I - The Parable of tb~ Ten Virginr, the Apo(Ue gives Servams an item, that they ?IMJ .florifie God, and r<a urn th, c ,fpelof the Lord J•fm; how came J•foph into ro.!ph·ir's books ? oh, h~ rv.,S very holy, and very prudent; and Ile warrant did his MaHe•s work b~rc<:r v\o hcn his Ma~er was abfem than before, and prayed fo r fu~cef~ i~ his b~ii n~ fs, as A - j braham s Servant. Look but upon Husband and Wrfe, rr rs fl.ran:,:c t .J. tee \Yhac 'I divlons and jars tbere; and wbat's rbe caufe of ir-, Wife doth n~r h9;10; Hcf1 , band, nor Husband honor W1fe? how comesr.bis? oh, there is li rrk holi ne:o f~en in their private waJking one wirh another; rhe woman ~bought rh ~ ::-:w godly ; had I known tbrs, I would have feen you a hundred m1les olf, 6'c. :he manalfohe complainsof biswife, Heenowi am like rob! troubkd with a continual dropping, a very fury of hell, fo impatient, (and the next neiohbor hears of it) nothing can pleafe her; wb~c·s the r~afon of this ? your fin ~akes your ihame, and there's the want of holm~fs, 1 Pet. ~· :;. man might be convetted by the Wife, and rheWife by rbe Husband ; not that it is always fo, but ufually fo. Serondly, Look imo Churches, what is the reafon people lofe rhei; hon01: much in rh-: hearts ofMini{krs l he refpetl:s others,bur no• me; and fomrimes they rhi nk,now he fl.rikes at me,and meanerh me,and then the heart f1vd ls, &c. what's the reafonrhat Pau/profellerh he will cornewith a rod among the Col rinthz:ans? th<) -wc~e 6a6u, -'ltnd carnal, andcontenrio111, "."d puft up, little love and life ; and what s the reafon he fers our rhe Tf.ejfalonums fo? 1 ·Thejf. 1.5. becaufe of this they did abound, and hence commended of all Sainrs; hence want of growrh and holinefs; they travel in binh rill ChriH be formed, acd when rhey cannot fee that, hence they are in throws for you; what's rhe reafon Minill.ers lofe their glory among people? I confefs 'tis not always for decay here; for John in prifon did not lofe his holinefs; and hence, when they defpifed him, Chrill: commended him, and his reward was with the Lord ; it was not a tefl.imony of his unholinefs, bur a fore-runn:!r of rhe end of his days, as well as of the end of his work; and hence when all .fijia forfook Paul', 2 Tim-4-16. itwasrhetime •f hu depnrting now at hand. But rhaLI,hichis rhe caufe of it many rimes, is want of holinefs within ,; and hence though men fee not, yetthe Lord will not give afalfe n:fl.imony, nor let men do fo ; hence neither judgements nor their fpeeches reverenced; or becaufe men fee nor rhe ancient Spuit cf holinefs, hence no mourning for them in fecrer, no holinefs in fpeeches, they fmell of the field, not walking as patterns before them, iVfnl. 2.8,9. not caring for the flock_ which Chrift hath purchafed with his own blood. What's the reafon there is that complain~ of want of love: one man to another, one member ro another, who are bound by covenant ro ir, fuch jars, divilions? &c. Truly norhing makes fo firm an union ber;veen man and man as holinefs and grace , ·rhis rierh the knot ; and ir is not holinefs hid , but now feen; ir not beingfeen·, hence comes all your breaches, irs impo!lible elfe fuch fmall things ihould make i• : Oh a tender hem and rhe life of Chrifl. is not indeed feen ; a holy man exact lhall n~vo!r want love, char in every com.Pany fcaners fomerhir.g, that like Chirfl, goas up and do1m doing good, heahng rhe difeafes of mens hearrs; there's a man I could dye with him in my very l:iofom: I am perfwaded rbe decay of holinefs in the Jives of men , is the caufe why Sanctification is queflioned as an evidence of J ufl.ification ; and hencedivition. Thirdly, Look abroad into the world, wbaLis the reafon rhe Churches lye among the pots, and are foiled with fo many difgrac~s, that t~~ugh we be r~e people of the Lord, yet we are not called fo? why, jar~, chvtlions, t;arthhnefs, want of love and mercy, murmurings,lofsofformer life. When Jem: areihinino"irhthegloryof God, Kings andall Nadonslhall briogin their glory to tb~m : Oh confider this ! tin doth make you vile in Gods eyes and mans
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