Luke 16
DODDLuke 16:1-18
Christ delivers the parable of the unjust steward, and reproves the Pharisees for their covetousness and hypocrisy. Luke XVI. 1—18.
LUKE XVI. 1.
AND he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man which had a steward ; and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods.
And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee ? give an account of thy stewardship ; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
Then the steward said within him-
LUKE XVI. 1.
OUR Lord then spake another parable, by which he intended to convince his hearers of the necessity of making a right use of their worldly enjoyments ; and, having before rebuked the Pharisees for their envious and uncharitable temper, he said also to his disciples that were about him, There was a certain rich man who had a steward, in whom he had long put great confidence ; and he was at last accused to him, as having wasted his goods which had been intrusted to his care. And calling him, he said unto him, What is this strange account that I hear of thee ? Can it be true that thou hast acted so unjust and base a part ? Give an immediate and exact account of thine administration and management in this office ; for thou canst be no longer steward, with any honour to thyself, or satisfaction to me, while thou continuest under such imputations and suspicions as these.
And upon this, as might be well imagined, the steward was much alarmed, and said within himself, in the reasonings of his own mind,
Luke xvi. 1
The para le o the unjust steward
What shall I do in this unhappy situation of my affairs? for my lord is taking away my stewardship, and with it I shall lose my subsistence. I am not able to dig, or to apply myself to any other laborious work of husbandry; nor can I expect, under this load of infamy, to be trusted by another in the business I have been accustomed to; [and] I am utterly ashamed to beg my bread, after having lived so handsomely in the world thus long. And, after a pause, he added, I have at length bethought myself, and now know what I will do; an expedient offers itself to my mind by which I may secure myself friends, so that when I am removed from my office, they may receive me into their houses.
And, in pursuance of this scheme, having called every one of his lord’s debtors to him whom he could hope to oblige by so fraudulent a proposal, he determined to lower the several articles in his book which stood chargeable to the account of each; and said, for instance, to the first, How much owest thou to my lord? And he said, An hundred baths of oil. And he said to him, Take thy bill, in which thou hast acknowledged the receipt of it, and sit down directly, and write another, in which thou shalt acknowledge the receipt of but fifty, and I will alter my
a I am not able to dig, or to apply myself to — husbandry.] Raphelius (Annot. ex en. p. 104, 105), and Elsner (Observ. Vol. p. 251), have shewn that the word σκατθω signifies, in general, to cultivate the land, and especially to prepare it for seed; which was one of the most laborious parts of the husbandman’s work in which daylabourers were employed; and consequently most fit to be mentioned by this steward, who, having been used to a delicate and luxurious way of living, would naturally think of such a change of life in the most discouraging view. The expression, κκ ισχυω, I am not able, or strong enough, to do it, has also a peculiar beauty in this view, which is lost in our translation, and in most others.
b An hundred baths of oil.] The Greek word βαλκ is evidently derived from the Hæwbrew כְּתוֹב, which we render baths in the Old Testament. (1 Kings vii. 26; 2 Chron. ii. 10; Ezra vii. 22.) According to Bishop Cumberland it contained about seven gallons, two quarts, and half a pint. Compare Joseph. Antiq. lib. viii. cap. 2.
§9. The measure of wheat, κοσμ, mentioned in the next verse, is the בֶּן, cor, o homer of the Hebrews, containing about eight bushels and an half, Winchester measure. The word homer being familiar to an English ear, I have retained it in the version. This homer contains ten ephahs, or baths (Ezek. xlv. 11, 14); and each of these latter ten omers (Exod. xvi. 36). Twenty homers, which he allowed the debtor to deduct, would on this computation contain 170 bushels of wheat, and might be as valuable as fifty baths, or about 378 gallons of oil; so that the obligation conferred on both these debtors might be equal.
c Take thy bill, in which thou hast acknowledged the receipt of it.] This bill probably was something equivalent to a note under his hand, acknowledging the receipt of so much oil, and promising payment for it. The alteration of this plainly shews how much Dr. Clarke is mistaken in supposing the steward did no wrong to his master in this affair, but only gave the debtors the value of what he set
om shewn by the children of this world.
ook agreeable to that. Then he said to another, and how much dost thou owe? And he said, An hundred homers of wheat. And he says to him, Take thy bill back, and write down an acknowledgment of but fourscore; and remember how easy I have made thine account.
And when the master heard of it, though he could not but be sensible that it was an act of great injustice, yet he praised the unjust steward, as having done prudently however, and found out an artful expedient for his subsistence, by making friends, who might shelter him for the present, and perhaps recommend him to some new trust, in hopes of sharing again in the spoils of his dishonesty. And thus, said the blessed Jesus when he had concluded the parable, the children of this world are wiser in their way and generation, that is, they generally act a more prudent part with respect to their secular interests, than even those who may be called the children of light, or than good men themselves, who are enlightened by God to see where their true happiness lies, do with respect to theirs, which are so much more important (compare John xii. 36; 1 Thes. v. 5; and Eph. v. 8); for they seldom appear so thoughtful and active in the great concerns of religion, as worldly men are in pursuit of the momentary and precarious possessions of this present life.
And I also say to you, Endeavour to make yourselves sure friends with these riches which may not improperly be called the unrighteous or deceitful mammon (as so little confidence can be reposed in them); that when you fail, and
off out of his own stock, he undertaking to pay his lord. (See Dr. Clarke’s Sermons, Vol. III. p. 285.) For not to say how improbable it is that this bankrupt should be able or willing to make such a considerable present, it is plain that, if he had intended it, he would have let the account remain unaltered. But by the exchange of bills he cunningly made each of the debtors an accomplice with him in defrauding his lord, and thereby provided against a discovery.
In their generation.] It here signifies affaire, or actions; as Gen. vi. 9; xxxvii. 2.
The unrighteous or deceitful mammon.] Nothing can be more contrary to the whole genius of the Christian religion than to imagine that our Lord would exhort men to lay out their illgotten goods in works of charity, when justice so evidently required they should make restitution to the utmost of their abilities. Mammon, or wealth, is here called unrighteous, or deceitful, on account of its being so apt to fail the expectation of the owners; and in that view is opposed to true riches, ver. 11. The mammon of unrighteousness is plainly such a hebraism as the steward of unrighteous-
A faithful improvement should be made of our riches.
die out of this world, they may receive you into everlasting habitations, and you may forever enjoy the reward of your pious charity and love, in an everlasting friendship with all those truly worthy persons who have been relieved by it.
Let this exhortation be regarded, not only by those that abound in wealth, but by all others: for he who, acting on strict principles of integrity and piety, is faithful in the smallest [trust], is, and would in fact appear to be faithful also in one of much greater importance if it were committed to him; and he who is unjust in the least matter, is, if he can attempt it with views of impunity, unjust also in much.
If therefore it appears that you have not been faithful in the management of the unrighteous or deceitful mammon, as I before called those precarious treasures, who will intrust you with the true [riches]? And I repeat it again, if you have not been faithful in what was really another’s, and only was committed to your care and management for a little while; who do you think will give you [that which shall be] your own by an unalienable right and eternal possession? You cannot sure expect so high a reward without a behaviour correspondent to it.
But, as I formerly have said, I tell you now again, No domestic whatever can serve two different masters; for he assuredly will either hate and despise the one, and love the other; or at least he will adhere to the commands of the one, and neglect those of the other: so, in like manner, you cannot faithfully serve God, and yet at the same time be the servants of mammon, having your
ess, ver. 8, and the judge of unrighteousness, chap. xviii. 6, Gr. which our translators have with perfect fidelity changed into the unjust steward and the unjust judge; and had they taken the same liberty in many other places, they had made many scriptures plainer than they now appear to an English reader. See Elsner, Observ. Vol. I. p. 252, where he has shewn that ad. xix signifies unfaithfulness, on which account it is often opposed to truth. Compare Rom. i. 18; ii. 8; and Deut. xix. 19; Mic. vi. 12, Hebr.
That when you fail, and die out of this world.] It is with apparent propriety that
our Lord suggests the thoughts of death as an antidote against covetousness. Strange it is that so many on the very borders of the grave should be so wretchedly enslaved to that unreasonable passion!
If you have not been faithful in what was another’s, &c.] This is well expressed, though not exactly rendered in the version of 1727. If you have embezzled what another gave you in trust, how can he give you an estate in perpetuity? It probably alludes to a custom of rewarding faithful stewards, by giving them some part of the estate they have managed.
The covetous Pharisees deriding him, are reproved.
earts engrossed by worldly interests and pursuits. (Compare Mat. vi. 24, Vol. I. p. 237.)
And the Pharisees also, who were extremely covetous, stood by and heard all these things; and they contemptuously derided him has a poor visionary, who did not understand human life, or only appeared to despise the world, because (as they supposed) it was out of his reach.
And he said to them, You Pharisees are they that justify yourselves before men, and find out a great many plausible excuses for possessing and pursuing the world as you do; but God knows your hearts, and knows that it is not by love to him, but to yourselves, that you are animated, even in the most specious and pompous of your actions: for that which is highly esteemed among men, is, in many instances, an abomination before God, who observes the vile purposes from which it often proceeds, and cannot be imposed upon by any glittering misrepresentation or disguise. (Compare 1 Sam. xvi. 7.) But a dispensation is now opening upon the world which will put you to deserved shame; for the law and the prophets [were] the only Divine revelation among you until John the Baptist appeared; but from that time the kingdom of God is publicly and plainly preached, and every one forces his way into it; for considerable numbers, notwithstanding all your sophistry, stand well disposed to receive it, and are willing to secure its blessings at any rate. (Compare Mat. xi. 12, 13, Vol. I. p. 320.) Yet I would not be understood as if I intended by what I say to put any slight on former revelations; for I rather establish and vindicate them, and again declare it to you as a most solemn truth, That it is much easier for heaven and earth to pass away, and the whole system of created nature to be destroyed, than for one tittle of the law of God to fail, or the least
They derided him.] The word ἑμυνκλησία might more exactly be rendered, they sneered. There was a gravity and dignity in our Lord’s discourse which, insolent as they were, would not permit them to laugh out; but by some scornful air they hinted to each other their mutual contempt: and they have, no doubt, scri-
ously answered for it, as others of their temper and character will.
Forces his way into it, με αυλη βιαζθαι.] Some think this intimates that those who should have been readiest to open the door, rather attempted to keep them out: it certainly implies that there were strong obstacles in the way.
VOL. 2
Reflections on a due improvement of our staff
precept of it to be set aside as faulty. (See cxxiv. Mat. v. 18, Vol. I. p. 214.) And, far from doing any thing to lessen or abate the force of Luke it, I rather assert it in its utmost extent and xvi.18 spirituality; insomuch that you know I have before declared, notwithstanding all your boasted, but dangerous, traditions, that whosoever puts away his wife, and marries another, unless it be on account of a breach of the most fundamental article of the marriage covenant, commits adultery; and whosoever marries her that is put away from her former husband for any less important cause, commits adultery with her, as the first contract still continues in force by which she is the wife of another. (Compare Mat. v. 32, Vol. I. p. 230.)
IMPROVEMENT.
ver. 8 MAY the wisdom of the children of this world in their comparatively trifling concerns excite a holy emulation in the children of light! Is it not much better worth our while to employ all the attention of our thoughts in observing opportunities for the good of our souls, and to exert all the force of our resolutions in improving them, than to labour merely for the meat which perishes, for that deceitful mammon, that treacherous friend, which will at best only amuse us for a few years, and will for ever forsake us in our greatest extremity. 1, 2 Let us take occasion, from this parable, to think how soon we must part with all our present possessions; how soon we must give an account of our respective stewardships as those who must be no longer stewards. Let us therefore manage them in such a manner as may most effectually promote the great purposes of our everlasting happiness. To this end, let us remember how absolutely necessary it is that we abound in works of charity and benevolence, and that we endeavour to abstract our hearts from an over eager attachment to these lying vanities; for surely the trifles of earth are no better. Let us not imagine that our particular address can find out the secret of serving 13 God and mammon, since Christ represents it as an impossibility and contradiction. 10-12 May we be found faithful in what God has committed to us, whether it be little or much; and govern ourselves, not by the maxims of this vain world, but by those of the gospel! And if 14 the same temper that led the covetous Pharisees to deride our Lord, engage the children of this world to pour contempt upon us as visionaries and enthusiasts, we have much greater reason to be grieved for them than for ourselves. Their censures can
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
be matter of but little account to us, when we consider that the things which are highly esteemed by men are often an abomination in the sight of God. His law is sacred, and the constitutions of his kingdom are unalterable: may the temper of our minds be so altered and disposed as may suit it! For another day, and another world, will shew that real Christianity is the only wisdom; and that all the refinements of human policy without it are but specious madness and laborious ruin!
Luke 16:19
Our Lord, to enforce the preceding admonition, delivers the parable of the rich glutton and Lazarus. Luke XVI. 19, to the end.
LUKE XVI. 19. THERE was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores.
And desiring to be fed with the
LUKE XVI. 19. THAT his hearers might be more effectually dissuaded from addicting themselves to worldly pursuits and carnal pleasures, Jesus added another parable, which might have been sufficient to convince the covetous Pharisees of their madness in deriding what he had before said. And he addressed himself to them in words to this effect: There was a certain rich man who lived in the greatest elegance and pomp; for he wore robes of purple, and vests of fine linen, and daily feasted in a very splendid and luxurious manner. And there was in the same place a certain poor man named Lazarus, a person indeed of eminent piety, but in the utmost indigence and distress; who, being unable to labour, or so much as to walk, was laid down at his gate, to beg the rich man’s charity; and all his body being full of sores and ulcers, he was a most miserable spectacle; And, being almost famished with hunger, he earnestly desired to be fed, if it were but with the crumbs
A certain poor man named Lazarus.] An exceeding proper name, which seems (as Lud. Cappellus observes) to be derived from my w, lo azer, and signifies a helpless rson; an etymology on all accounts much more natural than that so generally followed, which derives it from Eliezer, God my helper. Some have imagined, from the name of Lazarus, and the particular detail of circumstances, that this was an
history, rather than a parable; but this must be a groundless supposition, as it is plain the incidents are parabolical. But the criticism of Lomeirus, who explains it as a mystical representation of the Jewish and Gentile church, is far more extravagant. Dr. Lightfoot, and others, have shewn, that the Jews in their Gemara have a parable much to the same purpose.
The difference between them when they
which fell from the rich man’s table; yea, he was in so exposed and abandoned a condition, that the very dogs came and licked his sores, which lay uncovered in the open air.
But so it was, that in a little time the poor beggar, worn out with the load of so great a calamity, died; and, being a favourite of heaven, notwithstanding all his distresses on earth, he was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom, the abode of happy spirits in a separate state: the rich man also died quickly after him; for all his riches were not sufficient to procure the least continuance of his life; and he was buried with great funeral solemnity and pomp. But observe the difference of their circumstances beyond the grave. This poor sensual creature was by God’s righteous vengeance condemned to everlasting misery; and in the unseen world,
b Yea, the dogs came and licked his sores.] Had the connection in the original been attended to, I think there could have been no debate among commentators, whether this were mentioned as an alleviation, or an addition to his calamity. For however lenient and healing the tongue of a dog may be in such cases, the words αλλι πι πι should be rendered, yea; as Erasmus, Beza, Schmidus, and Calvin contend, and, above all, Raphelius abundantly proves. (Annot. ex Xen. p. 106, 107.) The circumstance is surely recorded, to shew that his ulcers lay bare, and were not (as Isaiah in another case expresses it, chap. i. 6) either closed, or bound up, or mollified with ointment. Some versions add, that no man gave unto him; which Grotius thinks is intimated in his wishing to be fed with the crumbs which the dogs used to gather. (Mat. xv. 27.) If so, it was with singular propriety that he who denied a crumb is represented as unable to obtain a drop; but as it is not expressed in the Greek, either here, or in Abraham’s reply, I did not choose to insert it. Giving alms will be no security to those that live a sensual life.
c Carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom.] The Jews assign this office to angels, (see Drusius in loc.) and, no doubt, with the utmost propriety, considering how suitable it is to their benevolent nature, and to the circumstances of a departed spirit. The Greeks (as Elsner, Observ. Vol. I. p. 255, and many others have observed)
assign guides to the souls of the dead, to conduct them to their respective seats. It is strange any should render τον κολοτρι τυ Αδραμ, Abraham’s bower, or (with Jac. Cappellus) Abraham’s haven. Our translation is in all respects much more just. It alludes to the way of representing the entertainments of heaven, by sharing a magnificent banquet with Abraham and the other patriarchs. (Compare Mat. viii. 11; and Luke xxii. 30.) And nothing can better describe the honour and happiness of Lazarus, who had lain in so wretched a condition before the glutton’s gate, than telling us that he was placed next to Abraham, and so lay in his bosom. (Compare John xiii. 23, sect. clxx.) Thus Casaubon and Grotius well explain it. As for the rich man’s seeing him there, Mr. L’Enfant thinks the Jews borrowed this manner of speaking from the Greeks, who described the seats of the blessed as separated from those of the damned by a great impassable river, from the opposite banks of which they might converse. Many of them also expressly speak of a great chasm interposed. See Elsner, Observ. Vol. I. p. 256, 257; and Grotius in loc.
d In the unseen world.] This seems generally the sense of the Greek word, αδκι, as was observed before, in note f, on Mat. xvi. 18, Vol. I. p. 566. Both the rich man and Lazarus were in Hades, though in different regions of it. See Grotius’s learned and judicious note here:
begs for a drop of water to cool his tongue.
eing in the midst of torments, aggravated by ll the indulgence and delicacy of his former ife, he lifted up his weeping and despairing eyes, and saw Abraham from afar, and the poor despised Lazarus lying in his bosom, as a newly received guest at the heavenly banquet, placed next the father of the faithful himself.
And calling out with the greatest earnestness and importunity, he said, O father Abraham, have compassion upon me, a poor unhappy descendant of thine, and send Lazarus, not to reach out to me any of the dainties of heaven, for I presume not to ask so great a favour, but only to bring me a little water; and if I may not have a draught of it, I should be thankful if he might be permitted to dip the tip of his finger in water to refresh my tongue, though it were but for a moment; for I am so tormented in this flame, that it excites an intolerable thirst, which is continually raging and preying on my very soul.
But Abraham said, with awful and inflexible severity, Son, remember the former days when thou and Lazarus were upon earth, that thou didst then in thy lifetime receive the good things which thou wast so foolish as to choose for thy portion, in the neglect of God and of thy soul; and likewise Lazarus then received [his] evil things, of which thou wast witness; but now the scene is changed, so that he in his turn is comforted, and thou art justly tormented; and neither his joy, nor thine anguish, can admit of any end or interruption. And besides all this, as to the favour thou desirest from the hand of Lazarus, it is a thing impossible to be granted; for between us and you there is a great chasm fixed; a vast unmeasurable void is interposed; so that they who would go from hence to you, if any should be so compassionate as to desire to help you, cannot; neither can
• Dip the tip of his finger in water, &c.] The Hebrews drank their wine mingled with water; and large quantities of water, on one occasion or other, were used at their feasts. (See John ii. 6.) There seems therefore in this petition a proper allusion to that. Archbishop Tillotson observes, with his usual vivacity, that this is the only instance we meet with in scripture
of any thing that looks like a prayer put up to a glorified saint (Tillotson Works, Vol. II. p. 142); and even here the application was in vain, and no relief was the saint capable of giving. It is observable, the rich man speaks as knowing Lazarus, and as supposing (ver. 28) that his brethren also might know him on his appearing to them.
He would have Lazarus sent to convert his
they who are there come unto us; but we are still to continue at an unapproachable distance from each other.
Then the rich man, as he perceived that his own case was irretrievable, said unto Abraham, There may however be a passage from you to the other world, as it is plain there is from thence to you; I beseech thee therefore, Oather, that thou wouldst please to send him to my father’s house, on an errand of the utmost importance; For I have there five brethren, thoughtless young creatures like myself, who are now revelling on those possessions which were once mine, and are likely ere long to fall into the same misery with me: I earnestly entreat thee therefore that he may be sent to testify to them the reality and importance of this invisible world, that they may be awakened to avoid those evil courses that have been my ruin, and may not also come into this place of torment.
But Abraham said in reply to him, Thou knowest they have an excellent Divine revelation in the writings of Moses and the prophets; let them but hearken to the warnings and instructions that are given by them, and they have means sufficient to secure them from that danger.
And when the poor tormented creature found this also was objected to, he pleaded still in their behalf, and said, Nay, father Abraham, they will slight these as I foolishly did; but surely, if one go to them from the dead, they cannot withstand so awful a messenger, but will undoubtedly repent, and reform their lives.
But Abraham put an end to the discourse, with an assurance of the fruitlessness of any such extraordinary means for their conviction and he said to him, The evidences of the Divine revelation are such, that if they hearken not to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded to a thorough repentance and reformation though one should arise from the dead to
I have five brethren, &c.] As no mention is made of any surviving wife and children, but his five brethren are described as living still together in his father’s house, one would imagine that our Lord intended to represent this wretched creature as a
young man, who (unhappily for himself, like many modern rakes), coming early to the possession of his estate, soon broke his constitution by debauchery, and so left his riches to the younger children of the family, having no other heirs.
Reflections on the case of the rich sinner and the poor saint.
suaded, though one vist them. For though it might indeed alarm rose from the dead. them for a time, the same prejudices and lusts which led them to despise those methods of instruction that God has given them. would also lead them ere long to slight and forget such an awful apparition as you desire they might see.
IMPROVEMENT.
Most evidently may we learn from this parable, that it is impossible to know either love or hatred by any thing that is before us under the sun. (Eccles. ix. 1.) Who that had seen the pomp and plenty of this rich sinner, and compared it with the indigence and misery of Lazarus, would have imagined that the latter had been the child, and the former the enemy, of God? But let us judge nothing before the time (1 Cor. iv. 5). Our Lord Jesus Christ shews us the period of all the prosperity of the wicked, and of all the calamities with which good men may be exercised. And what availed the luxuries of life, or the magnificence of burial, to a wretch tormented in flames? Surely the fierceness of those flames would be proportionable to the luxury in which he had formerly lived, and the sense of his torment be heightened by the delicacy he had once indulged. May God awaken those unhappy persons, whatever their rank in the present life may be, who place their happiness and glory in being clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day! May they lift up their enchanted, deluded eyes, and see that pointed sword of the Divine vengeance which is suspended over them by so weak a thread; and may they take this warning from one greater than Moses and the prophets, from one that came from the dead to enforce it, that they pass not into that place of torment!
Let poor afflicted saints take comfort in what has now been read, though they may be despised and slighted by men. The time will shortly come, when those angels who now descend in an invisible form to minister to them, will appear as their guard to convoy them to the regions of glory. Abraham’s bosom
If they hearken not to Moses, &c.] It is true, Moses no where expressly asserts a future state of rewards and punishments; yet the facts recorded by him strongly enforce the natural arguments in proof of it; and the prophets speak plainly of it in many places. See Psal. xvi. 9, 10, 11; xvii. 15; xxiii. 6; xlix. 14, 15; lxxiii. 17, U. seq. Prov. xiv. 32; Eccles. iii. 17, 21; xi. 9; xii. 7, 13, 14; and Ezek. xviii. 19, 20, 21. Bishop Atterbury has excellently shewn the justice of Abraham’s assertion here, in his incomparable discourse on
this text. (See his Sermons, Vol. II. serm. 2.) The impenitence of many who saw another Lazarus raised from the dead (John xi. 46), and the wickedness of the soldiers who were eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ, and yet that very day suffered themselves to be hired to bear a false testimony against it (Mat. xxviii. 4, 15), are most affecting and astonishing illustrations of this truth: for each of those miracles was far more convincing than such an apparition as is here referred to would have been.
Reflections on the rich sinner and the poor saint.
will be opened to them, and the dainties of heaven be set before cxxv. multitudes, who, perhaps, while on this side the grave, hardly knew how to procure even the necessaries of life.
May we never view those seats of glory, as this wretched sensualist did, at an unapproachable distance! Let us think seriously of his deplorable circumstances, when he asked a drop of ver.25 water from the tip of Lazarus’s finger, and yet was denied. Dreadful representation! yet made by Christ himself, who surely knew how to describe the case with the utmost propriety. Behold, O our souls, this son of Abraham, in that flaming prison, in all the restless agonies of torment and despair; and we may judge what dependence to place on a descent from pious ancestors, or a participation of external privileges.
27, 28 We inquire not curiously into the motives which engaged him to request that so extraordinary a warning might be sent to his brethren; whether it might proceed from a remainder of natural affection, from a fear of meeting them in the same misery, or from a mixture of both. It is enough to observe how and upon 31 what principles it was denied, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. Let none vainly excuse themselves from believing the evidence of the revelation God has given, on a pretence that if 30 they saw signs and wonders they would believe. The heart of man may be hardened against the most sensible and immediate miracle; but if that evidence were irresistible, it would ill become us to dictate to God when and to whom it should be given. 29 Let us examine and acquiesce in such as he has seen fit to afford; and pass through our various scenes of life as those that have eternity in view, and are persuaded we must each of us, in a few years at farthest, be with Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom, or with the rich man in that tormenting flame.