.m>oome.s~oap. -----Firll, th~yar'c HeretickJ, wicked Tares indeed: and that you may kflo1v who are thcfe: A'f"" is a choife, or eleCl:ion; at firll: a good word in Philophy taken t; a right from of learning: but now in Divinity it is a word of difgrace, a;d intend~r fluborn deviation from the received truth. This infettion (like the Tares) firll: beg· a n·/,les men jlerp, the Pall:ours negligeL1Ce give way unto it, and becaufe of its little fe 1~6 or final! beginning, it _is never heeded, or ~egardcd, till the v:hole houfe be infctleed: thus Popery crept up m the dark, ltke a thtef putting out the hghts, that he might rob Una(cimilla fuic. Torumorhem t jus th:nm3 ; populau eil· >71>./.24 the houfe more fecurcly; and as it began with a little, fo it went on by degrees ru an univerfal A~;ofl:awe was (as it were) over theface of the world. .Aitjlzne fai~h ~f ./lrrim h1s herehe, it was at firft but a lmlefpark, but 1t fprcad fo at !aft, that tbe flame ofit jinge~ the whole world: fo the Pope rofe by dcgreess firll: above Bifhops, then a– bove Pamarchs, then above. Co~ncel3, then above Kings, then above Scriptures, even fo th< Apollle fpeaks ot Antlchnft, He bath ex~tlted hunfelf above all thtu u called Cod, 2 Thef. 2. 4· Hcrdie creeps m at a httle hole, hke a plague that comes in at the win– dows, and then propagates it felfbeyond all meafure: 0 that thefe Tares were weeded that Ij/11nael were cafl: out of doors, [.)that Sarah and her fon Ifaac might live in quie; and peace; or if they mufl grow untill the harveft, what remains, but, Jbefeuh you, brethren, mark_rh.em whz'h caufc dtvifions and ojfenceJ, contrary to the dollrille rhat )'t ht~ve J\t;rn 16.17. Learned., and~tvutdthem. · Fugio pa– lcam, ne hoc tim; non are· ;~m, ne nihil fim. Augujlin. But as heretickJ,fo all reprobates are the Tares here fpoken of, they are offenders on aU hands, both in do:trinc. an~ convcrfation: and thus our Saviour interprets, The goodfeed «reehululdren oft,heKmgaome,bltt the Tares are the chddren ofthe wick.fd one, Verfe )3. And moft filty arc the reprobates called Tares in refpc(t of their j Intrufion here. · ( Separation hereafter. Firfr, as the Tares grow amongft corn, fo the wicked all their life afrociate thcmfclves with the godly; the Church (faith .Aufiin) is full both of wheat and chaffe: I avoid the chajfe left I bec•me chaffe, but I keep the floor left I become nothmg. \'Vhat elfe? in this life the beft company is not free from the intrufion of tares ; therefore cries Dav:d JVo is me that 1 am conflrained to dwell with Mefech, and to have my habitation among rh/tents •f Kedar,Pfal. I 20-4- No greater difcomfort than to Co·habit with the wicked: are they P[.t. 1 2'· 4· not pnckJ inyour eyes, Md thornes in yourfide. i yea, ·they arc thorncs indeed, faith the Nornb.H SS Lord to E:z:.ckicl, Lo, the thornes and briers are withthee, and thou duj/dtwllu 110 ng t;:_.k_. 2 6 . Scorp101u , Ezck. 2. 6. Sure we had no need of fecunty, that are thus compaft wirh encmics,th~ briers may fcartch us,the thornes pnck us,thcScorpions fling us,we canhard– ly fo cfcapc, but fome of thefe will hurt us. A good man with illcon•pany, is like a li ving man bound to a dead corps, and (may I appeal to your felves) is the living likely to revive the dead? or the dead more like to fuffocate the living? 0 ye children of the Kingdome, blcfre you whiles you live; lo, the tares arc among you like wolves a– monglt lambs ; be wife then in your carriage, and.J'avc your fclves, yourowrl'fouls. Secondly, as the tares, fo reprobates fhall one day be feparatcd from the Wheat, the good: In the time of harvefl (faith our Saviour) I will fay ro rhe reapers, Garher ye ftrfl the tares: here is that woful feparatior\'between true Chril!ians, and the profane wret– ches of this world. It is begun at death, and then mull: they part till the day of doom; Man/J. , 5 , 31• but when that comes, there muft be a final reparation; He fhall ft 11pon the throm•f h~s glo;y, and btFre him]hall begathered all11ations, ttndhe j/udl jep,.ratc rhrm mefro11iano– thcr, as a aJhepherd divideth hisJlecp from the goats, Matth. 25. p. Here is a fepar.· tion indeed, not for a day,· or a year, but for timelell'e eternity. Lo a l'ail and im· L•~' d. •6· mcafurablc gulf betwixt hca1·en and hell, fo that as .Abraham tells the rich man, TI"J that lvould p•-tf{cfrom hence toyou cfl,rmot, neither can they pajjc to us, that 1\'CJdd pttj{e from thencc,Luke I (;. 26. This is that endlefre divorce of the Wheat and Tr.rrs, this is that un· pafrablc dill:ancc 'twixt he~cn ancthcll, through all etc.nity. 0 mifcrablcTaw! what a loll'c bath befallen you? now you live with the Wheat, and you o'retop them, tmublc them, vex them with your fociety; but hereafter you mull: fhoke hands for ever; for the wheat muft begather<d into Gods barn, h1s Kmgdomc, wh1lell: the mtferable Tam 1rC gathered by Angels, and borrnd ttp m bundles[or rhe burnmg: Lo here n world oftares, and that I may gtve you them m a map, what are they but hypocrites, heretickJ, reprobam? all childrerr whatfocvcr, that have Satan to the1r Vfe father; for of them] is this fpokcn. The Proverb is, Ill weeds grow apace, nay they arc fo common, that it is hard to fct . the
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