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blaspheme and roar, for ever. And God should now, suppose at this instant, send the great archangel with his trumpet, to summon all the world to judgment, would not all this seem a notorious visible truth, a truth which you will then wonder that every man did not lay to his heart and preserve there, in actual, pious, and effective consideration? Let the trumpet of God perpetually sound in your ears, Surgite, mortui, et venite ad judicium: place yourselves, by meditation, every day on your death-bed, and remember what thoughts shall then possess you, and let such thoughts dwell in your understanding for ever, and be the parent of all your resolutions and actions. The doctors of the Jews report, that when Absalom hanged among the oaks by the hair of the head, he seemed to see under him hell gaping wide ready to receive him; and he durst not cut off the hair that entangled him, for fear he should fall into the horrid lake, whose portion is flames and torment, but chose to protract his miserable life a few minutes in that pain of posture, and to abide the stroke of his pursuing enemies: his condition was sad when his arts of remedy were so vain.

Τί γὰρ βροτῶν ἂν σὺν κακοῖς μεμιγμένον

Θνήσκειν ὁ μέλλων τοῦ χρόνου κέρδος φέρει ;-Soph.

A condemned man hath but small comfort to stay the singing of a long psalm; it is the case of every vicious person. Hell is wide open to every impenitent persevering sinner, to every unpurged person.

Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis.*

And although God hath lighted his candle, and the lantern of his word and clearest revelations is held out to us, that we can see hell in its worst colors and most horrid representments; yet we run greedily after baubles, unto that precipice which swallows up the greatest part of mankind; and then only we begin to consider, when all consideration is fruitless.

He, therefore, is a huge fool, that heaps up riches, that greedily pursues the world, and at the same time (for so it must be) heaps up wrath to himself against the day of wrath;"

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* En. vi. 127.

when sickness and death arrest him, then they appear unprofitable, and himself extremely miserable; and if you would know how great that misery is, you may take account of it by those fearful words and killing rhetoric of Scripture: 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God;' and, 'Who can dwell with the everlasting burnings?' That is, no patience can abide there one hour, where they must dwell for ever.

SUMMARY OF SERMON X.

MATTHEW, CHAP. X.-VERSE 16.

PART I.

WHEN Our Saviour entailed a law and a condition of suffer ings, and promised a state of persecution to his servants, and withal had charmed them with the bands of so many passive graces; being sent forth as sheep among wolves, innocent and defenceless, &c.; their condition seemed nothing else but a designation to slaughter; and when an Apostle invited a proselyte to come to Christ, it was, as it were, a snare laid for his life; for he could neither conceal his religion nor hide his per son, &c. But though God bound our hands behind us, he did not tie up our understandings: although we might not use our swords, yet we might use our reason, &c.; and thus the disciples of Christ overcame the power of the Roman legions by a wise religion and the Christian, though exposed to persecution, is so secured that he shall never need to die, but when circumstances are so ordered that his reason is convinced that it is then fit he should; fit in order to God's purposes and his own. For he that is innocent is safe against all the powers of the world, if they rule with justice; and he that is prudent will escape many violences that come from injustice; and no wit of man, no government, no armies can do more. Here then

are the two arms defensive of a Christian; prudence against the evils of men; innocence against the evils of the devil and of his kingdom: this topic enlarged on.

In order to the following discourse, we are first to consider

whether this can be a commandment, or what it is: can all Christians be enjoined to be wise and prudent? It is as if God commanded us to be eloquent, or learned, or rich. Prudence is a gift of God, a blessing of an excellent nature, which therefore cannot be imposed on us, as arising from ourselves.

To this it may be answered; that Christian prudence is, in many instances, a direct duty: this explained. Its parts and proper acts consist in the following particulars.

1. It is the duty of Christian prudence to choose the end of a Christian, that which is perfective of a man, satisfactory to reason, the rest of a Christian, the beatification of his spirit; and this is, to choose, desire, and propound to himself heaven, and the fruition of God, as the end of all his acts and his purposes for in the nature of things, that is most eligible, which is most perfective of our nature, and which is the satisfaction of our most reasonable appetites: this topic enlarged on; and the emptiness of the things of this world shown, in comparison with the excellence of those things which belong to God and to religion.

2. It is a duty of Christian prudence to pursue this great end with apt means and instruments in proportion to that end. It cannot be a vigorous prosecution, unless the means have an efficacy or worth proportionate to the difficulty, and something of the excellency of the end which is designed: this topic dilated on; the value of the things sought explained, as well as duty, in fervency of prayer, watchfulness of conduct, resistance of temptation, &c.

3. It is an office of prudence to serve God, so that we may, at the same time, preserve our lives and estates, our interest and reputation, as far as they can consist together. The Christian religion carrying us to heaven, does it by the way of a man; and by the body it serves the soul, as by the soul it serves God; and therefore it endeavors to secure the body and its interest, that it may prolong the stage in which we are to

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run for the mighty prize of our salvation, &c. He that through an indiscreet zeal casts himself into a needless danger, hath betrayed his life to tyranny, and tempts the sin of an euemy: he loses to God the service of many years, &c. He that invites the cruelty of a tyrant by his own follies, suffers as a wilful person, and enters into the portion and reward of fools. Hence the precept of our Saviour, Beware of men. prudence to the purposes of avoiding their snares. cumspectly, not as fools, &c.: if you fall into evil times, purchase what respite you can, by all honest arts, if you do not compromise your duty: and when the tyrant drives you forth from all your guards and retirement, offering violence to your duty and tempting you to dishonest acts, then boldly lay down your neck to the stroke; fear not to die the most shameful death of the cross or the gallows: this topic enlarged on : instances given of honest evasion and of religious prudence among the early Christians. Sometimes, however, they used improper arts and subterfuges: instance of this in the libellatici, or libellers, who gave money for false certificates of their having sacrificed to idols; by which means they disgraced their religion, were excommunicated, and not received again but after a severe repentance. He that confesseth me before men, says our Saviour, I will confess him before my heavenly Father; and if here he refuseth to own me, I will not own him hereafter. As this is against Christian nobleness and fortitude, so is it against Christian prudence to provoke danger, like those who, when inquisition was made after Christians, went and offered themselves to die. God, when he sends a persecution, will seleet such persons as he will have to suffer. In the mean time, let us do our duty, as long and as strictly as we can; neither turning our zeal into the ambition of death, nor our prudence into craft and covetousness. Conclusion.

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