Caryl - Houston-Packer Collection BS1415 .C37 v7

Chap, 22. An Expof:tion upon 'tke Book of J o B. Verf, z fantly girds himfelf, and makes his fervants fit down to meat, and will come and ferve them : fo thathere he fpeaks, as if the Lord were much beholden to thefe fervants. whereas before he fpeakes ofthem as unprofitable fervants, towhom he was not at all be- holding. For the clearingof there two Parables, we are to diffinguifh them by their (capes. Thefcope of the Parable in the i 2 h Chap. ter is to fhew,that the diligent fervant (hall receive much from the hands of the Lord, or that the labour of the diligent fervant (hall not bein vain, or unprofitable to him. But the fcope ofthe Parable in the r7:h Chap. is to Phew, that the molt diligent fervant cannot doe any thing that is profitable =unto bis Lord, Hemay doe that which may beprofitable to him- felfe, but he can doe nothingthat can be profitable to his Lord, that's the fcope of the 17chChapter, which falls in fully with the Text, and obfervations that I am nowupon. There is a wide dif- ference between thefe two parables. To thew what a dilligent fervant may expeíî, is one thing, and what the molt diligent fer- vant can challenge or require is another. For indeed chofe fer- vants inthe a z h Chapter, to whom the Lord adminilters the Supper, or towhom heminiflers at Supper, muff fay that they are 'unprofitable fervants to the Lord though they are to acknow- ledge (to the praife of their Lord) that hit fervice bath not been unprofitable unto them, and they muff fay foupon thefe confide- rations. Firfthe is their Lord, they his fervants, not their owne ( Cor. 6.20.) Tea are bought with a price, yea are notyour own, therefore glorifieGod inyour bodies twin yourfpirits which areGods. God is theowner of our bodies and fpirits, our (elves a -e the Lords. Now if we our felves, our bodies, and our fpirits are the Lords, thenmuch more are our fervices his. Ifthe perfon be a- nothers, all the work done byhimmuff be his too. Secondly, The houle wherein thefe fervants are fe.fted is the Lords. The whole fabrickof heaven and earth is his houfe, He bath fec it up to entertain and feaft his people in. Thirdly , All thecheere and good things with which theLord feaffeth his fervants ( all the comforts which grace holds out in this life, or glory in the next life) areof his own proviti- on, the whole furniture of the Table is of his colt and charge,

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