4 Re11[on.1. The Parable of the Ten P irgins, ! perfecution Paul is preaching rill midnight, and rhe Lord is reme!Tlb red in rhe I fongs, and ~ghs, and prayers ?f rhc nighr-feafon ; bur in times of peace, peace likejaels mtlk and burrer llupifies all rhe fences, though dethuCl:ion b~ near ; i Hence '])eut.6. I 2. Then forget not the Lord. Do y~u think that N o.th in rhcll Ark, whea rhe ' waters fwelled above rhe mounrams, was fecute? no, bur whenrhewarers ceafed, and he hadhis Vineyard planted, now he fleepsin his drunkennefs, becaufe he knew nor the llrength of wine. In rhe Vi roinChurch, where rhis fleep is, we fuppofe this freedom from evil. " 2. Becaufe rhere men are mofl free from inward pain ; for where there is much grief and pain, there's no refl, though all the houfc about be Hill ; bl(l: when the houfe is HiJI,and the body.well,now ris hard bur there may be reH; Whiles the Chrillian dorh Jive under Amichriflian pollution, his Confcience bath no refl, and hence 'ris awake there ; here ( f.1irh the foul) I want rhe Ordinances of God, Oh that I had them ! Here I fee fin and wickednefs abounding, .r~ar my chi!de is like .robe poifoned therewith; here are fuch and fuch fuperflmon s that my Confctence cannot bear: Hence Confcience is kept waking. Bur in Virgin-Churches, where the houfe is fwepr of rhefe, now Confcience is quiet and ar refl ; now .r have got a Levire into my houfe, God is now bleffing me, 6-c. Now Confctence bath laid down its burrhen, ir falls down ro fleep; now they cry, The ~empleof the Lord,&c. 3· Becaufe in fuch Churches there ts mofl aptitude in men to fpiritual fulnefs, vizo. p!emy of ~he meat~s; there is all the.Ordinat;ces; in this mountain, Ifa.zs.I. Godsfea!hsmade, andrulnefsof fpmtual gtfrsand graas, becaufe they have now efcaped · the polluuons of the world, conquered the enmity of the world; now have come to a good meafure of grace, and conquered rhe way of their enemies, got the better of them; hence, as the Jf,aetites made peace with the (a11aaniw, not 1vhen they were too Hrcng but roo weak for them: So now the Soul comes to be: at reH, to lay down irsWarfare, and to yield to a truce, to a league to his lufls and dillempers fM a rime. When men are kept lhort of food, no;v they awake ; [o when the V'v'ord of the Lord and his Ordinances be rare and precious, and hard to findc, now a Chrittian can trudge after ·them; but when men are full , now they defire rel1; fo 'tis here. 4· Becaufe in Virgin·Churches, rhere men are mofl apt ro be ovemken with wearinefs ; A man that never walkr on in a holy way, may ar firfl ferring out delight in CbriH; but after he bath done·walkingin ir, now he is-aRt to faint ; efpecially, if he fow> much, and reaps for rh~ prefent bt;t little. And hence q al. 6. 9· You fhall reap in dt<e f eafon, if)on faint not: Now in Virgin-Churches, rhefe Virgins are fuch perfons as have begun ro make a profeffion, and have made a fair progrefs ; 0 how difficult now isir . not to be weary l it's flrange ro fee what ihort fpirirs after the Lord, what large afrer the Creatures vve aave. I I. Becaufe rhey are the more eafily overcome by this fin, r/JQn by any other. I.Becaufe it's a fin which a man leaf! forefees or kus: The Apollle faith, They that are drttnk...,and that jleep,jleep in the nigh. ;andyer here men ileep in the open light ; Why fo? Men fee ir not, men know it nor ; fleep fleals upon a man : It's lawful to fleep; carnal fecurity arifes chiefly from the ufe of hwful I things, on which a mans heart and thoughts are fpent; they eare, drank, gave !in marriage, they could fee no h~trr therein. When a man is had before Countels, now a man fears to fin, he knows he lhafl be tempn!d unto fin; but when the Lord brings the lhoulder from under fuch burdens, now ro fear 1 our Tabies, our Beds, our Wives, our Children, our Callings, our Profeffi- . oils~nq the-fnares of thefe, Oh it is exceeding hard! ' 2. Becaure
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