"wards thy glorious Majefty, O Lord; against whom "I have most grievously misbehaved myself. But દ though this gives me fore trouble; yet grant, I be "feech thee, that I may never be hardened, past the

ingenious fhame of offending; that I may never "have my part with fuch, as feek to make wicked"ness creditable; and to bring their abomination "into reputation.. O dash their faces, and fill them " with fhame; that they may feek thy name, O "Lord; that they may think it time, to give up "fuch a fcandalous caufe, which can never be made "good; but difgraces and lofes any (though the biggeft) that efpouse it. And may they feek the "honour and glory, that is of God only, and comes "of knowing the Lord, and of getting near to the moft high, and being great and fair with God, "through Jefus Chrift. Amen."

66

TH

MEDITATION LXIV.

Of the folly of wickedness.

'HERE is fcarce one in a hundred, but counts himself wife enough; yea, the lefs knowledge fome have, the more they think themselves to have. The men of the world would pafs for the only men of understanding. When they but know how to fave their stake, or to get and improve an estate; they pity these religious fools, and laugh at the weakness of the believers on JESUS, that will leave their fubftance to feek after things out of fight, and things, no one knows when, to come. Now grant VOL. I.

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we

we this world's children to be wife in their generation, and very fhrewd and fubtle to promote their temporal interefts; yet, O my foul, what dunces are they, to learn Chrift, and to know themfelves? what bunglers and novices at the work of God, and to follow the way of falvation? here, even Rabbies, are often to feek; and the men of reach and subtilty, how much are they out? nay, even the wits, and mafters of the fineft parts, can fometimes fhew themselves witty, only to play the fool, and make buffoons and madmen of themselves, to blafpheme their God, and throw dirt at their Judge. They that poft up the ferious followers of JESUS, for a herd of dull affes; and call it, playing the fool, to live by rule; and them a fheepish flock of filly precifians, that will startle at fin, and make confcience of duty; and count nothing sharp and acute, but what is lewd and profane; while they would be thought fo witty, for fporting with iniquity: the wifeft man has turned the name of fool, upon thein, "that make such a mock at fin," Prov. xiv. 9. And indeed, how defervedly? for who but the moft egregious fools, would ever make a jefting bufinefs, of that which inflames the wrath of God, and coft the blood of Chrift, and threatens the everlasting damnation of all their fouls? who but a fool, would chufe to abide in grievous flavery; when he might enjoy a glorious liberty? who but a fool, would feed all upon trafh and dirt, and carrion, when he might have wholesome diet, and fare well, and eat of the best? yet fuch a fool is the resolved finner, to yield up himself captive to the devil, when the Son of GOD would fet him free; and to prefer the humouring of his flefh, and the fatisfactions of a dog, above angels food, and all that which pleases the moft bleffed God himself. And if the wisdom of God fhall be heard, Pfal. liii. 4. "The workers of iniquity have no knowledge.'

1 Sam. xiii. 15. "Thou haft done foolishly in not "keeping the command of the Lord thy God." And Jofh. vii. 15. "To tranfgrefs the covenant of "the Lord, was to commit folly in Ifrael." Though ill men then, had rather hear profane, than filly; and will not endure the name, even when they do act the part of fools; yet, to do wickedly, is to do foolishly. And all fuch as, by their allowed fins, do make the Almighty their enemy; O what do they but make fools of themselves? thus the drunk. ard and adulterer are beastly fools, to make themfelves bafe and ridiculous, if not poor and beggarly here; and expose themselves, to fuffer and smart for it, eternally hereafter. The fwearer is a mad fool; to defy his Lord, and fell his foul; not fo much as to please his flesh, or to get the world. The ambitious is a proud fool; to scramble high that he may tumble down with the forer fall. The revengeful is a furious fool; to put his own mind on the rack, that he may torment his neighbour. The fpendthrift is a prodigal fool: to throw away alto gether on his ravenous lufts, what might have been a conftant fupply for he honeft needs. Yea, the worldling, that thinks he outwits all; and (a mong his like) grows famous for the wisdom of feathering his neft, yet is a miferly fool, that cares not to lose his friend, and deny his pleasure, and ftarve his body, and ftretch his confcience, yea, and damn his foul; only to add to that heap, which he fhall leave in the midst of his days, and die a "fool," Jer. xvii. 11. Though a man may himself, incur the cenfure of folly, to call the wealthy chuff, a fool; yet, he that knows him beft, has put the feather in his cap. Luke xii. 20. "Thou fool, this "night fhall thy foul be required of thee." Though he had never fo much laid up for many years, he was but a fool to truft to that, and not lay up. in ftore a better foundation against the time to come,

that

that he might have laid hold on eternal life. And, alas, who but a fool, would ftick to a world, which in his foreft need, can do nothing at all for him, and the while, forfake that good, which alone is fatisfying and everlasting? that is, to make mere fhadow for fubftance, and prefer a moment before the du ration that shall never end. And yet with fuch ill advice are things carried by the forfakers and defpifers of God, as if they had not even the common understanding of men and how cunning foever they may be to cater for the body, yet to do their fouls good they have no knowledge. But a man of ordinary fenfe would be afhamed, fo to nego. tiate for the affairs of the world, as they do in their heavenly and eternal concerns. Either to live as rovers, and fix on no determined end; or else never take the way, that is like to bring them to any good end. To make a great folemnity of trifles; and but play with the things of everlafting impor. tance. To neglect the richeft offers, while oppor. tunity ferves them; and then come in with their, had we wift, when all is gone by them. To take a fpurt of forry pleasure, inftead of the higheft pleafure for ever; yea, for a lick of honey to be drowned in the pot, paft recovery; and for a few merry bouts, to incur the extremity of forrow, that fhall never be over. To carry it fo here, as to find no friends or favour elsewhere. To have all in hand, and nothing to fupport and comfort them world without end.

O my foul, thou wilt not wonder, that God's Word fo often lays folly to the charge of men wic ked and worldly: for, when thou doft but make any obfervations upon their conduct, thou canst not chufe but fee their weakness and fhame all over. And after they have enjoyed the wild humour, and applauded their own wit, and taken all the liberty of upbraiding others folly, thou fhalt one day hear them,

them, in the bitterness of their fpirits, charging it home upon themselves: as Wifd. v. 5. "We fools "counted the life of the righteous madness;" and thought with ourfelves, what a fool was he, fo to exercise and deny himself, and make such a stir with his religion? how wide did we err from the way of truth? and weary ourselves in the ways of wickedness, and destruction? we took pains, alas, only to lose our fouls, and undo ourselves. And now, what is become of all the enjoyments, we were fo proud of? what are we the better for that, which we fo much valued ourselves upon, which now has utterly left us, as if we had never known it? O had we thought, it would have come to this; we would have filled our heads with another fort of care, and followed other bufinefs, and lived after another manner. But we did not take our time, while it offered itself; and now it is too late, when all is flipt away past recalling, and we must for ever rue it, under all the dreadful confequences of our folly. O my foul, to this it will come. Be thou fo wife, as to foresee it, and provide against it. And as forward as any are, to call them fools for Christ, who will forfake the world, to follow their Lord; yea, and prefer the reproaches of Chrift, before the riches of the earth; and the ways of godliness, above all the pleasures of fin: be not thou fo hafty to faften the folly, till thou feeft where it is to be laid at the laft, and heareft who will be fain to take it all to themselves; and to cry out, O wretched fools that we were, to hearken to the father of lies, more than to the wisdom of God; yea, more to the murderer of fouls, than to the God of our falvation! we might have seen it; but we would not. No, we fuffered our paffions to blind us, and our lufts to lead us away, like fools to the correction; where we shall have leifure enough to look back, and repent the fottishness, and curfe the madness, that has

now