THese words are by this Author taken out of the Version of the Septuagint, Hab. 2.4. from which Version it doth appear, that they did not read the Hebrew as we do; but instead of reading it as we do, his soul which is lifted up is not right in him; they read it, Whoso­ever draweth back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him, which read­ing this Author also follows; Now the just shall live by faith, &c. In which words you may observe two things:

1. The excellency of Faith: It is a principle of Life; The just shall live by it.

2. The evil of Infidelity, and that in two particulars:

1. It is a withdrawing from God, and this withdrawing is unto perdition.

2. As it withdraws men from God, so it withdraws God from men; If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

I begin with the first; The just shall live by faith, by believing not by see­ing: Now belief is of several kinds.

1. There is a belief grounded upon probable reason, upon likely and pro­mising Arguments, which yet are not certain nor evident, but may possibly be false though they seem true; and this belief is called Opinion.

2. There is a belief grounded upon certain and evident reasons, wherein if a mans faculties themselves be to be be­lieved he cannot be mistaken, and this is called certain Knowledge.

3. There is a belief grounded upon the Divine Revelation, or the Word of God; and this is properly called faith.

The first of these kinds of belief, viz. Opinion or Conjecture hath no­thing to do in Divinity, nor is a suf­ficient principle of Religion, it is too [Page 3]uncertain a Foundation to build the Temple of God upon. The Church is founded upon a Rock, and a Rock is that which cannot be shaken, and there­fore the Church is not to be built up­on so reeling, tottering a foundation as Opinion and Conjecture. It is true, Humane Affairs are Governed by Pru­dence, and Prudence oftentimes doth but aim and guess; but Divine things require certainty at the bottom, or else they are not as they ought [...]o be.

2. The second sort of belief, which is certain Knowledge grounded upon clear, evident and cogent Arguments, is both useful and necessary in Religion, for we must know something by the Light of Reason, before we can know any thing by Divine Revelation: For example, We must first know that there is a God, before we can know that the Scripture is the Word of God. Now that there is a God is not proved but supposed in Scripture, and the proof hereof depends upon Reason, or the light of Nature, which doth sufficient­ly prove the existence of God unto us, for the invisible things of him from the Creation of the world are clearly [Page 4]seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. The summ is, A man must be a man before he can be a Chri­stian, he must have a Reason before he can have Faith; he must first by Rea­son prove that there is a God, and then that the holy Scripture is Gods Word, before he can prove any thing by Scri­pture it self; but then when he hath by certain Reason proved Scripture to be Gods Word, he must then prove the rest of his Religion out of Scripture it self, or something that conveighs Di­vine Revelation to him.

3. And here comes in the third kind of belief which is Faith, and Faith is the belief of the Word of God, of e­very thing revealed in that word, whe­ther matter of fact or precept, prohibi­tion, promise or threatning; and as Reason makes a man, so Faith makes a Christian: There he begins and there he ends: for as reason makes us capa­ble of Faith; so Faith supports and guides us afterwards, for the Just shall live by faith: Under which first part I shall for methods sake thus proceed:

1. I shall shew how a Just Man lives [Page 5]and ought to live by Faith.

2. I shall shew the excellency of that Life, and the advantages he hath by so living. For the first of these you must understand, that Faith (besides many other acceptions not now to be named, because not to our present purpose) may be taken as a principle or support of Life in two respects:

1. First, as a belief of whatsoever is revealed by Gods Precepts, Prohibiti­ons, Promises, Threatnings, &c.

2. As a trust and affiance in God ac­cording to that Revelation. And accord­ing to both these sences and measures of Faith ought and doth every Just man live, and that in these four parti­culars:

1. He exspects all his supports and supplies from God.

2. He trusts all his concernments with him.

3. He sacrifices all his interests and enjoyments to him.

4. In doing all these three things he patiently and quietly rests and acqui­esces in him; and in these four things doth the life of Faith consist.

1. First, he exspects all his supply [Page 6]and supports from God, and that first for this Life; Secondly, for that which is to come also.

1. First, for the supports and sup­plies of this Life, the Just Man exspects them from God: He considers who cloathes the Lillies of the field, and that though they neither toile nor spin. He remembers who imps the sparrows wings, who feeds the young Ravens when they cry unto him, and therefore he doth not dispute the cause with Di­vine Providence, saying, What shall I eat or what shall I drink, or where­with shall I be cloathed, but leaves him that gave life to give meat, and also him that made the body to pro­vide cloathing, only he imploys himself according to Gods will in a just calling, he doth the business God requires, but for the success he is not troubled, for that he doth his part, which is to obey Gods will, and he leaves God to do the rest, which is, to take care of him, and to provide for him in that obedi­ence. For it is too great a care for him to take care of himself, who did not from himself receive his Life.

The Government of the World is an unwieldy thing in the hands of a man, it is not for him to take thought for to morrow, who for ought he knows may dye to day; God hath not so far part­ed with the Government of the world out of his own hands, as to leave eve­ry mans particular affairs to himself; that were to let us live from depen­dance upon him, and to suffer an e­strangement to grow between God and his Creatures; but he reserves our meat and drink, our food and rayment in his own hands, so that we may live upon him for our daily bread, yea, and to live upon him in the greatest improba­bilities in the world; Heb. 11.1. Faith is the sub­stance of things not seen. And there­fore God exspects we should live upon him further than we can see, though we see not bread we must not doubt of food; though we have not flocks, we must not despair of wool; and though we have not herds, we must not want a sacrifice; God provides wine many times for him that hath no Vines, and pours out oyl upon his head, that ne­ver planted an Olive-tree: There is no question left where Gods promise is [Page 8]engaged, there is no objection against faith, Hab. 3.17, 18. and therefore saith the prophet, Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, the Flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no Herd in the Stalls; yet will I rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

2. The Just Man lives in expectati­on not only of the supply of this life from God, but more especially of the reward of the life to come. He that lives by faith, must always have Hea­ven in his eye, he must continually a­bide in the expectation of a better World, and by this consideration he must live, by this End he must be go­verned, by this Promise he must be in­fluenced, in every occasion, in every af­fair, in every concernment, That there is a reward for the righteous.

Here he must begin, and here he must end every affair; hence he must derive his Principles, and hitherto he must de­rive his Ends. For whatsoever is un­dertaken, whatsoever is acted, whatso­ever is spoken, nay whatsoever is [Page 9]thought, without an actual or habitual influence from the hope of eternal Life, that which is no wise governed and de­signed by an aim at Heaven, that which is not intended in subordination to, and compliance with, an intention for Immortality; that hath not the faith of a Christian in it. Here there­fore doth a good man (a man that lives by faith) always begin, and thus doth he frame and purpose all things, Verily there is a reward for the Righteous; therefore will I be just and righteous in my employment. The poor in spirit shall inherit Heaven, and therefore I will labour to subdue my pride. I will forgive the injuries that are done unto me, because he that forgives shall be forgiven. I will be merciful to them that are in misery, because the merci­ful shall obtain mercy. I will love my Enemies, because they will make me like unto God, and fit for Heaven. I will bless them that curse and hate me, because they that bless shall at last most certainly be bless'd. And thus you see the first Instance of the life of faith. The Just Man expects all his supports and comforts from God, both for this [Page 10]life, and that which is to come, as a lit­tle Child that doth what his Father commands him, and for his Meat and Drink and Cloaths, leaves them to the care of his Father, and never troubles himself for those things. Secondly, as he expects all support from God, so he trusts all his Concernments with him, his Body, his Soul, his Estate, his Friends, his Relations; whatsoever they are, Fa­ther, Mother, Wife, or Children, Life and Fortune, he trusts with God in the belief of these two great Articles.

First, That Gods Providence rules the World.

Secondly, That that Providence works all things for good to them that are good.

First, That there is a Providence that rules the World. God did not make the World by his Wisdome, and then leave it to be governed by Chance; he did not employ infinite Wisedom to build an house, and then send Chance and Folly to dwell in it; but the same Wisdom and Power that made the World, do still dwell and abide in it; according to that of Pythagoras in Ju­stin Martyr, He rules the World that [Page 11] he hath made, and where he inhabits, there dwells Wisdom, and sure it is, Wisdom never suffered Chance to go­vern in its own presence. Matt. 10.29, 30, 31. Are not two Sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father; but e­ven the very hairs of your head are numbred; fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many Sparrows. We might have taken Christs word for the watching of Divine Providence o­ver us, without his interposing an ar­gument; and yet an argument is here used sufficient to strengthen the weakest faith, and to establish the most shaken spirit. Are not two Sparrows sold for a farthing? By Sparrows are meant all little Birds, so little that even two of them are sold for a farthing; in them is Divine Providence concerned, and therefore how much more concerned in man? So that Athenagoras well con­cludes, That Divine Providence eyes every thing, every thing that appears and appears not, the small as well as the great. And that is the first Pro­position that Faith believes in relation to our trusting all with God.

The second is, That all things work together for good to them that love God. That we might trust God in all affairs, and having so done, might re­joice in that trust, that we might hope even against hope, and be content where there is nothing visible that should give content unto us; therefore doth he tell us that all things work together for good, that we might be content some­times in the greatest streights; content to see a Father want a Friend, to see a Child want a Portion, that we might be patient when we see our friends wronged, our enemies prosper, our e­states decay, and our charges encrease, that we might be content to do well, and to suffer ill, to be poor without advantages of growing rich, to be de­spised where we deserve honour, to be neglected where we should be advan­ced, to be sick and afflicted without hopes of recovery of health and felici­ty in the world; therefore are we told, and therefore are we to believe, That all things shall work together for good to them that love God.

Go then and trust thy Wife and Chil­dren, thy Friends and Relations, thy [Page 13]Cares and Concernments with God, Leave thy fatherless Children, Jer. 49.11. I will preserve them alive, and let thy Wi­dows trust in me, saith the Lord. This is the second Act, whereby the Just Man lives by faith; he trusts all his Concernments with God.

3. Thirdly, He also sacrificeth all his interest to him; Children and Relati­ons, with honours, life, and liberty, are not dear when God requires and calls for them. And this is that royal faith that crowned Abraham and the ancient Patriarchs, who have placed the trophees of their faith and patience upon all their Relations, Interests, and Concernments in the world, sacrificing all to God, when he called for such a Sacrifice. Lo here the reason, saith Ar­nobius, why servants suffer themselves rather to be tormented as their Masters please, and wives contented to be di­vorced from their husbands, and chil­dren content to be disinherited by their Parents, rather than to violate Christi­an Faith, which sacrificeth all Interests and Concernments unto God. It was a great trial wherewith God proved Abraham, Take now thy Son, Gen 22.2. thine [Page 14]only Son Isaac, and get thee into the Land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-Offering. He was his Son, his dearly beloved Son, the Son of Sa­rah, the Son of his hopes, the Son born unto him by promise, and the Son in and by whom God had promised to de­liver all the Nations of the Earth; and this Son he is required to offer up in sacrifice. How many objections might Abraham have found against obedience in this case? How should God com­mand a father to kill a Son, is not this contrary to all that can be of God? How should God command Abraham to slay that Son, in whom he had pro­mised Abraham should be blest, yea and all the world besides Abraham? How should Gods Commands contra­dict Gods Promises? Or why should I obey a Command against a Promise of Grace, against all the bowels and pangs, yea and laws of Nature? Thus might Abraham have pretended the promise, quarrelled with the command, question­ed the authority and neglected the obli­gation in this case. But what doth A­braham do? Faith loves no disputes, Faith hateth doubtful reasonings. He [Page 15]doth not question the Command, he doth not wrangle with the Command, he doth not set the Promise to dispute against the Precept: he makes no de­lay, but riseth early in the morning, saddles his Ass, takes two young men and Isaac with him, journeys to the place where his Son was to be offer­ed, not quarrelling with the precept du­ring all the journey, he provides wood, he makes an Altar, he binds his Son, lays the wood in order, and his Son upon the wood, and lifts up his hand to sacrifice his Son, there is nothing want­ing but the last stroak, and that was half strucken too, and had been whol­ly finish'd, but that the hand that was lifted up, was arrested by the Angel before its fall. Lo here behold the pow­er of faith, Rom. 4.20, 21. Heb. 11.19. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able to perform, accounting that God was a­ble to raise him up even from the dead. Faith lays hold on God, and lets all o­ther interests go when God calls for them; Thus Moses resused to be called [Page 16]the Son of Pharaohs Daughter, chose afflictions and divorced pleasures, im­braced reproach, and reproached ho­nours: The pleasures of the Court, the treasures of Aegypt, the lustre of a Royal Family signified nothing to that faith that eyed better things, and ex­pected a recompence of reward.

The Primitive Christians did some­times triumph over the Heathens upon the account of their Christian Faith: They tell how Faith even in the weak­est Ages and Sexes overcame the fury of the greatest Tyrants. The curious Woman felt no pain in her torments of body when Faith inspired and anima­ted her soul, and the tender Virgin set her flesh and hands to contend with iron and steel, with racks and tor­ments, and what was more, their flesh proved harder than the steel, the Cap­tive overcame by suffering, and con­quered the Conquerours themselves.

To part with Life, Liberty, Estate, Inheritance, and all for the Christian Faith by faith, was become so ordinary in the Primitive Times, that it became a fashion to be ambitious of Martyr­dom. Insomuch that the Church was [Page 17]put upon this occasion in several coun­cils to represent this unpleasant and un­natural ambition, and particularly in the Council of Carthage held in the year 348: And thus you see here Faith lives in these three Acts, 1. It expects all from God; 2. Trusts all with God; 3. Sacrificeth all unto him: To which we may add,

4. That all this while patiently and quietly it rests and acquiesces in him: faith grudges nothing unto God, and the propagation of Goodness, Mercy and Religion in the world; it doth not chide and murmur when God takes away a Husband, buries a Child, calls for a Friend, or requires an estate from us that he bestowed upon us: It doth not impatiently grieve at the secular adversities of the Good, nor envy the prosperity of the Evil: It doth not strive and rebel against Gods will: It doth not contend against Divine Pro­vidence; it is not weary and restless in its own condition, though in want, though in obscurity, though in shame and dishonour, but looks above all these things, reposeth upon God, en­joys him and its self too in patience, ac­cording [Page 18]to that of our Saviour, Luke 21.19. In your patience possess ye your souls.

Having thus far shewed what it is to live by Faith; I am to shew you the excellency and advantage of this living, which will appear in three particulars:

1. In that Faith overcomes worldly Lusts.

2. In that it secures us from worldly Fears.

3. In that it satisfies and contents us in all conditions.

1. In begin with the first: Faith o­vercomes worldly Lusts, according to that of St. John, 1 John 5.4 & 5. vers. Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our Faith: Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that be­lieveth that Jesus is the Son of God? Observe in these words three or four things:

1. First, He telleth you, who those are that overcome the world, and those are they that are born of God; it is the spirit of the upper world that subdues and overcomes the lower; it is an influence from Heaven that sub­limates and raiseth us above the earth.

2. As he tells us who they are that overcome the world, so he also points at the weapon whereby it is overcome, and that is Faith: This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your Faith: And

3. That you may know what Faith this is, he tells you that it is the Faith of him that believeth and imbraceth all the Gospel Precepts, and prohibitions too, promises and threatnings both to­gether: And

4. That you may understand that none can overcome the world but he that is born of God, nor he that is born of God but by faith, nor he by any other faith, but that in Jesus Christ; He challenges any man to give an in­stance of any that e're overcame the world otherwise than by that faith; Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth Jesus is the Son of God? It's true, the Ancient Patri­archs have left the monuments of their Faith built upon the ruines of all their worldly Interests, Estates, Honours, Li­berty and Life it self: And it may not well be denied, but that some of the Philosophers lived at far greater rates, [Page 20]and were of a far more excellent spirit than many Christians are; but this had some dawnings of that Truth which Christ afterwards brought to light; the same life and immortality that he placed in every mans eye, in the very middle of heaven, the same did they in some measure discover under the [...] and fringes of the earth, as the light of the Sun appears. I will not go so far as Ju­stin Martyr, who in his first Apologie saith, that Christ was partly known un­to Socrates, and in his second Apolo­gie affirms, that Christ is that wisdom whereof all men participate, and that they that live according to Reason are Christians, as Socrates and Heracl. amongst the Greeks, and Abraham, A­nanias, Accarias, and Misael amongst the Barbarians: But this I'le affirm, that whatsoever was done well by the Heathen, it was so done by virtue of some part of that truth which Christ did fully reveal; they had some broken beams of truth through a cloud, but he uncovered the Sun it self, they had strong and vehement conjectures of ma­ny things which he made certain and infallible, so that whatsoever was well [Page 21]done in any age of the world, it was done by the same Truth that Christ in the fulness of time did discover; thus he said of the Patriarchs, Hebr. 11.13. These all died in faith, not having received the pro­mises, but having seen them afar off, and were perswaded of them, and im­braced them, and confessed they were strangers and pilgrims upon earth, for they that say such things declare plain­ly that they seek a Country: It seems then they saw the same things afar off, that Christ brought near unto us; they had a glimpse of that Truth, which we behold with open face; and having the same Truth they had the same Faith, by virtue of which faith they over­came the World, and the Lusts thereof. Now there are three sorts of worldly Lusts that Faith overcomes:

• 1. The Lust of the Flesh.
• 2. The Lust of the Eye.
• 3. The pride of Life.

1. First, Faith overcomes the Lusts of the flesh, P [...]. 3 20. For our Conversation is in Heaven, saith the Apostle, from whence we look for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith enlightens the mind, purifies the heart, ennobles [Page 22]the affections, alters the whole frame and disposition of the soul, carries a man into another world, possesses the mind with other thoughts, acquaints him with other things, furnishes him with new desires, places him in another state; so that he which before pamper­ed his body, fed his fleshly Lusts, mind­ed earthly things, crept upon the ground, and lickt the dust, is now raised above all his brutish Lusts, and appears strange to all his Carnal desires, he hath God always before his eyes, Heaven is daily in his thoughts, eternity sinks in­to his mind, the joys of the Angels, the contents of the Saints, the meditation of a blessed immortality, warm his heart every morning, and keep him company every day. Faith gives us other im­ployment, finds out other business for us, than to feed the lusts of the flesh, and wallow in foul and impure desires, by Faith we know that Christ shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Phil. 3.21. 1 Cor. 6.15. By Faith we know that our bo­dies are the members of Christ. That is, our bodies are parts of the man, and man a member of Christ. Every thing [Page 23]will suggest an Argument to Faith, to mortifie fleshly lusts. 1. If our bodies be vile, humility, if earthly bodies, why then should we feed and gratifie their lusts, why should the man serve the brute, why should the brute rule over the man in us?

2. Again, if our bodies, notwith­standing they be earthly and vile, be notwithstanding members of Christ; How then shall I take the members of Christ, 1 Cor. 6.15. and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. Unto Faith every thing speaks Reason that speaks against the flesh, Faith never wants an argument to stop the mouth of a gaping Lust, it is a spring of a living Water to quench the heat of carnal desires, to extinguish the flames of fleshly lusts.

3. Faith overcomes the lusts of the eye, that is, it mortifies the covetous desire and design of the world: The eye, saith Solomon, Eccl. 1.8. is not satisfied with seeing. But the eye that is not satisfied with seeing gold, is soon satis­fied with seeing Heaven. He that could never have earth enough while he had earth only in his eye, doth presently acknowledge himself satisfied as soon as [Page 24]he hath gained a view of Heaven; it is Heaven only that can carry us above Earth, and Faith only that can give us a view of Heaven: Every man must have a portion, every man must have something to live upon, no man lives wholly upon himself, because no man is self-sufficient. It was a vanity of the Stoicks, who spake greater things than they lived, to boast of a self-sufficiency in their wise men, for nothing is self-sufficient but that which is of it self, and that is God only; therefore as e­very creature naturally seeks a happi­ness, so it naturally seeks it without it self. Also

Every man hath a design, every man is in the quest of an end: Men hunt their prey in the wilderness of this world, and trace the steps of great For­tunes, and in the Mines of Gold and Silver they catch at the wings of honor and preferment, as they fly aloft, and are gazed upon, but no sooner doth Faith open the eye but this dream is at an end, no sooner is the sense of Hea­ven and the true fear of God awaken­ed in the soul, but the sleep vanisheth away, and all their pompous shadows [Page 25]here below flee away in the sleep al­so, 1 Joh. 2.17. The world passeth away and the lusts thereof, but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever. And what large and excellent Discourses will faith frame upon this truth! Behold, saith faith, the World with all its pomp and lustre, with its glory and greatness, is in daily decay and consumption, and how should I live upon that which must dye? how should that establish the soul, which hath it self no establish­ment? how should that be a foundati­on for me, which hath no foundation for it self? Cast your eyes round a­bout you, upon the riches, wealth, and preferments of this world, and be­hold they are in a continual motion to corruption, they are in a daily flux, the waters do not hasten faster to the Sea, than all these things melt towards smoak and vapour. Have Crowns and Scep­ters exempted any man from death, from the beginning of the world to this time? have riches ever made a man immortal? hath health ever made a man wise? or have great preferments ever given a man great content? Be­hold, Solomon hath long since put off [Page 26]his Crown, and his Robes, and long since turned to dust: the Caesars them­selves are dead, and the worm made no difference between them and the mean­est of their servants; how little is there left in the world that was two hundred years ago? all that is past, and some­thing sprung up in its stead, which yet shall shortly pass away as that did. Thus Faith views all things in the wane, it sees them all in motion and decay, that lets the world pass as it will pass, it leaves that which leaves it, and turns its eye from beholding vanity: but how bright is the Glory of Heaven in the eye of Faith! how precious are the things of immortality in them that believe! and how ravishing are the affections of eter­nal Life, in them that long after eternal things! He thus believes, and thus acts, he never wants the help of a sin to do him a favour, or the joy of a lust to make him happy; if he wants provisi­on, Faith supplies him; if he wants con­tent, he fetches it from Heaven; if he lacks health, he seeks it there; if he needs joy, he derives it thence; he lives above the world because he needs it not, 2 Cor. 4.18. for we look not at the things which [Page 27]are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

Thirdly, Faith mortifies the pride of life also, and together with it the ambition, envy, the malice, the wrath, the bitterness, and all the enmity of the world. Faith sees nothing in this world worthy of a great esteem, and there­fore is not proud; nothing worthy of a strong desire, and therefore is not ambitious; nothing that another hath which it would desire to bereave him of, and therefore envieth not, doth not value the loss of any thing so much as to bear malice against him that made a man a loser. The matters of this world are the fewel that kindles all those hellish passions; Honours, Riches, Pre­ferments, Secular Learning and Skill, these are the food that feed the sparks of Pride, Envy, Malice, Scorn and Bit­terness; here these passions grow, here their flames are nourished, here their fires do burn and smoke. But now these are not a Christians great concern­ments, these are not the care of Faith, these are not the charge of love, these [Page 28]are not the things that are studied, de­signed, contrived, contended for in the spiritual World, in that World where every Christian hath his Coversation; For our conversation is in Heaven. And in Heaven there is nothing of these. Alas! we never swell with pride, burn with malice, nor consume with envy, nor smoke with passion, nor foam with cruel hatred, till we lose the shield of Faith, till hope and love flagg their wings, and let us fall into the cares and sorrows, into the storms and tempests of this world: Here indeed every man is at work for himself, every man is contriving his own ends, every man is labouring his own advancement, and that by all manners of ways, right or wrong, good or evil, truth or lies, so it will work his end, it is a fit means; so it will do the thing designed, 'tis no matter what it doth besides; so it will make me rich, it is no matter who is made poor by it; so it will make me an interest, 'tis no matter whom it wrongs; if it will build my house, inrich my fa­mily, gain me interest in the world, give me reputation with them that can prefer me, let it destroy my neighbor, [Page 29]let it injure my brother, let it insnare my friend, let it damn my soul, all is well done that is done with success for this world. This is the guise of this world, and when we fall into this con­fusion, this tempest, this heap of mis­chief, disquiets, where every thing is thrown into disorder and confusion, where every thing is in battel against a­nother, no wonder if all the passions of Hell, pride, revenge, &c. do then break in upon us when we are fallen into the midst of them; but while Faith carries us into a better World, into the thoughts of God, we come to live the affections that become immortal Souls. Here we dwell like them that stand up­on the top of a hill, above the Regions of the Clouds, that see it thunder and lighten, snow and storm here below, while they enjoy a serene Heaven and a shining Sun there above.

And thus I am gone from the first Effect of Faith, which is its mortifying worldly lusts, unto the second, which is its quieting, composing our minds in all the fears and dangers of the world.

Secondly, Faith stills and quiets our minds, secures our souls, and easeth our [Page 30]disquiets while we pass thorow the val­ley of tears here below; whatsoever we lose in the world, Faith shews us that the loss is not considerable; what­soever we hope for in another, Faith assures us of that our Hope; it teacheth how to undervalue that which we can­not get, or that which we may lose, and it teacheth how to content our selves with that good which we can­not fail at last to gain, if we be patient and persevere to the end. And thus Faith is the greatest security of our lives, the great ease of our hearts, the only strength and support of our souls, that which thou desirest is the highest thing that is, and near unto God, not to be shaken, not to be moved and dis­quieted, says Seneca.

Now that which the Stoicks aimed at (in this Call) that Faith performs; it hears not the report of danger, i [...] feels not the smart of poverty, it is not affrighted at the noise of wars, it i [...] not shaken with the fear of death, i [...] hath nothing of its own here below, i [...] hath laid up nothing in this Castle, or it that Garrison, it hath left no part of [...] mans heart within the walls of a fair [Page 31]house, in the shadows of pleasant walks, in the scent of a bed of flowers, it hath lockt up nothing of the soul in an iron coffin, nor sealed it up in his bags, nor hurried it into a ship, nor thrown it into a barn; it hath laid the man wholly in heaven, it hath placed him and his in the arms of God, it hath no­thing to lose in this world, and there­fore it is not shaken by worldly fears.

Thirdly, Faith satisfies and contents the Soul with full and ample satisfacti­on. What is this O my Soul, saith Faith, that thou longest for, whither do the wings of thy desire carry thee away? what mean thy peevish heart, thy angry desires, thy vehement longings? be­hold Heaven is before thee, and if there be content enough, then be patient a while and thou shalt be satisfied. Lift up thine eyes towards the Stars, towards Glory, behind these are but a few days distance between thee and Heaven: be­hold all that God hath, and God him­self too is thine, lay up thy Contents with God, put all thy interest into his hands, think of no satisfaction below eternal happiness, and let eternal hap­piness fully satisfie thee: In the mean [Page 32]time, let the wise man glory in his wis­dom, and the rich man pride himself in riches, let the Idolaters have praise, and the applause of this world, drink up the rotten breath of the multitude, and feed upon popular air, let sensual and unclean persons strive in their pro­phane riots, and dye while they are alive by living in their lusts; in the mean time let patience have its per­fect work, that thou maist be perfect and intire wanting nothing; let God be thy hope at present, and he shall shortly be thy reward.

Thus Faith answers the objections, stills the commotions, cools the heats, satisfies the longings of the soul; Faith leads the Soul into its own portion, and in that portion gives it full content and satisfaction: It opens all the treasures of God, it displayes all the riches of Heaven, it expresseth all the rewards of Glory, and shews the Soul every thing that it wants in all the measures that it can possibly desire or enjoy. And now in the view of these rewards Abraham is content to leave Countrey, Kindred, Friends and Relations too, because he had his eye upon a better Countrey. [Page 33] Moses is rich without the treasures of Aegypt, and well descended without re­lation to Pharaohs Daughter, and ho­nourable without relation to the Court, and happy in the afflictions of the peo­ple of God. The very view of Heaven is richer than all the riches of this world, Scepters, Crowns and Kingdoms are in one glance of glory; youth, and health, and prosperity, and everlasting life are in one beam of the light of faith; and thus doth this faith satisfie the soul.

Having shewed what it is to live by faith, and also the great advantages of so living, to the end I may make my discourse of this subject more compleat, I will add the hinderances or impedi­ments of that life, and here discourse unto you the Reasons why men so lit­tle and so seldom live by Faith, the ac­count whereof take in these particulars.

1. We are early accustomed to live the life of sense, there and thence we begin to live; it is long before we ar­rive to any considerable use of our rea­son, and longer still before we attain to any measures of Faith: We do at first judge of all things by the seeing of the eye, and the hearing of the ear, [Page 34]and by the notices of our interiour sen­ses, and we are fallen so far down the hill before we are aware, that it it very hard ever to return back again.

All these things that feed and flatter our senses, they are of ready, easie pre­cepts; we need take no pains to see what is pleasant, nor to taste that which is sweet, nor to hear that which is de­lightful: It costs us no labour at all to be inclined to pride, and ease, and lust; it is not matter of difficulty to us to love that which gives us pleasure, and to hate that which creates diseasement to us; whence it comes to pass, that we sink deep into the life of sense very early in our youth, before we are well aware of our greatest duties and con­cernments, and being ingaged by na­ture, and instituted by custom at first to live by sense, we find it very diffi­cult afterward to live at any other rate. We find it very disgustful to us to deny our senses any thing they have been ac­customed to enjoy: It is hard to starve an hungry lust, it is difficult to muzzle a keen desire; we cannot easily for­go the acquaintance of our master de­lights, nor frown upon the temptations [Page 35]that flatter us, and that have formerly ministred pleasure unto us: Hence it is that Solomon advises, Prov. 22.6. that a Child should be trained up in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it: and, Eccles. 12.1. it is required to remember our Creator in the days of our youth; which differs not from the Apostles sense, where we are com­manded to flee youthful lusts. 2 Tim. 2.22. Every man is naturally a stranger to spiritual things, 1 Cor. 2.14. for the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God.

But much more are they estranged from these things, and with greatest difficulties are they brought to any sense or feeling, any taste and liking of them, who have long lived the life of sense.

2. The next Reason why we live so little by Faith, is because we live be­yond and besides the measures of Gods promises, and that in two respects:

1. In respect of the things we desire.

2. In respect of the time we desire them in; in both which regards we ex­ceed the measures of Gods promises, and consequently set our hearts beside the foundation of Faith, which cannot [Page 36]stand but upon such a promise.

1. We exceed the measures of Gods promises in the things we desire, not be­cause God doth not promise that which is sufficient, but because we desire more than enough. God hath not promised wealth and honours, riches and abun­dance to every man: All men were not born to be great and powerful; we cannot all descend from Kings and Princes, we cannot all dwell in Courts and Palaces, Noble blood springs by drops, and flows in rare and few chan­nels; If there were no Subjects there would be no Kings, nor could there be Masters unless there were Servants to make them such: The perfection of the world, the orderly administration of humane affairs do require that there be a great diversity amongst men: there must be rich and poor, high and low, great and small, rulers and subjects both together, and one as well as another, for perfect equality will bring perfect confusion, that being a state wherein no man was obliged to secure another, and therefore a state without degrees and without order. Now herein is the excess and errour of mens desires, eve­ry [Page 37]man would be great, every man would be rich, honourable and noble, every man would possess the greatest estate, the noblest honours, and the highest preferments: Men love to be in the world like the Pharisees in Syna­gogues in the highest rooms; but this is a design which cannot be performed, because it is not promised, and being there is in this case no promise from God, there can be no faith in man; so that in such a case 'tis impossible a man should live by faith. Now do thou judge impartially, who ever thou art, whether this be not thy condition? Is it not thy design to get a great estate? herein thou canst not live by faith, for it is not promised unto thee; food and rayment thou maist expect, and con­tent also together with them, for thus far God hath promised to supply thee, if thou beest not wanting to thy self, and therefore thus far thou mayest live by faith: But now that thou shalt be as rich as thy neighbour, or as successful as thy brother, or as well preferred as thy friend, or as well esteemed as thine enemy, this is not necessary for thee, nor it may be good for others, nor pro­mised [Page 38]by God, nor attainable by law­ful means, and therefore in such a de­sign for these things thou canst not move by faith. Now alas my friends, are we not all much to blame in these things? Do we not stretch our desires in earthly things further than God hath intended his promises? How few are there that can be content with that which is moderate, though that which is such be more sufficient than that which is too much? Behold the poor man (the Porter) that carries thy bur­then in the streets, he is as satisfied as thou that ownest the burthen it self, that is, he is really as rich, but yet nei­ther thou nor he are fully satisfied. He would possess the place that thou doest, and thou the place of him that is above thee, and he the place of him that is a­bove him, and were we but all one de­gree higher, oh then we should do well enough, for we see content dwelling in the degree just above us, and yet be­hold when we are advanced to that de­gree, content is fled from thence, and we are even yet but where we were be­fore. In the mean time, while every man runs beyond the goal, and stretches [Page 39]himself beyond sufficiency, and over­shoots the promises of God, and his own need, in the inordinacy of his de­sires; no wonder if he wavers where God hath not establish'd him; if he fluctuate in his hopes where God hath not promised to gratifie his desires; no wonder if he be full of uncertain­ties, doubts, fears, disquiets, without faith, without hope, without assurance, without comfort, where he is gone so far that he hath left God behind him, and desires a greater portion, than Gods infinite Bounty thinks and knows to be sufficient for him.

Secondly, As men exceed the promi­ses of God in the measure of the things that they desire, so likewise of the things that they desire, so likewise in the time that we wish to gain our desires in; we are generally very forward and impati­ent, very greedy and importunate for our ends, we are not willing to stay Gods time for our portions and allot­ments in this world. The Heir inquires into his Fathers years, before he is fit to govern his Estate, he would have Land before he have discretion, and Ri­ches before he have bounty or wisdom either. Rachel must have Children [Page 40]forthwith, or else she will forthwith give up the Ghost: She would grow big with Child as speedily as she swell'd with desire of Children; and though not old as yet, not past bearing and fruitful years, yet is she so impatient, so importunate in her demands of her Husband, that she puts a patient man into a passion, Gen. 3 [...].2. Am I in Gods stead, who hath with-held from thee the fruit of the womb?

It is a great disease, and very epide­mical, to be instantly weary of those burthens that God lays upon us. If we be a while sick, how impatiently do we long for health! If we be wronged and injured, how vehemently do we desire to be righted forthwith! If an Enemy hath wounded our honors stain­ed and blemished our reputation by a false report, O how passionately do we long to meet, to convince, to assault that man! We know no rest, we are not at ease, we know not well how to eat or drink, or sleep, till we meet the enemy, till we have retrieved our Honour, till we have thrown off the dirt from our selves upon him, and made him drink his own potion, and [Page 41]swallow up his own vomit again. Thus it is with us in all our griefs; they are unto our flesh like fire, which we in­stantly snatch from the smell of the flame, not having patience to endure to be singed, much less to be scorch'd with a keen affliction. But now Faith doth not move so quick, Isai. 28.16. He that belie­veth maketh not haste. As God knows better how, so also better when, to grant our desires, than we do. Hast thou a crazy Body? Wait Gods time for health, for health will certainly come, but it may be not on this side death: Hast thou a desperate Child, broken Fortunes, a ruin'd Estate, a decay'd house? Trust in God for the recovery of all things, but wait Gods time, for Faith is always patient, and impatience always the creature of unbelief. Many a time hath the Sun broke into an ex­cellent lustre, after a cloudy Gloom, or a violent Storm: Many a time hath God restored Riches after Poverty, and cau­sed a flourishing Estate to grow out of the ashes of a consumed Fortune: Ma­ny a time hath he sent home a Prodigal Son reformed, and snatched the fire­brand out of the fire, and drawn the [Page 42]Lamb out of the Wolf's mouth, giving joy for heaviness, beauty for ashes, and a garment of praise for a spirit of mourning: But then Gods own time must be waited for, we must not num­ber minutes, we must not determine moments, we must not prescribe times and seasons unto God; we that cannot make the Sun arise, must not set God a day; for if we be in haste we do not act in Faith, our haste will make our ends slow, and our forwardness will inflame our impatience, will rent our desires, will cool the hand of God, which would o­therwise work our desires. In the mean time consider this. When we have been sick, and poor, and injured, and depress­ed, and afflicted long enough, then God will deliver, and not before; and because we expect deliverance before, there­fore we do not live by Faith.

Thirdly, Many men live not by Faith, because they never apprehend them­selves to have any need of so living: Faith looks at its portion afar off, views Canaan from Pisgah, and Heaven from Canaan, it is the subsistence of things not seen, whereas they have all they stand in need of under their hands; [Page 43]they have their portion in possession, youth, health, strength, riches, honors, preferments, all things they desire, or know to be desirable, behold they have them in view, nay they have them in possession; and so they do not stand in need of Faith to make them happy, or content in the view of Heaven, in the expectation of that God which is future, because they see and enjoy all the good things that they desire here at present. Thus doth the rich man rejoice in his present Fortune, and the charms of his own heart, Luke 12.19. Soul thou hast much Goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Behold, he had a great stock and suffi­ciency of present Comforts; He fed his eye with plenty of Corn, and gra­sped his treasures in his hand, he had his treasures laid up in his Barnes, and had lockt up his Content in his own possession, and what need of living by Faith where there was fruition? What need of hope, where there was enjoy­ment? What need of borrowing con­tents from the expectation of what was future, when he had abundance of Contents at present? It is distress that [Page 44]drives us unto God; It is weakness that makes us lay hold on strength, and sense of poverty that gives us the de­sire of being rich, according to that of the Prophet, Hos. 5.15. In their afflictions they will seek me early. It's seldome that men seek the Lord, unless they need some Good, or fear some Evil; 'Tis hunger makes us cry for bread, and na­kedness makes us provide cloathing, or danger forces us unto God: Therefore saith the Prophet, Isai. 5.11, 12. Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night while wine inflame them. And the harp, and the vial, the tabret and the pipe, and wine are in their feasts, but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operati­ons of his hands. When there was such plenty of Wine and Musick, and strong Drink, where flourishing prosperity was watered with Rivers of pleasure, then they were so far from regarding the words of Gods mouth, that is, Li­ving by promise, that is, by Faith, that they regarded not the work of his hands, Charge them that are rich in this World, 1 Tim. 6.17. that they be not high-minded, [Page 45]nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy. It is an hard thing it should seem, to have Riches, and not to have them as a God; to have wealth, and not to trust in it; and therefore it often comes to pass, that they that have riches, and power, and content, and satisfaction enough, or think there may be enough of these without God, they never look further than these things, for we never seek unto God till neces­sity leads us unto him.

Fourthly, The life of Faith puts up­on continual exercise of mind, and sets all our powers upon the stretch, and often carries much of contest and anxiety in it; and therefore being we are so much inclined to sloth and ease, and carnal security, we are loth to live in so continual a labour, and to give our selves the trouble of a continual watch or battle against the world. The Apostle in the sixth to the Ephesians styles Faith a shield, and to this shield addes many other parts of Christian Ar­mour, which supposeth that the life of Faith is a warfare, is a Military Con­dition, and therefore a state of strict [Page 46]and righteous Discipline, We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against Principalities and Powers, and there­fore take unto you the whole Armour of God, &c. Stand, having your loins girt about with truth, above all things taking the shield of faith, whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, &c. First, Observe here we are engaged against mighty e­nemies, Principalities and Powers; and they also against us: and, Secondly, That we have use of many weapons a­gainst so mighty enemies: but, Thirdly, That we have greater need of Faith than any other, for so saith the Apo­stle, Above all things taking the shield of faith. St. Peter also, describing to us the life of a Christian, exhorts us to give all diligence, 2 Pet. 1.5, 6. to adde to our faith vertue, and to vertue knowledge, &c. Where you may observe; First, The abundance of work that a Christian hath to do, what a great number of Graces to study and obtain. Secondly, Observe Faith stands in the front of all this number, it is the first name in the Catalogue; And then, Thirdly, Ob­serve that the very next thing to Faith [Page 47]is Vertue, or Christian Courage or For­titude and Spirit: To intimate to us that these are great combats and diffi­culties, great trials and exercises in the life of Faith. Do but cast your eyes upon the labours and agonies, upon the pangs and throes that sometimes offend the life of Faith, and then you must needs understand how unsuitable and disgustful it must needs be to a lazy, slothful humour. Behold the Psalmist in a strong exercise of faith, and see what a multitude of various passions and workings attend that exercise, Psal. 42.1. As the Hart panteth after the water­brooks, so panteth my Soul after thee, O God. —2. My soul thirsteth for the Lord, the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? —3. My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? —5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. And yet a­gain, I will say unto God, my Rock, —9. Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning, because of the oppression [Page 48]of the enemy? And yet after all this again, Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Behold here what a multitude of strong pangs, vehement strivings, various passions, mighty fluctuations and commotions there have been in the exercise of this good mans faith.

1. Strong and vehement desire, long­ings and pantings after God, verse the first: and this is the first breath and haste of faith.

2. After this a storm of tears, like as rain descends sometimes in a tem­pest: this verse the third.

3. After this motion towards God, behold a return unto himself, a dispute with his own heart, a doubt within his own breast, a quarrel in his own soul: verse the fifth.

4. And yet fourthly, behold the dis­pute is no sooner begun, but faith puts an end to it; fear doth no sooner speak, but hope stops its mouth, Why art thou cast down, O my soul? hope thou in God: in the same verse.

5. And yet fifthly, fear is no sooner silenced but it speaks again; Vers. 9. I will say unto God, why hast thou forgotten me?

6. And yet again, fears cannot so of­ten return, but faith turns them back a­gain, for so doth the Psalmist return to God and himself, Vers. 11. Why art thou cast down O my soul, &c.

Lo here the battles of faith, lo here the strifes and agonies, the conflicts and difficulties it is exercised withall! The exercise of faith sometimes makes us weary in the day and watch in the night; it sometimes makes our sleep short, and the nights long, our dreams troublesome, and our wakings painful, it makes a pale face and a thin visage, a thoughtful heart, (not of it self, but by reason of the conflicts against our lusts that it puts us upon) nor do those con­flicts last long, but preface unto tri­umphs and victories, yea unto joyes and pleasures. In the mean time faith causes deep thoughts, strong affections, vehe­ment longings, it wakens every eye, it strengthens every nerve, it exercises e­very power, it tryes every grace, it a­ctuates all the vigours of the soul, and because this is a life of labour and strife, [Page 50]of pains and difficulties, though but for a time, therefore we are loth to live the life of faith.

5. We are diverted from the exer­cise and life of faith by the guise and humour of the world, which is the rea­son why the Apostle exhorts us thus, Rom. 12.2. Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Now there are three things wherein we are deceived by the guise of the world.

1. We see men labouring for other ends than the ends of Faith.

2. We see them succeed sometimes in those labours.

3. We see them valued for that suc­cess.

First, It is in the guise of the world a strange thing to seek for any thing but worldly things; Solomons design, though not in his blood, runs in most mens veins. I made, says he, great works, I builded me houses, I planted me Vineyards, I made me Gardens and Orchards, I planted trees in them of all kinds, I made me pools of water, I got me servants and maidens, great possessions of great and small cattel; I [Page 51]gathered me silver and gold, and the peculiar treasures of Kings; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as mu­sical instruments, and that of all sorts, and whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy. Eccles. 2. Thus did Solo­mon, thus does every mans neighbour almost in several measures and degrees. He seeks an estate, he courts a fortune, he studies riches, he catches at honours, he labours at the preferments of this world; and this is one of the first things we observe in it.

2. We see one or other of our neigh­bours by these means growing rich, and acquiring wealth, he builds houses, he buyes land, he raises his family, he lives high, and maintains all in a splendid pomp.

3. We see him by secular cares and labours growing rich, and valued, e­steemed, courted and sued unto because of those riches, and this presently in­flames our spirits, this sets all on fire to be as rich, as noble, as great, as much esteem­ed as he is. And hence now we begin to lay our plots and designs, and contrive [Page 52]the means of growing great, and rich, and popular; and these designs thus laid, they imploy our heads, our hearts, our hands in the getting of riches and honours, they lay God aside, they re­move heaven out of our thoughts, they banish truth out of our mouths, they throw justice out of our feet, they cut off the sinews of faith, they extinguish every spark of love, they fill our hearts with covetousness, and our tongues with guile, and teach our lips to speak leasing; they kindle a thirst in us after other mens goods, they anoint our hands with the sweat of the poor, they pave our way with frauds and deceits; in the mean time notwithstanding all this, the world will admire a fool if he be rich, however he will bless and ad­mire himself; whereas the life of faith is on the contrary, the life of faith is a thing unseen, unknown, obscure, and nothing popular, for our Life is hid with Christ in God; Faith doth not shine and glitter in the world, it doth not walk in silks, nor rattle in coaches, nor present it self to be admired and gazed on in the streets; Faith doth not prefer and advance, ennoble and ele­vate [Page 53]a man in this world; no, nor doth it speak vehemently in the pulpit, nor is it loud, and clamorous in prayer, it is not cryed up for zeal and godliness, for gifts and utterance; but it is a si­lent, humble, hidden thing that dwells at home, that prays in the closet, that sighs within its own breast, that lives hard and low, mean and obscure, teach­eth a man how to eat pulse, and to drink water, and to give God thanks: And hence it comes to pass, that it is mean and ignoble, little and despised in the eye of the world. Thus you have seen how it comes to pass that we are estranged from the life of Faith.

First, we are ingaged by sense early and betimes in the morning of our lives.

2. We live beyond and besides the measure and degrees of Gods promises.

3. We are not often sensible of the need of Faith, which eyes the future, because we rejoyce in the sufficiency of the present.

4. Faith ingages us in conflicts, and difficulties, in strife and battle against our selves: And

5. We are imposed upon by the guise of the world, where we see men la­bouring [Page 54]with all their might for secular things, successful oftentimes in that la­bour, and valued for that success. God grant that worldly Glory may not da­zle our eyes, that worldly ease may not charm our hearts to a forgetfulness of God, of Heaven, and of our selves, that we may not value the things that are seen, for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.

Thus I have dispatched what I had to say of the excellency of Faith, and the impediments of living by it, I am now to discourse of the evil of Infide­lity; and that,

1. As it withdraws us from God; If any man draw back.

2. As it withdraws God from us; my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Now by infidelity, I mean our not believing any thing that is delivered by God, and more particularly an unbelief of those promises, or those parts of Divine Re­velations, which are the great pillars of our Faith and Hope, such as tell us in general, that there is a providence that concerns it self in us, and in all our af­fairs in this world.

2. That this Providence over-ruleth all things for the good of them that love God: And then, Rom. 8.

3. In particular, that the precepts and prohibitions of the Gospel are un­doubtedly the Laws of God: And,

4. That obedience unto those Laws endears a man unto God here, and shall be rewarded by him hereafter, and on the contrary, that disobedience to them shall be eternally punished.

For the belief of these and such like things, is truly that Faith by which the Just Man lives, and consequently, the disbelief or unbelief of them, that whereby he is withdrawn from God: It is far from being akin to truth, to think that to believe I am elect, or that I am sanctified, or that I am a Son of God is that faith, whereby the Just do live, and indeed so far, that the be­lief of these things is not properly any part of faith at all, being that these things are no where particularly reveal­ed, and therefore be not mistaken in your account of Faith: But that noble principle of life, whereby the Just live, it is the belief of remission of sins by Jesus Christ, and of the reward of ever­lasting [Page 56]joys hereafter; together with the acknowledgement of Gods watch­ful eye over his flock and people here; and as the belief of these things does u­nite us unto God, so 'tis the want of this Faith that doth estrange us from him, as will appear from these follow­ing particulars:

1. Infidelity as now explained takes away the hope of eternal happiness, it confutes the expectations of everlast­ing rewards, and by so doing with­draws us unto the uttermost distance and estrangement from God. There is no man upon earth but what he acts willingly he acts in hope; belief is the principle of every voluntary action in the world. He that plows intends to sow, and he that sows intends to reap, and he that reaps to gather in, and he that gathers in, to eat and drink of the fruit of his labours: So that upon ac­count to doubt whether it be lawful to obey Gods Commands, with an eye to, and from a desire of the rewards which God hath promised, is to doubt whether it be lawful to obey at all, since obedience is not possible upon any other terms: And this is largely [Page 57]proved by Arnobius against the Hea­then, who denied the believing of the Christians, that there was nothing ever done by any of themselves, but by the operation of some belief. Now there­fore that Infidelity which stifles the be­lief of everlasting Life, that strangles all endeavours after that Life, for who will endeavour for that which is not? Who will deny himself for heaven, un­less he be assured that a heaven there is to support his soul in that self-denial? Alas, no man is content to be miserable for nought, no man is miserable, but out of a desire of happiness, no man denies himself but for his own advan­tage, no man is willing to suffer loss in this world, but in hope for advantage in a better; 'tis more than either God commands, or than the rarest Saint ever practised, to embrace a dear affliction, to undergo a calamity for nought: The very Apostles of Christ and Christ him­self lookt through the miseries of this life, upon the felicities of that which is to come, they eyed the recompence of reward, saw the joy that was set before them, and this gave them spirit and courage to bear up against all the bat­teries [Page 58]of temptation: Thus speaks the Apostle himself; 2 Cor. 4.16, 17, 18. For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is re­newed day by day: for our light affli­ction, which is but for a moment, work­eth for us a far more exceeding weight of Glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, &c. There are none of the calamities of this world that come to a good man at a dear rate, all the afflictions of this life are cheap and easie when we consider the recom­pence of reward: Fire is not hot, po­verty is not poor, the sword is not sharp, afflictions are not afflicting, mi­series are not miserable, when we con­sider that a Paradise of everlasting plea­sure springs out of the ashes of our mi­series and decays; and therefore this makes a good man love God, and cleave unto him in the midst of all those dif­ficulties he gives him to encounter, for he sees the Sun shine through the clouds, he beholds heaven even by the light of a flame, and the same evils that press outwards, issue in springs of joy also: But now what shall draw that man to [Page 59]God, whom everlasting rewards do not draw to his duty? What shall engage that man to labour, who doth not ex­pect any reward? (Behold) the plea­sures of this world, ease, riot and wan­tonness come and court an Infidel, and why should this Infidel refuse these pleasures, while he expects nothing bet­ter than they are for this refusal? They smile in his face, they fawn upon his eye, they drop into his lips, they en­chant his ear, they whisper all contents unto him, and what hath he to coun­tervail the loss of these delights while he believes no other besides these only? Come on profane (say the herd of In­fidels) let us speedily use the Creature as in youth, let us fill our selves with costly wine, and ointments, and let no flower of the spring poss by us; let us crown our selves with rose-buds before they be withered, let none of us go without his part of jollity, let us leave tokens of our joyfulness in every place, for this is our portion and our lot, Wisd. 2.6, 7, 8, 9. Again, Wisd. 2.6, 7, 8, 9. suppose af­flictions fall upon an unbelieving man, suppose he be called to suffer for God, or to speak for the truth of the Gospel, [Page 60]and that by the cracking of his bones upon a rack, or by the hissing of his flesh in the fire, what shall this man do? shall he suffer or shall he sin? shall he burn incense to an Idol, or shall he sa­crifice himself to God? shall he live and the Gospel die, or shall he die and the Gospel flourish? Alas, these questions are no questions in this case, for to what end should he yield to suffer for any thing, that cannot believe that any suf­ferings are rewarded? 'Tis true, Moses refused to be called the Son of Pha­raohs Daughter, but 'twas because he chose to be the Son of God; he con­temned the pleasures of sin which are but for a season, but 'twas to enjoy the reward of righteousness for ever; he turned his back upon the riches of Ae­gypt, but it was out of love to the trea­sures of heaven: No Martyr dies for Truth, but borrows courage for the life of Faith: No Confessor justifies the Gospel, but Faith loosens his tongue; no Saint divorces earthly things, but with an heart panting after things hea­venly; no good man denies himself, but 'tis to enjoy a better than himself, it is to enjoy God: Whereas Infidelity [Page 61]lets loose all the sins and temptations in the world upon us, (and by so doing withdraws us from Cod) Infidelity will curse God, blaspheme truth, deride the Gospel, flatter mens lusts, court the corruption of a Tyrant, oppress the poor, and stamp upon Justice: It's In­fidelity will do any thing here, because it expects nothing hereafter.

2. The same unbelief which ener­vates the hopes of rewards of duty, doth also drive us into despair of assi­stance to do it: Satan takes us off not only from trusting in God for the re­wards of his bounty, but also from re­lying on him for the assistance of his Spirit; and by this means cuts us off from the influences of Divine Grace, and sets us into great alienation from God.

For as the Sun is united to the Earth by his Beams and Influences, so is God united to us by the operations of his Graces; and where we do not receive the influences of those operations, where we do not feel the inward powers of Gods spirit inclining our hearts God­ward, there we soon grow into estrange­ment from God. Now it is Faith that [Page 62]draws down the influences of Gods spi­rit upon us; Faith carries up the soul in a holy confidence into the gracious presence of God, and there borrows holy fire, thence fetches spirit and cou­rage to do all that is to be done by us. And this is as easily proved as said; for the spirit is promised to them that ask, and they that ask must ask in faith; and they that do so ask shall not be denied, If ye being evil, Luke 11.13. know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? There is the Spirit promised to them that ask it; but then saith St. James, Let him ask in faith, Jam. 1.6. nothing wave­ring. Here it's shewed that we must ask in faith; but where no faith is, there is no prayer; and where no pray­er is, there is no promise of Gods spirit, and where none of this spirit, there are we utterly estranged from God; e­stranged by infidelity and unbelief.

3. Unbelief exposes to all worldly fears, and worldly fears to all the tem­ptations of the world, withdraws our hearts from God, and perverts the ways of truth and righteousness. It is [Page 63]a remakable Scripture, that ranks the fearful with the unbelieving, and the unbelieving with the abominable, the Murtherer and the Whoremonger, the Sorcerer, the Idolater, and the Liar. The words are these, Rev. 21.7, 8. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murtherers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and ido­laters, and all lyars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Observe first, that it is faith that o­vercomes temptations. Secondly, That the fearful and unbelieving are over­come by it. Thirdly, That being over­come, they are lost from God, and have their portion in the Lake of Hell. Two things I desire you here to consi­der.

1. That unbelief puts us under the power of fear.

2. That fear puts us under the pow­er of all temptations.

1. It puts us under the power of fear: for who is the support of mans [Page 64]heart, but God? and how doth God support, but by his promise? and how doth the promise support, but by be­ing believed? and where not believed, there Gods Word cannot encourage, there Gods promise cannot revive, there eternal rewards cannot strength­en. So that, upon that account the Covenant seal'd by Christs blood, the miracles performed by Christs spirit, the promises of eternal joys, eternal joys themselves, signifie nothing to an un­believing man; and what hath a belie­ving man but these to support him? Alas! take a man without regard to the hopes of Heaven, and respect to ano­ther World, and he is at the mercy of every little danger for life or fortune; a Fly may stop his breath, a little stone may knock him into his Grave, a spark of fire may burn his house, and sur­prize him also in his bed. He that lives not in hopes of a better world, must needs be in fears of this, because he hath laid up all his treasure in it. And thus unbelief puts us under the power of fear.

2. This fear puts us under the power of many great temptations, and those [Page 65]temptations estrange us from God. A man had need of a great deal of brave courage to maintain a clear integrity in a stormy blustering world. There are not many men that have courage to de­ny themselves. It is a greatness of mind to be of a publick spirit. It is a kind of Godlike Generosity, a kind of Chri­stian Bravery, to live above the world, and not to be tempted to do an inju­ry, to supplant a neighbour, to tread one step awry of the way of Justice, no not to take up a great Fortune, not to gather up a Crown, not to cut a Sce­pter out of a thorny hedge. It is some­thing strange indeed, but yet so it is, there is a fear in unbelief, which is that very thing that doth dispirit and disena­ble us from well doing, and throws us down under every temptation. The great reason why we do amiss is this, Because we dare not trust God in well­doing. Behold, this man dares not trust Divine Providence in the cheer­ful enjoyment of that little estate that God hath given him: And this un­belief produces fear, and fear produ­ces care, and care issues in sorrow, and this sorrow wounds his heart, weakens [Page 66]his spirit, disquiets his rest, and breaks him also in pieces. Alas, says fear, If I speak truth, this man will frown, and that great man will be offended, &c. Alas, says the man, what shall I do? I have great charges and little gains; great payments, and small wages, how shall I support my Family? how shall I feed my Children? how shall I maintain my credit and reputation? will the singer of Providence spin? and will Gods hand toil for me? shall I be fed with a Ravens Bill? or will the Clouds drop down Manna for me? Alas! I find my Fortunes decay, and less than miracle cannot retrieve me, and the time of miracles is now past. Thus do many men through fear vex and torment themselves. Another man hath a thousand pounds a year, and yet dare not trust God to give twenty pounds, no not twenty shillings, to any publick use, no, for ought he knows he may come to want. Another hath laid house to house, and land to land, bought up all round about him, but one small Farm of his Neighbours, yet he hath not enough till he hath that too. He dare not trust Gods Providence to maintain [Page 67]him with his own large revenues, but he must have that little of his neighbours too, or else he cannot be satisfied. A­hab must have Naboth's Vineyard, else certainly the whole Kingdom beside will not afford him Wine enough. Joab must have Abner's life, else dare he not trust God with his Interest in David, nor his Command in the Army, nor his Honour in the world. Saul must be wiser than God, and spare the best of the spoil of the Amalekites, or else God could not sufficiently furnish him with Flocks, nor himself with Sacrifices. Thus fear issues from unbelief, and all manner of evils issue from fear: Fear is a cowardly base thing, and being so, is easily overcome to any thing. I know not whether it may seem strange or not, but it is most certain, Faith is the great­est bravery in the world; and nothing so base, so covetous so unjust so cruel, so sordid, as Fear: Fear robs the poor, wrongs our neighbour, betrays a friend, murthers an enemy, doth all evil al­most that is to be done; that is fear lest it should not be well with us if we should do as God hath command­ed us, and this fear flows from unbe­lief, [Page 68]and this unbelief withdraws us from God.

4. Unbelief sends us to the things of this world, to those frail, transitory things, for our portion; and that which sends us to the world, carries us away from God; No man can serve two ma­sters; he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, Matt. 6.24. and despise the other; he cannot serve God and Mammon. And again, Love not the world, nor the things of the world, he that loveth the world, the love of the father is not in him.

Heaven and Earth are of a contrary gust, a man cannot love Heaven and Earth too; however he that hopes not for a Heaven, must seek his portion in Earth, for every man must have some­thing to live upon. From the begin­ning of the world until this time, there hath not been a man without a design of being happy in something; and they that do not study the things a­bove, they fix here below.

This, this is the thing that makes ri­ches dear unto us, that puts a value upon the enjoyments of this World, that sets a lustre upon the Honours and [Page 69]Pleasures of Earth; Men do not live in the expectation of Heaven, nor do they make God their reward, and his promises their satisfaction. Turn your eyes into the world a little, and behold men lye on heaps, the world lies in con­fusion, every man scrambling for the greatest share, every man striving for the greatest part and interest in the World. How many pine away with worldly care? how many burn with a greedy desire? how many consume in fretful envy? how many languish a­way in discontent, meerly because they cannot be great, and rich, and honou­rable, and prefer'd in the world? Now all this springs from unbelief, for Hea­ven satisfies all desires, Heaven feeds all our hunger, Heaven contents all our longings, yea the hope of Heaven doth all these things. Psal. 4.6, 7. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? says the Psalmist, Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us; thou hast put gladness into my heart, more than in the time that their Corn and Wine encreased. Thus the world wander every where for a portion, and lose it by thus wandring; they stray from [Page 70]their own Comforts, they forsake their own rests, they lose their ends, by seek­ing them where they are not; they find no where, because they seek every where, but in God, but in Heaven.

But he that finds nothing out of God, finds all things in him, riches, pleasures, reputation, friends, and all interests, and therefore the Psalmist concludes, Psal. 4.8. I will lay me down in peace, and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

5. As unbelief sends us to the world for our Contents, so it hurries through any means to our end; it puts upon gaining our designs without considering any other mans loss, and satisfying our own desires without caring whosoever he is, whether God or Man, or both, that shall be dissatisfied with it. There is no dealing with a man that lives not under a sense of God, and the hope of a better World; He cannot be belie­ved what he speaks, he cannot be trusted what he vows, he may not be confided in when he smiles, he cannot be un­derstood either in word or action, be­ing nothing within but frauds, deceits, cruelties, wrongs, oppressions, and all [Page 71]manner of evils. It is a remarkable pas­sage we have to this purpose, 2 Thess. 3.2. Pray for us (saith the Apostle) that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wick­ed men, for all men have not faith. Observe, Men without faith, are men without reason. They that live not in the hope of Heaven, they live not in the fear of God; they may mean as ill as they please, and they may do as ill as they can; He that doth not value Hea­ven, cannot value truth, mercy, or goodness, the estate of his friend, the reputation of his father, the safety of his Prince, the good of his Country, the life of his brother, all these things sig­nifie nothing, when they lye in an Infi­dels way unto his end.

As faith will do all that is good for a­nother, so infidelity will do all that is evil for a mans self: Infidelity shall stick at nothing whatsoever, it will va­lue no mans life, it will boggle at no mans blood, it will strain at no mans estate, it will scruple at no mans repu­tation.

If Lying will serve an end, infideli­ty will lye; if perjury will promote a design, infidelity will forswear it self; [Page 72]if murther will gain a Fortune, infide­lity will kill; if bruitishness will lend a man a little pleasure, infidelity will make a man a Beast.

If the Gospel be to be shamed, if God be to be dishonoured, if Christ be to be betrayed, Christ's Blood to be shed, behold Judas's unbelief, and Pilate's infidelity will do all these things, and if it were possible far worse than these, and no wonder then if infidelity with­draws from God.

THese Words suggest unto us, 1. That there is a Providence: 2. That this Providence doth extend it self to the least things: Wherefore I shall accordingly, first speak of the Being of Providence, and then of its measures and extents. Now Providence is defined by Tho. A­quinas, The reason of the order of means to their end: by Boethius, The Divine reason of God disposing all things: And by Ludov. Vin. to the same purpose, The Will of God governing all things according to his own wisdome and counsel. Now though Vaninus dislike these definitions (and no wonder, that [Page 74]he who at bottom was enemy to Pro­vidence it self, should not be well plea­sed with the definition of it) yet any of them serve well enough to express my meaning, who by Providence un­derstand no more than that power, wis­dom and counsel of God, preserving, ordering and governing of all things, persons and affairs to certain ends and purposes according as seems best unto him. And that there is such a Provi­dence in this world, is the first thing I am to prove.

And truly Providence or Divine Wisdom in the world they are like light, they cannot be hid, they cannot be ob­scur'd and cover'd; where ever I call your eyes, which way soever I turn your thoughts, whether backward or forward, whether upon God or the world, the light of Gods Providence does every way shine in our eyes, and presents it self to our view: And

1. Please to turn your eyes back a little upon the nature of God, and con­sider the reason of Providence, (à pri­ori) and here you will see that Gods nature is such, that there being a God there must be a Providence also; for [Page 75]what is God but a Being infinitely per­fect, and what is a Being infinitely per­fect but a Being infinitely wise, infinite­ly good, and infinitely powerful? And where there is infinite wisdom, power and goodness, it cannot be imagined, but that there must be a Providence also.

Infinite wisdom cannot but see all things, else it would not be infinite, else would not be what it is: Infinite good­ness most certainly will not forbear to interpose, being Goodness it self, being Justice and Truth is every where con­cerned: Goodness as such is communi­cative of it self, and therefore cannot be supposed having made the world, to sit still and not concern it self in it, e­specially considering that there is infi­nite power ready at hand to execute what infinite wisdom shall contrive, and what equal goodness shall chuse. No wise man ever bestowed his pains, and imployed his care, and laid out trea­sure to make a house, and then present­ly left that house without an inhabi­tant, for Owles, and the Bats, for the Satyr and the Dragon to dwell in; much less can it be supposed that God made the world, and then presently deserted [Page 76]it after it was made, that he left those things to be governed by chance that he had made by wisdom. No, certain­ly that of the Poet is true cited by Ju­stin Martyr ....... I cannot think the Epicureans in their wits, when they ac­count it a disparagement, that God should be every where observant and concerned. It is monstrous to hear Occilus in Minutius mocking at the God of the Christians as every where present, unquiet and troublesome; and even (as a dog would speak) impu­dently curse him. For how should infi­nite wisdom be any where excluded? and where is God interested if not in his own Creatures, and how is he not to be concerned where he is so much inter­ested? Who ever saw a wise and a gra­cious Father unconcerned in the lives, actions and affairs of his children; and how should the common Father of the world, from whom natural Fathers de­rive their inclinations, be unconcerned in the ordering and government of his Creation in the world? Especially con­sidering that Gods wisdom is never weary with seeing, nor his power and goodness tired out with any imploy­ment. [Page 77]It is no trouble to Divine Wis­dom to have an eye to every affair, no burden to his Power to order what he sees, nothing tedious to his Goodness thus to imploy his wisdom and power, for nothing is weary but that which is weak, and nothing of God being weak, nothing of him possibly can be weary neither.

2. Having thus far looked back, and beheld Divine Providence in the cause, turn your eyes now forward, and be­hold it in the effects; having seen it in God, view it now in the world: And here I can use them otherwise than the Jews do their Disciples when they teach them the Doctrine of the intellectual world. I can only point a finger at the heads of things, but cannot stay to draw out all their lines, and represent them in their full proportions. Every thing is full of Divine Providence—Jovis omnia plena—he hath written his name upon every Creature, and printed the footsteps of his wisdom in all orders of things, in all actions and effects from the top to the bottom of the Creation: Whether we view, 1. things Natural; or, 2. things Supernatural and mira­culous; [Page 78]or, 3. things of a middle na­ture. And first for things natural: 1. things inanimate, and 2. things animate; whether 1. with plantal, or, 2. with animal life, do all demonstrate a Providence unto us.

1. Things inanimate: The Heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and the firmament sheweth his handy-work, day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge; there is no speech, nor language where their voice is not heard. Psal. 19.1, 2, 3. All sorts of men in the world that have had eyes to see the same, have had light to see a Pro­vidence in that Sun also; sayes Cicero de natura deorum; What can be so plain, so perspicuous, when we see the heavens, as that there is some noble mind that rules all these things? And so Minutius Foelix, Look upon the heaven it self, and the light of the stars is not more visible, than the eye of Providence in that light.

Behold the vicissitudes of night and day, of day to work and of night to rest in; night for the wild beast and day for man and them that are tame to feed in, do shew so much of the wisdom [Page 79]of God, that the Psalmist makes a stand upon this contemplation, and breaks out into an admiration while he thus contemplates; Man goeth forth unto his work and unto his labour until the evening: O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all, Psal. 124.23, 24. the earth is full of thy riches. Behold, the increase and de­crease of the year imports a proporti­onable measure of light and heat, and influence to all parts of the earth, which could not be if the Sun should move in a parallel: The access and recess of the Sun, the vicissitudes of Winter and Summer, Spring and Autumn, give us Seed-time and Harvest, Corn and Wine in due season: The Autumn or Spring gives us opportunity to sow our Seed, and the winter moistens the earth, that it affords nourishment to what is sown; the Spring opens the womb of the grave, and by gentle beams gives life to the Seed that was dead, and cloathes it with a new vesture, and then the Sum­mer fills the ear with Corn, and ripens that fulness for the sickle; so that we sow and reap, and gather into barns, we eat and drink, and make merry, and [Page 80]rejoyce in our portion by the Provi­dence and blessing of God upon us.

From the heavens descend into the Air, and behold it is a thin and tran­sparent body to transmit the light of the Sun unto us; again, so hot in the lowest Regions as to draw up vapours from hence below, and so cold in the middle Regions as to thicken those va­pours into clouds, and those clouds in­to rain to water and refresh, to enrich and impregnate the earth.

From the Air let us dive into the wa­ter, and behold the common receptacle of them, to wit, the Sea, is, 1. an uni­versal treasure and fountain of moi­sture: 2. It is the great store-house of Fish, and all its shores one way or other very useful: 3. It is useful also for Navigation, and for speedy traffick and negotiation through all parts of the world. And as for the earth the Moun­tains are the chambers of the springs, and the valleys drink the waters and grow rich by them: This is made firm for the soles of our feet, and is fraught within and without with all things needful and convenient both for man and beast; the quarries of stone, and the trees of [Page 81]the forest make us houses to dwell in on the earth, and these latter ships to move at Sea: The mines of Gold and Silver make rich and honourable, are the trump in the game we here play in the world, a common ticket to trade and pass withal: Iron and Steel, Lead and Tin, they are all useful in many num­berless respects. And 2. to come to things animate:

2. There is not an herb in the field, not a tree in the wood, not a flower in the garden, not a single blade of grass, but is useful either for Food, or for Me­dicine, or both.

3. And now if we turn our eyes up­on Animals, upon Creatures that are en­dued with sensitive life we can no where fix, but we every where find much of God, so that we rather see God in every Creature than the Crea­ture in it self: Their sexes, their gene­ration, their birth, their shape, their life, their instincts, their sympathies and antipathies do all so effectually conspire for their own good, and for the use of men, and that without their own wis­dome or contrivance, that it is evident and clear, that there is a Superiour Pro­vidence [Page 82]that teaches the fowls of the Air to build their nests in high or hid­den places, to lay their eggs, to hatch their young, and to feed them when they are hatcht. That there is a Supe­riour Providence that formed every Creature for its own safety, that arms the Lion with a tooth, and the Oxe with horns, and the Horse with hoofs, and gives the Bird a wing to fly away, and swiftness to fearful Creatures to make their escape. That there is a Su­periour Providence that fits man to Govern all things, who serves himself of every Creature, and doth himself more especially govern man.

And thus in the ordinary and natu­ral works of God we may clearly be­hold the characters of Divine Provi­dence: turn we now in the second place to those that are miraculous and extra­ordinary, and there we shall behold the same impressions.

Now these are of two sorts; 1. Mi­racles: 2. The fulfilling of Prophecies.

1. Miracles, that is, visible Effects done in the world above and contrary to the power of Nature, do clearly prove that there are in the world, wis­dom [Page 83]and power supernatural, that is, the wisdom and power of God, which we here call Providence. What abun­dance of the wisdom and power of God was there in the bringing of the Jews out of Aegypt, in the events that came upon them in the wilderness, and afterwards in their own Land? He that had seen the plagues of Aegypt, the swarms of Lice, the armies of Frogs, the legions of Caterpillars, the storms of Fire and Hail, the First-born of Ae­gypt all die in a night, and heard the living cry and groan for the dead, and all this in the circumstances of the sto­ry, had been mad, if he had denied a Providence. He that had seen the red Sea divide it self, and the waters rear up into walls to make a way for the Jews, and those walls to fall down a­gain to overwhelm the Aegyptians, must have denied the light of his eyes, if he would have denied the Providence of God. He that had seen waters gush out of a rock, and flints melt into a flowing spring, and that by the touch of a rod, had been really no man, should he have affirmed there had been no Providence. He that had seen the [Page 84]light, and heard the thunder, and smelt the smoak, felt the shaking of Mount Sinai, and seen the face of Moses de­scending from the Mount gilded with light, could not have put off the belief of a Providence, without putting off humane nature also; for to say all these things had been chance, had been to say that black was white, and white black, that chance was wisdom, and wisdom chance, that every thing was nothing, and nothing every thing. And to conclude this point by stepping from the Law unto the Gospel:

He that shall consider that Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of a Virgin, acted as great Miracles in his life as was acted at his birth, lived with­out sin, died as he lived, rose again after death, ascended in a visible glory unto heaven after his resurrection, and gave his spirit to the Apostles to do miracles as he had done, after his ascension, and all this to confirm a Law that bids us obey and we shall be saved, but if we disobey we shall be damned; that is, to confirm a Law that tells us that there is a Providence, and that over the fowls of the air, and over the lillies of the [Page 85]field, and yet denies this Providence that is thus asserted and proved; as he hath not the heart, so he is not worthy of the shape of a man.

2. As Miracles, so the fulfilling of Prophecies is amongst those extraordi­nary effects that demonstrate Provi­dence, and these are as numerous in in­stances, as certain in proof that there is a Providence; for where God fore­tells, he concerns his wisdom and his care; and where he permits or effects what is foretold, he concerns his power and authority; and where Gods wis­dom, care, power and authority are concerned, there is Providence to the highest measures and degrees. Now the fulfilling of Prophecies is a thing most remarkable in Holy Scripture, wherein the Providence of God hath been very exact.

1. The Jews are sent down into Ae­gypt by the Providence of God, and by the same Providence they are delivered out of Aegypt, the self same day that that deliverance was foretold. Exod. 12.41. 1 King. 16.34.

2. Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; and in the building thereof, he laid the foundation in Abiram, and set up [Page 86]the gates thereof in his youngest Son Segub, according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Joshua the Son of Nun. Jos. 6.26.

3. Abiathar is turned out of the Priesthood by Solomon; 1 King. 2.27. 1 Sam. 2.31. 2 Kings 9.36. and this was done, that he might fulfil the word of the Lord, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli.

4. In the portion of Jezreel did the Dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: 1 Kin. 21.23. and this was done, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spake by Elisha the Tishbite. 2 King. 23.26.

5. Josiah took the bones of the Priests and burnt them upon the Altar at Be­thel, and polluted it: And by thus doing fulfilled a Prophecy fix'd upon Josiah by name, (though long before Josiah was born) which had thus cryed, O Altar, Altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold a Child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, and upon thee shall he offer the Priests of the high places, that burn incense up­on thee, and mens bones shall be burnt upon thee.

6. Jer. 25.12. Seventy years captivity was de­termined upon the Jews. After which [Page 87]time God had promised that Cyrus, by name, should set the Captives at liberty; Isai. 44.28. and this long before Cyrus his birth: Which time being come, the same Cy­rus released the same Captivity, and that to fulfil the word of the Lord, Ezra 1.1. spoken by Jeremy the Prophet.

7. To say much in a little: Behold, the Gospel hath fulfilled the Law; Moses is unveiled in Christ, for in and by him are all the promises made good, all the prophecies fulfill'd, all the types of the Law exprest, all the shadows un­covered, all its mysteries revealed, all its darknesses unridled, so that the times of Christ are peculiarly called the fulness of time, Gal 4.4. Eph. 1.10. because his days were most sig­nal times of fulfilling of Prophecies.

He is the Priest whom those Priests typified, his death is that Sacrifice which those Sacrifices shadowed, he is now en­tred into the Holy of Holies whereof that Holy of Holies was but a Type, and he now really makes that expiation which the offerings and intercessions of those Priests did but typisie. And thus you see the Providence of God striking through all the parts of the Universe in the works of Nature; and passing [Page 88]through all times and seasons in works supernatural and miraculous.

3. Come we now in the last place to those things that are of a middle nature, that have something natural, and some­thing supernatural, something of man, and something of God in them. And these are those ordinary Histories of Providence, that in all times and A­ges present themselves unto us.

There is not a day goes over our heads, but we see some raies of Divine Providence, some traces of his wisdom presenting themselves unto us: Either a wicked man is punish'd, or a good man is rewarded, or if he be afflicted, that affliction works for good. We have occasion either to admire the Wis­dome, or review the Justice or em­brace the Goodness of God, who eve­ry where, and at all times is present with us, and reads a Lecture of his own At­tributes unto us. The Jews cursed them­selves by the blood of Christ (by which we are saved) His blood be upon us, and our children. And behold, there is no Nation under Heaven so much un­der the characters of displeased Provi­dence, under the vengeance of angry [Page 89]zeal, as that Nation is; a Nation with­out a Country, a People without a Lord, Citizens without a City, every where despised, every where hated, e­very where oppressed, every where his­sed and trampled upon. Behold Jeru­salem in heaps, the Israelites cut off from the stock of Israel, the seed of A­braham without the Land to him pro­mised, and Jacob's flock be without the promise and rewards of Jacob.

No Nation under Heaven without a Lord but they; no people so scatter­ed, so destroyed, so oppressed, so cur­sed; and why they thus rather than o­thers? this people rather than any other people in the world? but to write the displeasure of Gods Providence, and to brand them with the Characters of his wrath, and to paint his anger upon their very foreheads, in that innocent blood which they shed. And now be­hold, after so many hundred years, and so many thousand Litanies and expecta­tions, they have been heard by God in no one Prayer, but in that which was a Curse upon themselves, His blood be upon us and upon our Children. What shall we say when we hear that Haman [Page 90]was hanged upon that Tree, which he had reared up for Mordecai? What shall we say when we hear that Pilate, who shed Christ's blood to gratifie the Jews, is upon accusation of the Jews recall'd by Vitellius, censured, depri­ved, banished to Vienna, and there kills himself in that banishment? What shall we say when we remember the Year Eighty Eight, when we view the mighty Armado tumbling in the waves, and see the Winds and the Waters fight by Gods command (certainly) against Gods enemies? What shall we think when we recollect the discovery of the Powder Treason, and see a wicked In­strument broken upon the wheel? A Plot discovered just when it should have been acted, and them that laid the snare catch'd in the snare that they had laid? What shall we say when we read the Revolutions of our own Age, an Age of wonders, an Aera of marvels, a time when marvels were scarce miracu­lous, because they were frequent, and when wonders were not wonderful be­cause ordinary. He that reads our Sto­ry, he that considers the fluctuations of our affairs, the turns and returns of [Page 91]things, and that contrary to all humane probabilities, and yet will not see a Pro­vidence, he is a person wilfully blind. I cannot now stand to speak of the ex­tent or the use we are to make of Di­vine Providence: It is enough for once to prove that there is a Providence in the World. We are not here (sine Deo) we are not here without God: He is near us, he is with us, he is in us, as Seneca saith; In him we live, Acts 17.28. move, and have our being, says St. Paul. Says Minutius Felix, He is not only next unto us, but he infuses himself in­to us, he is every where, within and without us, near us, and afar off. 'Tis no wonder we must give an account of all we do in the world, for the world is the Temple of God, and we stand in a great presence. Why art thou heed­less in thy work? Why art thou negli­gent in thy station? Why art thou asleep upon thy guard? Dost thou not know who set thee there? and to what end thou wast there set? And dost thou not remember, that God that hath set thee where thou art, hath given thee an en­ployment in the world; stands by thee himself? Arise, mind thy business, be [Page 92]careful what thou dost; let no day find thee idle, let no moment find thee use­less; God doth not cause the Sun to rise in vain, he doth not lend thee the light of the world, and length of days, and the day of Grace, to no purpose. Up and be doing, for the Lord is with thee. Improve every talent of Grace, use e­very moment of time, serve every good end, give thy self an account at night what thou hast done the day before, and consider in the morning what thou art to do the day following: Set thy self a continual task, give thy self daily em­ployment; God himself, who is infi­nite rest unto himself, who needs not the world, nor any thing in it, he is daily at work amongst men; and how much doth it concern us, who have much work to do, to see our selves well employed? A little Fly hath but a little soul, she hath but the life of a Fly to lose, and yet what pains will she take, how many thousand ways will she flutter with her wings, to save that life? And Ant is a very small and little Creature, and yet what labour, what pains doth it take, to preserve a little soul, and to lay up provision for a short [Page 93]life? But thou, O Man, thou art fra­med after Gods Image, thou rulest the Creatures, and he thee, he hath made thee a little lower than the Angels, he hath given thee a reasonable mind, a large will, free affections, an immortal Soul: For thee Christ dyed, for thee is the Gospel preached, and for thy sake is the Ministry of Reconciliation com­mitted unto us: For thee doth Christ rule as a King, for thee doth he inter­cede as a Priest, for thee do the Angels move and rest, go forth and return; and for thy sake especially doth Divine Pro­vidence concern it self in the World. Take heed therefore how thou behavest thy self, and be sure to do well for God, for thine own Soul.

HAving already proved that there is a providence, it now con­cerns us to proceed unto

1. The extent of that Providence.

2. The manner of its working.

3. To some peculiar attributes or qualities that belong unto it. Now for the latitude or extent of Providence, that we shall lay down roundly in two propositions:

1. Divine Providence doth concern it self in all things and persons in the world: And

2. In all the affairs and actions of all those things and persons. I do not yet here determine how Divine Providence [Page 95]is engaged in all things that shall be done hereafter, but only that it is thus far engaged; which is enough at pre­sent, because I shall speak most clearly, if I proceed by degrees. I begin with the first:

1. Divine Providence is concerned in all things and persons in the world; God is no where unengaged, no where uninterested, or without business in the world, there is need of him in all places and over all things: Hence that of Ter­tullian, Quid est Deus? mens uni­versi: He asks himself the question, What is God? and he answers the que­stion to our purpose, the mind of the universe: God is that which means, understands, which intends and designs every where, and therefore called the mind of the Universe: For

Nor doth God in this particular say less of himself than Reason and the voice of Nature say of him, For he giveth to [Page 96]all life, Acts 17.25. and breath, and all things: so S. Paul; and David breaks out into an astonishment upon this consideration; Thy Righteousness is like the great mountains, Psal. 36.6. thy Judgments are a great deep: O Lord thou preservest men and beast: Behold the young Ravens cry unto him and he hears their cry: The fowls of the air have no treasure yet they are rich, Psal. 146.9. they have no barns and yet they have store, they neither sow nor reap yet they eat and drink in and by the Providence of God; in which Providence they have great trea­sures of riches, and plenty of food and nourishment laid up: Matth. 6.28, 29. Consider the lil­lies of the field (saith our Saviour) how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not ar­rayed like one of these. God doth not only feed the hungry but he cloaths the naked also, yea, he decks the earth e­very year with a fresh vesture, and paints the lillies of the field beyond the Glory of Solomon. And thus God by his Providence preserves things animate and inanimate too, he preserves being and order in the things which only be, [Page 97]he gives food and nourishment to that which sprouts and grows out of the earth, and life and breath to every thing that lives and breaths; And there­fore sing unto the Lord with thanks­giving, sing praise upon the harp unto our God, who covereth the heavens with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains, he giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ra­vens which cry. Psal. 147.8, 9. Now the reasons why we may conclude that God concerns and engages his Providence in all these things may be these:

1. All things are his own.

2. His Providence is sufficient to take care of all.

3. One thing cannot regularly be preserved without the preservation and government of another, and therefore God preserves and governs all.

1. All things are Gods, every Crea­ture must needs be the Creators Crea­ture; says Orpheus, There is one only who is of himself, and all other things were made by him. God is an owner every where, and no wonder if he be every where concerned, he is no where [Page 98]without an interest; he made the whole world, and is in the possession of all that he hath made, and no wonder if he engages himself in his own posses­sions: There is nothing too great, no­thing too little for God to take care of; for that which was fit to be created is fit to be conserved, that which was worth the making is worth the preser­vation; and being that all things have him to their preserver now whom they had to be their maker at first, it is not to be doubted, but he is as much concerned now to Conserve, as he was then to Create them. 'Tis true, he made the earth the lowest of things to tread upon, but he made it still, and there­fore he still preserves it: Nothing is below his Care, though he be infinitely High; nothing is too mean a concern­ment for his goodness, though his hap­piness need nothing at all. And there­fore God pities where we despise, he is concerned where we are careless; God fixes his eye and opens his ear where a proud creature hath neither eye to see nor ear to hear; the poor is not despised in Gods sight, the needy is not forgotten by Gods Love, he doth [Page 99]not slight the Cause of a poor, helpless, oppressed person: The Justice of the poor is alwayes Justice in Gods eye, though seldom in mans: The Righte­ousness of the oppressed is right before him, though not before men; and that which is a good cause in it self is al­wayes good unto God, be it the cause of who it will: Gold weighs nothing at all in the ballance that is in Gods hand, and whole mountains of silver fly up against a grain of Justice; for God righteously judges every mans right, he sees the afflictions of the afflicted, he pities the miseries of the miserable, he hears the crying of the poor, and the sighing of the prisoner sounds in his bowels, as it sounds in the dark valuts from whence it comes dolefully and de­serving commiseration; and therefore he forgetteth not to make returns, but whispers inward comfort in answer to the cryes that are made unto him; he made all things, and he is concerned in all: that's the first.

2. As he made all things, so he is suf­ficient for all. It is no waking to his eye to watch over every thing, no toil to his power to order what he watcheth [Page 100]over. His eye never grows dim with seeing, nor his hand weary of working, in the world. He is every where pre­sent, and therefore he cannot but see e­very thing; and being every where at hand, it is no diversion, no trouble to him to govern and rule all he sees. Says Orpheus, God is first and God is last, God is beginning and God is the mid­dle of all things. First, Middle, and Last. He is not snatched from one thing by the intervening of another, he is not taken off from a former affair by the rising up of a latter, former things do not make him forget what is to come, nor do future things put the for­mer out of memory; things that are near do not divert him from things afar off, nor things afar off estrange him from things that are near; for he is not hurried from place to place, he is not snatched from one place to another; the East doth not call him from the West, nor doth the business of the South remove him from the North, for he is every where at once, and at once able to govern all things as one; and there­fore no wonder at all if all things be govern [...]d by him, Behold, he that keep­eth [Page 101]Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep; the Lord is thy Keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. P [...]a. 1 [...]. [...].

3. One thing cannot be exactly go­vern'd without the government of a­nother, and therefore he that governs one governs all. Man cannot be provided for in all his needs and exigence, with­out the Beasts which Man stands in need of: Nor can one Beast be well provi­ded for without another. Man cannot well live without the Oxe to plough his field, and the Horse to carry him a­bout his affairs: Nor can these be fed without Grass, nor Grass grow without showers, nor showers fall where there are no Clouds, nor Clouds be drawn up where there is no Sun: And therefore the Sun must shine, and the Vapours must ascend, and the Clouds gather, and the Rain fall, and the Grass grow, and the Oxe feed, that Man may be provided for; the care of one thing in­fers the care of another, for what is said of one Creature may be said or a­nother, which are one way or other useful unto us.

But to go a little [...]arther than thus, Look up unto the T [...] of the H [...] [Page 102]or look down to the Pebbles under thy feet, and these must be governed in the government of Man; those above may fall on his head, and knock him into his Grave, and these below may hit his foot, and make him stumble into it: A Fly may choak a man, and the hair of a mans head may kill a Pope; and therefore the wagging of every hair, the flight of every Fly, every gust of Wind, every Title over thy head, eve­ry pebble under thy feet, must be go­verned and ordered by that Providence that orders man; which Providence, as it hence appears, concerns it self in all things.

2. It concerns it self also in all the affairs of all things, Acts 17.28. In him we live, and move, and have our being. We, and all things with us; We, and all o­ther Creatures, being the Creatures of the same Creator also, who made the World, Acts 17.24. and all things therein.

The growth of the Lillies, the spring­ing of the Grass, the Cries of the young Ravens, the moulting of the Sparrows wings, and the fall of the Sparrows to the ground, is not without our Father, not without his Providence, as the ve­ry [Page 103]Text tells us. The word here tran­slated Sparrows, are, as Musculus tells us, all little Birds: Whence we learn, that there are no Birds so little, no not even those Birds, two whereof are sold for one farthing, but even their flights and rests, their rise and fall, is minded by God; and how much more all the ways of man? Prov. 5.21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. Observe 1. Our ways are before Gods very eye, and the eye cannot but see what is be­fore it. 2. Observe, That all our ways whatsoever, are before Gods eye; that is, to try all our thoughts, affections, words and actions; our sleeps and watches, our lying down and our rising up, our ends and interests, our designs and actions, our rests and labours, our rising in the morning, our labours in the day, and our lying down at night a­gain; for all these, and whatsoever else is like unto them, is understood by the ways of Man. 3. Observe, That Gods eye doth not cast a superficial glance, his eye doth not slide upon the surface of our actions, but his eye­beams pierce into the deep of our [Page 104]thoughts and designs, and therefore he is said to ponder, For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings: Hence that of the Prophet, Jer. 17.10. I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. He had before put an hard Question, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, Verse 9. who can know it? And yet he had no sooner asked it, but God answers, I the Lord search the heart, &c. See also Psal. 33.13, 14, 15. and Psal. 94.9, 10. verses.

Now the same reasons that told us why God concern'd himself in all things, do also give us an account why he is engaged in all affairs, and in all the a­ctions of all things, so as at least to or­der and govern them, even good and evil, to his own ends and purposes. And those Reasons are these:

1. All actions and affairs are the a­ctions and affairs of his Creatures.

2. Great things depend on small, and one action cannot be governed without the government of another: And

3. God is sufficient for all.

1. All actions in the World are the actions of his Creatures. It was a devi­lish lye that told the Manichees, That the Devil made the world: For it was made by God, and whatsoever is done in it, is done by something that God made; and a wise Father concerns him­self in all the doings of his Son; how much more shall God be concern'd in the deeds and sufferings, and in all the affairs of his Creatures? especially con­sidering in the second place,

2. That the greatest effects many times begin in the least causes; the Sea springs from little drops, and the Clouds that cover the face of the Sun, pour down long and violent tempests upon us, do at first begin in single atomes, in small and invisible exhalations. Behold a little Bird sitting upon the leaf of a Tree, a puff of Wind moves the leaf, the leaf moving the Bird flies, the flight of the Bird moves a discourse, and in this discourse a question starts, the start­ing of this question brings a dispute, and the dispute brings a quarrel, and this quarrel brings a Duel between very friends, and in this Duel one friend is kill'd by the hand of another, and the [Page 106]other dies by the hand of Justice for killing of him; and so the first puff of Wind kills them both. Well then, e­very breath of wind must be lock'd up in Gods hand, else may it suck away our breath from us. The leaf of the Aspin must move under the eye of God, or else man cannot be safe. And thus it doth: for

3. God is sufficient to over-rule all the actions of all Creatures; and being there is a need that his Providence should govern all things, and being that God is the rightful and proper Go­vernour of the World, and being that he is without toil, without care, with­out trouble, in despight of all the E­picurean Dreams, sufficient for that Government; It is not to be doubted but that his Providence extends it self to all things, and to all the actions and af­fairs of all things whatsoever. And thus I have spoken in general of the extent of Divine Providence: I should now speak of the several measures and de­grees of it within this extent, but this I will refer for another occasion, be­cause I have a desire to make some use of what hath been spoken already.

1. If Gods Providence watch and order all things, then do you also mind every thing that is done in the world. It were not good (if it were possible to be otherwise) that this eye should sleep where God is awake, at least that Divine Providence should do any thing which thou shouldest not consider. God doth nothing in the world but is fit to be observed, his wisdom is no where unprofitably employed, and he doth all his Works that we may see and learn; and great Wonders that we might see and fear. I will not at this time touch upon those prodigies that have made so great a noise amongst us: but thus much is certain, whatsoever the Relators intend (which I confess I think to be very ill) yet would the things be considerable if the Relations were true: Every thing that God doth is worthy our notice; God will be read in his works sometimes, as well as in his word; God expects that our eyes wait upon his hand, Psa. 123.2. for as the eyes of Servants look up to the hands of their Masters, and as the eyes of a Maiden, unto the hand of her Mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until [Page 108]that he have mercy upon us. 'Tis true distress makes us eye God every mo­ment, because we every moment long for deliverance; but God doth as well, and as well for us many times, when his doings do not speak so loud; and there­fore we should eye his works at all times, one as well as another.

2. If Gods Providence be concern'd in all things, if he govern all the Issues and Events of things; then it becomes us to rest satisfied with all the determi­nations of Divine Providence in the world. It is a gallant patience, a no­ble fortitude, a royal christianity to be content with Gods government of the world, and to say always as that old Jew did, who in every affair was wont to say, And this also shall be for good, to say that act is well done that is done by God. How many are there in the world that quarrel with all that God doth? that are always whining and complain­ing against Gods government, accusing his Care of neglect, his Wisdom of fol­ly, and his eye of overlooking them and their affairs? God can do nothing to please us, and how should men give us satisfaction? We are never placed [Page 109]where we would, we are too much on one hand or too much on the other, we are either too far off this friend, or too near that enemy, we are either too much below our business, or our busi­ness too much below us, we are either too far above our neighbours, or our neighbours too far above us, and the meaning alwayes is, we are not as high as we would: God can never do enough, though he do every day too much for us, and therefore we would be repairing every thing, and under pretence of serving God serve our selves.

But may a blessing light on that mans head who rises up in the morning and blesses God for the light, and then says, Do with me O Lord this day what thou wilt; behold, I stand here ready for thy service, I am prepared for any im­ployment, I am girt for any encounter, raise me or depress me, lift me up or throw me down, send me to the right or to the left, I am thine, and I am at thy disposal, thou hast lent me to my self, but not for my self; and therefore if thou wilt afflict, afflict me, if thou wilt try, try me, if my patience must serve thee in poverty, behold it is pre­pared [Page 110]and ready; if my disgrace must glorifie truth, if my shame must ho­nour my God; behold, my disgrace shall be mine honour, and my shame shall be my glory, and my affliction shall be my happiness, and my service shall be my reward; use me as thou pleasest, so thou usest me to thy glory, and so I am sure thou wilt do, for otherwise thou canst not: Thou can'st not deny thine own glory, and therefore thou can'st not govern me amiss, who always esteem my self well used, where I serve thine honour in the world, though in the highest afflictions, or in the lowest offices. This is to speak like a Man, like a Philosopher, like a Christian, like a King, like a true Reformer of the world, and not like those whining sycophants that are alwayes displeased with Gods Government of Humane Affairs, and therefore would alwayes be mending Gods work, and pretend to do better for him than he can do for himself, na­ming God always, but always meaning themselves.

3. If Gods Providence governs all things, then learn to improve and bet­ter thy self from all the issue of that [Page 111]Providence; then learn to profit by all his actions, who doth nothing unpro­fitable in the world. When the morn­ing dawns, thank God for the day to la­bour in; when the night approaches, bless him who hath made it a rest: If thy affairs succeed, here is matter of thanks; if thy designs miscarry, here is an exercise of patience.

If it be well with thy friend, here is a gloss upon the goodness of God, but if it be ill with him, here is a paraphrase upon his Justice.

If thou beest in health, there is an exhortation to work, if thou beest sick, there is an admonition of thy mortality.

If thy relations die, this bids thee live upon God without them, and if they live, this shews thee to live upon God in them, for 'twas he that provided them for thee.

If thy friends do thee a courtesie, bless God for them; if thine enemies do thee an injury, here is a brave oppor­tunity to bless them for God; even for Gods sake, and for the sake of the Go­spel, which bids us, Bless them that curse us, and do good to them that hate us, and pray for them that de­spitefully [Page 112]use us and persecute us. Mat. 6.24. A man may profit much by his friends, but more generally by his enemies; for we have generally (though we are loth to believe it) more need of evil than good, more need of injuries than favours, of enemies than friends, and if our miscarriages be greater than our success, assure your self this is the rea­son of it. See then, a Christian (as Epi­ctetus hath observed some where of a wise man) hath something in him to receive every thing to his advantage, he hath within him a well of living wa­ter which sweetens every thing he drinks, though the dregs of the cup of affliction, his very palate turns bitter into sweet, and poisons into refections: Thus every thing that God doth may be improved, and thus doth he intend that we should improve by it; for as every thing that he hath revealed is for our instruction, so is every thing that he hath wrought: and therefore saith the Wise Man of the things done un­der the Sun: Eccles. 3.12, 13. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to re­joyce and to do good in his life, and also that every man should eat and [Page 113]drink and enjoy the good of all his labour.

Having already shewed the extent and latitude of Divine Providence in general to be such as that it reaches all things and persons in the world, and all actions and affairs of all things: the next thing to be enquired into, is whe­ther this same Providence that con­cerns it self in all things and affairs, do equally and in like degrees engage it self in all things wherein it is concern­ed?

To which question I must answer in the negative; (viz.) that there are several measures and degrees of Divine Providence in relation to several Crea­tures, the most remarkable whereof I shall insist upon in these propositions:

1. The Providence of God is more concerned in man than in other infe­riour Creatures.

2. 'Tis more ingaged in relation to men in publick places, than to men al­together in a private capacity.

3. It is amongst all sorts of men whe­ther publick or private; Divine Pro­vidence concern it self more in them that are good, than in them that are not [Page 114]so: And this very diversity of degrees of Providence in relation to divers ob­jects, is the greatest degree of Divine Providence, as St. Chrysostome hath well observed.

1. Gods Providence is more enga­ged towards Man than towards the Creatures below man, though engaged indeed towards them also: And this is the argument in the Text; Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father; but the very hairs of your head are all numbred: fear ye not therefore, for ye are of more value than many sparrows. The ar­gument is taken à fortiori, If God takes care of that which is less worthy and becoming his care, much more will he do so of that which is more worthy; and therefore since even the beasts, even the least of birds are govern'd by Di­vine Care, much more must the highest of Creatures in this world be under the same watch.

Again, doth God take care for Oxen? 1 Cor. 9.9. Yes, care he doth take of them, for he preserveth Man and Beast; Psal. 36.6. and doth expresly name the [Page 115]Oxe: saying, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the Corn: Deut. 25.4. But he doth not so much take care of the Oxe for the oxes sake, as for mans; and therefore doth Saint Paul make a difference in these words, doth God take care for Oxen? Hence that of Hierocles comparing men, and the Creatures below man together: It doth not follow (sayes he) that Divine Providence doth not govern the affairs of man, although it should not be en­gaged in the Creatures below him. But whatever he thought, the truth is this, That Providence is concerned both in Man and Beast too, but not equally in the beasts, as in man; the account whereof take in two particulars:

1. The Providence of God doth go­vern and order things according to the several measures of their worth and dig­nity: Things that are of a greater con­cern in themselves, are also of greater concern to God, who though he hath a value for all things that he hath made, yet sets a various account upon various Creatures, and was never known to value the life of a beast, as he prizes the life of a man; and therefore sayes our [Page 116]Saviour, Fear ye not, for ye are of more value than many sparrows. If any man should here object, that one Creature is as profitable to God as another, that is to say nothing at all, and therefore one is as valuable to him as another can be: This rather proves than destroyes what I say, for since God values no Creature as it is to him, (for he need­eth not the most worthy of Creatures to add to him) but as they are in them­selves, and since in themselves they are of several degrees and unequal worth, therefore are they attended by several degrees and measures of Providence.

2. As the worth, so the very nature of man is such, as to make him capable of a larger influence of Divine Provi­dence, than the nature of a beast can receive. Man is made a reasonable Creature, and by that reason capable of a Law, and for observation or breach of that Law are rewards and punish­ments also; and having an immortal soul, of rewards and punishments in an­other world; and forasmuch as these are great ends, and great ends require a singular conduct of Divine Provi­dence, therefore doth God carry on [Page 117]these ends, which man only of all the Creatures in the world is capable of, by a singular particular care, more than it doth engage it self in towards any o­ther Creature in the world.

For mans sake, and for his Govern­ment and safety was the Gospel given; for his sake were rewards promised, for his sake were punishments threatned, for his sins did Christ die, and for his justification did he rise again; for him doth he intercede at Gods right hand, and upon him for his better Conduct and Government doth he pour out the influence of his Spirit, an influence which the brutes do not need, and in not needing are not capable of, unless it be by force of Miracle, (as Balaams Ass was) and then not so as man is nei­ther.

Now these particular instances of the preaching of the Gospel, the promise of eternal life, the effusion of Gods ho­ly spirit, the life, death, resurrection and intercession of Christ are the clear­est rayes of Divine Providence that ever shone in the world, they are su­pernatural beams of the Sun of Righ­teousness; and of these the brutes are [Page 118]not so much as capable, nor do they see or know any thing of them.

3. That Man is more in the eye of Divine Providence than the brutes, is clear in this, that the very brutes are made for man, and much more the Creatures below them: For Man doth the day break and the Sun shine, and the rain fall, and the waters flow, and the grass grow, and all the herbs of the field spring up, and flourish after their several kinds.

For him are the fields crowned with Corn, and the vallies laden with Grass, for him are the hills lifted up, and the cattle made that feed upon the hills: For the feeding of him do the herds feed, and for his cloathing are the flocks themselves cloathed with wooll; for him doth the horse wear his hoof, and the Oxe yield his neck unto the yoke, and before him doth the Camel kneel to receive the burden upon his back. Now since Divine Providence made Man the end of other Creatures, and them a mean to his content and preser­vation, and since the end is alwayes valued more than the mean is, (for that the mean is not valuable, but for the [Page 119]value of the end) we must need con­clude that Man is more in Gods Provi­dence, for whom all things were made, (though not only for him it may be, but in part for themselves also, for God and Nature are kind to all) than those very things which were made for him. Thus much for the first degree of Di­vine Providence, which consists in this, that God concerns himself more in man than in other creatures.

2. The second degree is, that Gods Providence is more engaged towards publick than private persons, towards persons in office and government, than persons concerned only in private af­fairs; Aliter reges ac regna respicit Dei Providentia, aliter privatos, says Grotius in Matth. 10. Divine Provi­dence doth respect Kings and Kingdoms, otherwise than it doth respect private persons.

1. Kings and publick persons do re­present God, and therefore called Gods, I have said ye are Gods. Psal. 82.6. And St. Paul speaking of the Supreme Magistrate tells us, That he is the Minister of God: Rom. 3.4. because we are not capable of imme­diate converse with God, therefore he [Page 120]rules us by men like our selves, governs men by man, and so puts man into his own place, and puts part of his power into his hands, for as Prophets receive of the Spirit, so Kings of the Power of God.

Now those whom God sets in his own place, and to whom he imparts his own power, and that in trust to do his own work, which immediately be­longs to him, those are no doubt as in that place, as intrusted with that power, and as in that imployment Gods pecu­liar charge and care; those whom he sets to govern others, are more imme­diately governed by himself: For it would be dangerous trusting the Power of God in the hand of a man, without the particular inspection of God over him; and therefore the turning of the hearts of Kings is peculiarly attributed to God. Prov. 2.1.

2. Publick persons manage publick Affairs, and therefore in this case many are concerned in one, and no wonder if God be concerned in many, and more concerned than in single persons; We have ten parts in the King, 2 Sam. 19.43. said the ten Tribes: Every man hath an [Page 121]Interest in the Prince; every mans In­terest is his, and his Interest is every mans; and being that a whole King­dom is the general concernment of a King, a King especially is hereupon the especial concernment of God.

And therefore you may observe that God stiles Cyrus his Shepherd, and his Anointed, although a Heathen, yet a King, and a King designed to give de­liverance to his People; for thus saith the Lord, He is my shepherd and shall perform my pleasure. And again, Isa. 44.28. thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cy­rus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue the nations before him. Isai. 45.1.

And upon this account was Josiah named before he was born, because to be born a King, and that for the pol­lution of the Altar at Bethel. 1 Kings 13.2. And Je­remiah the Prophet (for Prophets also are publick persons, being sent upon publick concerns) is sanctified from the womb, and a particular Providence fixt upon him before he brake from be­tween the knees: For thus saith the Lord, Before I formed thee in the bel­ly I knew thee, before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and [Page 122]I ordained thee a Prophet unto the na­tions. Jer. 1.5.

And thus much for the second mea­sure of Divine Providence, which con­sists in that special regard that Divine Providence in this world (for so far only my discourse means) bears unto publick persons more than unto persons altogether private.

3. The third degree of this same Pro­vidence is that which observes, governs, protects wise and good men whether publick or private more than any that are not so.

I do not say that good men do not sometimes miscarry in their success here in the world, for we see the contrary; and many reasons may be given, why upon particular occasions, there may both general & particular calamities fall upon good men; but these particular oc­casions being excepted, God doth or­dinarily bless, and direct, and protect the Righteous in a special manner be­yond the wicked, yea they do rise by their falls, and gain by their losses, and draw an happiness out of misery it self. In two things therefore doth Divine Providence engage it self for good [Page 123]men further than for the wicked.

1. He vouchsafes a particular prote­ction and conduct unto them in all their dangers and necessities.

2. When their particular miscarri­ages, or some other occasions do occa­sion Divine Providence to expose them to any calamity, yet doth calamity tend unto their good, so that they could less have wanted their wants sometimes than their supplies, and would have suffered more, had it not been for their very sufferings: Hence that of the Psalmist, Psal. 1.6. The Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous, but the way of the un­godly shall perish: He knows (viz.) he doth particularly approve the works of the Righteous, and upon that ap­probation doth particularly defend and protect them in their works. Thus Sal­vian in his second Book, Although God be the Governour of all in general, yet of them more particularly, who de­serve to be governed, that is, who de­serve better than others do: Read o­ver the Holy Scriptures, and you shall find no head in them more common than this, Gods particular care over the Righteous.

He hath engraven Sion upon the palms of his hands, Isai. 49.16. and its walls are continually before him. Every good man is a particular and especial part of Gods care, Prov. 10.3. He will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but he cast­eth away the substance of the wicked. And again, Isai. 3.10, 11. Say ye to the Righteous it shall be well with him, for they shall eat and drink the fruit of their do­ings: But woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hand shall be given him. And what is here promised was by David obser­ved, Psa. 37.25. I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the Righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 'Tis true indeed, as an exception from a general Rule, and upon particular occasion, 2 Cor. 4.8, 9. The Righteous may be trou­bled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecu­ted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroy'd.

The Platonists tell us, That as men change their natures, and grow better or worse, so have they higher or lower Genii, or Angels, to observe and at­tend them. And so much is said of So­crates's [Page 125] Genius, That it fill'd the Anci­ents with matter of Discourse, and Writing too. Thus much is certain, That good men are the particular care and charge of good Angels: For them the Morning Stars rise and set, for them the Angels move and rest, for them do those swift Messengers of God go forth and return, Heb. 1.14. For are they not all mi­nistring Spirits, sent forth for them that shall be Heirs of salvation?

Read over the Stories of good men, and see how particularly Divine Provi­dence hath many times interposed for them, and what a difference hath been made between the good and the evil: Enoch walked with God (sayes the Text) and he was not, Gen. 5.24. for God took him. God had so great a regard to a good man in an evil world, that he took him from men unto himself, by a rare and miraculous translation. The Windows of Heaven could not drown the world, before Noah had made an Ark, though the world was very wick­ed, Gen 6.8, 9. and the Ark long in making (even a hundred and twenty years) For that he was a just man, and perfect in his Generation, and walked with God. [Page 126]The Angels of the Lord could not de­stroy Sodom, till Lot was set out of the skirts of that destruction, Gen. 19.22. Haste thee, escape thither (to Zoar) for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. And the very observation that St. Peter makes upon those two great deliverances, of Noah from the flood, and Lot out of Sodom, 2 Pet. 2.9. is this, The Lord knoweth how to deliver the God­ly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgment to be punished. As God hath given good men power to do miracles to save the world, so hath he done miracles himself to save them.

It is a known Story that Marcus the Emperour relates in Justin Martyr's se­cond Apology, That the Armies of the Romans being parch'd with intolerable thirst for five days together, having (during that time) had no water at all, was instantly refreshed by the prayers of the Christians; for no sooner, says the Emperour, did they fall upon their fa­ces in prayer to God, but the Rain fell upon us and them, and the same Cloud that was to us a refreshing spring, was in the Enemies Camp hail and fire mixt together.

Had there been ten righteous persons in Sodom, Sodom had been preserved for their sakes; for such is the care of God towards good men, that he pre­serves them by a peculiar Providence, and their Relations too, for their sakes.

And now to make some use of these several measures of Divine Providence.

From the first degree of Providence over man more than over other Crea­tures, we might learn how much to love and value one another, since God values us so much. Were this considered, sure­ly Great Men would cease, at least, to value the life of a Horse, or a Hawk, or a Dog, beyond the life of a Page or a Groom.

From the second degree of Provi­dence, watching over publick persons more than private, we learn, How great respect and reverence is to be had to them, and how great violence it is to Divine Providence to slight or hurt those persons, in whom that Providence is mainly concern'd. But it is the last degree of Providence that I shall main­ly use, and use to this purpose,

Thirdly, If God engage his Provi­dence [Page 128]in an especial manner for the se­curity and safety of good men, Then never step aside from God for thy secu­rity, nor do thou forsake the way of righteousness to flee and avoid the course of danger. He that forsakes his God that he may be safe, flies from safety for safety sake, and runs into dan­ger for a deliverance.

He that commits a sin, that he may a­void a danger, embraces what he hates, and courts the mischief which he fears.

Divine Providence saves men because they are good; and therefore it is a madness to do evil for safety. To sin is always a rebellion against Gods Will, but to sin for an advantage is to blas­pheme his Wisdom too. It is to pro­vide against the provision of God, to secure our selves in peace by engaging in war against Gods Providence, and to hope for that by doing evil, which God hath promised only to well doing. Take heed therefore of doing evil that good may come: Never think of sin­ning for thy profit, of doing unjustly for thine advantage. Cursed is he that swears a false oath to get a great estate, that wrongs his neighbour that he may [Page 129]be rich, that debauches an Heir that he may buy his Lands, that flatters any mans sin that he may gain his favour, and fawns (like a Dog) upon an Em­perours lusts that he may obtain an inte­rest in the Court.

Secure thy self as well as thou canst, yet know there is no security against God: He will hunt thee in all thy by­paths, he will trace all thy crooked steps, he will find out all thy doublings, he will discover all thy shifts, he will dis­cern all thy lies, he will confute all thy policies, he will make thee a fool where thou thoughtest to be wise, and catch thee where thou thoughtest to be safe, and baffle thy crafts into infatuations, and turn thy securities into dangers. Joab verily thought he had rarely con­sulted his interest in David, in the Ar­my, in the People, when he had remo­ved Abner, a brave Competitor, out of his way, wounding him in the midst of embrace, and stabbing him in the arms of an endearment; but what was the end of this courteous cruelty? how did smiling villany prove at the last? Let not his hoary head go down to the grave in peace, 1 Kin. 2.5, 6. for that in peace he [Page 130]shed the blood of war, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoos that were on his feet.

And as David intimated, so Solo­mon acted; though Joab flie to the San­ctuary, yet doth the Sanctuary refuse to protect the prophane; so that his life is rent from him at the very horns of the Altar. Go to then, learn to do well always, and to trust God in well doing with all thine interest whatsoe­ver, &c.

If righteousness will not defend thee, which moves by the pointing of Gods finger, and dwells under the palms of his hand, how should sin ever protect thee which throws thee out of the protecti­on of Divine Providence? A bad cause will in time befool the wisest, and dis­arm the strongest, and ruine the great­est man upon earth.

Achitophel himself cannot successful­ly advise in an evil Cause, either he shall mistake, or be mistaken.

The greatest Statesman is a Fool in opposition to God, and Legions of Ar­mies are but a swarm of flies, for the defence of an unrighteous end.

To be short. Evil is a thing utterly indefensible, the Sword cannot defend, the Bow cannot give protection, it breaks the Spear in the arms of the mighty, and makes the Horse throw his Rider; it mutinies in the Camp, it sleeps upon the Guard, it shrinks in the Battle; it is weak against its enemy, and strong against it self; so that the high­est mountains cannot make a Fort, nor all the Quarries in the Earth wall it a­bout with safety. Commit thy self therefore unto God in well doing; Sin not, (Regni causa) no not for a King­dome; step not out of the way of Ju­stice, though to cut a Scepter out of a hedge of thorns: Be so honest as to dare to do well, and trust God; and be content that Gods Providence should maintain thee without other mens Goods, and justifie thee without a Lie, and defend thee without an inju­ry to thy Neighbour, and save thee without the assistance of thy sin.

THE Jews tell us, that the spi­rit of the Lord departed from Jacob upon his sorrow for the loss of his Son Joseph, and that the spirit resteth not but upon a glad and grateful mind; but that Rule is confuted by this Book of the Lamen­tations, [Page 133]where we find the Prophet in­spired by sighs, the Prophecie written in tears, and the ecstasie of sorrow turn­ed into a prophetical Vision. Every line seems to be blotted with blood, and every stop to be made with a sob, and every word to be spoken by the mouth of a gaping wound. Israel had now a great while agoe been carried into Ba­bylon, and now Babylon was come to Judah, and Jerusalem the Metropolis of Judah had been a great while besieged by the Babylonians without, wasted and consumed by Famine within, many times had they endured the assaults of their enemies, and often had they been assaulted by their own fears; at last the Famine creeps in upon them, enters upon the bowels of the armed men, turns the fort into a prison, and for­ceth them to sally out upon death, to storm their own dangers, and to in­vade destruction for deliverance; then is the City forsaken of the King, for­saken of Zedekiah the last of Davids line before the captivity; then is the King forsaken of his Army, he flies a­way by night, he is pursued by the enemy, he is overtaken in the pursuit, [Page 134]he is carried to Riblah, his Sons are slain before his eyes, his eyes are then immediately put out, that this sad im­pression might never be blotted out by any other sight whatever; he is carried to Babylon in chains, and he draws out the rest of his life in sorrow and mise­ry; all which calamities were so much the more grievous, in that they fell up­on this King quite contrary to expecta­tion: for they did then expect it seems that the Scepter of this Prince should have sprouted out a shadow under which they should have lived among, and in despite of the Heathen. This story I confess is not altogether parallel to our Case which we this day lament; but then sure I am it is more than paral­lel to it: We were not indeed carried captive into a strange land, but we were captives in our own Country; we were not carried to Babylon, but Babylon and Confusion were brought to us, we were exiles at home, in our own Coun­trey yet banished; slaves under the ti­tle of liberty. The King indeed was not exiled, and his Sons slain, but he him­self murthered, and his Sons exiled; the [Page 135]King was robbed of his life, and the Kingdom robbed of the King, and the true and rightful heir was robbed and deprived of his Kingdom; and there­fore now that you see darkness sitting upon every brow, the wings of sorrow hovering over all our eye-lids, and tears ready to gush out of all our eyes; wonder not at it, for the Text gives a reason of all, For the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord was taken in the pits, &c. which words contain a great Lamentation, and that Lamentation expresseth,

• 1. The principal cause of our grief it self, The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord was ta­ken in the pits.
• 2. The remarkable circumstance ag­gravating the grief, of whom we said, Ʋnder his shadow we shall live among the Heathen; that is to say, among our Enemies.

The grief it self is expressed:

1. By a description of the person; He was the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord.

2. By a declaration of the fall it self, he was taken in their pits.

Where we must consider,

1. The pits themselves: 2. the per­sons whose those pits were, their pits: 3. the falling into them, he was taken in their pits: Thus stands the prin­cipal cause of their grief.

2. The circumstance whereby that grief was aggravated, was the defeat of their hopes and expectations from that person; of whom we said, Ʋnder his shadow we shall live among the Hea­then.

Where we will consider,

1. How just and reasonable that ex­pectation was.

2. How that just expectation was defeated.

3. How the like defeats may for the future be prevented.

And now to begin with that which stands in the front of the Text: If you turn back your eyes upon the person there mentioned, you find the true character of our late Royal Soveraign stampt in two descriptions:

1. Describing his relation to us, stiles him the breath of our nostrils.

2. Representing his relation to God, calleth him the anointed of the Lord.

The first expression is borrowed from Genesis 2.7. where God having form'd Adams body out of the dust of the ground, is there said to have breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living soul: he first rallies up the scatter'd atomes of dust, forms it into the shape of the body of a man, and then inspires that body with the breath of Life, and quickens man by that Inspiration; it seems then what the Soul is to the Body, such is the King to the Kingdom, the principle of Life, the spring of Motion, the vi­tal fountain of all Power and Activity; and again, such as the Body without the Soul, such is the Kingdom without the King, a lifeless and scatter'd heap of bones, a mass of ruines and confusions; well might the Nation lie like a body in the grave, like dead mens bones thrown into a charnel-house, when the Soul of Soveraignty was departed from it; well might every Sphere grow black, and every order of men grow into con­fusion and disorders when the Sun it self was thus eclipsed, and when the light of his brow was withdrawn from us; we must needs faint and languish, [Page 138]we must needs expire in gasping ago­nies, when the breath of our nostrils was fled away: And all this the rather, when we consider, that he that was the breath of our nostrils was also the a­nointed of the Lord, intitled to a Crown by Royal birth, and consecra­ted to that title also by Solemn Uncti­on. Thus were the Kings and Priests among the Jews anointed to their seve­ral offices, the Priests in the form of the Greek letter X, and the Kings had the oyl poured forth on them in the form of a Crown; yet when the Kingdom passed by Inheritance, the Son was not anointed King, unless where the Title was called in question, as Solo­mons was by Adonijah, and Josiah's by Athaliah, and Jehoaz's, by Jehojadah, which was the reason as one observes why they did anoint Solomon, Joash & Jehoaz, while other Kings as rightful and true as they were not anointed: But thus had our late Soveraign a just Title, a Solemn Unction and Consecra­tion too, yet could not that sacred Un­ction serve the Royal brow from bold affronts, yet could not the Royal [Page 139]Crown defend the Sovereign Head from treacherous insolencies, yet could not the Scepter it self awe the bloody and insolent Sword, yet could not the Command of God, the Authority of Laws, the Love of Peace, the Fear of War, obstruct the attempts of wicked men; the snares are laid, the Pits are digged, and the breath of our Nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in those Pits. And here we must consider according to the method laid down,

1. What those Pits were.

2. By what sort of men they were digged.

3. The fall of our excellent Sove­reign into them.

The Pits themselves were secret and open violence; for thus are seditious persons wont to do, first to reproach and then to strike: They are wont to dress up their Prince in the deformities of their own mind, of their own ca­lumnies; they spit their own venome upon him, and that to make him stink of their own breath, and mishape him with their own mishapen conceits; to blot and blacken him with their own reproaches, to furrow him with the [Page 140]wrinkles of their own brow, and then to cry out, The Enemy of the Lord, The Enemy of the Lord. Such were the snares that were first twisted for our late Royal Sovereign. Sometimes he is a soft and easie Creature, he is led and abused by ill Counsel, a Ruler ru­led by other mens passions, a Master govern'd by the Lusts of his Servants, that played and pleased himself with the Scepter, and gave them the Sword. Sometimes again he is a roaring Lion, a fierce Tyrant, devouring the flesh, and sucking the blood, and breaking the bones of his innocent Subjects. Sometimes he is a Favourer of the Churches enemies, secretly inclining to Romish Superstitions, at least, if not of that Religion; he is a carnal, sen­sual Man; A Man of no Religion at all. When these aspersions had black­en'd Majesty, and Majesty was disgra­ced by this blackness, and made weak­er by that disgrace, and more easie to be attempted by reason of that weak­ness; from secret calumnies, they break out into open violence, and the spark that had hitherto hid it self in ashes, mounts up into a tall flame, and spreads [Page 141]it self through the whole Nation. Now the first Clod of the Pit is digged, and now doth the Grave begin to open its mouth; and yet the Sepulchre must be varnished over, the Grave must be co­vered with a fair Inscription, the Glory of the King, the Priviledges of the Par­liament, the Liberty of the Subject, the Purity of Religion: These are written upon the face of the design, and what­ever they might be that did possibly in­tend these things, yet certainly not those that did prove the Parricides, at least they did never intend it; yet notwith­standing far be it from them, say they, to invade the Royal Right, far be it from them to rob the least Jewel out of the Crown, to clip the wings of Sove­reign Honour, or to touch the very hem of his Garment. No, God had fet the Crown upon his head, and they would crown the Crown again with great Lustre. God had put the Sword into his hands, and would but he put it into theirs, they would whet it upon the very Threshold of the Sanctuary, and make it keen against his enemies; that is to say, they would blunt it to make it sharp, they would weaken him [Page 142]to make him strong, they would dis­grace him for his honour, and lessen him to make him great; they would take the power all into their own hands to make him powerful, the Priviledges of Parliament also they would preserve, and that by the breach and invasion of those Priviledges. Also first the whole Spiritual Order is thrown out of the House of Lords, and then the Lords themselves are thrown out of the House too; and all this for the preservation of Priviledges. The Parliament is split and cloven in the midst; and this for the preservation of the Right of Par­liaments: and then this cloven shiver of Parliament is hewed and chipped over and over again. Some of the Members were imprisoned, some banished, o­thers feared into a base compliance, till at last they had made themselves vile and odious enough to the eyes of the peo­ple, and by so doing lost all their inte­rest, and then are they also thrown out of the House, and exposed to scorn and contempt of them by whom they were before feared and hated; yet all this while the Liberty and Freedom of the People is proclaimed in every Street, [Page 143]preached in every Pulpit, engraven up­on the Prison Walls, inscribed upon the very Swords; the Nation is inthrall'd, the Laws are trampled upon for the pre­servation of Right, Justice is violated for its own security, Oaths are broken for the conservation of Faith, the Peo­ple are oppressed for the Peoples wel­fare, the Nation is insnared for the Na­tions Liberty, they are without all just Authority oppress'd, squeez'd, taxed, burthened, and impoverished, they are forced to maintain a tyranny over them­selves, and all this also for their own Liberty.

If these things seem strange, and con­tradictions to every mans common sense and experience, if they cannot be so far infatuated as to perceive against their own sense, and feel against their own feeling, if they cannot believe their oppression to be their ease, their thraldom and vassalage to be their li­berty, if they cannot apprehend tyran­ny to be a lawful power, and know just contrary to their own knowledge, yet this they may be sure of, Religion shall flourish, Truth shall be established, and the Gospel shall run and be glorified. [Page 144]Religion is painted upon every Brow, Religion prefaceth every Speech, Re­ligion covereth every design, Holiness to the Lord is engraven upon the Bri­dles of the Horses, and the Helmet is turned into a Mitre, and Infallibility is inspired into the sound of the Trum­pet: Now Christs Ambassadours are persecuted for Christs sake, the Mini­sters are contemned for the honour of the Gospel, Errours broached for the propagation of the Faith, and the Church is wounded for the Churches health. In the mean time great promi­ses, glorious pretences, and brave words do strangely amuse and ravish the peo­ple. These impostures serve to flatter them, to cover the snare till the Bird was taken, to amuse and astonish the People, till they were robbed of the King, and their own Liberty. Thus you have seen the Pits that were dig­ged, and how they were covered. Also they were made by secret calumnies and open violence; and yet these calumnies, and that violence also, were covered o­ver with glorious Titles, The Glory of the King, the Priviledges of Parliament, Liberty of the People, the preservation [Page 145]and advancement of true Religion.

Pass we now from the view of the Pits, unto the consideration of those persons whose those Pits were. Whom I shall no otherwise describe, but only by a description of those Principles whereby they acted, and which natu­rally incline to the same actions; and I shall describe those Principles not for revenge, but only that for the future we may avoid them.

It was the first Principle of these Per­sons to have no established Principles at all; that they might live fully by occasi­on, and act according to opportunity of affairs, according to the pulse and sug­gestion of their own private interests. I do not believe, I must confess, that there were any men of any fetled Judg­ment (abating such as might be acted by Jesuitical Counsels) that ever de­signed to dip their little finger in the Kings Blood, this I would speak for the honour of the English Nation, or that wilfully of their own accord would have contributed to this Design. No, the persons that used to contrive this wicked Treason are generally persons of no set­led, no established opinions, men that [Page 146]have shisted (as they themselves use to speak) through all forms, travelled through all opinions, drunk of all wa­ters, till they are intoxicated with En­thusiasm and delusion. Such were those filthy Dreamers, who are said by St. Jude to despise Dominion, and speak evil of Dignities: And such are they also, 2 Pet. 2.10 as St. Peter tells us, who despise Government, presumptuous are they, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities. These are those filthy Dreamers that receive their own Dreams as the vision of the Lord, that warm themselves at their own fire, and inspire themselves by their own passion; they think there is no other gust of the Holy Ghost but that which blows in a tempest, that there is no light like that which breaks forth of a Clap of Thunder; they have no other opini­on but what the Winds blow into them, and as the Winds are changed so are their opinions changed also. The fast­er they resolve, they more they break their own resolutions. To day they are of one opinion, to morrow of another, and the next day of no opinion at all: To day they are all clouds and all dark­ness, [Page 147]they believe they know, and yet they resolve nothing; to morrow they are inspired by their own heats, and they resolve under their own inspira­tions, and act what they please, good or evil, right or wrong under those re­solutions. As their first principle was to have no principle at all, but such as chance, and the rules of their own pri­vate interest suggested to them:

So the second Principle is, when they have fancied their own Opinions as good and lawful ends, then they use any means whatsoever, whether good or evil, whether right or wrong, for the gaining of those ends which they have so fancied: But this they will do, they will amend, they will change, they will alter whatsoever is amiss; Yes, but then they will do that also that good may be done, that is to say, they will kill a man to save his life, they will damn themselves for the good of their souls, they will climb downwards, and that from Heaven, and travel home­wards the quite contrary way. They must first make themselves wicked, that they may prepare themselves to be righteous, they must be evil that they [Page 148]may be good they must be what they design, and yet they must be the very thing designed; the means must forget the end, and themselves must forget what they intend, and that with this very intention too, that they may re­member it; and who then can wonder at the miscarriages and misadventures of this principle in the world, who then can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? if men will break Gods Law for Gods sake, pull down the Magistrate to advance Christ, break a part of the Commandments of the Gospel to advance the whole, take the Kingdoms of the world by war to give them to the Prince of Peace, what then can be expected, but such a Re­formation as shall honour God by blas­phemy, to destroy all Religion for its preservation? For to pretend to extra­ordinary times and ends to warrant ex­traordinary means, that is, warrant un­lawful means for their promotion; this is to force Religion to commit a rape upon it self, to stab it self with its own hand, to cure its diseases with a mortal wound.

3. The next principle is doing evil that good may come of it, and break­ing Laws that we may the better ob­serve them, it is a cluster of the same grape, and it is this; Temporal Rights are founded in Grace, and the world belongs to the faithful. They first swell themselves with strong fancy, and this strong fancy they call faith, and by this faith they believe the world is theirs, and theirs only, as though all other men did rob their own estates, and eat, and drink, and wear clothes by felony, and enjoy their own by usurpation, but they are willing to give the world to Christ, that they may take it back again to themselves, they will make him rich that they may make themselves his heirs, and that they may inherit his Inheritance.

4. Nor may we doubt but as the Jews went to the Philistins to sharp their tools, so these men went to Rome to whet the Axe, and borrowed an ar­row out of the Roman quiver secretly to shoot the Lords anointed. The very words of the fourth Lateran Council are these: Si vero Dominus, &c. that is, If a temporal Lord being required [Page 150]to and admonished by the Church shall refuse to purge the Land from heretical pravity, let him be excommunicated by the Metropolitan, and his Comprovin­cials; then if he reform not in a years space, let this be signified to the Pope, that from henceforth he may pronounce his Subjects free from their Allegiance, and may expose his Lands to be posses­sed by Catholicks. These are the Prin­ciples of the Roman Church, and their practices (as is well known) have been sutable to these principles in this and in other Nations: These were the pra­ctices of our late Parricides, and these pra­ctices did no doubt flow in effect from these same principles; when their Prince shall have forfeited their good will, he shall soon have forfeited Gods favour I warrant you in their thoughts, and they will easily make themselves rebels against him when they have made him a rebel against God. Thus they cheat­ed themselves by false Principles, and abused others by false pretences; they drew on one evil by another, and sin­ned themselves daily into a necessity of further sins; having first aspersed the King with unjust Calumnies, having [Page 151]prosecuted him with Armies, and hav­ing overtaken him in that prosecution, having one while flatter'd him, another while threatned him, having thus en­deavoured to cheat him and amuze the people; then the mouth of the pit was opened, and then doth Royal Majesty descend into the dust, and the Glory, and Peace, and Safety of the Nation is buried in the same grave with him: How then did all Loyal hearts throb and tremble, how did all faces gather blackness that were not steel'd with rebellion and impudence! how then did the whole Land sit like a widow, black, and desolate, and forsaken, when the Cedar was hewn from the top of Lebanon, when the shadow thereof was taken away! how many hungry weeds grew up in its place, and how did the thorny bramble suck up our juyce, and tear our flesh, how were we then left to the doubtful Titles of fighting swords, to the hunger of bold and greedy ambition? How were we emptied from vessel to vessel, how were we melted like wax by these de­vouring fires, squeezed and opprest by these greater hands, moulded into all [Page 152]shapes, shifted into all forms of Go­vernment, one while bearing upon our backs the burdens of many, and then of one, and then again of many op­pressors? how were we griped by se­veral hands, devoured by many mouths, eaten up and swallowed down by o­thers, even by them that had disgor­ged us a little before? Thus were we devoured by the sword when the Sce­pter was broken; thus were we ridden by Servants when the Master was fal­len, and this fall we this day lament; For the breath of our nostrils, the a­nointed of the Lord was taken in their pit, &c. Thus much may serve for the first part of the Text, which contains the principal cause of our grief, for our late dread Soveraign is fallen into the pits of the enemy. We come to the second, where we have the remarkable circumstances, greatly aggravating our grief; for of him we said, Ʋnder his shadow we shall live among the Hea­then: And here according to the me­thod propounded we must consider:

1. How just and reasonable our ex­pectation was.

2. How that just expectation was de­feated.

3. How the like defeats may for the future be prevented.

For the first, His title to the Crown was as sure and as firm as the root of the mountains, and left no ground for dispute to cavil it self; his person was innocent as his title was just; he had justly provoked no mans hatred or ani­mosity; his royal wisdom, courage and conduct were very high, and such as one would have thought might irresist­ably have raised him above the at­tempts of the tallest ambition; there was great reason why every good man should love, why every evil man should fear, and why every man whatever should reverence and honour him; had his title been doubtful, disputes might have been raised, had his reign been tyrannical, hatred might have prevail­ed, had his ability been weak, ambition might have been incouraged against him; but where cavil it self could not dispute, where no just grudge or animo­sity could arise, where the greatest am­bition could take no reasonable incou­ragement to conspire a revenge, where the Laws of God, the Laws of Man, the security of the Nation, the safety of [Page 154]every mans Right did all conspire to­gether to fix our hopes upon him, and raise mighty expectations from those hopes, how justly did we expect to live securely under his shadow, and what could those misfortunes be that could defeat our expectations? To find an answer to this question leads me to a second particular, how our just ex­pectation was defeated; the answer is too obvious: We had long and great­ly proved the patience of God by most enormous and crying sins, we were also strangely tickled with strong desires of novelty and innovations among our selves. For a long time we were a Nation blessed with Wise and Happy Princes, God had blessed those Princes with peace, that peace had filled the Nation with wealth, and furnisht our lusts with store of matter to work up­on; at last we thought our selves fasten­ed and fetter'd by the very bonds of Peace, and began to dream that we should forget the acts of war, and that we might be prepared lest we should be attempted by others, we would try and exercise those arts upon our selves, and find or make enemies at home: [Page 155]Thus we grew weary of our own rest, and made war upon our own peace, because cruel to our own mercies, sei­zed upon the blessings of God, and then armed those blessings into a rebel­lion against God. Je surun waxed fat and kicked, &c. Indeed we were swel­led with pride, inflamed with ambiti­on, blackned with malice, and pined with envy, fretted with animosities, vexed with whisperings and jealousies, overflowed with drunkenness, deluged with prophaneness, spotted with adul­teries, polluted with fornications, infa­mous by perjuries, stigmatiz'd and black­ned with prophane oaths and blasphe­mies, then God gave us over to our sins, and our sins delivered us up to punish­ment; he left us to our lusts, and they broke out and set us all on fire, James 4.1. For from thence come wars and fightings, even of your lusts that war in your members: As we were strangely bold and insolent against God, so did we vehemently long after no­velties and innovations among our selves. Good Lord, how petulant, how itching and sharp were those humours that then began to break out in scabs [Page 156]scabs and ulcers upon us! Every man would be a reformer, and every man would reform every other man but not himself: Every man could counsel a King, and govern a State, and reform a Bishop, and rule a Church, and inter­pret the Scriptures, and teach it a sense that it knew not before, and confute the Text by the interpretation; the flocks could feed their Shepherds, and Children instruct their Parents, Ser­vants rule their Masters, and Saul him­self out-prophesie the Prophets, and e­very man was learned without learn­ing, and knowing without knowledge, every man could govern his govern­ours, and teach his teachers how he would be taught, then did every man go to the Altar to kindle his flame, and fetch a coal from thence to set the San­ctuary it self on fire, then was Religi­on drawn into contradiction to it self; Faith made subservient to distinguish Love, and Charity banish'd to fetch home Truth; then did we hate one an­other for the Love of God, then did we sin to make sure of salvation, break Christs precepts for Christs rewards, imbrace ruine for safeties sake, and run [Page 157]into danger for security. Thus you have seen what expectations we had to live under the shadow of our late Roy­al Sovereign, and how these expectati­ons were defeated.

3. In the next place see how the like Defeats may be for the future prevent­ed.

1. Our late punishments tell us we must reform our sins, otherwise a con­tinuance of the same sins may (nay I doubt will) renew the like judgments upon us. Behold, saith our Saviour to the impotent man, thou art made whole, Joh. 5.14. sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee: Thou hast sinned, and those sins have brought punishments, and those punishments are now removed and taken away; take thou heed of a relapse, lest a return of thy sins bring a return of thy punishment upon thee. You heard what those sins were that brought our last miseries upon us: Have we re­formed and forsaken those sins? have we not rather encreased the first heap, and put out our sins to usury, that so we might reap our punishments with encrease? Have we not brooded over the same nest of evils to warm the Cock­atrice's [Page 158]Egg again, and to give a new life and a keener sting unto the fiery and flying Serpent? Are there not new arts of finning invented daily? Are there not new Schools of iniquity daily erected, where the art of sin is delive­red by rule, and men are taught how they may wisely damn themselves, and may effectually provoke God, and curse themselves into his displeasure? Are not men taught to put their own damnation into their prayers, and in­stead of imploring Gods Grace, to beg of him (I tremble to speak it) to damn them Body and Soul for ever? How many are there that endeavour to put Prophaneness into Rhetorick, and to teach Blasphemy to speak with Elo­quence, that know no other Breeding but to sin with impudence, no other Bravery but to be brave against God, and valiantly to storm the Gates of Hell, and charge upon their destructi­on? 2 Sam. 1.20. Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askalon, lest the Daughters of the Philistins and the un­circumcised be glad. Certainly the e­nemies of our peace have no greater en­couragement against us, than to see us, [Page 159]than to find us, at open war with God. Their sins, say they, will provoke God, when God is provoked he will desert them, and when they are deserted by him we shall prevail against them.

May all those that are in Places of Power and Authority, and may You, Most Noble Senators, as faithfully serve God, as you have, to your immortal honour, served your King. May you so endeavour to repress our growing E­vils, as that the enemies of our peace may be as much delighted in these hopes as they have been in other things.

2. As publick Affairs belong to pub­lick Persons, so do the private. Hold off the unskilful hand from the Helm of the Ship, and leave the Pilot to steer his own Course. We well know the mischief that ariseth from making Laws without and against the Law-Ma­kers, the miseries that came by labour­ing for Order by Confusion, and by hewing out the Corner Stones, and subverting the very foundation, that by that means we might build up the Fabrick. Popular Reformation, and religious Tumults are hatched by a dark fire; They begin in discontent, they [Page 160]proceed in phrensie, and they end in ruine and desolation. Publick Affairs in the hands of private persons are like the Censer in the hands of Ʋzziah, they breed a tumult in the Sanctuary, and bring a Leprosie upon a Mans own Brow. Therefore in the third place,

3. To point out a way as leading to solemn peace and settlement; and that is this, Live peaceably under the sha­dow of that Excellent Prince, whom Nature hath made gentle, whom Affli­ction hath made wise, whom Wonders have preserved, and whom Miracles have restored to us. If he were a Ne­ro St. Rom. 14.2. Paul would charge us we should not resist, and would charge resistance with Damnation. When Government ceaseth, Laws are silent, Mens Rights are undetermined. When Mens Rights are otherwise determined, they must be de­termined by War, and the Determina­tions of War are just and reasonable. Shall I that am armed think on Laws? said Pompey of old, who, as Grotius hath observed, was a very modest man. Government is the Bread we eat, the Drink we drink, and the Cloaths we wear; it is our quiet, our security in [Page 161]the day, and is as our sleep and our re­pose in the night; and even those very Persons that are most discontented a­mong us, they themselves could not with safety either sleep or wake, did not the Wings of Government hover over them. I shall adde but one refle­ction more to call back those sorrows to our thoughts that are owing to the Ca­lamities of this Day.

There have been five Kings of Eng­land murthered since the Conquest, Ed­ward II. Richard II. Henry VI. Ed­ward V. and our late Royal Sovereign. The Murtherers of whom found those rewards that were proper and suitable to their Work. Edward II. was murthe­red by the Lord Matravers and Tho­mas Gurnay, by the advice and assist­ance of the Lord Roger Mortimer; the Lord Matravers fled the Land, and dyed in misery, Gurnay was taken at Marseilles, and killed at Sea, and Mor­timer was, by Sentence of Parliament, hang'd at Tyburn. Richard II. by in­timation from Henry IV. as it is said, was murthered by one Sir Thomas Per­rotts, but found that he that loved the Treason hated the Traytor, grew mad [Page 162]himself in bitter thoughts, and perish­ed in the Tower. Henry VI. was killed by the hands of the Duke of Glouce­ster, and afterwards Richard III. whose blood, you know, was shed by the Sword, as he had shed the blood of o­thers. Edward V. who was proclaim­ed, though not crowned King, was, by the Command of the same Richard, murthered by Sir James Tyrrell, Miles Horace, and Robert Duck. Tyrrell was for his Treason beheaded in the Tower, Horace dyed away piece by piece, and Duck dyed in great misery at Calis. What became of our late Par­ricides I need not tell you; your selves know as well as I.

THE Apostle having in the for­mer words chained, tied up, and bound the arms and hands of destroying harms; here he seals up the lips and stops the mouth of devouring words; for evil, it is never [...]ecured till it be utterly destroyed, it [...]s like a worm or serpent that lives a distinct life in every distinct part; and therefore it must be particularly killed in every particular part, lest otherwise it do retain life in some part or mem­ber. Therefore I say the Apostle hav­ing cut the comb that drew on one evil action after another, in these words (or railing for railing) he clips the wings [Page 164]of railing and reproachful words that spread & propagate evil throughout the world: why we should not render rail­ing for railing; an account of this I shall give you in these following parti­culars.

1. It is a weak and rash spirit that quarrels and contends in bitter and re­proachful words, far below the true greatness, generosity and integrity of a Christian mind. Meer silence is many times a magnificent thing, and to speak nothing at all in vain babling, this be­comes the greatness of a wise man; the greatest minds are for the most part the most retired, and most reserved, like deep and brave streams, deep waters flow silently and without noise, while ebb and shallow streams chide and mur­mur as they run along. Loquacity is a female evil, much speaking is a childish thing; a multitude of words bewray imbecillity in a vain, unstable and un­fixed mind; deep thoughts are of slow motion, they are not easily uttered and poured out, they flow like spirits out of a narrow vessel drop by drop, they do not grow at the root of the tongue, they do not dwell under the roof of [Page 165]the mouth, they do not stream upon the surface of the lips, but they are [...]ifficult and of uneasie utterance: But [...]en those words that are most hasty [...]nd forward, are generally most vain and empty; those words which have [...]ngest being, they have the shortest [...]nse; those words that go the most [...]ftly from us, they carry the greatest [...]urden and weight along with them. [...]ow then as little speaking is a great [...]onour and commendation to a man, [...] much more is evil speaking a dis­ [...]onour and a reproach to a Christi­ [...]; the most excellent spirits delight [...]ost in recess and retirement from the [...]oise and clamours and contradictions [...]f the world. The great God seldom [...]eaks immediately by himself; all the [...]ered Books put together do but [...]ake one little volume, Angels seldom [...]ppear, they have but little converse [...]nd communion with the rufflings and [...]umults of the World: The greatest [...]inds, I say, live in a recess from the [...]amours and contradictions of the world: For happiness it is a quiet thing, it is misery only that is discon­ [...]ent, and it is discontent that makes the [Page 166]greatest noise and tumult in the world. A truly wise man and a good Christian is at ease in himself, reconciled to his own condition upon terms of univer­sal acquiescence and satisfaction in the will of God; he patiently receives whatever comes, and improves what­ever he receives, and blesseth God in all his improvements, he sits down in peace, and riseth up and giveth God thanks, and delights not in clamours and contradictions: I am weary, will the wise man say, of reviling and being reviled, of reproaching others and o [...] suffering reproach my self, of tumbling in the mire that I may asperse and be spatter my neighbour, of kindling a fire in my own breast that I may blow the flames in the face of my neighbour, or my enemy, of setting my self into heats that I might burn him, of setting my own heart on fire that I may waste and consume his felicity. I now see that evil words and angry passions are those chariots that hurry and carry evil throughout the world. They are those wings whereon it rides, and the winds that blow destructions and tem­pests among the Sons of men. I see [Page 167]now there is nothing but tumults and rashness, nothing but folly and iniqui­ty in the wrath and animosity of men, and I see that God alone hath the great­est cause to be angry, to be loud and violent upon the world, and yet be­hold there is silence in heaven, and God rules and governs the whole world without being heard or seen. I now see it is the crackling flames that chide upon the angry bryars and thorns: But the light that shines from heaven, the light that beams from the Sun upon us, that is silent and without noise. The converse of a good man ought to be like his prayer full of affection and con­descension, not loud or clamorous, not furious or discontented: He that in­gageth his own passion to make a par­ty in Religion, he will fill the world with fire, and consequently with smoke and darkness: but every wise and good man knows that there is a speaking si­lence, a victorious patience, a passive efficacy, an active and efficacious tole­rance, that shames evil by quietness and patience, and silenceth the clamorous tongue, not by speaking but by silence it self.

Reason 2. Render not railing for railing, because as that is below the greatness and dignity of a Christian spi­rit, so it is indeed quite contrary to it. Although none in the world be so much injured as God, and he injured by his own Creatures, by them that owe all fealty, and homage, and obedience to him: Yet it is not Gods course so much to be loud and clamorous (as I may so speak) upon his own Creatures, as to invite and convince, and to perswade by strong and effectual motion. Mi­chael the Arch-Angel when contending with the Devil about the body of Mo­ses, he durst not bring a railing accu­sation against him, (Jude 9.) To un­fold this a little, The Jews were a peo­ple infinitely prone to Idolatry; the greatest of sins finds no such ready oc­casion of entrance, as upon a great veneration of dead men: God there­fore as it is probable would hide the body of Moses when he was dead, lest he should be worshipped by the Jews, that had been a person of so great con­duct, a man of so great Miracles while he was living. The Devil that he might give this occasion to them, he would [Page 169]reveal, he would discover what God would hide: Now Michael though an Angel, though an Arch-Angel, though in a contest, though in a contest with the Devil himself, and with the Devil upon no less an occasion than the secu­ring of the people from Idolatry, yet would he not bring a railing accusati­on, nay, he durst not do it. Celestial spirits are wise and subtil, they are calm and quiet, if they cannot love they will not revile, if they cannot imbrace they will not reproach, if they cannot converse as becomes them, they will not converse at all. Saith Ambrose, E­very man appears to be so much the less wise, by how much he is the less pa­tient, and he is by so much the less pa­tient, as he is the less able to bear re­proach without speaking it again, and to receive an ill without returning the same evil that he hath received. It is not pleasing at all to a Christian to wound him by whom he is wounded, or to return reproach upon him that hath laid one first upon him; evil is evil in his thoughts by whomsoever done, or by whomsoever suffered; and no man suffers so much of evil as he [Page 170]that doth it; and therefore a good man is far more troubled for speaking evil than he is for being evil spoken of; shall I revile them saith he that revile me? shall I speak all the evil that I hear? shall I retort all these mischiefs? alas, this is to brood over a Cockatrice egg, this is to warm and hatch that evil which I should kill, this is to quicken that which I should destroy; this is to multiply those evils that I should diminish, and to increase those things which I should take away.

3. Render not railing for railing, because this shews a foul, an unclean and intemperate spirit; where there is much mud and much dregs lying at the bottom. A clear fountain is clear still even when it is shaken: when the wa­ters are troubled yet it is bright, yet it is lucid notwithstanding. Innocence is many times a sufficient vindication from all the clamorous wickedness that is in the world, and there is no louder con­futation of a calumny than a silent ob­stinate faith: We many times suspect a laborious apology, an artificial defence turns into an accusation; a studied an­swer creates an objection, we are ready [Page 171]to think that there needed not so much paint and varnish if there were a natu­ral beauty; there were no need of so many words if there were a sound and clear integrity; a short defence se­cures a fearless innocence, a little ex­cuse serves great integrity; recrimina­tion oftentimes argues guilt. It is said that the Basilisque desirous to infect and invenome the Looking-glass with his breath kills himself by the repercus­sion of his own poisonous breath into himself, and by swallowing that breath that he vomits out but a little before, he is murdered by that poison that he designed for the murdering of others; sure I am, the railer wounds himself with those very wounds he endeavour­ed to reflect upon others, and the ca­lumnies do return with greater violence upon his own head, and the reproach stains and pollutes his own face. It's true indeed envy smites the bravest in­nocence, envy alwayes shoots at the tallest reputation: All the clouds as­cend continually towards the Sun, but yet as those clouds were never able to put him in an eclipse, so they are dis­persed and scattered themselves by [Page 172]mounting up so near to so bright a star; so are all those calumnies and reproaches of wicked men scattered, dispersed, and dissipated by the brightness and lustre of true and Christian innocence. If then thou beest a Christian indeed, con­tent thy self to be innocent, and know thou hast in a great measure confuted the slander that thou hast not deserved, and that it is far better to merit a re­putation than to enjoy it; however let no calumny whatever open thy lips in­to a reproach, let not the reproach of any man animate thee to revile another, for do thou remember the armour of Saul will not fit David, that thy ene­mies weapons will not become thee; thou must go to him if he do not come to thee: Would you know what it is that is so keen, and pettish, and intem­perate in you; would you know what that is that is so impatient of every light word, and every small reflection, of every little touch that is made upon the tender flesh; It is for the most part the very same infirmity which smarts in you, that speaks and reviles in your enemy; Pride, Scorn, Passion, Self-will, Self-love, and infinite desire of being [Page 173]pleased and flattered; this is a thing so feeling and keen, so sensible in us, that a reciprocation of evil words demon­strates that we have that very corru­ption in us, which we revile and re­proach in others, and while we do ac­cuse our accusers, we do also condemn our selves of the very same evil that we do accuse them of: A naughty person, a wicked man, saith Solomon, Prov. 6.12,—14. walketh with a froward mouth: Our Saviour also tells us, That out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh; there is no pride, no scorn, no reproach, no evil speaking in the mouth, that was not vomited thither first of all from the heart. When we find the shaken vessel overflown with foul and muddy wa­ters, be sure there was filth, and mire, and mud at the bottom; when we find our selves set on fire by the flames of them that converse with us, this be­wrayes combustible matter in our selves, this shews that there is something in us fit for the fire to feed upon; and when other mens winds excite, and provoke, and stir up our tempestuous passion, this shews that we have matter of tem­pest in our own bowels; and we see [Page 174]that a man that hath been ruffled and discontented by another mans pas­sion, when he hath suffered other mens sparks to kindle a flame upon him, when he returns upon himself, when passion abates, when the flame cools, the tem­pest vanishes and disappears; when he begins to be calm and return to a right understanding of himself, as having dis­covered a foul and corrupt bottom, he then begins to blush at his own passi­on, and to be ashamed of himself. Thus to render evil words for evil words, shews a foul and corrupt bottom.

4. Render not railing for railing, because, this will create great torments and discontents to our selves: For how­ever he vents and utters his passion, and may think thereby to give himself some ease, yet sure it is, he doth but blow his own Coals, he doth but kindle his own Sparks, he doth but augment his own Flames, which he might check and smother up if he pleased, if he would put silence upon himself.

The corruption, the passion, the ani­mosity of a mans heart is like a flaming furnace, stop its mouth and it is smo­thered and choked in its own smoak; [Page 175]give it but air, let it have but a little vent, and it flames and burns with greater fury, with greater rage than it did before; so could we but command our own passions, stop the mouth of re­proach, seal up our own lips when we are stormed and battered by angry words, we should remove those tor­ments that we suffer to enter upon our selves when we open our mouths upon them. But so it is, when we pull out the troubled Arrow, while we pull out the barbed Dart that hath been shot in­to us, and sticks in our flesh, we wound our own wounds over again, and we do encrease the wound, and rent, and tear the flesh by labouring to pull forth those Arrows that have been darted in­to us, and shoot them back again into the flesh of our enemy. 2 Sam. 16.7. When Shimei breathed his curses upon David, we find indeed that David, as became the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, passeth by him like an angry and a barking Dog, nor returns any answer at all to him, nor is he galled by the teeth of the reproach­er: But then a Son of Zerviah, a man of animosity, a man of passion and vi­olence, was wounded by the Dart that [Page 176]was shot at another, and was inflamed by those sparks that fly upon him from the enemy. These wounds pain and torment him, and this flame and tor­ment kindles and inflames his passion. Then said Abishai the Son of Zerviah unto the King, Why should this dead Dog curse my Lord the King? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. He that opens his mouth upon a reproacher, lets the reproaches breathe into his own Bowels, and he is infect­ed by that same breath which he drew from him that poured out the re­proach upon him. He that mingleth with him that doth revile, is infected also, and stirred up to revile again. But if in the mean time he shuts his own mouth, and seals up his own lips, he will avoid the venome and poyson that was poured out upon him.

5. Render not railing for railing, because, as this ministers to our own greater anguish and discontent, so like­wise doth it spread evil abroad through­out the world, and it propagates and spreads a reproach from one place to a­nother, yea from Age to Age, from one Generation to another. He that scat­ters [Page 177]sparks kindles a flame, and he that utters his own passion in words lets them fly upon the wings of his own breath, yea he gives wings and feathers to them, and sends them abroad through­out the world. Prov. 15. A soft answer (saith Solomon) turneth away wrath. We may say of anger as we say of all evils, Nemo repentè fit turpissimus, no man is made ill all on a sudden; and sure it is, anger for the most part riseth by de­grees, the first sparks are kindled by some small and little asperities, and those grow greater and greater, one e­vil word provokes another, and one spark flies forth after another, till at last we see a great flame kindled there where at first there was but a little spark. The Apostle James, a calm, quiet, and grave Apostle, no where speaks so sharply, as against sharp and wounding tongues, And the tongue is a fire, Jam. 3.5, 6, 7, 8. a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole Body, and setteth on fire the whole course of Nature, and is it self set on fire of Hell. What a sharp, what a vehement description of an evil tongue here do we find in a calm Apostle? It [Page 178]is set on fire of Hell; so had David said before him, The poyson of Asps is un­der their tongues; and poyson, you know, is of a swelling Nature, every little drop of it mingled with blood ferments, it turns the whole piece into its Nature. Every little member touch­ed with a Gangrene must be suddenly cut off, or it will spread and invenome, and propagate the Contagion to the whole Body. Angry words, peevish, sowr, and intemperate reflections, these are the Chariots that hurry Evil throughout the world: Evil rides up­on the wings of Fame, it is carried a­broad in the mouth of Report; and do but clip these wings, do but stop the mouth of this report do but deprive evil of the power of speaking, do but take away the power of language from it, then the lye ceaseth, the reproach dies and vanisheth away, and there is no more heard of it: And who are the men that seal up the lips, and stop the mouth, and cut the tongue of this evil report? Who are the Men that should do this but those that are Christians, that be the Disciples of him, who when he was reviled, reviled not again? where [Page 179]should the spark dye if not at this house? where should the lye fall to the ground, and the reproach cease to speak any longer, if not at this door? Thou pro­fessest thy self to be a Disciple, and a Christian, to be a Disciple of that great Master, who knew not how to revile those that reviled him, nor return those injuries upon them for whom he dyed, and by whom he was murthered. Lip­sius calls calumny the Phaeton of the world, because it sets the world on fire. As our Saviour shed his own blood to quench the flames of Gods displeasure against men, so should we not only stop the mouth of reproach, but even shed tears also to quench those animosities that are among our selves.

6. Render not railing for railing, because, this reproacheth Religion, dis­honoureth Christ, scandalizeth truth, despiseth God, and bringeth an evil re­port upon the Law of Charity: repre­sents the Christian as a Publican, and consequently the Publican as a Christian also. For if a Christian be an evil man, it infallibly follows that an evil man may be a Christian. We find he that reflects one evil upon another, that [Page 180]hates those by whom he is hated, and reviles that man by whom he is reviled, deprives Christianity of its efficacy, of its victorious strength, of that power and spirit whereby good is designed and commanded to overcome evil; and Christianity is no where kindly recei­ved, but where it is received in these degrees, and where it overcometh evil with good, and silenceth reproach by speaking good. But now if Christians shall speak, and think, and do just like other men, then may I say, as our Sa­viour saith, What do you more than o­thers? Is not this to blaspheme the name of Religion? Is not this to reproach our Saviour himself? Is not this to say, He shed his blood in vain, and that his blood, and the Gospel confirmed by that blood, leaves the World just as it found it, and makes it no whit the bet­ter? I earnestly wish that every Pro­fessor of Christianity would so far give credit and reputation to it, as to de­monstrate this one thing necessary, To be a Christian is not to be just like ano­ther Man, no whit a better Man than he was, and if we do not demonstrate this, certainly we tell Christ himself that he died in vain.

Think with your selves how they shall shine in Heaven that have set a lu­ster and brightness upon Christianity here on Earth; And Christ will enter­tain them at the Great Day, that have caused their light so to shine before men, as that they have glorified their Father which is in Heaven. Come thou blessed of my Father, thou hast been reproached, and didst not reproach a­gain; thou hast been reviled, and didst not revile again; thou hast honoured the Gospel on Earth, the Gospel shall honour thee in Heaven; thou hast born my reproach, and thou shalt inherit my Glory; thou hast carried my Cross, and thou shalt wear my Crown; and these Vertues shall now honour thee in Hea­ven, which thou didst credit and ho­nour upon Earth.

Object. May not I speak evil when it is true?

Answ. 1. This is not always a re­proach, this is not to revile in the sense I mean; for, indeed, reproaches are sel­dome true.

2. A Man must never speak evil though it be true.

1. With delight and pleasure, for so [Page 182]can none but wicked men speak: nor Secondly may we speak evil though it be true, merely to feed our own Ambi­tion, merely to gratifie our own Pride, and report our selves good and others e­vil, lest while we make another man a Publican, we do in the mean time prove our selves to be the Pharisee. Thirdly, Nor may we report evil though it be true, but for some great end, for vindication of opposed innocency, for clearing of wronged vertue, and for the advancing the reputation of such a person as hath been abused by base and unworthy men; but then, I say, we must speak it as becomes wise men, not in passion, not with animosity, but with reason and sobriety. And thus we must speak, lest we justifie that which we condemn, and condemn that which we would justifie; Lest we should make our selves evil for the vindicating of that which is good, and leave the de­fence of truth to him that is the Father of Lies.

THese are the words of a great King, of that glorious Solo­mon, whose Wisdom and Ex­perience are so much spoken of in the Holy Scriptures, and so much celebrated to this day; He was a man that searched all the veins of the whole Creation, to try what satisfaction, what content could be found in any thing, in any thing here in this world; and he had plenty of Wealth and Riches to enable him so to do; for we are told he made Silver and Gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, 2 Chron. [...].1 [...]. and Cedar-trees [Page 184]as the Sicamores that are in the vallies; he gave himself to the study of wis­dom, and to the reading and writing of many Books, for he spake three thousand Proverbs, and his Songs were one thousand and five; he spake of trees, from the Cedar that is in Leba­non, to the Hyssop that grows upon the wall: He spake also of Beasts, and Fowles, and of creeping things, as you read, 1 King. 4.32, 33. And as he was a man of great Wisdom; so likewise he was a great manager of business, he was Prince or King of a numerous People, and the master of a vast great Family, so great, that his daily provisions were thirty Oxen, and one hundred Sheep, besides Harts and Roe-bucks, and fatted Fowle; as you may read, 1 King. 4.23. Besides this he was a very great builder, and spent much time and trea­sure that way; he built an house for Almighty God, wherein thirty thou­sand men were imployed at one time; as you may see, 1 King. 5.13. He built also an House for himself, which was thirteen years in finishing, as you may see, 1 King. 7.1. He built also an House for his Wife, for Pharaohs [Page 185]Daughter, and that was a fair one too, as you may see, 1 King. 7.8, 9. He built also the house of the forest of Le­banon, a Royal Palace, as you may see in the same Chapter. Furthermore as he was a man of great wisdom, and great wealth, and great experience, so we see he drank very deep of the cup of pleasure, he made him Gardens and Orchards, planting in them all kind of Fruit-trees, as you may see, Eccles. 2.5. And made Pools of water to water and refresh those trees, Eccles. 2.6. He got him Men-singers and Women-sin­gers, and Musical Instruments of all sorts, and all the delights of the Sons of men, Eccles. 2.8. In fine, whatso­ever his eyes desired he kept not from them, nor did he withhold his heart from any joy, Eccles. 2.10. And what then, that I may come to the end for which I have told you all this, observe I say, that he that was Prince of so great a People, Master of so great a Fa­mily, owner of so great a Treasure, and that swam in so much pleasure and con­tent, after a review of all his labours, and all the injoyments of all the plea­sure of this world, he makes this con­clusion, [Page 186] Fear God and keep his Com­mandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

I shall not need to tell you, that the fear of God in this place signifies Reli­gion, as it doth in several other places, Psal. 19.9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judge­ments of the Lord are true and righ­teous altogether. Also in Psal. 34.11. Come ye Children hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord: That is to say, I will teach you the knowledge and practice of True Religion; so again, the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom; that is to say, Religion is so, not that it is the beginning only, but the middle and end too; but he that fears not God hath not yet so much as begun to be wise. In this place more particularly, the fear of God seems to be taken for a due regard to God in all his Laws, and the keeping of his Commandments is the expression of that regard, and so the former signifies sincerity of mind, and the latter regularity in our lives, which two things make up the whole duty of man, and his whole felicity too, [Page 187]which is the proper meaning of the phrase, Fear God and keep his Com­mandments, which is the whole duty of man; that is to say, the whole peace, happiness and satisfaction of man.

Which words may be considered ab­solutely or relatively; if you consider them absolutely, and as they are in themselves, they afford us this Consi­deration.

Doct. That the fear of God and keeping of his Commandments, that is to say, the real practice of true Piety and Religion, is the real and solid and true satisfaction of the mind of man: If you consider them relatively, and as they refer unto the former discourse in this Book, so they suggest this unto us:

Doct. 2. That all the pleasures and profits, all the advantages of this world can give no full content, nor real satis­faction to us. I shall consider them in the first respect at this time, that is to say, That the fear of God and keeping his Commandments are the real rest, peace, quiet and satisfaction of the soul; and truly, my friends, this is the thing we seek after in the whole course of our lives, only we seek it where it is not [Page 188]to be found, in shadows and vain ap­prehensions, we seek it in the cheats and impostures of sense, we seek it in sin and misery, we look for liberty in thraldom, for the living among the dead, we seek for our happiness in riches, and pleasures, and profits, and such things as these are, and here it is not to be found, we seek it not in the fear of God, and in the real and seri­ous practice of Religion; and here it is, and this is the thing I am to prove, and this will be proved by these four par­ticulars:

1. This is the end for which we were made, to Fear God and keep his Com­mandments.

2. This puts us under the protecti­on of Divine Providence, and gives us assurance of that protection which is a wonderful comfort and support to a mans life.

3. This places those virtues in us which pull out the sting of all outward troubles and calamities.

4. This gives us assurance of another life in the world to come, a far better life than this is, which is a support to us in all our labours and troubles here in this world.

1. Of all I say, the Fear of God and the keeping of his Commandments is the great end for which we were made, and every thing is right that acts to its own end, and rests in its own place; but when it is beside the end that the great God made it for, then it is unquiet and full of trouble, and finds no place to rest in; now this I say is the great end for which we were made, for to fear, and serve, and honour God, this is that end we were designed for, and to this end God hath given us his Laws to guide our ways, and Reason to under­stand them, and given us his Grace to inable us to practise those Laws that he hath given us, and the promise of Eter­nal Life, the more to excite & perswade us to yield him a free and chearful obe­dience; and whatsoever we may pro­pound to our selves till we do this and rest here, and make true Piety the great work of our souls, we shall never ob­tain any real content or satisfaction: sooner may the fowls of the air live in the sea, or the fish of the sea live in the air, every thing live out of its pro­per place and centre, than the mind and spirit of man, find any real peace [Page 190]and satisfaction, without real righteous­ness, and the love and fear of God; If Reasons and Arguments would per­swade, how easily might we convince our selves, that this being the end we were made for, we could never be hap­py without the accomplishment of it, that seeing we are Creatures made for the enjoyment of God, nothing but God can give us satisfaction; for what Creature can supply the place of God, or do that for us that God designs to do, if the Oracles of God could per­swade us? how often do they tell us, that our duty and happiness lies in the love of God, and obedience to his will, and how passionately do these entreat us to set our affections on things above, and not on things on the earth, to seek the Kingdom of God and his Righte­ousness in the first place, in promise that all other things shall be added, as­suring us, that if we will teach our souls to live upon God, God will not be wanting to take care of our bodies: And lastly, if our own experience would teach us, I might appeal to eve­ry mans heart and conscience, whether ever he found himself fully satisfied [Page 191]with any of the enjoyments of this world; let but a man read over his own history, and reflect upon the sto­ry of his own life, and he will find that those things which he expected most sa­tisfaction from, many times afforded him the least; turn your eyes upon those men that make wealth their God, are they satisfied and contented, are they not as hungry and as poor, are they not as miserable in the midst of their plenty as they were before? Re­flect upon them that gape after the ho­nours and applauses of this life, and are they satisfied with these things? Con­sider them that spend their dayes in idleness and lust, that waste their time in rioting and drunkenness, and do we find any of these men to live a truly happy life? are they not oftentimes a burthen to themselves, and weary of e­very moment of time? are they not at a loss what to do with themselves? are not their joys a dream, and when they awake they find themselves very mise­rable, and altogether to seek for the way to true happiness? O what trouble and weariness, what noise and anxiety do these men find in themselves, and when [Page 192]they search themselves to the bottom, what poisonous dregs do they find in recollecting their present state? Eccles. 2.17. even as Solomon saith, I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the Sun is grievous unto me, for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Now what may be the reason of all this, but that we were made for greater ends, and that we can never be happy with­out the pursuit of those great ends for which God in wisdom and goodness did make us? But now on the other hand, real Religion, true and solid Pie­ty, this is unto our soul as light unto our eye, and pleasant sounds unto our ears, it is as food to the hungry, and refreshing streams to them that are a­thirst: God made Religion for our du­ty and for our reward, for our business and for our happiness too, he made it for our souls and for our bodies; as the eye is not without the eye; so the soul is lost without Religion, and Religion is not without the fear of God, and keeping his Commandments, for this is the end we were made for; and in the pursuit of this end, here lies peace, here lies our happiness and true satisfaction.

2. This will further appear, if you consider that the practice of Religion puts us under the Providence of God, and under the protection of that Pro­vidence, and gives us assurance of that protection; and here lies solid rest and repose of mind, as conceiving our selves to be under the shadow of those wings that spread themselves from East to West, from North to South, from one end of the Earth to another; Psal. 34.15, 16. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righte­ous, and his ears are inclined to their cry; but the face of the Lord is a­gainst them that do evil, &c. What­ever vain men pretend to in these days, whatever they pretend that deny the Providence of God, it is alwayes a­wake and with us, alwayes running to and fro to take care of them that fear him, though we do not; for though we cannot see him with our eyes, though we hear him not speak with an audible voice, nor can touch him with our hands, yet he is nearer unto us than we are unto our selves, his eyes are upon the wicked and upon the just, upon the wicked to waste and consume them, upon the just to support and up­hold [Page 194]hold them, and this is that which bears up the heart and spirit of every good man in the world, he knows that God looks upon him, and that his Provi­dence is concerned for him, and he knows that God is infinitely gracious and merciful, and powerful also, not less willing than able, not less able than willing to do that which is best for him; 2 Tim. 1.12. I know, saith S. Paul, whom I have trusted, and that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. He had before spoke of his sufferings, and he adds this as the ground of all; I know, saith he, whom I have trusted; I have trusted him that is infinitely wise and faithful, him that is strong and powerful, and therefore have I cast my self upon him, and wholly resigned my self into his hands with all my concerns whatsoever they be, and this is my strength and support of my heart. Integrity is the greatest courage of a man, and a migh­ty spirit it gives unto him; integrity is as life to the soul and nerves to the arm, and placeth a man in that fort which Divine Providence hath raised in the world; it puts upon him the [Page 195]arm of God, and shadows him from the stroke of malice, if not from those strokes that can reach his estate and bo­dy, yet it preserves his mind quiet and intire, and free from those dreads and sorrows that blacken the hearts of other men: But then

3. Religion placeth those Vertues in us which subdue our inordinate appe­tites, and by this means pulls out the sting of all outward troubles and cala­mities, and hereby contributes much to our happiness. Our disquiets arise ge­nerally from within, and so much do outward troubles afflict us, as they do occasion discomposures within us; now the fear of God, and the practice of true Religion mortifie these lusts, subdue these inordinate passions, throw out those dispositions in us which render us obnoxious to the dint of external trou­bles and offences; for first of all,

1. Religion moderates and lessens our desires.

2. It teacheth us resignation to Gods Will, as to the Event of those things we do desire.

3. It teacheth us patience of mind when things do not fall out according to [Page 196]our desire and expectation.

4. It improves and betters us by these very sufferings and calamities, that God is pleased to exercise us withal.

1. It moderates our desires. Our Saviour tells us, Luke 12.15. That a mans life consi­steth not in the multitude of those things he possesseth; life is to live and be content, 1 Tim. 6.6. and Godliness with content­ment is great gain. Life, in the sense of our Saviour, is not to draw in the air and blow it out again, to eat, and drink, and sleep, and awake again, and to enjoy the use of our natural senses; but life is to enjoy God and our selves, and to be content with those injoyments; and Content doth not arise from the abun­dance a man possesseth, but from the due frame and temper of his mind, whe­ther he want, or whether he abound, or whatsoever his condition be. Now true Religion, styled here the fear God, doth not always give us content by giving us the things we desire, but by taking off those desires from us. It is the same thing not to desire and to enjoy; nay, not to desire gives us a more free and solid happiness than to enjoy all the content of this life. He that placeth [Page 197]his content in outward things, borrows a happiness in that which another man may take from him, and he may lose a­gain in this life: But he that lives upon that which is within, need to fear no Body but himself; and if he be true to his own resolution, and faithful to his own Soul, it is no great matter how all the World is affected with him; for no man can interrupt his life nor de­prive him of his happiness without his own consent. Lo here then the singu­lar advantage that the fear of God gives unto us, it sets us above the calamities of this world, and elevates us into another sphere, and makes us even of another life, and teaches us to live on that which is not seen, on the treasures of Heaven, and to despise all the advan­tages of this world. But then Secondly,

2. As it cools our desires, so it teach­eth resignation to the Will of God as to events, even in those things that we do desire. I confess God and Nature have made us such as to feel the concernments of this present state. I am not so much a Stoick to believe that it is either need­ful or possible for a man to be without all resentments of the present life; nor [Page 198]so little a Christian, as to think that a man must concern himself only with his own affairs, and not with the good of his neighbour too; but this is that which that true Religion, which is the fear of God, teacheth us, to commit all events unto Gods Will; and by thus do­ing it contributes much unto our hap­piness: design is naturally full of desire, and desire full of trouble and importu­nity; and hence it is that there is so much trouble and weariness, so much dissatisfaction and vexation in the world: Men are generally full of de­signs, and designs full of expectation and desire not resigned to the Will of God. And this is that which causeth so much trouble unto us; and this is that which St. Jam. 4.13. James seems to blame, Go to now ye that say to day or to morrow we will go into such a City, and buy and sell, and get gain; whereas you ought to say, if the Lord will, &c. We should always remember in all our affairs, that the great God rules the World; and seeing we know not what he will do, since we cannot trace the footsteps of his Will, nor know what he will bring to pass, we should surren­der [Page 199]all events to his pleasure. This, this is our duty and our happiness too; Religion teacheth us that this is our du­ty, and that the doing of it would make us happy.

3. The same Religion that teacheth us to commit all events to the Will of God, teacheth us patience also, and mo­deration of spirit, if events come con­trary to our hopes and expectation. God hath not put it into our hands to dispose and order the affairs of the World, but he hath by his Grace in great measure committed to us power to dis­pose of our selves; that is to say, to order the affection, and govern the dis­position of our mind, under all events whatsoever; and when all other reme­dies fail us, there is still one that never misseth, and that is a firm and resolute patience; Jam. 1.2, 3, 4. My Brethren (saith St. James) account it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing that the trial of your faith worketh pati­ence: But then let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and intire, wanting nothing. Be sure to put on a firm patience, and let that patience have its perfect work, and then [Page 200]know you are intire, then know you want nothing, then account not your selves forlorn and miserable, though you fall into many temptations; but, saith he, account it joy, nay all joy, when being fortified and prepared, you fall into divers temptations. This is the third Particular: and it leads me to the fourth, which is this,

4. The fear of God, or true Reli­gion, teacheth us patience under all troubles, and by so doing it doth im­prove and better us; for the improve­ment of our Vertue is the improvement of our Souls, that is indeed of our selves, and the advantage a man re­ceives in himself is more than that he re­ceives in any other thing; as a mans self is better than his Estate, or his Bo­dy better than his Cloaths, or his Soul is more considerable than his Body. Now the School of Affliction disciplines us unto the exercise of Vertue, and that fits us for every state that Divine Providence shall bring upon us: It pre­pares us to receive and enjoy that which is good, and to suffer and undergo that which is evil; It furnisheth us with such Christian patience and moderation [Page 201]as pulls the sting and poyson out of e­very affliction that happens to us; It gives us water out of a Rock, and turns the Eater into Bread, and feeds us with Honey out of the Carcase of a Lion. But then fourthly,

4. As Religion, that is to say, the fear of God, and the keeping his Com­mandments is the whole of Man, because it is the end for which he was made, and puts us under the protecti­on of Divine Providence, and plants those Vertues in us that blunt the edge, and take out the sting of all outward troubles and afflictions, and prepares us for all Conditions: So also, because it puts us into an assurance of another life, and gives us the comfort of that assu­rance even in this life that we now live; for every truly good man hath this, & it is matter of joy & triumph to him in all conditions, in all the troubles of this life, that there is another life in the world to come, a life beyond and af­ter death, a life free from sin and folly, a life free from those distempers that im­bitter the present state. And this is a sufficient argument to every wise and vertuous person, to fear God and keep [Page 202]his Commandments. We know (saith St. Paul) that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the hea­vens, &c. If we know and believe this so as to fit our selves for it, how may we triumph over all our sorrows and calamities in this world? how may we live upon our future inheritance, and satisfie our selves in this, That within a few months, or years, or hours we shall be received into a better state, a state not only free from actual sorrow, but free from all temptations and occasions of sorrow, and not free for a little time, but for ever and to all eternity? Saint Paul, seeing the time of his Martyrdom to approach, 2 Tim. 4.6. writes thus to Timothy, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand; with­out little concern he speaks of it. He speaks of his Grave as if it were his Bed, and of his departure into the other World, as if it were the passing from one City to another. What! ready to be offered up, and that on a bloody Al­tar, and by a bloody hand, and no [Page 203]more concerned than thus? What! no consternation, nor any conflict of mind in such a condition as this? How comes this to pass, O Blessed Paul? He an­swers in the next words, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of righteous­ness, which God the righteous Judge shall give unto me in that day; and not to me only, but unto all that love his appearance. Behold here then that which will give satisfaction, that which will give life even at the Gates of death, that God hath laid up a Crown of righ­teousness for every man that faithfully dischargeth his duty in this world, and expects his reward in the world to come. A word or two of Application, and I have done.

1. Let this recommend true Religion to us.

2. Let is recommend to us the pra­ctice of it.

1. Let this teach us highly to value and esteem the fear of God, and the keeping of his Commandments. How would you esteem and value that were [Page 204]it any thing else but what it is, that should supply all wants, that should serve all necessities, that should fill up all ca­pacities, and satisfie all desires, that should free and deliver us in so great a measure from all the disquietments of this world? and is it not a strange thing, that he that would value such a thing as this is, were it any thing else but what it is, namely, the fear of God, and the keeping of his Commandments, which is the end for which we were made; I say, that would value greatly such a thing as this, were it any thing but what it is, should neglect and undervalue it, because it is so? If this be strange, do you take heed that it be not true; and do not undervalue, but higly prize and esteem such a thing as Religion, and the fear of God is: But

2. Let what hath been said upon this point, stir you up to a real and holy practice of true Vertue and Religion; not to matter of disputes, and heats, and contention about this and that and the other disputable Opinion, but to the fear of God, and the keeping of his Commandments: Study this as your ve­ry [Page 205]lives, practise this as the whole of Man, fear God and keep his Command­ments; Bind them, as the Wise man ad­viseth, continually upon thy heart, and tye them about thy neck; when thou goest it shall lead thee, when thou sleep­est it shall keep thee, and when thou a­wakest it shall talk with thee; for the Commandment is a lamp, and the Law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

To shut up all: What is it for a man to pursue, to obtain, and enjoy all the advantages of this world, while a man neglects the life to come? What advan­tage will it be for a man to buy, and to sell, and to get gain, and to perplex and disquiet himself about the things of this world, which do not, nay cannot, administer any real comfort or satisfacti­on? What is it for a man to spend his days thus, that were given a man to ho­nour God, and save a mans own Soul? To spend that time, I say, in the pur­suit of worldly things, which will ad­minister no true comfort to him; but after all this labour and trouble, this must be the conclusion that every wise [Page 206]man makes, after all his trial and expe­rience, after all his labours and enjoy­ments in the World, That the fear of God and keeping of his Commandments is the whole duty of Man.