Fruits meet for Repentance, fhall after Death be bleffed for ever in Heaven? Why then must one come from the Dead to tell Men, what was fufficiently told them before? Will his repeating the fame motives to Repentance over again, add more force and efficacy to them, than was before in them? Are not Arguments and Reasons the fame, whoever use them? If the holy Scripture cannot perfuade with fuch motives to repentance, how fhould a dead Man perfuade to it by ufing only the fame, motives of perfuation? If any thing be added by him, it is only his fingle Teftimony of his own Experience. He hath found all we have been told in the Scripture to be true, he faith, and we must believe him, and this Belief will perfuade us to repent, and fo would our Belief of the Scripture have done, if that would do it. All returns to this, the Teftimony of a dead Man is thought more credible, than that of the holy Scripture, and all that God hath done to witness to us the truth and Divine Authority of it. Mofes and the Prophets, Chrift and his Apostles are not thought worthy of our hearkening to, till the Testimony of one from the Dead give them more credit with us, The Goodness of the Laws, the Reasonableness of the Duties fuch, and fo great, that none can reject them; but either one who never would be at the pains to hear and understand them, or one that is abandon'd to his Lufts, and hares Goodnefs, regards not Reafon, and values not the happiness of Mankind; this is not enough to perfuade. The Promifes of the Gospel, tho' of things most necessary, excellent and glorious, tho' made by him, whofe Fidelity is effential to him, and makes it impoffible for him to lie or deceive us: All the terrible

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rible Menaces of Punishment to the Impenitent, tho' denounc'd by the Just Judge of the World, and one infinite in power to execute Juftice; all thefe are not of force enough to perfuade us. The Testimony of our own Reafon bearing witnefs to God, and demonftrating to us how neceffarily it follows from the perfections of his Nature, that he muft provide good Things for them that faithfully ferve him, and punish the Rebellious, all this moreover to the Righteousness and Goodness of all the Laws he hath given us, is not yet enough to perfuade us. Nay, the Teftimony of God's own Hand, and mighty Arm, ftretch'd out in manifold figns and wonders; the mighty things which he hath done from the beginning of the World to this Day to convince us, that he is the Lord JEHOVA H, and governs the whole World by his Providence. An univerfal deluge of Waters, fhowrs of Fire and Brimftone from Heaven, on the Ungodly. The terrible Judgments, and strange Deliverances, by the Hand of Mofes in Egypt, at the Red Sea, in the Wilderness; the raifing of the Dead by the Prophets, by Chrift and his Apoftles, the Refurrection of JESUS from the Dead, and his Teftimony after that from Heaven, by the fending down of the Holy Ghost, and all the visible Effects of that unquestionably Divine Power. All the wondrous Works recorded in Holy Scripture done by no obfcure Perfons, but Men well known in the World, and perfecuted by the World. Works wrought fo publickly, that whole Nations felt the power of fome of them, fome to their comfort, others to their forrow. Ofothers of them, fometimes many Hundreds together, fometimes many

Thousands

Thousands felt the real Benefit; and of others again, all the Chriftian World, at this day, reaps the ineftimable Fruits. The whole People of the Jews is to this Day a Living Teftimony of the Truth of Chrift's Predictions, and Divine Power demonftrated in their Difperfion, and bringing on them and their Children their own Curfe when they crucified him. The Teftimony of all the moft. Learned and knowing part of the World in embracing the Doctrine of Chrift, and of many and many Thousands of Martyrs fhedding their Blood in defence of it, all this hath not power enough to perfuade. The Teftimony of but one fent from the Dead, is thought of more credit than all these.

Well, we here suppose that such a Testimony is given, and that Lazarus is come to perfuade the Rich-man's Brethren to repent. However, it will be good not to be too confident that they will be perfuaded by him, till a few things more have been well confidered. We have, indeed, no: great reafon to doubt of it, but that they would be startled a little at this ftrange fight: They would, in all likelihood, be put befides themselves for a while, a melancholy fit they might fall into, and for musing on what they faw and heard, and the fright they were put into, would not be able to speak to one another. But he knows little of the power of Luft in this fort of Men, who would conclude hence, that by this they muft needs be convinced, and also converted. Nay, we are rather to think, that when the fright was a little over, what they had seen or heard would have fo little Influence on their hearts, that they would be apt enough to fall a laughing at

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One

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one another, for being fo much affrighted with they knew not what. They who are so incredulous of divine Revelation, and laugh at the credulity of Chriftians, will not fo easily be made believers, or convinced of the truth of what they have fo long ridiculed as fabulous, by fuch an apparition. Firft, Have we not fome reason to think, confidering the Temper of these Men, that instead of believing the Relation made by this Perfon from the Dead, they would rather question the reality of what they imagined themselves to fee and hear? Would they not begin to confult what they call the Oracles of Reafon and Phylofophy, and fall a difputing about the poffibility of fuch things as Spirits and Apparitions, and do what they could, as they had all along been wont to do concerning Divine Revelation, to argue themfelves into a belief, that there can be no fuch thing in nature as a Spirit, and that the Apparitions of fuch things fo much talk'd of,are nothing else but the Delufions of an over-bufy Phant' fie, or the Effects of Melancholy, or a fudden fit of Fearfulnefs? And therefore, whatever they had imagined themselves to fee or hear, they will conclude upon after thoughts, that certainly they must be deceived; for by their undoubted Principles of Reafon, which cannot fail them, there can be no fuch things in nature as Spirits. Their Liquor, or their Meat, or their excefs of Mirth, fomething or other had difordered their beads for that time, and they had been like Men in a dream, or in a fever, having their imaginations possessed with very lively Images of impoffible things, And tho' the thing hath left, as is not unufual in a dream, fo deep an Impreffion of it felf on their minds,

that

that they cannot easily reason themselves clear of it, yet they are refolved not to believe it. Now this hath been fo much the reafoning of fome of our late moft famous Philofophers, and celebrated Wits, that there can be no abfurdity in our fuppofing, that fuch an Apparition, and fuch a Story told by it, that is, by fomething that called it felf the Spirit, or Ghoft, of a dead Man, would have found but little faith in those unto whom it was fent.

Secondly, Let us however venture yet a little farther: And let us fuppofe again, That this Rich-man's Brethren, were like many of our modern Wits, Men a great deal better acquainted with fumptuous Fare, a jovial Life of pleasure, the Laws of Feafts, and Rules of Eating and Drinking well, than with the Principles and Rules of Philofophy. That they were too earnestly intent upon the Methods of pampering the Body, and fulfilling the Lufts of the Flefh, to trouble their heads with curious Speculations about the nature of Spirits, and poffibility or impoffibility of fuch real Apparitions. Wee'll fuppofe them no more than fuch as our modern Would-be-Wits, who think it enough for them to be capable of Reason and Wit at the fecond-band, which comes at a cheaper rate than what is got with much study; and a Gentleman's Purfe will be at the charge of it, better than his head, and it ferves his turn every whit as well; that is, it helps him with as much confidence to deny a God, and Devils, and all Spirits good or bad, and all fupernatural Revelation; and to do this without any bluftring, and with fome laughter, as he finds it easy, fo he cannot but admire himself for it. And to believe himself, P 4

tho