And such is the Case of those who put off their Repentance and Preparation for another World , till they are surpriz'd by Death or Judgment ; for it comes all to one in the issue , which of them it be . The Parable indeed seems more particularly to point at our Lord 's coming to Judgment , but the case is much the same as to those who are surpriz'd by sudden Death ; such as gives them but little , or not sufficient time for so great a work : because such as Death leaves them , Judgment will certainly find them .

And what a miserable confusion must they needs be in , who are thus surpriz'd either by the one or the other ? How unfit should we be , if the general Judgment of the World should come upon us on the sudden , to meet that great Judge at his coming , if we have made no preparation for it before that time ? What shall we then be able to do , in that great and universal consternation , when the Son of man shall appear in the clouds of Heaven , with power and great glory ; when the Sun shall be darken'd , and the Moon turned into blood , and all the powers of Heaven shall be shaken : when all Nature shall feel such violent pangs and convulsions , and the whole World shall be in a combustion flaming and cracking about our ears : When the Heavens shall be shrivel'd up as a Scroll when it is roll'd together , and the Earth shall be toss'd from its Center , and every Mountain and Island shall be removed ? What thoughts can the wisest men then have about them , in the midst of so much noise and terror ? Or if they could have any , what time will there then be to put them in execution ? when they shall see the Angel , that standeth upon the Sea and upon the Earth , lifting up his hand to Heaven and swearing by Him that liveth for ever and ever that Time shall be no longer ; as this dreadful Day is described Rev. 10.5 , 6. and chap. 6.15 . where Sinners are represented at the Appearance of this Great Judge , not as flying to God in hopes of mercy , but as flying from Him in utter despair of finding mercy with Him : The Kings of the Earth , and the Great Men , and the Mighty Men , and the Rich Men , and the Great Captains hid themselves in the Dens and in the Rocks of the Earth ; and said to the Mountains and Rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne , and from the wrath of the Lamb : For the Great Day of his wrath is come , and who shall be able to stand ? The biggest and the boldest Sinners that ever were upon Earth , shall then flee from the face of Him whom they have so often blasphemed and denied ; and shall so far despair of finding mercy with Him in that Day , who would sue to Him for it no sooner , that they shall address themselves to the Mountains and Rocks , as being more pitiful and exorable than He ; to hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne , and from the wrath of the Lamb : From the wrath of the Lamb , to signify to us that nothing is more terrible than Meekness and Patience when they are throughly provok'd and turn'd into Fury .

In such dreadful confusion shall all impenitent Sinners be , when they shall be surpriz'd by that Great and terrible Day of the Lord : And the Case of a dying Sinner , who would take no care in the time of his Life and Health to make preparation for another World , is not much more hopeful and comfortable .

For alas ! how little is it that a sick and dying man can do in such a strait of time ? in the midst of so much pain and weakness of Body , and of such confusion and amazement of Mind . With what heart can he set about so great a Work , for which there is so little time ? With what face can he apply himself to God in this extremity , whom he hath so disdainfully neglected all the days of his Life ? And how can he have the confidence to hope , that God will hear his cries and regard his tears that are forc'd from him in this day of his necessity ? when he is conscious to himself that in that long day of God's Grace and Patience he turned a deaf ear to all his merciful invitations , and rejected the counsel of God against himself . In a word , how can he who would not know , in that his Day , the things which belonged to his peace , expect any other but that they should now be for ever hid from his eyes , which are ready to be clos'd in utter darkness ?

I will not pronounce any thing concerning the impossibility of a death-bed Repentance : But I am sure that it is very difficult , and I believe very rare . We have but one Example , that I know of , in the whole Bible of the Repentance of a dying Sinner ; I mean that of the penitent Thief upon the Cross : And the circumstances of his Case are so peculiar and extraordinary , that I cannot see that it affords any ground of hope and encouragement to men in ordinary Cases . We are not like to suffer in the company of the Son of God and of the Saviour of the World ; and if we could do so , it is not certain that we should behave our selves towards Him so well as the penitent Thief did , and make so very good an end of so very bad a Life .

And the Parable in the Text is so far from giving any encouragement to a Death bed Repentance and Preparation , that it rather represents their Case as desperate who put off their Preparation to that Time . How ineffectual all that the foolish Virgins could do at that time did in the conclusion prove , is set forth to us at large in the Parable ; V. 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. They wanted Oyl , but could neither borrow nor buy it : They would then fain have had it , and ran about to get it ; but it was not to be obtain'd neither by entreaty , nor for money : First they apply themselves to the wise Virgins , for a share in the over-plus of their Graces and Virtues ; V. 8. the foolish said unto the wise , give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out ; but the wise answered , not so ; lest there be not enough for us and you : The wise Virgins , it seems knew of none they had to spare : And then they are represented as ironically sending the foolish Virgins to some famous Market where this Oyl was pretended to be sold ; V. 9. go ye rather to them that sell and buy for your selves : And as dying and desperate persons are apt to catch at every twig , and when they can see no hopes of being saved , are apt to believe every one that will give them any ; so these foolish Virgins follow the advice ; V. 10. and whilst they went to buy , the Bridegroom came ; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage , and the door was shut ; and afterwards came also the other Virgins , saying , Lord , Lord , open to us ; but he answered and said , verily I say unto you , I know you not .

You see how little , or rather no encouragement at all there is from any the least circumstance in this Parable , for those who have delay'd their Preparation for another World till they be overtaken by Death or Judgment , to hope by any thing that they can then do , by any importunity which they can then use , to gain admission into Heaven . Let those consider this with fear and trembling , who forget God and neglect Religion all their Life-time , and yet feed themselves with vain hopes by some Device or other to be admitted into Heaven at last .

Fifthly , I observe that there is no such thing as Works of Super-erogation , that is , that no man can do more than needs , and than is his duty to do , by way of Preparation for another World . V. 8. For when the foolish Virgins would have begg'd of the wise some Oyl for their Lamps , V. 9. the wise answered , not so ; lest there be not enough for us and you : It was only the foolish Virgins that in the time of their extremity , and when they were conscious that they wanted that which was absolutely necessary to qualify them for admission into Heaven , who had entertain'd this idle Conceit that there might be an over-plus of Grace and Merit in others sufficient to supply their want : But the wise knew not of any they had to spare , but supposed all that they had done , or could possibly do , to be little enough to qualify them for the glorious Reward of eternal Life : Not so , say they , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lest at any time , that is , lest when there should be need and occasion , all that we have done , or could do , should be little enough for our selves : And in this Point they had been plainly instructed by the Bridegroom himself , But ye , when ye have done all , say we are unprofitable servants , and have done nothing but what was our duty to do .

And yet this Conceit of the foolish Virgins , as absurd as it is , hath been taken up in good earnest by a grave Matron , who gives out her self to be the Mother and Mistress of all Churches , and the only infallible Oracle of Truth , I mean the Church of Rome , whose avowed Doctrine it is , that there are some Persons so excellently good that they may do more than needs for their own Salvation : And therefore when they have done as much for themselves as in strict duty they are bound to do , and thereby have paid down a full and valuable consideration for Heaven , and as much as in equal justice between God and Man it is worth ; that then they may go to work again for their Friends , and begin a new Score ; and from that time forwards may put the Surplusage of their good Works as a Debt upon God , to be laid up in the Publick Treasury of the Church , as so many Bills of Credit which the Pope by his Pardons and Indulgences may dispense , and place to whose account he pleases : And out of this Bank , which is kept at Rome , those who never took care to have any Righteousness of their own may be supplied at reasonable rates .

To which they have added a further supply of Grace , if there should be any need of it , by the Sacrament of extreme Vnction , never heard of in the Christian Church for many Ages ; but devised , as it were on purpose , to furnish such foolish Virgins with Oyl as are here described in the Parable .

And thus by one Device or other they have enervated the Christian Religion to that degree , that it hath almost quite lost its true virtue and efficacy upon the hearts and lives of men : And , instead of the real fruits of Goodness and Righteousness , it produceth little else but Superstition and Folly ; or if it produce any real Virtues , yet even the virtue of those Virtues is in a great measure spoil'd by their arrogant pretences of Merit and Super-erogation , and is render'd insignificant to themselves by their insolent carriage and behaviour towards God .