I16 SERMONS uponthe SERM. XV. SERMON XV. MATT H. XXV.v..26,27. His Lord f id unto him, Thou wicked and f loath fail Servant ! thou knewefi that I ;lapel where I forced not, and gathered where I have not flrawed ; Thou oughtefi therefore to have put my Money to the Exchan- ger.s, and then at my coming I fhould have received mine own with ?)fury. Ere 'is the Mailers Reply to the Servants Allegation : In the words we have two things. 1. An Exprobration of his Naughtinefs and Sloth. z. A Retortion of his vain Excufe upon his own head, If thou knewefl, &c. Not as if the Lord did grant it to be true, that the floathful Servant had alleadged, but his own Opinions and Conceits were enough to convince him. (r.) Here is a auy :pncu, a Conceffion; For Difpute fake, be it as thou haft Paid. (a.) The Inference, Thou ou htefl therefore to have put my Money to the Exchan- gers, that et my coming I might have received my own with 7.)fury. The Argument Is returned upon himfelf ; The Bankers and Ufury here mentioned are only by way of comparifon, and can no more be urged to luttifie the putting Money to ufe, than, Behold I come as a Thief, can juftihe Theft ; or that Parable Luke r,6., fhould juftifie Fraud and Injuftice ; the unjuft Steward did wifely, Non fervi frau- dem, fed prudentiam, &c. Parables are not taken from thofe things that de jure ought to be done, but de fac7o are done.: Therefore I (hall not interpof any Judg- ment of mine upon this occafion, as to that cafe, whether any putting Money to ufe be lawful,yea or no: only obferve, That Chrift will have his own with Ufury, tome improvement he expeas when he cometh. Firfl, I begin with the Exprobration : 'Twas a fharp but well deferved'Reproof ; if the bad Servant had feared this aforehand, it might have been better with him ; flame is the fear of a juft Reproof. Mark the different entertainment of the good and bad Servant : there 'cis, Good and faithful Servant ; here, Thou wicked end flothful Servant : Chrift will upbraid the unfaithful at the day of Judgment. He is . called a wicked, evil Servant, becaufe unfaithful ; Sloath ful,, becaufe negligent. I Do&. A Sloathful Servant is a wicked Servant. Thefe two Terms are here coupled There is a twofold Sloath. Firft, Common: In the ordinary affairs of this Life, a.Thef: 3. so. We comntanded you, that if any would not work, neither fhould they eat : 1 Tim. 5. 8, r3. He that pro - v' a not for his own, is worfe than an Infidel: v. 13. And withal, they learn to be endly, Spiritual, called axndta, and Torpor fpiritualis, one of the (even deadly Hong the.Pipifls, a remits will in divine and heavenly matters; or a negli- in the duties of Holinefs, becaufe of the labour and trouble that accompam- m : Rom. 12. 11. Not floathful in Bufinefc, fervent in Spirit, ferving the Lord. Heb.
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