There are found among us covetous Men, Men who mind earthly Things, who feek themselves and not Christ crucified, who love the World and the Things of the World: Men in whom thofe Words are ftill fulfilled, Who is there among you that would fout the Doors for nought? Neither do ye kindle Fire on my Altar for nought. I have no Pleasure in you, faith the Lord of Hofts. Yea, are there not thofe at this Day, (O that I might be found to fear where no Fear is !) who make themselves fat with the chiefeft of all the Offerings of Ifrael? Are there not thofe, who now enlarge their Defire as Hell, who are as Death and cannot be satisfied? Who, tho' they want neither Food to eat nor Rayment to put on, yet feek more and more Preferment? Who are continually studying to join Houfe to Houfe, and to lay Field to Field? To grow rich in the Service of that Master, who himself had not where to lay his Head? Is it not to these that thofe dreadful Words belong, enough to caufe the Ears of him that heareth to tingle, They are greedy Dogs which can never have enough; they all look to their own Way, (not the Way of their Lord) every one for his Gain, from his Quarter.

Is it ftrange, if among these there fhould be fome, who are cruel, oppreffive Men? Inasmuch as Covetoufnefs knows no Mercy, nor can a Lover of Money be a Lover of his Neighbour. Have not fome been known, even to grind the Face of the Poor? To strip, rather than cloath the Naked? Some who while they cried out, as the Horfe-leech, give, give, would take, if it was not given; like thofe of old who faid, Thou fhalt give it me now, and if not, I will take it by Force: Or thofe fpoken of by Micah, The Prophets bite with their Teeth and cry Peace; and he that putteth not into their Mouths, they even prepare War against him. Very great is the Sin of thefe Men before the Lord. If there be ten fuch now in the Land, may God fmite them this Day with Terror and Aftonishment, that they may have no Reft in their Bones till their Sin is done away!

34. Are you as watchful and zealous to gain Souls, as thofe are to gain the Gold that perifheth? Do you

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know by Experience what that meaneth, the Zeal of thine Haufe bath eaten me up? Or, are you One of thofe Watchmen who do not watch at all? Who neither know nor care when the Sword cometh ? Of whom the Prophet faith, They are dumb Dogs that cannot bark, fleeping, lying down, loving to flumber.

Can it be fuppofed, That fuch Shepherds will feed the Flock? Will give to every one bis Portion of Meat in due Season? Will these warn every Man, and exhort every Man, that they may prefent every Man perfect in Chrift Felus? Will they take care to know all their Flock by Name, not forgetting the Men-fervants and the Women-fervants ?" Will they enquire into the State of every Soul, committed to their Charge? And watch over each with all Tenderness and Long-fuffering, as they that must give account? Marking how they either fall or rife? How thefe wax weary and faint in their Mind; and thofe grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Fefus Chrift? Who can do this, unless his whole Heart be in the Work? Unless he defire nothing but to spend and be spent for them ; and count not his Life dear unto himself, fo he may prefent them blameless in the Day of the Lord Jefus.

Can any Shepherd do this (and if he do it not, he will never give an Account with Joy) who imagines, he has little more to do, than to preach once or twice a Week? That this is the main Point, the chief Part of that Office, which he hath taken upon himself before God? What grofs Ignorance is this? What a total Miftake of the Truth? What a miferable Blunder touching the whole Nature of his Office? It is indeed a very great thing, To fpeak in the Name of God; it might make him that is the ftouteft of Heart tremble, if he confidered, That every time he fpeaks to others, his own Soul is at Stake. But great, inexpreffibly great as this is, it is perhaps the leaft Part of our Work. To feek and fave that which is loft, to bring Souls from Satan to God, to inftruct the Ignorant, to reclaim the Wicked, to convince the Gainfayer; to direct their Feet into the Way of Peace, and then kept them therein; to follow them Step by Step, leaft they turn

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out of the Way, and advise them in their Doubts and Temptations; to lift up them that fall, to refresh them that are faint, and to comfort the weak-hearted to adminifter various Helps, as the Variety of Occafions require, according to their feveral Neceffities: Thefe are Parts of our Office; all this we have undertaken, at the Peril of our own Soul. A Senfe of this made that holy Man of old cry out, "I marvel if any Ruler " in the Church fhall be faved:" And a greater than him fay, in the Fulnefs of his Heart, Who is fufficient for thefe Things?

35. But who is not fufficient for these Things, for the taking care of a Parish, tho' it contain twenty thousand Souls, if this implies no more than the taking care to preach there, once or twice a-week; and to procure one to read Prayers on the other Days, and do what is call'd the Parish-duty? Is any Trade in the Nation fo eafy as this? Is not any Man fufficient for it, without any more Talents either of Nature or Grace, than a small Degree of common Understanding? But O! what manner of Shepherds are thofe, who look no farther into the Nature of their Office, who fink no deeper into the Importance of it than this! Were they not fuch as thefe concerning whom the Word of the Lord came unto Ezekiel, faying, Wo be to the Shepherds that do feed themfelves: Should not the Shepherds feed the Flocks? Ye eat the Fat, and ye cloathe you with the Wooll; but ye feed not the Flock. The Difeafed have ye not frengthen'd, neither have ye heal'd that which was fick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken; neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye fought that which was loft.

And they were Scatter'd, because there was no Shepherd, and they became Meat to all the Beafts of the Field. Yea, my Flock was fcatter'd upon all the Face of the Earth, and none did fearch or feek after them.

I conjure you, Brethren, in the Name of the Lord Jefus, the great Shepherd of the Sheep, who hath bought them and us with his own Blood, Apply this each to his own Soul. Let every Man look unto GOD, and fay, Lord, Is it I? Am I one of these idle, care

lefs, indolent Shepherds, that feed mpfelf, not the Flock? Am I one that cannot bark, flothful, fleeping, lying down, loving to flumber? Thofe who have not ftrengthen'd that which was difeafed, neither healed that which was fick? Search me, O Lord, and prove me; try out my Reins and my Heart. Look well if there be any Way of Wickedness in me, and lead me in the Way everlafting.

36. Have I not, at least, healed the Heart of thy People flightly? Have I not faid, Peace, Peace, when there was no Peace? How many are they also that do this? Who do not ftudy to speak what is true, especially to the Rich and Great, fo much as what is pleafing? Who flatter honourable Sinners, inftead of telling them plain, How can ye efcape the Damnation of Hell? O what an Account have you to make, if there be a GOD that judgeth the Earth? Will he not require at your Hands the Blood of all these Souls, of whom ye are the Betrayers and Murderers? Well fpake the Prophets of your Fathers, in whofe Steps ye now tread. They have feduced my People, and one built up a Wall, and another dawb'd it with untemper'd Mortar. They ftrengthen the Hands of the Evil-Doers, that none doth return from his Wickedness. They prophefy Lies in my Name, faith the Lord. They fay unto them that defpise me, Ye shall have Peace, and unto them that walk after the Imagination of their own Heart, no Evil fhall come upon you.

How great will your Damnation be, who defroy Souls, instead of saving them? Where will you appear, or how will you ftand, in that great and terrible Day of the Lord! How will ye lift up your Head, when the Lord defcends from Heaven, in flaming Fire, to take Vengeance on his Adverfaries! More efpecially on those who have fo betrayed his Caufe, and done Satan's Work under the Banner of Chrift! With what Voice wilt thou fay, "Behold me, Lord, and the Sheep whom thou had given me, whom I gave to the Devil, and told them they were in the Way to Heaven, till they dropp'd into Hell ?”

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Were they not juft fuch Shepherds of Souls as you are, concerning whom GOD fpake by Jeremiah; Many Paftors have deftroy'd my Vineyard, they have trodden my Portion under foot; they have made my pleasant Portion, a defolate Wilderness: By Ezekiel, There is a Confpiracy of her Prophets, like a roaring Lion, ravening the Prey, they have devoured Souls: And by Zechariah, Thus faith the Lord, Feed the Flock of the Slaughter, whofe Poffeffors flay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that fell them fay, Bleffed be the Lord, for I am rich; and their own Shepherds pity them not.

37. Is not this the real Ground, the principal Reason, of the prefent Contempt of the Clergy? And long fince was it affigned as fuch, by him who cannot lie. The fame Men of old, who made the Lord's People to tranf· grefs, thereby made themselves vile. They were defpifed both as the Natural Effect, and the Judicial Punishment of their Wickedness. And the fame Cause the Prophet obferves to have produced the fame Ef fect, many hundred Years after this. Ye are departed out of the Way, faith the Lord; ye have caused many to Aumble Therefore have I also made you contemptible, and bafe before all the People.

I have now, Brethren, delivered mine own Soul, and in fo doing, I have (as I proposed at firft) used great Plainnefs of Speech, as not studying to please Men, but the Lord. The Event I leave to him in whofe Name I have fpoken, and who hath the Hearts of all Men in his Hand.

I have brought you heavy Tidings this Day, and yet I cannot but be perfuaded, that fome of you will not count me your Enemy, because I tell you the Truth. O that all of us may tafte the Good Word which we declare! May receive that Knowledge of Salvation, which we are commanded to preach unto every Creature, thro' the Remiffion of Sins! My Heart's Defire is, That all of us, to whom is committed the Miniftry of Reconciliation, may ourfelves be reconciled to God, thro' the Blood of the everlafting Covenant: That He may be henceforth unto us a Gop, and we may be unto Him a People: That we may all know, as well