SUN DAT RE J DING. THE UGGARLY BOYs A PARABLE. 5 ib 1 .'/^ S°, S ? ry fOT Moral and Tracts) W Aa,! Bo rn" LLV ' L ' ,nd By S. HAZARD P*CJL UI Booksellers, Newsmen, and Hawkers* M P 1ICf |,v,. 10 Sh °PM«¥as king him whether he had a mind to have L ^exchanged for a new livery coat and I?I ! M n n? f0rr Saidhe > " if you have. M.hli' ic ypu into m y service ; and in ; 1 ^you out aftesh and { shall talr yom he alth is looked after, and wher ~ (4 have served me faithfully. f or a fe W vea I you may do very comfortably to yourself If even set you up in life." The lad after this col not help understanding the offer: but he seemel as far as ever from accepting it, for be was quite unwilling to believe the gentleman; iandii shewed by his manner that he would havebeq better pleased to have sold a halfpennyworth! matches in his usual way, carrying off the halfpenny in his hand, than to have had all the fine promises which the best and richest man in the world cool make to him. This kind gentleman, however, pers inclination to do the lad a service, pr to reason with him ; he advised him, for his sake, to listen a little more to what was saii i then remarked to him how ill he looked, whicjii boy though very dangerously sick, was not sensible] of himself; and represented to him thediM between leading the wretched sort of life W and getting into a regular and comfortable serv| Nav, he went so far as even to heg and entreat m at the same time observing that he had no objeflj to the lad's satisfying himself that the person, addressed him was no cheat crimp* J .*j proof of it, he told him his name, infoirn J he might learn all particulars or nis cm j ■ • place of abode. ■e him a direction to ins piacew a undescended to say every thing « . . case, be supposed necessary i - s ^ fldence and encouragement. ^| •versation I should l* a - v ^,^^ os itv, H *n a proof of h.s *^° p >l which the lad picked # Tin his countenarxe, M 4* Jt& low ?ebeen f < 5 > i at his own quickness, and clevernes s f^hnkl of it; after which, he grew as proud EWhaving got Possession of the piece of I not considering all that it was a mere Bmdthathe had rot given the gentleman a liatch for it out of his basket L persuaded my readers will, by this time, IWvethat this was a lad who had a very mean ' mind; otherwise, he would undoubtedly ji over joyed at such an opportunity of ■above his present base condition; besides I should rim ark, tint he had been a long ving among a set of rogues and vagabond*, iing one of them nearly as bad as a.ioher, ving seldom seen among them any. persons fferent character, had learnt to fancy them- a very creditable sort of people, and, when together, were just as proud, in their way, they had been the greatest lords and dukes in • At night the lad went home, and these old cot panions, in a vile un- pnieroQm, where, though each would affect P then to he merry and gay, yet,' in fact, Pfe all of them dying by inches, and in the jjentofany rational or feeling man, who R^escend to put his head in among them, lm i ! edly Were alt °gether in as sorrowful I* 1 a P l »ght as can well be imagined. with grief and pain do i' speak it, jiou Soff J gar! y b °y entirely neglected the pro- Ntohrf ° hhad becn made'to bim; be re- fey trade \ °/? er con1 P an y, continued in his Plifeintv > &' cd un the little remainder *M, old v;a y» J n st as if nothing had I now propose, by means of this s t orv v r , niere allegory or parable, to expose tE > those persons who are unwilling r comni 5 1 gracious invitations of our Saviom 2 for He is .hat kind and willing f Vi d W verencebe it spoken ) who oiFers to tL^ J and needy creatures into his service n 1? turn away and refuse the offer mavb? ' ■ this foolish beggarly boy, havi ^ ft [ p g as 1 think I shall 4 able tS shewtt Other of ^those very excuses, which, when pot J mouth, have appeared so absurd and monstrous, Let us see whether there is not some mi iifceness between the two cases. 1 will begin br supposing our Saviour in his gospel, to address 4 self to a man who is quite thoughtless and unbefe ing Now such persons are commonly much ram wicked than they imagine, for by following ! natural inclinations, and taking no thought toM wjys,they permit a thousand evil disposition! grow upon them ; the consequence of this is, jl when the gospel first meets with such persaJ finds them quite covered over with wickedness! this boy was with dirt ; though, like him, they if unconscious of it. ft commonly finds theitij eagerly engaged in some poor pursuit of this f as this boy was in selling matches. I would next observe, that, in general, «j vast and unspeakable offers of the gospel a mentioned in the ears of such a person as 1 ^ been describing, his mind is so ill prepared toftw subject, and his thoughts are apt to be so compM turned another way, that he does not probabljj derstand, nor even listen to what is said torn just like this boy, who, when he wasfet sfO^ E ii?e clearly explained to him ; he is now Kn out off his sins, which have been repre- ill ! What then is the next difficulty ? It is lis that the worldly man will not believe the truth ofthe promise which is held out to him, like the offer to thus beggarly boy, it seems too good to be true, or, rather, it is too vast to be conceived by Km. "Why should this great gentleman trouble self to think of me, or to do so much to serve me," said the foolish boy in the fable. 44 Why tald the great God stoop so low to me, or think pf sending his son from Heaven to save me?" says lefoolwho disbelieves the Bible. The boy there- fore, turned again, to his own way, notwithstanding the offer he has met with ; and the worldly man is Noingt e same, though he has heard ofthe in* Ration of the gospel ; for he want^ faith to trust pod, as the other. did to trust the gentlemen his petactor, and he therefore esteems the smallest % good things of this life, the meerest " half- ! ,?nil y in hand/' to be more than eternal happiness 1,1 expectation. " ll tlet ussee how the gospel condescends even ^rmnrmity. The kind gentleman was repre- ( 8 ) seated a* reading this dull^, lad, inarming km also of the steps whi^ to take as the means cf s:ttisfyi n !r ] rs I e v of getting- possession, at length of th^. ' li He appealed also to the lad's own exl ^ the hardships of his present condition irS also of his future danger, and asaurto^KS samct.me. of the mild nature of Ibt wHteh newas invited; and after answering objection, the gentleman condescended event implore and mtreat this poor miserable fellow tm, lorlusown sake, he would net remain inat- tentive to the offer. So it is with the gospel : it stoops, as it were.to all our weaknesses and infirmities; it calls to us at the first, with an inviting voice, to come ford and approach it : for we are not expected to receive every truth at once; sti i less are we required to believe without evidence : for, in the proposalsof the gospel, every thing is fair, as well as plain and pr icticable. It does not ask us, for. instance;^ eilect any thing without sufficient means for it, to make bricks without straw, to strive without M of success, or to do what is impossible for us: Oh the contrary, w,e are asked only to shew a wiln mind, and to use those plain and simple mew] winch the gospel itself sets before us: as tor ^ umyile, we are called upon to read the scriptures^ nt ■ ! upon the preaching of the gospel, and^M I • • : nay be the other religious advantages, of .. . . - nooks or christian friends, which aie p : lit ^ay, we are required to make an non 9 M : gmt use of them, than whi h nothingsureiy be ore just and reasonable; ana J LMer ail we are so weak and helpless, we ~ ( 9 ) toldthenlore particularly to pray to God for his ^^howdoes the gospel also appeal to our \l P as the gentleman did to the beggarly 2TS*« of the misery of his condition. H e we never smarted in consequence or rhose which we have fallen into through our neglect fthe ffospei ? Have we never founa ourselves af- fljcted, destitute, and even miserable for the want fit/ Have we never known an hour when the merciful help and protection of an heavenly Father would have proved a comfort and a blessing to us ? Yet how can we expect to enjoy this protection in (he time of our necessity, if instead of entering into bis family, we chuse like this helpless and incon- siderate boy, to place ourselves at a distance ? Hear (hen how the gospel calls to us to cast ourselves on the care of our Redeemer, "Come unto me "(says Christ) all ye that are weary and heavy "laden, and 1 will give you rest ; take my yoke " upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burthen "is light, and ye snail find rest unto your souls.' 5 How does our Saviour also, in the same manner as was said of the benevolent man in the parable, turn suppliant, as it were, to the sinner. " Ye will not * come unto me that ye might have life." — " Why ye die, O house of Israel."— 'We therefore ' Nys the Apostle ) as an ambassador for Christ, , ^ esee ch you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to I od, ' Thus then, after all the encouragements I J ospe1 ' we stUl turn awa y tVom & and re- : W kJ| t0 M? withoutit ' alltne miserable consequences ! 2 Wlil foll °w must be laid at our own door ; and eve r the day of our extremity shall come, we ih\\l be forced to own, th^t we are left I't boy, entirely without excuse. ' h has been remarked in the story, that the same gentleman who made this great offer to the be g*Hy boy, threw him down a shilling ft, token rf m liberality, for which the lad never thought of thanking him but merely grew proud upon it as well as conceited of his own cleverness in catchin? Isold of the piece. What a very mean spirit w/s this! and yet fs net this the very spirit in which worldly minded men receive temporal blessings threw n down to them by their heavenly Father ? If a little worldly wealth is cast by a bounteous Pro- videnee into their lap, they immediately grow haughty in consequence of it, and, like this boy, they take to themselves credit for the abiliry they have shewn in the manner of getting possession of it : Many men, for instance, if they get a good crop, or a good year's trade, areas full of themselves, and as thoughtless of Him who is the giver of it, as this boy was; nor are they at all encouraged ty God's providential goodness to look up to Him for the further blessings of the gospel. Reader, if thou azt vain "of any of thine earthly goods, thou mayest behold thy likeness in this part of the character of the boy ! n We come now more particularly to speak oiW causes which lead men to act the strange part W do in rejecting the gospel. I doubt not that tw> foolish lad might find a thousand plausible ream in his own mind, by which he might disguise it blhiMtthe (htly and absurdity of hi&ccWj ci^ ^ Voight.-ay as it as been already hinted. "« . j fcfiuse to venture on all this change in niY . ^ life, I am afraid of giving myself ^P s0 ( li ) n » Poor foolish fellow! what then fr&VSuR lose by the change ? Could U' th0 , U ""I wast be meaner, dirtier, or poorer ^ thoa * aS '; nn er who raises a like objection; very inner, becoming wickeder * tlhen fb e n^Sglnto the ^rviccof Christ? ^ ,h ° a f^LXce pricks thee in proportion , s i t (hat thy consc,enc * P H _ ? jvrt thou atraid on ahoudrawest nearer to hims A« Sunt to make the venture r ^ ^ 1 not live on in u ? than v hich tnere * - more miserable reason, though 1 feat thee isl.aiuiy i more common one. , \y e But let us, I said, lay open the true cause. W e have already observed, that this boy had long ; dwelt » the com pW of a sad ^^^ZtoS. very nurherous, and one ot them as uau a rrtrived to keep each other in countenance so as to pass, forsooth, for very decent people, i n» ■» exactlv the case with the multitude ot WicKea ana JwMt'y-TOinded people. They live in great Hocks tether, they see none but those who are imirn like themselves, and they hove no more idea ot a truly christian life, than this boy had ot the sort o| life led in the family of this great gentleman, so. 'hat wlicn the gospel calls to them to repent, ana fjwtjre their course, and enter into the service o is without those warm feelings, wftiph are supposed to distinguish those who affectionately embrace iti » and of a seventh perhaps it is said by some simple good natured relation, or acquaintance, that the man has a good heart indeed, but that unluckily he has fallen into bad company ; but let it. be remem- bered, that just thus it might be pleaded, that this beggarly boy was by turns inattentive and wrong - Wed and dull of feeling, as well as used to bad company. These excuses if allowed in the one Glance should be allowed equally in the other. The true root of the mutter in each case lies deeper. Hie irreligious man, like the boy m the parable, to, in the worst sense of the words, a base ana low P4:.like hkri, he has no heajt for t he great ps that are offered him ; he has no heart for the ^ of God, for the honour of living in his service, the c C0 . mr ° rLs of the gospel in this world, or ibr gut of eternal life. Like thfc ber^rly boy, he te^L What h2 wiil > »ut he is of all caithiy, s pirit, and the true explanation of the whole matter is, that as the one is jn e i;„ a , , so the other has a leaning to the side 7 • irf > you think that if this beggarly boy hadlov J. ^ liness, and abominated every degree f would have remained as he was ? no, fo^* he would have caught at the opportunity him, and he would as it were, at all hazards be run ar er the gentleman : so if a man W s to freed from sin, if he wishes above all things I cleanse his ways, to purify himself even as Godi pure, and to become holy as God is holy, do vou thmk he wkq not catch at the Gospel? undoubtedly he will do so. Yes. for it will be suited in ever part of it to the state of his mind, and to all his wants and wishes, and therefore whj should he not receive it ? he will feel his way indeed, but he will by degrees heartily embrace every doctrine ofit, ihis then is the man who will accept God for his father, Christ for his savior, the Hoiy Spirit for his sanctifier and comforter; the scriptures will be his guide ; the world will be no more to him than the place of his pilgrimage ; his fellow-christians will- be viewed by him as his fellow- travellers, and Heaven will he his home, where he hopes to be joined to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to dwell in the presence of his Maker, and of Ins Savior, for ever and ever. \nd now, Reader, if thou art one who bast m- therto beena stranger to religion, and hast gone thy dull and daily round without any thought of tlie matter, for once thou hast been met methinks on thy way like this beggarly boy, by a voice 01 . e ■ hortion. Even in this little tale, the offer oi^ gospel, perhaps rather unexpectedly, natl1 , held out to thee, or some hint at least may ' eeng,Ve ^lvfind in the end that thy old con- * llta f be altered; and yet, perhaps, like tins diti mIv thou art now returning for there, ^ , \f this very day, to thy old habits, just as m