ring fumptuously every day." "The rich man CXXVI.

"alfo died."

"And was buried." And here again we may obferve the ftrict decorum which our S AVIOUR uses in this parable. It is not faid of Lazarus, that he was buried, but only that " he died;" it is probable that he was flung out of the way into fome pit or other but of the rich man it is faid, " he was "buried." And this is all the advantage which a rich man hath by a great estate after he is dead, to have a pompous and folemn funeral; which yet fignifies nothing to him after death, because he is infenfible of it.

Ver. 23. "And in hell he lift up his eyes being "in torments, and feeth Abraham afar off, and "Lazarus in his bofom." As corporal acts are attributed to Go D in fcripture, fo likewife to feparated fouls.

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"In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments;' intimating to us, that this fenfual and voluptuous man had stupidly paft away his life without any ferious thoughts and confideration: but now at last he was awakened, when it was too late, and began to confider. "In hell he lift up his eyes, being in

" torments."

O the stupidity of finners! who run on blindly in their course, and never open their eyes 'till they are fallen into the pit; who cannot be brought to confider, 'till confideration will do them no good; 'till it ferve to no other purpose, but to enrage their confciences, and to multiply the stings of them.

Thus it was with this rich man, "he lift up his eyes being in torments, and feeth Abraham afar "off, and Lazarus in his bofom." Our SAV I

OUR

SERM.

SERM. OUR reprefents him as feeing that which would then CXXVI. most probably come to his mind. Feeling his own

mifery, he began to confider the happy condition of the poor man whom he had fo cruelly neglected. And indeed one great part of the torment of hell confifts in thofe reflexions which men fhall make upon the happiness which they have wilfully loft and neglected, and the fins whereby they have plunged themfelves into that miferable state.

Ver. 24. " "And he cried, and faid, father Abra"ham, have mercy on me, and fend Lazarus, that "he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and "cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this "flame." See how the fcene is changed; now he is fain to beg relief of the beggar, who had fued to him in vain.

"Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue." Here is another very decent circumftance; the rich man is reprefented as not having the face to beg any great relief from Lazarus, towards whom he had been fo hard-hearted. To dip the tip of his finger in "water, to cool his tongue," had been a very great favour from Lazarus, to whom the rich man had denied even the "crumbs which fell from his "table."

"For I am tormented in this flame." The fcripture loves to make ufe of fenfible reprefentations, to fet forth to us the happiness and mifery of the next life; partly by way of condefcenfion to our understandings, and partly to work more powerfully upon our affections. For whilft we are in the body, and immers'd in fenfe, we are most apt to be moved by fuch defcriptions of things as are fenfi

ble;

CXXVI.

ble; and therefore the torments of wicked men in SER Mhell, are ufually in fcripture defcribed to us, by one of the quickest and fharpeft pains that human nature is ordinarily acquainted withal, namely, by the pain of burning; fire being the most active thing in nature, and therefore capable of caufing the sharpest pains.

But we cannot from these and the like expreffions of fcripture certainly determine that this is the true and proper pain of hell: all that we can infer from these defcriptions is this, that the fufferings of wicked men in the other world, fhall be very terrible, and as great, and probably greater than can poffibly be described to us by any thing that we are now acquainted withal; for who knows the power of God's anger, and the utmost of what omnipotent justice can do to finners? for as the glory of heaven, and the joys of God's prefence are now inconceiveable; fo likewise are the torments of hell, and the miseries of the damned. "Eye hath not "feen nor ear heard, neither have entered in the "heart of man," thofe dreadfull things "which "GOD prepares for them that hate him." Who can imagine the utmoft fignificancy of thofe phrafes which the fcripture ufes to fet forth this to us, of GOD's being "a confuming fire," of being "tor"mented in flames," of God's "wrath and jea

1

loufy fmoking" against finners, and all the curfes that are written in his book, falling upon them? who can conceive the horror of thofe expreffions, "of the worm that dies not, and the fire that is

not quenched, of GoD's "pouring out the
vials of his wrath," of being " deliver'd over to
the tormentor," of being "thruft into utter dark-
," nefs,"

CXXVI.

SERM." nefs," of being "caft into the lake of fire and "brimstone?" These forms of speech seem to be borrowed from those things which among men are most dreadful and affrighting; and to be calculated and accommodated to our capacities; and not fo much intended to exprefs to us the proper and real torments of hell, as to convey to us in a more sensible and affecting manner the sense of what the scripture fays in general, that "it is a fearfull thing "to fall into the hands of the living Go D."

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Ver. 25th." But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life-time received'ft thy good

things, and likewife Lazarus evil things: but now "he is comforted, and thou art tormented." "Abra"ham faid, Son, remember." It is very obfervable, how our SAVIOUR chooses to reprefent to us the difcourfe between Abraham and the rich man; tho' there was the greatest difference between them imaginable, the one was in heaven, and the other in hell, yet they treated one another civilly. Abraham is brought in giving the common terms of civility to this wretched wicked man, and calling him fon; "fon, remember." It was indeed a very fevere thing which he faid to him; he put him in mind of his former profperity, and of his fault in his unmerciful ufage of Lazarus; "remember, fon, "that thou in thy life-time received'ft thy good

things, and Lazarus," &c. But yet whilft he fpeaks fuch fharp things to him, he bates bad language. A man may say very fevere things, where a juft occafion requires it; but he must use no reviling; rem ipfam dic, mitte malè loqui, fay the "thing, but ufe no bad language." And this, as one fays, is the true art of chiding, the proper ftile

wherein

CXXVI.

wherein we must ufe to reprove. If we do it with S ERM. malice, and anger, and contempt, it is mifbecoming, even tho' we defpair of doing good: but if we hope for any good effect, we are like to miss of it this way; for as the apoftle fays excellently, "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness "of GOD."

Some think that Abraham gives the rich man the title of fon ironically, and by way of jeer: but without all reafon. For furely there is not fo much bad nature in heaven, as to fcoff at thofe who are in mifery. Besides that, we find our SAVIOUR obferving this decorum of good language in other of his parables: as particularly, in that of the king who invited guefts to the marriage of his fon, Matth. xxii. 11. When the king saw there the man, that came without his wedding garment, tho' he past a very severe sentence upon him, yet he gives him the common terms of civility, "friend how cam'ft "thou hither?"

This should teach us chriftians, how we ought to demean ourselves toward those who are at the greatest diftance from us, and how we ought to behave ourselves towards one another in the greatest differences of religion. None fure can be at greater distance than Abraham in paradife, and the rich man in hell; and yet our SAVIOUR would not represent them as at terms of defiance with one another. One might have expected that Abraham fhould have reviled this poor wretch, and difdain'd to have spoken to him: but this is not the temper of heaven, nor ought it to be of good men upon earth, even towards the worst of men.

How