168 The NEW and COMPLETE LIFE of our BLESSED LORD me the flewardfhip; I cannot dig; to beg I am aJhamed. Ianz rfolvedwhat to do, that, when 1 amput out of the flewardJlaip, they may receive me into their houfes. So he cal- led every one ofhis Lord's debtors unto him, andfaid unto the firft, howmuch oweft thou unto my lord? And heJáid, Ass hundred nzeafures of ozl. And he laid unto hint, Take thy bill, and fat down quickly, and write fifty. Then laid he to another, And how much oweft thou? And he faid, An hundred meafures of wheat. And he Paid unto him, Take thy bill, andwritefourfcore. And the Lord commended the zenjufl few- ard, becaufe he had done wifely : for the children of this world are w fir in their ge- neration, than the children of light. The fcope of our Lord's argument in this paf- fage, is apparently this : as a prudent thought for futurity, and a Ready purfuit of thofe means which tend to prevent ap- prehended evils, though thofe means may not be approved as lawful in themfelves, are fufficient to denominate a perfon wife, with what earneft attention, and unre- mitting application, ought thofe who have eternity in view, to purfue the precepts of heavenly wifdom, and to make all leffer events fubfervient to the great end of ob- taining eternal happinefs: And Ifay unto you, added our great Redeemer,, make to yourfelves friends of the manznzon f unrigh- teoufnefs ,, that, when ye fail, they may receiveyou into everlafting habitations. The Pharifees, whofe hearts were fet upon the things of this world, and who had but very feeble and contraéted views of eternal things, derided this doEtrine of our great Redeemer; but he, after giving them a feafonable reproof, proceeded by a ftriking and molt remarkable parable, to Phew the vanity ofriches, and the val.} im- portance of eternal things : There was, faid he, a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, andfaredfumptu-, oufly every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full offores, and dering to befed with the crurabs which fell from the rich 3 man's table : moreover the dogs cone and licked his fores. And it came to paf, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's Wont: the rich man alfo died, andwas buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and.;,: fall' Abraham afar oJf, and Lazarus in his bofom. And he cried and laid, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, andfend La- zarus, that he may dip the tip of hisfinger in water, and cool my tongue; for I anz tormented in thisfianze. But Abrahamfaid, Son, remember that thou, in the life-tine, receivedf thy good things, and likewife La- zarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And befide all this, between us and you, there is a great gulph fixed: fo that they which wouldpal front hence to you cannot; neither can theypal to us, that would come from thence. Then he faid, I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou wouldeffend him to myfather's hoye: for Ihavefive brethren,; that he may tftfy unto them, lefì they afo cone into this place oftorment. Abraham faith unto him, they have Moles and the prophets ; let them hear them. AndhePaid, Nay, fatherAbraham; but if one went unto then from the dead, they will repent. And he laid unto him, If they h -',r not Mofes and the prophets, neither Will they be pesfuaded, though one rolefrom the dead. This parable is the molt awful and alarming, and the moll fully demon(tra- tive of the immortality of the foul, and it's exiflence in a feparate lute, of any we meet with in the facred volume : the imagery is fo beautiful, and it is drawn in fuch lively colours, that it has rather been looked upon as an hiftory than a parable in all ages of the church; many of the molt affeEting, the molt awful and im- portant leffons may be learned from-it, and fuch fentiments are here difplayed, as are not to be found in any other part of the gofpel. In the firft place, we may learn the fhortnefs and uncertainty of the prefent -hate, and how little the attainment ofwaft poffeffions,
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