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wicked life, that you fhall continue in his favour, tho' you return again to your old wasteful, prodigal and finish courfe of Life; as if I had come to grant you a Licenfe to live as you please, and to affure you, that you shall never be call'd on to give an Account unto God of your C behaviour here. Know therefore, that you are to own your felves the Servants of that great God, who governeth all the World in Righteoufnefs, who is my God, and your God; my Fa ther, and your Father; and for my fake it is, who am his beloved Son in whom he is well pleas'd, that he is pleas'd to grant unto you the benefit of Repentance. I have undertaken as Mediator between my Father and you Sinners, to make your Peace with him; but you may be fure of it, I am always as tender of his Honour, as of your Salvation. I have, indeed, prevail'd to make your Yoke and Burden much easier and lighter than they were before, but I never defign'd to exempt you from the reasonable Service that you owe unto God; unto whom the more easy that I have made your Service, and the more helps I have affur'd you of, and the clearer promifes of a glorious Reward I have given you; fo much the furer are you to be call'd to give an Account, and fo much the feverer Judgment are you like to meet with if you be found faulty. If then you take not care to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are call'd, and to live fo, as to be able to give a good Account of your Behaviour in this World, fuch as I 'have told you will, for my fake, be accepted of, how much fhort do you come in common Prudence of the Men of this World, which they fhew in their management of the ordinary Af

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fairs of this Life? You will be the better able to judge of your folly, by confidering this Similitude or Comparison which now I make use of to illuftrate it unto you.

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Suppofe then (which is a thing obvious enough) That a Rich Man have admitted one into his Family to ferve him therein; and is pleas'd to intruft him with the Management of fome confiderable Portion of his Eftate, expectving that he fhall obferve the orders which he gives him, and be faithful to him in improing all things committed to his charge, to his Honour and Ufe, affuring him of a fufficient Reward at the end of his Service, as well as of a very plentiful and comfortable livelihood in the mean time. And now after all this, fuppofe that this Servant proves an unjust and unfaithful Steward to his Mafter who had fhewn him fo much kindnefs, and begins to waste bus Mafter's Goods, as tho' they were his own, and he himself were the only Mafter of them, free to difpofe of all according to his own Mind, and accountable to no body for what he did with any thing. Now tho' this Man, fo long as his Mafter feem'd to him to take no Notice of his Misdemeanour in his Office, nor fo much as once check'd him, or frown'd upon him for it, may be fo hurried on by his impetuous lufts, as to go on fecurely in his wicked ways of fpending his Lord's Goods, and forget that he hath a Mafter, to whom he must give an Account whenever he thinks fit to call him to it; yet, I believe you cannot think, that his Mafter will always wink at his knavery, and never check him for it. The leafl that you can think 'fit for him to do, is to call this carelefs Fellow

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to him, and to threaten him, if he mend not his Manners, and become not more faithful to him, to turn him out of his Service, and to fend him to fhift for himself as he can. Yea, will he not (do you think) set him a day, commanding him then to bring in his Accounts to be Examined by him, that he may see what ' Service or Differvice he hath done him? And if he find him unfit to be trufted any longer with his Goods, will he not bid him deliver them up, provide for himself, and be gone? And will not this unfaithful Steward thus threat'ned by his Lord with the lofs of his place, and in that, of his whole livelihood, if he have not quite befotted himself, but have any wit at all left him, begin to confider into what a condition he hath now brought himfelf? Will he not, think you, fet all his Wits on Work to contrive fome way or other, whereby he may yet hope to live in the World? Yes, you may be fure of it, that being one, who is in love with the things of this World, and having in him no principles of Juftice and Honesty, he will have as many Projects in his Head, as his Wit can help him to; and by all the fetches and fhifts, good or bad, that he can invent, try what may be done, not only to keep himself alive, but to live as plentifully and pleasantly too as poflibly he can. If he can find no way to regain his Master's favour, and by that to recover his place, wherein he might ferve himself, rather than his Mafter as before; yet, he will try what he can do to infinuate himself into the Affections of his Master's Debtors, by making them as difhoneft as himself, and as cunning 100 in cheating his Master of his due, that fo

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both be and they may live the more merrily by 'the Arts of knavery he hath taught them. 'You cannot but obferve every where, how wife and fhifty thefe Worldlings are in fetching a'bout their Worldly Defigns; and this is by many accounted a very wife part in them. What Fools then will you appear, if having fo glorious a defign in Hand, as that of obtaining a Crown of Righteousness in Heaven, which you may wear for ever; you use not much more Care, Diligence, Contrivance and Industry in pleafing God, by whose Service you must come to that bleffed State? What a madness will it be in you, to live carelefly, wafting all the Goods he hath given you a charge to improve; and to take no care how to keep in his favour, and to have your Accounts always ready? Efpecially fecing you know you must fhortly die, and by the Account * which you shall then be able to give, must stand or fall in the day of Judgment.

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The main defign of our bleffed Saviour in this Parable being thus opened; we will now confider the particulars therein contain'd, as they come in order. Only this one thing I think fit to be premis'd, That tho' the main fcope of the Parable is that which we are principally to regard; and we cannot ground any neceffary Doctrine of Faith or Manners, on any expressions herein us'd, or paffages occurring in it, otherwife than it is countenanced by that principal Defign: Yet, feeing the chief Scope of this Parable is, to teach us to be as wife for the things of a better Life, as the Men of this World are for the things of this Life; I think this to be warrant enough for us, from any one fingle Paffage or Expreffion to enter on a

Meditation which may be useful to promote our great defign of being happy in a better World. For this, I am fure, is the wisdom of worldly Men, to take all occafions and hints of promoting their worldly Ends.

The beginning of the Parable is this,

Verse 1.

There was a certain Rich Man.

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E cannot be Ignorant, That there are many Rich Men in the World, nor that fuch Rich Men are wont to have Stewards, neither that fome of these Stewards are unfaithful in their Office, and waste the Goods of their Mafters. This then is not the principal thing that our bleffed Saviour would here commend to our obfervation. This Rich Man is here made ufe of, to put us in mind of a Rich GOD. As a Rich Man hath a great Family, and a great Eftate, whereof he is Lord and Mafter, and difpofeth of them as he pleaseth, and entertains as many Servants as he fees good, affigning every one his Station, and his Work, and his Reward; fo are we to confider God as the Lord and Master of the whole Family in Heaven and Earth. His all things are, and at his disposal they are, and he appoints unto all Angels and Men their feveral Ministeries and Offices, and ordereth all things according to the good pleasure of bis Will.

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