( 96) t" everl>1jling ptt'Aijhment? Matth. 2.5. Do they fpeak any more of theever!afting tt!iYWJent(f,'the worm that dyet h not, the fire that i& unqnrnchable, then·Chr;'fl himfelf hath done? Matth. 13. 2 Thef. I. &c. Do you love to be fl~ttered into Hell ? and deceiveA in ~ matter of everlafl:ing confequence ? Is it not better for you to feareh your hearts, and try whetherpu have the Jfiirit of Chrift or ?<Jot, and then {earch the Scripture, and try whether any m•m be liu that hath not hisfpirit~ Rom. 8. 9. or can be faved ,that is not converted and born again of the fpirit, Matth. 18. 3. John 3. 3, 6. [Examine your [elves whetheryou be in the faith: Prove JOM oWn{elves. Knewye notyour own feives how thftt 'fefns {hri.fl u inyou except you be reprobates? 2 Cor. I 2. 5. Io. But you will fay, that the Rcafon of your difbfl:e againft thefe that are fo forward in Religion is, that they are inwardly tM bad as others , and M proud anA worldly ; and why do they not ex– cell others in good work.! , M mu6h ti5 they do in their devo- . ~ ttons ,. ·Anfw. I. So they do, according to their ~bility :Twenty years rryal and more I have -had of them fince I was a Minifier of Chrifl: ; and I can truly fay, that ordinarily I have known of ma. ny a iliilling, if not pounds, that have come from the purfcs of thefe that you call Puriranes and precife, for one groat or penny that I have known come from mofl: others about me of their rank, to any pious and charitable ufe. But all that are godly, arc not rich: and though Chrifi extollech the wid9ws tWo mitn, the flanders by regarded them not : Matth. I 2. 42. 43. 2 Cor. 8. 12. [If there 6e ftrft a -willing mind, it is accepted accerding to that a man hath, and not ~tccording to tb.lt he bath not. J And he that bath faid, [ T ak.§ heed thatyou do notyour lllms before men. to /Je feen of them; otherwife you have no reward of your Father which u in heaven, Matth. 6. I. J bath hereby kept bis fervants from making the world acquainted with much of their deeds of charity: And for the fins of the heart th!l.t you charge them with, they are known to none but God, unlefs they be difcovered in their lives. But malice in·all ages bath been ufed to fuch unproved flanders of the fervants of the Lord. 2. Bm fuppofc them ag bad as ·malice doth imagine : Is thai: any reafon why both they and you iliould not: be better ? It is Ho/imfs and not fin that I am pleading for. ll their gedlinefs and care of their falvation ne{ej[t~ry, or not? If it be, why do you not: - · ' imitate
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