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Show l!o'l# Chrifl il fo bit spo11fo ill the Applllt!te I 1 1 et Into the Favour of Princes and Noble• World· how ;t•Yonr~ But there Is-another worfe than this, all ~nd h'omehto or:._ow ·may 1 fatisfy my bafe fenfuallufis ? pic& 1cs c oug · ths ra.r e1·, .n, m· y ear w1. th hean. ng, '&c . A t h"1 rd .re. cs L , ,,,_ my eye wit ,ee n..,, II I h . c. · d K led~ and apprehends an exec cncy n t em , a•tet lfhll ft,·'h" · ~ke·s a-nMd a ll his care and llud y lsh, o w h e m1"g ht ab o und t e e ema , . h C d h Ffl·l! • Tl " in the Knowledg of all things from t. e e ar tot. e IJJ•! • liS is a more. Noble Soul than the ~ther IS. Bu~ 1 ''""/'""' y~u 11 "'."" excrUent JO>ay, a more excrUent objdl, and that IS Chnfi, Umon With Chrlll, and yet ah! how few are thofe Souls. that fay : How !hould 1 get my Shore in Cbrift l ~very Tr_ee m the Wood of the world ha1h many travellers limn~ under 1t; but the ApJ!etret very few. There's a tree of Sen[~t•ltty: A Tree whofe frmt are the Apples of S1d1,.. and ofGomomrb; The t\lchoufe, the whorehoufc, the dancing-places, the Playhoufes, they ~rea) I bl!t ·boughsof 1his Tree. Ah Lord, how ma~y lit under this t!ee, and ~he f:~ eral boughs of it with great dehght ! how f weet IS the fruit of It to 1heir tafle yet the lhadow ofit deadly, and the fruit it bears is. poifon.There' is" tree of Worldly tref~rmenta.nd HonoHr; how ma· ny thoufand Travellers are waiting under th1s tree? The. ~oughs of it are the great men of the World, how !llany are waltmg on their Shadow ! and yet alas, wh~t is t~e, lhadow of man '!Vo~th? wha1•s the fruit ofthefe things worth? A good Temp'fi. of Gods wrath upon the Confcience, breaks through _all thefe boughs. The woman cries, Help 0 King; but he anfwcrs 1fGod helps not how can I belp-! 'Ibm u a tree of JO>orWy bujine(' .an4 Sec~lar lmployment; this hath a thoufand boughs, the frUit It bears IS Gold a?d Silver and hou!i: and lands; there are many Souls, t~at arc da&ly wairin'g under this tree. There u. "1ree of worldfy wifdom and KltGWied[. and Learning, this grows 10 the ~ore culuvated parts of the Eartl• Univerfities Schools of Learnmg, &c. and there are many und'er this tree. ' But there u. a tree •f life, the ~~r~ 1efUJ Cbri!f whole fruit is for mral, and Ius leava are for medtcme; and whe..;'s the Soul that inquireth for this tree, or how it may come to tafie of his fiuit or to fit ·under his !hadow; though, camp•· red with other trees, he be as the Af'Pielree amnnr f! the tff~J of the Wood, far excelling them ali? But gi vc me leave to plead With you by a threefold Argument. ' , . 1. AU the tren oftbe TYoo4 bring[ort/1 no {itch frwt as tins me Jotb, Saint john call& oall that is in 1he world, the /u(r.of t.he f/tjh, · .,. ~nd H~ll' chr;fl il /I hk Sp111[e ttl the AJpldree I 3 5 lntd the l"ft of tbt tyn, 1111d the pride of Lifo. See here all the fru1'! Jolul 2. 16. that groweth upon the trees of the Wood ; one man purfueth his pleafure, and what's the fruit ? SatisfaCl:ion to rbe outward fenfc;hepleafeth histye with a fine fight,his ear with a fine found, hispaliat with a fine tafie of meat or liquors;and here's all he gets, and what doth it all lignify? Another man purfueth his profit; fup-pofe he gets his defire, what hath he? a bag of Gold or Silver, a fine Haufe and Land,a brave Orchard and Garden, when he dies wbofe !hall thefe things be? while he lilres, what are they good for more than to keep Life and Soul together! what's the Soul the better for being mafier of a brave e!late! what do his hundreds a year lif.nify as to the inriching of his nobler part, or purchaling an everlafiing habitation! A third man purfueth .Honpllr and Prt-fermtiJI ; fuppofe he cli!llbeth this tree, he is in danger offalling at every new gull of wind; while he abideth, he is but the mark of mvy, he hath nothing but a Cap and a Knee, and a great Title: Another purfueth Learning and Knowledg. •ns true this comes nearer a Souls happinefs, than the other low things do: but confi~ der the Soul as ord3ined to an eternity, and what d01h all this pro61? a man may go to Hell with all his Learning and Knowledg; do any of thefe trees bear pardln •f Sinr, pe~ce with God,jny in the holy Gboft ? This is the fruit, that is necdfary for al) immortal Soul: Methinks there's the fame proportion betwixt this fruit of the Appletreea!lld all .th~ fr!lit of the trees of the World, that there is betwixt the meat on your Tablu, and the fruit that COI'IItl •n whe11 you have dined: the fruit doth well, but it would be fad with you, if you had no other meat to eat ; the meat is neceifary, the fruit might be fpared, nay ordinarily it doth hurt. The fruit of1he Appletree is meat for the Soul, the So11l lives by Chrifi, it cannot live without hiro. If once CJuil'l be-aifured to the Soul, if it hath once by Failh received him, Le•rning, Rieber, Honsur1, may do well; yet ~veR then, they oft do more hmt than good, but thefe without a Chrifi what are they ~ I remember when Saul would take off hi~ Servants from following David, he ufeth this A:rgument to them: Ji•ar now you BenjamiteJ, wiU the Son of1•ffi 2 sam. 22• 7• gtvt evtry-"fyo~t Fielth and ViueyardJ, a11d ma~e )IOH al/ Capt a btl of Thot~foHdJ and Captabu of H1111dredJ? give me leave to cry out, bearoie'Oyonm~n of t~e World, you 1hat ~un after the pleafures and pr.ofits ofit; can Richa, PleafHru, Hmpurr, Learning, can any thing in the world, ·brh1g y~u pardon of Sin, peace with God, F 2 comfort |