own Sufficiency as if we already loved him enough Remember the Fall of the Apostles Remember how grievously they were mistaken Remember that not only their Doctrines but even their Failings ought to be an Instruction to us Never let us confide in our present Love of God but let us daily endeavour to Improve it Never let us despise the Strength of our Worldly Love but let us daily endeavour to abate it If we could serve two Masters we might be Solicitous for both But since we can only serve One 't is a dangerous thing to be Solicitous for any Other You cannot serve God and Mammon says our Saviour therefore I say unto you Be not Solicitous for this Life III. We have seen how Dangerous it is to be Solicitous for any thing in this World The rest of the Gospel shews us that his Solicitude is altogether needless If there were any necessity of it our Saviour would not forbid it The Words are plain Be not Solicitous for your Life And indeed if we seek first the Kingdom of God if the Service of God be truly and sincerely our first and principal Concern 't is evidently needless to be Solicitous for our Life He made us for himself and for his own sake he takes care of us Not that he is any way the better for us but because he naturally takes delight in doing good to All who do not wilfully oppose the overflowing of his Goodness He gave us our Life that if we please we may be Happy by employing it entirely in his Service And as long as we serve the Master who gave us this Life our Self-preservation is in better Hands than our own All the Malice of Men and Devils put together can never take away our Life without our Master's order or his leave And therefore whensoever either by his leave or by his order the appointed Hour of our Death approaches we may be assur'd our Master has no more occasion for our Service and therefore we have no Pretensions to Live longer There is only One thing Necessary in this World and that 's our Duty to our Master And whensoever our Duty stands in Competition with our Life if we are true and faithful Servants we shall always readily and cheerfully conclude Our Duty is Necessary but our Life is not When things are in this posture 't is evident that the Observance of this Duty is the last Piece of Service which our Master requires at our Hands And since our Service is the End for which our Life was given us if we wish to out-live our Service we are every jot as unreasonable as if we wish'd to out-live the End of our Life You 'll tell me perhaps you are very willing to Die when God pleases But you are afraid of wanting the Necessary Conveniences of Humane Life and therefore you are justly Solicitous for fear of being Miserable whilst you Live And truly you are partly in the right You have all the Reason in the World to be willing that God should chuse the Hour and appoint the Moment of your Death because He only knows what Time is best and fittest for us But since we are willing to trust him with our Life why should we not as willingly trust him with all things else belonging to it He has promis'd to take Care of us He knows better than we do what is good for us He loves us better than we love our selves His Power is boundless and cannot be obstructed Is not this enough to secure us He is infinitely Powerful He is able says S. Paul to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think He is infinitely Good He cannot but Delight in being so to those that serve him He is infinitely Wise He cannot commit the least mistake in our Concerns In a Word his Wisdom his Goodness and his Power all concurr to Ensure the Blessings of his Providence which by a Solemn Promise is engaged for ever to be favourable to us Seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and All these things shall be added to you 'T is the Voice of Truth it self Truth cannot tell a Lie His Promise cannot fail Is it not the First Article of our Creed to believe in God the Father Almighty Does not the First of all our Petitions begin with these comfortable Words Our Father who art in Heaven If we believe him to be Our Father ought we not to believe that he will certainly be careful of his Children And if we really believe He is always careful of us what need we at any time be Over-careful and Solicitous for our selves Therefore I say unto you says our Saviour Be not Solicitous for your Life what you shall eat nor yet for your Body what you shall put on He only forbids our being Solicitous He does not forbid us to Work and Labour for an Honest Livelyhood Our Heavenly Father does not encourage Idleness in his Children He expects that we should be industrious in doing of our part And when we have done that He 's always ready to supply the rest And to satisfie us concerning this matter our Saviour is not contented to give us his bare Word for it but uses several Arguments in order to convince us Is not the Life more than Meat says he and the Body more than Clothing He who freely and frankly bestows upon us what is more will he deny us
the Darkness they were in The God of this World had blinded their Minds And they hated the Light because their Works were Evil. Alas They did not care for the Kingdom of Heaven An Earthly Kingdom was the chief thing they desired They expected the Messiah to Redeem them from the Slavery of their Enemies to Enrich them with the Spoils of Conquer'd Nations and to make the whole World Tributary to them They loved themselves too well to care for any thing else and loved this World too much to be concern'd for any other Their Business was to build their Tabernacles here The great Employment of their Minds was to contrive a Paradice on Earth And their whole Souls were taken up with striving to be Rich and Powerful that they might purchase and command whatever Pleasures they desir'd And therefore when the Messiab came to undeceive them they were so surprized they could not believe he was the Person whom they had so long expected They did not imagine his design was only to Redeem them from the Slavery of Sin to assist them in the Conquest of their Vices and to make their Passions Tributary to their Reason The Objects of these Passions were the Idols which they had so long Adored and Worshipt with as furious a Zeal as any of the Heathens round about them and these they would not part with upon any Terms They would not endure to have them Abandon'd Undervalued and Despised No no say they We will not have this Man Reign over us And thus you plainly see 't was their Idolatry which made them so blindly Zealous 't was their prodigious Folly which made them so strangely Malicious against him We read in our present Gospel that the Pharisees went and Consulted together how they might Catch him in his Discourse His Actions they could not Condemn He went about doing good to all He was in all things a living Example of Goodness But however their Malice made them hope to Catch him and lay hold of some unwary Words in his Discourse This was not the first Onset We read in the foregoing Chapter how they sought to lay hands on him but durst not because they feared the Multitude who took him for a Prophet They durst not meddle with him And therefore away they went and Consulted together how to Catch him another time We read in S. Luke how they watched him and sent forth Spies to feign themselves Just Men that they might take hold of his Words that so they might deliver him to the Power of the Governour They feigned themselves Just They knew well enough the true Character of Goodness But the Malice of their Hearts abused the best and clearest Light of their Minds They knew how to act their part but could not endure the sincere practice of it A wicked Man is always the worse for his Knowledge The more he has the more cunning he is in making ill use of it and imploying it against his Neighbour instead of improving it to himself They knew very well the Qualifications of a Prophet sent by God Master say they we know that thou art true and teachest the way of God in truth neither dost thou care for any Man for thou regardest not the Persons of Men. They appeal'd to his Integrity to decide the Rights of Caesar and the People They knew how hard it was to please both Parties and how dangerous to give offence to either They wanted the assistance of the one or other to destroy him The Multitude took his part because they took him for a Prophet The Emperor had nothing to say against him so long as he did not meddle with the Government And therefore the only Comfort of their Malice was the Hope they had to make him chuse one side that they might make him odious to the other There is nothing so Rash and Enterprizing as Vanity A Man who is possess'd with a greedy desire of Popular Esteem will stick at nothing to Purchase it The Pharisees by Experience knew the force of it The Gospel tells us how they loved to do things to be seen by Men. And therefore they cunningly endeavour'd to insinuate how much they admir'd their Master already and that nothing could Crown his Merit with a greater Addition of Glory than his being bold enough to Declare against Caesar Tell us therefore say they What thinkest thou Is it Lawful to give Tribute to Caesar or not Do but tell us boldly that we who are God's People are free from Tribute and that it is not Lawful to pay it to Caesar Tell us only this and we shall all of us Conclude That no Man ever gave a greater instance of his Teaching the way of God in Truth without caring for any Man and without regarding the Persons of Men. Thus they maliciously contrive his Ruin whilst he kindly aims at nothing but their Good They flatter him and try to entangle him whilst he deals sincerely with them and makes it his business to undeceive them They praise his Generosity with a wicked intention to make him Proud and Indiscreet whilst he discovers their Hypocrisie with a Charitable Design to make them Wise and Humble He perceived their Malice and thus Expostulated with them Why do ye tempt me ye Hypocrites Why are you so foolish as to have other Gods before me and only feign your selves Just in presence of him who by so many Miracles has proved he is the One True God who sees thâ— Secrets of your Hearts Why are you so Malicious as to seek the Ruin of a Man who comes from Heaven to Redeem you and to Save you from Eternal Misery Why are you so Vnjust to God your Neighbour and your Selves III. What was it that made the Heathens so Malicious against the Primitive Christians What made them so Vnjust in persecuting as to lay aside all Rules and Forms of Justice The Principal and Fundamental reason was because the Christian Faith opposed the Worship of their Gods Tertullian in his Apology tells us That when they were Indicted as Criminals they were not vouchsafed the Justice of Legal Trials They were Tortur'd after they Confess'd they were not heard in their own Defence they were denied all benefit of the Law and after all they were not allow'd to offer their Humble and Dutiful Petitions to their Prince for any Redress Such Proceedings as these were not only contrary to the received Laws of the Empire but against the Common Liberties of Humanity and Nature and the Allowance of all Just Governments In other matters they observed some measures of Equity But when their Idols were opposed their Passion banish'd all manner of Reason and left no Room for Justice This is the common Case of all Self-lovers They are Vnjust to God whose Worship they give to his Creatures Vnjust to their Neighbour whose Concerns they Sacrifice to their own and Vnjust to themselves whose Body and Soul they Damn for all Eternity We read in Scripture He that
not rely upon the length or number of our Prayers we must Pray much and Labour a great deal more we must Pray sometimes and Labour always our Praying is only part of our Duty the whole of it chiefly consists in doing all we can to perform it Although we Pray for our selves although the whole Church offers up her Prayers for us although not only the Saints on Earth but all the Saints in Heaven join their Humble Supplications with ours all this will never prevail unless we add our own Endeavours and do whatever we are able to the utmost of our Power We read in the Gospel when they wanted Wine the Mother of Jesus saith unto him They have no Wine She Intercedes not with the Authority of a Mother but with the Humility and Lowliness of a Handmaid She barely Recommends their Want with that Simplicity and Modesty and Loving Confidence which even we Sinners may presume to Imitate Our Saviour's answer seems a little Surprizing Woman what 's that to me and thee He does not so much as call her Mother He seems to Check the forwardness of her Submissive Request by telling her his Hour was not yet come But at the same time he designed to do as she desir'd And knew very well that although the Hour was not yet come it was not very far off Her Humble Prayer was a great Step towards it And when the Servants had done their Duty in following her direction and doing whatsoever Jesus said unto them when they had fill'd the Water-pots with Water and fill'd them up to the Brim when they had done what they were bid to do and whatsoever they were able when they could not now do more than they had done already then the Hour was come for Christ himself to do the rest Deaw now says he and present it And then it was that all the Company were Witnesses the Hour appointed for the Miracle was come when they plainly Tasted that the Water was made Wine If we apply this duly to our selves the Application will be very Instructive The Church of God who is our common Mother and is to us the Mother of Christ by forming his Spirit in us is very sensible of our Want and daily Recommends us in her Prayers to Christ the Saviour of his Body that our decaying Fervour may revive again and our Devotion which is grown quite Pall'd and Dead may be Inspired and Animated with new Life and Vigour She Prays here upon Earth She Prays in Heaven also where her better part is now Triumphant Secure of their own Happiness and only Solicitous for ours And surely if the Fervent Prayer of one Righteous Man as the Apostle says avails so much the Prayers of so many Saints both here and there must needs be very Prevalent But yet we must not lay more stress upon the Matter than 't is able to bear Their Praying as much as we please will never serve our turn without our doing as much as we can This we can all of us do And more than this we are none of us obliged to But this at least we must always do or else all Praying is in Vain When we fall into Sin we feel our Weakness And when we strive to rise we feel it more We therefore Pray to God to help us The Church Prays for us too But all this while we do not sufficiently consider that it is not in the Power of God himself to help us unless we help our selves To help us is not to do the Work for us but to do it with us And then it is that the Almighty helps us when we do those Duties with him which we cannot do without him Repentance and Amendment are things which are not to be done by Proxy Another's Repenting does not change our Hearts another's Mending does not make us better Such things as these are Personal which we our selves must do or else we must All Perish And hence it follows clearly that unless we help our selves it is impossible for God to help us How unreasonable therefore is the common Practice of those People who take great Care to ask God's help and take no Care to have it They Pray all and do nothing When they have done their Prayers they think they have no more to do They Pray indeed that they may Seriously and Heartily begin a thorough Reformation of their Lives but still they let their Duty take its Fortune without ever beginnâ—â—g to go about it in good earnest 'T is very observable in our present Gospel that in order to the Miraculous Change of Water into Wine there was more done than said The Mother of Jesus said only three or four Words to him But there was a great deal more to be done There were no less than Six Water-pots to be fill'd and great ones too such as were then in use for the Washing or Purifying of the Jews Our Saviour kindly designing to Work a Beneficial Miracle which might not only be a Relief of their Poverty at present but a Provision against it for the Future 'T is also worth observing that the Virgin-Mother's Exhortation to the Servants was more ample and more earnest than her Prayer to her Son because She knew very well her Petition would never be granted unless the Servants took great Care to do whatsoever Jesus said unto them Neither is it less Remarkable that he no sooner said unto them Fillâ—â— be Water-pots with Water but they immediately obey'd and fill'd them up to the Brim and in the very Moment of their doing so the Miracle was done the Water was made Wine If Christ had order'd them to fill the Water-pots with Wine they might have justly pleaded it was more than than they could do But since he only commanded them to fill them up with Water they had no Excuse left the Water was near at Hand they might easily have it for fetching and a little Labour was enough to do the Work This puts me in Mind of a Celebrated Sentence of S. Austin God does not command impossible things but by commanding gives us warning to do what we can and to ask what we cannot Let us only do what we can and what we cannot we are sure to have for asking We are sure I say to have it granted in Proportion to what we do and may be in a greater Measure than we ask If we consider well the Matter of Fact we shall find the Quantity of Wine was more than any Body ask'd but neither one Drop more nor less than what the Servants did in Drawing Water and Filling Had the Water been less the Wine had been so too And had they Drawn no Water they would have had no Wine at all The Wine I speak of is the Wine of Grace That Wine which Inebriates the Soul with all Celestial Delights and makes it so Heavenly-minded that it Loaths and Hates the Intoxicating Wine of Worldly Pleasures That Noble Generous and All-victorious Grace which