conclude, from his being refused, that no Importunities will prevail for extraordinary Favours, when the ordinary stated Methods of Providence, which were in themselves sufficient, have been neglected. To say all in a word; the whole Series of the Reasoning we have been here amused with, amounts to just nothing. From a Phrase, or Circumstance of a Parable, all rational Men agree, no Consequence is to be drawn, beyond the Scope and Design of it. But Mr. W. seems to have taken the quite contrary way. He has overlook'd the Design of this Parable, which is to teach us, that according to our good or ill Behaviour in this Life, will be our Condition in the other; and that, as far as appears, without Alteration, and without End; and instead thereof, has entertain'd us with some precarious Inferences, from the little Circumstances, and incidental Parts of the Parable; from which nothing, with any Certainty, can be concluded at all. As to what he adds, about the Gospel's being preached to the rich Man in Hades, and his being brought by that, and his severe Punishment, to true Repentance; it is a Point, I conceive, consider'd merely in itself, of very little Concern to any Man living. The Person and the Preaching being both perhaps imaginary; they are, in that respect, exactly suited to one another. But it is of the last importance to every Man, not to suffer himself to be deceived with vain Words, or vain Reasonings, so as to incur the Danger of coming into such Place of Torment, upon the vain Presumption of being deliver'd out of it. Compare Theophylact. in loc.

No. XL.

Luke xvii. 34, 35, 36, 37. I tell you in that Night there shall be two Men in one Bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two Women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two Men shall be in the Field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, wheresoever the Body is, thither will the Eagles be gathered together. See No. XVIII.

Many refer these words to the Destruction of Ferusalem. If they relate to the End of the World, they shew the righteous Distinction which will then be made; agreeably to the whole Tenor of the New Testament. And our Lord's Answer in the 37th Ver.1 which is a proverbial Speech, and has no relation to the Eagles in the Roman Standards, as some have imagined; shews the Universality of the Case; and that every where, wheresoever Circumstances are the same, the Event will be the same likewise.

No. XLI.

Luke xix. 26. For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath, shall be given: And from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. See No. XXI. XXV. XXXI.

1 Sententia proverbialis sumpta ex Jobo, 39. in fine Cap. Vid. Tremell. in Matt. xxiv. 28. See also Dr. Wall on the same Place And Dr. Clarke's Sermon on the Text, in his XVIII. Sermons, p. 36.

No. XLII.

John iii. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting Life: And he that believeth not the Son, shall not see Life; but the Wrath of God abideth on him.

No. XLIII.

John v. 28, 29-The Hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the Resurrection of Life; and they that have done evil, unto the Resurrection of Damnation.

Life, in St. John's Language, denotes that eternal Life which God hath given to us in his Son; not merely Existence, but Existence in a State of supreme Felicity. And agreeably to this, Death means, with him, not Non-existence or Destruction of Being; but a State opposite to that of Happiness, a State of Misery and Condemnation. A wicked Infidelity brings us into this State of Condemnation, in the Present Life; he that believeth not, is condemned already, Ch. iii. 18. As on the contrary, he that heareth my Word, says our Lord, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting Life, and shall not come into Condemnation; but is passed from Death unto Life; Ch. v. 24. They who die in their Infidelity and their Sins, die, as they liv'd, in a State of Condemnation; and there is no Alteration of this in Hades, that I can find, in St. John's Doctrine, (for then cometh the Night when no Man can work ;) so

that when they come forth out of their Graves, it is unto the Resurrection of Damnation : a State of Condemnation as before, only made more sensibly so by greater Degrees of Punishment. This appears to me to be a short Account of St. John's Doctrine, upon this Subject; who, if he has little directly concerning the Duration of future Punishments, seems every where to suppose that there is no Change of State, as to the Nature and Kind of it, after Death; and drops no Intimations either of utter Destruction of Being, or Restoration to Happiness.

No. XLIV.

John viii. 21. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your Sins: Whither I go, ye cannot come.1

The same Declaration, Whither I go, ye cannot come, is afterwards repeated to the Disciples, Ch. xiii. 33. But then it is explained to Peter, at the 36th Ver. of the same Chapter; Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. But there is no such Limitation with regard to the Pharisees, in the Text before us: Of them it is said, that they should die in their Sins, and not come whither Christ is gone, either now, or afterwards. Which implies that all others who die, like them, in their Sins, shall be excluded from the Presence of Christ.

1 Job. x. 26. viii. 21, 24. Ye are none of my Sheep, ye shall die in your Sins: Which is the same as to say, Ye will never be forgiven, neither in this World, neither in the World to come. Dr. Clarke's Sermon, of the Sin against the Holy Ghost. Vol. VI. p. 25.

No. XLV.

John ix. 4. I must work the Works of him that sent me, while it is Day: The Night cometh, when no Man can work.

The Night here means, in all probability, the Night of Death; and then this Declaration of our Lord's will be of the same kind with that of Solomon, Eccles. ix. IO. Whatsoever thy Hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no Work, nor Device, nor Knowledge, nor Wisdom in the Grave (in Hades) whither thou goest. And in the same sense has that other Passage, Ch. xi. 3. usually been understood; If the Tree fall toward the South, or toward the North; in the place where the Tree falleth, there it shall be. How unreasonable then is it to expect, that a State thus represented by Solomon, and by him who was wiser than Solomon, should prove after all a Scene of Action? Compare Dr. Burnet de Statu Mort. & Resurgent. p. 97. Edit. 2.

No. XLVI.

John xi. 9, 10. Jesus answered, Are there not twelve Hours in the Day? If any Man walk in the Day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the Light of this World. But if a Man walk in the Night, he stumbleth, because there is no Light in him.