pared for it. The door will be fhut, and afterwards, tho' the foolish Virgins come and cry, faying, Lord, Lord, open to us, yet will Chrift reply. Verily, Ifay unto you. I know you not. Obferve here,

1. That afterwards, when the door was fhut, thefe foolish Virgins came; they had confidence yet to come, in hopes to be let in. Wicked Men's confidence doth often out laft the day of Grace, and hold out, when they have no reafon at all for it. It may be obferved in dying Sinners, when they are told of the danger they are in, and how neceffary Repentance is, and a Faith that worketh by Love, it is hard to beat down their Confidence: Still they will fay, they hope God will fhew them mercy, they hope they Believe, they hope they Repent, and fo they hope to be Saved? Yea,

2. They cry, Lord, Lord open to us, they hope to be Heard and Pitied for their earneft Importunity, for their Cries and Tears, calling Chrift their Lord, and begging of him to open to them. And truly, this is it that a great many, 'tis to be feared, deceive themselves into Hell withal. They can fay often and earnestly, God be merciful to me, and this they hope will do. This, indeed is all that too many mean, they know of no other, nor will learn to underftand that it can be any thing elfe, but a forrow that they have done amifs,and a confeffion that they are Sinners, and deferve Hell, and a crying with Tears forMercy.If they find they can do thus, they think they have got Oil enough, tho' late, and are confident they fhall be admitted in, But,

3. All that they fhall get by all this, will be the fad anfwer of the Bridegroom to the foolish Virgins, verily, 1 know you not, i.e. I know you not to belong to me, or that ye have any relation to me. I own you not for Chriftians, whatever you call your felves, nor do your Cries and Tears move me now at all. It may do well to confider what People in this Cafe are apt to plead for themfelves, and what the Bleffed Saviour of Sinners, when he comes to Judge them in Righteoufnefs, will anfwer to it.

1. They will be apt to fay, Lord, tho' we were not ready juft when the firft notice was given us by Sickness, of thy coming to call us out of the World; yet, to thew how defirous we were of being entertained by thee, we have fince done all that we could, to make our felves

rea

ready for thee, and therefore tho' a little with the latest, yet thou feeft we are come, and we hope thou wilt not reject us.

Now to this our Bleffed Jefus will anfwer, I know you not. For ye are none of thofe that ever loved me, or defired my appearance; but had rather by far I had faid away, and that ye might have Slept on ftill in your Sins. Had ye loved and defired my appearance, ye would for Love of me have taken care before-hand to please me, and to be ready as these were. All the pains that ye have taken fince the cry of my coming was heard by you, proceeds only from your fear of Hell, and defire to be happy fomewhere, now ye can live no longer. This fear fet you on work,but no love to me. A day of Mercy you had, and ye have Slept it out, and nothing but just Judgment remains, and ye are not able to abide it, for I fee not your Righteousness, the Oil in your Lamps, which you must be tried by.

2. They will be apt to fay again, yes Lord; We were Baptized in thy Name, Renouncing all other Lords but thee; we have always Worshipped God in thy Name, and have conftantly called thee our Lord and Saviour, and thou art the Lord our Righteoufnefs; we never trufted to our own Righteoufnefs, but to thine only; on thee we have believed, that we fhall be faved by thy Merits; and thou didst promife that whofoever be lieveth on thee fhall not perifh, but have everlafting Life. And therefore we hope thou wilt open unto us.

To this Chrift will anfwer, I know you not any otherwife than as falfe Rebels, who have conftantly broken the Covenant of Baptifm, whereby ye were bound to be mine, and have all your days ferved thofe very Lords, whom ye then Renounced; and why called ye me Lord, Lord, whilft ye did not the things that I faid unto you? Lu. 6. 46. Ye never Worfhipped God but formally, and for aCloke to your Wickedness, and this was all theRighteoufnefs ye trufted to. Yebelieved not in me as your Lord, but only relied on me vainly as your Saviour, when you would not obey me as your Lord. Had ye believed in me, ye would have believed my Word, that no Faith without Works can fave a Man, and that no Unrighteous Man can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And because ye have not been Holy and Righteous, F know you not.

3. Yea,

3. Yea, but they will be apt to plead: We confefs we have been Sinners, and through infirmity we Slept too long; but we were awakened with the cry of thy coming, and have never been idle fince, but have run to buy Oil, and having got it we are come. For we are brought to Repentance, we confefs and forfake our Sins; and thy Apostle hath told us, that if we confefs our Sins, thou art faithful and juft to forgive us our Sins, Joh. 1. 1. 9. we claim therefore thy promife to the Penitent, and hope thou wilt yet open tous,

To this Chrift will fay, I know no fuch Penitents as you; who have Slept out the whole Seafon of repentance, and now confefs it only for fear you fhould fuffer Vengeance. You Slept wilfully, and not thro' Infirmity, for then ye would have friven by all means to keep yourselves Awake, which ye have not done. Ye delighted in Sin, and would yet be very well pleafed to live in it ftill, therefore, depart, I know you not.

Let us all then, as we defire to die with comfort, and to be admitted into Joy when we die, labour to be always ready for God's call. And let us not delay, and put off our Repentance, and change of Life fo long, till Chrift difown us for his. What is it, I beseech you, that we can flatter ourselves withal? Is there any one promife to be found in our Bibles, that one repenting in his laft Sickness fhall be faved? And tho' we dare not judge that all, who defer their Repentance till then, are cer tainly Damn'd, and would tain hope as charitably and favourably as we can of fuch Perfons; will any therefore rely on fo flender a Foundation as this, to continue in a careless way of Living, only becaufe good Chriftians dare not fay that fuch an one cannot be faved? One would think that Salvation andDamnation are things of fo much weight, and fo great concernment to us, that we should not fecurely put it to the venture which of them fhould be ours, and take the more unlikely courfe of the two, for no other reafon but because fome good men would hope the best of us, when yet neither hath God made us any promife, nor can men give us the leaft reafon to hope that it fhall go well with us. Men only fay, they know not whether God will fave a late Penitent or no, Yet may Chrift fay for all that, to all fuch Penitents, know you not,

FINIS

BOOKS by the Author, Published in his Life time.

1. The Gentile Sinner.

2.

A Grammar for the ufe of his Children, Entituled, Magnum in Parvo, an English Guide to the Latin Tongue. Out of Print,

3. The Vanity of Scoffing at the Chriftian Faith. In a Letter to a Witty Gentleman.

4. The Reft for the Heavy-laden:

5. The Communicant's Guide.

6. The first Edition of his Catechism. To which was added, a fhort Difcourfe of the Being of a God,and the Truth of Scripture. Out of Print.

7. A Letter to a Friend, Reflecting on part of Mr. Sargent's Letter to Dr. Stillingfleet, then Dean of St. Paul's.

8. The Reflecter's Defence of his Letter, 8%.

9. The Protestant Refolved, that there is no neceffity of turning Roman Catholick for Salvation.

10. The Scripture Catechism. Laft Edition.

11. The Summ of Chriftianity.

12. The Neceffity of Serious Confideration, and the Danger of Delaying Repentance."

13: The Folly of Atheism demonftrated.

Several fingle Sermons at Alizes, Lectures, and other occafions. Some of which out of Prefs, or very fcarce to be had.

As alfo two Difcourfes, One on Prov. XIX. 21. The o ther on Phil. II. 3. grown fcarce. So Published again fince the Author's Death.

TH

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He Publisher living too remote to attend the Prefs, and Correct the first Sheets, is forc'd to defire the Reader to Correct feveral Faults in the Printing, by this

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1. 20.

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Age 2. line 12. for you read thence. p. 5. 1. 9. f. ? r. ; P. 5. 1. 19. f. Sins r. Senfe. p. 8. 1. 28. f. is r. is not. P. 29. 1. 13. f. Sins r. Senfe. p. 48. 1. 27. after love r. it. p. 5o. 1. ult. after needs r. not. p. 52. 1. 20. f. Wealth r. Health. p. 57.1. 15. after knows r. best. P. 57. 1. ult. f. be r. been. p. 59.1. 34. after Good Man r. than. p. 67. 1. 3. after Choice del of. p. 75. 1. 7 d. the. p. 76. 1. 35. f. Mor tal r. Moral. p. 101. 1. 8. after we are del yet. p. 123. l. 26. f. could r. couldft. p. 126. 1. 2. f. befure we may r. wo may be fure. p. 145. 1. 34. del. he. p. 150. 1. 28. d. here. p. 157. 1. 9. f. Modeftnefs r. Modifhnefs. p. 178. 1. 33. f. of r. or. p. 182. 1. 12.f. wasr. am. P. 182. 1. 24. f. that r.than. P. 244. 1. 17. del. a before natural. p. 246. 1. 15. f. are r. are we. P. 247. 1. 24. f. use him r. ufe him not. P. 251. f. particular r. particularly. p. 254. 1. 28. f. to go r. we go. p. 268. 1. 22. f. deviling r. Devil. p. 272. 1. 11. f. Men r. of Men. p. 273. 1. 5. f. about r. about it. P. 2751. 18. after bring them r. up. p. 279. 1. 19. f. Notice r. no No tice. p. 283.1. 12. f. hadst r. haft. p. 296. 1. 1. f. take care r. take no care. p. 296. 1. 2. f. we will r. we shall. p. 299. 1. 4. f. whence r. when. p. 305. 1. 9. after that r. God is not. p. 316. 1. 21. f. haft r. have loft. p. 325. 1. 25. f. have r. bath. p. 326.1. 8. f. vainful r. vain. I. 30. f. that r. than. P. 327. 1. 5. f. Mafters r. Wafters. p. 329. 1. 23. del of. P. 331. 1. 8. d. us. p. 309. 1. 12. f. Cafuits r. Cafuifts. P. 345. penult. f. Par r. Perdition. p. 361. 1. 6. f. his r. their. p. 371. 1. §. f. therein r. therefore. p. 372. 1. 16. after right add band. p. 379. 1. 2. f. they r. that, p. 379. 1. 3. f. certain r. uncertain. p. 403. ult. f. is r. its. P. 427.1. 18. del. fuch. p. 435. 1. 35. £. trime r. trim. p. 448. 1. 8. £. Powers. Vows. p. 451. 1. 10. f. vein x. vain.

Place this at the end of the Book.