A59665:733
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.
3. Make it not your task but your trade to seek for him, that you may enjoy him he•e. Make this your business. Men make it not their main business to seek our Christ, but only some work they must dispatch by the by. They make it not their Trade but their Task which must be done. Esau would have the blessing, but 'tis his hunting that he delights in. You shall have a man that is a close worldling, come and hear, and joy therein, but his trade his heart is after that, Ezek. 33. 31. Look but on a Christian at his first conversion, what great gains gets he then? Oh 'tis his trade to follow the Lord, afterward he is idle, and then feels little, Mat. 13. 46. Li•e a merchant, he ventures all, and then finds. Now you shall find him, Heb. 11. 6. He is the rewarder, not of them that seek him sluggishly, but diligently. What do you else seek for? Why spend you your money for that which is not bread? Or if there be ought else that is necessary, let thy care be for him, and his care shall be for thee.
3. Make it not your task but your trade to seek for him, that you may enjoy him he•e. Make this your businesse. Men make it not their main businesse to seek our Christ, but only some work they must dispatch by the by. They make it not their Trade but their Task which must be done. Esan would have the blessing, but 'tis his hunting that he delights in. You shall have a man that is a close worldling, come and hear, and joy therein, but his trade his heart is after that, Ezek. 33. 31. Look but on a Christian at his first conversion, what great gains gets he then? Oh 'tis his trade to follow the Lord, afterward he is idle, and then feels little, Mat. 13. 46. Li•e a merchant, he ventures all, and then finds. Now you shall find him, Heb. 11. 6