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The POE M.

ARE feeds have no great beauty, but, inhum'd,

BA

That which they had is loft, and quite confum'd;
They foon corrupt and grow more bafe, by odds,
When dead, and bury'd underneath the clods:
It falls in bafenefs, but at length doth rife
In glory, which delights beholders eyes.
How great a difference have a few days made,
Betwixt it, in the bushel and the blade!
This lovely, lively emblem aptly may

Type out the glorious refurrection-day;
Wherein the faints, that in the dust do lie,
Shall rife in glory, vigour, dignity;

With finging, in that morning they arise,
And dazle glory, fuch as mortal eyes

Ne'er viewed on earth. The sparkling beauties here,
No more can equalize their fplendor there,

Than glimmering glow-worms do the faireft ftar
That fhines in heaven, or the stones that are
In every street, may competition hold
With glittering diamonds in rings of gold.
For unto Chrift's most glorious body they
Shall be conform'd in glory at that day;
Whofe luftre would, thould it on mortals fall,
Tranfport a Stephen, and confound a Paul.
'Tis now a coarse and crazy house of clay;
But, oh! how dear do fouls for lodgings pay!
Few more than I: For thou, my foul, haft been
Within thefe tents of Kedar cooped in ;

Where, with diftempers clogg'd, thou mak'st thy moans,
And, for deliverance, with tears and groans
Haft often fu'd: Cheer up, the time will be,
When thou from all these troubles fhall be free:
No jarring humours, cloudy vapours, rheums,
Pains, aches, or whatever elle confumes
My days in grief; whilft in the Christian race,
Flefh lags behind, and can't keep equal pace
With the more willing fpirit: None of thefe
Shall thenceforth clog thee, or disturb thine ease.

I

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Upon the refemblance of Wheat and Tares.

As wheat refembled is, by viler tarés ;
So vile hypocrify, like grace appears.

OBSERVATION.

Tis Jerom's obfervation, that wheat and tares are so much

alike in their first springing up, that it is exceeding difficult to diftinguish the one from the other: These are his words, Inter triticum et lolium quandiu herba eft, et nondum culmus venit ad fpicam; grandis fimilitudo eft; et indifcernendo aut nulla, aut per difficilis diftantia. The difference (faith he) between them, is either none at all, or wonderfully difficult to difcern, which those words of Chrift, Mat. xiii. 30. plainly confirm. Let them both alone till the harveft; thereby intimating, both the difficulty of diftinguishing the tares and wheat; as alfo the unwarrantable rashnefs of bold and hasty cenfures of men's fincerity or hypocrify, which is there fhadowed by

them.

HR

APPLICATION.

"OW difficult foever it be to discern the difference betwixt wheat and tares, yet, doubtless, the eye of fense can much easier difcriminate them, than the most quick and piercing" eye of man can difcern the difference betwixt special and common grace; for all faving graces in the faints have their counterfeits in hypocrites. There are fimilar works in these, which a fpiritual and very judicious eye may easily mistake for the fav ing and genuine effects of the fanctifying Spirit.

Doth the Spirit of God convince the confciences of his people of the evil of fin? Rom. vii. 9. Hypocrites have their convictions too, Exod. x. 16." Then Pharaoh called for Moses

and Aaron in hafte; and he faid, I have finned against the "Lord your God, and against you." Thus was Saul also convicted, 1 Sam. xv. 24.

Doth true conviction and compunction work reformation of life in the people of God? Even hypocrites also have been famous for their reformations. The unclean fpirit often goes out of the formal hypocrite, by an external reformation; and yet still retains his propriety in them, Matth. xii. 43, 44. For that departure is indeed no more than a politic retreat. Many that fhall never escape the damnation of hell, have yet escaped

the pollutions of the world, and that by the knowledge of the Son of God, 2 Pet. ii. 21.

Doth the Spirit of the Lord produce that glorious and fupernatural work of faith in convinced and humble fouls? In this also the hypocrite apes and imitates the believer, Acts viii. 13. "Then Simon himfelf believed alfo." Luke viii. 13. "Thele

are they which for a while believe, and in time of temptation "fall away."

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Doth the precious eye of faith, difcovering the transcendent excellencies that are in Chrift, inflame the affections of the believing foul with vehement defires and longings after him? Strange motions of heart have alfo been found in hypocrites towards Chrift and heavenly things, John vi. 34. "Lord, evermore give us this bread." Mat, xxv. 8. " Give us of your oil, "for our lamps are gone out." With what a rapture was Balaam tranfported, when he faid, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and my laft end be like his !" Numb. xxiii, ro. Doth the work of faith, in fome believers, bear upon its top branches the full tipe fruit of a bleffed affurance? Lo! what ftrong confidences, and high-built perfuafions of an interest in God, have fometimes been found even in unfanctified ones? John viii. 54. "Of whom you fay, that he is your God; and yet ye have not known him." To the fame height of confidence arrived those vain fouls, mentioned in Rom. ii. 19. Yea, fo ftrong may this falfe affurance be, that they dare boldly venture to go to the judgment-feat of God, and there defend it, Mat. vii. 22. "Lord, Lord, have we not prophefied in thy " name?"

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Doth the Spirit of God fill the heart of the affured believer with joy unfpeakable and full of glory, giving them, through faith, a prelibation, or foretaste of heaven itself, in those first fruits of it? How near to this comes that which the apostle fupposes may be found even in apoftates? Heb. vi. 8, 9. who are there faid" to tafte the good word of God, and the powers of "the world to come." What fhall I fay, if real Christians delight in ordinances, those that are none, may alfo delight in approaching to God, Ezek. xxxiii. 32. It may be you will fay, though the difference be not easily difcernable in their active obedience, yet, when it fhall come to fuffering, there every eye may difcern it; the falfe heart will then flinch, and cannot brook that work. And yet even this is no infallible rule neither; for the apostle fuppofes, that the falamander of hypocrify may live in the very flames of martyrdom, 1 Cor. xiii. 3. VOL. VI.

"If I give my body to be burnt, and have not charity." And it was long fince determined in this cafe, Non poena, fed caufa facit martyrem; fo, that without controverty, the difficulty of diftinguishing them is very great.

And this difference will yet be more fubtle and undiscernible, if I should tell you, that as in fo many things the hypocrite refembles the faint; fo there are other things in which a real Chriftian may act too like an hypocrite. When we find a Pharaoh confeffing, and Herod practifing, as well as hearing, a Judas preaching Chrift, and Alexander venturing his life for Paul; and, on the other fide, fhall find a David condemning that in another, which he practifed himself, an Hezekiah glorying in his riches, a Peter diffembling, and even all the difciples forfaking Chrift in an hour of trouble and danger: O then! how hard is it for the eye of man to discern betwixt chaff and wheat? How many upright hearts are now cenfured, whom God will clear? How many falfe hearts are now approved, whom God will condemn? Men ordinarily have no clear convictive proofs, but only probable fymptoms; which, at moft, can beget but a conjectural knowledge of another's ftate. And they that shall peremptorily judge either way, may poffibly wrong the genera tion of the upright; or, on the other fide, abfolve and justify the wicked. And truly, confidering what hath been faid, it is no great wonder, that dangerous miflakes are fo frequently made in this matter. But though man cannot, the Lord both can, and will, perfectly difcriminate them. "The Lord know"eth who are his," 2 Tim, ii. 19. He will have a day perfectly to fever the tares from the wheat, to melt off the varnith of the most refplendent and refined hypocrite, and to blow off the ahes of infirmities, which have covered and obfcured the very fparks of fincerity in his people: he will make fuch a divifion as was never yet made in the world, how many divifions foever there have been in it. "And then shall men indeed return, and dif"cern between the righteous and the wicked; betwixt him "that ferveth God, and him that ferveth him not." Mean while, my foul, thou canst not better employ thyself, whether thou be found or unfound, than in making thefe reflections upon thyself.

The cenforious

REFLECTION S.

And is this fo? Then, Lord, pardon the rafhnefs and precipitancy of my cenforious fpifoul's reflection. rit; for I have often boldly anticipated thy judgment, and affumed thy prerogative, al though thou hast faid, "Why dost thou judge thy brother?

And why doft thou fet at'nought thy brother? We hall all "ftand before the judgment feat of Chrift. For it is written, "As I live (faith the Lord) every knee shall bow to me, and "every tongue fhall contefs to God. Let us not therefore

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judge one another any more," Rom xiv. 10, 11, 12, 13. And again; "He that judgeth me is the Lord. Let us there"fore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who "both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and "make manifeft the counfels of the heart; and then shall every "man have praise of God," 1 Cor. iv. 4, 5.

"

What if God will own fome of them for his fons, to whom I refute to give the respect of brethren? I may pass hafty and headlong cenfures upon others; but where is my commiffion for fo doing? I want not only a commiffion, but fit qualifications for fuch a work as this. Can I pierce into the heart as God? Can I infallibly discover the hidden motives, ends and principles of actions? Befides, O my foul, thou art confcious of so much falfenefs in thyfelf, that were there no other confideration, that alone might restrain thee from all uncharitable and hasty cenfures. If others knew but what I know of myself, would they not judge as feverely of me, as I do of others?

The prefumptuous foul's reflection.

2. Though I may not judge the final state of another, yet I may, and ought to judge the ftate of my own foul; which is, doubtlefs, a more neceffary and concerning work' to me. For fince every faving grace in å Christian hath its counterfeit in the hypocrite, how needful is it for thee, O my foul, to make a ftand here, and folemnly to ponder this question, Whether those things, whereon I depend, as my best evidences for the life to come, be the real, or only the common werks of the Spirit? Whether they may be fuch as can now endure the test of the word, and abide a fair trial at the bar of my own confcience?

Come then, my foul, fet the Lord before thee, to whom the fecrets of all hearts are manifeft; and in the awful sense of that great day, make true answer to thefe heart-discovering queries: For though thou canst not difcern the difference be twixt these things in another, yet thou mayest and aughtest to difcern it in thyfelf: For what man knows the things of a man, fave the fpirit of man that is in him!

1. Is my obedience uniform? am I the fame man at all times, places and companies? Or rather, am I not exact and curious in open and public, remifs and careless in private and

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