to the E PH E S I A N S. 359 How do you prove this 1 . W Read the place. When the Apollle had fpoke fuch great thmgs of men that Serm 01 z fall away, What cloth he fay? That they might nm be offended, he addeth XXVH. two things. Firll he cloth give them a fim!lttude to d1llmgu.1fi1 them from godly ~ men that arc truly fancrified, truly regenerate. And he g1veth the. very fame fi Tt de that is in the Parable. of the thorny ground. Paul mterpreteth ~~:i~~ For the Earth (faith he,) that drinknh ttp the raiu that cometh oft f and6ri11gtthforth Her6s meet for them by whom zt zs drejled, recez– ::J;~h ~/r/litJtfrom God; but thul which 6eareth Thorns a11dBriqrs, is rejt{f. d andls 11igh ttnto cmji11g, whoft tlld zs to 6t burned. Here IS the Parable fn:erpretcd, Your good Earth what is that? . The Earth.thatdoth bring forth fruit meet for the Dreffer, which God may reii!J', may dehght m. .Here is the )IOnell and good heart in the.Parable. Whans the Earth that bnngeth forth Thorns and Briars, that IS mgh unto curfing, 1! they ?o not repent; but thofe that have fuch dews from Heaven, enlightnmgs '· tallmgs of the powers of the World to come, and yet bring forth Thorns, the1r hearts remammg fhll unrege– nerate they fow among Thorns. Here you fee the Apo!lle explameth what Chrifi 'faith in the Parable , and both exprefs them to be unregenerate men. . In the Second place, that he may bring it more home to them, faith he at the 9th. verfe, We are per{waded better things of yo11, andthings that accomfany jalvatio11,though w e thUfjpake. He had fpoken .great thmgs _about enhghtmngs of men that might fall away, dlfcouragmg thmgs; Notwuhfiandmg all this faith he , we are perfwaded better things of you. .What betterthings? He fpeal<s of graces, better _then all ~hefe en!Jgl~tnmgs ~n them, that accompany falvation, or as the words m the Ongmal are lx'I'"M~"'f'"'• that have falvatwn Ill them, He that truly be!ieveth hatk eternal life, H~ that tm!y rtpettteth hath tternal lift; but all thefe en1If$htnmgs had not f~lvauon annexed to.them, (that is hi' fcope,) they were not favmg works, they d1d not put a man mto a fiateof grae<, into the !late of falvation. So that they remain fiill unregenerate, for why doth he fay, w e e:xptl16etta things ofyou? Not better in the event only,' -·· for that is the only evation that is for this; better fay they in event becaufe they ftll away and the others held out. No, better things in themfelves, things that have falvation in them. And he infianceth io two graces, The love of God and of his Saints. You will (ay thefewere poor things to be put in comparifon with t"hofe glorious things fpoken of before? Yet he cloth, Read the toth. verfe, For God is not wmghteoUJ_toforgetJ'Otlr w.ork a11d labotlr of lovel (this is a bet– t'er thfng than all thofe enhghtnmgs,) whtchyou have}hewedtowards hiS 11ame, itt thM)'Otl har.tc mi1tif/red tmtothe Sai11ts, To give a Cup of cold Water to a Difciple in my name faith Chrill;fo to do the lea(i good to a Saint in Chrifi's name as he is"his,is more than all thefe enlightnings, ihefe are things that accompany falvation,thefe are better things. I could much more enlarge upon this point, to thew you that they are unregenerate men out of thefe places. Only obferve this, which is a Corolary drawn · ~rom this 6th,He6. That faving workings and all thefe inferior workings where• fn a man remameth fhlllldh, (for they are nothmg elfe but a principle of n~ture wrought upon, he remameth corrupt lhll,) they are different kind of thmgs. Here he exprelfeth them to be better things, the things themfelves are better than all thofe enlightnings, &c. In Luh 8. 18. You lhall find there, that when Chrill had ended the Parrable of the Sower, how he concludeth, Take heed therefort how yott bear. It is in the clofure of that Parable, take in that firfi, and fo I will open it. T,,ke hud therefore (faith he, ) how ;•e hear, for whofoevrr hath to him jba!J begivm, and who{oever bath notfrom him /haft be taktn even that which he{temeth to hmH. Mark it, he fj1eaks it direcrly to interpret the Parable. Take heedhow J."U be.1r, for there are Three forts of hearers that are ~ot good, There is the high way fide, but we will not mention that. There is the fiony ground, they receive
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