THE Whole Parable OF DIVES and LAZARUS, Explained and Applied: Being several SERMONS Preached in Cripplegate and Lothbury CHURCHES.  
By Joseph Stevens, Lecturer at both.  
Published at the Request of the Hearers.  
And recommended as Proper to be given at Funerals.  
LONDON, Printed for john Dunton, at the Raven in Jewen-street, 1697.   

To his beloved Hearers in the Parishes of St. Giles Cripplegate, and St. Margaret Lothbury.  
I Having been much importuned to publish these following Sermons, preached on the Parable of Dives and Lazarus, I thought I could not dedicate them so properly to any, as to You, who were constantly present when they were delivered by me. I know that I must be subject to Censures; but since these Discourses were well designed, and if they take that effect, I wish and hearty pray for, I shall be the more easy under harsh Judgements. I have not made any Alterations in them, but have sent them abroad in that Dress they were preached in, on purpose that the meanest Capacities may understand, and be benefited by them. And if so, I shall think myself well rewarded for my Labours. They may serve to acquaint you with the after state of good and bad Men, and to prepare you for those blessed Mansions above: And therefore I think it not improper, if they were given away at Funerals, to prevent those Discourses which are generally used by the invited Guests, and to possess their Minds with the thoughts of another World, very suitable to such solemn Occasions; Here Persons that mourn for the Deaths of good Friends and Relations, may receive Comfort, their Souls being carried by the Angels into Abraham 's Bosom. The Parable being so large and comprehensive, I shall say the less concerning it, but refer you to the serious and candid perusal of the several Discourses preached upon it: Which, that they may so affect, as to reform and fit you for Heaven, is the earnest Wish, and hearty Prayer of your unworthy Servant,  
Joseph Stevens.   

THE PARABLE OF Dives and Lazarus.  Luke XVI. Ver. 19 to the end. 
Ver. 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.  
Ver. 20. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, which was laid at his gates full of sores:  
Ver. 21. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.  
Ver. 22. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried.  
Ver. 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seethe Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom:  
Ver. 24. And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.  
Ver. 25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.  
Ver. 26. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.  
Ver. 27. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house:  
Ver. 28. For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.  
Ver. 29. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.  
Ver. 30. And he said, Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.  
Ver. 31. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one risen from the dead.   

SERMON I.  Luke XVI. Ver. 19, 20, 21. 
Ver. 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and faired sumptuously every day.  
Ver. 20. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gates full of sores:  
Ver. 21. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  
THE Pharisees, who were present at our Saviour's Conference with his Disciples, in the former part of this Chapter, were so nettled at his pithy and home discourse, that they mocked at, and derided him, viz because he exclaimed against those sins they were strongly prone to, and wilfully allowed themselves in; namely, Covetousness and Uncharitableness: He therefore, to convince them of their Folly, and, if possible, to reduce them to a more generous and humane frame of Spirit, ushers in a very notable and affecting Parable, adorned with illustrious Instances, and furnished with memorable Characters: There was, says he, a certain noble Man, who lived softly, had many Attendants, full Tables, a stately Palace, every thing that was great, good, and desirable in this Life. And there was a poor indigent Man, called by the Name of Lazarus, destitute of a comfortable Habitation, his Belly pinched with hunger, his Spirits languishing for want of reviving draughts, his Countenance dejected and fading, and his Flesh being exposed to stress of Wether, not having wherewith to defend it from boisterous Winds, and other common Contingencies, broke out into Ulcers and putrifying Sores. This miserable Creature makes to the rich Man's Seat, and fills his Courts with the doleful Cries of a languishing Soul; he begs, not for Dainties and sumptuous Diet, but only for waste Bread, the refuse of the Servants; or rather for the Crumbs which usually fall under the Table at Meals. This was the poor Man's request; that which is swept up with the rest of the litter, and thrown out of Doors to the Dunghill, was all that this distressed Lazarus most importunately desired, to allay the gripes and gnawings which sharp Hunger had created within him: But though his Necessities were so pressing, his Request so modest and reasonable, and his Sores so angry and painful, (enough to have melted down an obdurate Heart into pity, and to have obliged the meanest Person to have spared from himself, and nourished such an afflicted Soul,) yet this avaricious and impregnable Wretch turns a deaf'ned Ear, casts a disdainful Eye upon, and brow-beats this trembling Beggar, and basely denies him that which his menial Servants scornfully rejected. The Dogs which generally are currish and snarling, ready to snap at, and fly upon Strangers, here change their Nature, and, as it were, express their Pity by doleful howl; and, as if this was too little, medendi gratia linguas suas accommodant, run hastily to him, and endeavour the Cure of his Wounds by licking them with their soft and easy Tongues: Thus these Creatures supplied the Necessities of afflicted Lazarus, by the instinct of Nature, more than their Masters by all the Ties and Obligations of Reason.  
He was blest with a flourishing Estate, nothing that the World esteemed good, great, and desirable, was withheld from him; so that since Providence had thus undeservedly crowned him with a plentiful Revenue, he could not, unless wraped up in the Womb of Ingratitude, have denied a small part of so vast an Income to this importunate Beggar; much less have refused him that inconsiderable Request of his, namely, The crumbs which fell from his Table; such Offel which his Dogs blowed upon: But brutishly forgetting from whence his Riches sprang, and greedily fixing his Heart upon them, concludes it Prodigality and ill Husbandry to part with any thing, though it were but a Rag to cover the Flesh, or a morsel to sustain the Hunger, or a draught to revive the languishing Spirits of a fainting Soul. Such dangerous temptations are Riches, if Men are not guarded with Grace, and well consider the Design of God in bestowing them. Hence our Saviour pronounces, That it is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a Needle, than for a rich Man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Not that Riches are Evils in themselves, but they become such by an imprudent Management, when Men suffer their Hearts to be drawn away by them. They are commonly Blessings; they were so to Abraham, Lot, Isaac, and Jacob; to Job, David, and Joseph of Arimathea: but such was the stupid brutishness of this Miser, he contracted such an inordinate love to his Estate, that he had quite lost all Humanity and Compassion: His only care was to keep what he had, drowning his Senses in Gluttony, Drunkenness, and all kinds of Sensuality, never once thinking of a life to come; but O sad Catastrophe, and dismal change of Things! Riches, tho' they defend from Hunger, Thirst, and other exterior contingencies, yet they cannot bribe, and stave off Death, neither insinuate with the Judge Christ Jesus for a favourable Trial, nor purchase a Mansion amongst the Saints; he dies, and awakes in the midst of soorching flames, and bituminous smokes, scared at the ghastly Spectrums and hideous Noises he meets with among Devils and damned Fiends. Lazarus also dies, and is carefully conveyed into Abraham 's bosom, a safe Repository, and never to Hunger, Thirst, and want more: But this I shall treat of in its proper place.  
The words of the Text are properly divided into two special Parts. The  
First is, A brief Narrative of a Rich Man's General Course of Living; he cloaths himself with rich, gay, and costly Raiment, and fareth sumptuously every Day. The  
Second Part is, A description of the Calamities that attend Poverty; Lazarus was full of Sores, almost Naked and Famished, he begs for a little Sustenance, and that of the meanest kind, but was most uncharitably denied it. Now these two Generals demonstrate to us,  
First of all, That Riches are strong incentives to Luxury and Riotousness; this Rich Man fared Sumptuously every Day, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he Entertained himself every Day with Luxurious Delights.  
Secondly, That Riches tempt to Pride, Haughtiness, and Uncharitableness. This Elated Miser thought it beneath his Grandeur, either to look upon, or commiserate afflicted and languishing Lazarus; and therefore chides him by his Menial Servants, and sends him away empty as he came.  
Thirdly, That Poverty is a despicable State, and renders a Man most vile and mean in the Eye of others, how much soever good he hath heretofore done with what God had blessed him with.  
These are the three Topics which will be the Subject of my ensuing Discourse; only by the way it may not be improperly inserted, That by the Rich Man, and Poor Lazarus, is figured out to us the different state of good and bad Men in this Life: Good Men, for the most part, are in mean and low Circumstances, and of small Account, but are rich towards God, precious in his sight, and have their Portion treasured up with him, according to that of St. James, chap. 2.5. God has chosen the Poor of this World heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Wicked generally flourish, the World's affluences tumble in upon them, but they have their Portion in this Life; hereafter Fire and Brimstone, and an horrible Tempest, shall be the Portion of their Cup, Psal. 11.6.  
But to proceed in order.  
First, Riches are strong Incentives to Luxury and Riotousness. This Nobleman fared Sumptuously every Day; he observed no Intervals for Mortification, no time for holy Retirement, for a strict Examination of himself, for Prayer, Repentance, and other necessary Duties: Nor was he so Morally useful to others as was St. Augustine, who divided the Day into special Portions for needful businesses; to reconcile disturbed Families, and link together enraged Neighbours in the Bonds of Amity, to observe and minister to the Necessities of the Indigent, to instruct the Ignorant, counsel the less wary; and such like. No, no, this wealthy Wretch lived every Day to himself, delighting his Palate with luscious Viands, and Falernian Liquors, loading his Stomach with Morsels, without any regard to Moderation; had no thoughts of, nor any earning bowels, after those who wanted, and would be glad of the meanest bit at his Table. After this Luxurious manner did he spend every Day; such strong and irresistible temptations are Riches, when Men are without Grace, and consider not the wise and holy purpose of God in bestowing them; for tho' they are the proper and peculiar Gifts of Heaven, and were promised to, and bestowed upon our Forefathers, as illustrious instances of the Divine favour, yet they are not to be prostituted solely to ourselves, that is, to nourish and maintain our Lusts, for than they change their nature, and prove the manifest ruin of Soul and Body. Upon which account, it may not be improper to insert this Memorandum, That they who are blessed with Plenty and Store, aught to be very importunate with God, that he would moderate, and rectify their Appetites, keep and restrain their Hearts, kerb and limit their Desires, that they may not be so taken up, and charmed with their Wealth, as to forget the Concernments of their Souls, and suffer them to live out a long Eternity with the Damned Crew, in the unhappy Residences of Misery. Therefore our Saviour, ever and anon, is giving a special charge to Rich Men, that they be very cautious and wary, lest they should be Enchanted, and betrayed by Superfluities, which, like the Sirens, whom the Poets speak of, as it were, lie in wait for Men, and seduce them by their pleasing, and almost irresistible Charms. It was an excellent Prayer that of Agurs, Prov. 30.8, 9 O Lord, says he, Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.  
Having weighed in an even Balance both a prosperous and an adverse state, and considering what inconveniencies the extreme of either condition would bring men into; the one tempting them to Luxury, Drunkenness, and Gluttony, the other to Theft, Lying, and Perjury; Prostrates himself before God, with rectified desires, a moderate appetite, and an humble heart, and beseeches him to bless him with a condition neither too wealthy, nor too despicable; to the end he might not be prompted to such enormous sins. When Riches are enjoyed without a just sense and fear of God, they leadmen into manifold extravagancies; the appetite which once perhaps was corrective, & as scanty as a mean competency, now enlarges itself, & grows as comprehensive in its wishes as the Estate abounds; Now the heart is fixed upon its desired Treasure; and no less taken with all the pleasures and seemingly delights it can procure and purchase, to violate a divine Commandment; when obedience thereto stands in competition with Money, is thought no sin, but rather a special instance of policy and prudence. In a word, and to borrow the expression, The love of Money spends all its desires upon its self to purchase nothing but unsatisfying instruments of Exchange, or Supernumerary Provisions; and ends in emptiness of Spirit.  
This Rich man in the Text spent all his thoughts how he might advance to the height of an Epicures Life; what shall I eat? or what shall I drink? or what shall I put on? The world seemed too little to answer his greedy desires; too empty to furnish his Table with such varieties, his extended appetite most passionately craved after. His Estate was large, and his Mind answerable; nay, rather more diffusive: So that though he was plentifully accommodated with the sublimest rarities, yet he still seemed unsatisfied; but sure this is not the end of our Creation; God has not designed us merely for these lower entertainments. Our Spirits are capacious Being's, of eternal duration, and must live in another world for ever; after this is consumed. Where then is thy policy? O Dives! Where is the sense of thy Voluptuous faring? Thou must not always abide here; thy Riches, Honours, and Luscious Delicates, all must perish and thou stripped into a naked Spirit, and answer for all thy Transactions at the Tremendous Bar of Justice, where neither thy Wealth nor Grandeur can procure thy favour with Judge or Jury; the meanest Peasants shall then be as great as thou, and find as much receptance at that Grand Assiizes. But to proceed to the second general Head, namely,  
Secondly, That as Riches are strong incentives to Luxury and Riotousness, so to Pride, Haughtiness and Uncharitableness. This wealthy Miser thought it too great a Reflection upon his Dignity and Person, to look upon, or commiserate afflicted Lazarus; and therefore he imperiously charged his Servants to forbid him begging, and to send him away empty as he came.  
He considered that such an Estate as he was possessed of, called for lofty looks, a starched carriage, big words, and full commands, a visible separation of himself from his inferiors; and that which enhansed his Estate, speaking to others by the mouth of his Servants, being difficult of access, and carrying it in all things with Majesty, Pomp, and an imperious Deportment. It had therefore been a visible slur upon his Person to have seemed afflicted with the complaints of poor Lazarus, to have stepped from his seat, and viewed this beggar's Condition, and commanded supplies for him. Should he, who was advanced to the very top of honour and magnificence; he, who had attendance always at hand, whose grandeur was noised abroad, and became the wonder and admiration of the Neighbouring Villages; he whose clothing was Royal Purple, whose Linen the Richest that Acaiah could furnish him with; he whose Presence was the Terror of his Household, and the astonishment of the Vulgar; Should such a one, thus encircled with the rarest Accommodations of fortune, so far demean himself to stoop to a Person fallen into the depth of Disgrace, attended with all the Instances of Contempt and Derision, as was dejected Lazarus? No, no, let him away from my Gates, and get his Belly full at some Cottage or other. Thus Riches are apt to make us forget ourselves, they Intoxicate our understanding, and Prompt us to over-rate ourselves; they lift us up above our Sphere, and lead us to contemn and slight those who are not in such fortunate circumstances as ourselves. Common Experience gives us too many, and palpable Instances of this kind; some who through meanness of Perentage, or other unhappy Contingencies, have lived in an Ordinary Capacity, and while thus bereft of Fortunes, Cists, possibly were Humble, Meek, and Condescending, forward to assist when useful, and apt to be affected with the calamities, and pressing necessities of others; but when the tide has changed, either their Industry blest to a plentiful Estate, or they started into a wealthy Condition, by the last Will and Testament of a deceased Friend, or familiar Acquaintance, their disposition has changed to. Now their late Translation speaks greater things; their Conversation must be with those who are of the same Rank and Quality with themselves. Now their wont Apparel, which was plain and suitable to their Condition, must be of another Mode and Figure, set off with curious Trim, and fashionable Appurtinances; their Carriage more Airy and Affected; their Countenances more Elevated and Stately; their Speech more Majestic and Uncooth, former Acquaintances must be buried in Oblivion, the poor not worthy of their notice, or at least have nothing to spare for them; their Pride and Grandeur must be maintained; but what an unfortunate case is this, that men should forget from whence they are, and value themselves so much upon such unconstant and perrishing things as Riches are? what art thou the better for thy wealth? wherein dost thou exceed thy meanest Brother? Reckon not upon wealth, for God is no respecter of Persons. A Beggar, it may be, is more in God's favour than thou, and shall be admitted within the vail to joy and feast himself for ever with those rare, unseen repasts which Divine Wisdom has contrived for those who express their Love and Loyalty to him, whilst thou shalt be dragged away by the common Accuser, and his Angels, into the Repositories of shame and sorrow, there to suffer the uttmost heats of a Sin-revenging God.  
But besides the stupid folly of being puffed up in conceit because thy Lot is fallen in a fair Heritage; Daily experience almost evinces us, that Riches are Transient Pleasures, like unto the flower of the field, which to day is, blown, gay, and beautiful, and to morrow faded, and fit for nought but to be heaped together with the grass: Thou callest thyself to day a substantial, wealthy Person; Houses in abundance, Lands large, and fruitful, Bags full, and running over, but by the morrow perhaps thou mayest be weeping to see thy Tenements laid in Ashes, thy Money snatched away by the silent crafty Thief, or perhaps, thou weeping, sighing, and roaring in Hell; thou knowest not but the Sentence is gone forth from God; Thou fool, this night shall thy Soul be required of thee, and then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? But if it so falls out, that thou shouldst outlive thy Happiness, see thyself stripped of all thy Pomp and Riches, thou mayest justly expect to meet with hard and severe usage; for, (besides the many Reflections which would certainly be cast upon thee, that this sad Catastrophe, and dismal change of things, is a just Judgement upon thee for thy Pride, Arrogance, Selfconceitedness, and Uncharitableness, during thy Prosperity,) Men would be so far from pitying thy downfall, and considering thy necessities, that rather they would reproach thee for thy Poverty, and laugh at thy Calamities. The World is apt to remember faults, and never at a better time, than when Men are fallen to decay, and stand in special need of common help, than the generality lay their heads together, and recount as many failings, which may harden them against a charitable disposition; but enough for the second general thing, namely, That Riches are strong Temptations to Pride, Haughtiness, and Uncharitableness. The other remaining Topick, namely, That Poverty is a most despicable state, and renders a Man most vile and mean in the Eye of the World; drawn from the miserable condition of Lazarus, and the base usage shown him in his Low Circumstances By the Rich Man, shall be my business the next opportunity. I now proceed to make some special Use of what hath been said at this time, and so conclude.  
And the first Use is; That if Riches are such Lures and strong Temptations, it should serve for an Admonition to those who are blessed with them, that they do not set too great a value upon them, nor hug them with too much eagerness and desire; that they labour to make their love of Wealth subservient to their love of Heaven, and heavenly things, that they learn to admire and adore their Creator, who has cast their Lott in a fair Heritage, and rightly understand his wise and holy Purpose, in crowning them with Prospeperity, that Riches are not given to spend them upon our Lusts, to live sumptously every day, to trifle our time in ease, Idleness, and security; this is the abusing of Riches; No, no, they are given to more excellent ends; To encourage us in our Duty, to give our Children good Education; to help the Fatherless and Widow, the Oppressed & Stranger; it is sad to consider, how Lavish and Prodigal many are, whom fate has blest with plenty and store, laying out vast sums in beautifying buildings, dainty fare, and well furnished Wardrobes, and the like, while the poor perish at their Gates: Dives was so taken up with his various and extravagant Diversions, that he could spare no time, or rather, would not, to hear the doleful complaints of distressed Lazarus, or to see, consider, and relieve his necessities. He was clothed in Purple and fine Linen; his belly filled with the best of Provisions, and therefore considered not what it was to be Hungry, Thirsty, Naked and Friendless, he was not tormented with that sharp Thorn which so miserably afflicted Lazarus, that he cried, Oh! fill my craving Stomach with the crumbs that fall under thy Table, with those superfluous morsels, which are thy Dog's Food; I desire not that which thou feedest upon; nothing else but the worst bit thy Servants leave; this is my request, this I should be glad of, and without some speedy relief, I shall faint and drop, and perish at thy Gates. This dismal story no way affected this Inexorable wretch, but he rather chid him for his importunity, than pitied him for his poverty. One would have thought that such expressions as these were enough to have pierced the most obdurate heart, and to have melted it down into compassion; but such is the unhappy proof of an heart enamoured with, and inseparably fixed upon Riches. Let it therefore be a caveat to those who are favoured with the smiles of fortune, that they do not reckon too much upon their prosperous condition, nor be too much in love with it.  
Secondly, The second Use is, That since Riches are apt to seduce and betray men, tempt them to forget God and themselves; let those whose fortunes are mean in the world, learn to be content in their State. They have the more leisure to look after the concernments of their Souls, and to provide for their long Journey into Eternity; they are free from abundance of cares, fears, and troubles; they are not perplexed with contriving how to purchase such an Estate, nor overwhelmed with the fear of losing it, but have many fair opportunities of preparing themselves for the embraces of the Father of Spirits. Therefore Christian, grudge not that thy Portion in this life is so narrow, if- thou art brought to a morsel of bread, to a draught of water; yet even this is enough to bear thy charges to Heaven: But if thou art not so fortunate to be Master of this meaner Diet, thy life will be only the shorter; and possibly God keeps thee short here, that he may plentifully reward thee hereafter; Heaven is sufficient to make thee satisfaction for all thy sufferings; in God's presence there is fullness of Joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. To be received into that capacious world where are all the instances of Joy, all the ingredients of felicity, to have all thy faculties enlarged; to the end they may relish those hidden Comforts, to know and understand the methods of providence, and to be made acquainted with the Arcana Imperii, the secrets of Heaven.  
In a word, to possess all that that is good, lovely and desirable, and that for ever; The consideration of this is enough to bear us up under the sorest Trials, and most pressing Calamities. To conclude. let us all endeavour to answer the end of God in whatsoever condition we are; if we be Rich, let us be Humble, Meek, and Modest, Affable, Courteous, and Charitable; if Poor, Content, Thankful, and Holy. Now to the mighty Governor of the world, who loveth Mankind, and giveth to all men according to his Infinite Wisdom, be given the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, for ever and ever. Amen.  
Soli Deo Gloria.   

SERMON II.  Luke XVI. Ver. 19, 20, 21. 
Ver. 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and faired sumptuously every day.  
Ver. 20. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gates full of sores.  
Ver. 21. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  
AFter a plain and familiar descant upon this part of the Parable, in my last Discourse; to the end it might be more emphatical and taking, I proceeded to Division, and told you, That these words were separated into two Parts:  
The first, Being a brief Narrative of a rich Man's general course of living; that he lives softly, arrays himself splendidly, and fareeth sumptuously every day:  
The second, A description of the miseries which attend an impoverished state; namely, Hunger, Thirst, declension of Health, Contempt, and the like. Lazarus was naked, and almost famished; he begs for a little sustenance, and that of the meanest sort too, but was scornfully denied it. From these two heads I took occasion to show,  

First of all, That Riches are strong incentives to Luxury and Riotousness.  
Secondly, To Pride, Haughtiness, and Uncharitableness.  
Thirdly, That Poverty is looked upon as a despicable state, and renders a Man vile and mean in the eye of others.   
As to the former of these; namely, That Riches strongly tempt to Luxury and Riotousness; I urged the proof of this from this Noble man's daily voluptuous faring; every day was alike, he observed no intervals for Mortification, no times for Holy Retirement: Religious Exercises were too dull and flatulent, of an unsavoury gust to him, whose Palate could only relish the choicest Provisions; he had nothing else to do but to Sing his Quietus; Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, for thou hast much Goods laid up for many years. Thus many, whom Fate has blessed with Plenty and Store, take up all their thoughts what rare pleasures and gratifications they may purchase, contriving how they may accommodate their Appetites with the choicest and most select Dainties; but seldom or never think of their Spiritual Concernments, as if these were such inferior businesses, requisite only for those of mean Fortunes to employ themselves about.  
Mortification to such Persons is, in a degree, as obnoxious as being stripped of their Pomp and Riches: In a word, whatsoever may put them in mind of Death, Judgement, and a future State, is as  to their thoughts, as was God's Sentence to the Avaricious Miser in the Gospel; Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee.  
As to the second General head; namely, That Riches strongly tempt to Pride, Haughtiness, and Uncharitableness: I endeavoured the proof of this, from the lofty carriage of this Nobleman, his chiding the Beggar for his bold importunity, casting a disdainful Eye upon, and dismissing him from his Gates, Hungry, Thirsty, Naked, and full of Sores, as he came; as if Dives, upon hearing the doleful Complaints of Needy Lazarus, should have expressed himself to this effect: What impertinent and audacious Person is that who knocks at my Door, and fills my Ears with such a Din? Shall I, who am great and honourable, richly clad, a Companion for noted Persons, cast such a visible slur upon my Person and Dignity, as to change a word with such a contemptible Creature, or be seen to take notice of one who is disfigured with Rags, so wan and formidable, so pestered with Ulcers and putrifying Sores? No, no, let him be removed from before my Gates, and get a Belly full where he can.  
Such is the imperious Carriage of many towards those who beg their Charity, and conclude it one of the most foul blots upon them, to lend an Ear to, or to seem affected with their mournful complaints.  
Thus far I went the last time, only adding some useful Inferences; I now go on to what remains, namely, to the third general Thing.  
Thirdly, That Poverty is a despicable State, or so accounted, and renders a Man vile and mean in the Eye of others, how much good soever he may have formerly done with what he had. Poor Lazarus, though he had a Soul as great and good as the most Puissant Monarch, (but inward Endowments are not so much the World's observation) was treated with Scorn and Infamy, because his outward appearance was not comely and creditable, sightly and fashionable. Possibly, that little Clothing he had, was Weatherbeaten, and so shattered, that it could scarce hang about him; his Face lean, wan, and ghastly, (those rarer adornments of Nature being faded, by the sharpness of Hunger and Thirst) his flesh full of Blotches and running Sotes, the whole Mass of Blood being corrupted and gangreen'd for want of a vivid circulation. This miserable Object, Inhuman Dives, scornfully rejects, and looks upon him fit for nothing else but to be his Dog's Companion: But remember, thou disdainful wretch, the time is coming, when thou shalt be derided by the same Lazarus, whom now thou treatest at thy Gates with contempt and disgrace; it is the Will of Heaven, that his Portion here shall be narrow and scanty, that his Reward, in another World, may be great and glorious, when thou, who art here Invested with the rarest and most sublime Accommodations, shalt be stripped of all, and become a Victim to his Triumph. God may permit his Servants to be savagely used, to be a Reproach, and Byword, in the World, because he hath enough to make them infinitely amends; but to illustrate the Subject, and enlarge the Matter of it, I shall,  

First of all, Show why the Generality of the World despise Poverty.  
Secondly, The Unreasonableness of this Practice.  
And, Lastly, How infinitely we are obliged to respect them which are poor.   
First, Then, I am to show, why the generality of the World despise Poverty. First, Because they are infected with wrong Notions of Things, and draw false Conclusions. They look upon Poverty as a Judgement inflicted for some Wickedness or other; as the Disciples did the blindness which seized the Man from his birth, John 9.2. And, in favour to this Opinion, think it justifiable enough, to contemn and slight it. For, say they, if God makes Poverty a visible Mark of his Resentment of some open Indignities offered to him, it is but equal that we also should express our aversion from it. But what an erroneous and rash Judgement this is, will appear, if we consider, That though Poverty is the just and most reasonable effect of Prodigality, or ill Husbandry, by which means abundance have been reduced to a morsel of Bread, a draught of Water, Nakedness, and the like; yet many, notwithstanding their industrious Care, indefatigable Labours, early Rise, and late taking Rest, and all to get subsistence, and an answerable competency in the World, are invisibly frustrated; their simple and honest contrivances cannot arrive to Perfection, but are blasted and nipped in their very birth. Now the Scripture says, They that will not work, shall not eat; implying, that a plodding Head, industrious Hands, and honest Endeavours, are the appointed means whereby Wealth is to be obtained: Why therefore doth Providence obstruct and hinder Success?  
I answer; God knows Men better than they themselves, he understands their Nature, and tendency of their Appetites; and possibly sees, that if they should prosperously thrive, they would be apt to forget their Creator, and impute their Substance to their own Industry: That they would be too much enamoured with the World, and place all their Happiness in these lower Delights. So that, though in the common judgement of Men, this seems a harsh Providence, yet thus considered, it carries in it all the Instances of Love and Mercy. Poverty therefore is not altogether a Judgement, (which is one reason why the ruder and more unthinking part of the World despise and contemn it,) but very often the effect of God's Goodness; a visible Indication of his Love to the Souls of Men.  
Secondly, Another reason of the contempt of Poverty is, Men set too high a value upon, and over-rate themselves; for, while carried upon the Wings of Pride and Self-conceit, while thus elevated with great swelling Thoughts of themselves, there is nothing more contemptible and mean in their Eye, than an indigent Man, one whom Providence has denied those outward Blessings, which make Men of some Figure and Repute in the World. Hence it is that such kind of Persons affect much Homage and Obeisance, look for humble Addresses, frequent Entreaties, and all other demonstrations of State and Grandeur, as if Nature had framed them in a Mould of a separate make, and had distinguished them from their fellow Creatures by visible Characters. Poor Lazarus, how often didst thou importune, beseech, and entreat Dives, to look upon, and commiserate thy languishing condition? How often didst thou bow and cringe, and all to affect him with a sense of thy Misfortunes? But what a disdainful Eye did he cast upon thee, thinking it beneath his Grandeur either to speak to thee, or relieve thy present Needs? Neither thy mournful Gries, dejected Looks, mean Habit, nor angry Sores, could work upon his Nature, or move him to a pliable and yearning Disposition; from whence, O Dives, didst thou spring? Art thou any thing else but Dust? And must not thou return to it again? This is the end of all thy Pomp; that Carcase of thine, which is clothed with Royal Purple, garnished with soft and rich Linen, pampered with choice Provisions, eased upon a Velvet Couch, and refreshed at Night with a Downe-bed: I say, that Body of thine, which takes up all thy time in Catering for it, must Die, be rolled in a Winding-Sheet, crowded in a Coffin, and Interred in a Scanty Grave, where the Vermin will make no distinction of Persons, but thou becomest their prey as well as the meanest Peasant. Wherefore then dost thou thus over-rate thyself, and soar so high above thy meaner Brother, since he shall have a Chamber in the Earth as well as thou, and is made in the same Mould, and compounded with the same Matter? There is no greater Argument that Men have forgotten from whence they came, how insufficient of themselves, and whither they must go, than when they begin to look big, swell in fancy, and contemn their Brethren of low degree; and this leads me in the second place, namely,  
Secondly, To show the unreasonableness of this practice; and this I shall do, by showing, First, That this is adding affliction to affliction, when Providence, for most wise, and holy reasons, has ordained that some shall be deprived of these lower Entertainments, and walk about the World, Empty, Mean, and Unsightly; Destitute of comfortable Habitations, and other necessary Accommodations, and often for want of considering Things, and drawing right Conclusions; throws some into despair, as if God had marked them out by his severe methods here, for his Vengeance hereafter; others more Choleric, and less Corrective; Vent themselves into wishes for a sudden and speedy exit; (Poverty being an Insupportable Burden, unless alleviated by the happy Interposition of Grace.) I say, while Men are thus bemoaning their hard fate, and groaning under an adverse providence; What greater aggravation of their Misery can there be, than to be ridiculed, despised, hissed at, and shamefully contemned? doubtless it was an heightening addition of Jobs Afflictions, when his Friends, whom possibly he had obliged, when in Prosperity, loaded him with reflections, Rejected, and Scoffed at him, while sitting on the Dunghill, roaring for very Anguish, Naked, and Bereft of outward comforts. Pity is the least we can bestow upon Persons in Adversity; and though it doth not furnish them with necessaries, yet it serves to allay their grief, and sweeten their bitter Cup, it bears them up under inward disturbances, and makes their burden seemingly lighter. It will greatly add to the Torments of the Damned, for that their lamentable Groans, loud Screeches, deep-fetched sighs, and incessant weep, will not incline the Almighty to compassion, to pity their remediless condition; were they pitiable Objects, it would in some measure allay the anguish of their doleful Lamentations, and it is certainly the rendering adversity more uneasy and formidable, more Irksome, and less bearable, when Men instead of pitying contemn and disregard it. Again,  
Secondly, The unreasonableness of this appeareth yet farther; Hereby Men violate that Golden Rule, which obligeth to do unto others, as we would they should do unto us; The which if generously observed, would prevent Hatred, Revenge, Contempt and all other disorderly Practices: Suppose therefore, That from a vast Estate and height of Honour, thou wert lapsed into Poverty, and sunk into the depth of disgrace, wouldst thou be content to be excluded from former Acquaintances, to be slighted, and become the Derision of thy Neighbours? Wouldst thou not rather think it cruel usage that thy wont greatness should be so soon buried in oblivion, and that thou, who wert once the veneration of others, shouldest now become an Object of general Scorn and Infamy? What can therefore be more unreasonable, than for Men to meet out such measure to others, which they would not have dealt unto themselves? There is not any thing shows more a mind void of all regard to Justice, nor a more rude and undecent Spirit; Laberius, says the Poet Horace, dum Vixit, Credidit ingens pauperiem Vitium; while he lived in Splendour and Pomp, and had the world at Command, being possessed of a large Estate, looked upon nothing so criminal as poverty, and therefore treated In digent, needy men with great contempt and scorn: But when fate had altered his circumstances, changed the face of things, and turned his wealth into emptiness; he was soon of another opinion, Then Poverty was a Virtue, a state which deserved men's pity and assistance. Thus Men are generally apt to be swelled in conceit while the World favours them, and to reproach a mean Station; but if it chance to be their fortune to fall into it, than nothing more unreasonable than to be despised.  
Thus we observe from the Common Judgement of the world, that it is both unjust and unequal to condemn Poverty; for though this is an usual practice, yet not their Opinion, when fallen to decay.  
From hence I proceed in the third place, namely,  
Thirdly, To show how infinitely we are obliged to respect those who are poor. And here, First, The meanest Peasants lay claim to the same parentage, which the most Rich and mighty do; God is the common Father of all, from whom we receive our Life, and Breath, and all things. Now to despise those of low degree, is immediately to reflect upon our Creator, and a tacit calling his Justice and Wisdom into question, who, for most wise, and holy Reasons, best known to himself, has ordained prosperity and adversity, and who, as Lord of all, and Father in Common, may dispense his Blessings in number and measure, according to his most excellent Wisdom. And tho' some of his dear Children, have scanty Portions here, yet they are not less in his favour, than they who are blest with his more liberal dispensations. Simple Poverty is no Argument of Divine Anger, but rather of Love (though the unthinking part of the World Conjecture otherwise) for the less we are entangled with Earthly goods, the more time we have to busy ourselves with things which relate to another life; the affections will be more free and prompt, the mind more fixed and intent upon our Spiritual concernments, and all our powers more readily disposed to join in holy Duties; we shall not be so unwilling to part with the world, having so small a part of its goods. That which makes this life so desirable is, the having a great share of its comforts: Hence when Rich Men come to die, they generally express a great reluctancy, to part with their full Bags, honourable Titles, stately Palaces, and all other their Appurtenances. Whereas when poor Men are within a view of death, have no need to be sorry that they are bidding a final adieu to this world, because they had so little in it; nor are their precious minutes wasted in bequeathing Legacies, dividing Estates, and willing Executors, (which too often is the unhappy business of wealthy Men, when they should be dressing their Souls, for the embraces of their Redeemer.) No, no, all that they have to do is, to renew their love to God, to perfect their Repentance, and recommend their Spirits into the hands of their faithful Creator. But to return, since we all descend from one common Parent, and since what we enjoy, whether little or much, is according to his wise disposure of things; and since the poor are the special concern of his providence; we are highly obliged, as we would not be guilty of dishonouring God, of reflecting upon that Being, from whom we received our Life and Breath, and calling his Justice and Wisdom into question; to respect those that are fallen into Poverty; to love them as our Brethren; to do good to them as Objects of our Fathers own recommending.  
To conclude this Point, I will speak in the Words of an Eminent Writer; Our Lord (says he) is not ashamed to call the least amongst us his Brother, and his Friend; and shall we then disdain to yield to such an one the regard and treatment suitable to such a Ouality? Shall we not honour any Brother of our Lords? Shall we not be civil and kind to any Friend of his? How can we pretend to bear any true Respect or Affection to himself? It is his express Precept that the greatest among us should, in imitation of his most Humble and Charitable self, be ready to serve the meanest; and that we should in honour, prefer one another, and in lowliness of mind, esteem others better than ourselves, Rom. 12.10. Phil. 2.3. These are Apostolical Rules, extending indifferently to Rich and Poor, which are plainly violated by disregarding the Poor. But,  
Secondly, Our blessed Saviour was pleased to honour the state of Poverty; He who was the Son of God, the Heir of Heaven, and the Worship of the glorious Hierarchy, was born in a Stable, wrapped in Rags, laid in a Manger; His birth was attended with all the Instances of meanness. When grown to Maturity, his glory was yet Eclipsed with Poverty, he had not wherewith to lay his head. In a word, his whole life was a full scene of Poverty; and therefore no disgrace to be under ordinary Circumstances, since Christ himself condescended to be abased. In honour therefore to him who has wrought our Redemption, we are obliged to regard the poor, whom if we affront, or reproach, or despise, he tells us, we do the like to him. And so much for this last Particular, which was, to show how much we are obliged to respect those who are poor.  
I shall now proceed to draw some useful inferences from the whole, and then conclude.  
First, If Poverty be a state thus sanctified, it is no small sin to cast calumnious reslections upon it; though the truth of it is, nothing more common. Daily experiences shows us, how that poor Men are a common reproach, the ridicule of the Vulgar, the very Objects of the People; In them small faults are discovered, but over-looked, and past by in those who make some figure in the world. But certainly our Religion obliges us to be of another temper, to be Humble, Gentle, and Condescending even to the meanest of the Brethren; and propounds the Holy Jesus as our Pattern and Example, to whom we cannot pretend respect and affection while we despise those, whom, while he was in the world, he loved, and generally conversed with, and left a Commandment behind him, that we should for his sake do likewise. The most Puissant Princes, the most Eminent and Wealthy, but for one poor Beggar, had been irrecoverably undone, and lost for ever: To Poverty it is we own all our hopes of Heaven and Happiness, shall we therefore be so disingenuous to asperse and ridicule it? Thou proud and lofty Wretch, where hadst thou been if thy Saviour Christ had not become Poor? Thou hadst now been roaring among Devils and Damned Fiends. When thou seest an indigent Man, the lively Portraiture of the Holy Jesus, how canst thou pass by him, and not call to mind the great things which have been done for thee by him, who was in the form of a Servant, and made himself of no Reputation? Quum pauperem Vidisti, Christum Vidisti. When thou meetest with a poor Man, imagine thou seest thy Saviour; and regard him, if not for his own sake, yet for his, whom thou art infinitely obliged to.  
It is an unhappy thing that Men should be sunk into so vast a declension of Manners, as to deride and scoff at Poverty, to which they own their Redemption and Salvation: That same forlorn wretch thou tramplest upon, has as much Right to the Kingdom of Heaven as thou; for him Christ endured Pain, and suffered Death, and did all a Saviour could do to Entitle him to Glory and Happiness! Where then is the distinction? What is it that thou valuest thyself upon? Wherein is he thy Inferior? Because he has not a great Estate? Behold, Riches approve not Men unto God; he values no Man's person for his Greatness, but for his Goodness. In the final Disquisition, Men shall be rewarded according to their Actions, not according to their State and Grandeur; upon which consideration, a poor Lazarus will find as much acceptance, in the day of Judgement, as a rich Dives; nay more, the one has received his good things in this Life, the other evil things, and therefore the one shall be comforted, and the other tormented; not because of his Wealth, but because he did no good with it. Since God therefore is no respecter of Persons, let us also learn to make a less distinction between ourselves, to love and respect our meanest Brethren, and to do to them all the good we can. Again;  
Secondly, Let us learn to humble ourselves with the consideration of our own deserts. Observe we our petulant Follies, obstinate Perverseness, and treacherous Infidelities; Nay, our daily wilful Miscarriages, the many Affronts we offer to the Majesty of Heaven, our unmindfulness of his good Providences, our unthankfulness for his Benefits, our neglect of holy Duties, our backwardness in praying to, and acknowledging our dependence upon him? Were we but pregnant with such considerations as these, we should not be so much puffed up, nor value ourselves upon Riches, remembering they are the Emanations of Divine Goodness, not the just Retributions of our Merits. Should the quantum meruit be the Question how much the best of us deserve, it may be answered, Nothing but Hell, and an eternal Separation from God, and the sorest Punishments he can inflict; a morsel of Bread, a draught of Water, even the least Blessing we enjoy, is far beyond our Demerits: Let not therefore Riches elate and swell, but humble us, like loaded Trees, bend the lower. In fine, let the Christian Religion have its perfect influence upon us, that the same Mind that was in Christ be also in us, following his Humility, his Meekness, his Contempt of this World, and Worldly things, his Heavenly mindedness, and all other his imitable Virtues; that at length we may live with him, be like him, partake of his Glory, and never be separated from him more, Amen.   

SERMON III.  Luke XIV. Ver. 22. 
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom:  
THE former Part of this Parable has entertained us with the miserable and afflicted Life of Lazarus, depainting it in all the Instances of Pity; he was clothed with Rags, tormented with painful Sores, and racked and gripped with Hunger: Such a comfortless Condition, enough to make one weary of Life, and wish for a sudden Exit! and the more when Succour is denied. From this poor wretch, all outward comforts were withheld, not so much as the crumbs allowed him which fell from the Rich Man's Table: It encourages, and bears a Man up, under languishing circumstances, when he is caressed with pity, and gets some relief, tho' but the fragments of a Meal. But such was the unfortunate Fate of poor Lazarus, that notwithstanding his importunate cries, ghastly looks, shattered , and ulcerated flesh, none gave unto, nor condoled with him; hungry and thirsty, his Soul fainted in him; no Friends, nor wherewithal to support him in this his distressed condition. But tho' he was thus inhumanely dealt with, we read not that he reflected upon Providence, or charged God foolishly, but humbly submitted himself to him who disposeth all things, patiently waiting for a happy change, either a sufficient competency while he lived, or a translation out of this World into a better.  
My Text therefore presents us with a sudden, but happy alteration of Lazarus' condition.  
It came to pass that the Beggar died: An end of all his wants, sorrows, and conflicts. God has ever a gracious regard to the lamentable groans, and afflicted state of his poor Servants; and tho' he sometimes seem long ere he answers their request and expectation, yet in a time besitting his most excellent Wisdom, he graciously crowns them with their hearts desire. Lazarus not only died, but was carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom: His Soul, not his Body; probably that was exposed to ravenous Beasts, or Fowls, or else to innumerable Vermin in the Grave, if any were so charitably disposed to bury it, tho' reason enough there is to believe the contrary: For while he lived, he could not get sustenance, his hunger, nakedness, and sores, no body regarded, much less his dead Body, to give it a decent Interment. But no matter, his Soul was returned to him that gave it; and his Body too, tho' never so much mangled, and dispersed into never so many Atoms, shall be compacted together, made vivid and formable, at the command of the great Creator.  
Now the Text contains two Parts: The  
First is, A Description of the Death of Lazarus: And it came to pass that the Beggar died. The  
Second, Gives an account of the condition and state of his Soul: And was carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom.  
From whence these two great Points are proved:  
First, That the Soul is capable of an Existence separated from the Body. Let that fond conjecture then of those be condemned, who imagine that the Soul, together with the Body, declineth in the Earth.  
Secondly, That the Souls of the Faithful, when they depart from their Bodies, immediately pass into a fixed state of Blessedness. But that which I shall at this time treat on, will be the Death of Lazarus; and in descanting upon this, I shall,  

First of all, Consider what were the immediate Causes of his Death.  
Secondly, What kind of treatment he met with while languishing. And then,  
Lastly, What became of his Body after Death.   
First then, I am to consider what were the immediate Causes of Lazarus' s Death: And here, if we reflect upon his circumstances while living, we may soon conjecture. For,  
First, He wanted the Staff of Life, namely, Bread: He desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the Rich Man's Table, but was uncharitably refused them. Hunger is a sharp Thorn, it dries up the Blood, it decays those rarer Ornaments of Nature, Beauty, and a sanguine Complexion; it preys upon the Spirits, and makes them faint and droop. In a word, Hunger destroys the Marrow, weakens the Bones, and puts the whole frame of Nature into a grand disorder. And here the griping pains, the gnawings this poor wretch endured, the lamentable sighs and groans he fetched, the doleful complaints he made, (what a gbastly countenance be had?) reduced to such a degree of weakness, that he could not stand, for he lay at the Rich Man's Gates. Such a condition as this, doubtless, makes Life burdensome, and Death more eligible. We observe by constant Experience, that some who are of choleric and furious Dispositions, vent themselves in wishes for a speedy Exit, when some less dangerous accidents befall them; how much more therefore intolerable is it, to live, and (if I may so say) stand and see one's self die; as properly speaking, they do, who suffer Hunger, and have not intermissions of a reasonable satiety? This was the ill fortune of poor Lazarus; he was reduced to that extremity, that he would have been glad of the crumbs, the portiuncula, the least and worst fragments, which dropped under the Rich Man's Table. It is to be presumed, that there are scarce any, or at least very few, who are in such extremity; but doubtless, this was one cause which hastened Lazarus' Death, namely, Hunger: For since nourishment upholdeth Nature, reviving the Blood, recruiting the Spirits, feeding the Bones and Marrow, whereby, Life is prolonged, the want of this must soon decay, and overthrow the whole frame of Nature. Poor Lazarus! So hungry, and no body to feed thee! Not one Morsel from a plentiful Table! If the Master of the House was so seered and impenetrable, as to deny thy reasonable request, surely the Servants might have accommodated thee with some of their Remains: No! What, suffer thee to perish for want of that which themselves would not eat! O unheard of Cruelty! O monstrous Barbarity! But,  
Secondly, Another cause of Lazarus' Death, was those Ulcers and putrifying Sores which had invaded and corrupted his flesh: He was laid at the rich man's gate, full of sores. As he had no Friend to sustain his Hunger, neither was there any found to bind up his Wounds: These, for want of application, infected the whole Mass of Blood, seized his Vitals, and hastened the destruction of Nature. O miserable Object! Starved with Hunger, and full of Sores too: Without Friend, and without Pity! Evil upon Evil! The Holy jesus could not but cure the Leper, when he saw him full of Sores. And Elisha could not, but out of Humanity, teach Naaman the Syrian to wash himself in Jordan, that he might be whole; but this Rich Man would not help Lazarus, but left him to languish and die. Doubtless it was a great addition of his misery, to be full of Blotches and running Ulcers; for as his Hunger tormented and gnawed upon his inwards, so his Sores grieved and pained his flesh; both the one and the other, contriving to storm his Soul out of the Outworks of Nature. But thus much for the first thing; which was, To consider what were the proper Causes of Lazarus' s Death: And from hence I proceed in the second place; namely,  
Secondly, To consider what kind of treatment Lazarus met withal, while he was languishing, or dying. We read of no Friends that came either to visit, or to comfort him with Medicaments. Thus, generally, the poor Servants of God are treated, when retained by a Fit of Sickness, and drawing near to a period; many of them perish for want of reasonable applications: None, or very few, vouchsafe them an hours consolation; they groan, they sigh, they pant, and die without pity. Such usage as this Lazarus met withal, in his dying hours: Rich Men are supplied with Physicians, furnished with Potions; and when dying, their Friends stand shrieking about the Bed, and fill the Room with dolorous sounds: They grieve for their approaching loss, and enhance their sorrows with the repetition of former benefits; if it were possible they would conquer Death, and rescue their departing Friends out of his clutches. But poor Lazarus, as he had no inward applications, so no outward comforts; not a Bed to lie upon, the Earth was his Pillow, the Element was his Covering, the Rich Man's Dogs were his Visitants; not one of his Servants would vouchsafe him a reviving Draught, or any thing that was comfortable, but there he lay, screeching with anguish, sighing and groaning, waiting till Death would strike, and release him from his great wants, and heavy conflicts. Now his Throat growing dry with crying, his Heart fainting for want of comfort, his Tongue cleaving to the Roof of his Mouth, being worn out with Fast and Miseries, he gave a groan, and perished at this wretch's Gate. Was ever heart so hard! Can it be imagined, that a rational Creature could be guilty of such Cruelty! and especially towards one of his Fellow-Creatures! It was inhuman in thee, O Dives, to have no compassion upon poor Lazarus; but it argues much more a seared Nature, to suffer him to faint and die at thy very Door, for want of a few fragments of Bread! What was his request to thee? He asked not for dainty food, such which was thy daily Entertainment, but only for those Scraps, which neither thy Servants nor Dogs would eat, to save his Life: And was it such a matter, to have granted him this his so reasonable desire? Will it not be a blemish on thy Conscience, that thou shouldst suffer a Soul to perish with hunger, when thou hadst enough, and abundantly to spare? Couldst thou see Lazarus trembling and quaking with cold, having only shattered Rags about him, and not cover his nakedness, when thou hadst store of Castoff Garments? Were his wounds so deep and gaping upon thee, and neither thou, nor thy Servants, by thy order, pour Oil into them? If the Stones could speak, they would cry, fie on thee: If thy Dogs could utter themselves, they would charge thee with unmercifulness: If Lazarus were alive, his Sores would gush out afresh in thy Face, and sound in thine Ears, that thou art guilty of his Blood. Behold, the Sentence is gone forth against thee; the blood of Lazarus, like the blood of Abel, cries aloud, Let thy days be few, and let another take thine Office; Let thy Children be Fatherless, and thy Wife a Widow; Let thy Children be Vagabonds, and beg their Bread; let them seek it also out of desolate places. Let the Extortioner consume all that thou hast, and let the Stranger spoil thy labour: Let there be no Man to pity thee, nor to have compassion on thy Fatherless Children: Let thy Memorial be clean forgotten, and in the next Generation let thy Name be quite blotted out. Let him be unsuccessful in every thing he taketh in hand; let him be Accursed when he goeth out, and when he cometh in. Let the Creator abandon him, the Heaven's frown upon him, and the Angels reject him; let him be a woeful Example to the World. O Earth! open upon him, Hell receive him, Spirits tear him, Devils torment him. Let no Mercy be expressed towards him, who shut up his bowels of compassion against his distressed and afflicted Brother. The sorrowful sighing of the Poor shall not always be forgotten, God will avenge their injuries, if not in this Life, yet in that which is to come. But thus much for the second thing, which was to consider what usage poor Lazarus met with while he lay languishing, while he was hastening to a period. I am now to go on in the third place;  
Thirdly, To inquire what became of his dead Body. And here we cannot suppose that his Body had any decent Interment; because, while living, it had not wherewithal to sustain it. He was Browbeaten, scoffed at, rejected, a Companion for Dogs, the very abject of the People; those that passed by him, upbraided his Poverty, turned their Heads away from the stench of his Sores, and stopped their Ears to his woeful Complaints. Now if his hungry Stomach, ulcerous Body, and fainting Spirits, and dismal Out cries, would not move to pity, we may reasonably conjecture that his dead Body was not taken care of. That it might not infect with strong and loathsome smells, it may be it was crammed into some narrow hole in the Earth, or thrown into some rapid River or other. No Bell to proclaim his Death, no Knell to usher him to the Grave, no Friends to accompany his Corpse, which are the usual methods of a Funeral. Thus poor Men slip silently into the Earth, and have none to mourn over them, but their distressed Widows and Orphans, who miss those little Comforts they were the Authors of; but yet poor men's Souls are as precious in the sight of God as rich men's. The World distinguishes Men by their Rank and Quality, but God by their Goodness; and how mean soever his Servants may be in this Life, yet they shall be hereafter Kings and Priests, and reign with God for ever. It matters not then, O Christian, tho' thou art poor and despicable, thou art not to live here always; the time is coming, when all things will be set to rights, when thou shalt have amends made thee for thy scanty Portion, and those Indignities offered thee for thy Poverty; then every Man shall be rewarded according to his Works. A Nabuchadnezzar, a Nimrod, a Belteshazzar, a lofty Felix, and an ambitious Herod, and other Grandees of the World, shall be no more respected than thou: For God is no respecter of persons. It is no matter whether thy Body be honourably buried or no, if thy Soul be but virtuous, and found in the ways of holiness; then both shall be gloriously reunited, and live together in Paradise for ever. Poor Lazarus lived miserably, died so, and his Body probably, thrown into some Pit or other; but yet his Soul was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom. And thus much for the death of Lazarus. I now proceed to make some special Use of what has been said, and then conclude. And here,  
First, From hence we may learn, that it is very often the lot of God's dear Children to suffer Affliction in this Life. Not that he delights in the Miseries of his People, but because he would fit them for himself; draw their Affections from things here below, let them see the vanity and emptiness of all Worldly satisfactions, and put their confidence in him as a sure Refuge in time of trouble. Such are the wise and holy ends of God towards his faithful Servants. Job, a just Man, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil, was woefully punished, his Children suddenly slain, his Plenty turned into Scarcity, his Body afflicted with Swell and Carbuncles, his Friends became his Enemies, his Wife, in the midst of sufferings, tempting him; who would but conclude that this was a Judgement upon him, for some great sin or other? And yet is it left upon Record, that this change of things was only to try him, who yet retaining his Integrity; was blest with much more than ever he had. S. James 1.2. says, Count it all joy, when ye fall into divers temptations. As if he had expressed himself thus: Be not disheartened and cast down if Calamities besiege you, provided they be not of your own seeking, but by God's Providence; for he has no other end upon you, but to make you yet better, and to fit you more exactly for his heavenly Kingdom. And St. Paul, 12. Heb. 6. makes affliction a special mark of God's love. Whom he loves, he rebukes, and chastens every Son whom he receives. Then, Christian, bear up under thy sufferings: Hast thou but a scanty Portion, hardly enough to keep thee alive? Be content, Heaven will be thine; and tho' it may seem long ere thou be in possession of it, yet it will infinitely make thee amends when thou comest there. Art thou friendless? Dost thou suffer Reproach, Calumnies? Do Men despise thee? Does the World deny thee Peace? Hast thou none that will take thy part? Sink not under this calamity, for God is thy Friend, he hears thy Sighs and Groans, records thy Prayers, and bottles up thy Tears, and will abundantly recompense thee when thou comest into his Kingdom. Put thy trust in him, keep covenant with Christ, and get an interest in him, and fear not what Man can do unto thee. It was this which encouraged the Martyrs under their Sufferings, and made them even rejoice in the midst of their bitter conflicts; they made their Calling and Election sure; all was well between God and their Spirits, and therefore fainted not at the thought of being sent to him, tho' by the most violent and cruel death. It is recorded of Ignatius, that when he was condemned by that imperious Tyrant Trajan, to be torn apieces by wild Beasts, he replied, I am not afraid to go out of the World this way, nor at the suddenness of my departure; for I care not how soon, nor by what means, I hasten to my dear Redeemer, whom I love more than Life, for that I can freely part with all for his sake, who did so much for me; he did groan, and sigh, sweat, bleed, and die for me, and therefore I can never forget him.  
Secondly, From the death of Lazarus, we learn to be pitiful and compassionate towards those that are Poor. Lazarus died with hunger. Had his Necessities been supplied, he might have lived longer; but wanting Nourishment, he died. What a sad Consideration is it, to send the hungry and thirsty away empty, when Men have to spare? This argues an ungrateful Mind towards God, and an insensibility of our own Demerits. If God Almighty should deal with us proportionably to our deserts, Hell would become our Lot; but he deals not with us after our Sins, nor rewards us according to our Iniquities; he overlooks our manifold Weaknesses, passes by our many wilful Miscarriages, forgives the Affronts we offer to his Divine Majesty, and crowns us with his Goodness; his providential Hand is always heaping Blessings upon us, his Mercy triumphs over Judgement. Now the mere Consideration of this, methinks, is enough to make Men of flexible, condescending Humours, of compassionate, charitable Dispositions, and oblige them to be as forward to give, as the Poor is to ask them; that is, according to their Abilities. What a lamentable thing is it, when a poor Man, almost famished, his Face wan, his Countenance ghastly, his Spirits fainting, and his Tongue cleaving to the roof of his Mouth, and begs for God's sake, for Christ Jesus sake, to satisfy his craving Stomach, and thirsly Soul, or else he must perish, to send him away empty as he came! Suppose this pining Wretch should drop, and die at thy Door, upon a denial; tho' this be not Murder in the sense of ours, yet it is in the judgement of God's Laws, and his Blood thou must answer for; and, O woeful Account in the Day of Inquisition! Christ, who is the ordained Judge, has threatened to revenge the Indignities of his poor Servants, in Matth. 25. Go ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was naked, and ye clothed me not; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; I was sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then will the uncharitable answer, and say, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, In as much as ye did it not unto one of the least of these my poer servants, ye did it not to me; and in denying of them, ye denied me, and their cause I will espouse; and therefore go ye carsed into everlasting fire. But,  
Thirdly, From the death of Lazarus we learn to be content with our Condition, tho' never so mean; and to keep ourselves in the Exercise of Religion, tho' we are deprived of this World's goods. Lazarus, tho' he was Hungry and Thirsty, his Soul fainted in him; tho' he was Naked and full of Sores; yet he murmured not, but committed himself to God, to whom his Soul was carried by the Angels, as soon as separated from his Body. It is excellent to be Poor and Virtuous; for it argues the strongest Faith, the best Hope, and the best Affections, because there are not those outward encouragements to Goodness in Adversity, as Prosperity. Poverty is looked upon as a kind of Judgement, as if God hates the Person, and therefore makes him an Object of Scorn and Infamy; so that he is apt to be discouraged, and can do nothing else but bewail, and lament his unhappy circumstances, sit drooping and pausing on his low condition. But however, the Scripture has well informed us, that God Almighty means no ill towards his Creatures, and that when he changes things, and removes Prosperity from the Door, it is only to try them, how they will manage themselves upon an alteration, what kind of nature they will appear to have, whether they will make application to him, and carry themselves in all Duty and Allegiance towards him. And since such is God's Wise design, it is but very reasonable that we should be as Good and Virtuous when poor, as well as when rich; especially, considering that we deserve nothing at the Hands of God, nothing but Fury and everlasting Damnation. Besides, the advantage of Piety; Is a Man poor and low in the World? it doth improve and sweeten even that State: It keepeth his Spirits up above dejection, desperation, and disconsolateness; it frees him from all grievous solicitude vnd anxiety, showing him, that altho' he seemeth to have little, yet he may be assured to want nothing, he having a certain Succour, and neverfailing supply from God's good Providence; that notwithstanding the present straightness of his condition, or scantiness of outward things, he has a title to goods infinitely more precious, and more considerable.  
To conclude, Let it be our main employ to improve our Judgements and Understandings in things Spiritual, that we may have right notions of God, such as become the perfections of his Nature, and the excellency of his Goodness; that in whatsoever state and condition we are, we may glorify his Name. And thus, when we have conquered ourselves, and brought our Minds to a settlement in the ways of Holiness, we shall resign our Concernments with more freedom to God's wise disposal, and be submissive to his Laws, whatever our condition be.  
May God assist us, by the influences of his Grace and blessed Spirit, so to order and govern our Natures, that we may love him freely, believe in him steadfastly, and serve him faithfully to our lives end. And this for Jesus Christ's sake, to whom with the Father, and ever blessed Spirit, be given all Honour, Praise, Thanksgiving and Obedience, now, henceforth, and for ever more. Amen.   

SERMON IU.  Luke XVI. part of the 22 Verse. 
And was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom.  
HAving in my last Discourse treated of the Death of Lazarus, and particularly considered what were the immediate causes of his death: the manner and circumstance of his dying, and how his dead body was probably disposed of: My Text now leads me to consider the state and condition of his Soul; after separation from the Body, It was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom. Many differ in their sentiments about this Expression, and have conceived Witty and Learned Notions of it, but yet seem to agree in this, that by Abraham's bosom is meant Heaven; and the Reason of this phrase is, Abraham is styled, The Father of the Faithful, and while he lived, a very Hospitable person; to him was the Soul of Lazarus conveyed, as a Sanctuary of Rest and Peace; the just reward of his patience, during his great want, and heavy conflicts. Some urge it as a Metaphor from Parents, who imbosom and hug their Children, when tired by running to and fro, or have met with some hurtful mischance, and come weeping and lamenting themselves. A very adapt Parallel: The Soul of poor Lazarus was grieved and wearied with Fast and Miseries; perplexed and overwhelmed with sorrows for the cruel treatment he met with in the world; it was therefore conducted by the Heavenly Courtiers into Abraham's bosom, to be succoured and made amends for past indignities. He was carried by the Angels: As if they contended who should usher it into Paradise. Now Lazarus thou recountest with triumph; the difficulties thou hast rubbed through, the afflictions thou hast endured, the shame, pain, and ignominy thou hast undergone for Christ's sake; Now thou art made acquainted with the Arcana Imperii, the secrets of the other happy World, and rejoycest with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. Nothing shall interrupt thy peace, nor call thee off from thy enjoyments, but there thou shalt swim in rapturous pleasures for evermore. This may serve to prevent those who are in sorrow, trouble, or any other adversity, from reflecting upon the Divine Justice, as if he unequally distributed his Mercies. In this life, it matters not whether his Servants be accommodated with sublunary affluences, or no, since he has prepared a wide and capacious Heaven, to receive and replenish them; wherein are all the instances of Joy, all the ingredients of felicity, and nothing else to the contrary; all that can caress our powers, all that can ravish our hearts, all that is good, lovely & desirable, is there to be compendiously enjoyed. But to traverse the Text, The Soul of Lazarus was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom, or Heaven; Which words afford us this matter.  
First, That the Angels are employed to convey the Souls of true Believers into a fixed state of blessedness: And to prove this, (granting that there are such Being's as Angels, because the Scriptures often speak of them, I shall, First of all, Undertake to show their Offices, as relating to God's faithful Children in this life. Secondly, The great love and kindness they have for mankind.  
First then, I am to distinguish their Offices, as relating to God's faithful Children in this life. They are called in Heb. 1. ult. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation. The word (Angel) signifies an Ambassador, which is sent upon another's Errand; and in Scripture sense it is restrainedly taken for a select, divine sort of Emissaries, Spiritual Being's, created, commissioned, and employed by, and under God. Now first, it is part of the Angel's Employment, upon any urgency, to reveal God's mind and will, and to bring Embassies from him to us, for our instruction and good. Thus, while Abraham was sitting at the Tent-door, in the Plains of Mamre, he beheld three Men, which were three Angels, who came to inform him that a Son should shortly be born unto him, Gen. 18.10. Likewise, while Lot was sitting in the Gate of Sodom, two Angels salute him, and deliver their Message, saying, Hasten thou, and thine, out of this City, for the Lord has commissioned us to destroy it, because of the wickedness of the people that dwell therein, Gen. 19.12, 13. Again, when Balaam the Prophet was journeying upon an ill Errand, an Angel from the Lord interrupted him, cautioning him to do according as God had commanded him, Numb. 22. v. 35. Those Visions of Daniel were from an Angel, and being at a loss about their significancy and meaning, Gabriel the Archangel, was dispatched to inform his understanding, and to give him light into those dark and abstruse Mysteries, Dan. 8.16. and 9.22, 23. And in the Gospel, we read of an Angel, who caressed Zecharias with the happy news of a Son, who should be the Harbinger and Forerunner of the Messiah: That an Angel addressed the Blessed Virgin Mary, acquainting her that she was appointed by God to conceive and bear that Messiah. And that Angels surprised the drowsy Shepherds in the Field by night, with the news of the Birth of the Child Jesus. That an Angel appeared three times to Joseph; First, to encourage him to take and own Mary his Espoused Wife; then to hasten him with the young Child, and Mother, into Egypt, from the approaching fury and savageness of Herod; and then, lastly to return again, when the Persecution was abated. When the forgetful Disciples came to seek their Crucified Saviour in the Sepulchre, the Angels reminded them that he was risen from the dead, according as he had told them when he was yet alive. I might insert many more Instances of this kind, that the Angels are God's Ambassadors, upon an occasion, sent to reveal his will, for our instruction and good. But concerning the Doctrinal Ministry of Angels, we are not now to expect such extraordinary Revelations, because God hath appointed other Emissaries for the declaration of his mind to the World. He hath sent his Son, clothed with our Nature, who has given us a Specimen of his Will; and, in his absence, substituted his Apostles to propagate the Gospel, enabling them to continue a Succession of Ministers, to handle and preach the Word, for the saving of Souls, as St. Paul speaks, Eph 4. v. 11, 12, 13. He gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ, till we all come into the unity of the Faith, and knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. These Visible Ministers we are now to hearken to, in the room of Angels, to receive and embrace their Doctrine, as the means whereby we may be saved To these Ambassadors the Angels themselves direct men under the Gospel. An Angel calls Philip towards the South, on purpose to meet the Eunuch, that he might preach Jesus to him, Acts 8.26. When Cornelius had ended his Devotion, an Angel caresses him with this Salutation, Thy prayers are come up for a memorial before God; but bids him send to Joppa for one Simon Peter, an eminent Minister, who would instruct him particularly what he ought to do, Acts 10.4, 5, 6. So bufie are these Heavenly Spirits in promoting the knowledge of those blessed Mysteries, which themselves look into with wonder and amazement. But,  
Secondly, It is a part of the Angel's Employment, to be our Guardians, to fence us from eminent Evils, to shelter us from Dangers, and to direct us in ways of Peril and Uncertainty. Thus the Royal Psalmist encourages God's faithful Servants to persevere in Holiness, by telling them, That the Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, Psal. 34.7. And there shall no evil befall thee, for, he shall give his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways; they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone, Psal. 91.10, 11, 12. Doubtless these Celestial Spirits do us many good Offices, they contrive our safety, and advance our happiness, and promote our welfare, tho' we are not privy to their transactions. As before I mentioned, our Saviour was preserved from the furious rage, and implacable malice of Herod, by an Angel's warning of Joseph to flee into Egypt. History furnishes us with many Instances of this kind, how some, whose lives have been secretly sought for, and the Emissaries of death have been coming forward incognito, to imbrue their hands in blood, have been rescued from those Assassins, by the timely warnings of an Angel; others, who have simply attempted their own Danger, and have just brought themselves to the brink of destruction, have been wonderfully preserved by the opportune insinuation of an Angel; Cave, beware. Again, others who have been surprised out of their sleep, and cautioned to hasten with their Families out of the Towns wherein they have lived, for that they would be suddenly visited with a sweeping Plague, and so it happened a little time after their removal. Thus solicitous, by Divine appointment, are these heavenly Spirits, for the good and welfare of Mankind. But again,  
Thirdly, It is part of the Angel's Ministry, not only to defend from danger, and to screen from approaching evils; but to comfort the disconsolate, to help in time of need, and to bring supplies in times of scarcity. When Elijah the Prophet was threatened by Jezebel with death, for destroying the chief of Baal's Followers, he fled to Beer-Sheba; and leaving his Servant there, he went a days Journey into the Wilderness; and being overwhelmed with sorrow, he sat him down under a Juniper-Tree, petitioning rather to die, than to live, and fell asleep; in the interim an Angel touched him, and said, Arise and eat: And be looked, and behold there was a Cake baken on the Coals, and a cruse of Water at his head: And he did eat, and drink, and laid him down again. And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the Journey is too great for thee: And he arose, and did eat, and drink, and went in the strengeh of that meat forty days, and forty nights, unto Horeb the Mount of God, 1 Kings 19.5, 6, 7, 8. When Isaiah the Prophet cried out, upon sight of the Vision; Woe is me! for I am unclean, because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; there flew one of the Seraphims unto him, having a live Coal in his hand, which he had taken with the Tongues from off the Altar, and he laid it upon his Mouth, and said, Lo this has touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged, Isa. 6.5, 6.7. When our dearest Lord was struggling in a mighty Agony, that he sweat as it were great drops of blood, when the bitter cup was presented to him, of which he was to drink, and which he prayed, if possible, might be removed from him; in the midst of his conflicts the Angels, his Attendants, came and strengthened him. When in the Wilderness, set on, and tempted by the Devil, those Celestical Spirits came and Ministered unto him. When Lot was in danger of being torn apieces by some of the vicious Sodomites, two Angels haled him into his House from their fury, and struck those that encompassed him with blindness, Gen. 19.10, 11. Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, those true Servants of the most High God, being condemned by that Tyrant Nabuchadnezzar, to be scorched to death in a Furnace seven times hotter than ordinary, they were thrown in, bound hand and foot; but behold an Angel indemnisied them, they were not singed, neither had the flames any power on them. Did we not, says Nabuchadnezzar, Dan. 3.24, 25. cast three men bound into the fiery furnace? Lo, I see four men lose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. When Daniel was doomed to the Lion's Den, in order to be devoured by them; an Angel, by an irresistible power, restrains the appetites of those voracious Beasts, that he dwelled in safety in the midst of danger. My God, saith he, has sent his Angel, and hath shut the Lion's Mouths, that they have not hurt me; for as much as before him Innocncy was found in me; and also before thee, O King, have I done no hurt, Dan. 6.22. To name no more; When Peter was imprisoned by Herod, and a strong watch ordered to keep him safe; Behold! an Angel came to him, and unloosed his Chains, burst open the Prison-door, led him through the Wards, and coming to the main Iron Gate, that opened of its own accord. This miraculous deliverance did so amaze Peter, that he could scarce believe the truth of it, till coming to himself, he humbly accknowledged, saying, Acts 12.11. Now I know of a surety, that the Lord has sent his Angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the People of the Jews. Thus these Celestial Spirits encamp round about them that fear the Lord. But,  
Secondly, I am to consider the great love these Heavenly Courtiers bear to Mankind. And here, doubtless their affection is infinitely great: For when the Son of God descended from above, and Eclipsed his glory with humane Nature, to work the Redemption of man, these Celestial Ambassadors gathered together, expressing their joy for the Restauration of lapsed Mortals, by a general shout; and then joining in a Chorus, Sang, Glory be to God on High, and on Earth Peace, good will towards men, Luke 2.14. They could not but celebrate this stupendious act of Condescension, and loudly echo it in the Shepherd's ears. They seemed, as it were, transported that they had a message of this kind, to deliver to undone Mortals, who were groaning under their own burden. When a stuborn sinner returns from the error of his ways, bethinks himself, altars his mind, and becomes a new Creature; these Heavenly Spirits are all in a Rapture, and Exstacy; they break out into loud acclamations of joy, Luke 15.10. There is joy in the presence of the Angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth. And the Reasons of this are,  
First, Because their employment for God is increased. They are Ministering Spirits, sent forth to Minister for those who shall be heirs of Salvation.  
Secondly, Because every converted sinner adds to their Communion. In some respects, even now, Angels are a Saints Familiar, they have a special charge over them, and pitch their Tents round about, and Minister unto them; but that which enhances their gladness, they shall enjoy an everlasting Conversation with them, Sing and praise the Lamb that sits upon the Throne together; Behold the beauty, meditae upon the glorious perfections of God, and be swallowed up in holy wonder. This it is which enjoins the Angels to take such care of the Saints in this life, defending them from extraordinary mischiefs, guarding them from the Power and Malice of the Devil, directing them in ways of uncertainty and peril, watching over them by night, and conducting them by day; namely, that their Communion may be improved, their Joys fulfilled, in an everlasting harmony & mutual concord. And now, if God has thus. Commissioned his Angels to Minister to his Saints, to defend and keep them, to guard and shield them from dangers and mischiefs; and if these glorious Harbingers bear so great a love to men, as has been plainly proved; doubtless they are very ready to receive, and carry the Souls of good men into Heaven. One of the Fathers calls the Angels (Evocatores animarum) The callers forth of Souls, and such as show them (paraturam diversorii) the preparation of those Mansions they are going to. Hence we observe, When good men are dying, they are often in silent raptures, and express a kind of impatience, till they are dissolved. And why? because they spiritually see what they cannot utter, as did St. Paul, when he was wrapped up into the third Heaven. There is a kind of a draught presented to them, by their Guardian Angels, of those transcendent joys they are almost ready to enter in possession of; and therefore long, and pine, till they are conveyed into that place of Unspeakable Felicity. These Heavenly Spirits secure and support them under their pain and sickness; and when their Souls are stormed out of their Bodies, they encompass and embrace them, soaring through the Regions of evil Angels into Heaven. As my Text speaks concerning Lazarus, that he was safely carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom. And thus much for the Proposition I raised from the words of the Text, namely, That the Angels are employed to convey the Soul, of true Believers, as soon as separated from their Bodies, into a fixed state of blessedness.  
I now proceed to draw some practical Inferences from the whole, and so conclude. And here,  
First, We cannot but admire at God's tender love to men, that he should create such Being's to be our Guardians, to help and succout us in the time of our Pilgrimage here. What is Man, that God should be so mindful of him? or the Son of Man that he should so regard him? What tongue can be silent, upon a serious thoughtfulness of the honour God conferreth upon Man? Let us then break out with St. Bernard, Lord, what is Man, that thou thinkest thus on him? Thou sendest to him thine only begotten Son; thou sendest into him thy Holy Spirit; thou promisest him the light of thy Countenance; and that nothing in the Heavenly Region might be unemployed in follicitude for him; thou sendest forth also those blessed Spirits, the Angels, to Minister to us And with another of the Ancients, who studiously contemplating this Subject, and reflecting upon his own unworthiness thus uttered himself, When I remember these things, O Lord I confess before thee, and praise thee for thy great benefits, wherewith thou hast honoured us. Thou hast given us all things under Heaven, and yet countedst that but a small provision, unless thou hadst also given us the things above, even those Angels of thine, as Ministering Spirits unto us? What is man that thou thus respectest him?  
Secondly, The consideration, that the Angels are about us, should fill us with a reverential awe and dread, and oblige us to be circumspect and innocent in our transactions. When Jacob saw a Ladder, reaching from Earth to Heaven, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon it, he said, How dreadful is this place! his spirit was struck with fear. And certainly, if we considered that these Heavenly Courtiers were attending us, curiously observing our actions, and taking cognizance of our behaviour; we should be much more cautious and wary in our prosecutions, especially in our demeanour while in God's House. The Angels are our Guardians, directing and guiding us to good; it should therefore be our care to manage our spiritual concernment; with such Christian prudence, that they may continue our Keepers, while we live here; and receive our Souls at our deaths, and convey them into Abraham 's bosom. It is the highest ingratitude to slight their directions, besides a woeful disadvantage: For being not under their protection, the Evil Spirits have the opportunity of exercising their Wiles and Arts upon us, of filling us full of all iniquity, and bringing us to destruction both of Body and Soul. The Devil is called the Prince of the Air, and why he doth us no more mischief, because the Angels of God encamp round about us, to keep and preserve us from his power. If then we foolishly throw ourselves from under their care and protection, by adhering to the lusts of the flesh; this Prince of the Air, with his Diabolical Crew, having no obstruction, enters into us, and our latter end becomes worse than the beginning.  
Thirdly, The consideration, that the Angels are our Guardians, should encourage us to persevere in our duty, and not be discouraged at difficulties; remembering that we have more for, than against us. Being compassed with so great a cloud of witnesses, and mighty helpers, we are to lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and to run with patience the race that is set before us. And having so great encouragement and consolation, we are not at any time to be weary of well doing, or frightened from it; but to be sledfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, as it becomes Persons of such hopes for hereafter, (the Heirs of Salvation) and such security in the interim (attended with the Holy Angels.)  
Lastly, The consideration, that these Heavenly Courtiers are our Attendants and Guardians, should engage us to honour and esteem the meanest of God's Servants; not to despise, reproach and load them with oppressing calumnies. How darest thou to contemn and slight one of God's poor Servants, when they have Celestial Spirits attending them? They are the Sons and Daughters of the great King of Heaven and Earth, and born to a fair Inheritance, a transcendantly Rich and Glorious Kingdom: And in the mean while, however thou mayst look upon them as destitute and forsaken, they have an invisible Guard about them, upon occasion to Minister for their supply, defence, and vindication; Such honour have all his Saints. The Angels smote the Men of Sodom with blindness, because they disturbed and provoked Lot. And though now a-days God does not so ordinarily resent the indignities of his poor Servants, by open Judgements; yet he will be sure to right them in the other world, by condemning their Enemies.  
Our Saviour has represented the danger of contempt and uncharitableness towards the poor, in the case of the Rich Man; In Hell he lifted up his eyes, & sees Lazarus afar off, whom he suffered to perish at his Gates; Of whose succour he would have been glad; Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my Tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Besides, in despising the poor, we despise also Christ himself, who became poor, that we might be made rich: And what punishment shall they be thought worthy of, who trample under foot the Son of God? Let us therefore, since we all are partakers of one hope of being Heirs of Salvation, High and Low, Rich and Poor, learn to respect and honour the meanest among us; especially remembering, that God has given them a mighty privilege of being attended and guarded by his Angels. But to conclude.  
Since these heavenly Guardians are holy, unspotted, and undefiled Being's and delight continually to sing Praise, Honour, and Glory unto the Lamb that sits upon the Throne; let us endeavour to emulabe them as much as is possible in this our frail state; let us love and seek after those things which belong to our everlasting peace. Let us exercise ourselves in Religion, cheerfully and frequently. If thou delight in the word of God, and prayer says devout Gerard, thou shalt be gratified with the Holy Angels patronage. While I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, saith the Prophet Daniel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God, for the Holy Mountain of my God; Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, the Man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the Vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening-oblation, Dan. 9.20, 21. This exercise the Holy Angels delight in; May God grant that we may be governed and guided by those Celestial Spirits, whom he has commissioned and charged to encamp about us; that they may secure and defend us, while in this life; and when we die, receive and carry our Souls into Abraham's bosom. And this we beg for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.   

SERMON V.  Luke XVI. 22, 23, 24. 
Ver. 22. The rich man also died, and was buried.  
Ver. 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seethe Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom:  
Ver. 24. And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.  
DEath is the Lot of us all, He invadeth the rich Man's Palace, as well as the poor Man's Cottage; he storms the Prince's Court, as well as the Peasant's meaner Habitation. High and Low, all must submit, when this grim Sergeant makes a demand. Neither Wealth nor Honour; neither beauty, nor wisdom, nor any secular regard, can plead against death, or privilege a Man from the Grave. Which consideration should insinuate with Men to be less in love with this world, and more thoughtful of that time when they must go into a fixed state, either of eternal happiness, or misery. But such was the stupid folly of Dives, that to die was the least of his care, and the least in his mind. His chief study was, what he should eat, drink, and put on; what sort of pleasures would best suit with, and accommodate his senses. In sine, his happiness was fixed in these perishing enjoyments, and so fond imagined his condition immutable; But behold a woeful change of things! In the midst of his carnal security, death steps in, an unwelcome Guest, a frightful Spectrum, and irresistably hauls him from all his darling repasts, and crowds him into the Region of damned Spirits. Now he that was clothed with Purple and fine Linen, is enveloped in devouring and unquenchable flames; he that fared sumptuously and deliciously every day, is confined to a loathsome dungeon, and doomed to sister those intolerable preparations. And to enhance his Misery, Lazarus, whom he uncharitably denied the crumbs which fell from his Table, and without any reluctancy permitted to faint, languish, and die at his Gates, is at a distance presented to his view lying in Abraham's bosom, crowned with glory, and encircled with the rades of eternal bliss. To Abraham he addresses himself, Pity my hard fate, consider my woeful condition, see how the flames scorch and torment me, see how my tongue is parched with heat; I am so miserably afflicted, that I cannot express myself; I pray thee therefore to send Lazarus, with a drop of water to abate the anguish, and allay the throbbing of my inflamed tongue. So great and vehement are the plagues of Hell, that the damned Spirits there cry continually for help and succour, but are not pitiable Objects, having withstood the frequent tenders of grace and mercy.  
Now from the words of the Text, we learn,  
First, That as the Souls of true Believers, when they go out of their Bodies, lance into a fixed state of happiness; so the Souls of wicked men, immediately upon separation, go into a fixed state of misery. We no sooner read of the Rich Man being dead and buried, but it follows, And in Hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.  
Secondly, That it will be a great part of the misery of the damned, to understand those to be in Heaven, whom they in this life scorned, reproached, and abused, and it may be were instruments of hastening them to those blessed Mansions. It was doubtless an aggravation of the rich Man's torments, to see Lazarus in Abraham's bosom; that Lazarus, whom be did browbeat, and suffered to perish with hunger at his own Gates.  
Thirdly, That there will come a time, when the most proud and ambitious sinners, would gladly be relieved by the meanest Saints. Father Abraham, says the rich Man, send Lazarus, the very same who begged at my Gates for the crumbs which fell from my Table.  
Fourthly, That the state of the damned will be void of the least degrees of comfort. The rich Man desired but the cooling of his tongue, with as much water as could be brought upon the tip of Lazarus' finger.  
Lastly, That the Tongue is a Member, the abuse of which in another life, will lie very heavy upon lost Souls. The chief member, which the rich man complained was most afflicted, was his Tongue; send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and could my tongue. Intolerable are those preparations in the other miserable world. But concerning the former of these,  
First, That the Souls of wicked men, as-soon as they go out of their bodies, pass into a fixed state of misery; Which we learn from the former part of the Text, The rich man also died, and was buried; and in Hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments: That is, his Soul was hurried by evil Spirits into a state of misery. His Body, we read, died, and was honourably and splendidly buried in the Earth, and there must rest, till the great Creator bids it rise in the last day, and then shall be reunited to its particular Spirit, and both share alike in those unconceivable torments, which God has prepared for ungodly men. It is therefore an idle fancy of some, who conceit that the Soul sleepeth together with the Body, and remaineth unactive and insensible as the body. The Soul being a Spirit, cannot be subject to death; and though its agility is much restrained, while confined in the body; yet as soon as it is delivered, it swiftly returns to its own place, carried either by good Angels into a state of happiness; or by evil Spirits, into a place of torments. And such is the opinion of the wise man, Eccles. 12.7. The dust, that is, the body, so termed from the matter of which it is compounded, returneth to the Earth again, as it was, and the Soul to him that gave it; to be sentenced either to dwell with God, or damned Spirits for ever. And though the happiness, and misery of departed Souls is not complete, at the highest perfection, till that day, wherein Christ will come in the glory of his Father, with the Holy Angels, to judge all the world; yet this no way favours the Romish Doctrine, which insinuateth a Purgatory, a place where departed Spirits are purged by fire, and by the fervency of prayer, may be redeemed from thence, a most pernicious principle. As the tree falls, so it lies, After this life, which is the time of Trial and Probation, a fixed state, either of bliss or torment, commences: And a good Soul cannot then be deprived of happiness, tho' not yet in the highest degree; but with exceeding joy, and a kind of holy impatience, it waiteth for the Day of Judgement, then to enter on the possession of those good things which God hath prepared for them who continue steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in his work; Nor, on the other hand, can a wicked Soul be ransomed from Hell, tho' it be not yet in the midst of most exquisite torments, but, with dread and fear, sadly looks for the great and terrible day, wherein it must change its unhappy condition, for a much worse. Those Angels which kept not their first estate, are reserved in chains under darkness, unto the Judgement of the great Day; that is, they are not yet afflicted with those punishments, which they shall feel and endure, when Christ comes to separate the Sheep from the Goats. They are therefore said to tremble at the thoughts of a Judgement, when Sentence shall pass upon them to be confined in those unhappy Residencies of Misery, and to undergo the utmost fury of an Omnipotent God. And tho' it is expressed, that the Rich man being dead and buried, in Hell he lift up his Eyes, being in torments; we are not to understand him in that place of Misery, which wicked men shall be doomed to in the General Judgement; but in a state of despair of Mercy, without any intermission of hope, weeping and wailing for the loss of Heaven, which Lazarus, whom he reproached, reviled, and suffered to perish, has a sure hope of. A state of dread and fear, being too well convinced, that he must take up his Eternal Abode with Devils and damned Fiends. A state of Torment too, his Conscience sadly bringing to his remembrance, that he played away the Day of Grace, and wilfully rejected the Methods of Eternal Happiness: That he was too much taken up with the Pomp and Pride of life, spending all his time in catering for his Body, clothing it with Purple and fine Linen, and gorging it with delicious fare, but had no regard to his Soul, which must live for ever. This is Torment inexpressible, to reflect on those things which cannot possibly be retrieved; to repent, and wish he had not been so foolish, without the least hope of pardon; to sigh and sob, groan and howl, without pity. We may, in some measure, conceive the uneasiness of this kind of Torment, in some who are so unfortunate to be in such an ill frame of spirit, as to imbibe unworthy thoughts of God, that he is an inxorable Being, that he delighteth in the Miseries of his People, and will not be entreated for pardon, after such an advancement in sin, no, though they seek it with floods of tears, with many prayers and penitential groans. What an Hell is there within the Breasts of these dejected Souls! What an abundance of melancholy and frightful thoughts invade their minds! how do they wander hither and thither, like despairing Ghosts, as if Sentence was already past upon them! Humane Conversation, or other sublunary delights and pleasures become dull and flatulent. Now, if in this life, such an unhappy frame of spirit, occasioned either by strength of fancy, or too much tenderness of spirit, does disorder and confuse the mind, and make men their own Tormentors, tho' there is yet hopes of forgiveness from God; how infinitely more vexatious and afflicting must it needs be in the other World, to reflect that the time of Mercy is past, and that God will certainly pass Sentence of Eternal Death upon the Soul, having no Advocate to plead, nor any Virtues to render it an Object of Mercy! And here, by way of Digression, we will suppose the Cries, the woeful Complaints of the Rich man's Soul in the other World; he is unexpectedly snatched away from all his Pomp and Greatness, and surprised into the wide World of Despairing Ghosts. Whither am I hurried? Oh the doleful sighs, and unutterable groans I hear! Mercy, Mercy, but there is none. Cursed be my folly, in living without a thought of this unhappy Region! Cursed be my heart, for loving so much the World, and worldly things; cursed be my avaricious humour, in retaining of pelf, as if I was never to die; cursed be my hands, that would not liberally dispense to poor Lazarus. O that I was but to live my time over again, I would alter my very Nature, and make amends for all the wrongs I have done. Father Abraham, be moved by my recantation, pity me who am thus tormented; Let Lazarus, whom it repenteth me that I did not consider and relieve, when it was in my power, come with some cooling drops, and allay my anguish. O that I had never been born! that I had given a groan, and died in my Mother's Womb! May that day be darkness, wherein it was said, I was brought forth. Cursed be my Father that begat me; cursed be my Mother that bore me; cursed be the Place wherein I was Educated; cursed be the Purple and fine Linen that clothed me, the delicious Meats which nouvished me, and the Estate that made me live secure and thoughtless, till I was surprised into this place of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.  
But thus much for the first thing, namely, that the Souls of wicked Men, as soon as they go out of their Bodies, pass into a fixed state of misery, tho' not the extremity of it, till the day of Judgement; yet it is irreversible, for there is no returning into this life again. I pass on to the second general thing, namely,  
Secondly, That it will be a great part of the misery of the Damned, to understand those to be in Heaven, whom they in this life scorned, reproached, and abused; and, it may be, were Instruments of hastening them to those blessed Mansions. It was, doubtless, an aggravation of the Rich Man's torments, to see Lazarus in Abraham's bosom; that Lazarus, whom he formerly Browbeat, and suffered to perish with Hunger at his Gates. This Vision could not but enhance his rage; he that was but a Beggar, the very abject of Mankind, he that bowed and cringed for a little sustenance, and was the most despicable Object in Nature, he that would have been glad of the crumbs which fell from my Table, Is he thus advanced into Glory? And I, who once was of great repute, and had all things that were great, good, and desirable, thus sunk into the depth of Disgrace, and enveloped in a sad and woeful Eternity? O wretched change of things! Doubtless it will be brought to the memory of the Damned, how cruelly, despitefully, and disdainfully, they have treated the Servants of God in this Life, and fill them with rage and passion: For if Hell be a place, wherein are all the instances of torment, the perfection of misery; it must follow, that whatsoever may tend to the unhappiness of those cursed inhabitants, will be eternally present with them; not only the outward Senses, such as the Sight, the Ear, the Smell, the Taste, and Touching, shall be proportionably tormented, but the inferior faculties also.  
First, The Imaginative Faculty shall be perplexed with horrid Ideas, more terrible and affrighting than the most melancholy fancy in their Dreams, and shall be hurried into strange consternations, surprised into a kind of convulsive delirium; it shall never conceive a Notion, but what may disturb, disquiet, and make it unconceivably uneasy.  
Secondly, The Appetites shall be tormented with the fury of their own passions, and shall issue out, after a vehement manner; namely, fears, heaviness, irksomeness, agonies, anger, desperations, envyings, outrages, with such a cruel War among themselves, that they shall clash, and make most horrid noises.  
Thirdly, The Intellectual Memory shall be tormented with a continual and fixed Recordation, of the many opportunities and advantages there once were of getting to Heaven; the many offers of Grace which have been stubbornly refused; the many affronts and injuries that have been offered to God and his Saints; the good things it formerly possessed; the evils it suffers at present, and those it must painfully endure to all Eternity: So that it cannot think or imagine any thing, but what will grieve and torment it.  
Fourthly, The Understanding shall be darkened, without being able to discourse, or understand any thing that may please it; it shall be full of Errors and Illusions, pondering and exaggerating his own Evils, and judging, with a furious boldness, that God Almighty doth him wrong.  
Fifthly, The Will shall be obstinate and obdurate in his sins, and in the hatred of God and his Saints, without being able to be appeased or changed, or to repent what it does; and desiring to do his own Will, he shall never be able to do it in any thing that may be for his comfort; whereupon a Mans own Will, not being fulfilled, shall be the Hell of itself, to chastise it for those manifold times, that in this Life it was fulfilled, contrary to the Will of God.  
But furthermore: It may chance to be objected, How shall the Damned know that those are in Heaven, who in this Life they scorned and abused, and possibly were Instruments, by some violent means, of hastening them thither? I answer; That in the day of Judgement, when every Man's actions shall be disclosed, they shall see those whom they oppressed, or reviled, or murdered, and shall be Witnesses against them. Our Saviour speaks in allusion to this, Matth. 12.41, 42. The men of Nineveh shall rise up in judgement with this generation, and condemn it; they shall appear as so many Witnesses against the Scribes and Pharisees, and the other unbelieving Jews of this Age, and shall be Instruments, as to that Condemnation which God shall that day pronounce against them, because they repent not at the preaching of Jonah, but these would not at the preaching of Christ. Then shall appear Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, against a wicked Nabuchadnezzar, who caused them to be bound hand and foot, and cast into a fiery Furnace, for their Love and Loyalty to their God, the Martyrs against their Executioners; and shall be visibly condemned, and haled into their residences of Misery in the presence of the Saints. And, O the unconceivable rage and fury of those condemned Spirits, when all their Villainies are brought fresh to their memories, to add to those other torments which Divine Justice has prepared in the Regions below! O how will they curse and blaspheme that God that has Doomed them to Hell, and burn with anger against their Accusers! And that which enhances their torments, is, That it is out of their power to harm them. Hell is therefore represented in Scripture. A place where is gnashing of Teeth; which betokeneth rage, malice, and envy. And thus much for the second thing we learn from the words of the Text, namely, That it will be a great part of the misery of the Damned, to understand that they are in Heaven, who in this Life they scorned, reproached, and abused; and, it may be, were Instruments of hastening them thither.  
The other remaining Heads, namely,  
Thirdly, That the time is coming, when the most proud and ambitious Sinners would gladly be relieved by the meanest Saints; gathered from the Petition of the Rich Man to Abraham; Father Abraham, send Lazarus, the same whom I denied the crumbs which fell from my Table.  
Fourthly, That the state of the Damned will be void of the least degree of comfort.  
And Lastly, That the Tongue is a Member, the abuse of which in this Life, will lie very heavy upon lost Souls.  
These, by Divine permission, shall be my business to prove, the next opportunity. I shall proceed now to make some special use of what has been said, and so conclude. And here,  
First, Has God prepared a Hell for ungodly Men? A place where shall be eternal weeping, wailing, and gnashing of Teeth? Let it then be our greatest Industry, so to live, as to avoid it. Certainly the pleasures of Sin are not so profitable and ravishing, as to charm Men into endless Misery. For, alas, what will it avail a damned Ghost, that he once had his fill of sensual Delights and Satisfactions, that he lived in Ease and Security, since now all Objects are removed from him, wherein he solaced himself, and he doomed to suffer the dire effects of an unappeased Vengeance for ever? To be wracked and tormented by the neverdying Worm, and to endure the vehement heat of an unquenchable Fire. Is there any compare between the pleasures of Sin, which are but for a moment, and a lamentable Eternity? An Hell, which is a fixed state of Misery, wherein Men have bid adieu to the pleasures of Earth, and all hopes of Heaven; the memory of past Pleasures doth but increase their Pain; and, what is beyond all the misery of this World, they enjoy not so much as the deceitful dreams of flattering hopes. An Hell, where there is no delight, nor ease, nor God, nor any harmless pleasure to divert the pain a moment. An Hell, where only the wretched Objects of an incensed God do for ever weep and wail. Are you able to live out an eternity among these dreadful Preparations? And why therefore will you love and practise Sin, which is threatened with eternal death? Is there any greater Folly imaginable, than to hug our own Ruin, and to play with Hell? Consider, I beseech you, how terrible it is, to be for ever banished from God, Angels, and Saints; confined in the Regions of Darkness, and tormented in Flames which cannot be quenched. To be whipped with Snakes, stung with Scorpions, and to have all the Instruments of Torture applied to the Body: These are infinitely more tolerable, than those Pains which God has provided for ungodly Sinners. O that Men were so wise, to consider these things, and labour, by a prudent management of their Concerns, to avoid them.  
Secondly, And in consideration, that the Soul passes into a fixed state, as soon as it goes out of the Body; it is Folly in the highest degree, to delay and put off our Repentance, and Preparation for a long Eternity; because we hang but by slender Strings, a little Breath that expires every minute, over the bottomless Pit. We are subject to so many Accidents and Casualties, that, as it were, we carry our Lives in our Hands. And what a sad Consideration is it, to be surprised into another World, and the work of our Souls left unwrought and imperfect? Then the time of Trial is over, and as we died, so will our Portion be. The tenders of Grace and Mercy then cease, and we wait with the sad expectation of a general Judgement, then to receive according to that we have done in the Flesh. How terrible, O impenitent Sinner, will Death be to thee? and what a concern wilt thou be in at its approach? when thou must leave all the pleasures of thy Sins, and the remembrance of them fills thee only with Terror and Astonishment; when all their false Charms, and meretricious Looks, whereby they have before pleased and enchanted thee, go off; and they now look ghastly and frightful, and stare thee in the Face with a scaring appearance, and with the sad apprehension of what they are like to end in. When a dreadful Eternity presents itself before thee, and is like to swallow thee up in a horrid Abyss of Misery; when thou comest so nigh to the other World, that thou canst look over as it were to it, and see the sad reception thou art like to have there; when thou seest Hell open before thee, the bottomless Pit gaping to receive thee, and some of the Flames of it flashing as it were out upon thee; when Death, like an Executioner, comes to seize and apprehend thee, and hurry thee before the dreadful Tribunal, where all thy past Actions must be examined, all thy secret Sins laid open, and a dreadful Sentence shall be immediately pronounced upon thee. Is not the Consideration of this, enough to prevail with Men, who have their Wits about them, to break off their Sins timely by Repentance, and apply themselves to a serious thoughtfulness of their latter end? Should a damned Spirit be permitted to come from the Region of Misery, to tell thee how intolerable those Preparations are, what Pain and Anguish those wretched Ghosts endure, thou sayest it may be that thou wouldst repent; but if thou wilt not be convinced by the assertions of the Gospel, it is to be presumed nothing besides can have effect upon thee, as Abraham answered the rich Man in that Parable, who desired him to send some Spirit to his surviving Brothers, to scare them to Repentance: If they will not believe Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, though one risen from the dead.  
last: And since we are promised all the assistance imaginable, to fit us for those Mansions of Bliss, let us not be so injurious to ourselves, as to be lacking on our parts. Let us offer violence to our stubborn Wills, wean our Affections from the objects of Sin, and mortify the Flesh, till it is brought in subjection to the Spirit, and entirely submissive to the Law of Reason. Let us improve the means of Grace, and be purely governed by the motions of God's Spirit. What a comfortable Death will such a regular and well-managed Life produce? All slavish fears, misgivings, frightful thoughts, and terrible apprehensions, will flee away, and a prospect of the Heavenly Canaan will present itself; we shall have a view of that glorious reception we are like to have, which will sweeten the agonies of Death, lift us up under the pressure of a sore Disease, and carry us out of the World with a solid hope of entering into our Master's joy. And here the Soliloquy of a Soul, that is ready to pass out of this World into a better: I a poor Creature of this World below; I who have felt the troubles of this Mortal State, been tortured by the Passions of Flesh and Blood, Fears and Cares, Despair and Hopes; even I am going into a Heaven, where none of these can enter, where I shall be made happy with these Enjoyments, which make God and Angels so; I shall be made equal to the Angels in Heaven, how far above them in my Happiness! For what a value will the Experience of this World make me set upon the joys of another! The sense and memory of Misery, will make my Heaven double. Oh! The mighty Raptures and Ecstasies this holy Soul falls into, till it is swallowed up in uninterrupted Joys, and holy Wonder! And since there is far less trouble in Virtue, than in Sin; and since the Reward of each is so vastly different; how , and worthy of Condemnation are they, who refuse the former, and choose the latter?  
Let none of us then, for the sake of a few short-lived Pleasures, run ourselves in danger of being cast into a miserable Eternity, wherein we shall sorely repent of our Inadvertencies, and stubborn Perversenesses, and wish we had been persuaded in time. Let us therefore, with our Church, pray; O Almighty God, the Protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon us thy Mercy; that thou being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things Temporal, that we finally lose not the things Eternal. And thus we beg for Jesus Christ's sake, to whom with the Father, and the ever Blessed Spirit, be given all Honour, Praise, Thanksgiving, and Obedience, now, henceforth, and for evermore. Amen.   

SERMON VI.  Luke XVI. latter part of 22 verses. 
— The Rich man also died, and was buried.  
And in Hell he lift up his Eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom:  
And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my Tongue: for I am tormented in this flame.  
WHen I entered upon these words, you may remember I raised these following particulars from them. As First, That as the Souls of true Believers, when they go out of their Bodies, launch into a fixed state of Blessedness; so the Souls of wicked men pass into a fixed state of Misery. We no sooner read of the Rich man's being dead and buried; but in Hell he lift up his Eyes, being in torment. Secondly, That it will be a great part of the misery of the damned, to understand those to be in Heaven, whom, in this life, they scorned, reproached, and abused, and it may be were Instruments of hastening them to those blessed Mansions. It was doubtless a great aggravation of the Rich man's misery, when he saw Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, that Lazarus whom he suffered to perish with hunger at his Gates. Thirdly, That the time will come, when the most proud and ambitious Sinners would gladly be relieved by the meanest Saints: Father Abraham, says the Rich man, send Lazarus, the very same who begged for the crumbs which fell from my Table. Fourthly, That the state of the damned will be void of the least degrees of comfort. The Rich man desired but the cooling of his Tongue, but with as much Water as could be brought upon the tip of Lazarus 's finger. Fifthly, and lastly, That the Tongue is a member, the abuse of which in another life, will lie very heavy upon lost Souls. The chief member which the Rich man complained was most afflicted, was his Tongue; Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue. As concerning the former of these That the Souls of wicked Men, when they go out of their Bodies, pass into a fixed state of misery. I urged, that though their punishment will not be complete till the day of Judgement, when Soul and Body shall be reunited, and sentence pass upon them, yet their condition is irreversible, no changing it for a better; but there they weep and howl for the loss of Heaven, reproach themselves for their obstinate perversenesses, in neglecting the opportunities, and slighting the means of happiness; and sadly expect the day of Judgement, having too much Reason to believe, they shall be cast and condemned at that formidable Audit Hence, I told you, the Devils are said to fear and tremble, being convinced that they shall at the last reckoning be thrown into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. And therefore it is spoken by St. Judas, concerning the fallen Angels, that kept not their first Estate, having violated those everlasting Laws given to them by their Creator; They are reserved in chains, under darkness, unto the judgement of the great day. That is, they are not in that extremity of torment, which they shall endure, when Jesus Christ cometh with ten thousand of Saints, to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodlily committed, and of all their ungodly speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. As to the second particular, namely, That it will be a great part of the misery of the damned, to understand those to be in Heaven, whom they, in this life scorned, reproached, and abused, and, it may be, were instruments of hastening them to those blessed Mansions; I urged, that if Hell be a Place, where all the victims to Divine Justice must for ever reside, and where are all the instances of torment, it is not to be doubted but this will be one instance of their punishment, to understand those are in a state of glory, who, while in this world, they clothed with dishonour, and treated with disgrace, and infamy, or suffering their rage and passion to froth up, and boil against them, sent them into the other life before the time. There is nothing more exasperates and frets a malicious man, than to see one whom he oweth a grudge, or has no common respect for, thrive and get wealth; this fills him with indignation and fury, and makes him very uneasy, as often as he meets with, or thinks of the Object of his hate, or when a Discourse arises about him: Then is he big with wishes for his entire ruin; & that which improves his unhappiness is, it is not in his power to mischief or harm him, by all his base and envious contrivances against him. And what an aggravation of the misery of the damned must it needs be, to know and understand those to be in Heaven, whom they in this world envied, reproached and spoke all manner of evil against. Whatsoever may torment the interior faculties, and make them at discord and variance, shall not be wanting. And after an enlargement upon this Point, I proceeded to draw some practical Inferences, and then closed. My business then is now, to go on to the third Thing, namely,  
Thirdly, That the time will come, when the most proud and ambitious sinners would gladly be relieved by the meanest Saints. Father Abraham, says the Rich Man, send Lazarus, that Lazarus who came to my Gates in tattered clothing, with a wan, and meager countenance, being pinched with hunger, and begged for the crumbs which fell from my Table. We know how much against the grain it goes, when fate so disposes matters, and turns the harmony of things, for a man, who once lived in good repute and fashion, had all things which were commodious and useful, and made his life pleasant and comfortable; to beg courtesies of another, who was formerly poor and despicable, when he was a favourite of fortune, and probably denied him both respect and supplies: how doth he pro and con with himself, before he can come to such an humble temper, to ask the benevolence of an enemy whom he made so, and brook the insolent language and flat denials, he may probably meet with from him? Former unkindnesses do not presently slip out of mind. But the sense of his present wants, and of the inconveniences which attend him by reason of his unfortunate fall, outweighs the sense of his ill natured carriage, and the reason he has to fear, the same measure he met will be measured to him again. There is no disputing the point, poverty and urgent necessity presses him to it against his will. How much elated and puffed up soever he was, when in a flourishing state, though then never so haughty and aspiring; yet now he must cringe and kneel, change his ill nature, or at least dissemble a good one, and appear in all the circumstances of an humble Supplicant. Now if such an alteration of affairs in this life does grate upon the mind, and makes a man probably more unhappy, than his present mean condition; what a torment will it be to the damned in Hell, to be sensible that their miseries could be abated by the meanest Saints in Heaven, even by those, whom they most scornfully treated, and shamefully abused in this life? but shall beg, and wish, and desire, to no purpose; how will they rage's, and flame with indignation, against those glorified Souls who are carried into Abraham's bosom, where they shall never weep, nor sigh, nor sorrow more, where a part of their happiness is, to know that they are fallen as so many victims to Divine Justice, who in this world grieved, and vexed, and harrassed them, by their unreasonable deal, and inhuman contrivances against them. Can but the rays of bliss glance through some cranny into that dungeon of darkness, this would administer some comfort; or if those happy Spirits above would vouchsafe to descend, and visit those tormented Ghosts, and pity their irreparable and lost condition, it would divert their anguish, and make their long eternity more tolerable; but such is the contrivance and determinate will of God, that those terrible preparations, which he has provided for his Enemies, shall never be mingled with the least instance of consolation; as those blessed Mansions he has fixed for the reception of his obedient Children, shall never be interrupted with contrarieties; and so the Saints enjoy perfect happiness, and the damned suffer perfect misery, being deprived of every thing which may mitigate and assuage the pains of Hell, they must endure the absence of all good, and suffer the presence of all evil. And here we will suppose the conflicts of the rich man, and insert those probable lamentations he may make, in his eternal banishment from all hopes of a return. When I was in prosperity, I insulted over poverty, and foolishly imagined no evil should happen to me. I lived splendidly every day, and had all things at my beck, which were ravishing and pleasurable, and never considered the pressing wants, and extreme hardships of indigent persons. I too sadly remember, how imperious and currish I behaved myself to impoverished Lazarus, who was laid at my Gates full of the Leprosy, and just famished; he begged, he beseeched me to help him in his extremity, but I would not. Had he required any thing considerable, I might have denied him with a plausible excuse; but he asked only for the waste crumbs which fell from my Table; and I, wretch that I was, sent him away empty. What hardness possessed me! To what a height of inhumanity was I arrived! And now what a woeful change is here! That same Lazarus is in Heaven and made amends for those hardships he patiently endured and suffered, in the other life, and I am sunk down by the weight of my own guilt into the Eternal Abyss of Misery! How glad should I be of the least comfort from him, if it were but a drop of water upon the tip of his finger, to cool my Tongue! Father Abraham, dispatch him from those glorious Regions, to answer my small request. Was I reinstated in my wealth, pomp, and splendour, had I a Million of Gold, I would exchange it with him for one drop of water. But it is too late to wish, and too late to beg for mercy; the sentence is past, and I am condemned to suffer the extremity of it. Doubtless it will be brought to the memories of the Damned, how cruelly, despitefully, and disdainfully they have used the Saints; how industrious they were in raising evil reports of them, how forward to revenge injuries upon them, how bitter in denying them a morsel of bread to sustain their hunger; how they mocked and scoffed at them, and triumphed over them in their extremity, Every thing shall be brought to their remembrance, which may enhance their rage and add to their torments. Methinks I hear one of those unhappy wretches thus accusing himself, How many times might I have prayed, but foolishly spent that time in play, but now I pay for it? How often ought I to have humbled and mortified my flesh with fasting, but neglected it, to gratify my unsatiable appetite? How many Objects of pity might I have relieved, but Epicure like spent their portions in revels and excess? What opportunities have I had of forgiving my Enemies, but, indulging a spleenful and deadly Spirit, rather chose to be revenged? How many fair invitations have I had to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but not willing to quit the occasion of sinning, refused to be a guest at his Table? There never wanted any means of serving God, but I, inconsiderate wretch, had no inclination to use them; being too much enamoured with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life: Now it repenteth me, that I was so thoughtless, and took so little care of my future state; were I admitted to live the days that are past, over again, I would consult new methods, and be very exact, just, and sincere, in all my actions relating to God and Man: But these resolves are fruitless; my state is fixed, the sentence is gone forth, and I doomed to suffer the most horrid and intolerable effects of it. Thus, in Hell, shall every thing be revived, and brought afresh to remembrance, which may add to the torment of the interior faculties; and this is signified by that expression in Scripture, They shall be cast into Hell, where the worm dyeth not, and where shall be everlasting weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. And thus much may suffice for the third thing, namely, That the time will come, when the most proud and ambitious Sinners would gladly be relieved by the meanest Saints in Heaven. And this leads me on to the fourth;  
Fourthly, That the State of the damned will be void of the least degrees of comfort. The Rich man desired but the cooling of his tongue, with as much water as could be brought upon the tip of Lazarus 's finger. One of the Ancients describes Hell to be a place, where there is neque lumen, neque Deus, neque bonum minimum; no light, no God, nor any harmless pleasure to divert the pains there one moment. As Heaven is separate from from all evils, where those glorified Inhabitants swim in rapturous pleasures without interruption, nothing shall call them off from their enjoyments, no sad circumstances to embitter their delights; no fears or sollicitudes to abate their gladness, nor temptation to disturb or molest them: So Hell is separate from every and the least good; those damned wretches there shall have nothing in view, but frightful shapes, and amazing appearances; nothing in Hearing, but dismal groan, screechings, the thunderings of God's unappeased anger, and other unutterable noises; the sense of Touching shall be tortured with the quick and piercing heat of unquenchable flames, their cries shall never move the Almighty to dismiss either Angels or Saints to assuage their pains, or to shorten their Eternity; when a thousand years are passed in that loathsome and fiery Dungeon, they will be but as one day. There they shall desire, without satisfaction; wish, but not obtain; repent, without effect; and live out a long eternity in unmixed perplexities. Aelian writes of Trizus the Tyrant, that he was such an Enemy to the Liberty and Comfort of his Subjects, that he prohibited all Conversation one with another, and using signatures or tokens, whereby they might understand each others purposes and meanings, he forbade that also; they lying under the burden of this unparallelled Tyranny, met together at the Marketplace to weep for their misfortunes, he interdicted this too, lest they should mitigate their sorrows by condoling of one another. But greater shall be the rigour in Hell, where ungodly Sinners shall not be permitted to speak one word of comfort, nor ease their Maladies with Tears. Jeremiah the Prophet lamented the unhappiness of Jerusalem, that she was brought into Bondage, and became a Vassal and Tributary. But what Tears are sufficient to bewail the damnation of a poor Soul, who, from an Heir of the Kingdom of Heaven, hath made himself a Slave to the Devil, and those eternal Punishments in Hell, unto which he is to pay as many Tributes, as he hath Senses, Powers, and Members? And thus much for the Fourth Particular, namely, That the state of the Damned will be void of the least degrees of Comfort; which we learn from the rich Man's desiring but the cooling of his Tongue, with as much Water as could be brought upon the tip of Lazarus 's Finger. I go on therefore to the Fifth and last Particular, namely.  
Fifthly, That the Tongue is a Member, the abuse of which, in another Life, will lie very heavy upon  Souls. The Rich Man complained that his Tongue in chief was tormented: Father Abraham, says he, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my Tongue. Whereby we are advised, that the Damned suffer torments proportionable to their offences; as this wicked wretch suffered four exceeding terrible. The first of Flames, which covered him all over, from the Feet unto the Head: I am tormented in this flame, because of the vanity of the soft and purple Garments, wherewith he had been clothed. The second of his Tongue, which as it was the Instrument of his Gluttony, Intemperance, and Talkativeness; so was it burnt in the fire, and tormented with most terrible Hunger, and enraged Thirst. The third of Envy, seeing by revelation the comfortable and blessed Lott of Lazarus, of whom he durst demand nothing, but of Abraham. The fourth of Contempt, and Dereliction of every one, in chastisement of his cruelty, for which he found no mercy at the hands of Abraham; not affording him the drop of Water, which he requested, because he had denied those crumbs of Bread, which fell from his Table, to poor Lazarus: nor did he deserve mercy, who showed none.  
Whether there be a Material Fire in Hell, I cannot positively determine; yet there are two Reasons to be given, which fairly argue that there is. The  
First is, Our Blessed Saviour's discoursing of the pains of Hell, not only terms them weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of Teeth, & a neverdying Worm, but flames that cannot be quenched. And St. John describes Hell, A Lake of Fire and Brimstone, which torments the Damned day and night, for ever and ever, Rev. 20.10. The  
Second Reason is, The same Bodies which are buried in the Earth, must be raised again, and be reunited to their particular Spirits, and be made Immortal. Now I cannot conceive how the Body can suffer pain, so much as by Fire; and that being of a piercing nature, and most afflicting, we may very reasonably conjecture, that there is a fire prepared by God for impenitent Sinners, to chastise their Bodies for their acts of Lust: and in these flames all the outward Senses shall be tormented, and all the Members, particularly the Tongue, which in this Life was used to Cursing and Swearing, to Lying, Cheating, and Flattary; which was accustomed to blaspheme God and Providence, to ridicule his Religion and Worship, and to speak evil of the Saints; which was Instrumental of Gluttony, Intemperance, and obscene Discourses: But how, and in what nature, the Tongue must suffer, will be time enough for Sinners to understand, when they come there. Certain it is, that Omnipotence has prepared the most exquisite miseries for those who live and die in sin. In fine, all that is evil and irksome, all that is grievous and painful, whatsoever may complete and make up a miserable and woeful Eternity, is provided and made ready for all those unfortunate wretches, who shall be sunk into the fatal Abyss, by the weight of their own guilt. And thus much for the fifth and last particular, That the Tongue is a Member, the abuse of which, in another life, will lie very heavy upon lost Souls. And now I proceed to draw some Practical Inferences from what has been said, and so conclude. And here,  
First, What love and affection do we owe to Almighty God, for his tender compassions towards us, in bearing with our weaknesses, and not revenging our stubborn perversenesses, by suddenly casting us into this dismal place of Hell? How many has he rigorously sent weeping into the fatal Abyss? The Angels had no sooner committed the sin, but they were immediately banished from their Happiness, and now are reserved in Chains under Darkness, unto the Judgement of the Great Day. What multitudes of others are now suffering the dire effects of an unappeased vengeance, for a less number of sins than we are guilty of; and who, if they had been permitted to live, probably might have be thought themselves, changed their Minds and Nature, and become as eminent for Virtue, as ever they were notorious for Vice? Why does not Almighty Justice take the advantage, and, for our Iniquities, tumble us into the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone? Why does he yet bear with our insolent carriage, and suffer the affronts we daily offer to his Majesty? Wherefore does he spare the Blasphemous Person, the Common Swearer, who impudently rend his Sacred Name at every turn? Wherefore does he, who can by a word of his Mouth, by a blast of the breath of his Nostrils, crush proud Mortals into the unhappy Residences of Misery, from whence there can be no Redemption, still endure their treacherous Infidelities, and many wilful Miscarriages? What does he discern in us, that should move him to such impunity and forbearance? Nothing in us, but it is his Goodness, which dilates itself over the whole Earth. Can such Clemency and Graciousness then slip out of our Minds, and be buried in Oblivion? Can we think any thing too much to do for such a benign Being, who loveth us far beyond the love of Parents? Might any of those cursed Spirits below, be permitted to re-enter this World, and live another life in this Mortal State, how thankful would they be? How wary and circumspect in their respective Vocations, how tender of their Innocency, how sincere in their Obedience? They would pluck out a Right Eye, cut off a Right Hand, or Foot, rather than to have all their Members, and cast into Hell, where the Worm dieth not, and the Fire is not quenched; they would celebrate the Memory of such a Redemption, with a faithful and constant submission to the Will of God. How then should we live, live to him, who yet spareth us, and preserves us from the bottomless Pit? Let us then shake off that improvidence which detaineth us, bethink ourselves, renew our Spirits, change our very Natures, and no longer live to ourselves, but unto him who loveth us beyond measure. Our Debts are many and great, our Scores with God are large and numerous, and he has not yet cast us into Prison, from whence we must not come out till we have paid the uttermost farthing: Let this merciful and gracious Creditor therefore be revered, honoured, esteemed, and served by us, so will he at length give us a clear discharge from all future demands, and make us Rulers over all his Goods.  
Secondly, From the premises, we learn to exercise our patience under the evils and miseries of this Life. Worldly misfortunes are not to be compared to those unhappinesses which attend lost Souls; the former, either by the help of Friends, or some means or other, may be repaired; or if not, their malignity is abated, by the consideration, that they will not last always; for we must die, and there is an end of all Earthly troul les. But the torments of Hell are durable and eternal, no redemption from thence, nor is there any thing that can ease the miserable wretches there. There is no condition in this Life, tho' never so uncomfortable, never so despicable and grievous, but the Damned would very gladly exchange their state for it, and think themselves infinitely bettered, as having parted with an eternally miserable condition, which admits of no abatements, for a temporally evil one, and which may be accommodated by some Instruments or other. When therefore thou fallest under Poverty, and the World brow-beats thee, think of the Poverty the Damned endure; they are deprived of the summum bonum, the chiefest good, even God, and in him of all other sensible goods. When thou art despised and hated, that thou art ready to be betrayed into dejection, desperation, and disconsolateness, ponder with thyself, how the tormented Souls in Hell are rejected, despised, reproached by God, Angels, and Saints, and that World without end, & must undergo the unappeased vengeance of an offended Deity. When thou art seized and oppressed with a Fever, and thy blood in a violent ferment, consider what heats and pains lost Souls feel in Hell, enveloped in devouring flames, and every part and member of their Bodies exposed to that scorching fire; doubtless it would very much tend to the easement of men's maladies, and render the worst condition in this Life more tolerable, if Men did often entertain themselves with the thoughts of those unspeakable preparations, which Divine Justice has provided for impenitent sinners. Who would not rather suffer an Eye to be plucked out, an Arm or Leg to be cut off; nay, to be Racked, or to have all the Instruments of tortures applied to him, than to be cast both Soul and Body into Hell, where the Worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched? The sense of a greater, does divert a lesser affliction; and hereby Men are more appeased under unhappy circumstances, when they see others more rigorously dealt with, and proclaim their grievances with hideous cries, groans, and fearful lamentations. In like manner, a view, by thought of the other miserable World, and the pains and agonies the Damned there do suffer, will make Men bear any temporal affliction, with more patience and submissiveness.  
Thirdly and Lastly, We learn, from the consideration that God has prepared a Hell, to torment and pain those who die in enmity with him, to hate every sin, since it produces so woeful an effect This is it which God abhors and therefore has contrived unconceivable Plagues to punish it. Now he manifests his aversion to sin, by menacing it with future torments; but hereafter his threats will be put in execution, in raining down indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every Soul that dies in an impenitent state. Where is the sense then, of sporting ourselves in vicious repasts, if we are like to pay so dear in another World for it? What is a Man profited, if he gain the whole World, and lose his own Soul? What if he were as Wealthy as Croesus, as Great as Alexander, had the whole Universe, and all the Delights and Pleasures thereof at his beck, if, when he dies, he must descend into the Regions of Sorrow, and be locked up in the Prison of Hell for ever and ever? What will it avail him, that once he was Rich and Honourable, since now all the Goods that ever he had are converted into flames? Hell comprehends a deprivation of all Good, and the presence of every Evil; and one would imagine, that the very thoughts of it were enough to damp men's spirits, and to make them carefully shun the breach of their Innocence; that they would caution them against Temptations, and fill their Minds with Wise Considerations. When Men draw so near to a woeful Eternity, that they can, as it were, look over to it; when they see the Grim and Terrible Sergeant Death, coming to hale them into another World, than they will be terrified and amazed, and cry out against those sins they formerly delighted in, and will wish they had been so wise for themselves, to have considered the unhappy and fatal consequences of Vice, that they might have avoided it in time of health and strength. And why will not Sinners come to a serious and a right frame of Mind now, since they know they shall repent of those things with shame and sorrow, which now they glory in, when they lie languishing?  
If therefore we would escape those punishments, which God Almighty has prepared in the other miserable World, let us so meditate and pause upon them, as to shun those things which are threatened with the second Death. Therefore, Beloved, since ye know these things, beware, lest ye fall from your steadfastness; but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father, and ever Blessed Spirit, be given all Honour, Praise, Thanksgiving, and Obedience, now, henceforth, and for evermore. Amen.   

SERMON VII.  Luke XVI. 25, 26. 
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.  
And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they that would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.  
THis is the Answer to the Rich Man's foregoing Request, That Abraham would send Lazarus with a drop of Water to cool his Tongue. Abraham gives him the Title of (Son,) either as he was lineally descended from him, or as he was a Member of that Church, of which he was the Father, So he terms him, by way of Irony, or Exprobration, that he might Remember, as an addition of his misery, how basely he degenerated from the practice and example of the Father of the Faithful; the advantages and opportunities of being happy he neglected, and his folly in contenting himself with the bare denomination of being a Member of the Church of Christ. Remember, that in the other life, thou enjoyedst the upper and the nether Springs, hadst all the comfortable Accommodations the World could present thee with; and in them all thy happiness was fixed, thy heart and affections were wholly taken up with the pomp and pride of Life, thou hadst no regard to, nor value for the things of another world; thou hadst neither reverence for God, the Author and Giver of thy store; nor common compassion for thy Fellow-Creatures, driven to poverty and extreme want: Therefore art thou now tormented, a wretched, and pitiless Object; Not because of thy riches, but because thou didst not employ them to those ends and purposes for the which they were bestowed upon thee. Lazarus, whom thou desirest to cool thy Tongue, shall not bring thee the least comfort, because thou wert so stubborn and hardhearted, to deny him the crumbs which fell from thy Table. He was poor and despicable, appeared like one forsaken, had neither Friends nor Wealth; but embracing such a poor condition with patience and thankfulness, is now made amends for all, and enjoys all that can caress his powers, all that can ravish his heart, all that is good, lovely, and desirable. But besides, there is a great gulf fixed between you and us, that there is not a possibility for the Saints to come to you, nor for you to come to us, both states are determined. Thou therefore must endure hunger, and thirst, and the other direful torments in Hell, without pity or secure; and Lazarus shall enjoy the sweet and ravishing entertainments of Heaven, without  or hindrance, where no satiety shall ever render his fruition loathsome or tedious, no sad circumstances embitter his delights, nor any temptation disturb or molest him. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they that would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. From which words we are advised,  
First of all, That it will be a great aggravation of the misery of the damned, to consider, and recollect the former means and advantages they have been under for Salvation, if they have descended from godly Parents, or have been Members of the Church of Christ, initiated thereinto by Baptism, and have made an open acknowledgement of its Faith and Doctrines. Son says Abraham to the rich Man, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things.  
Secondly, That there is no commerce or intercourse between glorified Saints and damned Spirits. The Papists passing from Purgatory to Heaven, is a new found way: for if Purgatory be a place, as they fond insinuate, where Souls are tormented, it is to be wondered at, how they should pass over this gulf, says Abraham, between us and you there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. But to begin with the former of these two.  
First, That it will be a great aggravation of the misery of the damned, to consider and recollect the former means and advantages they have been under for Salvation, if they have descended from godly Parents, or have been Members of the Church of Christ, initiated thereinto by Baptism, and have made an open acknowledgement of its Faith and Doctrines. Son, says Abraham to the rich Man, remember, that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things. As I have already hinted, the interior faculties, as well as the outward senses, shall be perplexed and tormented; or otherwise Hell could not properly be termed a place wherein is the perfection of misery; nor would wicked men be punished according to their offences.  
There are some who are not visibly vicious, and are probably in common esteem, moral and regular; but yet very unholy and untoward within, in their thoughts, recollections of memory, in their desires, and more secret wishes; who fearing corporal punishments, or the loss of a good reputation, or the frowns and ill will of Relations or Acquaintance, refrain from public wickednesses. Our blessed Saviour tells us, that the Pharisees were such a sort of People, they were very exact as to their outward Morals, prayed devoutly, fasted frequently, gave alms cordially, and went in a separate guard, to distinguish themselves from the vulgar; so that if we were to judge of them by external demonstrations, we should conclude them the strictest Christians; But the Holy Jesus lets us know, that their ends and purposes were carnal and secular, and that all their Ceremonies were only Cloaks to conceal their covetousness, self-interest, pride, and lustfulness. Now if this people were only to be judged for their Actions, they would be immortalised, and rewarded as Saints. But the Scriptures inform us, that men shall be accountable for their Thoughts, Desires, and Wishes, as well as for their Actions: Every secret thing shall be brought into Judgement, says the wise Man, Eccles. 12. ult. Upon which account, men may appear innocent and harmless to the World; and yet stand guilty before God, by reason of their blasphemous, revengeful, impure, unchaste thoughts. With these they may affront God, abuse the Saints, and in effect drag young Virgins to an Adulterous Bed; and therefore it is but reasonable that they should be punished for them. Now having made it manifest that the interior faculties, as well as the outward senses, shall be tormented; we will go on, and consider what they are, and particularly how, and after what manner, they shall be perplexed. And here,  
First of all, The [Understanding] that shall be tormented with the sense of the loss sustained. A Celestial Paradise forfeited; a perpetual sequestration from God, and in him from every created good; an eternal exclusion from that rest and peace, which makes the Saints happy, and renders their fruition joyous, and infinitely pleasant. And as the Understanding shall ponder these things, so it shall be actuated by the apprehension of the present evils it suffers, and of those it must unhappily undergo to eternity; chained in Hell, fastened to unquenchable flames tormented by Devils, baited by the damned Crew, kept waking without intermission of sleep, which would abate the pains; every moment a fresh instance of misery, a new scene of Torment; and all this, as long as there is a God to inflict and punish. Doubtless this is a most exquisite Torment, to be always followed with a quick sense of the loss of Heaven, and of the least degree of comfort, to exaggerate the evils present, and those which must follow, without intermission or end. We may perceive this by some likeness of things of this life; when a man discovers himself deprived of an Estate or Inheritance, bequeathed him by the Will of his Parents, or Relations, or Acquaintance, in what a turbulent commotion are all his senses? How does he fret and fume? so uneasy and nettled, that food has lost its nourishing faculty with him; a soft Bed, which resteth the wearied bones, and lulls a man into a refreshing slumber, is irksome and tedious to him. He sighs, and pauzes upon his unfortunate hap; and it may be, by an uninterrupted musing, falls into a frenzy, or deep melancholy, which preying upon his spirits, in a short time sends him into another World before the time. Now if the sense of the loss of finite and limited goods, doth so much grieve the heart, and makes a man his own unhappiness; how much more will the sense of the loss of infinite and unlimited goods gall and torment, and gnaw upon the interior faculties? An eternal loss, cannot but produce an eternal sense of it, especially if it be the greatest good; because the greatest evil is always present; the feeling of the latter revives the recognition of the former, whereby the sense of what is last is much enhanced and aggravated. But,  
Secondly, The Intellectual Memory, whereby we record things, and make those as present, which were long ago committed. This shall be tormented with a perpetual recordation of the many opportunities and advantages for Heaven, which have been foolishly contemned and neglected. The folly and vanity of those things which were preferred before the glories and felicities of the other happy World. Then shall be sadly brought to remembrance, the happy privilege of a liberal Education, the encouragement and example of pious and holy Parents, the grave and wholesome counsels of God's Ministers, the advantage of reading the Holy Bible, and other religious Books, and imitating the virtuous Conversation of the Saints: All these privileges and fair opportunities wholly disregarded, for the pleasures of sin, which are but for a moment, if compared with a long Eternity which follows. Thus shall the Torments of the Damned be multiplied, by recollecting the Ways and Means they used to deprive themselves of the Inheritance of Heaven, to which they might have had right, if they had not disinherited themselves. When a Son, by his extravagant courses, and repeated acts of disobedience, has incensed his Father against him, that he dashes him out of his Will, and excludes him from the enjoyment of his estate after death, to which he might have had a filial propriety; when he feels the deprivation of the goods, suffers the reproach and shame of a disinherited Prodigal, and undergoes the infamy and scandal of a Castoff; how is he enraged against himself, for his folly in violating the easy Commands, and refusing the good Counsels of his tender and indulgent Father, and thereby forfeited his good Will, and his right to his appurtenances? He that might have lived in repute and fashion, is now the ridicule and common talk of his Acquaintance, and forced to be content with the meanest Treatments. And how much more will it torment and grieve the Damned in Hell, when it shall be brought to their remembrances, what a gracious Father God was once unto them, how he entreated, counselled, and persuaded them to be happy; what reasonable, easy, and fair Commands, he imposed upon them, and what a large Inheritance he entailed upon them, if they had been obedient; how long he bore with their insolent carriage and disingenuous deportment, how ready to pass by the injuries offered to his Divine Majesty, promising them pardon and a free forgiveness, if they would change their manners, and become more circumspect for the time to come; but were not wrought upon by his impunity and forbearance, slighting his love, abusing his gracious tenderness, and setting the lowest value upon his rich and glorious Promises: And now his patience is turned into fury, his indulgence into vengeance; and they, who once were Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, are become Slaves to the Devil, and the Punishments of Hell, to which they must pay as many Tributes, as they have senses, powers, and members. What Scenes and Images of Terror will such an unhappy Recordation present to the Damned! The imaginative faculty, the appetites, and the will, all the interior powers and rational powers, shall be distinctly, and eternally perplexed, according to their capacity And thus much for the first thing deducible from the words of the Text, namely, That it will be a great aggravation of the misery of the Damned, to consider and recollect the former means and advantages they have been under for Salvation. I proceed from hence to the second General thing, namely,  
Secondly, That there is no commerce or intercourse between glorified and damned Spirits. Between us and you, says Abraham, there is a great Gulf fixed; so that they that would come from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. It is rendered in the Greek, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great Gulf, Quagmire, or Descent, so difficult and deep, that an attempt to pass it would be to no purpose. It is thus expressed, to show the impossibility of the glorified Saints bringing any comfort to the Damned, or of their being released one minute from their pains. Both States are decreed, and irreversible; Heaven shall be perfect bliss, and Hell perfect misery. They in Heaven, shall not have their Joys soured and interrupted, by hearing the doleful complaints, terrible out-cries, horrid screeches, blasphemies and curses, by seeing the bodies of the damned enveloped in flames, their Tongues parched, their Throats scalded with slaming brimstone, and those other miseries they endure: Neither shall those cursed Wretches have the happiness to see the State and Grandeur of the Saints, nor to hear those melodious noises, and harmonious Hallelujahs, which they make, and sing to the Lamb that sits upon the Throne. They shall be locked up among the Devils, with the Key of Eternity, and shall for ever weep, and wail and gnash their teeth. It would in some measure aslwage their afflictions, could they be permitted to feast their eyes with the Glory, Order, and Aeconomy of Heaven; the Lustre and Beauty of that place of 〈◊〉 would swallow them up in wonder & 〈…〉 and make them, if I may so say, forget their lamentable Circumstances. We know what a comfortable thing it is in affliction, to be caressed with Friendly visits, and entertained with some cheering discourse; how soon does the extremity of our maladies abate, and what a refreshment do we quickly perceive, till the Friends be gone, and we unhappily left to thought and fancy. But in Hell are no vicisitudes of good and evil, no mixture or allay, no harmless pleasure to divert the pain one moment; no commerce or intercourse with Holy Angels, and Beatified Spirits; nothing that can be termed a good; but all that is evil, and inexpressibly so; In Gehenna est omnium malorum complicatio, says one; In the prison of Hell there is a complication of all evils; nor will they be the more tolerable, or wear off by time, or change their nature, because God, who is the summum bonum, the greatest good, and in whom all other created goods concentre, will be eternally absent from Hell. But here it may chance to be asked; that considering the humane Creature is finite and temporary, and that all which proceeds from him is so, how can it stand with the justice of Almighty God, whose will is the Rule of Justice and Equity, who also is the source and fountain of mercy; that there should be such a disproportion between the offence and the punishment, as to punish his poor, frail, finite Creature, with infinite and eternal torment? To this I answer, that though humane transgressions are finite, yet they are committed against an infinite Majesty; and had the sinner who committed them, lived eternally, he would have sinned eternally. Besides, God having reserved endless rewards for temporary virtue, promised all that he has, all that he can give, and all that he himself enjoys; it is but just, that the wilful forfeiture thereof should be punished with eternal torments. And hereupon, as one observes, the pain of loss will be more rigorous and bitter, than all the rest, because the loss of Heaven is the foundation and cause of all the other infernal punishments.  
What gross stupidity than possesses men! who, for temporary pleasures, for the gratification of a foolish lust, will run the hazard of an infinite loss, even God To forfeit him, is to bid adieu to all that is good and desirable. Are these fading delights so charming and great, as to content them to be banished for ever from him who is the very source and sea of happiness? Were those unhappy Souls beneath, who know and feel the pain of loss, admitted to assume their Bodies, and live a time of trial again; how transported with joy would they be, that they were put into a condition of regaining their loss? They would generously deny a temptation to sin, be careful in their choice, consider well before they act, and look upon all these earthly entertainments as vain, empty, and worthless things. Their main employ and solicitude, would be to prepare their Souls for Heaven; they would spend the time of their sojourning here in fear, & daily exercise themselves to have a Conscience void of offence, towards God, and towards Men. What a happiness then do we enjoy? that still we are in a state of hope, and, if not wanting to ourselves, may commence an eternity with God, and all the Host of Heaven. It will be but a sad consideration, that after we have lived our time under the sound of the Gospel, have enjoyed the means of Grace, and all other advantages, and opportunities of Salvation; that when we come to die, we forrowfully discover, that we are nothing the better for these mighty helps, not a whit qualified for the enjoyment of God no more, than if we never heard of a Gospel, or Jesus Christ. Then it will enrage us against ourselves, that from the hopes of Heaven, we have precipitated ourselves into a desperate state; and for the gratification of a foolish lust, have plunged ourselves into the Ocean of misery It is therefore necessary, that now I proceed, in the last place, to draw some Practical Inferences from what has been said, and then close my Discourse. And here,  
First, Will it be a great aggravation of the misery of the damned, to consider, and recollect the former means and advantages they have been under for Salvation, if they have descended from godly Parents, or have been Members of the Church of Christ, initiated thereinto by Baptism, and have made an open acknowledgement of its Faith and Doctrines? let then the consideration of this warn us from slighting, misusing and neglecting these privileges and happy advantages; and lay a necessity upon us, to join our own endeavours with these means, that they may be a favour of life to us. Neither the eminence of a fair and ingenuous Education, nor the honour of being a Member of the Christian Church, nor an open acknowledgement of its Institutions, will be of any avail, unless they work together, by our own studious industry, to the reforming of our lives, correcting of our ruder passions, and the reducing us to the evennesses of virtue, and a good disposition. Doubtless there are a great many in the Regions of despair and sorrow, who had godly Parents, and the advantage of a liberal Education, were baptised into the Church of Christ, and made an ample profession of its Doctrines and Truths. Their torment is so far from being lessened, because of these privileges, that it is infinitely enhanced and aggravated; as sadly remembering how happy they might have been, what means of Salvation are quite lost and thrown away upon them. It will not so much be the enquiry in the day of Judgement, whether we were baptised, as whether we have lived up to the Rule of God's word. He is not a Jew, who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God, says St. Paul, Rom. 2.28, 29. Thou mayest go down into Hell with the water of baptism in thy forehead, with the name of God in thy mouth: for he is not affected with the ceremonial, without the internal part of Religion; Bodily worship, separate from the concurrence of the heart, he terms, Impudent and bare-faced Hypocrisy, as he speaks concerning the Oral Worship of the Pharisees, Matth. 15.8, 9 This people draweth nigh unto me with their Mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me, and in vain do they worship me. Tho' thou speakest with the tongue of Men and Angels; though thou hast the gift of Prophecy, and understandest all Mysteries, and all Knowledge: and though thou hadst all Faith, so that thou couldst remove Mountains; though thou bestowedst all thy goods to feed the poor, and though thou givest thy body to be burned, yet if thou dost not truly love God, if thou art not conformable in Will and Affection to his Will and Law; all this will profit thee nothing, 1 Cor. 13.1, 2, etc. It must be a renewed mind, estranged from the lusts and vanities of the world, a new birth, a life of grace and faith, that will entitle us Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, and qualify us for the society of Angels and beatified Spirits.  
Secondly, And is there no commerce or intercourse between glorified and damned Spirits? The consideration of this should engage us to honour, esteem, reverence, and kindly treat the Saints of God in this life. To love them for their piety, to converse with them for their example, to be thankful to them for the many devout prayers they put up to God for our Reformation and Salvation, to vindicate and justify them, against all the cavils, slanders, and reproaches, of unreasonable and heady Men. How do they evidence their respect to us, in fasting, and praying, in weeping, and sighing, and expostulating with God, to avert his Judgements we deserve, and bless us by pardoning of our sins, and crowning us with Glory hereafter? Let not a good man's poverty be a motion to contemn him; for though he want the Accommodations of this life, yet he is a chosen Heir to the Kingdom of Heaven; and remember the good Offices he daily does for us. If he be hungry, feed him; if he be thirsty, give him drink; if he be naked, cloth him; if he be sick, minister to his infirmity; if in prison, visit him with comfortable refreshment: For he that giveth to drink, to one of these little ones, a cup of cold water in the name of a Disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward, Matth. 10.42.  
It is a sad consideration, that goodness shall not be preferred before riches, that wealth must take place before piety. What will that avail thee, when thou art bidding adieu to the pleasures of earth, and preparing to make thy personal appearance before the Judgment-seat of Christ? Thou must bring nothing there but thy virtues, or thy vices; the Judge is no respecter of persons; If thou be condemned, there is nothing to prevent the execution of that irreversible sentence, Go ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Poverty is honourable, because Christ our Head chose to be poor; and to despise that, is to fling dirt into his face, and reproach him from whom we expect eternal life. Therefore how mean soever the Servants of God appear in this World, how scanty soever their portion be; let us respect them, and do them all the kind Offices we can; then, at the last and final reckoning, they will appear for us, and declare the special acts of civility, the tender, compassionate services we have done them, the respect and fingular regard we had for them, and the generous treatments we exercise towards them; then, in the face of the whole world, shall the Judge pronounce, Come ye blessed Children of my Father, receive a Kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the World: For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was naked, and ye clothed me; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; I was sick and in prison, and ye came unto me; for as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my Brethren, ye have done it unto me.  
Thirdly, and Finally, We knowing the terrors of the Lord, let us be prevailed with to consider our present State, to be perfectly acquainted with ourselves, how we have spent the former part of our lives, whether in God's Service, or the Devil's Drudgery; and if, upon an impartial survey, we discover that we have hitherto erred from the right end of our Creation, humbly to implore God's pardon, and to beg his grace for the time to come, that joining our own endeavours with it, we may redeem the time we have lost, by breaking off our sins, and speedily applying ourselves to the practice of true Religion.  
It is very sad to continue in an unconverted state, because we know not how soon it will be ere we be stripped into naked Spirits, and sent into an irreversible state. And to be thus surprised, and the Work of our Souls left unwrought, would be the worst of evils; and then what would we give, if possible, that we might have again such opportunities and advantages of being happy? consider therefore in time, repent and amend in this life of trial, shake off that impovidence which detaineth you, make you a new heart, and a new spirit; mortify and subdue your unruly will, wean your affections from the pride of life; manfully deny all ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for, without wavering, the blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.  
May God grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all Saints, what is the height, breadth, length and depth, and to know the love of Christ, that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto the only wise God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, be given the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, now, henceforth, and for evermore. Amen.   

SERMON VIII.  Luke XVI. 27, 28, 29. 
Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou wouldst send him to my Father's House.  
For I have five Brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.  
Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.  
THe rich man having received a slat denial of that which he requested, that Lazarus might be sent with a drop of water, to allay the heat and throbbing of his parched tongue; and sadly perceiving himself a pitiless & miserable Object; is here brought in entreating Abraham to dismiss Lazarus to his Brethren who were yet alive, and to give them an account of his deceased Brothers wretched and woeful State. Let him assume his Body, and go, and relate what Torments I endure; that he saw me in the midst of Flames, my Flesh broiling, my Tongue swollen with heat and pain; That he heard me weeping, and sighing, and bemoaning my comfortless and irreparable Condition; That he saw the damned Fiends employed in vexing and tormenting me, and that I have all the Scenes and Images of Terror always in view. Let him tell them how I curse my Folly, for living secure and careless, without thought of another World, or what would become of me after death. Let him assert my Resolution, That if I was admitted to re-enter the World, and live my Days over again that are past, I would not be charmed with the flatteries of Lust and Sensuality; nor spending my time in eating, drinking, and soft delights; in clothing my Body with gaudy Raiment, nor bend my study to invent Recreations for my Appetite. I would limit my Will, Desires, and Affections; and by a prudent management bring my Flesh under, that it might be corrective and governed by the insinuations of Reason. I would set an inestimable value upon the means of Salvation, which I foolishly slighted, and turned into wantonness. That I would live in a constant expectation of Death and Judgement. Such a Relation as this Father Abraham, would astonish my Brethren, scare them from their Sins, and caution them against those Imprudences, which were my destruction, and remediless ruin. This would rouse them out of sleep, make them unravel all that they have done, and put them upon other Methods. But is there any Charity in Hell? Are there any in the Abyss of Misery, who wish the Conviction, Conversion, and Salvation of Souls on Earth? Do they not rather envy the Privileges and Advantages of Happiness they enjoy, and desire that they may be as miserable as themselves? It is the Opinion of some sage and learned Writers, That the rich Man here prayeth not so much for the reformation and final Good of his Brethren, as for himself, that his Torments might not be the more aggravated, with the perpetual sight and company of those, who, in this World, were his near Relations, or familiar Acquaintance, and who were led and influenced by his base vicious Examples. It will greatly add to the Afflictions of lost Souls, to see those in Hell, who, when in the Body, were seduced and drawn away from Christianity by their lose Practices. But to the Answer which Abraham makes to the rich Man's Petition; Thy Brethren have Moses and the Prophets, those exact Transcribers of God's Will, their Manuscripts are Truths delivered by the Holy Ghost; and therein is dictated whatsoever God exacts from Men, and Directions how they may please their Creator. He will not grant Men needless and extraordinary Revelations, to gratify their vain Curiosity; since he has acquainted them with every thing that is fit for them to know and practise. Thy Brethren cannot plead Ignorance, when they are daily excited and admonished by God's Ambassadors: And if they will not be reform by these Means, and mighty Helps, they cannot reasonably expect that God should send departed Souls with a special Commission, and compel them to accept of the Terms of Happiness, against their will. His Word is sufficient to prepare them for Heaven, if they will but believe its Propositions, and live up to the Rule of Life prescribed therein. But, if this prove not effectual, there is no probability of their being saved. They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.  
From which I raise these Doctrines:  
First of all, That the Scriptures are the only means appointed by God, for the Conviction, Conversion, and Salvation of Sinners. Abraham argues the unreasonableness and impertinence of the Rich Man's request, that he would dismiss Lazarus to his Brethren, by urging the advantages and fair opportunities they had of making themselves for ever; They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. There is no need of extraordinary revelations, since they have such an eminent privilege of hearing the Counsels and Instructions of those worthy Men, commissioned by, and employed under God.  
Secondly, That it is too plain an argument of great Infidelity, and hardness of Heart, when the Word of God doth not take place, convince Men of their sins, and happily bring them from under the power of Satan unto God. I shall treat of both these distinctly, beginning with the former.  
First, That the Scriptures are the only means appointed by God, for the Conviction, Conversion, and the Salvation of Sinners, drawn from Abraham's answer to the Rich Man's Petition, that he would send Lazarus away, with a special Commission, to his surviving Brethren: No, they have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. The Word of God is a Declaration of his Will concerning Mankind, who, desiring their eternal Good, hath, by Moses and the Prophets, sent, and commissioned after him, prescribed the Methods, in a plain and familiar manner, to be used and prosecuted, to that end. He therefore inserts his Prerogative, and the undeniable claim he has to our Worship, and the best of our Services, as the Lord our God, the Contriver and Builder of the Universe; our Creator, who breathed into us the breath of Life, and we became living Souls. And to strengthen the belief of those Truths written and dispersed, by his chosen Servants, graciously condescended to come down from Heaven, eclipsed with Humanity, and supplied the defects of his Laws delivered in the Minority of the World: And lest by additions, and seeming alterations, the Jews, with whom he chief conversed, should stagger in the belief of the Mosaical Traditions, tells them, Matth. 5.17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil; more emphatically, to reveal the full intent and meaning of the Law anciently delivered, that Men may be put out of scruple and doubt concerning their Duty, and the terms upon which their Salvation is promised. And therefore St. Paul, to create a separate veneration and high esteem for Sacred Writ, gives an excellent Commendation, and pathetic Encomium of it, 2. Tim. 3.16, 17. It is profitable, says he, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. That is, the holy Scriptures, termed the Old and New Testament, are undeniably profitable to instruct us in the belief of those Propositions absolutely necessary to Salvation, to convince us of any truth which consists with our happiness; or of any sin, the allowed practice of which will sink us into the Abyss of Misery; to correct us when straying, to show us the right path, and to bring us to rights; to instruct us in that righteousness, in which we must appear before God, to the end that Christians may be as perfect in this frail state, as they can be aptly prepared to every good work, commendable and praiseworthy in the sight of God. And in the 15th Verse he urges, That the Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus; they have sufficiency of Doctrine, to make us wise enough to get to Heaven, if we have a genuine Faith in Jesus Christ, receiving him as our Saviour, and a Faith assenting and agreeing to these holy Writings, as the revelation of the Divine Will. So that it is fond flattery, for Men to disregard the Oracles of God, as if they were only Human Inventions, composed and written in a melancholy studious humour, or by strength of fancy, and expect extraordinary revelations to convince and convert them; as an Angel from above, clothed with the brightness of glory, with a special Commission in his Hand, to make them believe that there is a Heaven; and a damned Spirit from beneath, with the woeful marks of Divine vengeance upon him, wring his hands, tearing his hair, gnashing his teeth, and telling them what terrible preparations God has provided for impenitent sinners, to beget in them the belief of a Hell. God is not obliged to convert Men after such an extraordinary manner; nor, indeed, is it reasonable he should, since he has revealed his mind concerning Mankind to his Servant Moses, and to the Prophets after him, and confirmed the same by his Son, working mighty Miracles, and astonishing Wonders; and by him delivered to the Apostles, who converted many, convinced them of their errors, and fixed them in the profession of Christianity, and by them handed down to us. Wherefore should God detract from the power, authority, and truth of his holy Word, by reforming Men after a strange and unusual course? The nice and stubborn Pharisees, notwithstanding those numberless Miracles which our Saviour wrought in their view, to possess them with the belief of his Divinity, and that he had his Commission from God the Father, impertinently required a sign from him, something extraordinary, more than he had already done, expecting that such a Mission should be so confirmed; Either, perhaps, that he would alter the course of the Sun, or make it stand still, as it did upon the Dial of Ahaz; or, that he would demand a Guard of Angels from Heaven, who should testify his Authority, and that he was no Impostor, as they profanely suspected; or, it may be, that he would cause a Voice from Heaven to thunder in their Ears, that he was the Son of God, and threaten them with Damnation if they disputed the Truth of it. To this our blessed Lord answers, An evil and adulterous Generation seeketh after a Sign, but there shall no Sign be given them. I have wrought Miracles enough to convince them, if they were not harder than the nethermost Millstone. I filled five thousand Persons with five Loaves and two Fishes; and of the fragments thereof remained twelve Baskets full. I raised Lazarus to life, who had been dead four days. With a word I have cast out Devils, out of those who were possessed; opened the Eyes of those who were born blind: A Woman that had an Issue of Blood twelve years, and had spent all her Substance with Physicians for cure, was perfectly made whole by touching the hem of my Garment. The Lame and Paralytic are restored to Health and Strength by me, without medicinal Applications. The Widow's Son of Nain, who was carrying forth in order to be buried, received life again by my command, Arise. Abundance more Miracles of this kind I have wrought before you, O ye of little faith, to convince you that I am sent from God: But still retaining Prejudice and Malice against me, whereby you are hardened and seared with Infidelity; there shall no other Sign be shown, to satisfy your vain Curiosity; since enough has been done, to make impartial and ingenuous Minds believe, that I act by a Divine Power, and consequently have received my Commission from God. To run parallel, God having revealed his Will concerning Mankind, now called the Old and New Testament; the former relating to Moses and the Prophets, who were chosen and peculiar Ambassadors, commissioned by, and immediately employed under God, to spread the knowledge of his Laws, and to insinuate with his Creatures to revere the Sanction thereof: The latter pertaining to the Blessed Jesus, who was impowered and authorized by his Father to perfect and promulge the intent and meaning of his Laws, that we might not be bewildered in Fancies and Illusions, grovel in the Dark, and perish in Ignorance: If, notwithstanding this Pharos, or great Illuminary, which would light and guide us to Heaven's Gates, we still wander and stray from the Truth, expecting a miraculous Revelation, that God will convert us by some other means, which we have no warrant for, nor have the least reason to suppose; we shall be grossly deceived, and obstinately plunge ourselves into remediless Ruin; he having appointed no other means for our Conviction, Conversion, and Salvation, than his Holy Word, which he has commissioned his Ministers to preach and propagate. And thus much may suffice for the first thing, which I proposed to speak to, namely, That the Word of God is the only Means appointed to convert and bring us to the enjoyment of him. Which is the Argument Abraham urges to the rich Man, to excuse the grant of his request, That Lazarus might be sent to his Brethren to testify unto them: No, they have Moses and the Prophets, the appointed means for Salvation, let them give heed to them: It is but in vain for them to expect extraordinary Revelations, and for you to desire them. From hence I proceed to the second general Thing, namely,  
Secondly, That it is too plain an argument of a seared Heart, and strong Infidelity; when the Word of God doth not take place, convince Men of their Sins, and happily bring them from under the power of Satan, unto God. And this Abraham implies in his Answer to the rich Man; Thy Brethren have Moses and the Prophets, who are sufficient to reclaim, and work a reformation in them, unless their Heart be like an Adamant, stubborn and impenetrable: For their Commission is immediately from God, and that which they preach, is by his special Inspiration. St. Paul asserts, Heb. 4.12. That the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged Sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit; that is, it is convincing and influential, of mighty force and sagacity, active and searching. Now it evidently follows, that Men must be prodigiously hardened, and arrived to a very high pitch of Infidelity, when this quickening and converting Word of God loseth its Virtue, and seems no more than an idle Tale to them. For no more it is in effect, while Men continue in sin, and live secure and thoughtless, under the sound and preaching of it. The Eunuch, who had but a small sense of God, as he was journeying, accidentally pitching upon Isai. 53.7. where he read; He was led as a Sheep to the slaughter; and like a Lamb dumb before his Shearers; so he opened not his Mouth: In his humiliation, his judgement was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the Earth, Being affected with the Expression, asketh Philip of whom the Prophet spoke? Philip answered, Of Jesus; and preaching him to him, and the necessity of being admitted into his Fold; he seeing a large Pool, saith, What doth hinder me to be baptised? And Philip said, If thou believest thou mayst: He answered, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; and was immediately baptised, Acts 8. from 30, to 39 Of such Force and Energy is the Word of God, when it is read with Care, heard with Attention, and received into a flexible and unprejudiced Heart. While St. Peter was Expounding, and preaching the Scriptures, about three thousand Souls at once were converted from Judaisin, and made eminent Proselytes of the holy Jesus, Acts 2.41. While St. Paul was preaching to Felix the Governor, concerning Righteousness, Temperance, and Judgement to come; the Text saith, he fell a trembling, Acts 24.25. The Word preached, searched him to the bottom, and filled him with a sense of his own guilt; it dictated to him that he was the Man, tho' his own perverseness defeated its healing Operation upon him. It is men's infidelity and stubbornness of Heart, which they have contracted by customary sinning, which chokes the Word, that it becometh unfruitful. Or otherwise, could they read and hear God speaking to them to break off their Sins, and exert new and virtuous Habits, beseeching and entreating them to be wise for themselves; that God, who can every moment, by an invisible and  Power, revenge himself on disobedient Man, and send him roaring into the infernal Pit; I say, could Men live under the constant sound of the Word of God, and yet remain unconvinced and unaffected, unless they were seared against Reproof, and impregnable to good Advice; did a Man absolutely, without any reserve, believe that God will certainly punish all proud Contemners of his Laws; that his threaten, without any respect of Persons, will be executed upon every one that shall be found in Rebellion against him; would he, think you, dare to love his Sins, and spend his time in vain Sports and Pastimes? Would he not rather presently bethink himself, change his mind, and resolve to be conformable, in Action, and Affection, to the Word of Truth? Did a Man fear God, as he ought, which implies a belief in him in the construction of the Scriptures; he would dread his displeasure, and prudently withdraw himself from those Vices which will incur it. As a Man fears thee, so is thy displeasure, says the Psalmist, Psalm 90.11. Or, more plainly, according as men's Thoughts are of God, so are their Lives. And from hence we may, without being censured as uncharitable, conclude, whether Men revere or contemn God, by the general course of their Actions. It is an andeniable Argument of a profound love, belief, and fear of God, when a Man makes the Scripture his Rule; when he avoids those things it interdicts, and cheerfully doth those it commands As on the contrary, when Men Swear, blaspheme God, and and his Religion, Cheat, Oppress, Lie, commit Adultery, and the like, and allow themselves herein, with delight and complacency: This is Proof, beyond all contradiction, that God is not in all their Thoughts, that his Word is as a cipher; that they either conclude him a Being, which does not disturb himself by taking cognizance of Things committed here below; or, if he does, yet will not be so rigid to call them to Account; and thus give themselves encouragement to follow their own Inventions, and to sin without Concern or Thought: And when once Men are deaf to the Calls of the Gospel, despise its Promises, and contemn its Threaten; when neither Moses, nor the Prophets, nor Christ Jesus, nor his Substitutes, can work upon them to renounce their Impieties, and to order their Conversation as becomes Christians; I say, if these mighty Helps prove ineffectual, it is is to be reasonably presumed, that nothing besides, no, not an Angel from Heaven, nor a damned Spirit from beneath, could ever reach, or have any influence upon them. And thus much for the second Thng, namely, That it is too great an Argument of a seared Heart, and strong Infidelity, when the Word of God doth not take place, convince Men of their Sins, and happily bring them from under the power of Satan, unto God.  
And now I proceed to draw some Inferences from the whole, and so conclude. And here,  
First, We learn what a mighty Privilege and Advantage we are partakers of, that Almighty God should honour us, sinful Creatures, with the declaration of his Will, the which is a guide to conduct us through cragged and uneven ways, a glass to discover our nakedness, the spots and stains upon our Souls, that we may wipe them out by repentance, and a new life, and a Lamp to light us to Heaven: We might still have been bewildered with foolish fancies, and gross illusions, have followed the ignis fatuus of our heady Minds, and run violently into the Ocean of Misery, if God, who careth for us, and highly values our good, had not set out this great illuminary, his Word, to bring us back, and call us from the destruction we were ignorantly posting to. What an esteem and veneration ought we to have then for the Scriptures? How dear should they be to us? We cannot read and meditate on them too often, we cannot be too wise for Heaven, nor too much acquainted with ourselves. Ourselves are a great Mystery, which requires a good Judgement, a discerning Spirit, and a sagacious Mind, to comprehend; and the Scriputres mightily help us in the knowledge of ourselves; by them, as one of the Fathers has it, all Men may be amended, the weak strengthened, and the strong confirmed; so that surely there are none, who are enemies to the reading of God's Word, but such as either be so ignorant, that they know not how wholesome and salvisick it is, or else be so sick, that they loath and stomach at the most comfortable and adapt Medicines to heal their malady; or so ungodly, that they would with all persons might continue in blindness, and gross ignorance of God and themselves. It is a lamentable consideration, that the Bible, which treateth of men's salvation, and teacheth them how they may make sure of Heaven, should be so much slighted as it is; that Novels, Romantic, Hisicries, and Pedantic Poetry, all but human Wit and Invention, should be read with such attention and curiosity, with an eager appetite, and a well-pleased fancy, and the Word of God, which hath brought light and immortality into the World, hurried over, and slovenly perused, as if it were a dull, sapless, and heavy composition, not worth men's while to carry in their memories. It will turn to a dismal after-reckoning, when God shall judge the contemners and despisers of his Oracles; when they shall be tried by that Word, which now they disdain; and the threaten therein denounced, which now they laugh at, shall be put in full execution; better they had never heard of a Gospel, or a Jesus Christ; better they had lived in some dark corner of the earth, where the Sun of righteousness never shined.  
Secondly, If we hope and wish for the continuance of God's Word among us, if we would that it may be a savour of life unto life to us; in fine, if we would have that righteousness wherein we must stand before the Son of Man, when he comes attended with his mighty Angels to judge the World, and to determine every Man's final state, than it highly concerns us to put a separate value upon the Scriptures, to read them as the Oracles of God, to believe them as the contents of his Will concerning us, and to order our Lives and Conversations according as they direct us. To revere them, as they bring the glad tidings of Salvation, and to admire them as they contain wonderful expressions of the Divine Love to us. They instruct us how to behave ourselves in all conditions of Life. If we are rich, they counsel us to be humble, meek, and condescending; to be indifferently affected with our Wealth, that we may not be too much encumbered with cares, fears, and uneasy jealousies, which disturb the Mind, distract the Thoughts, and make Men unapt for the Kingdom of Heaven. If we be poor, the Bible even improves and sweetens an adverse state, by counselling us to cast all our care upon God, who careth for us, to put our confidence in him; to present our Pravers to him, who, if he grant not those things we pray for, yet some other he knows most suitable and convenient for us, and at last will reward us with the felicities of his Kingdom, for our faith, patience, and continuing in well-doing.  
In fine, the Bible has a Salve for every Sore, Medicaments of all sorts; it cures blindness of Heart, weakness of Judgement, the inconstancy of Faith, and makes a Christian such a one as God would have him to be. Is then this Book to be slighted, and thrown by as useless? Can Men be unwilling to peruse and meditate upon it, or think their time ill spent in reading it? Can they be better employed than in acquainting themselves with God's Will, and searching how they may fulfil it? How they may pass through this troublesome and vexatious World blameless, that they may commence a happy and blessed Eternity? What can be compared with the Soul? And what loss so irreparable as the loss of it? Insomuch that our Saviour says, What will it avail a Man, if he had the World's wealth, every thing that is great, good, and desirable in it, and lose his Soul? All that he has cannot make him satisfaction, or repair his damage. What therefore should be every Man's study so much, as to provide for the after state of his Soul, to read and ponder the ways and means he must use to prepare his Soul for the embraces of the Father of Spirits? How melancholy soever Men may think it is, to fill their Minds with the thoughts of Death, Judgement, and Eternity, yet when they come to die, they will earnestly wish themselves well provided for their Voyage into another World. Let them therefore lose no time in health, but read diligently, meditate seriously, and practise conscionably, the Word of God; which, by Divine Grace, and their own endeavours, will make them wise unto Salvation.  
Finally, and to conclude; As we are Christians, let us have a special regard to God's Word, and, with the Psalmist, hid it in our hearts, that we may not sin against our Maker. Let it be our Counsellor, our Guide, and Director, that all our Actions, Words and Thoughts, may be pure and blameless. And that we may thus order our steps, let us pray as our Church: O Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our Learning, grant that we may in such-wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting Life, which thou hast given us in thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom, with the Father, and the ever Blessed Spirit, be given all Honour, Praise, Thanksgiving, and Obedience, now, henceforth, and for evermore. Amend.   

SERMON IX.  Luke XVI. 30, 31. 
And he said, Nay, Father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.  
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one risen from the dead.  
THE Rich Man still pursues his Request, not being satisfied with that answer Abraham made him; If one whom my Brethren knew was dead, should appear, and speak to them, giving them a Relation, that he saw their Friend in a very miserable and afflicted State, covered with unquenchable flames, from the head unto the foot; and that if they did not reform, and take up, they must certainly undergo the like torments: This would be an  argument, and have such a powerful effect upon them, that they would presently bethink themselves, change their lives, and throughly repent of their past misspent time. The slight, and hollow speech of a Ghost would fright them into better manners, and sensibly convince them. To this Abraham replies, If thy Brethren hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded tho' one risen from the dead. If the standing Revelation of God, so well attested, be not sufficient to confute them of their errors, and bring them to rights; in all probability, they would be as stubborn and inflexible, if God should work a special miracle in order to their Conversion. As for instance, if he should dispatch a deceased Soul, and charge it to testify unto them, that if they will not forsake their debaucheries, and exert new and virtuous Habits, they shall certainly fall as so many Victims to his Vengeance. There is hardly any passage in Scripture, which more asserts the stubbornness and inflexibleness of sinners hearts, than this; nor any text that looks more dismally upon persons sitting under the means of Grace, reading and hearing the word of God, and yet perceive not their hearts softened, and brought to yield, by its quickening and converting Power. It is a very reasonable conclusion; that if the Holy Scriptures, which have brought many out of darkness and gross ignorance, humbled many a perverse, and mollified many a seared heart, and fetched abundance of Strangers home to Christ Jesus' fold; I say, if these convincing and influential means work not upon sinners, to repent, believe, and live up to that express holiness which they require; it is very much to be doubted, whether any extraordinary Revelations would ever effect or reach them. For though sensible demonstration be the greatest advantage imaginable, to moral persuasion; yet these things are under no Divine appointment to such an effect. It is not so much to be wondered at, that the intemperate see their fellow-sinners struck suddenly dead by an invisible hand, and yet unconcernedly drink to excess, and every day gratify their luxurious and thirsty appetites with large and unlimited draughts. That multitudes of sinners are unexpectedly hurried into the other miserable world, and their Companions not in the least affected with such instances of Divine Vengeance; but obstinately persist in iniquity, as if there was no God to condemn, nor a Devil to punish them. What can awake and rouse Men out of the sleep of sin if such sensible evidences as these, such special demonstrations of God's fury, doth not alarm and strike them with fear and trembling? but to the further prosecution of the Text; The rich Man saith to Abraham, Nay, but if one meant from the dead to my Brethren, they would repent. Abraham saith unto him, If they believe not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one risen from the dead. That which is very naturally proposed to our consideration from the words, is this, (Viz.) That if men give no heed to the written word of God, attested and confirmed by mighty miracles, and astonishing nonders, if they are not persuaded to quit their sine to change their evil minds, and walk with care and circumspection, by the Holy Scripture; in all probability they would not be Converted, if some mighty miracle was wrought, in order to their Reformation; As for 〈◊〉, If a departed Soul was commissioned by God to appear to them. And this shall be the subject of my ensuing Discourse to prove And in order to this, it is necessary to make out these two Things.  
First, That the fixed Revelation of God's Will, has more power and force to convince and reform men, than a singular, special miracle, wrought to that purpose, can have.  
Secondly, That should God condescend to gratify a wicked Man's vain curiosity, by causing one to rise from the dead, and to testify unto him, that the course he takes, without speedy amendment, will be the eternal ruin of him, and that the preparations in Hell are very terrible and insupportable; yet he will invent arguments, and propound reasons, to fortify himself, that he may not be affected with, and influenced by an such apparition, and frightful Relation; as he heretofore did to withstand the prevalent motives of Religion. If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one risen from the dead. I begin with the former of these two, namely,  
First, That the fixed Revelation of God's Will, here in the Text, termed, Moses and the Prophets, has more power and force, to convince and reform Men, than a singular, special miracle wrought to that purpose, can have. The less may be said under this Head, because I have very largely treated of the Scripture, as the only appointed means, for the Conviction, Conversion, and Salvation of sinners, in my last Discourse, wherein I urged, that most excellent and comprehensive character, the Apostle St. Paul has left upon record, of God's Holy Word, 2 Tim. 3.16, 17. It is profitable for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Correction, for Instruction in Righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works, that is, it will, if good heed be given to it, make a Christian as complete, as possibly he can be in this life. As also that other most eloquent and affecting commendation, the same Apostle elsewhere expresses of the Scripture, Heb. 4.12. It is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword; piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit, of the joints and marrow; and is a dijcerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Meaning in brief, That the word of God is so sagacious and searching, that it is able to work a thorough Reformation in men; not only with respect to their outward Actions, and more visible Morals, but with regard also to the I houghts and Purposes of their Hearts; making them Pure and Blameless, Holy and Innocent; that so men may be absolutely prepared for Heaven, being not only outwardly, but inwardly virtuous. But that which I shall further urge for the proof of this Point, namely, That the standing Revelation of God's will, here called in the Text, Moses and the Prophets, hath more power and force to convince and reform Men, than a singular, special miracle wrought to that purpose can have; is this; It is not only the appointed means, but God has ordained no other to reclaim men. He will not that they be convinced, so much by Sense, as by Reason; not so much by Ocular Demonstration, as Rational Conclusions. And therefore it argues, that those men, who are not won and brought over by the insinuations of the Gospel, but expect some extraordinary deal to convict them, are desperately hardened, and must perish without remedy. It would infinitely detract from the power and authority of God's word, and render it insignificant and invalid, if, when men out of a fond humour, and perverse disposition, refuse to hearken to, and be converted by it, God should deviate from the ordinary rule, by permitting Spectrums or Apparitions to discourse with, and persuade them to break off their sins by a timely repentance. His promises and threaten would take but little effect, nay, men would scarce have Faith enough to believe them, if such extraordinary methods were commonly used to cure Men of their obstinate blindness, and perverse infidelity. But wherefore should God answer men's vain curiosity? Why should he confute them of their Errors, by new and strange means, when the truth of Christianity hath been attested by wonders and miracles, by the blood of Martyrs, who died for the Confirmation of it and by the Conversion of many thousands since? It must be concluded, that they were weary of their lives, very soft, and easy, melancholy, fanciful Persons, who would thus embrace death, relinquish their interests, goods, and possessions, for the sake of the Truth, of which they had no apparent testimony. They must imagine, the world has lain a long while in Ignorance and Darkness, amused only with fictious Relations, and vain Genealogies; and that those who died long since in the belief of the Scripture, are without hope; Or, otherwise how is it, that the Oracles of God are not more credited by them? Why are men so seared and impenetrable, that the word of God, which is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged Sword, loseth its Virtue, and its healing Operations upon them quit defeated? And furthermore,  
If God had discovered any insufficiency in his Holy Word, that it was not able to turn men's hearts; he would have used some other methods to that end, and not have permitted so many thousands to have lived and died in their sins, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. He would not suffer poor Souls to run into the Labyrinth of Despair, nor others to be hardened, if his word alone, which hath brought Life and Immortality into the world, was not capable, or had not sufficiency of Doctrine, to instruct and guide them in the path that leads to Heaven: Nor would our blessed Saviour have pronounced such terrible woes against the Unbelieving Jews, nor had Divine providence cursed them, who were once his peculiar People, a chosen Generation, a royal Priesthood, as he did by scattering them all the world over, but not where incorporated into a Nation, a standing and visible mark of Vengeance upon them; I say, this people would not have been so severely dealt with, upon the account of their infidelity; If the word preached by the Holy Jesus, and confirmed by miracles and unusual signs, was not convincing and influential. Wherefore it is sadly recorded of them, John 12.40. That God hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart and be converted.  
From hence I draw this Conclusion, That when men arrive to such a pitch of daring presumption, as to give little or no heed to the written word of God; all other means used for their Conversion, such as Preaching, friendly Counsel, and Admonishment, seldom affecteth, or worketh a change in them. Hence a Friend becometh another's Enemy, because he tells him the truth, mildly reproves him for his sin, sorrowfully tells him what a desperate condition he is in, and what he must expect if he persists and dies in an irrepentant state. By such, God's Ministers, and their wholesome Discourses, are reproached; those Sermons which they should use as medicaments to heal their wounded Souls, are made their sport and pastime, fitting only to be Subjects of vain wit, and frothy drollery. It is a sad presage of final ruin, when the standing Revelation of God's Will doth not work upon men, to the changing of their manners and turning them from under the power of Satan, unto God. In all probability neither an Angel from Heaven, nor a damned Ghost from beneath, could ever reach and overcome them. For if that word, which was ushered into the world with Thundrings and Lightnings, delivered by the Prophets by God's special Order and Inspiration; and to strengthen the credibility of it, was rehearsed and promulged by Jesus Christ, and that the knowledge thereof might be universally spread, was delivered by the same Jesus to the Apostles; and, that succeeding ages might not be brought up in ignorance, and live and die without the knowledge of God, and their Duty, was handed down from the Apostles to Us; That word, that reform three thousand Souls at one time, Converted Heathens, who had no other sense of their Maker, than what they received from the Book of Nature; and brought over multitudes to the Profession and Practice of Christianity, who never heard of it before. I say, if this word of God, which has abundantly evidenced its power and efficacy, and is the means of that Piety and Religion practised in our days, cannot prevail with men, their stubbornness and wilful infidelity, defeating its aptness and influence; we may very reasonably conclude, that if a special miracle was wrought to convert them, it would be to no purpose. But here, notwithstanding what has been already urged, some may yet say in the Language of the Text, But if one risen from the dead, we would repent. The Motives and Arguments of the Gospel being still, and the same, and which by experience we find have not power enough to reclaim us: some new method used for our Conversion, as an Apparition or Ghost, would, above any thing else, persuade us. Now how little this would affect them, I shall show in the prosecution of the second Point, which is,  
Secondly, That should God condescend to gratify a Wicked Man's vain Curiosity, by causing one to rise from the dead, and to testify unto him, that the course he takes, without speedy amendment, will be the eternal ruin of him, and that the preparations in Hell are very terrible and insupportable; yet he will invent Arguments, and propound Reasons, to fortify himself that he may not be affected with, and instuenced by such an Apparition, and frightful Relation; as heretofore he did, to withstand the prevalent Motives of Religion. It is not to be disputed, but that if a Spectrum or Ghost should appear to a very wicked man, suppose it to be an aerial Representation of his Companion; who, with a hollow Voice, dreadful Visage, and lamentable Utterance, tells him, that there is a God, both just and powerful, and that there is an eternally happy, and miserable state; and that it is his misfortune to be doomed to the latter which, in his life-time, he used all the means he could to banish from his thoughts; and that if he does not speedily amend his life, and hearty repent of the many wickednesses he has wilfully, and presumptuously committed, as they were formerly Companions in sin, so they would be unhappy Fellow-sufferers, in a lamentable Eternity.  
I say, I question not, but if a Ghost should appear to any of us after this manner, it would make some impression upon us. But then, whether or no this miracle wrought, would so prevail with a man who has habituated himself to Wickedness, as to work a Reformation in him? It is to be supposed, No: For after the surprise is over, those heats allayed, which were at first stirred up in him, he will quickly invent excuses and arguments, why he should not effect that Reformation, he has so much aversion from. For,  
First, Tho' he was deeply touched at first, and all his Powers in such a consternation that he was scarce himself, yet being recovered from the fright, the inclination he has to sin will put him upon doubt and scrutiny, and to question the reality of the thing: He knows not but the Vision was only the effect of Melancholy, and a drooping Mind, or the imagination of a distempered Brain. He knows, that when Persons lie under the extremity of a Fever, their fancies are very whimsical, and suppose they see frightful shapes, & a company of Fiends about their Beds, or that they see Hell open, and abundance of Souls tormenting there. That some, who are naturally frightful, suppose an Apparition instead of their shadow, and will scarce be beaten out of that strong Illusion; and thus the World comes to be filled with relations of Ghosts or Apparitions. He knows that some, by strength of fancy, will imagine a cluster of Clouds to be an Army of Men engaged in a pitched Battle; and why may not the Vision, which he saw, be only an imaginative shape, nothing real, but a thing framed in his disordered Mind? It is easy for a Man, who is not willing to believe any thing of this nature, to bring himself to such an opinion, to evade and shift off the thoughts of it, that they might not disturb and trouble him in his wickednesses. But then he is much more encouraged, when he tells his idle and wanton Companions the relation, who, upon hearing it, will not forbear jesting him out of the conceit; nor will they want arguments to convince him, that he was either in a Dream, or was pensively musing, or was employing his thoughts about Stories which tell of Ghosts and Spirits, and so giving way to them, foolishly conjectured that his melancholy fancy metamorphosed itself into form and shape. But he must banish all such whimsical Notions, and never credit any thing of that kind, or otherwise he must forsake their Society, and not din their ears with such Nonsense, but those who are easy, too credulous Persons, who spend their time in carrying such ridiculous relations up and down the World. But,  
Secondly, Supposing, that notwithstanding all this, he cannot easily baffle the credit of his Senses; for tho' he has hitherto used all the means he could, to banish the belief of the Vision, yet he cannot be fully persuaded, but that there was somewhat in it. My blood, says he, would not so suddenly, without some extraordinary cause, fly in my face; nor would my powers ruffle together in such confusion, if something preternatural had not made towards me. I was neither a sleep, nor musing, but perfectly in my senses, when I saw the Apparition; and therefore I cannot deny Matter of Fact. But still the great love he bears to sin, will put him upon framing another Argument. It is true, I was amazed at a Vision, but how do I know that it was one risen from the Dead? It might, peradventure, be a human Body, dressed up in Grave-cloaths, imitating the walk and gesture of a Ghost, who intended, by this Religious fraud, to scare me from my sins; but it so confounded him, that he could not distinguish truly between the Imposture, or the Reality. But supposing it is no fraud, but indeed a Spirit, yet he knows not whether it be his Friend; if he was convinced of this, he would credit his relation, and immediately change upon it. But, for aught he knows, it may be one of those evil Spirits in the Air, who disturb and fluster Men, and possess them with strange whimsies, fancies, and frightful imaginations; and therefore, till further conviction to the contrary, he will not be influenced, and wrought upon, by any Spirit of that Order, since I know, and have heard, that they are maliciously bend against us, and would do us much more mischief than they do, if they were not limited and restrained by a superior Power. But,  
Thirdly, As it is not to be doubted, that such a Man as I am now speaking of, will create and raise many Arguments, to withstand the force and influence of such a Miracle wrought in order to his Conversion, so there is one more yet remaining, which he may probably urge, to sortifie himself against Conviction and Conversion: And that is, the unusualness of such kind of means, as a Spirit, or Apparition, to bring Men to Repentance. It is true, he has been haunted; but why he, above the rest of Mankind? The singularity of the thing will increase his doubt. If the Neighbourhood where he lives were thus disturbed, or if any of his near Acquaintance should come and tell him, that at such a time they were surprised by a Ghost, who told them, That if they continued in that course of Life they so vigorously prosecuted, they would be as miscrable as himself, who suffers eternal torments for committing the very same sins they now live in, this relation would indeed alarm him, and make him suspect his present circumstances, and leave those Vices he is diss waded from. But since none that he knows of are thus handled, he has no reason to credit the relation of the Spirit. If such means of Conviction were rational and powerful, doubtless others would be afforded them as well as he; but since he hears, nor knows of none, he shall not take things upon trust, but continue unperswaded as he is. Thus we see how Men, who withstand the Motives of Christianity, refuse to be reform by Moses and the Prophets, by Jesus Christ and his Apostles; will also find out shifts and ways to evade the force and argument of a Spirit, should one be sent on purpose to convert them. And thus is Abraham's Answer made good to the Rich Man, who importunately desired him to send Lazarus from the dead, to testify to his Brethren, for that they could not withstand the force of such a Miracle wrought for their Reformation. No, says Abraham, If they will not believe Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one risen from the dead. And now I proceed to make some special application of the whole, and then conclude. And here,  
First, We learn the danger of refusing to be reform by the public and standing revelation of God's Will; that we become so the perately hardened, that nothing else, no not a Miracle, would have any influence upon us, because we  that Word which is so well attested by Moses and the Prophets, by Jesus Christ and his Apostles, and the blood of Martyrs; and an Apparition doth not carry along with it such a rational Conviction. Besides, we have already heard how many ways the force of an argument, drawn from one's appearance from the dead, may be evaded; but now none of these pretences can be made against the evidence of a standing revelation, so well attested, and confirmed by Miracles, Signs, and Wonders. It is the fond and vain fancy of some, that if they had lived in our Saviour's time, and had seen him work Miracles, restore the Lame and Paralytic, raise the Dead to Life, open the Eyes of those that never saw, and the like; or if they had seen him hanging on the Cross, in a great agony, and giving up the Ghost; or if they had seen him after his Resurrection, they should certainly have been Converted, and become eminently holy Persons. What a gross illusion is this? If now they will not be reform by the Motives of the Gospel, which in time was faithfully penned by the Evangelists, who both knew and conversed with our Saviour, heard his Sermons, and saw those mighty Wonders that he wrought; who were Witnesses of his Resurrection, and held Conferences with him after he risen from the Dead: I say, if they will not be reform by the Writings of the Evangelists, neither would they if they had lived in the days of our Saviour. Again; some wait for the powerful influences of the Blessed Spirit; that is, sin on, till God shall please to turn their hearts. Wherefore look they for any other means, than the Rule of the Scriptures, which, though indeed they are not absolutely converting, without the assistance of Divine Grace, yet they are in order to it: And we know not any, who prize and venerate the Word of God, make it their constant study, and earnest desire, to believe the Propositions, and live up to the Rule of Life therein prescribed, but are enabled, and wonderfully assisted in their pious endeavours. And if Men are void of Grace, it is because they make not a right use of the written Word; which bids them ask, and they shall receive; to seek and they shall find; to knock, and it shall be opened: which bids them humbly to read, and search, and in them they shall find eternal life. It is men's wilfully shutting their Eyes, and hardening their Hearts against the knowledge of the truth, which makes them so little benefited by the Gospel.  
Secondly, From what has been said, we learn how guilty and inexcusable they are who still continue in infidelity, or are vicious in their Lives and Conversations, notwithstanding the goodness of God in vouchsafing them the light and liberty of the Gospel. What will these kind of Men be able to plead for themselves, when they are, by the sound of the last Trump, summoned to Judgement? Will they vainly pretend that the Word of God was not influential enough, or the Motives used therein too weak to work upon them? Their own Hearts will confute them, and too plainly manifest their own stubbornness. How faithless or perverse soever Men be in this life, yet in the other they will be more slexible and believing; and to their own shame confess, that God Almighty did all that became such a Being to make them happy; that nothing was left undone, or that was necessary to convince their Reason and Understanding; but it was their petulant follies, obstinate perversenesses, and treacherous infidelities, presumptuously shutting their eyes, and hardening their hearts, which were the cause of their unhappiness. How will the Rich Man, and his five Brethren, rise up in Judgement against such Infidels! They would not believe Moses and the Prophets; but these would not believe, neither Moses, nor the Prophets, nor Jesus Christ, nor his Apostles. The Pagans, Turks, and the rest of those ignorant People, whom Moses never watered with the Dew of Heavenly Doctrine, will rise up in Judgement against them, who having no more knowledge of their Creator, than they learn from the Book of Nature, live more morally than many of us do. Certainly such Men have no thought, how they shall be able to stand before the Son of Man when he comes to Judgement; they do not consider what it is to appear before the tremendous Bar of Justice unprepared, there to give an Account of the Sins of a whole Life, and not one of them repent of. To appear before an earthly Judge in a bad Cause, and to be too well convinced that there are Witnesses enough to condemn us; this is Matter of great Trouble and Concern, and makes a Man very uneasy: But to appear before the Judge of Judges, who sits upon eternal Life and Death, as a Malefactor, who lived and died so, and to have the glorious Company of the Apostles, the goodly Fellowship of the Prophets, and the noble Army of Martyrs, a great Cloud of Witnesses against us, is infinitely more furprising and terrible. And, O, the great Condemnation of those, who have a long time lived under the sound and preaching of the Gospel, and have had the tenders of Salvation again and again offered to them! It had been better for them, if they had never been born; it shall be much more tolerable, in the day of Judgement, for the Sodomites and Sidonians, than for them.  
To conclude; As we hope to far well, when Jesus Christ comes to Judge the World; as we would, that he should say unto us, Well done, good and faithful Servants, enter ye into the Joy of your Lord: Let us be all convinced by the public and standing Revelation of God's Will; that is, by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, when he who is our Life shall appear, we also shall appear with him in Glory, Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be given all Honour, Praise, Thanksgiving, and Obedience, now, henceforth, and for evermore. Amen.  
FINIS.   


There is lately Published by Mr. Stevens, the Author of this Book, viz.  
A Narrative of the extraordinary Penitence of Robert Maynard, who was Condemned for the murder of John Stockton, late Victualler in Grub-street, and Executed at Tyburn, May 4. Together with several Conserences held with him in Newgate; As also a Copy of the Paper which he left to be published after his Death. Printed for John Dunton, at the Raven in Jewen-street. Price 6d.   

Books lately printed for John Dunton.  
THE whole PARABLE of Dives and Lazarus, Explained and Applied: Being several SERMONS Preached in Cripplegate and Lothbury Churches. By Joseph Stevens, Lecturer at both. Published at the request of the Hearers. And recommended as Proper to be given at Funerals.  
The Dying Pastor's last Farewell to his Friends in Froome, Selwood, Shepton Mallet, Brewton, Wincalton, and the Adjacent Parts. Being several Sermons on 1 John 2.15. Preached by that Learned, and Pious Divine, Mr. Henry Albin, and prepared for the Press with his own Hand a little before his Death. To which is added by another Hand, An Elegy on Mrs. Mary Hamlen, late of Froome, in Somersetshire. Price bound 1 s.  
Poems on several Occasions, Written by the ingenious Pindaric Lady.  
The Life of the Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter, left for the Press under his own Hand, in Folio.  
The first and second Volumes of the French Book of Martyrs, published in English with Her Majesty's Royal Privilege. Price 20 s.  
The Tigurine Liturgy, published with the Approbation of six Reverend Bishops.  
Dr. Burthogg's Essay upon Reason, and the Nature of Spirits, dedicated to Mr. Lock. Price 2 s. 6 d.  
The Works of the Right Honourable Henry late Lord Delamere, and Earl of Warrington, containing His Lordship's Advice to his Children, several Speeches in Parliament, etc. with many other Occasional Discourses on the Affairs of the two last Reigns, being Original Manuscripts written with His Lordships own Hand; never before Printed. Price bound 5 s.  
Malbranch's Search after the Truth, complete in 2 Vol. Octau.— To the second part of this Work, is added the Author's defence against the Accusations of Monsieur de la Ville, also the Life of F. Malbranch, of the Oratory at Paris; with an Account of his Works, and several particulars of his controversy with Monsieur Arnaud, Dr. of Forborn, and Monsieur Regis, Professor in Philosophy at Paris. Written by Monsieur Le Vassor, lately come over from Paris, done out of French, from the last Edition, by Mr. Sault, Author of the New Treatise of Algebra; both Volumes 10 s.  
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Dr. Beekers Examination of the common Opinions concerning Spirits, Apparitions, their Nature, Power, Administration and Operations; as also the Effects Men are able to produce by their Communication.  
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An Essay upon the Works of Creation and Providence, being an Introductory Discourse to the [History of Remarkable Providences] now in the Press. To which is added a Scheme of the said Undertaking,— as also a further Specimen of the Work itself, in which is inserted the Penitential Letter, written by Sir Duncumb Colchester (late of Westbury in Glocestershire with other Remarkable Instances of that Nature. Price bound 2 s.  
The History of all Religions in the World, from the Creation down to this present time, in two Parts; the first containing their Theory, and the other relating their Practices, both written by W. Turner, M. A. and Vicar of Walberton in Sussex.  
The General History of the Quakers, both Men and Women, from the first Rise of that Sect, down to this present time. Collected from Manuscripts, etc. A work never attempted before in English, being Written Originally in Latin, by the Learned Crosius, price bound 5 s.  
A Collection of the Funeral Orations pronounced by public Authority in Holland, upon the Death of the most serene and potent Princess Mary II. Queen of Great Britain, etc. By Dr. James Perizonius, Professor of Eloquence, History, and the Greek Tongue in Leyden, Dr. George Grevius, Professor of Theology in Utrecht; and several other Learned Men— wherein is given a very particular Account of the Queen's Life, during her Residence in Holland, etc. Done into English from the Latin Original.  
Some Remarkable Passages in the Life and Death of Her late Majesty, not hitherto made public, as they were delivered in a Funeral Oration, pronounced by public Authority, in the Hall of the most Elustrious States, upon the day of the Royal Obsequies, March 5. 1695. By Francis Spanheimius, F. F. Chief Professor of the Academy of Leyden. Done into English from the Latin Original, and Printed in 4 to to bind up with the formentioned Orations.  
A Sermon upon the Death of the Queen of England, Preached in the Walloon-Church at the Hague, Feb. 6. 1695. Upon these words, Acts 9.36, 37. There was at Joppa a certain Disciple whose name was Tabytha, which signifies Dorcas, who was full of good Works, and the Alms-deeds which she did. It happened in those days that she fell sick and died. By Isaac Claude, Minister of the Walloon-Church Done into English from the second Edition Printed in French.  
Lachrymae Sacerdotis: A Pindaric Poem occasioned by the Death of that most Excellent Princess, our late Gracious Sovereign Lady, Mary II. of Glorious Memory; By Hen. Park, Curate of Wentworth in Yorkshire.  
The Tragedies of sin contemplated in the Fall of Man, the Ruin of the Angels, the Destruction of the Old World, the Confusion of Babel, and Conflagration of Sodom; by Stephen Jay, Rector of Chinner in Oxfordshire. Price 2 s. 6 d.  
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Dr. Singleton's Practical Discourses upon 1 John 12.28.  
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The Fourth Edition of the Lives, Trials, and dying Speeches of those Eminent Protestants who fell in the West of England, & elsewhere, from the year 1678, to 1689.  
Complete Sets of the Athenian Mercury (being nineteen Volumes, etc.) resolving all the most Nice and Curious Questions proposed by Ladies and Gentlemen for the last five years.  
The History of several Remarkable Penitents— To which is added, a Sermon Preached at Boston in New-England, to a condemned Malefactor; By Increase Mather.  
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A Narrative of the extraordinary Cure wrought in an instant upon Mrs. Eliz. Savage, Lame from her Birth, without the using any Natural Means; with the Affidavits which were sworn before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, and the Certificates of several Credible Persons, who knew her both before and since her Cure. Pr. 6 d.  
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A New Book of Trade, Entitled, Panarithmalogia: By W. Leybourn, Author of Cursus Mathmaticus. Pr. 4 s. 6 d.  
The Divine Captain Characterised, in a Sermon published at the beggining of the War with France.  
The Lay-Clergy— In a short Essay in Answer to this Query,— Wither it be lawful for Persons in holy Orders to txercise temporal Offices, Honours, Jurisdictions and Authorities.— With Arguments and Objections on both sides, poyz'd, and indifferently weighed. Both Written by Edmund Hickeringil, Rector of All-saints in Colchester.   

Books now in the Press (and designed for it) Printing for John Dunton.  
* A Complete History of the most Remarkable Providences both of Judgement and Mercy, which have happened in this present Age; extracted from the best Writers, the Authors own Observations, and the numerous Relations sent him from divers parts of the 3 Kingdoms. To which is added whatever is curious in the Works of Nature and Art: The whole digested into one Volume, under proper Heads, being a Work set on foot 30 years ago, by the Reverend Mr. Pool, and since undertaken and finished by William Turner, M. A. Vicar of Walberton in Sussex; recommended as useful to Ministers, in furnishing Topics of Reproof and Exhortation, & to private Christians, for their Closets & Families This undertaking has met with such general encouragement, that no more subscriptions will be taken in, Proposals and Specimens' giving a fuller account of it, are to be had of J. Dunton at the Raven in Jewen-street, and of Edmund Richarsdin near the Poultry Church.  
A Compendious History in Folio, of the Lives & Deaths of all the most eminent Persons from the Crucifixion of our blessed Saviour to this time. By a Learned Hand, who will add a Collection of several 100 modern Lives omitted in all other works of this Nature.  
The Church History of New-England is now almost finished, including the Lives of the most eminent Divines of that Country from the first planting of it down to this present year, 1696. 'Tis Written by Mr. Cotton Mather, Pastor of a Church in Boston, from whom I shall receive the Manuscript Copy as soon as completed; and being a large Work, 'twill be printed in Folio, by way of Subscription.  
The third and fourth Volumes of the French Book of Martyrs, are now preparing for the Press, and will be published with her Majesty's Royal Privilege.  
The Lord Faulkland's Works, Secretary of State to King Charles the I. in Folio.  
The second Edition of Right Christianity, by the Reverend Mr. Matthew Barker.  
Private Minutes, which will be 5 s. bound.  
Debates upon several Nice and Curious Points. Price 2 s. 6 d.  
Conferences concerning the future State, etc.  
FINIS.