T'be 'Parable of the fome line is drawn, nm a Sermon, Sabbath bur !ome good g'lt, or e\fe rhc) think rhemfelves half undone, noc a prayer but one !lep nearer to glory : The day is not long enough, and therefore rl~e nights are fFenr in wra!Hings IYith de An&el ; nay, in prevailing with God for rhemfelves and Churches, :md bleiTing on both ; Sabbaths are the day breJks of hea1•en, the fellowl11ip of Saints be_- terthen to !land before Kings , the fellowl11ip of Chri!l: in hean~n fo fweet, rh.1t in feekingo£ him men forget themfelves, nay ro eat their bre.1d; rh.lt if rhe Lord , l11ould hJve let mu: the vineyard of Ordinances to any Husbandmen in the world, who could or would have taken more pains to dig it, ro drefs it, tl:en lYe doe. Bclo1;ed, thofe enlargerr.enrs that are in any after rhe Lord, the Lord cherifu and increafe tl~em, but I fear \Ye may go fiye rimes about rhe tree before we fee fuch loaden boughs. I am much mi!laken if rhe bell: may not be difco1•ered , here, the fJirefl: flowers in the field mull: wirher, they cannot la!t, and rhe bell: affeCtions that are but temporary, that ha1·e aCted men mightily for a rime in rhe ule of means j mult perifu in rhe negleCt of means at lafl:. I fuall nor therefore meddle wirh profane or carnal Golpel!ers, fo much as with clofe deceivers of their own fouls ; and look as •ris in all fores, you may know where the for~ is by the tappings, foyou may know a f1uggard rhat negleCts means by his fuifrs : For if you obferve, no fin h.uh fo many fuifts and colours for it as rhis ; SP.ul when he had nor gone through fiich wirh the Lords work in /laying the Amalek_ites, what adoe had Samud to convince him? He tells a lye, lays the blame on rhe people, propounds the goodendandaffetl:ionhehad; So here: Thus iris wirh many,;s Vt'z-. , I. Thofe chat live in a fecret negleCt of means, and. yet hope to corr:e to 1 their end, becaufe of their delires; we fuatl finde the Scripture gives us two lorrs of delires. I. Of the righteous. z. Of the f1uggard, I. Thedejim ufth~ righmus, Prov. Io. 24. Jhall be granted, bein~ orearhings of Gods eternal Spirit, not a ligh or groan unar.1£ivered. 2, Of the iluggard, Prov. 2 I. I 5. The defire of the Jlorhful kjlls him, for his hands rtfufe to l~tbour; rbe ddires of the righteous are ever fpurs to quicken them up in the ufe of means mightily, tbe delires of the lluggard biic;lle him up, tpey binde his hands, and fetter his feet £hat he cannot bur negleCt mems ~ Some delires there be that arife from the need of a good, and here will not o1.1\y be delires, but ~11 means ufed, as in point. of famine; fome only from want of a good, and here a ·man ufually comenrs himfelf with bare delires, never hath a heart to ufe the means mightily' for that end. Many a one is canvince'd his !l:ate is miferable, and fears it, and 1?al..am-like, fees -the ble!fednefs of rhe Feople of God, and knows -he wants pardon, and life, and peace, and promifes, and Chrifi, and delires ir; oh that I mi&htdie theirde.ttb, oh that I might live and drink that water, char I mi~ht thirlt no more, oh that my fins were pardoned, oh that my heart was humbled. But ivhar if the Lord aram them no peace nor pardon? Do they make eanae!l: enquiry after the Lor~ Chri!l: with refilefs purfuirs and groans be-· caufe they need it, is it worth that ? 'Oh no, but yet they hope God wilt be fo merciful as to accept rheir delires , and fo th~:y reil:, and live and die in rha£ reil:, oh poor creatures your defire; kill you ; a~ a man is undone with ilorhful fervams that cannot earn their own, much lefs get their maflers bread. And many in Hell, fay I had thought my defires would have carried me to glory, but now I fee they have been f1orhful, and here I mull: perifu and fami!h for ever; had I known of rilis, I would rather have wept ou~ my eyes , and filled the world with my forrowful complainrs, my meditations of the Lord fuould have been at midnight l I would have deceived my eyes of Deep at night, and deprived my felf of bread at day, and loll: my limbs, had I but known that by contenting my felf with rhefe delires, I fuou!d have loll: my life. Here many Chri!l:i~ns are falily bottomed, they are troubled about their eflate,
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