A59665:1370
The Parable of the Ten Virgins Opened and Applied
The parable of the ten virgins opened & applied being the substance of divers sermons on Matth. 25, I-13 wherein the difference between the sincere Christian and the ... hypocrite ... are clearly discovered ... / by Thomas Shepherd ; now published from the authors own notes ... by Jonathan Mitchell ... Tho. Shepherd, son to the reverend author ...The parable of the ten virgins opened & applied being the substance of divers sermons on Matth. 25, I-13 wherein the difference between the sincere Christian and the ... hypocrite ... are clearly discovered ... / by Thomas Shephard ; now published from the authours own notes ... by Jonathan Mitchell ... Tho. Shephard, son to the reverend author ...
London: printed by J. Hayes for John Rothwell, 1660
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
2. The Subject in which 'tis wrought: A s•nner sensible of his extreme wants; for Faith springs out of the destruction of our own excellency, and ruins of it; like Christ, that did arise a root out of a dry ground; for the Lords gre•t plot, is to advance Christ and his rich grace. Now look as 'tis obscured by bringing any thing of our own to it, so 'tis advanced by fetching all from it; this can never be till the soul is sensible of his nakedness, emptiness and wants; let Christ be never so sweet, a full soul will lo•th him; and I […] extreme want. The Prodigal never comes home, till he dies for hunger: […] is the fencelessness of men, and dislike of Christ, tha• extremities only drive them hither, as Judges 5. 6. When the Midianites came, •hey ran •ike beasts to their den, and until bread was taken from them, they cry not unto the Lord, but then they do: So men have neither hearts, or if so, no heads to come to Christ till now; and usually the Lord makes this the ground of the souls first motion towards Christ. I die here, and because of my wants I therefore come. Pardon •in, because great, Psal. 25. 11. Be merciful, because 'tis a […] ••ople, Exod. 34. 9. That so when the Lord pardons, the soul may have nothing to boast off but misery, and now 'tis hard to believe. But this is not all.
2. The Subject in which 'tis wrought: A s•nner sensible of his extream wants; for Faith springs out of the destruction of our own excellency, and ruines of it; like Christ, that did arise a root out of a dry ground; for the Lords gre•t plot, is to advance Christ and his rich grace. Now look as 'tis obscured by bringing any thing of our own to it, so 'tis advanced by fe•ching all from it; this can never be till the soul is sensible of his nakedness, emptiness and wants; let Christ be never so sweet, a full soul will loth him; and I extream want. The Prodigal never comes home, till he dies for hunger: is the fencelessness of men, and dislike of Christ, tha extremities only drive them hither, as