Gospel-revelation in three treatises, viz, 1 The nature of God. 2 The excellencies of…

I suppose you cannot but have heard the story of a poor soldier, that having a command from his General not to touch any thing upon pain of death, yet coming by a Vine, takes a bunch of Grapes; the General being very strict, he condemns him to dye, because of his disobedience, and as he was going to execution, he went eating the bunch of Grapes; his fellow-soldier rebuked him, but he gives him this answer, I pray ye do not envy my Grapes to me, for they cost me dear: So truly we have little cause to envy the men of the world their Grapes, that they have their mirth, their merry-meetings, whatsoever they have, for it is like to cost them dear, it is like to cost them their souls, they endanger their eternal perishing; and therefore there is no cause at all to envy such. David indeed was troubled a while when he saw the prosperity of the ungodly, but when he went into the Sanctuary, ¹there he understood their end; Oh my Brethren, you are come into the Sanctuary, you are come now in the exercise of the Word thus to hear what is like to become of ungodly men, that enjoy all the world for their portion, their end is like to be the loss of their souls eternally; do not envy them; Thou dost envy them, and suppose that God should say to thee, well, ⟨p. 359⟩it shall be with thee, as with them, that is, you shall have as much as they, and there is all the good you are like ever to have from me; would you not see cause to give a dreadful shriek, if such a message should come from Heaven to you? what a foolish thing were it for a child that hath a loving Father, and a great Inheritance that he expects from him, because he sees a stranger that comes and sits at the Table, and have better provision than he hath, to grumble and grutch, because he hath not such provision made for him every day? Oh he hath no cause to do so, for the Inheritance is reserved for him. God, he is a rich Householder, and he can give such things as these are to his enemies, as we speak of, but the Inheritance is reserved for thee; envy not the ungodly in the enjoyment of the world, for the truth is, their portion it is but very little, it is but a poor pittance for an immortal soul to have, though he should have all the world.

I suppose you cannot but have heard the story of a poor souldier, that having a command from his General not to touch any thing upon pain of death, yet coming by a Vine, takes a bunch of Grapes; the General being very strict, hee condemns him to dye, because of his disobedience, and as hee was going to execution, hee went eating the bunch of Grapes; his fellow-souldier rebuk'd him, but hee gives him this answer, I pray yee do not envy my Grapes to mee, for they cost mee dear: So truly wee have little cause to envy the men of the world their Grapes, that they have their mirth, their merry-meetings, whatsoever they have, for it is like to cost them dear, it is like to cost them their souls, they indanger their eternal perishing; and therefore there is no cause at all to envy such. David indeed was troubled a while when hee saw the prosperity of the ungodly, but when hee went into the Sanctuary,