CiIAP.S. Epiftle to the?heälonians; VsR. .t I. 457 R o N, that intrudes vpon it : yet in thçFamilie and pri- uare Conuerfation, the Duties belong to all, Two forts of people are here rcproued : firft of them, that,what in them hes,deftroy,rather than build ; rather quench, than further grace in others. The Rulers in Chrtfis time had made an Ordinance, Y That whofoeutr ioynedtoC'hrifhfhould be call out ofthe Synagogue. I make no queflion,But Gods Decree was as peremptory for the Ordainers, to call them out of his Kingdome. Chrift, 1 am lure, cries heauy Woe to fuch, as z neither entred thesnfelues, nor fuffered thole that would. And but that I know all haue not Faith, and that the World cannot re- ceiue the Spirit of God ; a man might make queftion, whether thefe were the daics of the New Teitament, I meant, forthe behauiou.r of the multitude. It was pro_ phefied of thole daics, a Theylh^uld one proueke ano_ ther to pietie. The Prophetic is fulfilled in chofe, whole hearts God hath feafoned.with Grace; whofo hinders it, glues euidence he harts nopart nor portion in this bufi nelle. How full -is euery Congregation of fcoffing I(h- maels,that lahourby reproaches, and like perfecutaons, to difcourage chofe they feecommrng onward to Chrift? It is true of thele times, that the Prophet complained of in Ifrac!, whorewalketh vprightly, makes him/elfe not a reproach onely,bur a prey.And,which is prodigious,me think es in Parents (to whom, what fhould be fe preci- ous as the foules of their children ? ) rather than they (hall flare in the Inheritance of the Saints, their tern porall Inheritance (hall be aliened from them. Woe and a heauy Woe to fuch : b Herr much better were it, that a Mill -ftone were hangedabout their necke, and they Cali into the Sea? Afecondfort, is of men finning by carelefre neglefl of theft Mine ; thinking it well, and enough for them, that they hinder no mans progreflion in grace. And fuie- ly, fuch are the times generally,that he fecmes to d cferue the iYfe, Toll. 9.22. zLuk. x2.52. a Zach.3.2i. 1Vhc. 4. 2. Mat. r S, à.
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