A59665:380
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. He hath loved thee when he might have passed by thee, and loved others that might have won the Lord towards them (I speak after the manner of men) rather than thee; men of greater place, greater gifts and parts, greater pomp in the world, but Rom. 9. Jacob shall be loved, Esau hated: he hath passed by Kings with their Crowns, and now set his heart on thee a Babe, when wise ones know him not; foolish, when prudent ones see him not; weak, when strong and mighty receive him not. Yea, as the Apostle speaketh, 1 Cor. 1. 28. Base things, and things which are not. God hath made thee nothing in thine own eyes. Behold his love, and now do the like for him. It may be sometime thy carnal eye sees more Glory in the creature, than in Christ; more in the honour of man, than in the honour of a Christ, &c. And hence mightest set thy heart on them ⟨p. 53⟩rather than on Christ, because strongly tempted so to do, and it may after some scourges be saved at last, yet pass by them, and set thy heart only on him. We judge of a Friend by the times of trial, and of a Christian, by a time of temptation. Now a Balaam, a Witch may not dare in time of temptation, to fall into it. Oh get one strain highe•, and go one step farther than a Witch, though I might let my heart loose after the world, I will not love it, the love of the Lord deserves it, the love of the Lord constrains me to give my love to him and not to the world, though I might hide it, and have pardon for it.
2. He hath loved thee when he might have passed by thee, and loved others that might have wone the Lord towards them (I speak after the manner of men) rather than thee; men of greater place, greater gifts and parts, greater pomp in the world, but Rom. 9. Iacob shall be loved, Esau hated: he hath passed by Kings with their Crowns, and now set his heart on thee a Babe, when wise ones know him not; foolish, when prudent ones see him not; weak, when strong and mighty receive him not. Yea, as the Apostle speaketh, 1 Cor. 1. 28. Base things, and things which are not. God hath made thee nothing in thine own eies. Behold his love, and now do the like for him. It may be somtime thy carnal eye sees more Glory in the creature, than in Christ; more in the honour of man, than in the honour of a Christ, &c. And hence might'st set thy heart on them