THough the particular time and occasion of Penning this Psalm is uncertain, yet so much is plain, that it was after David had setled the Ark at Ieru­salem, and made that City the place of God's House, and of Religious Wor­ship, and the Seat of Justice and Judg­ment. There was the House of God, verse 9. that is, though the Temple was not yet built, if this Psalm was composed by David, as the Title of it signifies it was, yet there was [Page 4] the Tabernacle and the Ark of God, which formerly was in Shiloh, and af­terwards removed from one place to another, till David setled it in Ierusa­lem: Thither all the Tribes of Israel were to resort three times a year to worship God before the Ark of the Testimony, 4 ver. There was the Im­perial Seat, where David had built his Throne and Palace, and where his Po­sterity were to dwell and govern Israel; and therefore it was the Seat of Justice too, as that must be, where the Kings Throne and the House of God was placed. There are set thrones of judg­ment, the thrones of the house of David, 5. ver. These were the peculiar Pri­vileges of Ierusalem, above any other City in Iury. This was the reason of that peculiar affection and passionate concern, which David had himself, and exhorts all others to express for Ieru­salem, that he greatly rejoiced to go thither, and to continue there. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord; our feet shall stand within thy gates, Ó Ierusalem. That he exhorts all people to pray for the peace and prosperity of Ierusalem, and promises a Blessing to those who love [Page 5] it; as it is in my Text, Pray for the peace of Ierusalem, they shall prosper that love thee; peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. All this was not for the sake of the material Buildings, the beauty of the place, or the conveniency of its scituation, but because it was the Center of Unity; Which is builded as a City that is com­pact together, whither the Tribes go up, the Tribes of the Lord, unto the Testi­mony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord, 3. & 4. ver. Which shews in what respect he commends Ierusalem, that it is built as a City, which is compact together; not with re­gard to the Uniformity and regular Order and Union of its material Build­ings, but that it was the Center of a Religious Unity and Order in Worship, where all the Tribes of Israel met and united in the same Acts of Worship and Praise to God. There was the House of God, there were the set Thrones of Judgment. So that to Love Ierusalem, to Pray for the Peace and Prosperity of it, is to love the House, the Worship, the Name of God; to love and pray for the Unity, Hap­piness, and Prosperity of the Church, [Page 6] for the flourishing State of Religion, and the peaceful Opportunities of Wor­shipping God in his Holy Temple, to­gether with the equal and impartial Administration of Justice, which is so much for the Publick Good, to pro­mote the Temporal and Eternal Hap­piness of Men, that our Love to Man­kind, but especially our Love to the Brethren, as well as our Zeal for God's Glory and Worship, requires this of us; For my Brethren and Companions sake, I will now say, Peace be within thee: Because of the House of the LORD our GOD, I will seek thy good, v. 8, 9.

Thus I have given you a very plain and easy Exposition of this whole Psalm, and therein have sufficiently Ex­plained my Text. I have but one thing more to add, to make way for my in­tended Discourse, and that is, to shew you, that this Exhortation does direct­ly, and not merely by Accommodation and Analogy concern Us, as well as it did the Iews.

For Ierusalem was but a Type of the Christian Church, as the carnal Israel, or the carnal Seed and Posterity of Abraham were of true and sincere Christians, who are the Children of [Page 7] Abraham, by Faith in Christ: And therefore St. Paul expresly distinguishes between the earthly Ierusalem, and the Ierusalem which descends from above, 4. Gal. 25, 26. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Ieru­salem, which now is, and is in bondage with her Children; but Ierusalem which is above, (or from above, that is, the Christian Church) is free, which is the Mother of us all. Which in 12. Heb. 22. he calls Mount Sion, the city of the living GOD, the heavenly Ierusalem. And 3. Rev. 12. it is called, The city of GOD, the new Ierusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from GOD. And 21. Rev. 2. The new Ierusalem com­ing down out of heaven from GOD, prepared as a bride adorned for her hus­band: Which is a Description of the most reformed and purified state of the Christian Church on Earth. So that this Exhortation, To Pray for the Peace of Ierusalem, does most properly be­long to Christians, because the Chri­stian Church is the true Ierusalem, the new, the holy Ierusalem, descending out of Heaven from GOD, v. 10.

By this time, I suppose, you under­stand the meaning of my Text, and [Page 8] how much we are concerned in it; and there are two parts observable in the words: 1. The Duty to Pray for the Peace of Ierusalem, or of the Chri­stian Church; Peace be within thy Walls, and Prosperity within thy Palaces. 2. The Encouragement to this, They shall prosper that love thee.

It is the first of these I shall at pre­sent speak to, The Duty to Pray for the Peace of Ierusalem; wherein I shall con­sider two things.

• 1. What we must Pray for.
• 2. How necessary Prayer is, to ob­tain these Blessings.

I. What we must pray for: Peace and Prosperity. Peace be within thy Walls, and Prosperity within thy Palaces.

Now the Peace of the Church sig­nifies two things:

• 1. The Unity and Agreement of Christians among themselves.
• 2. The Preservation of the Church from external Oppressions and Persecu­tions.

1. The Unity and Agreement of Christians among themselves: When they profess the same Faith, and join in the same Worship; when they love like Brethren, and have a tender affe­ction [Page 9] and sympathy for each other, as Members of the same Body: This all Christians confess to be a great and necessary Duty, and pretend to lament the many scandalous Dissentions and Divisions of the Christian Church.

This I am sure, that though Divisi­ons and Dissentions are destructive to all Societies, yet there is no Society suffers so much by it as the Christian Church: This destroys Love and Cha­rity, which is the true Spirit of the Gospel, and the Badge and Cognizance of our Profession; By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples, if ye love one another. This turns the Christian Church into a School of wrangling Disputes, and makes men more con­cerned what they believe, than how they live; this gives great offence to the World, representing the Christian Faith as very doubtful and uncertain, and Christianity it self as a great Di­sturber of the Peace of Mankind; this overthrows all Government and Disci­pline in the Church, and makes its Censures despised and scorned, when the most profligate Sinners can shelter themselves in a Schism, and palliate or expiate their other Crimes by a facti­ous [Page 10] Zeal; and therefore, if ever we desire to see Christianity flourish, we must Pray heartily for Peace and Unity among Christians.

But that we may the better under­stand what we are to Pray for, let us briefly enquire wherein the Unity of the Church consists; and that is in the Unity of Faith, the Unity of Com­munion, and the Unity of Love and Charity.

1st. Unity of Faith: Whereby I do not understand, that all Christians must agree in all the Opinions and Specula­tions of Religion; it would be well if it could be so; but this can never be, while men have such different Under­standings and Abilities, such different Skill and Opportunities of enquiry; but the Unity of Faith is secured by an Agreement in all the Fundamental Articles of Religion, though a little varied in some nicer Speculations; which are like the different Features in mens Faces, which distinguish them from one another, but do not alter the Human Shape: And this is the differ­ence between the Disputes which di­vide Papists and Protestants, and the Disputes of Protestants among them­selves: [Page 11] The first subvert the Founda­tions of Christian Faith and Worship, and therefore these Differences can ne­ver be Accommodated and Reconciled; they will not part with their Errors, and we must not embrace them, if we love our Souls; for as dear a thing as Peace is, we must not part with Truth for Peace. But now the Disputes among all that are allowed to be Protestants, whatever mistakes there may be on any side, do not overthrow any necessary Article of the Christian Faith; and therefore the Unity of the Faith may be secured amidst all these Disputes. Some of these Disputes are only incon­venient Modes of speaking, and the difference is only in Words, when both Parties really mean the same thing; which, I believe, if all Heat and Passi­on were laid aside, would in a great measure appear to be the true State of that Protestant Controversy about Ju­stification by Faith alone. Others are mere Philosophical Disputes, in which the Christian Faith is not peculiarly concerned, for they have been, and are disputed in all Religions; such as the Controversy about God's Eternal Decrees, and the Power and Efficacy [Page 12] of Nature and Grace; which is only a reviving of that old Philosophical Dispute about Necessity and Fate, and God's concourse with second Causes to produce their Effects. And thus it is in some other Cases. Now methinks such Disputes as these, which do not properly belong to the Christian Faith, should not divide the Christian Church: Let men dispute about them as Philo­sophers; but as Christians, let it suf­fice them to believe what Christ and his Apostles have plainly taught us; t at is enough to carry us to Heaven; and methinks it should be enough to make us agree in the Way thither.

As to Explain this more particularly, but very briefly: There is no good Protestant but will confess, That we are Justified only by the Merits of CHRIST's Death and Sacrifice, as the only Expiation and Atonement for our Sins. That no works of Righte­ousness which we can do, can make Satisfaction to God for our Sins, nor merit Eternal Life, which is the Gift of God. That Christ is our only Sa­viour, and that he is the Saviour only of his Body or Church. That we are incorporated into the Body of Christ, [Page 13] and put into a state of Justification, by Faith and the Christian Sacraments. That no impenitent unreformed Sinner, though he do profess to believe in Christ, and be baptized, shall be saved by Him; and therefore though Repen­tance and a Holy Life do not merit the Pardon of Sin, nor Eternal Rewards, yet they are necessarily required in all those who shall be forgiven and saved by Christ. This I say, all good Pro­testants agree in, and all this is plainly taught in Scripture; and whoever be­lieves this, and practises accordingly, shall certainly be saved: And what need is there then of reducing all this into Artificial Schemes, wherein Mens Fancies and Conceits differ? What ne­cessity is there of disputing what the Office of Faith, or what the Efficacy of Works is in our Justification, when we all agree that we are saved only by the Mercy of God, and the Merits of Christ through Faith in his Blood, and the Exercise of Repentance and a holy Life? To understand the reason and order of things, conduces much to the beauty and perfection of Christian Knowledge; but Men may be saved, and the Peace of the Church better se­cured, [Page 14] without such particular Deter­minations.

Thus all good Protestants agree, that all God's Works are known to him from the foundation of the World: That Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world: That God knows who are his, and always did so: That we are predestinated to the adoption of children by Iesus Christ to himself, accord­ing to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, where­in he hath made us accepted in the belo­ved: That we are predestinated according to the purpose of him, who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will, 1. Ephes. 5, 6, 11. That when God comes to judge the World, he will appear infinitely just, and good, and merciful: That bad men shall have no reason to complain of God, and that good men shall have nothing to arrogate to themselves. This secures the Glory of God; of his Wisdom, Goodness, Justice, Power, and Sove­raignty; and what need is there to enquire any farther into the Divine Decrees, than the Scripture has re­vealed; in the particular explication of which, when men follow their own [Page 15] Fancies, they vastly differ from each other, to the great disturbance of the Peace of the Church? We are assured by plain Testimonies of Scripture, That God desires not the death of a Sinner, but rather that he should re­turn and live: That our destruction is of our selves: That all the good we do, is wholly owing to the Grace of God, who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure: That all the evil we do, is owing to our selves: That every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed; then when lust hath conceived, it bring­eth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. This we all agree in, and this attributts the glory of all the good we do, to God; and the shame of all the evil we do, to our selves; this encourages us to do good in a confident assurance of the Divine Grace; and teaches bad men, that they must not think to excuse their wicked­ness by charging it on God: And this is all that is necessary for us to know, because it is all that is needful to the purposes of Religion, and a holy Life.

But when men frame this into Philo­sophical Hypotheses, they then divide [Page 16] as far from each other, as East and West; and all the attempts of recon­ciling them is vain and fruitless, for there is no Medium to unite in. The only way to Peace, is to silence all these Disputes, as matters which Man­kind will never agree about, and where­in Religion is no more concerned, than the Government of Kingdoms or States; and on which the Salvation of our Souls no more depends, than the con­duct of our Secular Affairs, or the preservation of this Mortal Life: For the dispute about Decrees; Predestina­tion; God's Power over our Wills; how God and Creatures produce the same Effect; what belongs to God, and what belongs to the Creature in every Action, (since in him we live and move); concerns every thing else as well as Religion; and yet in all other cases, men let Philosophers dispute these Points, and quietly go about their Business, and do what is fit to be done, as if there were no Controversy about these matters; and I cannot imagine why they should not do so in Religion too: Believe what is plainly taught, and do what is commanded; use the greatest Wisdom, and our ut­most [Page 17] diligence in doing good, and de­pend upon the succours of the Divine Grace, and leave these Disputes to be decided at the day of Judgment, and that will decide them all. By this means I am sure most of the Disputes among Protestants, which have given the greatest Disturbance to the Church, would be for ever silenced, and Chri­stian Religion would not be clogged, nor reproached with such Philosophi­cal Controversies.

2ly, The Unity of Communion: and that consists in our worshipping God together: when we resort to the same Church to offer up our united Pray­ers and Thanksgivings to God, and to partake of that holy Supper, which is the Sacrament and Symbol of our Uni­on to Christ, and to each other: and this indeed is true Church-Unity, and it is greatly to be lamented, that men who profess the same Faith, and agree in all the Essentials of Worship, should divide Communion, and refuse to Pray together, and to Feast at the same holy Table of our Lord. We cannot indeed Communicate with the Church of Rome, because they have corrupted the very Essentials of Christian Wor­ship. [Page 18] Most men do not understand their Prayers, and therefore cannot joyn in Prayer with them: they wor­ship Images and Pictures, which is ex­presly forbidden by the second Com­mandment. Instead of praying to God in the Name of our only Media­tor and Advocate Jesus Christ, they have joyned other Intercessors with him; pray to Saints and Angels, and the Virgin Mary, to pray for them, and help them. They worship the Host, which we believe to be nothing but Bread and Wine as to the substance, and therefore no Object of Worship; and turn the Sacramental Feast of Christ's Body and Blood into a propitiatory Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead. Such a Worship as this we dare not joyn in, because it is Sinful and Idolatrous. But the case is quite different among Protestants; they pray to the same God, in the only Name of the same Lord Jesus Christ; put up the same Petitions, offer the same Thanksgivings and Prai­ses, observe the same Divine Instituti­ons, without any essential change and alteration, and yet cannot worship God together; as if it were an impious thing to put up the same Prayers, and to of­fer [Page 19] the same Praises to God in a pious, and grave, and well-composed Form of Words, which others do, it may be not so well and decently, in their con­ceived Prayers; as if the Devotion of the Communicant in receiving so inesti­mable a Blessing as the Sacramental Body and Blood of Christ upon his knees, were a prophanation of that Holy Feast; as if a white Linnen-Gar­ment, which never underwent any Re­ligious Conjurations, and is used only as a decent Habit, without any opini­on of its Virtue or Sanctity, were a just reason to drive men out of the Church, from the Christian Communi­on of Prayers and Sacraments. These would be surprizing stories to any Christians in the World, who had ne­ver heard before of such Disputes among us.

Pray give me leave to speak my mind freely upon this occasion. Up­on the best and most impartial Inqui­ries and Observations I can make, I do in my Conscience believe the Church of England to be the most Apostolical and best Reformed Church in the World: I see no reason from the nature of things to make any material Alte­rations [Page 20] in her Doctrine, or Worship; and therefore; I confess, it has given me very just Resentments to hear our Church charged with such unjust Impu­tations of Popery, Superstition, Ido­latry, Will-worship, and what not, and to see a blind and furious Zeal rea­dy to raze up the very Foundations of it. It has often grieved me to see such a Church as this rent and torn by Schisms, which a man of ordinary pru­dence might easily foresee, would give great advantage to the common Enemy of the Protestant Faith. This and the care of mens Souls, and of their tem­poral Fortunes too, moved several Divines of this Church, when the Go­vernment thought fit to re-enforce the Laws of Uniformity, to examine and an­swer all the Arguments of our Dissent­ing Brethren, which they performed with that good Temper, with that per­swasiveness and strength of Argument, as will be a Vindication of our Church to future Ages; and I wish it may up­on second thoughts, have yet a better effect upon those, who were not then perswaded: and this, I suppose, will not be called Persecution, much less can the many kind Offices they did in [Page 21] keeping off Ecclesiastical Censures, be called a Persecution.

And yet after all, when it is so appa­rent, that Prejudices are grown as ob­stinate as they are unreasonable; when not the reason of the thing, but the weakness of some, and the ill designs of others, require some compliance and condescension, we have reason to hope, that the CHURCH of ENG­LAND, which at the beginning of the Reformation took such prudent are not to offend the Papist by going far­ther from them, than was necessary, will whenever it is likely to do good, condescend a great deal farther, than it is necessary to Reform, to meet the Dissenter; for while the external De­cency, Gravity, and Solemnity of Worship is secured, no wise and good Man will think much to change a changeable Ceremony, when it will heal the Breaches and Divisions of the Church: and let us all heartily Pray to GOD, that there may be this good and peaceable Disposition of Mind in all Conformists and Non-conformists, towards a happy Re-union; and all considering Men will think it time to lay aside such little Disputes, when it [Page 22] is not merely the Church of England, nor any particular Sect of Protestants, whose Ruin is aimed at, but the whole Protestant FAITH.

3ly, Another kind of Unity is Love and Charity, and a mutual forbear­ance. This I confess is a very difficult thing, when the Dispute runs so high as to divide Christian Communion; for it seems in effect to declare Men to be Heathens and Publicans, when we refuse to Worship GOD with them: and few Men can bear this, when so dear an Interest is concerned, as the Salvation of their Souls. And the truth is, that Forbearance St. Paul so often mentions, was to preserve Men of different attainments, and different apprehensions, in the Unity of the Church, not to countenance their Schisms and Separations.

But yet, since we are fallen into such unhappy Circumstances, that a great many Men, whom we have reason to hope, are in other respects very good Christians, and such as our common Saviour will receive with all their In­firmities, are involved in a Schism, let us still treat them as Christian Bre­thren, pay all that Kindness and Re­spect [Page 23] to them, which is due to the Mem­bers of Christ, to the Children of the same Father, and the Heirs of the same Promises.

The good Order and Government, and the wholesome Laws and Consti­tutions of a Church, must not be pre­sently Sacrificed to the Scruples of eve­ry good, but it may be ignorant and indiscreet Christian; but yet in our Treatment of them, we must consider, whether we have not reason to think, that Christ will own them with all their Faults; and if we have reason to be­lieve, that Christ will own them, we ought also to own them, and pay such Kindness to them as is due to all sincere Christians, tho under some Mistakes.

Now I am very confident, after all the Heats that have been between the Church of England and Dissenters, nei­ther of them will Damn each other up­on account of such Differences as are between them: no Church of England­man will say, that to Pray Extempore, to Baptize without the Sign of the Cross, to Officiate without a Surplice, to Receive the Sacrament Sitting, are damning Sins; and I believe there are very few, if any of our Dissenters, [Page 24] that will say, That the contrary Pra­ctise is Damning; and then there may be good Christians on both sides; and those who are so, ought to love one another, as Members of the same Bo­dy of CHRIST, though divided in their external Communion by some unhappy Differences.

Schism indeed we do say, is a damn­ing Sin; but there may be Divisions where there is not always the guilt and formality of Schism; and we hope this is the Case of all good Men, who separate from the Church, through some invincible Prejudices and Prepossessions.

This shews what great reason we have to love one another, notwith­standing such dividing Disputes; but if we would practise this true Christi­an Charity, we must take care, that these Differences do not grow up into personal Hatreds and Animosities. Mens Opinions and Practices may dif­fer, and while they dispute fairly, they may be Friends still; but when Self­love, Honour, Reputation, and Inte­rest, is engaged in the Quarrel, this makes the Enmity mortal, and they must Ruin one another, though they both fall together. This I am sure is [Page 25] not the Zeal which descends from above, which is pure and peaceable, gentle and easy to been treated.

2. The Peace of the Church signi­fies its Preservation from the Oppressi­on and Persecution of its Enemies: For the Church never wants Enemies, though their Power be not always equal; and this, I presume I need not perswade you to Pray for, for you are all sensible what an advantage this is. There is none of you would choose Racks and Tortures, a Gibbet or a Stake, these are grievous things to Flesh and Blood, the very thoughts of which make us tremble: though im­mortal Life, and the Joys and Pleasures of GOD's Presence, are an abundant Recompence for the loss of this present Life, and all the Sufferings of this World; yet it is a very difficult Try­al, even to the best Men, who when they see it a coming, cannot but Pray with the Importunity of an Ago­ny, as our SAVIOUR did, Lord, let this Cup pass from me. Though good Men prefer their future Hopes be­fore all present Things, yet their Life, their Ease, their Liberties, their Estates, are valuable things too, and all Men [Page 26] would be glad to get to Heaven with­out meeting with such a Storm by the way.

Especially if it be such a Storm as threatens the very Ruin of the Church, and of the true Religion, to subvert the Faith of many professed Christians, to entail Ignorance, Infidelity, or mon­strous Errors on our Posterity; in such a case the love of our Religion, of our Country, of our Posterity, will make us raise our Hearts and our Voi­ces to Heaven, in our fervent and pas­sionate Prayers for the peace of Ierusalem. And if we do heartily Pray for the peace of Ierusalem, methinks we should not Sacrifice our Religion to private Ani­mosities: GOD forbid, were it in my power, and had I never so little kind­ness for Dissenters, that I should ever embrace any Proposals which would Ruin all the Dissenters in England, and the Protestant Religion into the bar­gain; and I doubt they are no Prote­stant Dissenters who would be content­ed to Ruin the CHURCH of ENG­LAND, though they introduce Po­pery, and set up the Church of Rome in its stead.

Thus I have shewn you, what that [Page 27] Peace is, which we must Pray for; and I need not add many words in the se­cond place, to shew you, how necessa­ry Prayer is to obtain these Blessings; for not to insist now on those common Topicks, of the necessity of Prayer in general, and its Power and Efficacy to obtain our Requests of GOD; I shall desire you only to consider, that this Peace is such a Blessing, as none but GOD can bestow, and therefore we ought to pray for it.

1. As for Unity and Peace among our selves, this Saint Paul expresly prays for, 15 Rom. 5, 6. Now the God of pati­ence and consolation grant you to be like­minded one towards another, according to Christ Iesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Fa­ther of our Lord Iesus Christ: for it is God that maketh men to be of a mind. Whoever considers the unruly passions of men, their different capacities and understandings, and different interests, will not wonder that the best Argu­ments, and the most obliging Arts, do not always prevail; but God can still our passions, enlighten our minds, o­ver-rule our interests, remove our pre­judices, and unite and reconcile the [Page 28] most distant persons: and not to take notice now of that power he has over our Wills, and his immediate applica­tions to our Minds and Spirits, he ma­ny times effects this by some external and visible Providences. The Gaol and the Stake presently reconciled the Differences between those two excellent Bishops and Martyrs, RIDLEY and HOOPER, who before disputed fiercely about some Ceremonies, as we have done; and I pray God grant us so much Christian prudence and tem­per, that we may not need such means to reconcile us; and we have great reason to hope this, since the Divine Providence has in a great measure al­ready removed the Prejudices on both sides, and convinc'd us, that we are not at such a distance from each other as our Enemies would have us, and as it may be, we thought our selves to be. Dissenters, I hope, are by this time very well Satisfied, that the Church of England has no inclination to Popery; and we have reason to acknowledge, that the Body of Dissenters (for some private Intriguers on either side do not deserve our notice, nor to be thought on either side) have not such an irre­concileable [Page 29] Hatred to the Church of England, as to sacrifice her to a Popish Interest; and this bids fair for a good Understanding between us; and let us pray to God to continue and perfect it.

2. As for the Preservation of the Church from the Oppression and Per­secution of her Enemies, this is God's care too; and many times nothing but an All-seeing, Vigilant and Omnipotent Providence can secure her. Many times their Designs are laid deep and low, full of Intriegue and Artifice, un­known to all men but themselves, as it was in the Gunpowder Treason, when our King, and Nobles, and Se­nators, were designed as a rich Sacri­fice to a furious and Antichristian Zeal; but when the wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth on him with his teeth, the Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming, 37. Psal. 12, 13.

Let us then Pray heartily to God, that he would reconcile our Differences and Divisions, and restore Peace and Unity to his Church; that he would de­fend us from all the Plots and Machina­tions of our Enemies, that we being delivered from all Persecutions, may ever­more [Page 30] give thanks unto him in his Holy Church, through Iesus Christ our Lord; To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be Honour, Glory, and Power, now and for ever.

Amen.

IN this and the foregoing Chapter, our Saviour acquaints his Disciples with the Signs and Prognosticks of his coming; which plainly have a double aspect, both upon his coming to destroy Ierusalem, and upon his coming to judge the World: But the application he makes of it, is of uni­versal use; Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come, v. 42. [Page 34] which is excellent advice, in what sense soever we understand the coming of our Lord; for the coming of our Lord signifies his coming to take ac­count of us, and whether we apply this to the Hour of our Death, or to the last Day of Judgment, still it con­cerns us to watch: that is, to be al­ways diligent and careful in doing our Duty, and discharging that Trust which is committed to us, that whenever our Lord comes, we may give up our Ac­counts with joy.

The Words, I have now read to you, concern the Apostles of Christ, and their Successors, the Bishops and Pa­stors of the Church, who are as much obliged to this watchfulness, as any other sort of Persons, because as they have a greater Trust, so they have a greater Account to give. This we learn from 12 Luke 42, 43 ver. where our Saviour having given that general advice to all his Disciples, to watch for the coming of their Lord, St. Peter particularly enquires, how far he, and the rest of the Apostles were concern­ed in it: Lord, speakest thou this para­ble unto us, or even to all? ver. 41. To which our Saviour answers, Who then [Page 35] is that faithful and wise steward, whom [...]is Lord shall make Ruler of his Houshold, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh shall find so doing. Wherein our Saviour does particularly apply that general Advice to his Apo­stles and their Successors, his Servants, Stewards, and Ministers of the Gos­pel: and indeed those particular ex­pressions which are here used do suffi­ciently acquaint us, to whom this Ad­vice belongs.

We need not question, who is here meant by the Lord, which is the pecu­liar Title of Christ in the New Testa­ment, and it is as evident, what this Houshold is, which is the Church of Christ, The House and Temple of the liv­ing 1 Cor. 3. 16. 2 Cor. 6 16. God, The Houshold of Faith, The Houshold of God. And Christ is said to be Faithful as a Son, or Lord, over his 6. Gal. 10. own House, whose House are we, if we [...]ld fast the confidence, and the rejoycing 3. Heb. 5, 6. of the hope firm unto the end, in distincti­on from Moses, who was Faithful as a Servant.

The Rulers of the Houshold, or the Stewards in St. Luke, are the Apostles, Bishops, Presbyters, who are the Go­vernours [Page 36] of the Church, [...] the 20. Acts 28. Overseers, the Ministers of Christ, the Stewards of the Mysteries of God. The 1 Cor. 4. 1. Meat, which they are to give in Season, is the Word of Life, which with re­spect to the different degrees and per­fection of Knowledge is compared to Milk, and to strong Meat: and there­fore they are commanded to feed the 1 Cor. 3. 2. 5. Heb. 12. 1 Pet. 2. 2. [...] Tim. 4. 2. Flock, to preach the Word, to be instant in season, out of season; to reprove, re­buke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.

This is sufficient to shew you, that my Text does principally concern the Bishops and Ministers of the Church, who are in an eminent manner the Ser­vants of Christ in the Instruction and Government of his Church, which is his House; and in speaking to these words, I shall observe this following method.

• I. Consider the Duty of Gospel-Bi­shops and Pastors, which is to Feed, and to Govern the Houshold of Christ.
• II. The Qualifications of Gospel-Mi­nisters, which are Faithfulness and Prudence, a Faithful and Wise ser­vant.
• [Page 37] III. The great rewards of such men, Blessed is that servant.

I. The Duty of Gospel Ministers, whether Bishops or others, and that consists of two parts. 1. To Feed. 2. To Govern the Houshold or Church of Christ. They are appointed Rulers of his Houshold, to give them meat in due season.

1. To Feed the Flock of Christ. This command Christ gave to Peter, 20. Ac [...]s 28. and repeated it three times; Simon, son of Ionas, lovest thou me more than 21. John 15, 16, 17. these? then feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Now to Feed, signifies to instruct men in the Knowledge of Christ, for Know­ledge is the proper food and nourish­ment of the Soul, by which it grows in Spiritual Wisdom, and all Vertue and Goodness; and is as necessary to 1 Pet 2. 2. our Spiritual Life, as natural food is to the Life of our Bodies. This is life 17. John. 3. eternal, saith our Saviour, to know Thee the only true God, and Iesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

For this reason our Saviour appointed Stewards and Dispensers of the Myste­ries of his Kingdom, whose whole bu­siness it should be to study the Divine [Page 38] Will themselves, and to instruct others. For this is a knowledge which must be taught; Nature may instruct us in the Being of a God, and the differences be­tween good and evil, and the plain Rules of Morality; but the Mysteries of the Kingdom, the whole oeconomy of mans Salvation by Jesus Christ, is to be known only by Revelation. Christ came down from Heaven to re­veal this to us, and he instructed his Apostles, and his Apostles by their Preaching and Writings instructed the Church, and have left us a standing Rule of Faith and Manners; but yet it is necessary, that there should be some Men peculiarly devoted to the Service of Religion, the study of the Scriptures, and the Work of the Mi­nistry, to instruct and teach those who have neither leisure not opportunities for enquiry, nor capacity to learn with­out a Guide, which is the case of the generality of Christians; especially since Religion has been clogged with such infinite Disputes, and there has been so much art used to make the plainest truths difficult, obscure, and uncertain, to corrupt the Christian Faith, and to make it comply with mens [Page 39] sensual Lusts, or secular Interests. A Guide and Instructor is absolutely neces­sary, when there are so many Turnings and Labyrinths, wherein men may lose themselves, and their way to Heaven.

But though there were no Disputes in Religion, no difficulty in understand­ing it, though all men were agreed a­bout the way to Heaven, though the meanest Christian understood the My­steries of Christianity, as well as the greatest Divine, yet there would be constant need of a Spiritual Guide, while men are apt to be unmindful of their Duty, and careless in the Practice of it. The work of an Evangelical Pastor is not meerly to instruct the Ig­norant, but to exhort, to reprove, to admonish, to watch over the Lives and Manners of Christians, to make sea­sonable Applications to their Consci­ences, to administer Comfort to affli­cted Spirits, to excite and quicken the slothful, and to encourage the fearful and timerous, and to assist and direct men in their Spiritual Warfare, how to obtain a glorious victory over the World and the Flesh. This is to feed the Flock of Christ, and to give them Meat in due season, to instruct them in [Page 40] those things of which they are ignorant, and to put them in mind of those things which they already know, that their Faith may be turned into a principle of life and action, and this heavenly Food may be digested into Blood and Spirits, to the edifying of the Body of Christ in all Christian Graces and Vertues.

2. Another part of the Ministerial Office consists in Acts of Discipline and Government; Christ has made these Ministers and Servants, Rulers over his houshold. No Society can be preser­ved, 5. Eph. 23. 10. John 14. without Order and Government, which is as absolutely necessary in the Church, as in the State. Christ is the Head of the Church, the Husband, the Shepherd, the Lord, which are all names of Authority and Power; and the Church is his Body, his Spouse, his Flock, his Houshold, and Family, which are names of Subjection, and denote a regular and orderly Society; but Christ has now left this World, and does not visibly appear among us, to direct and govern the Affairs of his Church; he is ascended into Heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God, and exerciseth an invisible Power and Providence for the defence and preser­vation [Page 41] of his Church on Earth: He governs us by his Laws, and by his Spi­rit, and by his Ministers: for when he 4. Eph. 8, 11, 12, 13. ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. And he gave some, Apostles, and some, Prophets: and some, Evangelists, and some, Pastors and Teachers. For the Perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the Faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, unto the measure of the sta­ture of the fulness of Christ.

When our Saviour was risen from the dead, he tells his Disciples, All power is given unto me both in Heaven and in 28. Mat. 18, 19, 20. Earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all Nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the World. This is their Commission to p [...]ach the Gospel, and to govern his Church; which was not meerly a personal Commission to the A­postles, but extends to all their Suc­cessors, as appears from Christ's pro­mise to be with them in the discharge [Page 42] of this Ministerial Authority to the end of the World. Thus St. Iohn acquaints us, that Christ after his Resurrection appeared to his Apostles, when they were met together, and said unto them, Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent 20. John 21, 22, 23. me, so send I you. And as he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. This invested them with Authority; but then the actual communication of Power, which, especially at that time, was necessary to the discharge of their Office, was reserved for the descent of the Holy Ghost; and therefore our Sa­viour commanded them, Not to depart from Ierusalem, but to wait for the pro­mise of the Father, that is, the gift of the Holy Ghost. For says he, Ye shall re­ceive power after that the Holy Ghost is 1. Act. 4. 8, 9. come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Ierusalem, and in all Iudea, and in Sam [...]a, and unto the ut­termost parts of the Earth.

And accordingly we find, that during the time of the Apostles, the Supreme Authority of the Church was in their hands, which they committed to their [Page 43] successors▪ and has ever since been ex­ercised by Christian Bishops and Presby­ters, with regard to their different Or­der and Power. But what is this Pow­er which Christ hath given to his Mi­nisters? They have no Rods, nor Axes, as secular Princes have, to compel men to the Faith of Christ, and to force their obedience. No, this is contrary to the Genius and Spi­rit of Christianity. If men will be Infidels, if they will be wicked, we cannot help it: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For 2 Cor. 10. 3, 4, 5. the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, such as earthly Princes use, but migh­ty through God, to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God, and bring­ing into captivity every thought to the obe­dience of Christ.

Our Saviour in my Text acquaints us what this Power and Authority is; he makes them Rulers over his Houshold, to give them meat in due season. This is the Authority Christ hath given to his Ministers, to instruct, to exhort, to advise, to admonish, to reprove, and that with sharpness too, when there [Page 44] is occasion for it, according to the pow­er 2 Cor. 13. 10. which the Lord hath given to edification, and not to destruction; as St. Paul speaks.

But what Authority is this? May not every Christian do the same? Is it not the duty of us all, as we are able, to instruct, exhort, reprove one ano­ther? Yes, it is; and I would to God it were more generally practised: but yet every private Christian cannot do this with the Authority of a Bishop, or a Gospel-Minister: The Instructions and Exhortations of private Christians, are acts of Friendship and Charity; and the obligation to it, is that mutu­al concernment and sympathy which the Members of the same Body ought to have for each other: in Gospel-Mini­sters it is an act of Authority, like the Censures of a Father, a Magistrate, or a Judge.

We do not pretend indeed, as St. Paul speaks, to have dominion over 2 Cor. 1. 24. your Faith, to exercise a kind of Sove­raign Authority, to oblige you to belive any thing meerly because we say it; but yet our Authority is such, that if in the exercise of our Office we explain the Articles of Faith and Rules of Life to you, it lays an indispesanble [Page 45] Obligation upon you, carefully to ex­amine what we say, and not to reject it, without plain and manifest evidence, that what we teach you is not agree­able to the Will of God revealed in the Scriptures. For when we come in the Name and Authority of Christ, that man who rejects our Message, without being sure that we exceed our Com­mission, rejects the Authority by which we act; and he that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God. It is our Work and our Commission to instruct you, and it is your Duty to be instructed; and whoever shall wantonly reject any Do­ctrines which do not suit with his hu­mour and interest, or oppose some po­pular mistakes and prejudices against the Instructions of his Guide, or turn away his ear from instruction, and heap to himself Teachers, having itching ears, such a man must give a severe account of this neglect and contempt to the great Bishop and Shepherd of Souls. While we are careful to discharge our Office in pursuance of that Trust our Great Master hath committed to us, what our Saviour tells his Apostles is true of the 10. Luke 16. meanest of us all; He that heareth you, heareth me: and he that despiseth you, [Page 46] despiseth me: and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.

The like may be said of the Exhor­tations, and Counsels, and Directions, and Reproofs, of our Spiritual Guides, they carry great Authority with them; they are not like the private Admoniti­ons of our Friends, who exhort and re­prove out of kindness, and their parti­cular concernment for us: To reject such Counsels as these, does mightily aggravate our sin and our condemnati­on, as every thing does, which makes our sin more wilful and obstinate; but to reject the Counsels and Reproofs of our Guide, is a new act of disobedi­ence to that Authority which Christ has set in his Church. Whether you will hear, or whether you will obey, we must exhort, reprove, advise; and wo be to us, if we do not, and wo be to those who will not hear, who will not obey. Our great Master looks upon this as a contempt of his own Authority, and this is all the Authority we have. We cannot force you to obey our Counsels or Reproofs, but ours and your Ma­ster will severely punish you, if you do not.

In a word, the Instructions, Reproofs, [Page 47] and Censures of Christ's Ministers, car­ry such Authority with them, that they can receive into, or shut out of the Communion of the Church, which is the only visible state of Salvation. Remission of sins, and eternal Life, is ordinarily to be had only in the visi­ble Communion of the Church, and therefore the Power of Receiving in­to the Church by Baptism, and of Casting out of the Church by Excom­munication, which is the only Autho­rity Christ hath given to these Rulers of his Houshold, to receive in and cast out of his Family, is called a Power of Remitting or Retaining sins, because the forgiveness of Sins is to be had on­ly in the Communion of the Church, and no man belongs to the invisible Church, who does not live in Commu­nion with the visible Church, when it may be had.

The Authority of Christ's Ministers is to feed those who are of his Hou­shold, to give them their meat in due season, and to judge who shall belong to this Houshold, who shall be recei­ved in, or cast out of Christ's Family: This is the highest Act of Church-Authority on Earth, and the only San­ction [Page 48] of all our instructions, counsels, and reproofs; and therefore this Au­thority is not intrusted with every Gospel-Minister, but is committed to the chief Governours of the Church, the Bishops, who succeed into the or­dinary Apostolical Power.

II. Let us now consider the due Qualifications which are required in Gospel-Ministers, and they are two: Faithfulness and Prudence, Who is that Faithful and Wise servant?

First, Faithfulness: Now Faithful­ness in a Servant consists in being true to his Trust; and when this is applied to Preaching the Gospel, it signifies, that he is extremely careful to publish the whole Mind and Will of God; which as it concerns us in this Age, includes these following Rules:

1. To be careful to acquaint our selves with the Will of God, that we may be Scribes which are instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven, who are like 13. Mat. 52. unto a man that is an housholder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. The Priests lips must pre­serve Knowledge, but we must first have it, before we can teach it others; and since none of us now pretend to [Page 49] immediate Inspirations, this is a work [...] difficulty and labour, and requires as much faithfulness in our Studies, as in the Pulpit. It is no argument of Faithfulness, whatever it may be of Diligence, to run like Ahimaaz without 2 Sam. 18. 22. Tidings, to vent some crude and indi­gested thoughts for the Oracles of God.

2. Faithfulness requires us to preach nothing for the Will of God, but what we are sure to be so; to deliver no Message, but what we have received in Commission; not to indulge our own private conjectures and fancies, nor think to mend and sublimate Religion by Philosophical Speculations, but to content our selves with the simplicity of the Gospel, to Preach Christ Jesus, and him crucified. Nothing has done greater mischief to Religion, than when the very Teachers of it have been am­bitious to be Wise above what is writ­ten. All the Articles of the Christian Faith, as distinguisht from the Principles of Natural Religion, can be known only by Revelation; and therefore there is no reasoning about them any farther, than to know what is revealed, and what is not revealed; for whate­ver [Page 50] is more than this, is so uncertain, and so useless, that it is not worth the knowing. Since we preach in the Name, and by the Authority of Christ, we ought not to instruct our People in any thing but what we have his Autho­rity for, for this is to exceed our Commission. Other nice Speculations may entertain us in private Conversati­on; but when we preach in the Name of Christ, let us onely preach his Gospel, and teach them to observe and do whatsoever he hath commanded us.

3. Faithfulness requires, that we preach the whole Will of God; that we instruct men in all the Articles of the Christian Faith, especially where there is any apparent and present danger of a mistake; and that we teach them every part of their Duty to God and men, es­pecially such Duties as they are most unwilling to learn, and most averse to practice. This is an essential part of Faithfulness, and requires no small cou­rage too.

There are no times so bad, no hear­ers so captious, but they will very well bear some general commendations of Religion, or some common Topicks about Virtue or Vice; which are of [Page 51] great use too, especially in such a scep­ [...]cal and unbelieving Age as this. But a faithful discharge of our Ministry re­quires somewhat more; a particular application to the Consciences of men, according to their wants and necessities, not so much to consult what will please them, as what will do them good. It mightily concerns a Gospel-Minister, as far as he can, to maintain a fair repu­tation in the world; but a good name is nothing worth, when we can do no good by it, when we cannot get or maintain a good name without neglect­ing our Duty, or betraying the Souls of men. I had a thousand times rather, that men should reproach and revile me for instructing them in such Duties, as they cannot with patience hear of, than that they should commend me for my silence.

It is hard to live in any Age, wherein there are not some popular Errors, or some popular Vices to be corrected; and it is a very dangerous thing to meddle with any thing that is popular. But what is danger to that man, who is in a greater danger by the neglect of his Duty? Shall any man call himself a Minister of the Gospel, and a Servant [Page 52] of Jesus Christ, and in such an Age, as we now live in, be ashamed or afraid to censure or confute the Errors of Popery or Fanaticism, or to reprove Schism and Faction, because they are very popular Vices? Let a man so ac­count 1 Cor. 4. 1, 2, 3. of us, as the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judg­ed of you, or of man's judgment: as St. Paul speaks. When we leave out several Flocks, it will be infinite satis­faction to us, to be able to say, as St. Paul did to the Asian Bishops; I 20. Acts 26, 27. take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you all the coun­sel of God.

Secondly, Prudence is as necessary in a Gospel-Minister, as Faithfulness is: By Prudence I do not mean Cunning and Subtilty, artificial Insinuations and Addresses, which are more like the Arts of Seducers, than of Gospel-Mi­nisters, Who by good words, and fai [...] 16. Rom. 18. speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Prudence will not allow us in the neg­lect of any part of our Duty, whate­ [...]er [Page 53] the event be; but we must renounce 2 Cor. 4. 2. [...]he hidden things of dishonesty, not walk­ [...]ng in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of [...]he truth, commending our selves to eve­ [...]y mans conscience in the sight of God.

Wisdom and Prudence, as it is con­ [...]istent with Faithfulness and Honesty [...]n the discharge of our Trust, can sig­nify no more but this; To instruct, Exhort, Perswade, and perform all the parts and offices of a Gospel-Minister, in such a manner as may render our [...]nstructions and perswasions most effe­ctual; to take the most convenient sea­sons, when men are most apt to be wrought on; to teach them such things as are of most present use to them; to use such Arguments as are most likely to prevail; to avoid all unnecessary provocations, when the Duty it self, which we are to teach them is not the matter of the provocation; for if men will be pro­voked with hearing of their Duty, there is no help for that. Prudence never dispences with any part of our Duty, but directs to the best way of doing it: a Faithful Servant does what he is commanded, and a Wise Servant [Page 54] does it in the most effectual manner.

III. The last part of my Text con­cerns the great Rewards of such Faith­ful and Wise Servants; Blessed is that servant. What this Reward is, we are not here particularly told. All good men, we know, shall be very blessed and happy in the other World, and we may reasonably presume, that Christ, who is the great Judge of the World, has reserved some peculiar marks of honour for his immediate Servants: This he plainly intimates to us, in that distinction he makes between the reward of a Prophet, and of a righte­ous man: He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a 10. Mat. 41. prophets reward: and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous mans re­ward.

Our reward in Heaven will bear some proportion to the nature of our Work, and to that service we do for God in this World. Now we cannot do any more acceptable ser­vice, than to serve God in the Gospel of his Son; to use our utmost endea­vours to propagate Religion in the World, and to make other men wise, [Page 55] and good, and happy. Our Saviour [...]imself came into the World on this ve­ [...]y design, and was advanc'd to the [...]ght Hand of Glory and Power, as a [...]eward of it; and those who are work­ [...]rs together with him, as St. Paul speaks, 2 Cor. 6. 1. will receive some proportionable reward [...]lso.

The faithful discharge of this Duty is a work of infinite care and difficul­ty, that it made an Apostle himself cry out, Who is sufficient for these things! 2 Cor. 2, 16. It requires the exercise of great care, [...]nd great prudence, and great pati­ence; it is abundantly enough to em­ploy our whole time and thoughts ei­ther in studying the Will of God, or in attending the publick Ministries of Religion, or in private Addresses and Applications to men who want our Ad­vice and Counsel; we must contentedly bear all the Affronts and Insolencies of bad men, the Frowardness and Peevish­ness of many profess'd Christians, the Gainsayings and Contradictions of sin­ners. We must go on and persevere in our Work, though our Persons and our Mi­nistry be despised: when we are reviled, 1 Cor. 4, 12, 13. we must bless: when persecuted, we must suffer: when defamed, we must entreat: [Page 56] yea though we are made as the filth of the world, and the off-scouring of all things. This is not very pleasing to flesh and blood, but the harder the work is, the greater will our reward be, if we be found faithful and wise Servants.

Nay, there is no Work does so en­noble the Mind as this, and qualifie us for an excellent Reward. No man can faithfully discharge this Work, but it must purge and refine his Mind, and set him vastly above this World, and the little Concernments of it: It gives us a more clear distinct comprehensive knowledge of God and divine things, which is an Angelical perfection of the Mind and Understanding; and he must be a strange man, who can be so constantly employed in the Contemplation of God, and the things which relate to another and a better life, and not find his Soul ravish'd with those unseen and un­speakable Glories; who is so constantly employed in taking care of other mens Souls, and takes no care of his own; who is so frequent in his Devotions, as the very nature of our Work. exacts from us, and not live a most divine and heavenly life: There are indeed some, who in the most Divine Employment [Page 57] are no great Examples of such a divine Conversation; but I fear they will not be [...]ound in the number of these faithful and wise servants. Whoever heartily ap­plies himself to the care of Souls, will in the first place take care of his own; and the faithful discharge of this Duty, will raise us so much above the ordina­ry Level and Attainments of Christians, as will prepare us for a greater Re­ward, and advance us to a more per­fect state of Glory.

Nay, that immediate Relation we stand in to Christ, who is the Soveraign Lord and Judge of the World, if we approve our selves faithful and wise Ser­vants, will secure us of a more excel­lent Reward. The Church on Earth and the Church in Heaven, is but one Church, one Houshold and Family; and those whom he has made Rulers of his Houshold here, to whom he has committed the greatest places of Trust and Dignity, need not fear being de­graded in the other World, if they adorn their Office, and faithfully dis­charge their Trust here: and therefore our Saviour tells his Apostles, Verily 19. Mat. 28. I say unto you, that ye which have follow­ed me in the regeneration, when the Son [Page 58] of man shall sit in the Throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve Thrones, judg­ing the twelve Tribes of Israel: that is, that their Reward and Glory in the other World, should answer to that place of Trust, and Power, and Dig­nity, which they had in the Church on Earth; and this Promise is no more pe­culiar to the Apostles, than their Office was.

In a word, If we consider what the state of the other World is, and who is King there, that it is the blessed Jesus, our Great High Priest, King of Salem, or the new Ierusalem, and Priest of the most High God, how mean and con­temptible soever our Office is thought here, we need not doubt but the Scene will be mightily chang'd, when we come into that Kingdom where the King is a High Priest.

Let this then, beloved Brethren of the Clergy, be a mighty Encouragement to us to be very diligent and faithful in the discharge of this great Trust; whatever Difficulties we meet with, whatever Scorns, Reproaches, or Suf­ferings, it is but expecting a while, and our Lord will come, and his Reward is with him: and blessed, for ever bles­sed, [Page 59] is that Servant, whom his Lord when [...] cometh shall find so doing.

Yea blessed, for ever blessed, as my [...]ext gives us reason to hope, is this [...]ur dear Brother, whose Remains lie [...]ere before us, who when his Lord [...]ame, was found thus doing. We [...]ay lament the loss of so kind a Relati­on, so true a Friend, so faithful a Pastor, and Fellow-labourer, according to the several interests we had in him; but he, blessed Soul, has fought a good Fight, and finished his course, and kept the [...]aith, and is now gone to receive a Crown of Righteousness, a Crown of Immortality and Glory. He is now gone to that great Bishop and Shepherd of Souls, whose Flock he has so care­fully and diligently fed, and whose wan­dring and stragling Sheep he has re­duced into the Fold; To that kind Shep­herd who laid down his life for his Sheep, and therefore will not fail to re­ward those who have spent their lives, and were ready to have sacrificed them too, for the service of Souls.

When we speak of so great a Man, it is below his Character to mention such things as would be thought consider­able Attainments in meaner persons; [Page 60] though indeed a truly great Man does nothing meanly. A great Mind gives a peculiar grace and decency to com­mon Actions, as it was easy to ob­serve in his very mirth and freest Hu­mours, that he never gave the Reins out of his hands, but governed himself by the strictest Rules of Prudence and Re­ligion.

But I shall confine my self to the sub­ject of my Text, and consider him only as a faithful and wise Steward, and there­fore have very little to add; for I doubt not, but you who knew him, especially you who have enjoyed the benefit of his Ministry, and have lived under his Care and Conduct, have already appli­ed what I have discoursed on this Ar­gument, to your deceased Pastor; and would I have Chosen any particular man to have drawn the Character by, of a wise and faithful Steward, there are not many men I should sooner have thought on, than Dr. Calamy to have been the Pattern.

That he did take care to give you Meat in due season, I need not tell you, because you all know it. If Preaching in season and out of season, if publick Instructions and private Applications, [Page 61] where they were needful or desired, be feed the Flock of Christ, and to give [...]eat to his Houshold and Family, this [...]e did, and that very faithfully and [...]isely too.

In the first place, he took care [...]o inform himself, and to furnish [...]is own Mind with all useful know­ [...]edge; and his constant Preaching, though without any vain affectation of Learning, which serves onely to amuse, not to instruct, did sufficiently discover [...]oth his natural and acquired Abilities. He had a clear and distinct apprehensi­on of things, an easy and manly Rheto­rick, strong Sense conveyed to the mind in familiar words, good Reasons inspired with a decent Passion, which did not onely teach but move and trans­port the Hearers, and at the same time gave both light and heat: for indeed he was a good man, which is necessary to make a good Preacher; he had an in­ward vital sense of Religion, and that animated his discourses with the same Divine Passions which he felt in himself.

He did not entertain his Hearers with School Subtilties, or a conjectural Divinity, with such thin and airy Spe­culations, as can neither be seen, nor [Page 62] felt, nor understood; but his chief care was to explain the great Articles of Faith, and Rules of Life, what we must believe, and how we must live, that we may be eternally happy. And he did, as a faithful Servant ought to do, as he declared a little before his death, that he never preached any thing, but what he himself firmly believ­ed to be true.

I need not tell you what a trouble­some World we have lived in for some years past, such Critical times as would try the Principles and Spirits of men; when a prevaling Faction threatned both Church and State, and the fears of Popery were thought a sufficient Justification of the most illegal and ir­religious methods to keep it out; when it was scandalous to speak a word either for the King or the Church; when cun­ning men were silent, and those who affected Popularity swam with the Stream; then this great and good man durst reprove Schism and Faction, durst teach men to conform to the Church, and to obey and honour the King; durst vindicate the despised Church of England, and the hated Doctrine of Pas­sive Obedience, though the one was [Page 63] thought to favour Popery, and the [...]ther to introduce Slavery; but he was [...]bove the powerful Charms of Names, [...]nd liked Truth never the worse, be­ [...]ause it was mis-called. His publick [...]ermons preached in those days, and [...]rinted by publick Authority, are [...]asting Proofs of this, and yet he was no [...]apist neither, but durst reprove the Errors of Popery, when some others, who made the greatest noise and out­ [...]ry about it, grew wise and cautious. This was like a truly honest and faith­ [...]l Servant, to oppose the growing Di­ [...]tempers of the Age, without any regard either to unjust Censures, or apparent Danger. And yet he did not needlesly provoke any man; he gave no hard words, but thought it severe enough to confute mens errors without upbraiding or reproaching their persons. His Con­versation was courteous and affable to all men, soft and easy, as his Principles were stubborn; he could yeild any thing but the Truth, and bear with any thing but the Vices of men. He would indeed have been the wonder of his Age had he not lived in such an Age, as, thanks be to God, can shew many such wonders, and yet in such an Age [Page 64] as this he made an Illustrious Figure; though he had his Equals, he had not many Superiors.

Thus he lived, and thus this good man died, for thus he was found doing when his Lord came. The first symp­toms of his Distemper seized him just before his last Sermon at White-hall, but gave him so much respite as to take his leave of the World in an excellent Discourse of Immortality, which he speaks of with such a sensible gust and relish, as if his Soul had been then up­on the wing, and had some fore-taste of those joys it was just a going to possess. And indeed he encountered the appre­hensions of Death, like one who belie­ved and hoped for Immortality; he was neither over-fond of living, nor afraid to die. He received the Supper of our Lord, professed his Communion with the Church of England, in which he had lived, and in which he now died; and having recommended his Soul to God, he quietly expected how he would dispose of him.

But I must not forget to tell you, that he died like a true and faithful Pastor, with a tender care and affection for his Flock. When he imposed this unwel­come [Page 65] Office upon me, he told me, he [...]d not desire any praises of himself, but [...]t I would give some good advice to [...]s people, who, said he, are indeed [...] very kind and loving people. And [...]is was not the first nor the onely time [...] have heard him own not onely your [...]nd reception of him at first, but the repeated and renewed expressions of your affection, which did signally mani­fest it self in his late Sickness, and now accompanies him to the Grave. A Cha­racter, which to your honour I speak it, you have now made good for seve­ral successions, and which, I hope, you will never forfeit.

But what that good counsel is, he would have me give you, he told me not; and therefore I can onely guess at his intentions in this. Were he now present to speak to you, I believe he could not give you better counsel than he has already done: and therefore my advice to you is,

1. To remember those Counsels and Exhortations which you have heard from your deceased Pastor. Though the Sower be removed, yet let that immor­tal Seed, that Word of Life which he has sown, live and fructifie in your [Page 66] hearts, and bring forth the blessed Fruits of Righteousness. He has shewed you the plain way to Heaven, have a care you do not forget it, have a care you do not wander out of it. He has recommended the Communion of the Church of England to you. He has taught you to be Loyal to your Prince, and to be true to your Religion; take care then, that neither your Religion destroy your Loyalty, nor your Loyal­ty corrupt your Religion: remember that beloved person, whose Memory is dear and sacred to you, was neither a Rebel, Papist, nor a Fanatick.

2. Since you have lost your Guide, a faithful and a prudent Guide, and the choice of a Successour is in your selves, be very careful, as the concernment of your Souls requires you should be, of your Choice. Consider what an Age we live in, which requires an experien­ced and skilful Pilot to steer a secure and steady course. Have a care of dividing into Factions and Parties; let not meer private Interests or Friendships go­vern you; if it be possible, admit of no Competitions, much less of Pulpit-Combats, which do oftner occasion lasting and fatal Divisions, than end in [Page 67] a wise Choice. Remember what a suc­ [...]ssion you have had of Great and Good [...]en in this Place, and let it be your ambition still to equal and out-do it if you can.

And now I shall conclude with one word to you my brethren of the Clergy. We have lost a faithful and diligent La­bourer in God's Vineyard, in a time when we could ill have spared him; let us then, who still survive, double our diligence, and express a greater Zeal and Concernment in the defence of Religion, and in the care of Souls. Let us remember that we are all mortal, and how little time we have to work in, we know not; but let us so im­prove the remainder of our days, that when our Lord comes, he may own us for faithful and wise Servants, and bestow on us a Crown of Righteousness and Immortality. Which God of his infinite mercy grant, through our Lord Jesus Christ; To whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honour, and glory, and power, now and for ever,

Amen

THE Psalmist, at the penning of this Psalm, was oppressed with very black and desponding Thoughts: The state of the Church seems to have been very calamitous, they had been so long and so grievously afflicted, that he began to question, whether God would ever be merciful to them again: Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will [Page 70] he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gra­cious? hath he in anger shut up his ten­der mercies?

But in my Text he recollects him­self, confesses his Wickedness and Sin in giving the least entertainment to such unworthy Thoughts of God, as if he could forget his promise and Covenant, which he had made to their Fathers A­braham, Isaac, and Iacob, This is my infir­mity; want of Faith and Trust in God's Promises; and to cure this Diffidence, to revive his dying Hopes, and to confirm his Faith in God, he calls to mind those glorious Deliverances which God had wrought for his Church, and his People Israel in former Ages: I will re­member the years of the right hand of the most High; those days when God did so visibly deliver Israel with his own right hand; as it follows 14, 15 Verses, Thou art the God that doest won­ders; thou hast declared thy strength among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Iacob and Ioseph. And instances in those mi­raculous Deliverances in Aegypt, the Red Sea, and the Wilderness, as a [Page 71] reason and foundation of a firm Faith and Trust in God in all Ages; these are those Works of the Lord, and Wonders of Old, which he will remem­ber, which he will meditate, and talk of, with which he will support his Spi­rit, whatever Dangers seem to threat­en the final Ruin and Desolation of the Church; which is the Argument of the 80. Psalm 14, 15. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold and visit this vine, and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest so strong for thy self.

That God had made a Covenant with Abraham, and chose his Seed and Poste­rity for his peculiar People; that he had delivered them out of Aegypt by a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm; that he had given them Passage through the Red Sea, and fed them in the Wil­derness forty Years; that he had fought their Battles for them, and given them possession of the Land of Canaan, as he had promised to their Fathers; that he had in all succeeding Ages pro­tected them by a vi [...]ble Providence, raised up Judges and Saviours to deli­ver them out of the hands of their [Page 72] Enemies, when they cried to him; this was a sure foundation of their Faith and Hope, that God would not ut­terly cast off his People, but though for their sins he might deliver them into the hands of their Enemies, yet when they repented of their Evil Ways, and returned unto God, God also would return, and be merciful un­to them.

And this is the wisest course we can take, whatever Troubles we suffer, whatever we fear, whatever our Sins have deserved, whatever our Enemies threaten, To remember the works of the Lord, and his wonders of old, to medi­tate of all his works, and to talk of his doings.

And this is what I at present intend, to make such Remarks on the Pro­vidence of God towards the Iewish Church, not omitting the experience the Christian Church has had of the same kind and watchful Providence, as may be of present use to us, both to direct us what we must do, and to give us a firm Hope and Trust in God's Mercy; for God is always the same under all the Dispensations of his Grace and Providence; and as the [Page 73] Iewish Church was a Type of the Christian; so God's Providence towards [...]hem, assures us, what we may expect [...]n like Circumstances, or else the Scri­ [...]tures of the Old Testament would be of very little use to us now; whereas St. Paul tells us, That these things hap­pened to them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the [...]nds of the world are come, 1 Cor. 10. 11. But what difference there is be­tween their State and ours, and how far we are concerned in the Examples, I shall distinctly observe under the se­veral Particulars, as there is occasion for it:

1. First then I observe as St. Paul did, That the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, 11. Rom. 29. God having made a Covenant with Abra­ham, and chosen his Seed for his pecu­liar People, whatever their Provocati­ons were, he would never wholly cast them off; he many times very severely punished them, delivered them into the hands of their Enemies, who oppres­sed them, the Aramites, and Moabites, and Aegyptians, and Assyrians, and at last into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, [Page 74] who destroyed their City and Temple, and carried them captive into Babylon, where they continued seventy Years, and then they returned into their own Country, and rebuilt their Temple and City, and so continued till in punish­ment of their great Sin in crucifying their Messias, and for their obstinate In­fidelity, they were finally destroyed by the Romans, and dispersed into all Na­tions, and have never been a Nation since; that is, till Christ came, who was the promised Seed, in whom all the Nations of the World are blessed, as St. Paul proves, 3. Gal. 16. To Abraham and his seed were the promises made: He saith not, Unto seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. I say, till Christ, who was the promised Seed, and ty­pified by Isaac, came, the carnal Poste­rity of Abraham, descending from Isaac and Iacob, were the Typical Is­rael, and God's peculiar People, and visible Church on Earth, and all this while God never wholly cast them off; but when Christ came, then the Pro­mise was established to the spiritual Seed of Abraham, those who are the Chil­dren of Abraham by Faith in Christ, as [Page 75] the Apostle proves in the same place, [...], 7, 8, 9. and in several other places: And this is the Answer, which the Apostle gives to that terrible Objection against Christs being the Messias, and God's owning the Christian Church for his peculiar and elect People, as formerly he did the Iews; that then God's Promise to Abraham and his Seed fails: His Answer is, That the Promise to Abraham and his Seed, was meant of Christ, and his spiritual Seed, those who are the Children of Abra­ham by Faith in Christ; as he proves at large in the 9, 10, 11 Chapters to the Romans; though he gives another answer to this too, That though the Promises do no longer belong to Abra­ham's carnal Seed, yet God so far re­members his Covenant with Abraham and his carnal Seed, that he has not wholly cast them off, but will in time engraft them into his Church again by Faith in Christ: For out of Sion shall come the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Iacob. But I cannot enlarge on this now.

To apply this then to the times of the Gospel: We certainly learn from God's Care of the Iewish Church, that [Page 76] God will always preserve and protect the Christian Church, that the true Faith of Christ, and his true and sin­cere Worshippers shall never wholly fail in the World, as Christ promises, That the gates of Hell shall not prevail against his Church: for God establish­ed an everlasting Covenant with Abra­ham and his Seed, that is, with Christ, and the Christian Church, who are the true spiritual Seed of Abraham, to whom the Promises belong; and if God so punctually performed his Pro­mise to the carnal Seed of Abraham, while they were to be his visible Church, that is, until Christ came, who was the promised Seed, we learn by that Example, how he will protect, defend, and support the Christian Church to the end of the World; till Christ the promised Seed return again to Judge the World, to put an end to all Things, and to receive his Church into the Kingdom of his Father.

To this we owe the Continuance and Preservation of the Christian Church to this Day, amidst all the Dangers which have threatned its final Ruin: when the Church is tossed on the foaming Billows of this World, like [Page 77] the Ship into which Christ and his [...]isciples entred: 8. Matth. 23, 24, 25. [...]hen there arose a great tempest in the [...]a, insomuch that the ship was covered [...]ith the waves; and Christ was asleep, [...]nd his disciples came to him, and awoke [...]im, saying, Lord, save us; we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye so [...]earful, O ye of little faith? then he [...]rose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. This was a Figure and Emblem of the condition the Church is very often in in this World: for most of our Saviour's Mi­racles had some spiritual significations in them: His curing the Halt, and Blind, and Lame, and Deaf, repre­sented his Diviner Power in curing the Diseases and Distempers of our Souls, in making the Blind to see, and the Deaf to hear, and the Lame to walk; and therefore when he cured the Man that was born blind, he turned his Discourse to spiritual Blindness, 9. Ioh. 39, 40, 41. When he had fed that great Multitude with a few Loaves and small Fishes, he discourses to them of that Bread that comes down from Heaven, and will nourish them unto Eternal Life, and which he only could [Page 78] give them; 6. Iohn, When he discoursed with Martha about raising her Brother Lazarus from the Dead, he preaches to her his Divine Power to raise dead Souls as well as dead Bodies, into im­mortal Life, 11. Iohn 25, 26. When the Disciples at Christ's command had cast their Net into the Sea, [after hav­ing toiled all night and taken nothing] and encompassed a great multitude of Fishes, he tells them the meaning of it, that he would make them Fishers of Men. Thus here Christ's rebuking the Wind and Sea, which were ready to swallow up the Ship wherein he and his Disciples were, is a Figure of the State of the Church in this World, and of his readiness to Protect it: How threatning soever the Dangers are, Christ is in the Ship, and all the Pow­ers of the World, how much soever they rage and foam, can never swallow up that Ship, wherein Christ is, unless they can swallow Him up too: and though he may seem to be asleep, and to take no notice of the Sufferings and Dangers of his Church, yet the im­portunate Prayers and Cries of his Disciples will awake him, and then he will arise to their defence, and hush the [Page 79] Winds and Seas into a Calm.

This the Church had frequent ex­ [...]erience of under the Pagan Persecu­ [...]ons, which raged with Fire and [...]word, and all the witty Arts of Cru­ [...]lty; when nothing would serve but [...]he final Extirpation of the Name of Christians: But how often did Christ [...]ebuke the Wind and Sea, and restore profound Peace and Rest to his Church? What a glorious Triumph did he give his Church over the last and most ter­rible Efforts of the Pagan Powers, when he raised Constantine into the Throne, and made the Empire Chri­stian?

And this is a very comfortable Con­sideration to us at this time: The Protestant Churches which profess the Pure and Uncorrupt Faith and Wor­ship of Christ, as to all the essentials of Faith and Worship, have now for many Years groaned under the Anti­christian Tyranny and Persecutions, and now at last, and I hope it may be the last as it is the most terrible Insult of the Antichristian Powers, a Great and mighty Prince bends his whole Force to root out the Protestant Name, as well as to Usurp upon the Liberties [Page 80] of Europe: What he has done in his own Country, and where-ever his Power and Influence reached, I need not tell you: From some of his Subjects he has forced away their Faith; others to keep their Faith have lost their Estates, their Liberty, their Country, their Lives

What danger we were in at Home, we all saw and felt not long since, though some Men would now perswade us, it was but a Dream; but it was a very terrible Dream, if it was one, and thanks be to God that we are awakened out of it, and may we ne­ver fall into such frightful Slumbers more; or rather let us neither be lull­ed asleep, nor dream awake, lest these frightful Dreams prove Realities at last.

For should that mighty Monarch prevail, and like an irresistible Tor­rent bear all before him; as some kind Friends to the Liberties of Europe, and the Protestant Name and Interest, wish and pray he may; it requires not a Spirit of Prophecy, to foretel what will become of Protestants: But our Hope and Trust is in God, that the true Christian Faith shall never be root­ed out; and I am as certainly per­swaded, [Page 81] that the Protestant Faith and Worship, as to the Essentials of it, and [...]s opposed to Popery, is the true Christian Faith and Worship, as I am [...]f the truth and certainty of Christia­ [...]ity it self: and when I remember [...]y what little beginnings, and weak [...]nd contemptible means, GOD spread [...]he true light of the Gospel over great part of the European World, when it was covered with the Aegyptian Dark­ness, and oppressed by the Unsuppor­table Tyranny of Popery; notwith­standing all the Follies, Divisions and Miscarriages of Protestants, I cannot fear, that God will cause our Sun to set again, and that he will finally re­move his Gospel from us; and that gives great reason to hope that he will [...]heck the Pride and Ambition, and [...]t a stop to the Successes of a Prince, who glories in the Extirpation of his [...]rotestant Subjects, and at once en­ [...]aves both the Bodies and the Souls of Men; who challenges as absolute a Do­minion over the Faith, as over the Estates of his Vassals, to fill his Ex­chequer and Purgatory together. This I am sure, we ought heartily to [...]eg of God in our most solemn Prayers [Page 82] and Fasts; and those who scruple this, if they understand themselves, must never say the Lord's Prayer more, wherein our Saviour has taught us to pray, Thy Kingdom come, which those who wish success to Persecuting and Antichristian Powers, do not, and can­not pray.

II. I observe farther, That as God's Covenant with Abraham and his Poste­rity, was sure and stedfast, that no provocations could ever tempt him ut­terly to destroy them, so he never inflict­ted any publick Judgments and Cala­mities on them, but when he was great­ly provoked by their Sins. This was God's express Covenant with them, 26. Levit. That if they walked in his statutes, and kept his commandments, then he would bestow all Temporal Blessings on them, Rain in its season, and the encrease of their Land, in Corn, and Wine, and Oyl; Peace at home, and Victory abroad, and his special Presence and Favour: I will set my tabernacle amongst you; and my soul shall not abhor you, and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. But if they would not hearken unto him, and [Page 83] would not do all his Commandments, [...]hen he threatens all sorts of Evils [...]hould befal them, sickness of Body, [...]o fly before their Enemies, the un­ [...]ruitfulness and barrenness of their Land, that they shall be a prey to wild Beasts, that the Sword shall devour them, and they shall be enslaved to their Enemies, and buy their own Bread of them; that they should suffer Famine to such extremity, as to eat their own Sons and Daughters; that he would lay waste their Cities, and make their Country desolate; and carry them away captive into foreign Countries, as you may see at large in that Chap­ [...]er: This was his Covenant with them; and this he punctually obser­ved: whenever they did obey him, they were a happy and prosperous People, their Enemies crouched before them, they enjoyed Plenty and Peace, [...]nlarged their Borders, and made their Neighbours Subjects and Tributari [...]s [...]o them; and though God did not al­ways punish them according to their [...]leserts, yet he never did inflict any publick or National Judgments on them, but when they were grown very cor­rupt and wicked in their manners; as [Page 84] it were easie to shew from the History of those Times, and all the remarka­ble Judgments God inflicted on them.

Now, I must confess, when we ap­ply th is to the Christian Church, the case is very different, for God has not so expresly covenanted with the Chri­stian Church for external Peace and Prosperity, as he did with the Iews; they were the carnal Seed and Posteri­ty of Abraham, Heirs of an earthly Canaan and external Prosperity; but the spiritual Seed of Abraham are Heirs of spiritual and eternal Blessings, which were typified by the carnal Pro­mises made to the Iewish Church: the Christian Church was founded in the Sufferings of our Lord; the Christian Faith was at first propagated by the courage, patience, and sufferings of the Apostles, and the Primitive Mar­tyrs and Confessors: The Terms ou [...] Saviour proposes to us are, If any m [...] will come after me, let him deny himsel, and take up his Cross, and follow me: H [...] that loveth his life, shall lose it, but [...] that loseth his life for my sake shall find it And therefore the most sincere Belie­vers, and most exemplary Christians may suffer very severely in this Worl [...] [Page 85] and their support and comfort is, that [...]hey shall be proportionably rewarded [...]n the next: this was the great Obje­ [...]ction the Iews made against Christians being the Sons and peculiar People of God, that they were hated and perse­cuted for the Faith of Christ, and God suffered them to be so; whereas he had promised all Temporal Prosperity to the observance of his Laws and Sta­ [...]utes; and if believing in Christ had been the Will and Commandment of God, he would certainly have made good all the Promises of their Law to the Disciples of Jesus: An Objection which very much troubled many be­lieving Iews themselves, who did not thoroughly understand the difference between the Iewish and Christian Dis­pensation, between the Law of Moses, and the Gospel of Christ, and there­fore is particularly answered by St. Paul, 8. Rom. and in the 7. Heb.

But this shews, that the Faith and Worship of Christ is not always re­warded with external Prosperity, and we must not expect it should be; and consequently that very severe Suffer­ings and Persecutions may befal Chri­stians, not always for the correction [Page 86] and punishment of their Sins, but for the trial of their Faith and Patience, to make them conformed to their Suffer­ing Head, to prepare them for richer and brighter Crowns, to convince and convert their Persecutors, and to pro­pagate the Christian Faith in the World. Though it is observed by some of the Ancient Fathers, and particularly by St. Cyprian, That God never sent a ge­neral Persecution upon the Christian Church, but when their Sins, the general declension of Piety and Disci­pline, their Worldly-Mindedness, the formality and coldness of their De­votions called for a Scourge.

Thus it was with the Church, while it sojourned, as I may so speak, in the world as in a strange land, had no place of its own, no earthly Power and Authority to support it, but lived under Pagan Powers, was intermixt with them, and oppressed by them, when they pleased; but the case of a Christian Nation, where the Power and Authority is Christian, seems ve­ry different, and to come nearer the state of the Iewish Church; for God does not use to inflict Publick Judg­ments and Calamities upon Nations, [Page 87] but for the Punishment of some Pub­llick and National Sins: And, there­fore a Christian Nation, which pro­fesses the True Faith and Worship of Christ, preserves the Reverence of Religion, corrects and suppresses Vice, may expect to be blessed with all ex­ternal Prosperity; for righteousness ex­ [...]alteth a nation; it does so in its natu­ral tendency and effects, and it does so by the Blessing of God; and there­fore when God brings any Publick Judgments upon a Nation professing the true faith of Christ, we have reason to take notice of God's Anger and Dis­pleasure; to enquire what is amiss among us; what that accursed thing is, which hath provoked God to Jea­lousy, and made him take the Rod into his hand. We have then reason to humble our selves before God, to de­precate his Anger and Displeasure; to turn from all the evil of our ways, that hem ay return, and be merciful to us.

But there is one thing worth obser­ving, which may be matter of Hope and Comfort to us at this time, That God never delivered the Iewish Church into the hands of their Enemies to op­press them, never carried them away [Page 88] into captivity, excepting the last De­struction of Ierusalem, in Punishment of their Sin in Crucifying their Messi­as, but only when they were guilty of Idolatry: A Corruption of Manners might bring other Judgments upon them; but it was generally, and I think always, for their Idolatry, that God made their Enemies rule over them, and carried them captive into a Strange land. This we have a sum­mary account of, Iudges 2. how that after the Death of Ioshua and those El­ders who had seen all that God did for them, they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and God deliver'd them into the hand of spoi­lers, who spoiled them, v. 11, 12, &c. For this Sin of Idolatry, the Ten Tribes were carried away into a Per­petual Captivity, and Iudah carried captive to Babylon, which they were threatned with by the Prophets, for their Whoredoms, that is, their Idola­tries, 2, 4, 5. ch. of Hosea; and this is the account the Prophet Ieremy gives of it, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land which is not yours, 5. Jer. 19.

[Page 89] Now in proportion to God's deal­ [...]g with the Iewish Church, we have [...]ason to hope, That though a Church [...]nd Nation which professes the true [...]aith and Worship of Christ, may be [...]everely punished for their other Sins, [...]et while they preserve themselves [...]lean from Spiritual Fornication, from all Antichristian Idolatries, God will not Un-Church them, nor deliver them finally up into the Power of Idolatrous Oppressors: I am sure we of this Na­tion, ever since the Reformation of Religion among us, though God has made us smart severely for our other Sins, have yet always found a watch­ful Providence defending us from all Attempts, though contrived with Art and Skill, and backed with Power, to reduce us again under the Roman Yoke. May the same Good Providence still watch over us, and defend us, and nei­ther suffer our Popish Enemies to rejoice over us, nor deluded Protestants to make dangerous and fatal Experiments.

3dly. When God did think fit to correct his People, he always kept the Rod in his own hand, and prescribed the Measures and Continuance of their Sufferings. This is so plain, from all [Page 90] the Promises and Threatnings of the Law, and from the Examples of God's Providence towards Israel, that there is no need to multiply particular In­stances: There was no Good not Evil befel Israel, but by a particular Providence; God inflicted Judgments on them when he saw fit, and he re­moved them again; He gave the Com­mission to Plague, and Sword, and Famine, which they could not exceed. In the 26. Levit. we may observe, That God proportion'd his Judgments to their Sins. When their Sins were grown so Publick and National, as to deserve some Publick Judgments, yet at first God threatens them with some more light and gentle Punishments; but if they continued incorrigible, he tells them he had more terrible Judg­ments in reserve for them; which proves, That God determines the Kinds, Degrees, and Continuance of his Judg­ments. When David for his sin in Numbring the People, had that hard Choice given him, of seven years fa­mine, or to flee three months before his enemies, or three days pestilence; he an­swers, Let me fall now into the hands of the Lord, (for his mercies are great) [Page 91] and let me not fall into the hand of man, [...] Sam. 24. 14. That is, he chose Pe­ [...]ilence before the Sword; for Pesti­ [...]ence is God's immediate hand; and [...]ho the Sword be God's Judgment too, [...]et it is put into the hands of men, who gratify their own Lust and Rage, and Revenge with it. And yet, tho God leaves more to man in this, than [...]n any other Judgments, he does not [...]ut the Sword wholly out of his own hands, when he puts it into the hands of men, but gives Laws to it; as ap­pears from the example of the King of Assyria, whom God sent against Ieru­salem, To take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire in the street. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off nations not a few: wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath perform­ed his whole work upon mount Zion, (what he himself, not what the King of Assy­ria intended to do), I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of As­syria, and the glory of his high looks, 10. Isa. 5, 6, 7,—12.

Now God has the same tender care of a Christian Nation, that he had of [Page 92] Israel; He mingles our Cup for us, he prescribes what we shall suffer and how long: and he corrects as a Father, not to destroy, but to reform; and this is a mighty comfort, that whatever men threaten, we are in the hands of God, who has the Winds and Seas a [...] his command, who giveth Salvation [...] Kings, who delivereth David his Serva [...] from the hurtful Sword, Psal. 144. 10. The most powerful Oppressors are but the Rod of God's Anger; the more fierce and savage Instruments God em­ploys to correct us, we may conclude, the more angry God is; but whatever the Rod is, it is God that strikes, wh [...] knows when to strike, and when to spare: We never have any reason to be afraid of men, whatever their Power, how great soever their Rage and Ven­geance be; but ought to pray to God as the Prophet does, O Lord correct me, but with judgment, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing, Jer. 10. 24. O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger, nei­ther chasten me in thy sore displeasure▪ have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak, O Lord heal me, for my bones are vexed, Psal. 6. 1, 2. or as it is in Psal. 56. 1, 2, 3. Be merciful to me, O [Page 93] God, for man would swallow me up, he [...]ting daily oppresseth me; mine ene­ [...]es would daily swallow me up, for they [...] many that rise up against me, O thou most [...]igh. What time I am afraid, I will [...]ust in Thee; in God I will praise his [...]rd; in God I have put my trust, I will [...]t fear what flesh can do unto me.

4thly, When God does think fit to [...]rrect his People, yet he always re­ [...]oves his Judgments upon their sincere [...]epentance: This was God's express [...]ovenant with Israel, 26. Levit. 40, [...]1, 42. If they shall confess their iniqui­ [...], and the iniquity of their Fathers, with the trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that they have walk­ [...]d contrary to me, and that I also have [...]alked contrary to them, and have brought [...]hem into the Land of their Enemies; [...] then their uncircumcised hearts be hum­ [...]led, and they then accept of the punish­ment of their iniquities, then will I re­member my Covenant with Jacob, and al­so my Covenant with Isaac, and also my Covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will remember the land.

Thus in the time of the Judges, when God for their sins delivered them into the hands of their Enemies, when [Page 94] they cried to God, he raised up Sa­viours for them: Nay, many times, when their Repentance was not very sincere, nor lasting, yet in great good­ness and compassion he spared them: When he slew them, then they sought him, and returned, and enquired early after God; and they remembred that God was their Rock, and the high God their Re­deemer; nevèrtheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongue, for their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his Covenant; but he being full of compassion forgave their iniquities, and destroyed them not; yea many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath; for he remembred that they were but flesh, a wind that pas­seth away, and cometh not again, 78. Psalm 34, &c.

So that how angry soever God be, we have a certain way of appeasing his anger. Nothing but sin can provoke a merciful God, and a compassionate Fa­ther to punish; He has a great tender­ness for all his Creatures; He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the child­ren of men; and therefore he is more easily appeased, than he is provoked; [Page 95] judgment is his strange Work, but he [...]ights in Acts of Mercy, and seems [...]ased with an honourable occasion [...] shew mercy, without exposing his [...]ws and Government to contempt: [...]d therefore Repentance and Refor­ [...]tion will always appease him; nay [...]metimes we see, that the very shews [...]d appearance of a publick and solemn [...]pentance, though it be not so sin­ [...]re and hearty as it ought to be, [...]akes him stay his hand, and expect [...]r return. And this is a great encou­ [...]gement, and a Powerful obligation on [...] to return to God when he strikes, [...] humble our selves under his mighty [...]nd, for there is no other way to re­ [...]ove his Judgments, and this will do [...].

It is a vain thing to trust in Armies [...]d Navies, in the Courage and Con­ [...]ct of Princes and Generals, when [...]ur Sins fight against us, when God [...]efuses to go forth with our Armies: [...]r no King is saved by the multitude of [...]n host; a horse is a vain thing for safe­ [...]y, neither shall he deliver any by his [...]reat strength; but the eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear him, upon them that [...]ope in his mercies. 33. Psal. 16, 17, 18.

[Page 96] Nay, the justice and righteousness of our Cause will not always secure [...] of Success; for those who have a very just Cause, may deserve to be punished and then God may justly punish them and deliver them into the hands [...] their Enemies: God does not always determine what is Right and Wrong by the events of War; for he is the Sove­reign Judge of the World, and may pu­nish a wicked Nation by unjust Op­pressors, as he often did the Israelites.

The Profession of the true Religion will not always secure us, when ou [...] Sins cry for Vengeance: When the Iews cried, The Temple of the Lord, [...] temple of the Lord; the Prophet told them, They trusted in lying words; for will ye steal, and murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsly, and burn in­cense to Baal, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 7 Jer. 4,—10. To glory in the profession of the true Faith, or in a vigorous opposition to the Errors and Corruptions of Religion, when we are Atheists or Infidels in our Lives, may make God punish us, but is no reason on our part, why he should [Page 97] save us; but true and sincere Repen­ [...]ance will save us. We profess the sin­ [...]ere Faith of Christ, we fight in a just Cause, if it be lawful to defend our [...]elves against the powerful Oppressor [...]f the Protestant, that is, the true Christian Faith, and the Liberties of Europe; and we have no reason to fear [...]ny thing but our sins: Let us but re­ [...]orm our Lives, and put away the evil [...]f our doings, and our Arms will be as Prosperous, as our Cause is Just: God will then gird our Princes and soldiers [...]ith strength to the battle; will teach [...]heir hands to war, and their fingers to [...]ght.

5thly. Faith and Prayer are more [...]owerful than Arms; as it must neces­ [...]arily be, if God only gives Victory [...]nd Success. This we learn from the [...]hole History of the Iews; the Apo­ [...]le to the Hebrews gives us a particular [...]ccount of the Power of Faith, II. Heb. [...]2, 33, 34. Of Gideon, and Barach, and Sampson, and Ieptha, and David, who [...]hrough faith subdued kingdoms, wrought [...]ighteousness, obtained promises, stopped [...]he mouths of lions, quenched the violence [...]f fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed vali­valiant [Page 98] in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Moses his Prayer was more powerful than Ioshua's Arms; for when Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; when he let down his hands, Amalek pre­vailed, 17. Exo. II. Hezekiah's Prayer overthrew the Assyrian Army, when Rabshekah came against Ierusalem, and reproached them with their Trust in God. We must not indeed expect such miraculous Victories as God gave to Israel; but this makes no difference; for the Power of Faith and Prayer is the same still; and all Victory is God's still, who gives Success as well by invisible Means, and seeming Acci­dents, as by the most visible interpo­sal of a miraculous Power: For God gave Israel miraculous Deliverances; not because he could not save them without a miracle, but because he would make it visible to all the world. That he was their Saviour. But still God hears our Prayers, and answers them; he is still the Saviour and Deli­verer of all those who trust in him, and hope in his Mercy; and therefore the only sure way to conquer our Enemies, is to prevail with God by our servent and importunate prayers for a Blessing [Page 99] upon our Arms; to pray in Faith, in [...]e, with an entire dependance on [...], and a perfect Resignation to his [...]: Thus Gideon, and Barak, and [...]id, and the Worthies of old, sub­ [...]d Kingdoms, waxed valiant in fight, [...] turned to flight the Armies of Ali­ [...]; and there is no other way that I [...]w of, still: If God be still the only [...]er of Victory, Faith and Prayer is [...] the only way to obtain Victory [...] God; and therefore if we are [...] and remiss in our Prayers; if [...] do not pray at all, or expect no­ [...]g from our Prayers, let us not charge any ill success to ill conduct or [...]ardize, but to our Infidelity and [...]igion; and indeed this is the only [...]ncholly Consideration in our pre­ [...] Circumstances; if the Courage [...] Conduct of a Prince, if the Brave­ [...] and Resolution of Soldiers, if a [...]erous Army and Navy, if an Arm [...]lesh could give Victory, we have [...]on to hope well; but if God go [...] forth with our Armies, all our [...]er Preparations are vain; and how [...] we expect that, when we will not [...] it, or only mock God with some [...]nal and customary addresses, with­out [Page 100] being concern'd whether he hears o [...] no; or without expecting or at least with­out trusting and depending on his help▪

6thly. But to encourage those goo [...] men, how few soever there are amo [...] us, who have a great sense of th [...] Divine Providence, and a firm Tr [...] and Faith in God, to be very im­portunate in their Prayers for th [...] Church and Nation, I observe farthe [...] That God many times has spared [...] wicked People at the earnest interces [...] ­ons of some few good men. Thus [...] the intercession of Abraham, God pro­mised to have spared Sodom, had the [...] been ten righteous persons found [...] that great City: God spared Isr [...] when they had so provok'd him [...] their Idolatries, that he threatned [...] destroy them, only at the importu [...] of Moses, as the Psalmist observes; th [...] ­fore he said, he would destroy them, [...] not Moses his chosen stood before him [...] the breach, to turn away his wrath, [...] be should destroy them, 106. Psal. 23. [...] Story of which we have, 32. Exod. 7, [...] At another time, when they had p [...] ­voked God by their Idolatries a [...] Whoredoms with the Daughters [...] Moab, and the Plague broke in amo [...] [Page 101] them, then stood up Phineas, and execu­ [...]d judgment, and the plague was stayed, [...]. Numb. And therefore when God [...]clared his resolution to punish them, [...] forbad his Prophet so much as to [...]ay for them, 7. Ier. 16. And in 14. [...]ek. 14. professes, That he would not [...]cept of any Intercessions for them: [...]o these three men, Noah, Daniel, and [...]b, were in it, yet they shall deliver [...]t their own souls by their righteousness, [...]ith the Lord: Which supposes, that [...] another time, the Intercessions of [...]ese good men would have prevailed; [...]d that it is very extraordinary for God [...] deny it.

And if the importunate Prayers of [...] few good men may obtain Victory [...]d Success, and save a Church and [...]ation; let every good man at this [...]me cry mightily to God, especially as [...]e Prophet, Isaiah exhorts, Ye that [...]ake mention of the Lord, keep not silence, [...]nd give him no rest, till he make Ierusa­ [...]em a praise in the earth, 62. Isa. 6, 7.

7thly. To add no more, and it is a very comfortable Consideration, God many times saved Israel for his own Names sake, when their sins provoked him to destroy them. 48. Isa. 9. For [Page 102] my name sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for Thee, that I cut Thee not off. 11. v. For mine ow [...] sake, even for mine own sake will I do it; for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory to another. Thus God assigns the reason, why he did not destroy Israel in the Wilderness, when they so highly provoked him. I wrought for my name sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I mad [...] my self known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt, 20. Ezek. 9. That is, they were God's pe­culiar people, the only worshippers of the Lord Iehovah, whom he had brought out of Aegypt by a mighty hand, to make his Name known in the world; and though they never so much deserved to be destroyed, had he then destroyed them, his own great Name would have suffered with them; as Moses pleaded with God; Wherefore should the Aegyptians say, For mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? 32. Exod. 12. And thus the Psalmist prays, Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy [Page 103] name, and deliver us, and purge away our sins for thy name sake; wherefore should the Heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the Heathen in our sight, by revenging the blood of thy ser­vants, which is shed, 79. Psalm 9, 10.

And this is matter of hope to us, That though our sins are very great, yet God will not utterly destroy us, but will send deliverance for his name sake; for the sake of that holy Faith which is professed among us; lest our Antichristian Enemies should triunph and say, Where is now their God? When the preservation of a wicked people is for the defence and honour of the true Christian Faith, we have reason to hope, and good men have a very powerful argument to plead with God, That he will save us for his own Names sake.

THE Temptation of our Saviour, after his fasting Forty Days, is a very proper Subject for our Meditation at this time; and suggests [...]o many useful observations, that I shall not wast any time in a needless Preface; but shall 1. Consider in gene­ral, what concerns his Temptation; and 2. Explain the Nature of those particular Temptations wherewith the Devil assaulted him.

1. In general, Concerning our Sa­viour's being tempted by the Devil: Now to tempt, is to make a Tryal and [Page 106] Experiment; and when the Devil tempts, it is to try, if he can perswade, or seduce us from the Fear, and Wor­ship, and Obedience of God.

1. Now in the first place it is very observable, that Christ himself, when he became Man, was tempted of the Devil; and there is no greater mystery in this, than that he was liable to hunger and cold, and had all the inno­cent Appetites, Inclinations, Infirmi­ties of Humane nature; that is, That he was a true and real Man. The An­cients generally conclude, that the Devil did not know at this time, how great a Person our Saviour was, even the Eternal Son of God; for it is hard­ly credible, that had he known this, he would have made so vain and hope­less an attempt on him: It is likely enough, he thought him to be some ex­traordinary person; He knew by the Ancient Prophecies, that the Messias was to appear; and knew from the Prophet Daniel, that the time for his coming was accomplished; nay, it is probable, he knew all the circum­stances of his Birth, and heard that [...]imony God gave him at his Bap­ [...], This is my beloved Son; but he [Page 107] saw he was a Man, though an extra­ordinary Man; and might not know that he was any thing more; and hav­ing formerly foiled our first Parents in Paradise, in the state of innocence, hoped for the like success again.

Now if Christ himself was tempted by the Devil, none of us must hope to escape; tempted we shall be, and therefore must take care to stand upon our guard, and to fortify our Minds against all temptations.

And this encouragement we have from the Example of our Saviour, that to be tempted is no Sin, unless we yield to a temptation; for He was tempted as we are, yet without sin; and we cannot imagine, had it been a sin to be tempted, that God would have permitted the Devil to have temp­ted our Saviour; which may ease the fears of some Melancholly Christians, who are afflicted with evil and tempt­ing thoughts which their Souls abhor; for whatever the cause of such thoughts be, whether a frighted and disturbed imagination, or the suggestion of wick­ed Spirits, they can no more defile the Soul, which abhors and rejects them with grief and indignation, than they can [Page 108] the Paper, on which they are writ.

Nay, hence we learn, that God many times exercises those with the greatest and most difficult Tryals and Temptations, who are most dear to him. He had no sooner proclaimed Christ his beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased, but he leads him by the Spirit into the Wilderness, to be tempt­ed of the Devil.

This Life is a State of Tryal and Probation; and Temptations, though they create some trouble and difficulty to good men, yet do them no hurt. If good men Conquer, Temptations do but exercise, encrease, and confirm their Graces, and make them great and illustrious examples to the World, glo­rify the Divine Power in the Victories and Triumphs of his Servants, over the World, the Flesh, and the Devil; give them a secure hope in God, and a transporting sense of his Love, and prepare great rewards for them in the next Life. And if they happen in any particular encounter to be overcome, as St. Peter himself was, when he de­nied his Master; yet they rise again with glory; and the sense of their sin, and the shame of a defeat, fills them [Page 109] with sorrow, indignation, self-revenge, gives them new spirit, vigour, activity, resolution, makes them more patient of hardships and sufferings, more unwea­ried in doing good, more humble and modest, and more perfectly resigned to the Will of God, to dispose of them and their Services to his own Glory, as he pleases.

God does not train up those whom he Loves, and whom he prepares for Glory, in ease and softness; Whom the Lord loveth he chastneth; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth: And the more difficult Temptations he exposes us to, the greater honour he does us; the more glorious will our Triumphs, the richer and brighter will our Crowns be. Let us then behold our Saviour in the Wilderness, separated from hu­mane conversation, and all the com­forts of Life, in the midst of wild Beasts and tempting Spirits, and not think, that God uses us hardly, if at any time he lets loose the Tempter upon us, and gives him power over all we have, as he did in the Case of Iob, to afflict us in our Relations, our Bo­dies, our Estates, good Names, or whatever gives us the sharpest and [Page 110] keenest sense of suffering, and is the most difficult exercise of our Faith.

2. Let us consider the time when our Saviour was tempted, viz. imme­diately after his Baptism, being full of the Holy Ghost, 4. Luke 1.

1. As soon as our Saviour was bap­tized, he was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness. For Then in my Text relates to the time of his Baptism; and St. Luke tells us, this was done in his return from Iordan, where he was bap­tized by Iohn.

By this Religious Rite, our Saviour had devoted himself to the immediate service of God in the Salvation of Mankind, and was inaugurated into his Prophetick Office, by that Testi­mony which was given to him by a Voice from Heaven, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; and this was the Critical time, both for the Devil to tempt, and for our Saviour to baffle all his temptations, and to tri­umph over him.

Could the Devil have conquered our Saviour in this first assault, there had been an end of this Glorious design of mans Salvation, when he had enslaved and captivated the Saviour himself; [Page 111] and therefore he began as early with [...]he second Adam, as he did with the first, though not with the like success. Had our first parents resisted the first [...]emptation, we had been happy for [...]ver; but they yielded and brought [...]eath upon themselves and their Poste­ [...]ity; but the seed of the Woman, whom God had promised should [...]reak the Serpents Head, who was made manifest to destroy the works, the Kingdom and the Power of the Devil, by God's order and appointment, first en­counters him in his own person, resists his most furious assaults, makes him re­ [...]reat with shame and despair, as foresee­ [...]ng his own destiny, and the final destru­ction of his Kingdom. As the old Ser­pent seduced our first Parents in Para­dice, and brought sin and misery and death into the world, so it was very fitting that the Saviour of Mankind should give the first proof of his Divine power in conquering the Tempter.

This gives us great encouragement to fight under Christ's Banners against the World, the Flesh, and the Devil; for the Captain of our Salvation has al­ready conquered, and if we are not wanting to our selves, we shall be more [Page 112] than Conquerors through Christ who strengthens us.

He knows what the power of temp­tations is, and what measures of Grace are necessary to resist them; and if we do not forsake him, he will not forsake us. He has conquered himself, and knows how to conquer; and if we faithfully adhere to him, we shall con­quer too.

Nay, in case we should some time be conquered, this has made him a mer­ciful and compassionate High Priest, being in all things tempted like as we are: He knows the weakness of humane nature, and the power and subtilty of the Tempter, and prays for us, as he did for St. Peter, That our faith fail not; that if we fall, we may rise again by Repentance: And this is a mighty Consolation, That if any man sin, [...] have an Advocate with the Father, Iesus Christ the righteous, who is not only a Propitiation for our Sins, but was tempted also, as we are.

2ly. St. Luke observes, that our Sa­viour was full of the Holy Ghost, (which he received without measure at his Baptism, when the Holy Ghost descen­ded like a Dove, and rested on him) be­fore [Page 113] he was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil.

For Human Nature (and it was the Human Nature of Christ on which the Holy Ghost descended) cannot resist such powerful Assaults without Divine Assistances. And the Example of our Saviour assures us, that God will not expose us to any Temptations, with­out giving us proportionable measures of Grace to resist them: That if we are at any time conquered, it is not for want of power, but for want of will to conquer: that is, the fault is wholly our own, and we cannot blame God for it.

I doubt, there are few men in the world [...]ut the Devil (had he the full power of [...]empting) could find out some Tempta­ [...]ions too big for them; but the Divine Goodness is seen, as well in restraining [...]he power of the Devil, that we shall [...]ot be tempted above what we are able [...]o bear, as by the strengthning our [...]inds by the internal Assistances of his Grace; and therefore our Saviour has [...]aught us to pray, Lead us not into [...]emptation, but deliver us from evil, [...], from the wicked One; which [...]oes not signify, that we may never be [Page 114] tempted, which is impossible, while we live in Bodies of Flesh and Blood, and are incompassed with all the Flatter­ing Objects of Flesh and Sense; but that God would not give us up into the power of the Devil, to be tempted above what we are able.

Some of the Ancients observe from this Story, That when we devote and con­secrate our selves to God, we must expect to be tempted as our Saviour was: As for bad men, who are the Slaves and Vassals of the Devil, he can­not so properly be said to tempt, as to govern them; for he is the Spiri [...] that worketh in the Children of disobedi­ence: but when men desert his service, he is very busie to recover his Slaves again; but then our comfort and secu­rity too, is, That when we give up our selves to the Service of God, he takes us into his protection; the Wick­ed One cannot touch us without his leave, and he always proportions our Trials to our Strength.

3dly, Consider the Place of our Sa­viour's Temtation, He was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness, where there were no tempting Objects, but yet there the tempting Spirit found him.

[Page 115] Some men think, that the surest way [...] get rid of Temptations, is to get [...]t of the World; to withdraw them­ [...]ves from Human Conversation; or [...] make a shew of doing it, without [...]ing it; as if the Devil could not [...]llow them into a Desert, or a Cell. [...]hile we live in Bodies of Flesh and [...]ood we may be tempted where-ever [...]e are: If we mortify our Sensual Ap­ [...]tites, and our love to this World, [...]e may live very innocently in the [...]orld; if we do not, we can never [...]t rid of the World, but where-ever [...]e go, we carry it in our hearts.

Do these men imagine, they can ne­ [...]r be tempted to lust, unless they daily [...]e and converse with beautiful Women? [...] that they cannot love the World [...]ithout living in a Court, and enjoy­ [...]g all the ease and luxury of a Plentiful [...]rtune? or that it is not possible to [...]spise the World with as much haughti­ [...]ss and vanity of mind, as any [...]an has, who most admires it? That a [...]onk can't be as proud as an Emperor, [...]d glory as much in a sullen Retire­ [...]ent, in Voluntary Austerities, in an [...]ffected Poverty, in a Vain Opinion [...]f extraordinary Sanctity, as any Man [Page 116] can do in Wealth and Power? Whence came all those Superstitions, which have corrupted both the Faith and Worship of Christianity, and done more mischief to the Church and Religion, than all the looseness of a Secular Life, but from Desarts and the Cells of Monks and Hermites? Which proves that the Devil has his Temptations for th [...] Wilderness, as well as for the Court for the most Religious Devotees, an [...] Melancholly Enthusiasts, as well as f [...] the Men of this World; and those t [...] most dangerous Temptations too; whic [...] as experience tells us, open a bac [...] door for Pride and Ambition, and Se­cular Power, and a general corruptio [...] of Manners to enter into the Church, and into the Lives of Christians: An [...] therefore we must guard our selve [...] against the Tempter as well in o [...] greatest solitudes and retirements fro [...] the World, as in a croud of busine [...] We must have a care of the temptatio [...] of Devotion, and Mortification, [...] Fastings and Penances, of a sullen d [...] content at this World, as well as [...] the temptations of a busie Life, and [...] an easie and prosperous Fortune.

[Page 117] 4thly, I observe, That Christ was led [...]y the Spirit into the Wilderness, to be [...]empted of the Devil; that is, It was God's appointment, not his own vo­ [...]untary choice. And this Teaches us [...]anfully to resist Temptations, when [...]he Providence of God, and the un­ [...]voidable circumstances of our Con­ [...]ition bring us into Temptations, but [...]ot presumptuously to thrust our selves [...]nto them.

There is always danger in Tempta­ [...]ions, especially when we rashly ven­ [...]ure upon them. Let not him that put­teth on his Armour, boast, as he that putteth it off, is true in our Spiritual Warfare. We have seen great Men conquered, even St. Peter himself; and therefore, Let him that thinketh he stand­eth, take heed lest he fall, and not unne­cessarily venture too near a Precipice, where he may be in danger of falling.

Our Saviour has taught us to pray, that God would not lead us into Temp­tation, as I observed before; much less then ought we to lead our selves into Temptation. We may easily presume too far upon the strength of our Faith, our Courage, our Resolution, as [Page 118] St. Peter did, who had he been more diffident of himself, had kept out of the High-Priest's Hall, and escaped the Temptation, which he could not re­sist.

We daily see, that Men who pre­sume upon the Strength of their Con­stitution, and use their Bodies ill, de­stroy their Health, and shorten their Lives, while Men who feel their own weak and crazy Temper, live on with Care to a good Old Age; and thus it is with respect to the Mind, as well as to the Body: Presumption will destroy those, whom Fear and Caution will se­cure; and therefore, let us not be high­minded, but fear.

There are a great many ways, where­by Men expose themselves to Tempta­tion, and tempt even the Tempter; some of which are very obvious: As to keep Ill Company, whose Conver­sation is a daily Temptation: Sloth and Idleness, which betrays Men to any Wickedness which offers its self: For it is an uneasie thing to have no­thing to do, and that it self is a Temp­tation, and the Devil never wants Bu­siness to employ such Men in; and I know nothing worse than this, but [Page 119] when Men choose such Business, as is nothing else but Idleness and Vanity, or can only minister to their own, or to other Mens Lusts.

But there are other ways, whereby Men thrust themselves into Temptati­ons, without considering what they do. I might name many, but shall content my self with some few at pre­sent, which are least observed, and which prove Snares to good Men; as for instance: To impose upon our selves constant Tasks of Religion, that we will Read and Pray so much, and so often every Day, and observe vo­luntary Fasts, and abstain from such innocent Diversions, &c. which Men commonly resolve in some great Heats and Fits of Devotion, which they fan­cy will continue in the same fervour, but never do; and then these Tasks grow very uneasie, as every thing of Religion does, when it grows a Task; and then they degenerate into dulness and formality, and then Men either leave them off, and with that are tempted to leave off Religion it self; or they are so very cold, that they fancy themselves spiritually dead, and fall into Melancholly, into Desertions, into Despair it self.

[Page 120] It is a dangerous thing for Men by rash and arbitrary Vows, to tye them­selves up from doing that, which otherwise they might very innocently do, and which they will be strongly tempted to do, when they have vow­ed not to do it. The Guides of Souls know, that this is no imaginary Case, but what they so often meet with, and see such ill effects of, that it is very fit to warn Men of the Snare. Were there no other reason against the Monk­ish Vows of Celibacy, Poverty, and Obedience, I should think this suffici­ent, that considered only as perpetual Vows, they are a dangerous State of Temptation; and for my own part, I would never advise any Man to make a perpetual Vow to do, or not to do any thing, which it is not perpetually his Duty to do, or not to do.

Thus to marry with Persons of a disagreeable Age, or a disagreeable Humour, or a contrary Religion, is to put our selves into a state of Tempta­tion; but such particular Instances would be endless, and therefore I for­bear.

If God lead us into Temptation, he will give us sufficient strength to resist, [Page 121] if we improve his Grace; if we lead [...]ur selves into Temptation, and God [...]eave us to the power and subtilty of [...]he Tempter, the sin and the folly is our own.

5thly, I observe by what means our Saviour conquered the Devil's Tempta­tions, and that was by the Authority, and by the Word of God: It is writ­ten, Man shall not live by bread alone. It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. These are such Answers, as would admit of no Reply; for the Authority of God can never be answer­ed.

And thus we must conquer also, if ever we will conquer, by a firm Faith in God, and Belief of his Word: Faith is our Shield, and the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, and we have no other sure Defence against all Temptations.

This ruined our first Parents in Pa­radise, when their Reason and Natural Powers were in their greatest Vigour, Perfection, and Integrity, that instead of insisting on God's Authority, they [Page 122] ventured to reason the Case with the Tempter. Set aside the Authority of God, and the Devil will quickly out­wit, and out-reason us; he is skilled in all the Arts of Deceit, and Methods of Perswasions; and without God's Au­thority, our Courage, our Resolution, our Honour, our Reason it self, even all the Rants and triumphant Specula­tions of Philosophy, will fail us in the Day of Trial: to Tempt, is either to deceive, or to perswade, and there is no other secure defence against either but the Authority, and the Word of God. The wisest Reasoner may be imposed on by so artificial a Tempter; but God can neither deceive, nor be deceived; and then while we believe God, and have regard to his Commands, we cannot be deceived neither: And what is able to resist all the Terrors and Flatteries of the World, and the Flesh, but the Authority of that God who is our Maker, and our Judge? What in­significant Names are Virtue and Vice, how weak and feeble is the sense of De­cency and Honour, and the Dignity of Human Nature, and of a Life of Reason (after we have read or writ so many Vo­lumes about it) when we feel the soft [Page 123] Charms of Pleasure, and our Eyes are filled with visible Glories? Who would not part with a fine Thought or two, with some pretty Notions of Mo­ral Beauty, and Intellectual Pleasures, for a Happiness which may be seen and felt? But the Authority of GOD, the firm belief of his Promises and Threatnings, the hopes and fears of another World, are beyond all other Perswasions, unless any thing can per­swade a Man to be eternally miserable.

This may suffice to be spoke in General, concerning our Saviour's Temptation. We come now to consi­der,

II. The particular Temptations wherewith our Saviour was Assaulted, and they are Three.

1. The first was to relieve his Hun­ger, after his long fasting, by working a Miracle: And when the Tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

This was a very artificial Temptati­on, which it may be none but Christ himself would have been aware of: For what hurt was it, for the Son of God to work a Miracle? What hurt was it for a Man, who was Hungry, to re­lieve [Page 124] his Hunger? For here was no Temptation to excess, but to satisfy the necessities of Nature: What hurt was it for him, who afterwards fed so many Thousands by Miracles, in this great Distress to have wrought a Mi­racle to satisfy his own Hunger? This was very plausible, and looked like very charitable Advice; but yet there was a secret Snare in it.

1st, For this was made a Trial, whe­ther he were the Son of God or not, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread: Now had he complied with this, it had argued a distrust of his Relation to God, and of the Love of his Father; and this was a Temptation to Sin. Thus the Tempter dealt with our first Parents, made them jealous of God's good In­tentions towards them, and by that Tempted them to Disobedience. The Serpent said unto the Woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God knoweth, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. That is, God envies your Happiness, and therefore has forbid you to Eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

[Page 125] Thus the Devil suggested to our Savi­our, that he had great reason to que­stion, whether he were the Son of God, because he was destitute of all the Comforts and Supports of Life, and after forty Days fasting had no­thing in the Wilderness to Eat, unless he would turn Stones into Bread.

And though this part of the Temp­tation our Saviour takes no notice of in his Answer, but scorns it; yet we find it makes a very powerful Impres­sion upon other Men, who are apt to measure God's Love or Hatred by pre­sent things; when they are Prosperous, they conclude they are the Favourites of Heaven; when they are Afflicted and meet with cross Events, then God is angry with them, and has forsaken them: And though this argues such a stupid Ignorance of Christianity, that one would think it could be no Temptation to a Christian; yet it is too Notorious, that three parts of the Melancholy, the Desertions, nay de­spair of many Christians, is owing to no other Cause: they think their Con­dition safe for the next World, while they are Prosperous in this; but as soon as the World begins to Frown, they [Page 126] are irrecoverably Damned; but would such men consider, that our Saviour himself wanted Bread in the Wilderness, and had no place whereon to lay his Head; it would cure these Desertions, if there be no greater Guilt, which a strait Fortune awakens the sense of, which I doubt is too often the Case.

2dly, There was another Snare in this, to perswade our Saviour, to sup­ply the necessities of Nature by extra­ordinary means, without the immedi­ate Direction and Command of God; for this had been a distrust of God's Care and Providence, to have relieved his own wants by preternatural and uncommanded Methods: And there­fore to this he Answers, It is writ­ten, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That is, Bread indeed is the ordinary Pro­vision God has made for the support of Man's Life; but when these ordinary and natural Provisions fail, he has other ways to support Life, as he fed the Israelites with Manna and Quails in the Wilderness, and gave them Drink out of a Rock; but then we must patiently and securely expect by [Page 127] what means God will provide for us; [...]d till the word proceed out of his mouth, [...]l we have some particular Command [...]d Direction for it, we must take no [...]xtraordinary, Uncommanded, much [...]ss Forbidden ways, to preserve our [...]ives: for this is want of Trust in God, [...]r want of Submission to his Will. [...]xtream want and necessity is almost [...] irresistible Temptation to humane Nature, to distrust the ordinary Pro­ [...]isions of Providence, and to provide [...]r our selves by what means we can; [...]nd to justify what we do by such ne­ [...]essities: it requires a great degree of [...]aith and Trust in God, when we have [...]o Prospect of ordinary Succours, pati­ [...]ntly to expect God's Provision, with­ [...]ut going out of God's way: But [...]hus our Saviour was Tempted, and [...]as taught us how to conquer this Temptation, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God: If Bread fail, we must expect by what other means God will supply our Wants, and not transgress those Laws God hath pre­scribed us, how desperate soever our Condition seem to be.

[Page 128] 2dly, The next Temptation is in the other extreme, to presume so far upon his Interest in God's Favour and Pro­tection, as to make dangerous and vain-glorious Experiments of God's care: He set him upon a pinacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thy felf down: for it is written, He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall beat thee up, lest at any time thou shouldst dash thy foot against the stone.

When the Tempter perceived, that Christ wholly relied on the Directions and Authority of Scripture, he infor­ces his Temptation with Scripture too, misunderstood and misapplied. And these are the most dangerous Tempta­tions of all, which impose upon Men with a shew of Religion, as our late Experience of a wild Enthusiastic Age will tell us; when nothing so bad could be thought of, but some Men had Scrip­ture-Examples, or Precepts, or Pro­phesies, or Parables, to justifie it; and therefore we must be aware of this, as well as of all the other Arts and Stratagems of the Tempter.

In answer to this our Saviour proves, that this Text could not mean, that [Page 129] God would command his Angels to bear him up in their hands, if he should [...]ling himself from the Pinacle of the Temple, because we are expresly for­bid, to make such Experiments of God's Protection, as this: It is written, Thou [...]halt not tempt the Lord thy God.

To tempt is to try, and to tempt God is to try what he will, or can do for us, beyond his Promise, and be­yond the ordinary Methods of his Pro­ [...]idence; especially when we either [...]urmur against God, for not answer­ [...]ng our unreasonable demands, or pre­ [...]ume upon his favour to do that, which he has forbid us to do, or ex­ [...]ect his Protection and Blessing, when we put our selves out of the ordinary [...]rotection of his Providence: it were [...]asie, had I time, to give instances of [...]ll these ways of tempting God; the [...]emptation of our Saviour concerns [...]e last I mentioned, out of a vain-glo­ [...]ous humour, and a presumption of God's peculiar favour to us, volunta­ [...]ly without any reasonable pretence, [...]uch less necessity, to thrust our selves [...]to apparent and unavoidable Dangers, [...]nd expect God should save us by Mi­ [...]cles: for this is what our Saviour [Page 130] was tempted to, to fling himself down from the Pinacle of the Temple, in a presumptuous confidence of God's care of him, that he would command his Angels to bear him up in their hands.

This looks like Faith in God, a ple­rophory of Hope, and full assurance of his Love, but indeed is Vanity, Pride, Insolence, Presumption, and a tempt­ing of God. It is such an Affront and In­dignity, as wise Men will not bear from their best Friends, when they impose upon them, not to do them a real kind­ness, but to gratifie their vanity and humour in such Demands, as a wi [...] Man cannot honourably grant.

And yet there is a more dangerous and fatal Presumption than this, whe [...] men have such a strong Imagination o [...] their being the Sons, the Chosen and Elect People of God, that they thin [...] they cannot do any thing to forfe [...] God's Love: they may make mo [...] bold with God's Laws than other Men, for God sees no sin in his People; nay in­deed, that it is no Sin to advanc [...] themselves, and the Cause they ha [...] Espoused, which they call the Glor [...] of God, by extraordinary means, tha [...] is by transgressing all the known and or­dinary [Page 131] Rules of Justice and Charity.

These are dangerous Temptations, [...]nd we have seen the miserable Effects [...]f them; and therefore let no man [...]ink, that he is so great a favorite of Heaven, as to have God at his beck [...]o save him by Miracles, when he [...]ilfully exposes himself to such Dan­ [...]ers, as nothing but Miracles can De­ [...]ver him from; much less to think, [...]at God will alter the nature of Good [...]nd Evil for his sake; that he will dis­ [...]ense with his Laws, (Laws which [...]re as Eternal and Unchangeable as [...]is own Nature) when ever such vain [...]nthusiasts pretend to serve themselves, [...]nd his Glory by the breach of them: [...] is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

3. These two Temptations were ma­ [...]aged with great Art to deceive; the [...]hird is open and bare-faced. The Devil in express words tempts him to [...]dolatry, with the Promise of all the Kingdoms of the World, and the Glo­ry of them; which he had drawn a beautiful Landskip of, and shew'd him from a high Mountain: All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me: Or as St. Luke [Page 132] relates it, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for it is de­livered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. Which in some sense was true at that time; not that the Devil had the Supreme and Absolute disposal of Kingdoms, for St. Paul assures us, that all the Powers even of the Pagan World, were of God, and ordained by 13 Rom 1. God. But yet he was at that time the God of this World, and had a more visible Kingdom than God himself. The true Worshippers of God were a [...] that time chiefly confined to Iudea, a [...] very little spot of Earth; but all the Power and Glory of the World was in the hands of Idolaters, who Worship­ped the Devil and wicked Spirits: And the force of the Argument is, as if he had said to our Saviour, You call your self the Son of God, and Worship him, but will God do that fo [...] you, which I can and will do, if you Worship me? You your self see, that he has no Kingdom but Iudea to be­stow on you, and that also is at pre­sent in the hands of my Worshippers; but what is that to all the Kingdom of the World, which are at my disposal and which you see your self are mine [Page 133] and under my Government. But our [...]aviour without disputing the value of [...]is World, or what Power the Devil [...]ad in the disposal of it, chides away [...]e Tempter with Indignation, Be gone [...]atan, For it is written, Thou shalt wor­ [...]ip the Lord thy God, and him only shalt [...]ou serve. But though Christ refused [...]is proffer, his pretended Vicar has [...]ken it, and revived the old Pagan [...]olatry for the Kingdoms of the [...]orld, and the Glory of them.

This is the prevailing Temptation [...] this day, to corrupt Religion, the [...]aith and Worship of God, for some [...]mporal Advantages: too many Men [...]ink That the best Religion, which [...]ill best serve a secular Interest; [...]nd we have reason to think, that [...]o many do this, and know [...]hat they do; that their furious [...]eal for a false Religion is not all [...]gnorance and Mistake, but an undis­ [...]mbled Love of this World: For can [...]e think, that the Devil never tempt­ [...] any Man but Christ, knowingly [...]d willingly to renounce the true Re­ [...]gion, and the true Worship of God [...]r this World? No doubt he does, [...]d very often prevails too; and these [Page 134] knowing Idolaters, who make a down­right bargain to Worship the Devil for the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them, are those who abuse the Ignorant and Credulous with a false and hypocritical Zeal.

But let us remember, that we mus [...] Worship the Lord our God, and him only must we serve: Let us remember what our Saviour tells us, What shall it pro [...] a man, if he gain the whole world a [...] lose his own soul? Or, What shall a ma [...] give in exchange for his soul? Let us [...] ­member, that the end of Religion [...] to please God, to Glorify him, to [...] like him, and to enjoy him for ever [...] and this will give us a secure Victo [...] over the World and the Devil: Whi [...] God of his infinite Mercy grant, throug our Lord Iesus Christ; To whom with t [...] Father and the Holy Ghost, be Hono [...] Glory, and Power, now and for ever

Amen.

OUR Conformity to the Death and Resurrection of our Sa­viour, consists in dying to [...], and walking in newness of life, [...]ich St. Paul tells us is represented [...] the External Ceremony of Bap­ [...]m; the baptised Person being buri­ed with Christ in Baptism, and rising out of his watry grave a new born Creature, 6. Rom. 3, 4. For in that he [Page 136] died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God: Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Iesus Christ our Lord, 9, 10. And the principal Exercise of this Divine Life, which is our conformity to the Resur­rection of Christ, is a Divine Conver­sation. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God: Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth, 3. Col. 1, 2. And to set our affections on things above, does not only signify to think some­times of Heaven, and to desire to go to Heaven when we dye, which very worldly-minded men may do; but to lay up for our selves Treasures in Heaven, which are durable and eter­nal, in opposition to those perishing Treasures on Earth, which are subject to Thieves, to Moths and Rust 6. Matth. 19, 20, 21. To make to our selves friends of the mammon of unrighte­ousness, that when we fail, they may re­ceive us into everlasting habitations, 16. Luke 9. Now ye all know what this means: viz. To purge our minds from the love of Riches, and [Page 137] from all covetous Desires; to improve [...]r Estates in Acts of Piety and Cha­ [...]ty, for the Service of God, and to [...]pply the wants of the poor and mi­ [...]rable: to return our Money into the [...]ther World, where it will encrease [...]to Eternal Life and Glory: for this [...] truly to have our Conversation in [...]eaven, to live above this World, to [...]t loose from all the Enjoyments of it; [...]o live to God, and another World, [...]o improve every thing we enjoy here, [...]o secure and advance our future Hap­ [...]iness: when men are Charitable upon [...]hese Principles and these Designs, they [...]ust live a very heavenly Life; For where our Treasure is, there our hearts will be also.

This our Ancestors, who appoint­ed this Annual Solemnity, seem to have been very sensible of, That there is no particular Grace or Virtue, the exercise of which is a more visible de­monstration of a Divine and purified Mind, which is risen with Christ, and lives to God, as Christ doth, than the Grace of Charity; and therefore that there was no time more proper to exercise Charity, and to exhort [Page 138] Christians to Charity, and to show Charity in all its Pomp, and hum­ble Bravery, than the Feast of the Re­surrection; wherein we commemorate the Love of our Lord in dying for us, and his triumph over Death, and in full assurance of a blessed Immortality, of which the Resurrection of our Sa­viour was an ocular Demonstration, send our Hearts and our Eyes after him to Heaven, and contemplate that Glo­ry to which he is advanced, and to which he has promised to advance us.

This then is my proper work at this time, to exhort you to Charity; pro­per both to the nature of this Holy Feast, and to the original Institution of this Solemnity; and it may reaso­nably be hoped, that the Annual Re­turns of it, wherein all the Argu­ments to Charity are so earnestly pres­sed on you, should keep this Divine Fire always burning and glowing in your Breasts. You have so often heard all the Arguments to Charity, that it is impossible you should forget them; and there is one that is worth all the rest, which no Christian can forget, who remembers that there is a Heaven and a Hell, and which no [Page 139] Christian can resist, without despising [...]is Soul, and Eternal Life and Death; [...]nd that is, That Heaven is the Re­ [...]ard of Charity; that Hell is the Pu­ [...]ishment of Uncharitableness; which is [...]o plainly and expresly taught, and so [...] repeated by our Saviour, [...]hat it is as certain and unavoidable, as that there is a Heaven and a Hell; and if Heaven be not a sufficient En­couragement to Charity, nor Hell suf­ficient to deter us from Uncharitable­ness, it is to no purpose to use any other Arguments, which can never persuade, if these can't; or if they could, would neither carry us to Hea­ven, nor keep us out of Hell; for to be charitable only for temporal reasons, is to give our goods to feed the poor, without a true Divine Charity; which St. Paul tells us, will profit nothing, 1 Cor. 13. For such a Charity as does not raise us above this world, can nei­ther carry us to Heaven, nor keep us out of Hell. And therefore instead of drawing together all the Arguments for Charity which you have so often heard, and shewing them in a new dress, my design at present is to recommend to you a very excellent, but a very [Page 140] neglected part of Charity, which our Saviour presses on us in my Text, viz. The Charity of Lending, Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again.

In speaking to which Words, I shall 1. Shew you what this Duty is. 2. What an excellent Charity it is to lend. And how this may be improved to the most excellent purposes.

1. What this Duty is, or what our Saviour means by lending, hoping for nothing again. And it can signify but two things; and I see no reason to think, but that our Saviour might mean both. 1. To Lend, without hoping for any encrease; or to lend freely, without Usury. 2. To lend, where the very Principal may be in danger, when we have little reason to hope that we shall ever see our own again.

1. To lend freely, without Usury; for our Saviour commands this, as an Act of Charity, Do good, and lend: And though to lend, even upon Usury, may in many cases prove a great kindness to the Borrower, yet Charity [Page 141] is not the motive of the Lender, it is [...]ot Charity, but Traffick and Mer­ [...]handize of Money: and though the Iews were expresly forbid to lend their Brethren upon Usury, yet our Saviour [...]ntimates there was something like this, and equivalent to it, which spoil­ [...]ed the Charity of lending, even with­out Usury; that they would not lend [...]o the poor; who though they should repay them what they borrowed, yet were never likely to be in a condition to lend to them again; but they would lend to the Rich, from whom they ex­pected the like returns of kindness; as you may see in the Verses before my Text; 33, 34. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them, of whom ye hope to re­ceive, (not only your own, but the like kindness of lending to you when your occasions require it), what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again; [...], equal returns of kindness; which if it be not Usury of Money, is Usury of Kind­nesses, but is not Charity; like invi­ting our Rich Friends and Neighbours to a Feast, who can invite us again; [Page 142] which though it be no fault, is no Charity, for that consists in entertaining the poor, who can make us no return, 14. Luke 12, 13, 14. And thus our Saviour exhorts us here, but do you do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; neither for Usury, nor for such returns and exchanges of kindness.

It was for the sake of this Duty, that Usury was so strictly forbidden by the Iewish Law, that men might the more freely lend their Money to those who wanted, when they had no pre­sent use for it themselves; and had no way to encrease it; and as far as the Reason and Charity of this Law ex­tends, so far it still obliges, and so far Usury is still forbid to Christians.

This is not well considered by those who so universally condemn all Usury; and because the right understanding of this will be of great use to settle some men's minds, and to explain and en­force this duty of Lending, which I now recommend to you, it cannot be thought a digression from my present Design, to give you the true, but short state of this matter.

It is confessed on all hands, That Usury is forbid by the Law of Moses; [Page 143] but the great mistake is concerning the Nature of Usury, or what that is which the Law forbids and condemns by the name of Usury.

Some think that all Increase of Mo­ney, when men lend a Sum of, Money to receive the Principal again with In­terest, is the Usury which the Law forbids; and therefore that this is ab­solutely unlawful in all cases, and in all degrees; though we all know, That Trade, to which we owe all the Riches and Greatness of our Nation, and so many excellent Charities too, cannot be maintained without it: That some men, who now live comfortably in the world, maintain their Families with Credit and Reputation, and do many acts of Charity themselves, could not Trade at all; others could not drive such flourishing and spreading Trades without borrowed Money, nor borrow without Interest: That ma­ny Widows and Orphans are main­tained by Interest, who must in a few years be Beggars, had they no other way to live, but to spend the Princi­pal. This is so contrary to the sense and reason of Mankind, and to all the rules of Justice and Charity, and so [Page 144] impracticable in the present state of the world, that while it is possible to put any other sense upon the Law, I would never think of this. And the comfort is, that the Law expounds it self otherwise, and gives no colour for such an Interpretation as this, That all Increase of Money is forbid by it.

For 1. The Law it self allowed the Iews to take Usury of Strangers of other Countries, though not of their Brethren, or natural Iews, 23. Deut. 20. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury. And therefore God did not absolutely forbid the Iews to en­crease their Money, for they might lend to strangers upon Usury; which proves, that this was not an universal Law to them, much less is it so to all mankind. And that proves that there is no moral and intrinsick evil in Usu­ry; for if all Usury had in its own na­ture been unlawful, God could not have allowed the Iews to take Usury of strangers; for he cannot allow the least moral evil. The truth is, I ne­ver could yet see the least shadow of an Argument to prove, that Usury is evil in its nature, unless that Money [Page 145] can't beget Money, be thought an Ar­ [...]ument; but that is as good an Argu­ [...]ent against buying Corn or Wine, or [...]y thing else with Money; for it is [...]nnatural for Money to beget Corn or Wine: But if the barren nature of Money, that it cannot naturally pro­ [...]agate it self, be a reason against Usu­ [...]y of Money, this is no reason against [...]sury of Corn, which is equally for­ [...]id: for it is natural for Corn to pro­ [...]agate its kind, and multiply it self; [...]nd yet the Usury of all Victuals is [...]s much forbid, as the Usury of Mo­ [...]ey, 23. Deut. 19. Now if Usury be [...]ot morally evil, it can be unlawful [...] none, but those to whom God has [...]rbid it; and there being no prohibi­ [...]on of it in the New Testament, which [...] the Law of the Christian Church, it [...]annot be unlawful to Christians, [...]hatever it was to the Iews.

2. And yet the Iews themselves were [...]ot expresly forbid, however they [...]ight understand it, to lend their Money upon Usury, to all their own [...]rethren, but only to the Poor: So [...]hat had any Rich Iew come to bor­ [...]ow Money of them, for any thing [...]hat appears by the Law, they might [Page 146] have lent Money to him upon Usury. This Observation will clear this whole matter; and therefore I shall turn you to all the Texts of the Law, which forbid Usury, and the reading of them will convince you, That Usury was forbid only in favour of the Poor.

The first Text is, 22. Exod. 25. If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an Usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him Usury: Where no Usury is forbid, but only lending to the Poor upon Usu­ry: Thus 25. Lev. 35, 36, 37. And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen to decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him.—Take thou no usury of him, nor increase, but fear God, that thy brother may live well with thee: Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. It is true, in the Repetition of this Law, 23. Deut. 19, 20. it is only said, Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother, usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand un­to, [Page 147] in the land whither thou goest to pos­sess. This seems to forbid lending up­on Usury to any Iew, whether Rich or Poor: but this being only a repetition of those Laws in Exodus and Leviticus, in all reason must be expounded by them; and though the Poor are not expressed, the Circumstances of the place prove, that they only are meant; for though Rich Men may sometimes have occasion to borrow Money, yet none but the Poor, who have no Mo­ney to buy, can ever have occasion to borrow Victuals upon Usury; and the difference the Law makes between a Brother and a Stranger shews, that it is intended as an Act of Charity, which they owe to their Brethren, though not to strangers. For which Reason also they were forbid to make any of their Brethren Bond-men, though they might buy the Children of the Heathen and Strangers for Bond-men and Bond-maids, 25. Levit. 39, &c. and the Blessing God promises shews, that it is the Reward of Chari­ty.

In other places, where Usury is men­tioned, some Circumstance or other de­termines it to the Poor. This was the [Page 148] case, when Nehemiah reproved the Nobles and the Rulers for exacting Usury, 5. Nehem. When the Prophet Isaiah threatens great Desolations a­gainst the Land, he thus describes it, And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest—as with the lender, so with the borrower, as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him, 24. Isa. 2. That is, the Lender and the Usu­rer shall be reduced to the same Di­stress and Poverty, as those suffer who borrow upon Usury; which shews, that none but Poor Men used to bor­row upon Usury in those days. Thus when the Prophet Ieremiah complains, Woe is me, my Mother, that thou hast born me a man of strife, and a man of conten­tion to the whole earth: I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury, yet every one of them doth curse me, 15. Jer. 10. it plainly inti­mates, that Usury is such an Oppres­sion of the Poor, as both deserves and very often procures Curses. And there­fore the Prophet Ezekiel joyns Usury with the Oppression of the Poor, and other Acts of Violence, 18. Ezek. 7, 8, 10, 11, 16, 17. He who hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, [Page 149] hath not restored the pledge, hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken Increase, he shall die. But he that hath neither oppressed the poor, nor hath with-holden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by vio­lence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and cloathed the naked with a garment, that hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, he shall live. Which makes it very plain, what is meant by Usury, when to take Usury, is joyned with Violence and Oppression of the Poor; and to lend without Usury is reckoned among Acts of great Charity and Goodness.

There is but one place more, as I remember, that mentions Usury, 15. Psalm 5. and there putting forth Money to Usury is joyned with taking a Reward against the Innocent, which shews, that it was an Act of Violence and Oppression. For indeed among the Iews, who were no Merchants, nor maintained any Foreign Trade with other Nations, no men had occasion to borrow Money, much less Victuals, but to supply their present wants, and to take advantage of the Necessities of the Poor, to increase their own For­tunes [Page 150] by encreasing their Poverty, was against all the Laws of Goodness and Charity; and therefore this Usury, which was the only Usury known in those days, is strictly forbid, as all other Acts of Oppression are. All other kinds of Usury are introduced by Trade and Commerce; and though it is against Charity to lend upon Usury to men, who borrow to supply their wants, yet if men borrow to increase their Trade and Fortunes, there is Ju­stice and Equity in it, that the Lender shall make some Increase of his Mo­ney, as well as the Borrower. This is not properly Usury, but Traffick and Commerce; and I know no reason, why Men may not Trade with Money, as well as with other Commodities.

And this I take to be the true rea­son, why the Iews were permitted to take Usury of Strangers, but not of their Brethren, because their Heathen Neighbours were Merchants, as is plain of Tyre and Zidon, 23. Isai. They improved their Money by Trade, and therefore it was fit they should pay In­terest for it; especially if they were to lend upon Usury only to such Stran­gers as came among them for Trade, [Page 151] but did not dwell and sojourn with [...]hem; which seems probable from [...]5. Levit. 35. where the Stranger that [...]ojourns with them seems to be entitu­ [...]ed to the like Charity as a Brother. [...]f thy Brother be waxen poor, and fallen to decay, thou shalt relieve him, yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner, that he may live with thee, take t [...]ou no [...]sury of him, nor Increase. For a Stran­ger never signifies a Proselyte of Justice, who by Circumcision was incorporated into the Body of Israel, made a Bro­ther, and entituled to the Privileges of a Natural Iew, but only a Prose­lyte of the Gate, who renounced Ido­latry, but did not undertake the Ob­servation of the Law of Moses; and yet they were not to take Usury of these Strangers if they were poor, no more than of their Brother, according to that Law, 22. Exod. 21. Thou shalt not vex a stranger, nor oppress him, for [...]e were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Answer our Saviour gives to the Servant who hid his Talent in the Napkin, seems to justify this Ac­count, unless we can suppose, that his Lord would have been pleased with unjust and wicked Gain. 25. Matth. 27. [Page 152] Thou oughtest to have put my money t [...] the Exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. So that though it was unlaw­ful to lend Money upon Usury to the Poor, it was not so to the Exchangers, who traded in Money. And our Sa­viour's driving the Money-Changers out of the Temple, no more proves that he disallowed that Profession, than that he disallowed selling Oxen, and Sheep, and Doves for Sacrifice, for he drove them out also; the Fault was not in the Merchandise no more of Money, than of Sheep, or Oxen, or Doves, but they made his Father's house, a house of Merchandize, 2. John 14, 15, &c.

It is certain the ancient Fathers, who were professed Eenemies to Usury, opposed it under this Notion; for their great Arguments against Usury, are levelled against Uncharitableness and Oppression of the Poor, as appears from Gregor. Nyssen, St. Ambrose, St. Ba­sil, and others; and yet it is no won­der, should we meet with some Pas­sages in them against Usury conside­red as Trading and Merchandise of Money: For it is well known, that they [Page 153] were not much greater Friends to Trade and Merchandise, than they were to Usury, which they thought [...]nbecoming a Christian, as ministring only to Covetousness and Luxury. And yet I suppose, the greatest Enemies at [...]his day to Usury, will not carry the Quarrel so far, as to condemn Mer­chandise. And yet under this Notion of Covetousness and sordid Gain (which is equally applicable to all Trade) Usury is forbid the Clergy by the Seventeenth Cannon of the First Council of Nice; but no Council ever forbad it to the Layety, or threatened Church-Censures against them for it, which they would certainly have done, had they thought it evil in its self.

This may satisfy us in what Sence Usury is forbid, both by the Law of Moses and the ancient Writers of the Christian Church, viz. as contrary to Charity; when we lend upon Usury, where Charity requires us to lend free­ly: When we take Increase of the Poor, who borrow to supply their Wants, and sink them still more irrecoverably into Poverty by such Exactions: This always was, and always will be hate­ful to God, and to all Good Men, [Page 154] and yet such detestable. Usurers there are among us, who grow rich upon the Ruins and Spoils of the Poor, and drink the Tears of Widows and Or­phans; but when to lend without Usu­ry is no Charity, and to take Usury is no Oppression, there Usury it self is no Crime.

And hence we learn (which is the great thing I aimed at.) that Usury was forbid only for the sake of Lend­ing, which proves, that to lend freely to the Poor, is a great and necessary Act of Charity: Though a Man never took a Penny for Usury in his Life, yet if he neither gives, nor lends to the Poor, he is guilty of all that Uncha­ritableness, for which Usury is con­demned; nay in most Cases, even these worst sort of Usurers are the more charitable Men: For excepting some very hard Cases, it is greater Charity to lend even to the Poor for Usury, than not to lend at all.

For this Reason the Emperor Leo was forced by a New Constitution to permit Usury, which his Father out of a pious Zeal had wholly forbid, be­cause he found, that when Men were forbid to take any Usury, they would [Page 155] not lend at all, which was a greater [...]ardship to the Poor, than Usury it [...]lf.

Meerly not to take Usury is no Vir­ [...]e, but to lend to the Poor without [...]sury is. To lock up our Money in [...]ur Chests to rust and canker, and to [...]o no good with it, is what St. Iames [...] severely threatens rich Men for, Go [...]ow ye rich men, weep and howl for your [...]iseries, which shall come upon you; your [...]iches are corrupted, and your garments [...]re moth-eaten; your gold and your silver [...]s cankered, and the rust of them shall be [...] witness against you, a Witness of your Covetousness and Uncharitableness, [...]hat you have done no good with it, [...]ut hoarded it up to rust and canker for want of use. 5. Iames 1, 2, 3.

This Controversy then may be sta­ted and decided in a few words. Usury is a very great Sin, that is, to lend our Money upon Usury to those who borrow for Necessity and Want, and to exact such Payments with Rigour and Severity, to strip such miserable People of that little that remains, to imprison their Persons, and make them end their Lives in a Goal. To lock up our Money, and do no good with [Page 156] it, is to hide our Talent in a N [...] ­kin; for Money is improvable, a [...] must be improved, either for Char [...] or Increase, to be a new and perpet [...] Spring of Charity. To declaim [...] gainst Usury, and not to exhort men [...] lend to the Poor without Usury, is to [...] stake or overlook the true End and D [...] sign of the Law, and [...]o betray unch [...] ritable Men to a greater Evil than Us [...] ­ry it self; but if men lend freely to t [...] Poor in such Proportions as Chari [...] requires, they may very innocen [...] and virtuously, without transgress [...] this Law against Usury, lend their Mo­ney for Increase to the Rich.

2. But our Saviour seems to mea [...] something more by lending, hoping for no­thing again, not only to lend freel [...] without Usury, but to lend, where the Principal may be in Danger, when we cannot reasonably promise our selves to receive our own again: no man can deny, but this is great Charity; but then this must be conducted by the measures and proportions of giving: what Charity will oblige us to give, it will as reasonably oblige us to lend; but where the Retu [...]n is very hazar­dous, it can oblige us to lend, no [Page 157] more than what it would become us to [...]e, and yet in such Cases, lending [...]y be a greater Charity than giving, [...]ich is the Second thing proposed, [...]ich I can speak but briefly to.

2. The Excellency and Advanta­ [...]s of this Charity of Lending, and [...]w it may be improved to be the best [...]rpose.

Now if we compare Giving and [...]nding together, Lending has much [...]e Advantage of Giving, as to [...]e true End and Purposes of Cha­ [...]y.

To lend is a greater Obligation to [...]dustry, than to give; and there can­ [...]ot be a greater Kindness done to the [...]oor, next to keeping them from star­ [...]ing, than to teach them Industry. I [...]eed not tell you, that there are many [...]oor, who will never work, while they [...]an meet with charitable People to [...]ive; nay, who chuse to be sick, to [...]e lame, to be blind, to move Chari­ [...]y, rather than work to supply their Wants; but when Men have nothing [...]o live on, but the improvement of [Page 158] lent Money, which they know they must repay when it is called for, this must make them industrious; for it both encourages their Industry, and keeps the Rod over them; especially were this made a standing Rule to give nothing to those who are able, but will not work, who have a Stock lent them to trade with, and neglect to improve it.

Thus what we give does but one single Act of Charity, for we can give it but once; but what we lend may circulate, as the Blood does in our Veins, and communicate Warmth and Spirits to more parts of the Body than one: that is, what we lend, may be lent again, and do a great many suc­cessive Charities, as great, or greater than that one single Charity had been, if we had given it: And that certainly is one of the greatest and noblest Cha­rities which is most diffusive.

But yet to make this Charity of [...]ending the more effectual, it must be confessed, that a Publick Bank of Cha­rity. raised out of such free Loans, will have many Advantages above any [Page 159] Private Acts of this Nature; and I can [...]y no means think this either impracti­ [...]able or difficult.

I doubt not but most of this Ho­ [...]ourable Assembly could contrive very Advantageous ways of doing this, were Men but Charitably disposed. For suppose you should make your Hospi­tals, or your Companies, such Publick Banks, or if it could be more Publick, still the more Useful, and the more secure, where charitable People may safely deposite their Money without Use, or those who cannot spare the whole Interest, may abate some part of it; and where the running Cash may be lodged, which Men expect no In­terest for; this might easily rise to a very vast Sum, which with wise Im­provement would make a sure and last­ing Fund of Charity.

And could any thing in the World be more easie than this, which no man could feel? What would it be to a Rich Man, who has many thousands employed in Trade, or secured at In­terest; or if he knows when he has enough, has no need to increase it, to [Page 160] drop some thousands into such a free Bank, to sanctify and prosper his Trade, and other ways of Gain, and to secure a Blessing to his Posterity? How may others are there, who could spare a hundred, or it may be some hundred pounds out of their Stock, and not feel the want of Inte­rest, or at least, if they could not spare the whole Interest, might spare the half, or third part of it? How many are there, who have some hun­dreds by them useless, which they would not, and could not with any reason grudge to lay up in a safe Bank? How many are there, who would ea­sily be perswaded to lend, were there such a safe Bank to receive it, who are very unwilling to give? And were there such a Bank of Charity once setled, there would be very little need of giving.

For I know not any kind of Chari­ty, but might be provided for in this way, were men but free and liberal in lending. It would enlarge your Hospi­tals, clear your Streets of Beggars, the great Reproach of this City; main­tain those who can't work, and em­ploy [Page 161] those who can; put poor Chil­dren to Apprentice, provide Stocks for [...]ngenious and Industrious Young Men, [...]ho want them; redeem Prisoners, [...]nd, which Justice and Honour requires [...]f you, as far as possibly you can, may [...] some measure provide a Fund for [...]our Orphans.

This would advance the Glory of [...]his great City, it would perpetuate [...]nd consecrate the Memory of such [...]orthy Persons, as would begin and [...]romote such a lasting and extensive Charity; the Children which are un­ [...]orn, would rise up and call them bles­ [...]ed; it would draw a great share of [...]e Charitable Money of the Nation [...]to your hands, which would quicken [...]rade, and encrease your Riches; and [...]bove all, it would procure all the great [...]ewards which are promised to Chari­ [...]y, both in this World, and in the [...]ext.

But whatever becomes of this Pro­ [...]osal, you must always remember, that [...] is great Charity to lend as well as [...]o give: This is what our Saviour ex­ [...]ects from us, this is what he Com­ [...]ands, To do good, and lend, hoping for [...]othing again; and if out of a greedy [Page 162] desire of gain, we will lend nothing freely to the Relief and Encourage­ment of the Industrious Poor, this will make all our other Usury and In­crease, which is Lawful and Innocent in it self, when it neither Oppresses the Poor, nor stops our Charity, to be­come sin.

ONE great Objection against Providence, is taken from the many Evils and Calamities [...]hich mankind suffer; which would [...]e a reasonable Objection, were they more than are deserved, or more than [...]are necessary for the wise Govern­ment of the world. But besides other Answers that may be given to it, the Wise-man's Observation in my Text furnishes us with Two very plain An­swers. 1. That the Sufferings of this [...]ife are not disproportioned to our strength to bear them; and when Af­flictions and Misfortunes are necessary [Page 164] to the wise government of the world, it is a sufficient vindication of Provi­dence, that God lays no more on us, than what the spirit of a man can bear; The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmi­ties. And 2dly, That the only Evils that are intolerable and insupportable, are wholly owing to our selves; and then we have no reason to quarrel at the Divine Providence, when God is more merciful to us than we are to our selves. But a wounded spirit who ca [...] bear?

For the Explication and Improve­ment of these Words, I shall 1. En­quire what is meant by sustaining In­firmities. 2. By what means the spi­rit of a man can sustain his Infirmities. 3. What is meant by a Wounded Spi­rit. 4. How unsupportable a Wound­ed Spirit is. 5. Conclude with some Practical Inferences from the whole.

1. What is meant by sustaining Infir­mities: Now Infirmities in this place being opposed to a Wounded Spirit, must signify only external sufferings, whatever is grievous and afflicting, excepting the disorders and troubles of our own minds. And by sustaining [Page 165] Infirmities is not meant, that we must [...]ot feel them, nor have any afflicting [...]ense of them; for the Stoicks them­ [...]elves would not say, that pain was [...]ot pain; for then there would be no need of Patience Non ego dolorem, do­lorem esse nego. cur en [...]m fortitudo desid raretur, sed eum opprimi dico pa­tientia, si mo [...]o est ali­qua patientia. Cicer. [...]o bear it; but that Patience, [...]f there be any such thing, can conquer pain. And [...]herefore to sustain Infirmi­ [...]ies, is to feel, but not to sink under the weight of them; as that man su­stains his burden, who can go upright, and not stagger, at least not fall, though he feels the weight of it on his shoul­ders: That is, he who can in any mea­sure enjoy himself under suffering, does so far sustain it; and the more perfect­ly we can enjoy our selves, though the brightness and gaiety of our Spi­rits may be a little sullied and over­cast, the more compleat and perfect is our Conquest over all the Calamities of Life.

2dly, But the great Enquiry is, How the spirit of a man can sustain his In­firmities? And that is done Three ways: 1. By Natural Courage, and Strength of Mind. 2. By the Powers [Page 166] of Reason. 3. By the Diviner Aids and Succours of Religion.

1. Natural Courage, and Strength of Mind: A man of Spirit thinks it a reproach to be easily disturbed and ruf­fled, to be put out of humour by eve­ry accident, to sink under the common Calamities of life; nay, to be wholly mastered by the most extraordinary and formidable Events. There is an in­bred Greatness in human Nature, which does not care to confess its own weakness, which will not yield, or submit, or own a Conquest; an un­taught Courage, which supports the rude and illiterate part of mankind, even without Reason and Discourse; which is improved by a sense of Ho­nour in men of Fortune, increases by exercise and discipline, by hard labour, and difficult trials, and is lost by ease, and luxury, and softness, which makes the Mind as tender as the Body, to feel all the Vicissitudes of Fortune, as a crazy and distempered body does the change of Weather. God has put a spirit into man, which can bear his In­firmity; and if we have it not, it is our own fault.

[Page 167] 2dly, The spirit of a man sustains [...]is Infirmities by the Power of Reason, which adds to our Natural Courage, gives us a more confirmed sense of De­ [...]cency and Honour, teaches us the true value of things, quiets our Passions, undeceives our abused Imaginations, convinces us that some fancied evils are none at all, others not so great as we thought, and that the worst condition has its allays, which make it tolerable to a Wise and Good man.

I am far from thinking, That the mere Power of Natural Reason, and Moral Arguments, is able to support us under all events, much less, that the Arguments of the Heathen Philo­sophers, though they said a great ma­ny wise and good things, were suffici­ent to this purpose; but yet it is cer­tain, That Reason is the strength of the Mind, and it is the Mind which must bear up under external Sufferings; and it is as certain, that Nature fur­nishes us with a great many Arguments to bear them easily without fainting: As for Instance:

We must consider the state of the World, which is in a continual flux and motion, and does not long shew [Page 168] the same face of things; that the va­rious Lusts and Passions of men among whom we live, will create a great deal of trouble to us; and that our mortal bodies are liable to pain and hunger, and many Calamities. This is the state of all mankind in this world; and if after all, it be desirable to live, to come into, and to continue in this world, upon these terms, we must make the best of our condition, and bear our sufferings patiently, and not repine, if we escape as well as the ge­nerality of Mankind: In such a state of life we must not promise to our selves a compleat and undisturbed Happiness; for then we must be disap­pointed, and be very uneasy and im­patient at such a disappointment; but we must expect to suffer more or less, and that will make us think we escape well, when our Sufferings are but light; and teach us to arm our selves against those which are greater, with courage and patience.

Thus a Wise man sees through the frightful or flattering Disguises of things, and judges by Nature, not by Fancy and Opinion; and then he finds no mighty reason to be disturbed about [Page 169] many things, which are judged and resented as great Calamities by un­thinking Men. Reason teaches them, that Nature is contented with a little, and that poor men enjoy them­selves, and have their Pleasures and Satisfactions, as well as the Rich; and therefore Poverty without pressing Wants, is not so great an Evil, as it is thought by some men; and then it can be no intolerable Evil neither, to fall from a high and prosperous For­tune to a meaner State. Reason teaches them, that a good man, who is conscious to himself of his own Vir­tue and Integrity, ought not to be concerned for unjust Reproaches, which are the effects of Ignorance or Malice. That undeserved Honours, unjust Prai­ses and Commendations, are only the Entertainments of Fools; and that un­just Reproaches ought not to put Wise men out of countenance. And thus it is in other Cases; There is a vast dif­ference between the natures of things, and mens Opinions; and were our Pas­sions and Resentments governed by Reason, and proportioned to the na­ture of things, not to the Opinions of men about them, it would make our [Page 170] Condition in this World much more easy and tolerable. But I cannot now particularly shew you all the varie­ty of Arguments, whereby men may support themselves under several Cala­mities of Life; it is sufficient to my present purpose, that Reason gives a new strength and vigour to the spirit of a man to sustain his Infirmities.

Thirdly, But the greatest Supports of all, are the Arguments Religion fur­nishes us with; as to name but two at present. 1. That whatever we suffer, is not the effect of a blind Chance, or fatal Necessity, but is ordered by a Wise and Good Providence. 2. That if we bear our present Sufferings with patience and submission to the Will of God, and make a wise use of them to our improvement in Grace and Virtue, our very sufferings shall be greatly re­warded in the next World. These two Principles are the Foundations of all Religion, and as certain as any thing in Religion; all other Arguments without this belief, cannot support us, and there are no Sufferings too great for a man to bear, who is throughly possessed with a firm belief and vigo­rous sense of these.

[Page 171] Can we our selves, or the kindest [...]riend in the World, chuse better for [...]s than God? Do we suspect his Wis­dom, or his Goodness? Can he mi­stake our Condition, who knows our Frame? Can he be wanting in his care of us, or in good will to us, who made us? What is it we desire, but to be happy? and if God intends our happiness in his severest Corrections, why should we complain? Religion teaches us, that the care of our Souls is of much greater concernment to us than bodily Ease or Pleasure; and if God sees Pain and Sickness, Poverty and Disgrace, necessary to cure, or restrain our vicious and distempered Passions, or to improve and exercise our Gra­ces, have we any reason to complain that God takes such severe methods to save our Souls? Had we rather be miserable for ever, than suffer some present want and pain? The Soul is the best part of Man; and to take care of a man, is to improve his bet­ter Part; and this is the Design of God's Providence towards particular men, to train them up to Virtue by such methods of Kindness or Severity, as he sees them want.

[Page 172] This I confess may be very grievous and afflicting at present, but then we have the hopes of Immortal Life to support us; and can that man be mi­serable, can he sink under present Suf­ferings, who has the hope of Immor­tal Life, as the Anchor of the Soul, both sure and stedfast? To believe that all things. at present are intended for our good, and shall work together for our good, if we love God; and that when we have out-rid the Storms of this World, by Faith, and Patience, and Hope, These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, shall work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glo­ry: This, if any thing, will make all the Sufferings of this Life easie: if na­tural Courage, or natural Reason fail, the Spirit of a man, supported by Re­ligion, will sustain his Infirmity.

Thirdly, Let us now consider what is meant by a wounded Spirit: This is a metaphorical Expression, and signifies a Spirit which suffers pain and trouble. A wound in the Body, is a Division of one part from another, which is al­ways painful; and though a Spirit cannot be thus divided, yet because a Wound causes Pain; a Spirit which [Page 173] is disordered, and suffers pain, is said to be wounded: As for instance,

Some mens Spirits are wounded with the disorders and violence of their own Passions; they love, or hope, or fear, or desire, or grieve immoderate­ly; and all Passions are very painful, when they are in excess. Upon this account the Wicked are said to be like a troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt: there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

Other mens Spirits are wounded with a sense of Guilt; their own Con­sciences reproach and shame them, and threaten the Vengeance of God against them; they have gratified their Lust, or Revenge, their Ambition, or Cove­tousness; and dreamt of nothing but ease and pleasure; the Temptation was very charming as it came towards them, but now the heat and impetus is allay'd, and the enjoyment over, they can't review what they have done, without horror; their affrighted Con­sciences draw the most amazing scenes of Judgment, and paint their Fancies with all the blackest Images of Terror; The Sinners of Sion are afraid, fear hath surpriz'd the Hypocrites. Who shall dwell [Page 174] with devouring fire? who shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

4thly, This is the wounded Spirit, and such a wounded Spirit who can bear? This is Matter of Sense, and there­fore for the Proof of it, we must ap­peal to the Sense of Mankind; and there is no danger in this Appeal; for though some Men may scorn to confess, what they feel, yet if all Mens Minds be of a make, we can feel in our selves, what other Men feel: And then we all know, that Anger when it grows im­moderate, and encreases into Rage and Fury, worries the Mind, and sharpens it self into such a keeness, as cuts deep into our own Souls; that an immode­rate love of Riches, or Honours, or Plea­sures creates us infinite Trouble, tor­ments with an impatient Thirst, with restless and uneasy Expectations, di­stracts us between Hopes and Fears, kills with Delays and Disappointments; and there are but few Men, who can long dissemble their inward pain and un­easiness, but confess it in their Looks, and Words, and Behaviour, by exter­nal and visible Symptoms of Frenzy and Distraction.

And yet all this is nothing to the [Page 175] Agonies of a guilty Mind, as any Man [...]ust confess who knows what it is to [...]e Self-condemned, and to live under [...]he Apprehensions of God's Wrath, and [...]he terrible Expectations of endless Torments; for with what Courage and Patience can any Man bear such a Thought as this, That he must be mi­serable for ever? Some Men may laugh away the Thoughts of Hell, but it is certain, that no Man who believes in good earnest, that there is a Hell, and that he himself is in the most apparent danger of falling into it, can bear this Thought: The many sad Examples of despairing Sinners, who at the last mo­ment groan out their Souls in Agonies and Horrors, are an undeniable Proof of this. Men who do not believe a Hell, may laugh at it, till they feel it; but for experiments sake let them on­ly suppose that there were a Hell, and that Hell were to be their Portion, and then let them tell me, how they can bear such a Thought.

This is sufficient to satisfy us, how unsupportable a wounded Spirit is; but to give us a deeper and more last­ing Sense of it, I shall further observe, that a wounded Spirit has no refuge or [Page 176] retreat, has nothing left to support it self with. The Spirit of a Man can bear his Infirmities, but when the Spi­rit it self is wounded, there is nothing to support that; this wounds our Courage, our Reason, makes all ex­ternal Comforts tastless, and deprives us of all the Comforts of Religion.

For 1st. What Courage can any Man have against Himself, against the Wounds and Disorders of his own Mind? Courage is nothing else, but a firmness of Mind to govern its own Resentments and Passions; to suffer Pain, and Reproach, and other Evils without immoderate Grief, and to en­counter dangers without an amazing fear; but when the Mind it self is op­pressed with Grief, and Fears and Cares, the Disease which Courage should pre­vent, has already seized the Spirits. Courage fortifies us against external Evils, to keep them at a distance from wounding our Spirits; but the Disor­ders of our own Passions are inward Wounds, which we must feel and lan­guish under. When our own Consci­ences reproach, chide, and threaten us, the good Opinion and Courtships of the World cannot defend us from our [Page 177] selves, we cannot stop our ears against [...], we cannot harden our selves against [...]s Terrors, it is a domestick Fury, [...]hich when it is provoked and awaken­ [...]d, will be heard, and will make us [...]emble, will make us judge and con­ [...]emn our selves, and begin our own [...]orments in frightful Horrors and Ago­ [...]es of Mind.

2dly, Whereas Reason can fortify the [...]ind against all external Calamities, [...]hen our Spirits are wounded, that [...]ttle Reason we have left proves our [...]ormentor. When we are under the [...]ransports of violent and disorderly [...]assions, Reason can't be heard, or is [...]ibed by Passion to justify its own Ex­ [...]esses. Wise Counsels are lost on such [...]en, as much as a Lecture of Philo­ [...]phy would be in the Noise and Di­ [...]raction of an Alarm or Battel.

What a sullen and obstinate thing is [...]rief! how does it pore on its own [...]isfortune, nourish its Disease, and [...]espise all Arts of Diversion, that it is [...]ommonly above the cure of any thing [...]ut Time, which weakens the Impres­ [...]on, or tires men with their own Com­ [...]laints!

When our Consciences are wounded [Page 178] with Guilt, this arms all the Reason we have against us, for Reason in such Ca­ses can never be on our side; then Rea­son discovers our Shame and Danger, aggravates our Sins, and many times drives such awaken'd Sinners into the very Horrors of Dispair, disputes a­gainst the possibility of their Pardon, and blots their Names out of all the Promises of the Gospel, how large and universal soever they be. The Guides of Souls, who are always consulted upon such Occasions, (how much soever they are despised at other times) could tell a great many sad Stories of thi [...] kind, enow to convince Sinners, that even Wit and Reason is a very dan­gerous Enemy, when a guilty Con­science turns the edge of it against our selves.

3dly, When there is no Ease and Comfort within, there is no other Re­medy, but to seek for Support and Comfort from abroad; and there are a great many pretty Diversions in the World to entertain Men, who are at leisure to attend them, but these are no Entertainments to a wounded Spirit. When men are galled by their own Pas­sions, by Fear, Emulation, Jealousy, [Page 179] Discontent, in the very midst of laughter [...]e heart is sorrowful. As great as Ha­ [...]n was, all his Riches and Power [...]ailed him nothing, while he saw [...]ordecai the Iew sitting at the King's [...]ate, 5. Esth. 13.

The good things of this World are [...]ry considerable, when there is an ea­ [...] and cheerful mind to enjoy them; [...]t they cannot make a man easy and [...]ppy, whose Mind is disturbed; they [...]ay entertain an easy Mind, but can­ [...]t quiet the Tumults and Disorders of [...]ssions, nor give any Ease to a wound­ [...] Spirit.

Much less can external things ap­ [...]ase the Horrors of a guilty Consci­ [...]ce. Away all ye vain Delights, will [...]ch a man say, what have I to do with [...]easure, when Torments, everlasting [...]orments, must be my Portion? Why [...]o you tell me of Riches and Honours, [...]hen the great God is my Enemy, [...]hen I am despised and abhorred of my [...]aker, and am thought worthy of no [...]etter Portion than Eternal Flames? [...] am not at leisure to attend the Flat­ [...]ering Courtships of this World; my Thoughts are taken up with a more [...]readful Prospect of things to come. [Page 180] O Eternity! Eternity! the never-dying Worm, the never-dying Death!

4thly, Nor can a wounded Spi [...] find any Support from the Considerati­ons of Religion, unless it find its C [...] there. If the Belief of a Divine Provi­dence and another World can cure o [...] Love to present things, it will give u [...] quiet and easy Passions too; but with­out this a wounded and distemper' [...] Spirit will reproach God as well a [...] Men, and rage against Heaven it self [...] like that wicked King, This evil is [...] the Lord, why should I wait on the L [...] any longer? As Solomon observes, T [...] foolishness of Man perverteth his wa [...] and his heart fretteth against the Lord.

If the Fear of God, and of tho [...] Punishments He has threatned agai [...] Sin, makes us true and sincere Pe [...] ­tents, conquers our vicious Habi [...] and reforms our Lives, this is such [...] wounded Spirit, as God will bind up again, such a broken and contrite hea [...] as God will not despise; but the Though [...] of God and of a future Judgment, a [...] very terrible to Impenitent Sinners It is a dreadful Prospect to look int [...] the other World, and to see those Lakes of Fire and Brimstone, prepared [Page 181] for the Devil and his Angels. And this [...] all that Bad men can see in the next [...]orld.

Thus we see how supportable all [...]ternal Evils and Calamities are, how [...]supportable a wounded Spirit is; and [...]e comparing these two Cases will [...]ggest some very useful Thoughts to [...]s.

As, First, This is a great Vindicati­ [...] of the Providence of God, with [...]spect to those Evils and Calamities [...]at are in the World. Sufferings are [...]ery necessary in this corrupt and de­ [...]enerate State of Mankind; but though [...]od sees it necessary to punish Sinners, [...]et he has made abundant Provision to [...]pport us under all external Suffer­ [...]gs: He inflicts nothing on us, but [...]hat the Spirit of a Man can sustain, [...]d support it self under; but our [...]reatest Sufferings are owing to our [...]elves, and no more chargeable on the [...]rovidence of God, than our Sins are. [...]othing that is external can hurt us, [...]hile our minds are sound and health­ [...]l; but it is only a disordered or guilty [...]ind which gives a Sting to Afflicti­ [...]ns: God corrects in measure, as we [...]re able to bear; but we our selves tye [Page 182] the Knots, or add the Scorpions to th [...] Scourge.

Secondly, This greatly recommend [...] the Divine Wisdom, in that Provisio [...] God has made for our Support und [...] Sufferings.

As, [...]t, Since the generality o [...] Mankind were not likely to prove any [...] great Philosophers, GOD hath bestow­ed on them such a measure of Natur [...] Courage, as will bear Afflictions bette [...] than the Reason and Philosophy [...] more thinking men; and we may ge­nerally observe, that those who ma [...] the least use of their Reason, and ha [...] the least share of External Comfor [...] have the greatest Portion of this [...] ­taught Courage, because they need [...] most.

2. God has provided the great [...] Supports for the best men. Tho [...] who use their Reason, and examine th [...] nature of things, will more easily be [...] Poverty, and Disgrace, and such othe [...] Evils, than men who judge by Opini­on and popular Mistakes.

Those who live by Reason, and go­vern their sensual Appetites and Incli­nations, and use the things of this World, so as not to be mastered by [Page 183] them, retain that Courage and Strength of Mind, which is lost by softness and Effeminacy.

But a truly devout man, who be­ [...]ieves the Wisdom and Goodness of Providence, and the Rewards of the next Life, has the greatest Support of all. Whereas an impenitent Sinner, who wounds his Conscience with Guilt, and an Atheist, who believes neither a God nor a Providence, have nothing but Sottishness and Stupidity to support them; and could things be better or­dered for the encouragement of Virtue and Religion? Good men, whatever their Condition be, have the Advan­tage of the Wicked, even as to this present Life; they may be easy, and enjoy themselves in all Conditions, for GOD has provided for their present Support; but if bad men be Suffer­ers, they have nothing to support them; and though they be prosperous, they feel such Disorders of Passions, or such guilty Fears, as sowre all their other Enjoyments.

3. God has so wisely ordered things, that we cannot support our selves un­der Sufferings without making a wise and good use of them; for the best [Page 184] Arguments to comfort us under Suffer­ings, will afford us no comfort unless they make us better. It is a great comfort that Afflictions are appointed by a wise and good God: But he who considers this, will naturally enquire into the Reason, why God strikes, will search and try his way, and turn unto the Lord; will hear the rod, and who it is that hath appointed it.

That Afflictions are ordered for our good, will make us endeavour to reap the Spiritual Benefit of them: for that Afflictions are useful, is no Com­fort at all, unless we make a wise use of them; unless they bring forth the peaceable Fruits of Righteousness.

No Man can take Comfort in the Rewards of the next World, without bearing his Sufferings well in this; for our Sufferings will have no reward, unless they make us better; unless they purify our Minds, and exercise our Faith and Patience and Submission to the Will of God.

3dly, I observe, That it is better to suffer than to sin even with respect to our present ease, because Sufferings may be born by an innocent and ver­tuous Mind, but Guilt inflicts an un­supportable [Page 185] wound upon the Spirit; and [...]ose Sufferings which the Spirit of a Man can bear, are rather to be chosen, [...]han what the Spirit of a Man cannot [...]ear.

Lastly, I observe, That the Govern­ [...]ent of our own Passions contributes [...]ore to our Happiness than any exter­ [...]al Enjoyments. While our Minds are disordered with violent and tumultu­ [...]us Passions, we can never be Easy and Happy, whatever else we enjoy: for this gives such a Wound to the Spirits, as no external Enjoyments can heal. But he who has his Passions under go­vernment, who knows how to Love and Fear, Desire and Hope, though he may be a great Sufferer, can never be mise­rable, because he can support himself under all other Sufferings. What a wrong Course then do the generality of Mankind take to make themselves hap­py! They seek for Happiness without, when the Foundation of Happiness must be laid within, in the Temper and Disposition of our Minds. An easy quiet Mind will weather all the Storms of Fortune; but how calm and serene soever the Heavens be, there is no peace to the wicked, who have nothing [Page 186] but noise, and tumult, and confusion within.

To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be Honour, Glo­ry, and Power, now and for ever, Amen:

ST. Paul wrote this Epistle to Phi­lippi from Rome, where he was in Bonds for the Gospel; but though his Body was confined to a Prison, his Soul, his great Divine Soul, was at Liberty to visit the Churches he had planted, to advise and counsel and comfort them, to encrease their Know­ledge, and to confirm their Faith, to instame their Zeal, and to spur them [Page 188] forward to more perfect Attainmens in all Piety and Virtue.

The Philippians seem greatly con­cerned least the Progress of [...]e Gospel should be hindred by St. Paul's Impri­sonment, and lest they and the whole Church should be deprived of the La­bours and Ministry of so great an Apostle, should this Persecution extend to Life, as they had reason to fear it would.

As for the first, St. Paul assures them, That his Bonds were for the furtherance of the Gospel; for his Imprisonment was taken notice of both in the Court and City, which made Men curious to know, what that Do­ctrine was, which he preached, and for which he suffered Bonds; and this published the Gospel more effectually than his Preaching could have done, Verse 12, 13, &c.

As for the second, he tells them, He was no farther concerned either about Life or Death, but that Christ might be magnified in his Body. If he lived, his Life was wholly devoted to the Service of Christ, and of his [Page 189] Church; if he died, it would be for his own great Advantage. To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain; verse 20, 21. and this made it a hard choice to him, whether he should de­sire to live or die: whether he should get rid of his Bonds, and make his Escape out of a troublesome World into the Regions of Ease and Rest, to reap the Fruit of his Labours here in the eternal Enjoyment of his Lord, whom he had so faithfully served; or whether he should live to Encounter with a thousand Difficulties and Deaths in the Service of Christ, and of the Souls of Men. What I should chuse I wot not: for I am in a strait be­twixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better: nevertheless, to abide in the Flesh is more needful for you.

Was there ever such a Dispute as this before, That a Man, who was as certain to go to Heaven, as he was to die; who had himself been snatch'd up into the third Heavens, and had his Mind possest with strong and vigorous and lively Idea's of the Glories of that place, who had seen and heard [Page 190] such things as could not be expressed; who saw a Crown, a glorious immar­cessible Crown prepared for him; I say, that such a Man should make any question what he should chuse, whe­ther immediately to take possession of this Crown and Kingdom, or to live longer in this World to suffer Bonds and Imprisonments, Hunger, and Cold, and Stripes, and all the ill usage which he had so often met with, for no other reason but still to preach the Gospel, and to enlarge the Borders of Christ's Church. What a Contempt is this, not only of the little Plea­sures and Satisfactions, but even of all the Miseries of Life! What a Tri­umph is this over the World, over all the Frowns and Terrours of it! What a Triumph is this over Self! such a degree of Self-denial as the Gospel it self does not command, which is in some sence to deny Heaven, to deny all the Joys of Christ's Presence for the sake of doing good! For it is to delay, to put off Heaven, to adjourn his own Happiness, that he may live the long­er to serve his great Master, though with great Difficulties and Labours. What Love was this to his Lord! [Page 191] what Love was this to the Souls [...]f Men! it is certainly the most per­ [...]ect imitation of the Love of Christ, [...]at is possible to Man; Christ so [...]oved us, as to come down from Heaven to live a laborious Life, and [...]o die an accursed Death for us; this great Apostle so loved his Lord, and so loved the Souls of Men, that [...]e made it his choice to stay some time out of Heaven, and to encounter all the Miseries and Terrours of this Life, to serve Christ and his Church. Where is this Divine Spirit now to be found! Let us, my beloved Brethren, who are entrusted also with the Care of Souls by the great Shepherd and Bi­shop of our Souls, blush to think how far short we fall of this Example: let this inspire us with a flaming Love and Zeal for the Souls of Men, for whom Christ died, and make us at least con­tented to deny our selves some of the Ease and Security and Pleasures of Life, to serve the Church of Christ, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

But to keep my self within some Bounds, I shall briefly Discourse on [Page 192] these two Heads; which are very pro­per for this Occasion, and very pro­per to my Text. First, The great Rewards of faithful Pastors and Mini­sters of Christ, and how much it is for their advantage to be removed out of this World. St. Paul was very sensible of this, which made him de­sire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better. Secondly, How ne­cessary the Lives of such Men are to the Church, and what a great loss it is, when God removes them out of it. Nevertheless to abide in the Flesh is more needful for you.

1. Let us then consider in the first place the great Rewards of the faith­ful Ministers of Christ, and how much it is for their advantage to depart, and to be with Christ. Now I do not here intend a comparison between Heaven and Earth: Good God! what diffe­rent things are these! and what Chri­stian doubts, whether Heaven be a hap­pier Place than this World! Heaven! whither no Troubles or Sorrows can follow us; no persecuting Sword, no persecuting Tongue: where we shall be delivered from all the Wants, Necessi­ties, [Page 193] and Infirmities of the Body, from [...]unger and Cold and Nakedness, [...]m wracking Pains and languishing [...]cknesses; where there is eternal Ease [...]d Rest and Joy, without labour, [...]ithout discontents, without quarrels; [...]here our Souls shall be perfected in [...]owledge and in love; where we [...]all dwell in the Presence of God, see [...]m as he is, and know him even as [...]e are known; where we shall dwell [...]ith Christ, adore his Love, behold [...]s Glory, and be transformed our [...]lves into the likeness and image of [...]s Glory. We have but obscure im­ [...]rfect Conceptions of these things [...]w; Heaven will out-do our highest [...]xpectations, as much as the most [...]erfect state of Happiness in this World, [...]ways falls short of what we expect­ [...]; and this is the case of all good [...]en, it is a mighty happy Change [...]ey make, when they remove from [...]arth to Heaven.

But there are different Degrees of Glory in the next World, proportion­ [...]d not only to our different attain­ [...]ents in Virtue, but to those different Trusts in Services which we have been [Page 194] employed in, and have faithfully dis­charged here. We read of the Re­ward of a Prophet. that he who gives a Cup of cold Water to a Prophet in the name of a Prophet, shall have a Prophet's Reward, which must signify some peculiar Reward that shall be bestowed on Prophets: We know so little of the other World, that we cannot conceive, what these different Rewards shall be: The Prophet Daniel represents it by an external Glory, 12. Dan. 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. But our Savi­our represents this by a different de­gree of Rule and Empire, 12. Luke 42, 43, 44. And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his houshold, to give them their meat in due season? This is the honourable Character of Gospel Ministers in this World, that they are Rulers in God's houshold, to instruct and feed them with the Word of Life; and their Reward is propor­tioned to their Work: Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he com­eth shall find so doing. Of a truth I say [Page 195] unto you, That he will make him ruler [...]ver all that he hath. What this Rule [...]ignifies in the other World, is a Myste­ [...]y to us, especially since we have [...]ancied the other World to be only a State of Contemplation, not of Acti­ [...]n, where we shall have nothing to do [...]ut to see God, and to love and to praise him, but no service to do for [...]im; but we know there are different [...]orders of Angels, who are employed in great Trusts and Offices, Arch-An­gels, Angels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities and Powers, which are names of Rule and Government, though we know not what their Power and Authority is, nor how they Govern; in like manner our Saviour promises his Apostles, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regene­ration, when the son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit up­on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, 19. Matth. 28. The like we may see in the Parable of the Pounds and Talents; He who hath gained ten Pounds had Rule over ten Cities; and he who gained five Pounds had Rule over five Cities: for these Servants to whom the Lord gave these [Page 196] Pounds and Talents to improve, plainly signify his Stewards, and the Mini­sters of his spiritual Kingdom: for no other Persons have in so peculiar a man­ner this honourable Character of the Servants of Christ throughout the Gospel. And if there be Order and Go­vernment among the Angels them­selves, Why should we think that there is nothing like this among glorified Saints? If Angels are the Ministers of God, there is no reason to think that Heaven is a State of meer Rest and Contemplation, especially when Hap­piness consists in Action. And if Christ have any Ministers of his spiri­tual Kingdom in the next World, it is most reasonable to think, that those shall have the greatest Authority, and be employed in the noblest Services, who have been his faithful Stewards and Ministers in this World. For the Church on Earth and in Heaven is the same Church, though their State be very different; and therefore they do not lose their relation to Christ, nor their station in his Church by remov­ing to Heaven. It is a Sacerdotal Kingdom, our High Priest is King; and therefore a Priest of Iesus, how mean [Page 197] soever this be thought now, will be one of the highest Characters in Hea­ven. What the Happiness of this is, we cannot tell; but we know that there are no empty Titles in Heaven, but every degree of Dignity there signi­fies a peculiar degree of Happiness; and what an advantageous exchange then is it for a faithful Minister of Jesus to be removed from Earth to Heaven?

For let us consider what the State of Christ's Ministers is in this World; what it was in St. Paul's days he tells us, 2 Cor. 6. 4—10. In all things approving our selves as the Ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in im­prisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fasting; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindnes­ses, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeign­ed, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the Armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left; by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoycing; as poor, yet making many rich; as hav­ing [Page 198] nothing, and yet possessing all things. Which describes a most laborious Life, a Scene of Wants, of Difficulties, of Sufferings; a perpetual exercise of passive Virtues, to reconcile the most appearing Contradictions, to live and struggle and contend in this World, and to fetch their Comforts and Sup­ports from Heaven.

This indeed is not always the State of the Christian Church, nor of the Ministers of it; but yet in the great­est external Prosperity of the Church, the Ministers of Religion, who dis­charged their Trust with Diligence and Faithfulness, find many difficulties to encounter.

The care of Mens Souls is it self a mighty Trust; and Who is sufficient for these things? consider but the Charge St. Paul gives to Timothy, 1 Epistle 4. 11, & c. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity; give atten­dance to reading, to exhortation, to do­ctrine; neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by Prophesy, by [Page 199] laying on of the hands of the Presbytery: Meditate upon these things; give thy self wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all; take heed to thy self, and to thy doctrine; continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self, and them that hear thee. Here is work enough to employ the whole Man, and our utmost care and diligence and prudence; work for the Study, for the Closet, for the Pulpit, as the same Apostle exhorts and char­ges Timothy, to preach the word, to be instant in season, out of season; to re­prove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suf­fering and Doctrine, 2 Tim. 4. 2. But yet though there be Labour and Dili­gence in this, it would be a delight­ful work, were our Labours always blessed with success; could we rescue the Souls of Men from the Dominion of their Lusts, and from the power of the Devil; could we turn them from Darkness to Light, and from the power of Satan unto God; but we must often expect to labour all night, and catch nothing; we must contend with the Lusts and Vices of Men, must bear their Folly, their Frowardness, their Reproaches, and [Page 200] Censures, and Injuries; be thought Troublesome, Pragmatical, and Bu­sy-bodies, for our charitable Exhorta­tions and Reproofs, and watchfulness over their Souls. And when the Church is at ease and rest from with­out, how often is it rent and torn in Pieces with Schisms and Heresies? as St. Paul forewarned Timothy, The time will come when they will not endure sound Doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves Teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and be turned unto fables, 3, 4. ver. and what infinite Labours and Difficulties does this create to the Ministers of the Gospel, to heal the Breaches of the Church, to confute Heresies, A­theism, Infidelity, and to be scorned and persecuted for it with a bitter Rage and Zeal? That St. Paul might well add, But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an E­vangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, 5 verse. We ought not indeed to be dis­couraged by such difficulties as these, because our Reward will be great in Heaven; but it will be a happy Day when Our warfare shall be accomplished, [Page 201] when we shall cease from our labours, and our works shall follow us: when we can say with St. Paul, 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.

2. Thus to die is their gain; Ne­vertheless, it is more needful for the Church, that they should abide in the flesh: And a great loss it is to the Church, when they die. I need not use many words about this, for the case is plain. The Death of every good Man, who is very useful to the World, in what way soever he be useful, is a very great loss; for Death puts an end to his do­ing any more good in this World: but as to take care of the Souls of Men, is to do the greatest good to Mankind, because the Happi­ness of our Souls is of the great­est concernment to us; so to lose a faithful and a prudent Guide must be the greatest loss.

We indeed of this Church, have great reason to bless God, that he [Page 202] has sent forth so many able and painful Labourers into his Harvest, that it is not the loss of every good Man that can much affect us at ordinary times: for there are great numbers of wise and good Men to perpetuate a Succession of able and faithful Guides▪ but a St. Paul is at any time, and in any Age of the Church a great loss: Nay, Men who are much Inferiour to St. Paul, but yet fitted with pe­culiar Abilities to serve the Church at some certain Seasons, and in some difficult Circumstances, are a very sensible loss at such a time, when their service is most needful.

A Man of Counsel and Conduct, who is fit to sit at the Helm, and knows how to steer in a Storm, is a great loss, in times of Diffi­culty and Trouble, when the Church is assaulted on all hands, and it is hard to avoid one Mis­chief or Inconvenience without run­into another.

A Man of Goodness and Tem­per, who knows how to govern his [Page 203] own Passions, and how to soften and manage the Passions of other Men, is a very sensible loss, when the Passions of Men are broke loose, and disturb the Peace of the Church, and even threat­en the ruine of it.

A Man of Learning and sound Judgment, who can distinguish betwen Truth and Error in all its most artifi­cial and flattering Disguises, is a great loss, when old Errors are revived, and new ones broached; when we must dispute over again the very Being of a God, the truth of the Scriptures, and Articles of the Christian Faith.

A Man of great Diligence and In­dustry, Courage and Resolution, to defend the Truth, to oppose Heresies and Schisms, to preserve the Unity of the Church, and the Integrity of the Christian Faith, is a very great loss, when the Church is encompas­sed and assaulted with busie and rest­less Enemies.

A Man of an exemplary Life, and untainted Virtue, who shines like a Light in the midst of a crooked and [Page 204] perverse Generation, who maintains the declining Honour and Reputation of Religion and true Virtue, is a mighty loss in a profligate Age, when men are grown such Strangers to the sincere practice of Virtue and Re­ligion, that they begin to think there is no such thing.

But I can go on no farther; the ve­ry mentioning of these things brings the fresh Idea of our deceased Brother to mind, and the afflicting Sense of that great loss, which we suffer by his Death. It becomes us to Reverence and Adore the Wisdom of the divine Providence, even when we cannot understand the Reasons of it. We are certain God is never wanting in his Care of his Church; and yet had we been made Judges of this Case, we should have thought it a very ill time to have spared him.

He was abundantly furnished with all good Learning, both for Use and Ornament; he was an accomplished Scholar, and a well-studied Divine; he knew Books and read them, and judged of them: He was a Scribe in­structed [Page 205] unto the Kingdom of Heaven, [...]ho like a Housholder could bring forth [...]ut of his treasure things New and [...]ld, 13. Matth. 52. He had careful­ [...]y perus'd the ancient Philosophers, [...]rators and Poets, to discover what Nature taught, which gave him a truer Knowledge and greater Value for the Excellency and Perfection of the Gos­pel-Revelation.

He had true and clear Notions of Religion, and he was Master of them; he knew why he believed any thing, and was neither prejudiced nor impo­sed on by popular Opinions; he was a hearty and zealous assertor of the Doctrine, Worship, Government and Discipline of the Church of England; he saw nothing material, which could be changed for the better, which made him jealous of Innovations, as not knowing where they would end. He was a Friend to all sincere Christians, pitied their Mistakes, and bore with their Frowardness; but did not think that Christian Charity required him to sacrifice Truth, or good Order and Government, to the pretences of Peace and Unity.

[Page 206] He was for several Years a very di­ligent and constant Preacher to a nu­merous Auditory, till his own Dioce­san, who knew his Worth, and the weak­ness of his Constitution, and was de­sirous to preserve him for the Service of the Church, provided this Place where we now are, for his Ease, and Health, and Retirement; where he lived many Years a constant Preacher, though his Labours were then diviued between his two Cures, which did not lessen his Preaching, but made the Be­nefit of it the more diffusive. For in­deed he was an admirable Preacher, not for Noise and Lungs, but for well-di­gested useful pious Discourses, deliver­ed with all that becoming Gravity, Seriousness, and a commanding Elocu­tion, as made them sink deep into the Minds of his Hearers, and made them hear. This I speak with Assurance and Confidence in this place, which was so long blessed with his Labours, With what fineness of Thought, pe [...] ­spicuity and easiness of Expression, in­structing and entertaining Images of Things, he expounded the Doctrines, and inculcated the Laws of our Savi­our; how plainly he Taught, with [Page 207] what Vehemence and Passion he Exhort­ [...]d, with what tender Sharpness he Re­ [...]roved: remember how he used both to Please and Instruct, to Chide and Shame you without making you angry; [...]ow he has warmed and chafed your Minds into the most pious and serious Resolutions, and sent you home from this place wiser and better than you came; and if you grew cold, and suf­fered your good Resolutions to die a­gain, consider, I beseech you, what Ac­count you have to give.

As he grew in Years, it was neces­sary by degrees to ease his Labours; he could not Preach so often, but yet con­tinued to Preach. And yet had he not Preached at all, or much less than he did, he had not ceased to be a very use­ful Pastor to the Church; for he was a Man of great Experience, and great Prudence and Foresight; fit for Go­vernment and Counsel; who knew Men and Things; was dexterous in his Applications, zealous without Pas­sion or Peevishness, steady and resol­ved without violent Oppositions, and needless Provocations; who served the Church and the Truth with little Noise, [Page 208] and without making many Enemies: And I am sure at such a time as this, there is more need of such Men, and a much greater scarcity of them, than of good Preachers.

But he was not only a good Preach­er and a prudent Guide, but a very good Man: he Preached continually by his Life and Example: his Conver­sation was Innocent, Entertaining, and Useful; he was a true sincere Friend, very Courteous, Affable, Civil to all Men, but never pretended Friendship where he had none: he was ready to do all good Offices, was Liberal, Ge­nerous, and Charitable; a Man of a true publick Spirit, who scorned to serve himself to the Injury of others; who hated little Arts and Tricks, mean and servile Compliances: he was an open and generous Enemy, if we may ever call him an Enemy, who never wished, never intended any hurt to any Man; but my meaning is, that when any Dispute and Quarrel happen­ed, as such things will sometimes hap­pen, he was open and undisguised, any Man might know what he disliked, and had no reason to fear any thing [Page 209] worse from him, than what he would [...]ell them. In a Word, He was a very [...]ood Christian, and that made him [...]ood in all Relations, and that Crown­ed all his other Labours; he took care, [...]s St. Paul did, Lest while he preached to [...]thers, he himself should become a cast-away. And now he is gone to rest, and we [...]ust all shortly follow him; God grant [...]hat we may all so run our Race, and [...]inish our Course, that when we depart [...]his Life, we may rest in Him, as our [...]ope is this our Brother doth; and may [...]eceive that Crown of Righteousness, which God the Righteous Judge, will [...]t that Day bestow on all his faithful Servants, and on all those who love his Appearing.

THIS may be thought a very improper Text for the Feast of our Saviour's Birth, when our [...]ouths ought to be filled with the Prai­ [...] of God, and sing with the whole [...]ire of Angels, Glory be to God in the [...]hest, on earth peace, good will towards [...]n. This indeed is that Peace, which [...]e World cannot give, and which the [Page 212] World cannot take away; whateve [...] the External Appearances of Provi­dence are, here we find a safe retre [...] and a never-failing Spring of Joy: F [...] he that spared not his own Son, but [...] livered him up for us all, how shall [...] not with him also freely give us all thing [...] Who then shall separate us from the [...] of Christ? Shall Tribulation, or Distre [...] or Persecution, or Famine, or Nakedness or Peril, or Sword?—Nay, in [...] these we are more than Conquerors thro [...] him that loved us. For I am perswad [...] that neither death, nor life, nor [...] ­gels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to co [...] nor height, nor depth, nor any ot [...] creature, shall be able to separate [...] from the love of God, which is in C [...] Iesus our Lord, 8. Rom. 32, 35, 37, [...] While our minds are warmed w [...] such thoughts as these, we shall [...] able to bear up under the grea [...] Trials, if not with Chearfulness yet at least with Patience and a qui [...] Submission to the Will of God. A [...] if ever there were occasion for su [...] comfortable and supporting Thoug [...] the Divine Providence has made it [...] necessary at this time, to bear the [...] [Page 213] [...] an Incomparable Lady, our most [...]acious Queen; whose Death all [...]od Subjects must Lament, and I [...]ay God forgive those that do not. [...]ch severe Providences as these, will [...]ach the greatest and most unbroken [...]inds, to serve the Lord with fear, and to [...]joyce with trembling. But how se­ [...]re soever Providence is in some par­ [...]cular instances, the sense of the Di­ [...]ne Goodness i [...] the Redemption of [...]ankind by the Incarnation and [...]eath of his own Son, should teach [...] to be dumb, and not open our mouths, [...]cause it is his doings.

In speaking to which words, I [...]all, 1. enquire, What may be called [...]e doings of the Lord? 2. What it [...] to be dumb, and not to open [...]ur Mouths? 3. The force of this [...]rgument, to oblige us to a quiet and [...]atient Submission under the great­ [...]st sufferings, That it is God's do­ [...]ng.

1. What may be called the do­ [...]ng of the Lord? This may be thought [...] very needless question; for are [...]here any Events, Good or Evil, [Page 214] which are not God's doing? If w [...] believe a particular Providence, w [...] must answer, No; and yet som [...] things are more peculiarly God' [...] doings, than others are, with re­spect to this present Argument, a [...] God's doing it, is a reason for [...] quiet and patient Submission to the Divine Will.

In many cases men bring Ruine and Misery upon themselves by the [...] own sin and folly, and then they may thank themselves for it; but have no reason to complain of Pro­vidence; and when they cannot charge Providence with their mis­fortunes, patience it self is not pro­perly a Submission to God; be­cause their sufferings are no more God's will, than their sin and folly is.

If men destroy their Estates by profuseness and prodigality, and their Bodies by intemperance, and lust; if ill-contracted Friendships, indiscreet Bargains, or an ungovern­able Tongue, perplex their Affairs, and prove very troublesome or dan­gerous, all this is owing, not mere­ly to Providence, but to themselves; and they must be contented to reap [Page 215] the fruit of their own doings, and to implore the Divine Goodness and Providence to deliver them from the evil consequences of their own sin and folly.

Whatever evils we suffer, which are not the natural or moral effects of our own sin or folly, they are properly God's doings, as inflicted by God, either for the punishment of our sins, or for the trial and ex­ercise of our virtues, or to serve the wise ends of his Providence in the world.

Those Evils which we do not im­mediately bring upon our selves, God inflicts on us, either by the ministry of wicked and injurious men, or by the disorders of Natu­ral Causes, or by some seeming ca­sual and fortuitous Events; for the Actions of Men, the Powers of Na­ture, and what we call Chance and Fortune, are all in the hands of God, and therefore are more or less his doings.

But if we may say, That some things are more peculiarly the care of Providence, than others, Life and Death are certainly so; no man can [Page 216] be Born or Die, without the parti­cular Order and Appointment of God: Our Saviour tells us, not a sparrow falls to the ground without our Father; much less men; and assures his Dis­ciples, that all the hairs of their head are numbred; and their Lives are more sacred than their Hairs. Some men are of opinion, That God has absolutely Decreed the certain term and period of every man's life; But I know no foundation for this, neither in Scripture nor Reason; nor does any man believe it, but those who subject all Mankind, and all the Things of this World, to irrever­sible Necessity and Fate, which is the strength of the Atheistick Hy­pothesis; though incautiously espous­ed by some men, who are so far from being Atheists, that I hope they are very good Christians. And therefore, I suppose, these Christi­an Fatalists, if I may so call them, mean no more than what we all own, That no Sparrow, much less a Man, falls to the ground without our Father; that God not only fore­knows the period of every man's Life, and by what means he shall [Page 217] Die, but with Infinite Wisdom and [...]ustice, Orders and Appoints it; [...]ot by an absolute and unconditional [...]ecree, but as the Wise Determi­ [...]ation of a Free and Just Prov [...]ce.

And if God have any more con­ [...]ernment for Nations and Com­monwealths, than he has for par­ticular men (as we, who can at­tend but a few things at once, and therefore make the matters of great­est importance our more particular care, are apt to conceive) then the Lives and Deaths of Princes must be more particularly Ordered and Determined by God; because Nations, it may be many Nations and Countries, more than their own, are concerned in the consequence of it; and of the more universal con­cernment any thing is, the more we are apt to think it belongs to the Care of God.

For this reason some Philosophers have confined the Providence of God to the Heavens, and Heavenly Bodies, which have such a univer­versal influence on things below; or to Nations and Publick Socie­ties, and to the several kinds and [Page 218] species of Beings, not to particular Men or Creatures.

And so far they were in the right, that if the Divine Providence could not equally take care of the whole World, and of every particular Crea­ture in it; it would certainly in the first place take care of the great Springs of motion. But though this be no reason for God's peculiar care of one thing more than another, because his All-seeing Eye, and Almighty Arm, can equally take care of all; yet our Saviour has taught us from the worth and value of things, that God will certainly take the more care of them, and in case of any Competition give the preference to things of the greatest moment. Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor ga­ther into barns; yet your heavenly Fa­ther feedeth them; are ye not much better than they? And if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 6. Matth. 26, 30. Where from God's care of mean Inferior Creatures, the Fowls of the [Page 219] Air, and the Grass of the Field, he more strongly concludes his care of Men; and by the same reason from his care of particular men, we may more strongly conclude his care of Kingdoms and Nations, and therefore of the Lives of Princes, who are the great Ministers of his Government and Providence, and whose Lives or Deaths make such a mighty Change in the Affairs of the World. So that when, or by what means soever Princes dye, this is God's doings; and how se­vere soever we may feel it, We must be dumb, and not open our mouths, because he has done it; which is the

2. Thing to be explained, What is meant by being dumb, and not opening our mouths. For this seems a very hard saying in the strict li­teral sense, that we must not com­plain of our Sufferings, when we feel 'em smart: Humane Nature can't bear this; we must feel our Sufferings, and when we feel them, we must complain: To have no sense of what we suffer, is Stupidi­ty, [Page 220] not Submission; it is irreve­rence for the Judgments of God, and in some cases the most unpar­donable baseness and ingratitude to Men. To be unconcerned for the Death of our dearest Friends, or greatest Patrons and Benefactors, not to pay Nature's Tribute to their Memories in a Sigh and a Tear; not to long after them, and send some vain Wishes to call them back; not to preserve their Idea fresh in our minds, and to think with some uneasiness of those hap­py hours which their Conversation sweetn d; to part with our Friends, as if we suffered nothing by their loss, and were as well without them; is so far from being a Vir­tue, that such a man is uncapable of ever being a Friend, and ne­ver deserves to have any; much more then, when we lose a pub­lick Friend and Benefactor, the greatest of Friends and Benefactors, which is a good Prince.

Let us briefly consider, what we have lost in the loss of our Gracious Queen, and try if we can [Page 221] bear the thoughts of it without complaining. She was the Glory of her Sex, and an Ornament to the Crown she wore; made truly Great by Nature, Birth, and Education.

She had a large and capacious Mind, a quick and lively Apprehen­sion, and a piercing and solid Judgment: She had a strength and firmness of Mind beyond her Sex, and such a dexterity in managing the greatest Affairs, as would have be­come the greatest and most experienced Ministers. Never was there greater skill in Government, with less fond­ness for it, which she could take up and lay down, with the same equality and indifferency of Mind; Though, I doubt, I must unsay that; for she was always grieved at the occasion of taking the Government, and as glad to resign it.

Never was Majesty better temper­ed with easiness and sweetness. She knew how to be familiar, with­out making her self cheap, and to condescend without meanness. She had all the Greatness of Ma­jesty, with all the Virtues of Con­versation; and knew very well, [Page 222] what became her Table, and what became the Council-Board.

She understood her Religion, and loved it, and practised it; and was the greatest Example of the Age, of a constant, regular, unaf­fected Devotion, and of all the eminent Vertues of a Christian Life. In the midst of all the great Affairs of State, she would rather spare time from her sleep, than from her Prayers, where she always appear­ed with that great composure and seriousness of Mind, as if her Court had been a Nunnery, and she had had nothing else to do in the World.

In all the Ease and Prosperity of Fortune she had that tenderness and compassion for those, who suf­fered, which sufferings themselves cannot teach meaner Persons. She was Charitable to the utmost of her Power, amidst all the Expences of War and Government; and when a proper Object was presented to her, was always pleased, when she could grant their requests, and ve­ry uneasy to deny.

[Page 223] In short, her greatest and most [...]placable Enemies, (for Virtue self will meet with Enemies in this [...]orld) had no other Fault to [...]arge her with, but her Throne; [...]hich is the only thing, for which [...]ost other Princes are valuable. [...]he ascended the Throne indeed [...]efore she desired it; but was [...]rust into it, not by an hasty [...]mbition, but to save a sinking Church and Kingdom; and I hope England will always have reason to [...]ay, That an empty Throne could [...]ever have been filled with a nobler Pair.

But though the necessary absence of the King, to give check to the Progress of a Powerful and Insult­ing Monarch, engaged her more than she desired in State Affairs; yet the promoting of true Religion, and the service of the Church of England, [the greatest and best Nur­sery of it, since the Apostolick Age], was her constant and natu­ral Care. This her Thoughts were full of, and she had formed great and noble Designs, had she out­lived the Difficulties and Expences [Page 224] of War; and been at leisure to attend the peaceful Arts of Govern­ment.

I have reason to say this, from those frequent Intimations I have had from our late admirable Pri­mate, who had great Designs Him­self to serve the Christian Religion, and the Church of England, in its truest Interests; and had inspired Their Majesties, and particularly the Queen, who had more leisure for such Thoughts, with the same great and pious Designs: It may be no Church-man ever had, I am sure not more deservedly, a great­er Interest in his Prince's Favour; and the great Use he made of it, was to do publick service to Reli­gion; and, what ever some Men might suspect, to the Church of Eng­land, though it may be not per­fectly in their Way: And the great­est Fault I know he had, was, That some envious and ambitious Men could not bear his Greatness, which he himself never courted, nay, which he industriously avoided.

Before this, all England knew and owned his Worth; and had it [Page 225] been put to the Poll, there had [...]en vast Odds on his side, that [...] would have been voted into the [...]e of Canterbury; for no Man had [...]er a clearer and brighter Reaso [...] truer Judgment, a more easy and [...]ppy Expression, nor a more [...], fearless Honesty: he was a [...]e and hearty Friend, and was a [...]e Friend whereever he prof [...] [...]d to be so: Though he had ma­ [...] Enemies at last, he took care [...] make none. He was obliging [...] all Men; and though he could [...]t easily part with a Friend, he [...]uld easily forgive an Enemy, [...] that Bundle of Libels witnesses, [...]hich was found among his other [...]pers, with this Inscription: These [...]e Libels; I pray God forgive them; do.

But I cannot give you the just Character of this Great Man now; [...]hat I have already said, I con­ [...]ss, is an Excursion, which I hope [...]ou will pardon to the Passion of [...] old Friend; and learn from Two great Examples, That neither [...]e greatest Innocence, Virtue, or Merit, can defend, either Crowned [Page 226] or Mitred Heads, from the lash [...] of spiteful and envenomed Tongue [...] But what a Loss has Religion and the Church of England, in such a critical Time, in the Death of such a Queen, and such a Prelate! I pray God make up this Loss.

In a word, That great Passion which afflicts and oppresses our good King, gives an unexceptionable Testimony to the incomparable Worth of our deceased Queen; The too severe and visible Effects of it, shew, that it is not an ordinary, nor a dissembled Passion; Nor is it an ordinary thing, for a Prince of so great a Mind, who can look the most formidable Dangers, and Death it self, in the face, without fear; whom all the Powers of France cannot make look pale or tremble, to sink, and faint, and to feel all the Agonies of Death in the dying. Looks of a Beloved Consort. All Story cannot furnish us with many Ex­amples of such soft and tender Pas­sions, in such a warlike and fear­less Mind; and what but a migh­ty Vertue could so charm a Prince, as to forget his natural Constancy [Page 227] and Resolution? I'm sure though we [...]y very dear for the Experiment [...] the loss of an excellent Queen, [...]e have so much the more reason [...] think our selves happy in a [...]ng; for a due mixture and tempe­ [...]ment of such fearless Courage and [...]avery, and such tender Passions, is [...]e most perfect Composition of an ex­ [...]ellent Prince.

And now it may be, you will tell [...]e, that I have taken great pains [...] confute my Text, and that I [...]ave done it effectually; for we [...]ght not to be dumb, but may [...]ery justly complain of such a loss [...]s this.

This I readily grant, That we [...]ay complain of such a loss; but [...]his is no confutation of my Text. [...]e may complain, and give Ease [...]nd Vent to our Sorrows by such Complaints, while we do not com­plain against God, and accuse him foolishly. To submit to the Will of God, which is here exprest by be­ing Dumb, and not opening our Mouths, does not signify, not to feel our Losses and Sufferings, or not to complain of them; but not to re­proach [Page 228] the Divine Providence, no [...] to cast off our Hope and Trust in God. Iob felt his Sufferings, and complained of them in as moving and tragical Expressions, as any other Man could, and yet is pro­posed to us, as an Example of admirable Patience, because he did not charge God foolishly, nor cast off his hope in him.

This we never can have any rea­son for; for whatever we suffer, it is a wise and merciful Provi­dence which inflicts it: But yet Mankind are very apt, when they suffer hard things, either to deny a Providence, or which is more ab­surd, and unreasonable, to reproach it; for if there be a God, he is Wise, and Good, and Merciful, and Just, which is the Notion all Mankind have of God; and if this God governs the World, all Events are ordered with Wisdom, Justice, and Goodness; and all thinking Men, in cool and sober Thoughts, will be ashamed to quarrel with such a Providence.

But yet we are very apt to ask Questions, which we cannot easily [Page 229] answer, and then to make our own ig­ [...]rance an Objection against the Di­ [...]ne Providence.

As in the Case before us, the [...]dden and untimely Death of an [...]cellent Princess, who had Strength [...]d Vigor of Age, which promised [...] much longer Life, and who [...]ould certainly have done great [...]ood to the World, as long as she [...]ad lived; but is cut off in the [...]igor and Strength of Age, and all [...]er Thoughts, even all her great [...]d excellent Designs of doing Good [...] the World, perish with her; [...]hile Tyrants and Oppressors live [...]o be the Plagues and Scourges of Mankind.

Now though we do not know [...]he particular Reasons of such Pro­ [...]idences, yet it is easy to frame some general Answers, which may [...]atisfy all the Friends of Provi­dence.

If the Objection relates to our selves, who suffer by this Loss, there is a very plain Answer to it, but a very terrible one; That God is Angry with us, and by the un­timely Death of an excellent Prin­cess, [Page 230] who made it her whole Stu­dy and Design to do us Good, threatens his Judgments against us, if we do not take Care to prevent them by a timely Repen­tance.

If the Objection relates only to the untimely Death of an excellent Princess, that she should so suddenly be snatched away from the Joys and Pleasures of a Throne; this is no Objection at all; at least not a [...] Objection fit for Christians to make: For can we think, that the greatest and most happy Monarch, loses any thing by the Exchange, if he be translated from Earth to Heaven? That the Joys of Paradise are not greater than a Crown? Our good Queen did not think so, who knew what an Earthly Crown meant, but was willing to part with it for Heaven; who saw Death approaching without fear, and pre­pared to receive its Stroke with that calmness and sedateness of Mind, as nothing could give but an inno­cent Conscience, and much greater Hopes.

But as for our selves, though we [Page 231] must acknowledge that we have re­ [...]eived a very great Loss, in the [...]eath of an excellent Queen, yet we [...]ave no reason to quarrel at Pro­ [...]idence, while God preserves our [...]ing to go in and out before us. [...]e had indeed perpetual Day; and [...]o sooner was one Sun withdrawn, [...]ut another ascended our Horizon, [...]ith equal Lustre and Brightness: [...]his was a peculiar Happiness [...]hich we never had before, and [...]hich the Necessities of our Affairs [...]equired now; but though God has [...]ut us short in this, we have a King still, the Terror of France, [...]nd the Protector of Europe; a King, whom Affection as well as Blood has Naturalized to us; who loves our Nation and our Church, which he has once delivered, and God grant [...]e may live long to settle and pro­ [...]ect both. We have no reason to fear our Enemies, either at home or a­broad, while a Prince is at the Helm, who wants neither Counsel nor Cou­rage; especially if we follow that no­ble Example, which the Two Hou­ses of Parliament have set us, to give him such fresh Assurances of our Fi­delity, [Page 232] as may strengthen his Hands against his and our Enemies Abroad, and make him easy and safe at Home.

To conclude, This is God's doing, and it becomes us to be dumb, and not to open our Mouths, because he has done it: He is the Sovereign and Unaccountable Lord of the World; who shall say unto him, What dos [...] thou? Life and Death are in his hands; the Fates of Princes and Kingdoms. That he has done it, should be a suf­ficient Reason to us to submit, because though he does things great and won­derful, and beyond our Understand­ing, yet he never does any thing but what is wise and good: This I'm sure is the most effectual way to turn even the severest Judgments into Blessings, to reverence God, and to humble our selves under his mighty hand, and implore his Mercy, to repair those Breaches he has made upon us. We must not complain of Providence; but we may make our Complaints to God, and be the more importunate in our Prayers for the Preservation of our King. The Death of our excellent [Page 233] Queen both calls for, and will justify and recommend such humble Importu­nities; and the preservation of our King, will, in a great measure, make up this Loss to us; Which God of his infinite Mercy grant, through our Lord Iesus Christ; to whom with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be Honour, Glory, and Power, now and for ever,

Amen.

THE Occasion of these Words was this. The Christians of Iudaea were at this time in great Want, by reason of a general Dearth, which was foretold by Agabus at Antioch, Acts II. 28. And there stood up one of them, named Agabus, and signified by the spirit, That there should be great dearth through­out all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Upon this No­tice, the Disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the Brethren which dwelt in Iudaea.

[Page 236] This is that Contribution for the Saints which St. Paul directs them about, at the Conclusion of his first Epi­stle to them, Ch. 16. and this is what he inculcates on them in this and the following Chapter, but with so much Art and Insinuation, that though he uses the most powerful Arguments, yet he would not seem to persuade, nor to think that they needed any Per­suasion; for it is not Honourable for Christians, whose Religion is Charity, to need such Persuasions and Importuni­ties. They may be directed in their Charity, and put in Mind of such par­ticular Charities as are of the greatest Necessity, or the most present use, or have the most general Influence, or do the greatest Reputation and Service to Religion; or their Charity may be heightened, inflamed, and enlarged, by the proper Arguments and Motives of Liberality; but their Religion teaches them to be Charitable, and the Name and Profession of a Christian is a Reproach to them without it: And this is all the Apostle aims at even in his soft and tender way of Persua­sion; not merely to persuade them to contribute to the Necessities of the [Page 237] Saints, which he knew they were willing [...]o do; but that they should contri­ [...]ute liberally, with a free and chearful Heart, and open Hand; which is the [...]um of all his Arguments, as I shall [...]hew you in the Conclusion, if Time permit.

But the great Difficulty concerns the proper Measures of a liberal and over­flowing Charity. Our Saviour has prescribed no set Bounds and Propor­tions to our Charity; and it is thought as possible to be imprudent and exces­sive, as too frugal and sparing: We have many other Obligations upon us besides CHARITY; to provide for our own comfortable Subsistence, to take Care of our Wives and Chil­dren, and to discharge all other Du­ties and Offices according to our Sta­tion and Character in the World: All which ought to set Bounds to our Cha­rity. But what these Bounds are, is thought the great Question, which is not easily answered: This is true; nor can any certain Measures be pre­scribed; nor does the Apostle pretend to it: But though there is a great Latitude in true Christian Charity, which does not consist in a Point, but [Page 238] admits of different degrees and Propor­tions; yet the Apostle, in my Text, directs us to such a Principle, as is much better and safer than any stated Rules, because it will be sure never to sink below the just Proportions of Cha­rity; and will render all we do, be it more or less, very acceptable to God. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

In which Words, I shall observe Three Things, which are expressed, or necessarily implied in them. First, That a great readiness and Forward­ness of Mind, to do Good, is the true Spirit of Charity; which gives Value and Acceptation to all we do. Secondly, That this readiness of Mind to do Good, to Relieve the Necessities of those who want, will observe the just Proportions of Giving, will give according to what a man hath: as is ne­cessarily implied in the Words; for if a willing Mind be accepted, accord­ing to what a man hath, it is, because it gives according to what a man hath. Thirdly, That where there is this Willing Mind, with a fitting Pro­portion [Page 239] according to our Abilities, whether it be more or less, which we give, it is equally acceptable to God. Such a Man is accepted according to what [...]e hath, not according to what he hath [...]ot. I shall speak as briefly as I can to each of these, that I may not be pre­vented in such an Application, as is proper to this Solemnity.

First, That a great Readiness and Forwardness of Mind ( [...] sig­nifies) to do Good; to relieve the Necessities of those in Want, is the true Spirit of Charity, and gives Va­lue and Acceptation to all we do. Such a Willingness of Mind, when [...], it is the Principle and first Mover in all our Charitable Actions, is [...] very acceptable to God.

This, I think, I may take for grant­ed; for what is the Grace and Vertue of Charity, but a Charitable Inclinati­on, Disposition, Temper, Habit of Mind? And what is this but a Readi­ness and Forwardness to do Good? Our Inclinations and Passions are the Principles of Action, and therefore have a natural Tendency towards their [Page 240] proper Acts and Objects, and will act when they have the Power and Op­portunity of Action: Charity is Love, the Love of Pity and Compassion to the Miseries and Sufferings, and Wants of our Brethren; and Love in all other Instances is a very restless active Principle; and so will our Love to the Poor and Miserable be, if it be Inclination and Habit.

There is no man but will pretend to be very ready and willing to do Good, though he never does any: For to have no Inclination to do Good, is so Infa­mous, that those who do no good, are ashamed to own it; but to do no good, is a plain Evidence against them, when nothing can hinder them from do­ing Good, but the want of Will and Inclination to do it; when God has furnished them with the means of do­ing Good, and there are thousands of Objects to exercise their Charity, and to move their Pity, if they had any. The Will is accepted for the Deed, both by God and Men, when it is not in our Power to do that Good which we sincerely desire to do, and which we would certainly do, were it in our Power; but it is to mock both God and [Page 241] Men, to pretend a Willingness, when [...]t is visible to all the World, That a Will to do Good is the only thing we want. But such a Readiness and Wil­ [...]ingness of Mind as is Active and Vi­gorous, as contrives and lays Designs of Charity, or embraces such as are of­fered, and takes all wise Opportunities of doing Good, this is very accepta­ [...]le to God, as being the most Divine and God-like Temper, the Image of [...]is own Goodness, and the noblest Ex­ercise of our Love to Men, inspired with the Love of God. Now in Mo­ [...]al Actions it is the Principle that gives the Value; not so much the Gift, as the Mind of the Giver; and there­fore St. Paul tells us, That though we give all our goods to feed the poor, and have not charity, we are nothing, 1 Cor. 13. 3. God can feed the poor without us, if he so pleases; but as for several other wise ends of Providence, so he has ordered, That the poor shall be al­ways with us for the trial and exercise of our Virtue, but the Virtue is not the Gift, but the Charity. And could we perform all the Acts of Charity with­out a charitable Mind, the World might be better for it, but not we our selves.

[Page 242] 2dly. This readiness and forward­ness of Mind to do good, will observe the just proportions of Charity, will give according to what a man hath. I observed before, That our Saviour in his Gospel hath prescribed no fixt Mea­sures nor Proportions of Charity: Nor could he reasonably do this, consider­ing the nature of Charity; which though it be not so absolutely free, that we may chuse whether we will be charitable or no (for charitable we must be at the peril of our Souls); yet the proportions must be free, or it is not Charity, but a Poor's rate, as all the positive Laws, which God gave the Iews for the relief of the Poor, were no better; and therefore, by the wiser Iews, were never placed to the account of Charity, but of Justice, and a Legal Righteousness: Which is the very distinction St. Paul makes be­tween a righteous and a good man, Rom. 5. 7. But scarcely for a righteous man wi [...] one die, yet peradventure for a good man one would even dare to die. A Righte­ous man is one, who is legally Righte­ous, and observes what the Law re­quires; but a Good man is one who is acted by a free, unconfined and gene­rous Goodness.

[Page 243] Now upon this pretence, That there [...] no proportion assigned to Charity, [...]ere are too many, who content them­ [...]lves with very little, indeed with no­ [...]ing which can properly be called Cha­ [...]ty. But I wonder in the mean time [...]hat these men make of all those Com­ [...]ands and Exhortations which we find [...] the Gospel to Charity, which are so [...]any, so pressing and importunate, and [...]und on us by so many promises of [...]esent and future Rewards, and with [...] many terrible Threatnings denoun­ [...]d against the uncharitable; that sure­ [...] they must mean something; and as [...]illing as men are in these Cases to [...]etend Ignorance, I believe there are [...]w men living, but know in some mea­ [...]re what Charity means: And though [...]ey may dispute how much they ought [...]o give, yet certainly know, that they [...]ught to give; and that to give no­ [...]hing, or what is next to nothing, all Circumstances considered, is not Cha­ [...]ity.

A Charitable Temper and Disposition of Mind is an indispensible Duty, and the most Essential Part of the Christi­an Religion. This our Saviour com­mands, and he need command no more, [Page 244] for Charity is and will be a Rule and Measure to it self. Where this Divine Principle is, it will teach us when, and how, and in what Proportion to give: The Sun needs no Rules and Directi­ons how to communicate its Light and Heat. Nature is the surest and most infallible Rule, and Law to it self; and thus it is proportionably in Moral as well as in Natural Agents. For what is the immediate effect of Nature and Life, can never be taught without its Principle; cannot exceed its Principle, and cannot fall below it. All the Rules in the World can never teach that man Charity, who wants the Principle; a Charitable Mind needs no Rules, but turns naturally on its own Byas; which will direct its Motions right.

There is a great difference indeed between Natural and Moral Agents, Natural Agents are necessarily deter­mined to some one End, and therefore have but one Principle, which uniform­ly and steddily pursues the Ends of Na­ture; but Moral Agents, as they act freely, so they have many different Principles, Inclinations, and Passions, which stint and limit each other; that none of them can act to their utmost [Page 245] Vigour, but as they are mutually poi­ [...]ed and ballanced: And this is the [...]ork of Reason and Religion, to put [...]em into their Natural Order, and to [...]t just Bounds to them; and that pro­ [...]ortions the degrees of their Activity [...]d Strength; but yet every Principle, [...]nless violently oppressed, will act ac­ [...]ording to its Nature, as it more or [...]ess prevails. And this gives Mea­ [...]res and Proportions to all our Acti­ [...]ns; as to shew you this in our pre­ [...]ent Case.

Charity is that Love to Mankind [...]hich makes us pity all their Wants [...]nd Sufferings, and inspires us with a [...]reat Zeal and Concernment to Help [...]nd Relieve them. If you enquire, What the Natural Measure of this Charity is? I know no other Natural Measure, but its Natural End, that is, To relieve all that suffer and are in want; for that is what Charity would do, and what all Charitable Men hear­tily wish that they could do. Well! but this is impossible, for there are too many miserable People for any man to Relieve them all. This is true, and Want of Power must of Necessity set Bounds to our Charity; but since we [Page 246] cannot Relieve all, we must relieve such as we can; and wisely consider where the greatest Necessities, and greatest Obligations are: Which will give the Preference to Christians before Infidels; to Good Men before the Wicked; to God's Poor, whom the Divine Providence has made Poor, to the Poor of their own Making, whom Idleness, Luxury, and Vice have made Poor and Miserable. Well! But how far must we Relieve these Poor? Must we give as long as we have any thing to give, and make our selves the Ob­jects of Charity? By no means! There are other as Natural Principles as Cha­rity, which must set Bounds to it. Self-Love is a Natural and Necessary Principle; no man is bound to love any man better than himself: To love our Neighbour as our selves, is all that the Gospel it self makes our ne­cessary Duty; though some Great and Generous Friendships, and Divine Cha­rities, may go further, as far as con­cerns this Life. Next to Self-love, our Natural Affection for our Wives and Children must take place, as in­grafted in it, and thought the Best and the Dearest Part of it, as being near­est [Page 247] to our selves, and what the best [...]en are the most tenderly concerned [...]or. And this is the chief thing, which [...]mong men of any Principles, disputes [...]he Bounds of Charity: For as for [...]hose stupid Brutes, who love Money only to look on, or to count their Bags and Securities, without suffering them­selves, or any body else, to use it, they are not fit to be named: For I can hardly reckon them among reason­able Creatures. But men's Care of themselves, and of their Wives and Children (not to descend at present to other Relations, which may come with­in the compass of Charity, though of a nearer and more sacred Obligation) is thought a very Prudent and Reason­able Consideration in this Case, and indeed is so; for there is a great deal of Truth and Reason in that common Saying, rightly understood, That Cha­rity begins at Home.

The great Controversy then is be­tween our Love to our Selves, our Wives and Children; and Charity to the Poor. Now there is no Dispute, but the First must have the Preference; but yet Charity to the Poor must have its Place also: And then the only [Page 248] Question is, In what Proportion this must be? And that is a very hard Que­stion, if you put it in Arithmetick, for I can name no Proportion; nor has our Saviour thought fit to name any: But, as I observed to you before, True Charity will assign a just Proportion to it self: For a true Charitable Mind will spare what it reasonably can, and never below the Proportion of Chari­ty; and will spare more or less, ac­cording to the Degrees of its Charity. I must be forced to represent this in short to you, that I may not be te­dious.

That Love we have for our selves, and for our Natural Dependents, will generally secure us against exceeding the Proportions of Charity, that there is seldom any Danger on that side. On the other hand, if we have a true Charitable Mind, and a sincere Com­passion for the Sufferings of others, we shall certainly do what we our selves, considering our Circumstances, and what all Charitable men who know our Circumstances, will call Charity. But then, the more Intense and Fervent our Charity is, this will still increase the Proportion, and sometimes to such [Page 249] Heights, as can hardly escape the [...]ensure of Affectation and Folly: And [...]ere it not for the Interposition of the [...]ivine Providence, might sometimes [...]rove very fatal to themselves and their [...]amilies. As to give you the Account [...]f this in short; There are Two things [...]bsolutely necessary to dispose men to [...]ive Liberally: A just Sense of the Miseries of others; and a true Judgment of our own Abilities.

As for the First:

A Charitable Mind is very easy to receive the Impressions of Charity; and the more charitably it is disposed, still the more easy. Every pitiable Ob­ject moves and affects such men, and they are no more able to resist the Si­lent Oratory of meager Looks, naked Backs, and hungry Bellies (were they not sometimes harden'd by Cheats and Vagabonds) than to deny themselves what is Necessary to Life: Much less can they deny any known and unque­stioned Charity; for since Charitable they are, and Acts of Charity they will do, they are very glad to know how to dispose of their Charity, to do that Good which they intend by it. A soft [Page 250] and tender Mind, which feels the Suf­ferings of others, and suffers with them, is the true Temper and Spirit of Charity; and Nature prompts us to ease those Sufferings, which we feel: This makes us so ready to supply our own Wants, because we have a quick and smart Sense of them; and the Christian Sympathy and fellow-feel­ing of Charity, will proportionably incline us to relieve our Suffering Bre­thren, when we feel in our selves what it is they suffer. An inward Principle is more powerful than all external Ar­guments; and Sense and Feeling is this Principle; and Charity is this Sense.

Thus as for Proportions, a Charita­ble Mind sets no other Bounds to its Charity, but only Ability; that the only Question is, Whether we can spare any thing from our selves and Fa­milies; and what we can spare? Now when Charity is the judge of this, it is always a favourable Judge on the side of the Poor and Miserable, and always the more favourable Judge, the greater the Charity is: It will teach us to think, That we want less, and con­sequently can spare more, when we consider how much others want: [Page 251] At least it will teach us to abate of what we do not want; of all Idle and Superfluous Expences; of all needless Pomp and Ceremony, which is more than our Station and Chara­cter requires; and it is incredible to think what an inexhausted Fund this would be for Charity: Did we tru­ly estimate our own Wants, rectify our Expences, and set just Bounds to our Desires, many of us would soon find, that we have a great deal to spare: And nothing will so effectually do this, as Charity; and therefore Charity is the best Rule and Measure to it self. So that there is no great occasion to dispute Proportions; let us learn to be Charitable, and Charity will teach us what to give. Every man can tell when another is Charitable; and a Charitable man can tell when he him­self is so; and as our Charity increases, so we shall abound in the Fruits of Cha­rity; for the more we love, the more liberally we shall give.

This is not to leave what we will give to Charitable Uses, to our own free Choice, as a Trial of our Ingenui­ty, as some represent it: For had this been the Case, there should have been some Proportion fixt, less than which [Page 252] we should not give, though we might give as much more as we pleased; for otherwise nothing is matter of strict Duty, but all is left to Ingenuity; which is so far from being true, that there is not a more necessary Duty in all Religion than Charity; and even the greatest Degrees and Heights of Charity, are all Duty: For we are commanded to be Charitable, and to aim at the highest Degrees of Charity; and the Proportion of giving is refer­red to the Principle, and included in the Degrees of Charity; such a Pro­portion as such a Degree of Charity will give, is as much a strict Duty as such a Degree of Charity is.

The very nature of Charity proves that thus it is, and that it can't be otherwise. For meerly to give, or not to give; to give more or less, is no certain proof of a charitable, or un­charitable Man; how liberally soever we give, we are not charitable, unless we give from a Principle of Charity, and our Charity be as great as our Gift. So that had God prescribed how much every Man must give to the Poor, they might have observed this proportion of Giving without any Charity, and then such Gifts as these had been no acts of [Page 253] Charity, when the Gift and the Charity was parted: But a Charitable Man will give, and will give in proportion to the degrees of his Charity, and therefore Charity, and the encrease of Charity, is the only proper object of Command; for he will give liberally, who loves much; and the proportion of giving is commanded in the degrees of Charity, which alone can prescribe, and will observe a just proportion.

Let no Man then enquire, how much he must give; the proper enquiry is, how much he must love. Let no man satisfy himself with some small trifling Presents, which bear no proportion to what he has, upon pretence that God has prescribed no proportion of giv­ing; but let him ask himself, Whether, in his own Conscience, what he gives, bears any proportion to that love and charity to the poor and miserable, which God requires: and let him re­member, that though God has not fixt the proportions of giving, he requires great degrees of Charity; and though Men may give liberally without Cha­rity, yet not to give in some due pro­portion, is a certain sign of want of Charity, when there wants no ability to give.

[Page 254] Give me leave to observe by the way, that what I have now said of Charity, is true of all other Christian Graces and Virtues; that it is the prin­ciple, which both must and will give laws and measures to the external acts of such Graces and Virtues: As to instance at present only in the Acts of Religious Worship, the measures and proportions of which are as much dis­puted, and no more determined and li­mited by the Laws of our Saviour, than those of Charity: We are com­manded to fast, and pray, and to com­municate at the Lord's Table, and to read and meditate on the Holy Scrip­tures, and such other acts of Religi­on; but we are not told, how often we must fast and pray, and receive the Lord's Supper, nor how much time we must spend in our publick or private Devotions; for though all the publick Exercises of Religion must be regula­ted by the publick Authority of the Church; which as to time and place, and other external circumstances, is the safest rule; yet our private Devotions are free, and both publick and private Devotions have a great latitude; and thus as it is in the case of Charity, some men think, they can never spend [Page 255] time enough in the publick and private [...]xercises of Religion; and others [...]hink a very little will serve the turn, [...]nd any trifling pretence is sufficient to [...]xcuse them from their Closets, or the Church, and especially from the Lord's Table.

And the resolution of this is the same, [...]s in the case of Charity; We are com­manded to be devout Worshippers of God, and the true spirit of Devotion [...]aturally prescribes the external mea­ [...]ures and proportions. Devout minds, who have a true sense of God, and of their constant dependance on him; That they owe all temporal and spiri­tual Blessings to him, and daily need the pardon of their Sins, the ptotection of his Providence, and the supplies of his Grace, will never fail to worship God, whom they inwardly reverence and adore; and as our devout sense of God encreases in strength and vigour, the external expressions of devotion will be more frequent, more lively and affecting; for nature will exert it self, and will exert it self in proportion to its strength and vigour. But to return.

3. The third thing I proposed, I must at present wave; that where there is a willing mind, with a fit proportion, ac­cording [Page 256] to our abilities, (which, as you have heard, there will be, where there is a truly willing and charitable mind) whether it be more or less that we give, it is equally acceptable to God. Such a man is accepted according to what he hath, not according to what he hath not; and indeed there is no great occasion to insist on it; for it is self-evident, that God will not exact that from us, which we have not.

Only we must observe, that this does not excuse any man from Charity, though he have nothing to give; he must have a willing charitable mind to make him accepted; nor does it excuse those from Charity, who have but little to give, for they must give according to what they have: nor does it excuse those, who have nothing to give, from other acts of Charity, which require the giving nothing, and a great many such acts of real charity there are, which poor people may do for each other, though they have not a penny in their purse.

But it is time now to turn my Discourse to the proper business of this great Solemnity. Publick Charities are always reckoned a­mongst the greatest Ornaments of any Country, and make up the most [Page 257] lovely and charming part of their Characters: Stately and magnificent Buildings shew great Art, and great Riches, and a gallant and noble Genius, but great Charities have something di­vine, and strike the Mind with a Religious Veneration. There may be much more magnificent Shows than this Day's Procession, but none which affect wise and good Men with a sincerer Pleasure: To follow a great number of Orphans in the mean but decent Dress of Charity, singing the Praises of God, and pray­ing for their Benefactors, is beyond all the Roman Triumphs, however adorned with a pompous Equipage, and great numbers of Royal Slaves.

These present us with nothing but the miserable Spectacles of Spoil and Rapine, the uncertain Changes and Vi [...]issitudes of Fortune, the lamentable Fate of conquered Princes and People, and the Pride and Insolence of Conque­rors; but here are the Triumphs of a generous Goodness and divine Cha­rity, Triumphs without Blood and Spoil, without Slaves and Captives, unless re­deem'd Slaves, rescued from the Jaws of Poverty, and all the Injuries and Miseries of a ruined Fortune: That to [Page 258] me this great City, and this honourable Train, never looks greater than in this humble Pomp. A Pomp not for Va­nity and Ostentation, but to endear and recommend Charity, by shewing the visible and blessed Fruits of it: and to the same End, I must give you an account of the present State of these publick Charities.

THAT these are all great Charities I need not tell you; indeed all so great, that it is hard to know, to which to give the Preference, and what occasion all these Charities have of fresh, liberal and constant Supplies, the Report acquaints you.

But I cannot pass over one thing I observe in this Report, and which, I fear many necessitous People feel, that there have been no Orphans taken into Christ's Hospital this Year, nor, as I remember, for two Years last past. I do not mention this by way of Refle­ction, as any fault in the administra­tion and government, but to put you in mind how much that excellent Founda­tion needs your Supply; and though I [Page 259] do not love to compare Charities, they being all of great use and necessity in their kind, yet I think this Foundation has something to plead for it self beyond any other.

A helpless Age, destitute of Friends, [...]nd all means of Support will plead [...]or it self without saying any thing: [...]t is a pitiable Sight to see poor [...]nnocent Children turned helpless in­ [...]o the wide World to starve, or beg, or steal, or to suffer all imaginable Difficulties and Necessities at home: without Education, without Govern­ment or Discipline, without being used [...]o labour, or taught any honest way of living; which, as they grow up, [...]mproves into a Habit of Idleness, and that betrays them to all degrees and kinds of Wickedness, trains them up to the Gallows, or fills our other Hospitals with Vagrants and miserable People.

There is nothing, which all wise Common-wealths have been more concerned for, than the Education of Children, which proves a great Sup­port, and gives great Ease and Secu­rity to any Government, by breeding up useful Members of it: So that [Page 260] this is a Charity, which would in a great measure make some other Chariti [...] less needful; and it is certainly a greater Charity to prevent the Mi­series of Mankind, than to relieve them.

This is a Charity wherein every Member of this great City, is most nearly concerned, because they and no others have a right to it. It is a pro­vision for their Posterity, against a [...] the sudden Strokes of Fortune, whic [...] no Man can be secured from; Here it is that Families, which are unex­pectedly ruined by the uncertain Chances of Trade may be raised a­gain by Charity; at least, by th [...] Vertue and Industry, which their E­ducation teaches them, and those fair Advantages, with which, accord­ing to their several Capacities, they are placed in the World; they have a new Opportunity given them of trying a better Fortune, or rather [...] more propitious Providence. So that every Citizen is concern'd to promote and enlarge this Charity▪ because no Man knows who shall want it, [...] not for his Children, yet for his Grand-children, or remoter Descen­dents; [Page 261] and possibly to Men, who are [...]sible of the uncertain Changes of [...]e World, and have a religious Re­ [...]rence for the Divine Providence, it [...]ould be no mean Argument to pro­ [...]ote this Charity, were Care taken [...]at the Descendents of Benefactors, ever they should want this Cha­ [...]ty, should certainly have it.

It is certainly for the Honour of his great City to make the best [...]rovision it can for the Children of [...]nfortunate Citizens; and those on whom Providence has smil'd, while [...]hey have seen their Neighbours ship­ [...]rack'd by such unavoidable Acci­ [...]ents as no Prudence or Conduct [...]ould escape, cannot make a more proper Acknowledgment of the Di­ [...]ine Goodness than this.

I shall add but one thing more of [...]his nature. This is the only Charity which is most likely to raise a Fund of Charity: Among such great Numbers as have their Education in this place, there have been, and we may reaso­nably hope there always will be, not a few, who will raise their Fortunes in the World, and remember their Beginning was Charity. I'm sure such [Page 262] Men ought to do so, and then such an Hospital as this, may help to support and enlarge it self, and in time raise new Hospitals, for new Colonies of Charity.

But while I plead for Christ's Hospi­tal, I would not be thought to di­vert the whole current of Charity into this one Channel; as things now are, there is absolute necessity of o­ther Charities: the Sick, Diseased, and Maimed, are great Objects of Chari­ty, especially Soldiers and Sea-men, who venture their Lives, and lose their Health and their Limbs in the service of their Country, to defend our Fortunes, Liberties, Lives and Re­ligion. There is none of us, but would think it a very poor Recom­pence for the loss of Health and Limbs, to be cured upon Charity; it is certainly the least that we can do for them; so very little, that if it be Charity to do it, it is Barba­rity to deny it, and that is but a ve­ry small degree of Charity, which is but one remove from Barbarity it self.

As for other sick, and diseased, and lame People, who cannot be at [Page 263] the charge of a Cure, where Sickness, [...]isability, and Poverty meet, this [...]akes them double Objects of Cha­ [...]ty, especially as it often happens when these Disabilities fall upon the [...]dustrious, who before supported [...]hemselves and their Families by ho­ [...]est Labours without Charity.

Nay, as for those, who may be just­ [...]y thought the least Objects of Cha­ [...]ity, the wicked and vicious, who [...]eap the deserved fruits of their own Wickedness, I am sure, they are the Objects of the greatest Pity, because this Life will not end their Miseries; and if we can prolong their Lives here to save their Souls it will be Charity indeed, and what Effect the sense of their Wickedness and Suffer­ings, and the Grace of God may have upon them, no Man can tell.

As for distracted Persons, I believe, no Man, who considers what a Bles­sing Reason and Understanding is, and what a Misery the want of it is, can think of them without the most sensible Compassion: I think all other Evils whatsoever are to be pre­ferred before it, and therefore to re­store them to their Senses again, [Page 264] which we hear by the Blessing of God is often done, or however to keep them from doing themselves, or o­thers any Injury, and to preserve hu­man Nature from that Contempt, which such publick Spectacles expose it to, is a very extraordinary Cha­rity.

Now all this shews, that a chari­table Man need not be at any great loss how to dispose of his Charity; here are too many very proper Ob­jects of Charity, (if God so pleased) and we ought to be very thankful to God, that we our selves are not in the number; for it is more blessed to give, than to receive.

But then the great numbers of mi­serable People, who in several kinds want our Charity, is a very power­ful Argument to greater Liberality and Bounty. For this I must add to what I have already said concerning the mea­sures and proportions of Charity; that a truly charitable Mind will encrease its Proportions according to present Wants; will sometimes abridge it self even in the Conveniences of Life to supply great and pressing Ne­cessities; for a great Love will not [Page 265] only spare, what it easily can, but when there is great reason for it, will deny it self to do good.

And here I intended to have re­presented to you our Apostles Argu­ments for a liberal and bountiful Cha­rity; but I fear I have already too much trespassed; and where there is a willing Mind, so many and so great Objects of Charity, are them­selves very pressing Arguments. And therefore as the Apostle endeavours to inspire his Corinthians with an ho­ly Emulation of the Zeal and For­wardness of the Churches of Macedo­nia, how that in a great trial of af­fliction, the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of their liberality; so I shall only desire you to emulate the great Examples of past and present times, and that you would set as great Ex­amples for times to come. If any thing deserves our Emulation, great and generous Charities do, which are a resemblance and imitation of the divine Goodness, than which nothing can more endear us to God or Man: We owe all our present Foundations [Page 266] to Royal Bounty and private Chari­ties; and thanks be to God, our pre­sent Age, as bad as it is, is not with­out some great Examples; and though true Virtue is void of the Pride, and Vanity, and Envy, and Jealou­sies of Earthly Rivals, yet it fires at great Examples, and is ashamed to be out-done by Equals in love to God or Men; especially when the Honour of the Church, whereof they are Members, and the Religion, which they profess, is concerned.

It is well known how many pious and charitable Foundations are owing to Popish Superstition; they hoped to expiate their Sins, and to merit Hea­ven by their good Works, and in this hope, and this perswasion, they did a very great many. We understand better than to think of meriting any thing of God, much less of purcha­sing a liberty of sinning, by Acts of Charity; but if those great Rewards which are promised to Charity, and which we profess to believe, will not make us charitable, without the O­pinion of Merit and Satisfaction: Charity is so great and excellent a Vertue, and so very useful to Man­kind, [Page 267] that at least thus far Popery will be thought the better Religion; and therefore as the Apostle argues, As ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also: As we have a more Orthodox Faith, a clearer and a distincter Knowledge, and a purer Worship, than the Church of Rome, let us excel in Charity too, and convince the World, that to renounce Popery, is not to renounce good Works.

HAD St. Paul lived in our Age, it would have required little less than the Courage and Bravery of the Spirit of Martyrdom to have said this: And nothing but the Authority of so great an Apostle (which though some Men do not much value, yet they dare not openly despise) can [Page 270] skreen those who venture to say i [...] after him.

What some Men call Philosophy and Reason (and there is nothing so foolish and absurd which some Men will not call so) is the only thing which those Men adore, who would either have no God, or a God and a Religion of their own making. And what Attempts some have made to undermine all Religion, and others to corrupt and transform the whole Frame of the Christian Religion, upon a Pretence of its contradicting Natural Reason and Philosophy, is too well known to need a Proof. That thus it was in his days, and that thus it was likely to be in future Ages, St. Paul was very sensible, when he gave this Caution to his Colossians; and I'm sure it is as proper a Caution for us, as ever it was for any Age since the writing of this Epistle; for this vain Pretence to Reason and Philosophy never more prevailed, and never did more mischief to the World.

It is an endless and fruitless Task to go about to confute all the absurd Hypotheses and wild inconsistent Rea­sonings wherewith Men abuse them­selves [Page 271] and others: The Experience of so [...]ny Ages wherein Philosophy was in all [...] Glory, and the several Sects disputed [...]d wrangled eternally, without ending [...]y one Controversie, gives no great En­ [...]uragement to hope for much this way; [...] least it can never be expected that [...]dinary Christians should be better [...]structed and confirm'd in the Faith by [...]hilosophical Disputes.

The Christian Religion has from [...]e very Beginning been corrupted by [...] mixture of Philosophy: Thus it was [...] the Apostles days, and thus it has [...]een more or less in all Ages of the Church to this day; and the directi­on the Apostle gives for the security of the Christian Faith, is, Not to dis­pute such Matters, but to distinguish between Philosophical Disputes, and Matters of Revelation; and to re­ject all the Pretences of Philosophy, when it does or seems to contradict the Faith of Christ, or would make any corrupt Additions to it.

Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit; [...], is to make a Prey, or to carry away as a Prey; that is, to seduce them from [Page 272] the Christian Faith, or from the P [...] ­rity and Simplicity of it: Through Phi­losophy and vain deceit, that is, through the vain deceit of Philosophy, which cheats Men with a flattering but emp­ty appearance; may unsettle weak Minds; but cannot lay a sure and so­lid foundation of Faith; may cheat Men out of their Faith, but when that is done, can give them nothing certain in the room of it: For it is but after the traditions of men, and after the rudiments of this world: Some of these Doctrines may possibly plead Prescri­ption, as having been so long recei­ved, that no Man knows their Origi­nal; or if they have the Authority of some Great Name, yet it is but a Human Authority, and they are but the traditions of men; and of Men, who at best had no better Informa­tion than from the visible appearan­ces of Nature, and their own imper­fect Observations, and corrupt or de­fective Reasonings, after the rudi­ments of this world: And is this an Authority to oppose against the Faith of Christ, which both wants that Di­vine Confirmation which he gave to his Doctrines, and contradicts them? [Page 273] For they are not after Christ, neither taught by Christ, nor consonant to what he taught.

These Words might afford great Va­riety of Discourse; but I shall confine my self to what is most Usefull, and re­duce that into as narrow a compass as I can, by shewing,

I. What great need there is of this Caution, To beware lest any man spoil us through Philosophy and vain deceit.

II. What great reason we have to re­jectall these vain Pretences to Philoso­phy, when they are opposed to the Au­thority of a Divine Revelation.

I. As for the first of these, Whoever considers what an Enemy these vain Pre­tences to Philosophy have always been to Religion, will see need enough for this Caution.

True Reason, and the true Know­ledge of Nature, which is true Philoso­phy, would certainly direct us to the Ac­knowledgment and Worship of that Su­preme Being who made the World: And yet we know, that there never was an Athiest without some Pretence to Philo­sophy, [Page 274] and generally such loud noisy Pre­tences too, as make ignorant people think them very notable Philosophers, and that tempts some vain empty Persons to affect Atheism, that they may be thought Philosophers.

That this is vain deceit, all Men must own, who believe there is a God: And if it be possible to pretend Phi­losophy for Atheism it self, it is no great wonder if it be made to patronize Infidelity and Heresy: But this plain­ly shews of what dangerous Conse­quence it is to admit Philosophical Dis­putes into Religion, which if at any time they may do any service to Religi­on, much oftner greatly corrupt it, and shake the very Foundations of it; of which more anon.

At present I shall only shew you how the Matter of Fact stands; That most of the Disputes in Religion are nothing else but the Disputes of Philosophy, and therefore according to the Apostolical Command, to be wholly flung out of Religion, and not suffered to affect our Faith one way or other. To be a Phi­losopher and a Christian, to Dispute and to Believe, are two very different things: and yet it is very evident, that most of [Page 275] the Arguments against Revelation in ge­neral, and most of the Disputes about the particular Doctrines of Christianity, are no better than this vain deceit of Phi­losophy; that were the Matters of Faith, and the Disputes of Philosophy truly di­stinguished, this alone would be suffici­ent to settle the Faith of Christians, and restore Peace and Unity, at least in the great Fundamentals of Religion, to the Christian World.

1. As to begin with Revelation in ge­neral. The Books of Moses are the most Ancient, and that considered, the best attested History in the World; the whole Nation of the Iews, whose Histo­ry he writes, pay the greatest venerati­on to him; and if we believe the Mat­ters of Fact which he relates, he was certainly an Inspired Man, who could neither deceive, nor be deceived. And it is impossible to have greater Evidence for the Truth and Authenticalness of a­ny Writings, at such a distance of time, than we have for the Writings of the New Testament; and indeed the Infidels of our Age have very little to say pure­ly against the Credibility of the History; and then one would think, that all their [Page 276] other Objections should come too late, unless they will justifie Pharaoh in disbe­lieving Moses, and the Scribes and Phari­sees in disbelieving our Saviour, after all the Miracles they did: For if they will disbelieve Moses and Christ, though they have nothing material to object a­gainst the Truth of these Histories; no­thing, which they would allow to be good Objections against any other Hi­story; they must by the same reason have disbelieved them, though they had seen them do all those great Works which are reported of them in such Credible Histories. But whatever the Authority of these Books are, they think they may securely reject them, if they con­tain any thing which contradicts their Reason and Philosophy, and they find a great many such things to quarrel with: They think Moses's History of the Crea­tion very unphilosophical; That the Story of Eve and the Serpent is an incre­dible Fiction; That the Universal Deluge is absolutely impossible, and irreconci­leable with the Principles of Philosophy: and it does not become Philosophers to have recourse to Miracles: That what we call Miracles are not the effects of a Divine Power, but may be resolved in­to [Page 277] Natural Causes; That Inspiration and Prophesy is nothing but natural Enthu­siasm, and all the Pretences to Revelati­on a Cheat and Imposture; That Nature teaches us all that we need to know; That there is no other certain know­ledge but this; That we are not bound to believe any thing which our own reason cannot grasp and comprehend, and therefore Revelation is perfectly useless; and God himself cannot oblige us to be­lieve any thing which does not agree with the Reason of our own Minds, and the Philosophy of Nature. Those who understand the Mystery of Modern In­fidelity, know that these, and such like, are the wise Reasons for which they re­ject and ridicule all Revealed Religion, and endeavour to rob and spoil men of one of the greatest Blessings in the World, a Divine Revelation. So that Infidelity is resolved into these vain Pretences to Philosophy, that Men will understand how to make, destroy, and govern the World better than God.

2. As these Men oppose Reason and Philosophy to Revelation, so others ei­ther deny the fundamental Articles of Christianity for the sake of some Philo­sophical Difficulties, or corrupt the Do­ctrines [Page 278] of Christianity by a mixture of Philosophy. The Gospel of our Sa­viour is the plainest Revelation of the Will of God that ever was made to the World; all its Doctrines are easily un­derstood, without Art and Subtilty; and yet there is not a more nice, intricate, perplext thing in the World, than what some Men have made the Christian Faith: All the Subtil Disputes of Philo­sophy are brought into the Church; and Plato and Aristotle are become as great Apostles, as St. Peter, or St. Paul: As to give some few Instances of it; for time will not permit me to discourse it at large.

What are the Arian, Socinian, Pelagi­an Controversies, but meer Philosophi­cal Disputes, with which these Hereticks corrupted the Catholick Faith?

There is nothing more plain and ex­press in Scripture than the Faith of Fa­ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, or the Do­ctrine of the Trinity in Unity; and that great Art and Subtilty which has been used, and to so little purpose, to pervert those Texts of Scripture, wherein this Doctrine is contained, is an evident proof, That this is the plain, natural ob­vious sense of those Texts, since it re­quires [Page 279] so much Art and Criticism to put any other sense on them; and that will not do neither, till men are resolved ra­ther to make any thing of Scripture, than to find a real Trinity there. If then this Faith be so plainly contained in Scripture, what makes all this dispute about it? What makes those, who pro­fess to believe the Scripture, so obsti­nate against this Faith? Truly that which makes some men Infidels, makes others Hereticks, that is, a vain Pretence to Philosophy.

The first Philosophical Dispute is a­bout the Divine Unity: We all own with the Scripture, that there is but one God; but we say further, as the Scrip­ture teaches us, That there are Three, Fa­ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, each of which is true and perfect God. This they say is a Contradiction; and if it be so, there is an end of this Faith, for both parts of a Contradiction can't be true: But to be Three and One upon different accounts, and in different senses, is no Contradi­ction; for thus three may be One, and One Three; and this is all the Scripture teaches, or that we profess to believe, whatever the Mystery of this Distinction [Page 280] and Unity be: But this will not satisfie these Philosophical Wits, unless they can comprehend how Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are really and distinctly Three, and essentially One, the manner of which the Scripture gives no account of, and therefore this is no dispute in Faith but only in Philosophy.

Another objection concerns the Di­vine Generation, how God can beget a Son of his own Substance; which the A­rians thought inferred a Division of the Divine Substance.

And a Third Objection concerns an Eternal Generation: how it is possible that the Father should beget an Eternal Son; that the Son should be begotten without any beginning of Being; and that the Father should not be at least some few moments before the Son, and consequently the Son not Eternal. Now we all grant that we can give no Philo­sophical account of this, no more than we can of the simple Divine Essence, or of Eternity it self; but we may believe that God has an Eternal Son, as we do that there is an Eternal God, without know­ing how any thing is Eternal: These are Disputes in Philosophy, and such as none but vain Men will dispute about, as [Page 281] being acknowledged above our Compre­ [...]ension,, and therefore no reasonable [...]bjection against our Faith.

Thus as for the Doctrine of the Incar­ [...]ation, nothing can be plainer in Scrip­ [...]ure, than that the Son of God was made [...]an; That the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; That God was manifest in the flesh: And all the Disputes about this Article are purely Philosophical: Some men reject it, because they cannot understand how God and Man can be united in one Person? Others confound the Divine and Humane Nature as Euty­ches did: or divide the Persons, as Nestori­ [...]us did; both which indeed destroy the Article of the Incarnation? for the Word is not made Flesh, unless the same Per­son, who is God is Man too, and conti­nues perfect God and perfect Man after this Union: But all these Disputes con­cern the Philosophy of the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in Christ; and if we would separate between Faith and Philosophy, such Disputes might soon be ended.

Thus most of the difficulties in the Pelagian and Quinquarticular Controver­sy, are ultimately resolved into mere Philosophical Disputes about Fate and [Page 282] Prescience, Liberty and Necessity, and God's concourse with Creatures, or the Powers of Nature and Grace: And would time permit, it were easy to shew this in most of the Controversies of Re­ligion, That it is not what God has re­vealed, and what he requires us to be­lieve, but such nice Philosophical Que­stions as men raise about these matters, which occasion all these Disputes.

It has often been proposed as a means of Union to silence all Disputes, To confine our selves to Scripture-Words and Expressions, without determin­ing the signification of them: But this would make only an Agreement in Words, not a Consent in Opinions; not could it secure the Peace of the Church, while all men knew, that under the same form of Words, they had very diffe­rent and contrary Meanings, which would still make them as much Hereticks to each other, as if their Words did as expresly contradict each other, as their Faith. But would men reduce all their Disputes to Scripture, and make that the only Rule of their Faith, with­out intermixing any Philosophical Dis­putes with it, this would be an infallible means of Union; for it is only this vain [Page 283] pretence to Philosophy, which raises all [...]ese Disputes, and then tempts men to [...]ervert the Scriptures to justify their [...]hilosophy.

In all these cases we are concerned to [...]quire what the true sense of the Article [...]; for this the Scripture teaches, and [...]o far our Faith is concerned; and these [...]re not only justifiable, but necessary Dis­ [...]utes, if the true Faith be necessary: And [...]uch were the Disputes of the Catho­ [...]k Fathers with the Sabellian, Arian, and [...]hotinian Hereticks; Whether Father, [...]on, and Holy Ghost, were only three Names, or three Appearances or Mani­festations of the same one single Person, or any other Three, but three True, Proper, Coeternal, and Coequal Per­sons: Or whether He, who is in Scrip­ture called the Son of God, be a Crea­ture, though the most Excellent Crea­ture; or a Son, and God by Nature, truly begotten of his Father's Substance: Or whether Christ be God Incarnate, or a meer Man: And their ancient Creeds pretended to no more, than to teach what the Catholick Faith was, not to expound the Philosophy of the Trinity and Incarnation. And thus far we must explain the Faith, as to know, and to [Page 284] let others know, what it is we believe; and if to assert the ancient Catholick Faith against old and New Heresies, should be called new Explications, we cannot help it; for we must explain what the Scripture teaches about these Articles, and how the Catholick Church always understood them: But that which we are to beware of, is, Not to mix Philosophy with our Faith, nor to admit of any meer Philosophical Objecti­ons against the Faith, nor to attempt any Explications of these Mysteries, beyond what the Scriptures, and the Faith and Practice of the Catholick Church will justify.

Indeed the Importunity of Hereticks did very often engage the Catholick Fa­thers in Philosophical Disputes; but this they did, not to explain the Christian Mysteries by Philosophy, but only to shew, that as incomprehensible as these Mysteries are, the Philosophy of Here­ticks, and their Objections against these Articles, were very absurd: And such Disputes as these may somtimes be abso­lutely necessary, and of great use to shame these vain Pretences to Philoso­phy, while we do not put the Trial of our Faith upon this Issue.

[Page 285] Secondly, Let us now consider what [...]eat reason we have to reject all the [...]in Pretences to Reason and Philosophy, [...]en opposed to a Divine Revelation. [...]r that is all the Apostle intends in this [...]ution; not to discourage the use of [...]eason, or the study of Philosophy, [...]hich are great Improvements, and a [...]lightful Entertainment of Humane [...]inds, and with a wise and prudent [...]onduct may be very serviceable to Re­ [...]gion too; but we must not set up any [...]onclusions in Philosophy against the [...]hristian Faith, nor corrupt the Faith [...]ith a mixture of Philosophy, nor re­ [...]ct any revealed Truths, for want of [...]atural Ideas to conceive them by.

To shorten this Discourse as much as [...] can, I shall at present only shew you [...]hat reason we have to believe those [...]octrines which are thought the most [...]ysterious and inconceivable, notwith­ [...]tanding any Objections from natural Reason and Philosophy against them. And the account of this must be resolved [...]nto the Nature, Use, and Authority of Revelation; that Revelation as to such matters as are knowable only by Reve­lation, must serve instead of Sense, Na­tural Ideas, and Natural Reason; that [Page 286] is, That we must believe things whi [...] we do not see, things which we ha [...] no Natural Notion or Conception of things which are not evident to Natur [...] Reason; for without this, there is littl [...] use of Faith, no Authority of pure Re­velation.

It is true, the General Corruption o [...] Mankind made it very necessary for God to revive the Laws of Nature, and to re­inforce the observation of them by his own Authority and Command; but the proper work of Revelation is to dis­cover such things to us as Nature cannot teach, of which we have no Natural Notion, nor any Natural Evidence; At least, thus it may be, if God knows more than Natural Reason teaches, or can comprehend; and thinks it fit to re­veal such Supernatural Truths to us, when he sees it useful for Mankind.

Now if God ever does reveal such things to us, if we believe upon God's Authority (which is the strickt Noti­on of a Divine Faith,) we must believe without any Natural Evidence, meerly because God has revealed it; and then we must believe such things as are not evident to Sense and Reason; and then it can be no Objection against Revelati­on, [Page 287] nor against the belief of any such [...]pernatural Truths, that we have no Natural Notion, nor Natural Evidence [...]f them, that they are what we cannot [...]onceive and comprehend.

To believe no farther than Natural [...]eason can conceive and comprehend, is [...]o reject the Divine Authority of Reve­ [...]tion, and to destroy the distinction be­ [...]ween Reason and Faith. He who will [...]elieve no farther than Natural Reason [...]pproves, believes his Reason, not the Revelation; and is in truth a Natural Philosopher, not a Believer: He believes [...]he Scriptures, as he would believe Plato [...]nd Tully; not as inspired Writings, but [...]s agreeable to Reason and the result of wise and deep Thoughts; and this puts an end to all the Disputes about Faith and Revelation at once: For what use is there of Faith? What matter whether the Scri­ptures be divinely inspired or not; when we are no farther concerned with them than with other Humane Writings, to believe what they teach agreeable to our own Reason? Let these Men then either reject Faith and Scripture, or confess that Revelation, as to all supernatural Truths, must serve us instead of Sense and Reason. I would gladly know of [Page 288] them, whether they would not believe such Supernatural Truths, as are not e­vident to Reason, were they sure that God had revealed them? I guess they will not be so hardy as to say, That they would not believe God himself, should he reveal such things as their Rea­son cannot comprehend; and if they would believe God in such matters, why will they not believe a Revelation which they themselves acknowledge to be Di­vine, in such matters? For is there any difference between believing God, and believing a Divine Revelation? If God does know, and can reveal such Mysteries, and is to be believed when he does reveal them, and such Doctrines are contained in an undoubted Revela­tion; then the unconceivableness of them can be no Argument against the Truth of the Revelation, or that sense of the words, which contains such My­steries.

Let us then consider the natural con­sequence of this, which is of great mo­ment in this dispute, viz. That we must allow of no Objections against Revealed Mysteries, which we will not allow to be good Objections against Sense and Reason; which is a necessary and una­voidable [Page 289] consequence, if Revelation, with respect to supernatural Truths, stand in the place of Sense and Reason.

Now no man questions the Truth of what he sees and feels, or what he can prove to be true by plain and undeniable Reason, meerly because there are uncon­ceivable difficulties in it; as there are in e­very thing, even the most certain and fa­miliar things in Nature: And if Revealed Truths are not more unconceivable than many natural objects of Sense and Rea­son, why should their being unconceiv­able be a greater objection against believ­ing a Revelation, than it is against believ­ing our Sense and Reason in matters e­qually unconceivable? When God has re­vealed to us, That he has an Eternal and only begotten Son, though we cannot comprehend the Mystery of the Eternal Generation, why should we not as firm­ly believe it, as we do, that Man begets a Son in his own likeness, the Philosophy of which we as little understand? Nor can we any more conceive the Union of the Soul and Body, than we do the In­carnation of the Son of God, or the U­nion of the Divine and Humane Nature in one Person? And if we own the Au­thority of Revelation, why should we [Page 290] not as well believe what Revelation teaches, how unconceivable soever it be, as we do what Sense and Reason teaches, though it be alike unconceivable.

All men are sensible, that it is very ab­surd and foolish to deny the Being of a­ny thing which they have certain evi­dence of, because they cannot compre­hend the Nature and Reasons of it: The Man who rose up and walked before the Philosopher, who was disputing subtilly against the possibility of Motion, put a scorn upon all his Arguments, by shew­ing him that he could move: And there­fore we see, that all men believe their Senses and Reason against all the diffi­culties in Nature, and will never be per­swaded, by the subtillest Disputant, that that is not, which they certainly see and know to be. Now for the same reason, if Men will allow the Authority of Revelation, they must believe what is revealed, how unconceivable and in­comprehensible soever its nature be; for when we know what a thing is, (and this may be known by Revelation as well as by Sense, as those Men must confess, who acknowledge a Divine Revelati­on) no difficulties in conceiving it, must perswade us to deny that it is.

[Page 291] This is very plain in it self, though few men consider it, That to disbelieve what is Revealed, for the sake of any difficulties in understanding or concei­ving it, is to reject the certainty of Re­velation; For what other account can be given of that difference men make between the Evidence of Sense and Rea­son, and of Revelation, but that they allow Sense and Reason to be good and certain proofs of the Being of such things as are evident to Sense and Reason, how Mysterious soever their natures are; but that mere Revelation is no certain proof of the Being of any thing which is not evident also to Sense and Reason, how plainly soever it be revealed; that is, that Revelation alone can prove no­thing; for if Revelation it self could prove the certainty of what is revealed, the difficulties in Nature and Philosophy could no more disprove a Revelation, than confute our Senses. Now let any man judge, whether this be not unequal usage, to expect more from Revelati­on, than they do from Sense and Rea­son, and not to believe Revelation up­on the same terms that they believe their Senses.

Should Men resolve to believe no­thing [Page 292] which they see, till they could give a Philosophical account of the Rea­sons, and Causes, and Natures of all they see, as they refuse to believe a Re­velation any farther than they can con­ceive and comprehend the thing re­vealed, they must of necessity be as great-Scepticks, as they are Infidels. For as for Contradictions, it is an easy matter to make or find seeming Contradictions in what we do not understand; for when we know not the Philosophical Natures of things, nor how they act, and yet will be reasoning and guessing at them, all our false guesses may be full of Contradicti­ons and Impossibilities, because we know not the true Mystery of Nature. It is this vain humour of Criticizing upon Nature which makes so many Atheists. They go upon the same Principle with Infidels and Hereticks, To believe no­thing which natural Reason cannot con­ceive and comprehend; now they can­not comprehend the Notion and Idea of a God, which they say, is made up of Contradictions and Impossibilities, and therefore they reject the Being of a God: They cannot conceive a Creat­ing Power, which can give Being to that which had no Being before, which [Page 293] they think a plain Contradiction to make Something of Nothing; and there­fore they reject the Creation of the World, and either assert the Eternity of the World, or at least the Eternity of Matter: They can conceive no Sub­stance but Matter and Body, and there­fore reject the Notion of a Spirit, as Nonsense and Contradiction: They will allow nothing to be wisely made, which they understand not the reason and uses of, and therefore they fancy a great ma­ny botches and blunders in Nature, which cannot be the designs and contri­vance of Wisdom, but the effects of Chance; and then the consequence is plain, That the World was made by Chance, not by a Wise Author.

Now, I confess, if this way of Rea­soning be allowed, it will be impossible to defend either Sense, or Reason, or Revelation, against the Cavils of Atheists and Infidels; for there are unconceivable and incomprehensible Secrets and My­steries in them all; and if to conceive and comprehend the Natures of things, must be made the measure and standard of true and false, we must deny our Senses and Reason, as well as our Faith; and if we do and must believe our Sense [Page 294] and Reason beyond our Comprehension, why must we believe nothing that is Revealed any farther than we can con­ceive and comprehend the Nature and Reasons of it?

The Sum is this: Humane Knowledge, whatever the means of knowing be, whether Sense, or Reason, or Revela­tion, does not reach to the Philosophi­cal Causes and Natures of things, but only to their Being, and Natural Ver­tues and Powers; and as a Wise man, who knows the Measure of his under­standing, expects no more from Sense and Reason, than to know what things there are in the World, and what they are, as far as they fall under the notice of Sense and Natural Reason; so we must expect no more from Revelation, than the knowledge of such things as Sense and Natural Reason cannot disco­ver. But we must no more expect the Philosophy of Supernatural Truths from Revelation, than we do the Mysteries of Nature from Sense and Reason.

Now since Humane Knowledge is not a knowledge of the Mysterious Natures of things, but only to know what things there are, and what they are; there can be no contradiction between Sense, and [Page 295] Reason, and Revelation; unless one de­nies what the other affirms, not that one teaches more than the other teaches, or that one cannot comprehend what the other teaches. Reason teaches more than Sense teaches, or can comprehend; and Revelation teaches more than ei­ther Sense or Natural Reason teaches, or can comprehend; but this is no con­tradiction, but only a subordination be­tween these different kinds and degrees of Knowledge; but as for Unconceiva­bleness and Incomprehensibility, that is no argument against any thing; for Sense and Natural Reason can no more comprehend their own Objects, than they do what is revealed: And it is ma­nifest perverseness to make that an ob­jection against Revelation, which we will not allow to be an objection against Sense and Reason.

This is sufficient as to the reason of the thing; but as far as it is possible to remove mens Prejudices also against be­lieving Mysteries, I shall briefly answer two very popular Objections.

1. It is thought very unnatural, that when God has made us reasonable Crea­tures, and therefore made Natural Rea­son [Page 296] to us the measure of Truth and Fals­hood, he should require us to believe without Reason; as we must do, if he reveals such things to us as we know not, and cannot possibly know the reasons of. If we must believe with our Understand­ing, how can we believe things which we cannot understand?

This were a reasonable Objection, were it true; for we cannot believe what we have no knowledge nor understand­ing of; for Faith is Knowledge, though not Natural Knowledge.

But do we not understand what it is we believe? Do we not know what we mean, when we say, we believe in Fa­ther, Son, and Holy Ghost? Nay, do not our Adversaries understand what we mean by it? How then come they to charge us with believing Contradictions and Impossibilities? For if they know not what we believe, they cannot know whether we believe Contradictions or not. And if we do understand what it is we believe, then we do not believe without understanding, which is abso­lutely impossible, if we know what it is we believe.

And we know also why we believe: Our Faith is founded in Sense and Rea­son, [Page 297] and resolved into the Authority of God, which is the highest and most in­fallible Reason. The Miracles which Christ and his Apostles wrought, were evident to Sense, and owned by Reason to be the effects of a Divine Power; and the Answer the Blind man gave to the Pharisees, when Christ had opened his eyes, speaks the true Sense of Na­ture: Herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine Eyes. Now we know that God heareth not Sinners; but if any man be a Worshipper of God, and doth his will, him he heareth. Since the World began was it not heard that any man open­ed the Eyes of one that was born blind: If this man were not of God he could do no­thing, 9 John 30, 31, 32, 33. And all Mankind own, that the most absolute Faith is due to God, and to those who speake from God; and this, as I take it, is to believe with Reason.

But still we believe such things, whose Natures we do not understand, and cannot account for by Natural Rea­son, and this is to believe without Rea­son. We believe, that God the Father hath an Eternal Son, and an Eternal Spirit; and that, Father, Son, and Ho­ly [Page 298] Ghost, are but one Eternal God; but this is what Natural Reason cannot com­prehend, nor give us any notion or con­ception of, how God can have an Eter­nal Son, and an Eternal Spirit, really distinct from himself, and yet with him­self One Eternal and Infinite God: Rea­son can give no account of the Eternal Generation of the Son, nor of the Eter­nal Procession of the Holy Spirit; and is not this to believe without Reason, which a reasonable Creature ought not to do, and which we ought not to think, that God who made us reasonable Crea­tures, expects from us.

And this I grant would be a material Objection, were Reason the Judge of the Nature and Philosophy of things; and did Reason require us to believe no­thing but what we understand and com­prehend. But then we must no more believe Sense and Reason, than Reve­lation; for we do not comprehend the Nature of any one thing in the World, how evident soever it is to Sense and Reason, that there are such things. Nature is as great a Mystery as Revela­tion, and it is no greater affront to our Understandings, no more against Rea­son for God to reveal such things to us [Page 299] as our Reason cannot comprehend, than [...] is to make a whole World, which [...]eason cannot comprehend.

When we make it an Objection against [...]ny thing, that it is without Reason, or [...]s we apprehend, against Reason, and contrary to Reason; we must first con­ [...]ider whether it be the proper object of Reason; otherwise it is no Objection; as it is no Objection against Sounds, that we cannot see them; nor against Colours, that we cannot hear them; because Sounds are not the Objects of Sight, nor Colours of Hearing.

Now no man pretends, that the pure Natures and Essences of things, or their Essential Reasons, Properties, Unions, Operations, are the Objects of Humane Reason; for no man living knows any thing about them.

And yet this is all the Incomprehen­sibility men have to complain of in the Doctrine of the Trinity, and the Incar­nation; That they cannot comprehend, how God can beget an Eternal Son; nor how Three Divine Persons should be so united, as to be essentially One God; nor how the Divine and Humane Nature can be united into one Person, God­man: All which concern the Essence, [Page 300] and Essential Properties, Operations, Unions, Relations, of the Deity, which a modest man might allow to be incom­prehensible, if God be Infinite, though he could comprehend the Natures, Es­sences, and Essential Reasons and Pro­perties of Created Beings; but when all Created Nature is such a Mystery to us, that we know not the pure Nature and Essence of any one thing in the World, is it an affront to our Reason, that we cannot comprehend the Divine Na­ture?

Such Matters as these are neither without Reason, nor against Reason, nor contrary to Reason; because Reason has nothing to do with them, and can take no cognizance of them: They be­long not to Reason, but to that Infinite Mind, which comprehends it Self, and the Ideas of all possible Beings. A per­fect comprehensive Knowledge of Na­ture belongs only to the Maker of all things; for it is not only to know what things are, but how to make them; which would be a vain Curiosity, and useless Knowledge to those, who have not a Making and Creating Power. This is to know things à priori, with an Intuitive Ideal Knowledge, which is [Page 301] infinitely more superiour to Reason, [...]an Reason is to Sense: And it is the [...]ffectation of this Intuitive making Knowledge, which makes some Men Atheists, and others Hereticks.

2dly. Another great Objection a­gainst such a Revelation as contains matters which Natural Reason cannot comprehend, is, To what purpose such [...]a Revelation serves? What Merit there can be in believing such Doctrines? And of what good use such a Faith can be to us.

Now I confess I cannot think it meri­torious merely to believe things which are incomprehensible; or that God any more intended to puzzle our Faith with revealed Mysteries, than to puzzle our Reason in making a Mysterious World. Whether we receive our information from Sense, or Natural Reason, or Re­velation, it is certain we must believe Mysteries, if we believe any thing; for all things have something mysterious and incomprehensible in their natures; what natural Reason cannot account for, and what God never intended we should understand: For God never intended to teach us how to make the World, nor how every Creature was made; and [Page 302] therefore we cannot, and are not con­cerned to know the internal Frame and Constitution of Nature.

But though neither Natural nor Re­vealed Knowledge extends to the Rea­sons and Causes of Nature, and of essen­tial Properties and Operations; yet both natural and revealed Knowledge is of as much use to us, as if we did perfectly understand all the secret and incompre­hensible Mysteries of the nature of God, or of the Natures of Creatures. Both natural and revealed Knowledge are a­like upon this account. That they only acquaint us what things are, and what ends they serve; and then we know what use to make of them, without un­derstanding the secret Mysteries of Na­ture.

Is this World, or any thing in it, the less useful to us, because we cannot con­ceive how God created all things of no­thing? Or because we do not under­stand the Nature of Matter, nor how the several parts of Matter came by their different Virtues and Qualities? Is Corn, or Fruit, or Herbs the less nourishing or refreshing, because we know not how they grow? Does it require any Philo­sophy to know how to eat and drink [Page 303] and sleep? Will not our Food nourish us, [...]less we understand how it is concoct­ [...] and turned into Chile, and Blood, [...]d Spirits? Nay, is it of no use to [...]ow that God is an Eternal, Omnipo­ [...]nt, Omniscient, Omnipresent Being, [...]less we can conceive how any Being [...]n be Eternal without a Cause, and [...]ithout a Beginning? Or can compre­ [...]end how he can do and know all things [...]d be present in all places at once, [...]ithout Extension, and without Parts? [...]e may make all the use that can be [...]ade of this World, and of every thing [...] it, without understanding the essential [...]easons and Causes, or internal Nature [...]f any thing; and we must do so, if we will make any use of it; and we know God to all the ends and purposes for which Creatures ought to know God, [...]hough his Nature be incomprehensi­ble,

And thus it is in matters of pure Re­velation, such as the Doctrine of the Trinity, and the Incarnation; how un­accountable soever the Mystery of a Trinity in Unity, the Eternal Genera­tion, and the Incarnation of the Son of God be, yet it is the most useful Know­ledge in the World: Though we know [Page 304] not how the Eternal Father begat an E­ternal Son of his own Substance, nor how this Eternal Son in time became Man; yet it is the most desireable Knowledge in the world to Sinners, to know, That God has an Eternal Son; and that he so loved the world, as to give his only begot­ten Son for the redemption of mankind, that whosoever believes in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life; and that this Eternal Son of God became Man, lived a poor, necessitous, labori­ous Life, and died an accursed Death for the Salvation of Sinners; and to know, That the Holy Spirit, which pro­ceeds from Father and Son, dwells in the Christian Church, and quickens and animates the whole Body of Christ. If this be true (as we must suppose in this Argument,) all Mankind must confess, that this is a very useful Knowledge; and never the less useful, because a Tri­nity in Unity, and the Eternal Genera­tion, and the Incarnation of the Son of God, are great and unconceiv­able Mysteries. Could we give a Ra­tional and Philosophical Account of the Eternal Generation, and of the Incarna­tion, we should know more than we now do; but Faith makes it as useful to [Page 305] all the purposes of Religion, as the most perfect intuitive Knowledge could do.

This is a sufficient Answer to that Ob­jection against the Usefulness of such Mysteries as have something incompre­hensible and unconceivable in their Na­tures: Which is an equal Objection a­gainst all created Nature, which is but one great Mystery; and yet the World is a very useful World, and we know in some good degree what use to make of it: And the Knowledge of those Gos­pel Mysteries which are the Subject of our present Dispute, are manifestly of infinite use to us, if the certain know­ledge of the Pardon of Sin, and Eternal Life, by the Obedience, and Sufferings, and Death, and Intercession of the Son of God Incarnate, be of any use; and therefore it became the wisdom and Goodness of God to reveal these Myste­ries of Salvation to us.

Especially if we add to this, That the lapsed state of Humane Nature makes Supernatural Knowledge necessary. Na­tural Knowledge we grant was sufficient for a state of Nature, though no man would have had reason to complain, had God in a state of Innocence by a more familiar intercourse with Man, or by [Page 306] the frequent Conversation of Angels, improved his Knowledge beyond the meer attainments of his Natural Facul­ties; and it is not improbable, but this might have been; I am sure there is an impatient thirst after knowledge in Hu­mane Nature, and such a great curiosity for secret and hidden Mysteries, that it looks very unnatural for Men to com­plain, that God reveals more to them than Nature teaches.

But yet I say, Natural Knowledge must be allowed sufficient to all the ends of Humane Life, while Man continued Innocent; for that is the Original state of Human Nature, as all men must grant, who believe that Man was made by God.

But when man sinned, he forfeited the Favour of God, and a natural Im­mortality; and whether he should be restored or not, and by what means he should be restored, depended wholly on the Sovereign Will and Pleasure of God: And therefore the Light of Nature, though it could direct an Innocent Man how to Please and Worship God, and to preserve himself Immortal, it could not teach Sinners how to make attonement for Sin, nor give them any certain [Page 307] hopes that God would forgive Sins, and bestow immortal Life on them; which makes it necessary, that the Religion of a Sinner be a revealed Religion. And if God in infinite Goodness is not only pleased to restore Sinners to Grace and Favour, but to advance them to a super­natural state of Perfection and Happi­ness both of Soul and Body in the next World; this must be done by supernatu­ral Means, and therefore requires a super­natural Knowledge; for the Light of Nature can neither raise us above Na­ture, nor discover supernatural Truths to us: and this makes it necessary to know and believe such things, as we have no natural Notion or Idea of, Such things as neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive. If Nature can't save us, it can't discover to us the way of Salvation neither; and if we must be sa­ved by a supernatural Grace and Power, it must be supernaturally revealed; and what is Supernatural, is the Object of Faith, not of natural Knowledge.

This seems to me to give a plain ac­count, why God thinks fit to reveal such Mysteries to us as Nature cannot teach, and as we have no natural Notion [Page 308] of, because our lapsed state has made such Supernatural Revelations necessary to the recovery of Mankind; and when we are fallen below the relief of Nature, and of Natural Knowledge, we ought to be very thankful to our good God for Supernatural Knowledge, and supernatu­ral Means of Salvation.

To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, Three Persons, one Eternal God, be Honour, Glory and Pow­er, now and for ever.

Amen.

I Shall not consider these Words as they relate to what follows, but on­ly observe in them, that our Sa­ [...]iour not only requires his Disciples to [...]elieve in God, but that they should [Page 310] believe also in him, that is, to believe that he came from God, and hath re­vealed his Will to the World: And from hence I shall take occasion to con­sider the Case of Deists, who pretend to own, that there is a God, and to pay such Worship to him, and to obey such Laws, as meer Nature teaches, but reject all Revealed Religions, even the Gospel of Christ it self, as no better than Cheats and Impostors.

This Profession of Deism is grown very fashionable among our great Pre­tenders to Wit and Philosophy; and I am very glad, that such Men are asha­med of the Name of Atheists, and hope, that a serious Consideration of the Fol­ly and Unreasonableness of Deism; that is, to believe a God, and to deny all Revealed Religion, may dispose them to an impartial Inquiry into the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Faith.

A­men.

WHen the State of this World is Happy and Prosperous, it is no wonder to see Men in­dulge themselves in Ease and Luxury, forget God, or grow careless and for­mal [Page 340] in Religion. For though it might reasonably be expected that happy Creatures, who rejoice in the Blessings of Heaven, should be very devout Wor­shippers of that God from whose Boun­ty and Goodness they receive all; yet Humane Nature in this degenerate State is very fond of sensual Pleasures: And when an easie and plentiful Fortune puts it into Mens Power to enjoy as much of this World as they will, there are but very few who can set Bounds to their Enjoyments, and taste the Plea­sures of this Life, without taking large and intoxicating Draughts of it; and this sensualizes Mens Minds; and a car­nal Mind is Enmity against God; saith unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the Knowledge of thy Ways.

Never any People had more sensible Demonstrations of the Power and Pre­sence of God amongst them, and his particular Care of them, than the Israe­lites had; and yet Moses tells us in his Prophetick Hymn, Iesurun wax­ed fat, and kicked; thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with Fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation, Deut. 32. 15. And [Page 341] thus God complains, Isa. 1. 2, 3. Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth, for the Lord hath spoken; I have nourished and brought up Children, and they have re­belled against me. The Ox knoweth his Owner, and the Ass his Master's Crib; but Israel doth not know, my People doth not consider. And as much as we may despise and abhor the Ingratitude of the Iews, this is the general State of Mankind; and we may find too many Examples of it in all Times and Nations.

But it seems much more unaccounta­ble, when the Iudgments of God are a­broad in the World, that the Inhabitants thereof should not learn Righteousness: Be­cause Judgments are apt to awaken Men, and make them consider. When God speaks in Thunder and Lightning, those must be deaf indeed, who will not hear. This is the merciful Design of Providence in sending such terrible Judgments on the World, to make Men consider their Ways and their Doings, and to convince them that there is a God that judgeth in the Earth. For Judgments have a Voice, had we but Ears to hear: They proclaim the Pow­er and the Majesty of God; a terrible [Page 342] Majesty, and irresistible Power; the [...] scourge and they threaten Sinners, an [...] call for Weeping, and Mourning, an [...] Fasting: And how unthankful soever th [...] Iews were to God for his great Mercie [...] and Deliverances, yet they were not so insensible of his Judgments? When he sle [...] them, then they sought him, and returned and enquired early after God, and remem­bred that God was their Rock; and th [...] High God their Redeemer, Psalm 78 [...] 34, 35.

This we are exhorted to in my Text To hear the Rod, and who hath appointed it: To consider for what reasons those E­vils which we at any time suffer, are come upon us, and what God intends by the Rod; which is the only way to grow better by our Afflictions, and to prevail with God in great Pity and Compassion to remove them.

But this is the great difficulty; Who shall reveal this Secret to us? How shall we distinguish between the Corrections of God, and the Wickedness of Men? How shall we understand the Language of the Rod, and to whom it speaks; for what Sins it strikes, and who are those Achans that are the Troublers of our Is­rael; and what God expects from us in such Cases?

[Page 343] I shall briefly explain these things to you, and apply it to the present Oc­casion.

But I must premise, That I only ad­dress my self now to those who believe a God and a Providence; and that God hath revealed his Will and the Rule of his Providence in the Holy Scriptures. As for Atheists and Infidels, who have neither Eyes nor Ears, they can only feel the Rod like Bruits, not hear its Voice like Men: Though the Lord's Voice crieth unto the City, it is only the Men of Wisdom that see his Name.

Now as for those who believe a God and the Holy Scriptures, there are two very plain Interpreters of God's Judg­ments; Natural Conscience, and the Word of God. For the Judgments of God have not an Articulate Voice to ac­quaint us in plain and express Words, upon what Errand they come; but they are Signs which speak by an Interpre­ter; and if we carefully attend to the Dictates of Natural Conscience, and to the Word of God, we cannot mistake their meaning.

1. As first, No Man who attends either to the Dictates of Natural Con­science, or to the Word of God, can [Page 344] doubt who it is that hath appointed the Rod: This is the first and most natura [...] question of all; and yet a great many who profess to believe a God and a Pro­vidence, seem not well satisfied in this Point: They allow that some Judg­ments are the Hand of God, but are not willing to grant this of all; espe­cially when they see what the imme­diate and visible Causes of such Suffer­ings are.

Some of the greatest Evils which ei­ther private Men or Publick Societies suffer, are manifestly owing to the In­justice and Wickedness of Men; and they can no more believe that it is the Will and Appointment of God, that they should suffer such Evils, than that it is the Will of God that others should do them And all such Rods as are not appointed by God, can teach us nothing but the Wick­edness of those by whom we suffer; for if God has not sent them, they can bring us no Message from God. And yet most Men are in some degree infect­ed with this Disease: We suffer many E­vils which we are not willing to ascribe to God, and then we learn nothing from them but a little Worldly Policy and Prudence, to take better care of our [Page 345] selves and our Affairs, to be jealous and distrustful of Men; or, it may be, to watch our Opportunities to revenge the Injuries we suffer, and to return them with Interest: And yet we profess to believe a Providence; though it were as Honourable to God to deny his Provi­dence, as to deny his Sovereign Dispo­sal and Government of all Events; or rather, they are both an equal Re­proach to him. For a Providence which does not take care of Creatures, is little worth; and we cannot say that God takes care of his Creatures, if any Evil befals them without his Will and Appointment.

But Natural Conscience sees the Hand of God in all the Evils we suffer: What­ever the visible and immediate Causes and Instruments of our Sufferings are, a guilty Conscience takes notice of the Divine Vengeance; the Terrors of God take hold upon him, and he trem­bles before his Judge, though he do not see him; he is afraid of God, when he feels only the Hands of Men. And what is the meaning of this? What is the Language of these guilty Fears, but that whatever the Rod be that strikes, it is moved and directed by a Divine [Page 346] Hand; that the Wickedness and Inju­stice, the Wrath and Fury of Men, is no other than the Vengeance of God? For why should the Evils we suffer from Men so terrifie a guilty Conscience, had we not a Natural Persuasion, that all these Evils are sent by God, whoever are the Instruments of them?

Thus it is natural in all such Cases to fly to God for help. Atheists themselves cannot wholly prevent this; but when they are surprized with any sudden Dangers, Nature is too quick and too powerful for their Philosophy, and sur­prizes them into an Acknowledgment of God and a Providence, which they must do Penance for when their Fright is over. Sinners who forget God in Pro­sperity, fly to him in their Distress; re­member that God is their Rock, and the High God their Redeemer. And if this be a Natural Acknowledgment of Pro­vidence, as it certainly is, it owns the Hand of God in our Sufferings, as well as his Power to save; for both equally belong to the Supreme and Sovereign Lord of the World; and it is not meer­ly his Power to help, which makes Sin­ners fly to God in their Distress, but a Sense of his Anger in what they suffer: [Page 347] They do not fly to God as Men do to a powerful Patron, but as Criminals do to the Mercy of a provok'd Father or Prince: When they fly to God, it is to implore his Mercy as humble Penitents, to appease his Anger, that he may re­move his Judgments; and when we fly to the Mercies of God to remove the Rod, it is an Acknowledgment that it is [...]e that strikes, as well as he alone that can save.

And that Conscience judges right in all this, however some Men may attri­bute it to a Superstitious Education, is evident from Scripture, which expres­ly tells us, That God doth whatsoever plea­seth him both in Heaven and in Earth. That none can stay his Hand, or resist his Will, or say unto him, What dost thou? That there is no Evil in the City, which the Lord hath not done. If Iob be stript of all his large Possessions in a day, it is the Lord that gave, and the Lord that ta­keth away. If the mighty King of Assy­ria invade Israel, and lay waste their Ci­ties and Country, he is the Rod of God's Anger, and the Staff in his Hand is his Indignation, Isa. 10. 5, 6. Affliction cometh not forth of the Dust, neither doth Trouble spring out of the Ground, but God is the [Page 348] Iudge, he putteth down one, and setteth up another, Psal. 75. 7, 8. This shews us, that whatever our Sufferings are, it is God that appoints the Rod, and then it must nearly concern us,

2dly, To hear the Rod, what and to whom it speaks. Now in this Case al­so, Conscience and the Word of God are the best Interpreters of God's Judg­ments. The Rod teacheth another way, but teacheth the same thing that Conscience and Scripture teach us; that is, it proclaims aloud the Evil of Sin, and God's Anger and Displeasure against it, and calls us to Repentance, and Re­formation of our Lives.

When the Judgments of God are up­on us, Conscience knows their Errand, and calls all our Sins to remembrance, and sets them in order before us. No­thing but Guilt makes us afraid of God; and how quiet and secure soever▪ Sin­ners are at other times, the Judg­ments of God will awaken their guilty Fears; and if Men will hearken to the Voice of an awaken'd Conscience, it will certainly tell them why God strikes; and we cannot take a safer Course, than to reform those Sins of which our Consciences then accuse us.

[Page 349] All the Threatnings of Scripture are against Sin, and all the Judgments there recorded, especially Publick and Natio­nal Judgments, were inflicted for the Punishment of Sin; and these are to be our Examples, as they are the stand­ing Rules and Measures of Providence. God never punishes but for Sin, though he may exercise particular good Men with difficult Trials; and therefore when bad Men and a wicked Nation suffer, they may certainly know the Cause; they have sinned, and God is angry, and summons them to Repen­tance; for this is the fruit of all, to take away Sin. The Voice of Judgments is the same with the Voice of Conscience, and the Voice of God's Prophets; Wash [...], make ye clean, put away the Evil of [...]our Doings from before mine Eyes: Cease to do Evil, learn to do well; seek Iudg­ment, relieve the Oppressed, judge the Fatherless, plead for the Widow, Isa. 1. 16, 17.

This is plain enough, and sufficiently known, if it were but sufficiently laid to Heart; and this is all that we are concerned to know of the Judgments of God. The secret and hidden De­ [...]gns of Providence, which many times [Page 350] surpize the World with unexpecte [...] Events, are the Care of God, an [...] belong not to us, till the Scene o [...] pens, and we see what part is allo [...] ted us in it. Whatever God be a [...] doing, we have nothing to do but t [...] amend our Lives, which will remov [...] the Scourge from us, and entitle us t [...] the Care and Protection of Providenc [...] Whereas to busie our selves with Poli [...] tick or Prophetick Guesses at unknow [...] Events, to paint our Imaginations wit [...] black and frightful, or with gay an [...] charming Scenes of Things, as despond [...] ing Fears, or sanguine Hopes inspire th [...] Prophet, can do us no good, but may d [...] a great deal of hurt to our selves an [...] the World. This is not the Voice o [...] the Rod, which makes no new Reve [...] lations to us, but only awakens th [...] Convictions of Conscience, and enforce [...] the Reproofs and Threatnings of the Word, with such sensible and smarting Proofs of the Evil of Sin, and God's Anger against it, as will make all Men consider, who have not lost their Sen­ses; and many times restore Sense and Understanding to those who had lost them.

[Page 351] But this to some Men will seem a ve­ry dull Account of God's Judgments, which will neither gratifie their Curi­osity, nor ill Nature; nor, which they think worse, leave them any excuse to palliate their Hypocrisie.

The Judgments of God declare God's Anger against Sin, and call us to Repen­tance: This Men will own, but do not like to hear it express'd in such general Terms, as if when God sends his Judg­ments amongst us, he were angry with [...]s for all our Sins, and called us to re­pent of them all: This they think hard, that they must part with all their Sins, to remove these Judgments; nay, this they think can't be the Truth of the Case, because the World is always very wicked, and yet the Judgments of God are not always abroad in the World: And therefore they suppose, that when God does execute Judgments, it is not Sin in general, but some particular Sins, which so highly provoke him; and could they learn what they are, and reform them, they might see happy Days again: And this sets Men at liber­ty to favour what Sins they please, to reproach and accuse each other, and to charge all the Evils and Calamities they [Page 352] suffer upon one another, without think­ing of reforming themselves.

Thus to be sure it always is, when there are differing Parties and Factions in a Nation, who judge very different­ly of Good and Evil: They will all con­fess they are great Sinners, and, it may be, too many of all Parties are guilty of the same Sins; but those Sins which are common to them all, must pass for nothing, because so far they are all a­greed. But then there are peculiar Party-Sins, which every Party dislikes in each other; and what they dislike, they con­clude God dislikes too; and to these they attribute all the Evils they suffer▪ As if the Judgments of God were not to reform the World, but to decide some Party-Quarrels, which will never be decided this way, when every Party will expound Judgments in favour of themselves.

But all Men see that this is to judge by a false and partial Rule: This is nei­ther Conscience nor Scripture; for Con­science equally condemns all Sin, and so does the Scripture too. I grant, tho' there is always a great deal of wickedness com­mitted in the World, God does not al­ways inflict Publick Judgments, which [Page 353] are commonly executed when Wicked­ness and Impiety is grown publick too; when publick Government is remiss in punishing Wickedness, or the Numbers and Power of Sinners are grown too great for the Correction of publick Ju­stice: But we shall always find in Scrip­ture, that when God did inflict pub­lick Judgments, he called for a general Repentance and Reformation; and if this were not so, no Man could under­stand the Voice of the Rod without a Spirit of Prophecy. But this deserves a more particular Consideration, both with respect to those Sins for which God most commonly sends his Judg­ments, when he sees fit to execute a pub­lick Vengeance; and the necessity of an universal Reformation, when the Judg­ments of God are upon us.

1. The most general Account the Scripture gives us of publick Judgments, is an universal Corruption of Manners. Thus the Prophet describes the State of the Iewish Church, when God threat­ned his Judgments against them: Ah [...]nful Nation, a People laden with Iniqui­ry, a Seed of evil Doers, Children that are Corrupters; they have forsaken the [Page 354] Lord, they have provoked the Holy One o [...] Israel, they are gone away backward. And the whole Head is sick, and the whol [...] Heart faint. From the Sole of the Foot unto the Head, there is no Soundnes [...] in it; but Wounds and Bruises, and pu [...] trifying Sores: they have not been clo­sed, nor bound up, nor mollified with Oint ment, Isa. 1. 4, 5, 6. And in Verse 10 he calls them, The Rulers of Sodom, an [...] People of Gomorrah. When Wickednes [...] is grown universal, and hath infected al [...] Ranks and Orders of Men, such a Na­tion is ripe for Judgment; but it add [...] greatly to the Guilt and Provocation when Men are not contented to b [...] wicked, without bidding open Defiane to God and to all Religion. Wo unt [...] them who draw Iniquity with Cords of Va­nity, and sin as it were with Cart-rope [...] Who deride all the Threatnings of God and even dare his Power and Justice That say, Let him make speed and hast en his Work, that we may see it; and le [...] the Counsel of the Holy One of Israel dra [...] nigh, and come, that we may know i [...] Who mock at the differences of Goo [...] and Evil, and value the Reputation o [...] their Wit and Philosophy too much to be [...] cheated with such empty Names. Wo un­to [Page 355] them that call Evil Good, and Good Evil, that put Darkness for Light, and Light for Dar [...]ss, that put Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet [...] [...]itter. Wo unto them that are wise in their own Eyes, and prudent in their own Sight. Who having first de­stroyed the eternal and essential diffe­rences of Good and Evil, change their Names too at pleasure, and think them­selves the only wise Men in the World for doing so. This takes off all Re­straints, and gives the Reins to their Lusts, and they live, just as they be­lieve, without making any difference between Good and Evil. Wo unto them that are mighty to drink Wine, and Men if strength to mingle strong Drink; who justifie the Wicked for a Reward, and take [...]ay the Righteousness of the Righteous from him. Therefore as the Fire devou­ [...]eth the Stubble, and the Flame consumeth the Chaff, so their Root shall be as Rot­ [...]nness, and their Blossom shall go up as the Dust, because they have cast away the Law of the Lord of Hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel, Isa. 5. 18, &c. The like Account we find in the other Prophets. And when the State of a Church and Nation is so cor­rupt, we need not enquire for what par­ticular [Page 356] Sins God strikes; but yet there were some Sins which God expressed [...] severer Indignation against, and seldo [...] delayed to punish; such as their Id [...] latry, and Contempt of the God o [...] Israel, of his Word and Prophets; Prophanation of his Worship; Athe [...] istical Notions of Providence, and [...] Good and Evil; or their abominab [...] Hypocrisie, in committing all the Lew [...] ness and Villanies which Men cou [...] commit, and sheltring themselves in a [...] external Form and Appearance of R [...] ligion, which the Prophets every whe [...] complain of. To these Causes is o [...] ing the universal Corruption of Ma [...] ners; for it is impossible any Nati [...] should so universally degenerate, t [...] they have either corrupted their Re [...] gion by Superstition and Hypocrisie, lost all Sense of it; and therefore t [...] calls for a speedy Vengeance.

As for what more particularly co [...] cerns the Christian Church, we ma [...] learn from the Epistles to the Sev [...] Churches of Asia, what it is provok [...] our Lord either severely to punish us, to remove the Gospel from us. T [...] Church of Ephesus, though she had a [...] quitted her self well in many thing [Page 357] yet had left her first Love, had abated very much of her Zeal and Fervour for the Name and Religion of Christ. The Church of Pergam [...]s is threatned for suffering those among her who taught Idolatrous Worship, and fleshly Lusts: And the Church of Thyatira likewise for suffering the Woman Ieza­ [...]el to commit Fornicat [...]on, and to eat things sacrificed to Idols. The Church of Sardis made a glorious and pompous Profession of Religion, but without the true Life and Spirit of it; [...]e had a name to live, but was dead: And the Church of Laodicea grew very cold and indifferent even in the Profes­sion of Religion, as well as in the Pra­ctice of it; she was neither hot nor cold, [...] lukewarm. All these our Saviour summons to Repentance, and threat­ens to punish or destroy them if they did not, Chap. 2, and 3. of the Reve­lations.

The Application of all this to our selves is so obvious, that I need not mul­tiply Words about it: We are that very Nation wherein all these Evils meet; it is hard to name any Vice which is not openly committed amongst us without Fear or Shame: Nay, things are come [Page 358] to that pass, that to be a modest Sin­ner, to boggle at any Wickedness, o [...] to blush at it, is as great a Reproach as to be Virtuous: And though som [...] Men are ashamed to own themselve [...] Atheists, yet to believe in Christ, and to own any Reveal'd Religion, or t [...] talk seriously of Providence, of God▪ governing the World, and punishin [...] Cities and Nations for their Wicke [...] ness, is thought a Jest; and I wi [...] it were a Jest only among vile an [...] mean People, of no Fortune or Educa­tion; whereas we often see that the [...] Condition makes them modest, and u [...] taught Nature teaches them better, t [...] they are corrupted by the Examples [...] Men of Wit and Figure in the Worl [...] And as for those who pretend to Rel [...] gion, it is a very melancholy Prospec [...] to observe how little of the true Li [...] and Spirit of Christianity there is [...] mong them. There is indeed Noi [...] and Zeal, and Faction enough amon [...] some People, and that makes others [...] cold and indifferent: The Tempers of th [...] Church of Sardis and Laodicea, th [...] one that had a Name to live, but wa [...] dead, the other that was lukewarm [...] make much the greatest Parties amon [...] [Page 359] us; and the very best Men, I fear, are too much inclined to the State of Ephe­sus, which had left her first Love, those great Passions and Ardours of Devotion which ought to inspire the Minds of Christians.

Let us then hear the Rod and trem­ble: See how God dealt with the Iewish Church for these Sins; see what our Lord hath done to the Churches of Asia; and though we cannot say what God will do to us, because we know not what wonderful Designs are in the Womb of Providence, yet we know what we do, and how God hath dealt with those who have done as we do; which is too just reason to fear that he will deal so by us too, un­less we repent and reform, which they did not. For,

2dly. When the Judgments of God are upon us, the Reformation must be universal too: It concerns every Man to reform himself; for a Nation can never be reformed, but by the Refor­mation of particular Men, who make up the Nation; and therefore when we are summon'd to Repentance, as the Judgments of God summon us all, every [Page 360] Man must examine himself what he has to repent of, and reform himself. But yet there is great difference be­tween a National and Personal Repen­tance and Reformation, and they serve very different Ends.

A Nation may be said to be reform­ed, and God may in great Mercy re­move his Judgments, though (what is never to be expected) every particular Man do not repent and reform him­self: But then such a National Refor­mation requires the Execution of pub­lick Justice against publick Wickedness to make Sin publickly infamous, and to teach the greatest and most powerfu [...] Sinners Modesty: To banish, if no [...] Sinners, yet Sin out of our Courts, and out of our Streets, and to make it once more seek for Night and Darkness fo [...] a Covering; that Virtue may no lon­ger blush in Company, or need Apo­logies; Nor Vice dare to brave it at Noon-day.

There has indeed of late been some Care taken by publick Laws and Royal Proclamations, to punish the Prophana­tion of God's Name by accursed Oaths; but yet in most Cases Men may be as vile as they please, and as publickly so [Page 361] as they please, and little or no notice ta­ken of them; nay, they may talk and write what they please against God and Religion, ridicule the History of Moses, and the Gospel of our Saviour, and the Mysteries of the Christian Faith, and gain Credit and Reputation by it. I hope there are not many Christian Nations in the World, which in so publick a manner permit these things. We have talk'd of Liberty of Conscience, and Reformation, to good purpose, if the only Effect of it be a Liberty of ridicu­ling the Christian Faith; which might make one suspect that all the Zeal some Men have express'd against Popery, was at the bottom of it a Zeal for Atheism and Irreligion; which the Discipline of Popery, as bad a Religion as it is, would not endure; it is indeed well fitted to make Atheists and Infidels, but will make Men have a care how they pro­fess it. And it is to be feared, that this Scepticism, and Infidelity, and Con­tempt of Religion, will prove a Back­door to let in Popery again upon us.

But to leave these Thoughts with those whose proper Care and Business it is; whether a Nation will be reformed [Page 362] or not, it concerns every particular Man to hear the Rod: The Judgments of God warn us of his Anger and Dis­pleasure against Sin, that we may fly from the Wrath to come; and we do not hear the Voice of the Rod, nor im­prove Judgments to their true end, if we do not so repent and reform, as to save our Souls; and this to be sure must be a Personal and an Universal Refor­mation. And yet even with respect to present Judgments, a Personal Repen­tance and Reformation is of great use; for when the Judgment is Publick and National, God many times makes a re­markable distinction between Persons: Say ye to the Righteous it shall be well with them, for they shall reap the fruit of their Doings: Wo unto the Wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the Reward of his Hands shall be given to him: Which is spoke with respect to Publick Judg­ments, Isa. 3. 10, 11. Which is a suffici­ent Encouragement for particular Men to repent, and reform their Lives, what­ever others do.

But it is time to apply what I have now discoursed, to the particular Oc­casion of this Day's Solemnity; though possibly some may think that this Ap­plication [Page 363] comes too late; it might have been very seasonable one or two and thir­ty Years ago, while the Marks of this terrible Vengeance were fresh and vi­sible; when the Ruins of our Houses and Churches could only tell us where London stood, and shew us its Funeral Pile, where its Glory lay in the Dust: When so many thousand Families felt the smart of their ruined Fortunes, and were either forc'd to begin the World again, or sunk irrecoverably under it. This fiery Vengeance had a Voice then, and a very terrible Voice, enough to a­waken the most stupid and Lethargick Sinners. But when we see our City re­built more beautiful than ever, as the little poor Remains of the old one wit­ness: When our Riches and Glory are increased beyond the Example of most former Ages, it seems too late to lament over the Ashes and Rubbish of our fired City, when there are no visible Re­mains of these Ruins to move our Pity or Sorrow: And indeed were this the only Design of this Annual Fast, it were high time to put an end to it, or to turn it into a Thanksgiving Festival: For it is in vain to expect, that after three and thirty Years, the return of [Page 364] this Day should revive and renew our Sorrows and Lamentations, when our Ruins are removed, our Losses repaired, and those frightful Impressions which the sight of that devouring Fire made on us, forgot; and little left to put us in mind that our City was burnt, but the Inscription upon the Monument, and the sight of a New City, with the se­veral Dates of its Resurrection; which must needs qualifie all melancholy and sorrowful Reflections on what is so long past.

But though the Design of this So­lemnity is not to represent and act over again a new doleful Scene of Horror, Confusion, and Amazement, which neither Nature nor Art can imitate, as we saw it once on this Day, without such another amazing Sight, which God grant we may never see again till the General Conflagration; yet it is of great use to keep up a lively Sense of such Judgments upon our Minds, which become the Subject of Reason, of cool Thoughts and wise Considerati­on, when the Terror and Frightfulness of them is over.

Judgments could never make a lasting Reformation in the World, were we [Page 365] concerned to remember them no longer than we feel their Smart; but they are intended both for Punishment and Instruction; the Punishment ends with the Smart, and that puts an end to all whining and tragical Complaints; but this alone is the Discipline of Fools or Brutes: The Instruction is for Men, and this is to last as long as Memory, and Thought, and Reason last. What could the Fire of London teach us thir­ty three Years ago, which it does not teach a wise Man still? And what Thoughts and devout Passions became us then, which are not still on this Day the proper Exercise of our Devotion?

When we saw our Churches and Houses in Flames, when we saw those furious Torrents of Fire rowling down our Streets, and despising all the Oppo­sition that Humane Art or Strength could make, as if they had known by what a Divine and Irresistible Commis­sion they acted; there were few Men to be found, who did not express a great Fear and Reverence of the Power and Justice, and terrible Majesty of God, who did not see and own the Hand of God, and the visible Tokens of his Displea­sure, and begin in good earnest to [Page 366] think of reforming their Lives, and making their Peace with God, who had now taken the Rod into his own Hand.

When we saw our Riches make to themselves Wings and fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven; when we saw all our Pride and Glory, the Toil and Labour of our whole Lives, the Food and the Instruments of our Lusts, va­nish into Smoke and Dust; this effectu­ally taught us the Uncertainty of all present things, and made us serious­ly consider what an ill State those were in, who had nothing to trust to but such vanishing Treasures; and how reasonable our Saviour's Com­mand is, Not to lay up for our selves Treasures on Earth, where Moth and Rust do corrupt, and where Thieves break through and steal; but to lay up for our selves Treasures in Heaven, which are not subject to such Casualties; which will make us bear such Losses better when they come, and secure our eternal In­terest.

When Men saw their Riches and Treasures vanish in a Cloud, it natu­rally made them consider how much of this they owed to the Poor, how [Page 367] much they daily spent upon their Lusts, and how much they had unjustly got; that is, how much of what God had taken from them was not their own, and how much they had abused the Gifts of God: Very wise and pious Thoughts, had they lasted; and yet too plain to be missed by those who thought at all, when they saw these Lessons written in bright Characters of Fire.

Now was all this, do you think, calculated only for Sixty six? Is not God the same still? a Just and Righteous Judge, who is angry with the wicked every day, though he do not every day bend his Bow, and let fly his Ar­rows; though he do not every day make the Earth tremble and quake, and the very Foundations of the Hills to shake, because he is angry; though we do not every day see a Smoke go out of his Presence, and a consuming Fire out of his Mouth; though he do not upon every Provocation appear in his terrible Majesty, riding upon the Cheru­bins, and flying upon the Wings of the Wind. Methinks one such Example might serve us for some Ages, with­out expecting or desiring to be sum­moned [Page 368] again to Repentance by new Terrors. God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness: He delights more to display his Glory in Acts of Goodness and Bounty to his Creatures; but Judgments are his strange Work, which makes the signal Execution of them so very rare; and the way to have them rare, is not to forget them, to learn Righteousness by the things which we have suffered; to fear and tremble before that God who is so terrible in his Doings towards the Children of Men.

But if the Fire of London was too long since to work upon our Fears at this distance, (though I confess I won­der how any Man who saw that Sight, should ever forget it, or remember it without a just Awe and Reverence of God;) but, I say, if these Impressions of Fear and Terror are lost, let the Beauty and Glory of our New City, our increasing Riches, our flourishing Trade, our Ease and Plenty, teach us to Love and Reverence, and Worship and Praise that God, who in the midst of Iudgment hath remembred Mercy; who hath pluck'd us as a Firebrand out of the Fire, and hath not suffered our Enemies to triumph o­ver [Page 369] us, who said, Down with it, down with it, even to the Ground. This is the way to perpetuate our Prosperity and Glory, if the Remembrance of past Judgments teaches us to Fear God, the Sense of his present Mercies to Love him, and both to Obey him.

Which God of his Infinite Mercy grant, through our Lord Iesus Christ: To whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be Honour, Glory, and Power, now and ever.

Amen.

WE have lately made our first Solemn Appearance before God in this House with all the External Solemnities of Worship, and, I hope, with those Transports and [Page 372] Ardours of Devotion, which such grea [...] Occasions require: Excepting thos [...] Christian Feasts, which contain the My­steries of our Redemption by Jesu [...] Christ, Two more joyful Solemnitie [...] could not well have met in One Day the One a Feast of Dedication, the [...] ther of Peace. Blessed Union! Ma [...] these Two be never parted: May th [...] Church enjoy Rest and Ease under th [...] Gracious Influences of a Victorio [...] Prince; and may the Throne be est [...] blished in Peace by its Love and Ze [...] for God's House.

The Publick Solemnities of Worshi [...] and the Publick Peace of Church a [...] State, are the most comprehensive Ble [...] sings which we can enjoy in this Worl [...] They are an Inferiour Accomplishme [...] of the Angelick Hymn at the Birth [...] our Saviour; Glory be to God in t [...] Highest, on Earth Peace, Good Will [...] wards Men.

These are the Matter of our prese [...] Joy, which ought not to be confin [...] to one short Day, but to be had in pe [...] petual Remembrance, as we hope a [...] pray, that these Blessings may be pe [...] petual.

[Page 373] But my present Design relates to God's House, and that Worship, which we must pay to God there. O worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness.

1. And first I shall begin with the Beauty of Holiness: the right under­standing of which may possibly turn some Mens Curiosity into Devotion. There is, I think, no dispute, but that by the Beauty of Holiness, the Psalmist means the Tabernacle or Sanctuary; for if David was the Penman of this Psalm, the Temple at Ierusalem was not then built, and thus it is applied in this Psalm, ver. 6. Honour and Majesty [...] before him, Strength and Beauty are in his Sanctuary: and v. 7. Give unto the Lord the Glory due unto his Name, [...]ing an Offering, and come into his Courts; which is immediately explain­ed in the Words of my Text, O worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness; and thus the Seventy render it both here and in Psalm 29. 2. [...], in his Holy Tabernacle: This was the peculiar Place of Worship under the Law, which is called the Beauty of Ho­liness, from that excellent and incommu­nicable Majesty which dwelt there.

[Page 374] There is such frequent mention mad [...] in the Old Testament of God's peculi [...] Presence in some places above other [...] Of the House of God, where he dwel [...] where he places his Name, where [...] sits between the Cherubims, and such [...] peculiar Sanctity and Holiness for th [...] reason attributed to these Places, th [...] no Man denies the Distinction and H [...] liness of Places under the Iewish D [...] spensation: But there are too many, wh [...] think, that the Gospel of Christ has p [...] an end to all such Distinction of Place [...] as it has done to all other Iewish C [...] remonies; that God has no oth [...] Church now, but the Assemblies [...] Christians, and the Hearts of devo [...] Worshippers, in what Place soever the [...] meet; that to think God is more pr [...] sent, or more acceptably worshipped [...] one Place than in another, is either P [...] gan or Iewish Superstition; that to b [...] have our selves with greater Reveren [...] in a Christian Church, than we do [...] our own private Houses, unless it be i [...] the immediate Acts of Worship, is n [...] better than to worship Wood, and Brick [...] and Stone, as if they had some peculia [...] Sanctity in them.

[Page 375] This, as slight a Matter as some may think it, is of mischievous consequence to Religion, as it delivers Mens Minds from those awful Regards to the Divine Presence, which ought to possess them when they approach God's House; as is too often seen in a careless and irre­verent Worship: And therefore I shall take this Occasion briefly to represent this Matter, which when truly stated, will admit of little dispute.

To assert in loose and general Terms the Holiness of Places, and that Reli­gious Regard and Reverence, which is to be paid to them, may, I confess, give just Offence to Christian Ears, as if the Place and House it self had such a Holiness, that we must not only wor­ship God in such a Place, but that we must pay some Religious Reverence to the House it self with relation to God: For if once we admit of any kind of Relative Worship, I know not where we can stop, but may as well worship Pictures, and Images, and Crucifixes, as Holy Places, upon account of their relation to God and Christ. But yet no understanding Christian will deny, that we must worship God with all Hu­mility of Soul and Body, where-ever [Page 376] we know, that God is peculiarly present to receive our Worship; that if there be any such Places, where God is thus peculiarly present, we must approach his Presence, and behave our selves while we continue there, with all Re­ligious Reverence and Devotion. It is the peculiar Presence. of God, which is the only Holiness of any Place, and which alone challenges our Religious Adorations. And the reasonableness and necessity of this, every one must own, who acknowledges the peculiar Presence of God in the appropriated Places of Worship: For if God be pe­culiarly present there to receive our Worship, whenever we approach his Presence, we ought to approach him with all the external Signs of Reve­rence; which is not to reverence the Place, but to reverence that excellent Majesty, which is peculiarly present in that Place.

So that rightly to understand this Matter, I must briefly explain the Scripture Notion of God's peculiar Presence in the Places of Worship, and what Reverence such a Presence re­quires from us, when we approach such Places.

[Page 377] First then I observe, that though it be the constant Doctrine of Scripture, that God is essentially present in all Places, yet there are some Places which are peculiarly called his Presence; and thus it has been ever since the Crea­tion; where-ever God manifested him­self peculiarly present, such Places were called his Presence, and became the ordi­nary standing Places of Worship.

It does not seem improbable to me, that though all Paradise might be cal­led the Presence of God, yet there was some peculiar Place, even in Paradise it self, where God did most ordinarily appear to our first Parents: for we read in Genesis 3. 8. that when Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden Fruit, they heard the Voice of the Lord God; that is, the Eternal Word, walking in the Garden in the cool of the Evening, and Adam and his Wife hid themselves from the Presence of the Lord God, amongst the Trees of the Garden. Which seems to intimate, that there was some parti­cular Place in Paradise where God used to meet with them, from which they fled, and by so doing, thought to hide themselves from the Presence of God.

[Page 378] In the Story of Cain and Abel, this seems more plain; there was at that time some peculiar Place, whither they brought their Offerings to God, and therefore where God was supposed pecu­liarly present to receive their Offerings, Gen. 4. 3, 4. and in v. 14. Cain complains, Behold thou hast driven me out this Day from the Face of the Earth, and from thy Face shall I be hid; that is, from thy Pre­sence; as it is expounded ver. 16. Cain went out from the Presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the Land of Nod. Where it is plain, the Presence of the Lord signi­fies a certain Place, where God was so present, as he was not in other Places; for we can never go out of the Essen­tial Presence of God, as the Psalmist witnesses, Psalm 139. 6, 7, 8, 9. Whi­ther shall I go then from thy Spirit, or whither shall I go from thy Presence: If I climb up into Heaven thou art there; if I go down into Hell thou art there: If I take the Wings of the Morning, and re­main in the uttermost Parts of the Sea, even there also shall thy Hand lead me, and thy Right Hand shall hold me; and therefore in this Sense the Land of Nod was as much God's Presence, as where Abel and Cain dwelt before; but Cain [Page 379] went out from the Presence of God into the Land of Nod; that is from that place, where God dwelt, and conversed with them, into a Land where he never vouchsafed such a peculiar presence.

In the History of Abraham, Isaack, and Iacob, we not only learn, that in those days, they always had their peculiar and appropriate places of worship, but that they pitched their Tents, and built their Altars, either in such places, as God directed them to, or where God appeared to them, and those were the places, where God ordinarily Converst with them.

Thus the Lord appeared unto Abram in the place of Sichem in the Plain of Moreh, and there he built an Altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him: Genes. 12. 6, 7. hi­ther he returned again when he came out of Aegypt unto the place of the Altar which he had made there at first, and there he called on the Name of the Lord. Genes. 13 4. so that the appear­ance of God to him in this place, had made it a standing place of Worship; and here God appeared to him again, and renewed his Promise to him, after the departure of Lot.

After this by God' s command Abram [Page 380] removed his Tent, and dwelt in the Plain of Mamre, and there he built an Altar to the Lord, Genes. 13. 18. and here God frequently appeared to Abram as we may see in 15, 17, 18, Chap. Thus when God appeared to Isaack at Beer­sheba, he built an Altar, and called up­on the Name of the Lord, and pitcht his Tent, and took up his abode there, as in a place, where God was present, 26 Genes. 24, 25.

Thus as Iacob was going towards Ha­ran, being forced to lodge all night in the Field, in his Dream he saw a Ladder set upon the Earth, and the top reach'd to Heaven, and the Angels of God as­cended and descended on it, and God himself stood above it, and renewed his Promise and Covenant to Iacob: From hence Iacob concluded, that God was peculiarly present in this place, how dreadful is this place, this is none other, but the House of God, and this is the Gate of Heaven; and therefore he calls the place Bethel, and set up the Stone for a Pillar, whereon he lay, and powred Oil on it and vowed, that if he came a­gain in peace to his Fathers House, that Stone, which he had set up should be God' s House, 28 Gen. and according­ly [Page 381] when he was returned from Padan-Aram, God himself commanded him to go up to Bethel and dwell there, and to make there an Altar to God, who appeared to him, when he fled from the Face of his Brother Esau, 35 Ge­nes. 1.

After the Days of the Patriarchs, the next instance of this nature, is that of Moses to whom God appeared in a burn­ing Bush, and said, Draw not nigh hither, put off thy Shoes from off thy Feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground, that is, consecrated by the Presence of God, to whom we must approach with all external Reverence, which pulling off the Shoes was an expression of in those Eastern Countries, 3 Exod. 1, &c. and a like example we have in Ioshua 5 Chap. 13, 14, 15.

And this is a true Account of the ho­liness even of the Iewish Tabernacle and Temple: There were indeed great My­steries concealed under Types and Fi­gures, but these Types were not the holiness of the place, but God's pecu­liar Presence there. When Moses had set up the Tabernacle, a Cloud covered the Tent of the Congregation, and the Glo­ry of the Lord filled the Tabernacle, 40 [Page 382] Exod. 34. Thus at the Dedication of Solomon's Temple, when the Priests were come out of the Holy Place, the Cloud filled this House of the Lord, so that the Priests could not stand to minister because of the Cloud, for the Glory of the Lord had filled the House of the Lord, 1 Kings 8. 10, 11. This was a visible Sign, that God had taken possession of this House, and would dwell there, as Solomon ex­pounds it 12, 13, ver. Then spake Solo­mon, the Lord said he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built Thee a House to dwell in, a setled place for Thee to abide in for ever. For this reason it is called the House of God, his Habitation, his Dwelling-place, his Gate, his Courts, and (which is the true Interpretation of all this) his Presence. Let us come be­fore his Presence with thansgiving 95 Psal. 2. that is, to his House and Temple, where God is present, which is there­fore called appearing before the Lord, as all the Tribes of Israel were commanded to do three times every year, at the three solemn Festivals, and this ap­pearing before the Lord, was their coming up to Ierusalem to worship at the Temple.

This I hope sufficiently proves, that [Page 383] both before and under the Law, God, who is essentially present in all places, was yet so peculiarly present in some places, as he was not in others.

2. But for the better understanding this, we must inquire, what this special and peculiar Presence of God is. For this seems a great difficulty to some Men, that God who is present every where, should not be equally present in all places: But the Account of this I think is plain and short, that though God is present every where, he is not equally present in all places to all purposes, which is the only possible di­stinction, that can be made concern­ing the Presence of an omnipresent Being. God is present in Heaven, in Earth, and in Hell; but he manifests himself very differently in each, and these different Manifestations are a diffe­rent kind of presence.

As to keep to my present Subject: God is present in all the Earth, as the Supreme Lord, Governour, and Pre­server of all things; but in some Places he was peculiarly present to reveal his Will to Men, and to receive their Hom­age and Adorations: And this is that, [Page 384] which is peculiarly called the Presenc [...] of God in Scripture, as is evident fro [...] all the instances, which I have already given.

But is not God present in all place [...] to hear the Prayers of good Men, wh [...] call upon him? Yes, most certainly and so he was both before, and under th [...] Law, and yet we see, that he sanctifie [...] some places with his more peculiar pre [...] sence for the Publick and Solemn Acts of Worship. A Prince may receive [...] private Petition from a private Hand [...] wherever he is present, but yet may think it very fitting to appoint a Pre­sence of State to receive the public [...] Homage and Addresses of his Subjects [...] thus in fact it was in the Iewish Temple and was as reasonable as the publick So­lemnities of worship are, without which Religion it self would be banished the World. For did Men once believe, that they could worship God as well at home as at Church, that God is no more pre­sent in religious Assemblies; than in their private Closets, there were an end of Publick Worship and of Religion with it. This is too visible in those, who have entertained this Opinion, they eit [...] quite desert the Publick Worship, and [Page 385] grow careless and unconcerned for Re­ligion, or if they do sometimes come to Church, it is to comply with Popu­lar Custom and Opinion, or only to gratifie an itching Ear, and Athenian like, to hear some new thing. But when God who has his Throne in Heaven, has his Footstool and Pre­sence on Earth, where he commands us to pay our Homage; this preserves the Sense of God and of Religion alive in the World, and gives a just awe and re­verence for God, when we approach his Presence.

This is a very Sensible Reason for ap­propriated places of Worship, where God vouchsafes his more peculiar Presence: if this were not originally a Divine In­stitution, as the Instances I have already given fairly intimate it was, then meer natural Reason taught it all Mankind; for there never was any Nation, which worshipped any God, but they erected Temples for their Worship: The Pover­ty and persecuted State of the Christian Church for the three first Centuries, have made some think that they had no Churches, or appropriated Places of Worship; but a learned Man of our own Mr. Mede. has proved beyond all contradiction, [Page 386] that this is a mistake; and the Zeal o [...] Christians in building Magnificent Chur­ches in the Reign of Constantine, the firs [...] Christian Emperor, shews plainly wha [...] their Sense was of this matter.

And it is as evident, that all Nations did believe, that the Gods they wor­shipped, were peculiarly present in their Temples. The Pagans did not believ [...] their Gods to be Omnipresent, and therefore endeavoured by Magical Spell [...] and Charms, to shut them up in thei [...] Images and Temples, that they migh [...] know where to find them; and in thi [...] Notion, the ancient Christians abomi­nated the thoughts of Temples and Ima­ges, since they worshipped a God, wh [...] fills Heaven and Earth with his Pre­sence; this indeed was a corruption o [...] Natural Religion, as Polytheism and [...] dolatry was, but shews, how necessary they thought a Divine Presence to [...] place of Worship.

The Iews understood better, tha [...] God could not be confined to any place [...] that the Heaven and Heaven of Heaven [...] could not contain him, as Solomon owns in his Prayer of Dedication, but yet begs, that God would be graciously pleased to be present to hear and answer the Pray­ers [Page 387] and Supplications, which should be made to him in that House; which is all the peculiar Presence he prays for, which is necessary to make a House of Prayer, the name God himself gives to the Iewish Temple; My House shall be called a House of Prayer.

Now if this be the proper notion of God's House, that it is a House of Pray­er, a House where God is peculiarly present to hear our Prayers, we must own, that every Christian Church is as much the House of God as the Temple at Ierusalem was, unless we will deny, that God is as present in Christian As­semblies, and in places dedicated to Christian Worship, as he was in the Iewish Temple; which is to make Christi­anity a more imperfect Dispensation than Iudaism; for that is certainly the most perfect state of the Church, where God is most peculiarly present.

There is indeed a great difference be­tween the Iewish Temple and Christian Churches, but as to the Presence of God, which only makes a Temple, the advantage is greatly on the Christian side.

The Ark of the Covenant, the Ta­bernacle and Temple, contained many [Page 388] Types and Figures of Christ; but these Types were not the Presence of God, nor the Object of their Religious Worship, which had been Idolatry a­gainst the Second Commandment; but for the sake of these Types, God chose that place for his peculiar Presence: Now instead of these Types, we have the Antetype it self, the Son of God made Flesh, who though ascended into Heaven, has promised his peculiar Pre­sence in all the Assemblies of Christians; which is such a Presence of God, as never filled the Iewish Temple, till Christ appeared; for which Reason God tells them, that the Second Temple, though it fell vastly short of the Ex­ternal Beauty and Magnificence of the First, yet should excel in Glory, by the personal Appearance of Christ in it, Haggai 2. 3, 7. Malach. 3. 1. So that Christ having promised, that wherever two or three are gathered together in his Name, he will be in the midst of them, every Christian Church has a Divine Presence greater than the Temple. For though we should grant, that this Pro­mise extends to all the occasional Meet­ings of Christians, whatever the Place be, yet it much more extends to all [Page 389] the Solemn and Publick Places and Acts of Worship.

Thus there was but one Temple in the whole Land of Canaan, God for Mystical Reasons, confining his more peculiar Presence to that House, where he had placed the Types and Figures of Christ, through whom only we have Access to God; but now this blessed Jesus, who is greater than the Temple, is in all Christian Assemblies, and makes every Christian Church greater than the Temple: In this Sense our Savi­our told the Woman of Samaria, Woman, believe me, the Hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this Mountain, nor yet at Ierusa­lem, worship the Father, Iohn 4. 21. which does not signifie, that hereafter there should be no peculiar and appro­priate Places of Worship, but that the Presence and Worship of God, should no longer be confined to any one Place, neither to the Temple of Ieru­salem, nor Samaria; but it should be free all the World over, to erect Houses of Prayer and Worship, where God would be as present with them, as in the Temple of Ierusalem; for there should be an end now put to that Typical State and Typical Worship, which was [Page 390] confined to the Temple, and the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth; and this Spiritual Worship is confined to no one Place, but will find God present all the World over; which is so far from abroga­ting all peculiar Places of Worship, such as the Temple at Ierusalem and Samaria were, that it makes every Church, whatever part of the World it be in, in a truer Sense the House of God, than ever the Temple at Ierusalem was.

And there is one thing more of great consequence, which we learn from this, that we now want no new Ap­pearance of God to consecrate a Place for his Worship, as it was in the Days of the Patriarchs, nor any new Com­mand to appoint us where to build a House for God, as it was under the Law: Our Saviour has consecrated e­very part of the World, where Christi­ans live, to be such Holy Ground as is fit to receive a Temple and House of God; and his Promise to be in the midst of the Assemblies of Christians, gives us as great an Assurance of a Divine Presence in such Places, as if like the Tabernacle and Temple, we [Page 391] saw them again filled with a Cloud and a visible Glory.

Having thus shewn you, that God, who fills all Places, is yet peculiarly present in some Places; and what this peculiar Presence is, that God is pre­sent as the Object of our Worship, to hear our Prayers, and to receive our Praises and Thanksgivings, our Alms and Oblations, let us now consi­der the Exhortation of my Text, which is the natural Improvement of this, O worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness.

1st. And here first I observe, that the very External Beauty and Ornament of God's House, is one Part of Homage, which we owe to him. The Riches and visible Glory of Solomon's Temple, was one of the Wonders of the World; a Divine Art and Nature conspired to build a House, as fit as Art and Nature could make it, to signifie the incom­municable Majesty and Glory of that God who dwelt there. And this Na­ture taught all Mankind; the Magni­ficence of their Temples did not only shew their Devotion, but what their Art, and what their Riches were. And [Page 392] the Primitive Christians, when they enjoyed Peace and Plenty under Chri­stian Emperors, were so far from think­ing this a Piece of Pagan or Iewish Su­perstition, that their first Care was to erect Beautiful and Stately Churches, to rival and out-do all the External Glo­ry of Pagan Temples; and it was al­ways accounted a great Instance of the Piety of Princes to encourage and pro­mote such Works.

But you'll say, what is all this to God? Can we think, that he, who has made the World with such unimitable Art and Beauty, can be pleas'd with any House we can build for him, whatever Art or Riches we bestow on it? But this very Objection answers it self: For God has made this Beautiful World for his Temple, and has chose the most Glorious Part of it for his Throne; which shews, that though he be an in­finite pure Spirit, he does not despise an External Glory; for thus he must represent his invisible Greatness and Majesty to his Creatures. And there­fore when he thinks fit to vouchsafe his Presence with us on Earth, we must provide the most honourable Reception for him that we can; and when we [Page 393] have done all that Art and Nature can do, we have so far express'd our De­votion and Reverence for the Divine Presence.

This Objection lay against the Tem­ple at Ierusalem, as well as against Chri­stian Churches; and yet David thought it very undecent, and a want of a just Reverence for God, that he himself should dwell in a House of Cedar, and the Ark of God dwell within Curtains, 2 Sam. 7. 2. which should be considered by those Men, who think all that is bestowed upon Beautifying and Adorn­ing God's House a vain and superfluous Expence, when they think no Cost too great to adorn their own.

2dly. The House of God too must be used as God's House; that is, must be separated from common Uses, and appropriated to the Worship of God. It must not be a Place of Trade and Commerce, and ordinary Conversation, as we learn from our Saviour's Zeal in driving those who sold Oxen, and Sheep, and Doves, and the Changers of Money out of the Temple; which he did at two several times; the first immediately upon his entrance on his [Page 394] Ministry, Ioh 2. 13, 14, 15, 16. the se­cond immediately before his Crucifixi­on, Matth. 21. 12, 13.

Some learned Men observe, that the Place of this Merchandise in the Tem­ple, was the Court of the Gentiles; and from hence conclude, that our Sa­viour's Zeal was not confined to the Iewish Temple, but concerned all Chri­stian Churches, to which the Court of the Gentiles bore a greater Analogy; but whatever Force there may be in this, I think the Reasons our Saviour gives, do much better explain his meaning: Make not my Father's House a House of Merchandise, John 2. 16. and it is writ­ten, My House shall be called a House of Prayer, but ye have made it a Den of Thieves, Matth. 21. 13. Which Reasons have no relation to the typical State of the Iewish Temple, but equally concern all Places, which are the House of God, and the House of Prayer; that is, where God vouchsafes his peculiar Presence to hear our Prayers.

And indeed, when Christ expressed so much Zeal for the House of God, when the typical Glory of the Iewish Temple was at an end, having received its Accomplishment in his own Person, [Page 395] it is a very good Reason to believe, that he intended this as a standing Rule for the Religious Use of all Christian Churches and Oratories: I am sure the Reason is universal and unanswerable, that the House of God, which is a House of Prayer, ought not to be pro­phaned by any common Uses.

3dly. Let us worship in the Beauty of Holiness; that is, let us resort to the House of God, to the House of Prayer, there to offer up our Prayers and Thanksgivings to him. For if God have a House, where he has promised his peculiar Presence to hear our Prayers, that is the proper and peculiar Place of Worship. The Scripture makes it a ve­ry material Circumstance of Worship to approach God's House, to enter in­to his Courts, to come into his Pre­sence, to own our selves his Servants and Worshippers; and without dispa­raging private Prayers, or Closet and Family Devotions, there is no reason to think God will own those for his Wor­shippers, who deny him this publick Homage.

There is no doubt, but God knows our Prayers, where-ever we make them, [Page 396] for he knows our very Thoughts; but to hear Prayers, signifies a gracious and favourable Acceptance; and this no Man can promise himself, who will not pray, where God has promised to hear.

All the Promises of the Gospel are originally made to the Christian Church, the Body of Christ, and to particular Christians, as Members of, and in Communion with the Christian Church. But those cannot pretend to be in Com­munion with the Church, who never Communicate with it; who, though they form no Schism, yet withdraw themselves from its Publick Assem­blies, and will either be no Christians (which I fear is too often the Case) or will be Christians by themselves. Now if they know of any Promises made to them in this single Capacity, let them take the Comfort of it; for my part I know of none. Those who live in Communion with the Church, and serve God in his House, as oft as Leisure and Opportunity will permit, may expect a Gracious Return to their Private Prayers, which are of­fered to God in the Name of Christ, and in the Communion of the Church; [Page 397] but this is no Encouragement to those, who set up Private Devotions against Publick Worship.

4thly. Let us worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness; that is, when we approach the House of God, let us take care to worship him: This is the proper Work of the Place; we have no other Business here; and it is Pro­phaneness not to do it. There is no Reverence due to the House, as I ob­served before, but there is to that God who dwells in it. When Moses and Ioshua were commanded to put off their Shoes, because the Ground was Holy, it was not to worship the Ground, but that God who was present there. And for the same Reason, if we be­lieve the Presence of God in Christian Churches, it will not only justifie, but require all the visible Signs of a Reli­gious Reverence, that to uncover the Head, and bow the Body may escape the Censure of Superstition or Ido­latry.

And while we are in the House and Presence of God, especially in time of Worship, we must carefully ab­stain from all irreverent Behaviour, [Page 398] Laughing, Whispering, Talking, or a­ny such Indecencies, as unbecoming the Presence of a Prince, or any Superi­ours, much more the Presence of God.

And yet this is too familiar a Practice, and that among some, who if they have no sense of, or Reverence for the Divine Presence themselves, yet in good Man­ners and common Prudence, ought not to affront Christian Assemblies, nor set such a scandalous Example to others. What St. Paul said to the Corinthians concerning their irreverent Behaviour at the Lord's Supper, is very applica­ble to these Men: Have ye not Houses to converse, and talk, and laugh in, or despise ye the Church and Presence of God?

And when we approach the House of God, let us heartily joyn in all the parts of Worship, with Attention of Mind, and fervent Passions. This be­comes the Place, and the Presence we are in. We come to worship God; and not to worship him is a Contempt, and a Contempt put upon him in his own Presence.

And truly I know not how to ex­cuse those from this Contempt, who turn their Backs upon any part of the Chri­stian [Page 399] Worship. You may easily guess what I mean: Is Communicating at the Lord's Table any Part of the Chri­stian Worship? Nay, is it not the principal Part of it? How comes it to pass then, that when our Churches are crowded at Prayers or Sermons, the Ta­ble of the Lord is deserted? Certain­ly if Christ be ever present with us, it is in this Mysterious Supper: Why then do we fly from the Presence of our Lord? Why do we approach his House, and refuse to eat and drink at his Ta­ble, though he offers us the dearest Pled­ges of his Love, his Flesh to eat, and his Blood to drink?

To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be Honour, Glory, and Power, now and for ever.

Amen.

TO Praise God is acknowledged by all men to be the most Excellent part of Divine Worship; it is the Reli­gion of happy Creatures, and the Na­tural Homage due to Infinite Goodness, which is the most Glorious Perfection of the Deity. It exercises the best Passions of our Souls in the most per­fect manner, Love, Ioy, Reverence, Ad­miration, which are the proper Passions of Devotion, made for God, who is their last Object; and made for the [Page 402] praise of God, which is their most per­fect Exercise. We cannot well con­ceive, what other Acts of Religion can be proper for Heaven; when we shall be advanced to the utmost perfection of our Natures; when we shall have put of Mortality and Corruption, and all other wants with them; when a Complete and Consummate Happiness shall leave no more place for Desire; when we shall have nothing more to ask of God, nothing more to expect, but the secure Possession and Enjoyment of those Pleasures which fill but never sa­tiate; which are Eternally repeated, and are Eternally New and Fresh; I say in such a State as this, as Faith will be turned into Sight, and Hope into En­joyment; so Prayer also, which is so great a part of the Worship of Sinners, and indigent Creatures, will be all turn­ed into Thanksgiving and Praise. Now as for this reason St. Paul prefers Cha­rity before Faith and Hope; because, though they are admirable Graces for the state of Christians in this World, and absolutely necessary to carry us to Heaven; yet they cannot enter into Heaven themselves, where Charity at­tains its greatest Glory and Perfection; [Page 403] so by the same Reason it appears, that Praise and Thanksgiving is the most ex­cellent part of Worship, because this is the Religion of Heaven, and therefore ought to be the chief Delight and Entertain­ment of those who hope to go to Heaven.

But what is it to praise God? Is it on­ly to sing aloud, and to make a joyful noise to God? Does it consist meerly in the Harmonious Melody of Voices, and Musical Instruments? Does he praise God best, who composes the best An­thems, or sings them best? Or do we think, that we then praise God best, when we feel our selves the most trans­ported and ravished with excellent Mu­sick, performed by the best Voices, the choicest Instruments, and the great­est Masters? This is a very easy and a pleasant way of praising God, if this would carry us to Heaven; but this is only to praise the Musick, the Compo­sition, or the Performance, when we think of nothing else, come for no o­ther end, and mean no more by it. I would not have you mistake me; I do not appear in this place at this time to decry or disparage the use of Musick in the Worship of God, which would nei­ther become this Presence, nor my own [Page 404] Character; but to perswade and direct you to turn the Delights and Charms of Musick, into the Raptures of Devotion which would the most effectually si­lence all the Enemies of Church-Musick, and Cathedral-Worship, while as a di­vine Poet of our own Sings, This would visibly turn Delight into a Sacrifice.

Now since Musick, what ever it be, and how well soever performed, is of no use or value in Religion, but as it serves the true ends of Devotion; we must en­quire, What that Harmony and Melody is which is so acceptable to God; How fit External and Sensible Melody is to pro­mote this; and how it may and ought to be improved to that purpose.

1. As for the first, I need not tell any Man, who understands the Nature of Christian Worship, that it is only they Melody of the Heart, as St. Paul speakes, that pleaseth God; All true Christian Worship, whatever the exter­nals of it are, is the Worship of the Mind and Spirit. This alone is that Worship which it becomes a reason­able Creature to pay to his Maker, his Sovereign Lord and Saviour, as the Blessed Virgin sang, My Soul doth mag­nifie the Lord, and my Spirit hath re­joiced [Page 405] in God my Saviour. For it is the Mind only that can praise God, though the tongue must sing his Praises. The best composed Hymns, the most Musi­cal Instruments, the most Charming Voices, are but lifeless Mechanical Sounds, till they are Animated and In­spired by the Devotion of the Heart; and God takes no more pleasure in the best Voices, than in bodily strength or beauty. Now the Melody of the Heart, is the Consent and Harmony of all the Powers and Passions of our Souls in the Praises of God. When Love, and Joy, and Admiration, and the profoundest Reverence bear their several Parts, and offer up our whole Souls as a Living Vocal Hymn of Praise: Then we sing aloud in our Hearts to God, when we feel the greatest Transports and Extasies of these Divine Passions, which swallow us up in God, and unite us to the Hea­venly Quire: Then we sing with true Melody in our Hearts to God, when these Divine Passions, which are Essen­tial to Praise and Thanksgiving, charm all our earthly Passions into a Calm; quiet all their Storms and Tumults; leave no jarring Discords, no Discon­tents, no Sollicitous Cares, no Jealou­sies, [Page 406] no Envyings, to discompose the Harmony of our Souls, which must be all Peace, all Love, all Joy, to sing with a true Divine Melody the Praises of God. This, and nothing else, is the true Praise of God, when our minds are filled with such bright Ideas of his Glory and Perfections, with such a live­ly Sense of his Majesty, Wisdom, Goodness, Power, discover'd in his great and wonderful Works of Creation, Providence, and the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ, as transport us with Love, Admiration, and Joy. A Heart thus full of God, will break forth into Songs of Praise; When the Fire is kindled within, as the Psalmist observes from his own Experi­ence, we shall then speak with our Tongues; Here our Praises ought to begin, to be sure here they must always end, in the Heat and fervour of our Affections, and an inward feeling of the Divine Praises, if we would have them an acceptable Worship of God. As far as the Harmony of Voices or Musical Instruments serve this End, they are excellent Helps to Devotion; but it is only their Subservi­ency to the Devotion of the Mind, which gives them any Value, or al­lows [Page 407] them any Place in Religious Worship.

2dly. Let us then consider of what Use Musick is to excite and quicken our Affections, and to give a new Life and Spirit to Devotion. Man is not all Soul and Spirit, but a compound Crea­ture, consisting of Soul and Body; and while our Souls are vitally united to Bo­dies, they receive most of their Passions from them; at least feel the most strong and vigorous Motions from those Im­pressions which our Senses make; and Sight it self does not more variously af­fect our Minds than Hearing does; Words and Sounds have very powerful Charms, and give as quick a Turn to our Thoughts and Passions, as Sight it self, and not only Words but even a diver­sity of Sounds, are fitted by Nature to express, and to excite very different Pas­sions. Love, Joy, Admiration, Desire, Fear, Sorrow, Indignation, Revenge, give some distinguishing Notes and Ac­cents to the very Voice, which no Art, but Nature teaches, and which betrays the Passion without speaking a Word; And such different Notes will also as forcibly imprint such Passions on our [Page 408] Minds, as they naturally represent, and that many times whether we will or no; which is a great Secret in Na­ture, and shews an unaccountable Sym­pathy between Sounds and Passions; which are by turns the Natural effects and causes of each other: and there needs no other proof what the natural power of Musick must be, to raise and to calm our Passions; and the Experience of all Man­kind tells us, that thus it is; when the Composer knows how to fit Notes to Passions; which the Knowledge of Hu­mane Nature, not the meer proportion of Sounds must teach him. Without this a fine piece of Musick is like a company of fine Words put together, without any great Sense or Meaning; they make a fine Sound, and that is all.

Now if there be a Natural Sympathy, and mutual Causality between Sounds and Passions, there is no doubt, but true Devotional Musick will Excite or Heigh­ten our Devotional Passions, as we dai­ly see and complain, that wanton and amorous Airs are apt to kindle wanton Fires; for Nature will act like it self, whether you apply it to good or to bad purposes. If there be no force in Mu­sick to give a good or bad tincture to [Page 409] the Mind, why do any Men complain of wanton Songs? They may then blame the Poet, but neither the Com­poser nor Singer; for the Musick, it seems, does no hurt: if there be, Why do they condemn Church-Musick, which will have as good an Influence up­on a devout Mind, as the other has a bad One?

Why then should any Man think Mu­sick improper for the worship of God? It is a Natural Power, though improv­ed by Art, as most other natural Pow­ers are; and all Natural Powers are made for the Worship and Service of God, as far as they are capable of serv­ing him; which Musick is in a very high Degree, if it have such a Natural Power over our Passions, as to Increase and Actuate, though it can't create De­votion.

Both Poetry and Musick were origi­nally used to celebrate the Praises of God; lost their Glory, when they de­scended to meaner Subjects, but were prophaned by a prostitution to men's Lusts and Vices. The first account we have of singing, is the Song of Moses, Exod. 15. when God had made the Chil­dren of Israel to pass through the Red-Sea [Page 410] on dry ground, and had drowned the Aegyptians; and we can't have a more ancient Account than this, which is the most ancient History in the World. And throughout the Old Testament, both Vocal and Instrumental Musick, was not only used in the Worship of God; but this was the Chief, if not the only Use of it. This is acknowledged by all; but some will not allow it to be a Pattern for Christian Worship. They reckon Musick among the Ceremonies of the Iewish Law, fitted to the carnal State of that People, and abrogated with the other Legal Ceremonies, by the more perfect Dispensation of the Gospel, which requires a more Spiritual Worship. But a few words will shew, how unreasonable this Pretence is.

The Song of Moses and Miriam was before the giving of the Law, and there­fore no part of it; and though this is the first time we read of Singing, there is no Reason to think, that this was the first beginning of it. We read of no In­stitution of Singing, though we do of Singers; that Singing seems as Ancient and Natural, as publick Worship.

But suppose Singing had been part of the Mosaical Law; the Gospel of o [...]r [Page 411] Saviour abrogates nothing of that Law, but such Types as receive their accom­plishment in Christ, or such Appendant Ceremonies as were meer Signs and Fi­gures of an Evangelical Righteousness: But what is Singing a Type of any more than speaking? For it is only a more Harmonious and Emphatical way of speaking; and I see no Reason, why Men may not reject Vocal Prayer, as well as Vocal Musick, because they were both used by the Iews. Whatever Ob­jections are now made against Church-Musick, which I have not now time particularly to examine, were as good Objections in David's time, as they are now; and yet then Prophets composed Hymns, and Prophets set the Tunes; for so the chief Musitians to whom David directs his Psalms, as the Titles of some of them express, were Prophets as well as Musitians; and methinks Men should speak more favourably of such Practices as were under the Directi­on and Government of Inspired Men.

In the Vision of the Prophet Isaiah, 6 Ch. 1, 2, 3. v. The Seraphims are re­presented crying one to another, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of his Glory. This is [Page 412] acknowledged to be a great Example o [...] Antiphonal singing, in which one an­swers another. But then they say, this plainly refers to the Ancient Temple-Wor­ship, and must not be admitted a Precedent for Christian Practice. But if the Tem­ple-Worship be a fit Precedent for the Worship of Angels, Why may it not be a Precedent for the Worship of Christi­ans? whose Worship as pure and Spiri­tual as it is, falls vastly short of Angeli­cal Worship. But do not the Angels then thus Worship God in Heaven? this would be a new Objection against our Liturgy, never thought of before, which in the Te Deum teaches us to Sing, To Thee all Angels cry aloud, the Heavens and all the Powers therein.

To Thee Cherubin and Seraphin continu­ally do cry.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sab­boath.

Heaven and Earth are full of the Ma­jesty of thy Glory.

And if the Angels thus sing in Hea­ven, surely the Precedent is not unwor­thy of the Christian Church on Earth.

The like Representation we meet with of the four Beasts, and twenty four Elders, Rev. 4. And the same Answer is [Page 413] given to it, That the Images in the Apo­ [...]lyptick Visions are fetched from the Law, [...]d not from the Gospel. But whensoever these Images were originally taken, this Book was directed to the Christian Churches, and therefore was a Rule and Precedent for them. It all along de­scribes the State of the Christian, not of the Iewish Church, and therefore their Worship too: And if we look into the fifth Chapter, we shall find these four Beasts, and twenty four Elders were Christians, who were redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, and sung the Song of the Lamb; Thou art worthy to take the Book, and to open the Seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast Redeemed us to God out of every Kindred, and Tongue, and People, and Nation, and hast made us into our God Kings and Priests, and we shall reign upon the Earth, Ver. 9, 10. This I take to be a Christian Hymn, and therefore a Pattern for Christian Worship.

And as much as some smile at the Conceit, I can't but think, that the general Exhortations in the new Testa­ment, to sing to God, To admonish one another in Psalms, and Hymns, and Spi­ritual Songs, Singing and making Melody [Page 414] in our Hearts to the Lord; though the [...] are not an Apostolical Institution of Quire, nor do prescribe the particula [...] Forms of Cathedral Worship; yet the [...] justifie it all, as far as it is fitted to th [...] true Ends of Devotion; for the Apostle [...] knew after what manner they sung i [...] the Iewish Church; and had this bee [...] so unfit, as is pretended for Christian Worship, they would not have exhort­ed Christians to sing, without giving them a Caution against Iewish Singing.

And now it does not seem to me much to the purpose, to enquire whe­ther this Practice was for any time in­termitted in the Christian Church and When, and upon what Occasion i [...] was Restored; For if what I have now discoursed hold good, it justifies the Use of Musick in Religious Worship, when­ever it can be had; though there may be some Times and Circumstances, which will not allow it. Though it could be certainly proved, that this was disused for the first three Centuries in the Christian Church, while they were under a state of Persecution: This would be no greater Argument to me against Cathedral-Worship, than it is against Cathedral Churches: The Poverty and [Page 415] afflicted State of the Church at that time would allow neither; but Prosperity by degrees restored them to both. We may as well argue against the Use of Musick in the Iewish Church, because under the Babylonish Captivity they hung their Harps upon the Willows, and re­fused to sing the Songs of Sion in a strange Land, to those who carried them away Captives. The Primitive Christi­ans in those days never declared their dislike of this way of Worship, but their Condition would not bear it. No Chri­stian will deny, that singing the Praises of God and their Saviour, was always a principal part of Christian Worship, and therefore was the worship of the Primitive Christians, unless they were defective in a Principal part of Wor­ship; so that the only Dispute can be about the manner of Singing; and the chief thing objected, is the Antipho­nal way of singing; which is acknowledg­ed to have been used in the Iewish Church, and therefore has the same Au­thority that Singing has: But yet I will yield the Cause, if any Man can give me a good Reason, why it should be very Lawful, and an excellent part of Religi­on, for a hundred Men, suppose, to sing [Page 416] a whole Psalm together; but very Un­lawful, and a Corruption of Religion, to sing it Alternately; Fifty to sing One Verse, and Fifty the Next; when by their Answering each other, they mutually excite each other's De­votion, and signifie the Consent and Union of their Prayers and Praises in the Whole.

But setting aside the afflicted State of the Christian Church, the Profess'd Enemies of Cathedral-Worship allow us as Great and Early Authorities as we desire. St. Basil, St. Ambrose, and St. Chrysostom, always will be Venera­ble Names. The Church was restored to Peace but in the Fourth Century, and then this Worship revived, and that by the Authority and Example of as Great and Good Men as any the Church had.

That Erasmus himself, and many Re­formers, were great Enemies to this way of Worship, as it was then pra­ctised in the Church of Rome, is no great Wonder, when their Hymns, as well as their Prayers, being perform­ed in an unknown Tongue, all their Singing was meer Noise, which could contribute nothing to Devotion. But [Page 417] this is no greater Argument against our English Hymns and Anthems, than against our English Prayers. If they meant any thing more we must demand their Reasons: For as for Authority, our own Reformers and Reformation have, an [...] that deservedly, a much greater Authority in the World.

But I must hasten to a Conclusion: Which brings me to the Third Thing I proposed, How Musick may, and ought to be improved to the Purposes of Devotion: And here I must beg leave to speak something briefly to Three Sorts of Men; Composers, Sing­ers, and Hearers; which will serve for the Application of the Whole.

First, As for Composers, Those who set our Hymns and Anthems to Mu­sical Notes. I do not pretend to Skill in Musick, much less to be able to Teach such great Masters as this Age hath bred; but I hope in some Mea­sure I do, and may be allowed to Un­derstand and Teach Devotion, which is all I intend in this; for that which according to all the Rules of Art must be allowed for excellent Musick, may not always be proper for Devotion.

[Page 418] It is a great Mistake in Composing Hymns and Anthems, to consider only what Notes are Musical, and will Delight and Entertain the Hearers: The true Rule is, What Notes are most proper to Excite or Quicken such Passions of Devotion, as the Words of the Hymn or Anthem Express. This indeed can't be done without Skill in Musick, but true Devotion is the best Director of that Skill; for a Devout Mind will judge of the Devotion, as a Skilful Ear does of the Musick of Sounds: That the most certain way for the greatest Masters to Compose such Hymns and Anthems as are fit for the Worship of God, and may best serve the Devotions of Christians, is to work their own Minds first into all those Heights and Flames of Devotion, which they are to Express in Sounds: which they will find a double Advan­tage in; it will make them Good Christians, and Admirable Composers of Church-Musick.

A Devout Ear without any great Skill in Musick, soon finds the want of this.

A Grave, Serious Mind, which is the true Temper of Devotion, is disturb­ed [Page 419] by Light and Airy Compositions, which disperse the Thoughts, and give a Gay and Frisking Motion to the Spi­rits, and call the Mind off from the Praises of God, to attend meerly to the agreeable Variety of Sounds, which is all that can be expected from such Sounds as have nothing of Devotion in them: Which is so much the worse still, when, (as is now grown very common in such Compositions) they are elog­ged with Needless and Endless Repeti­tions. A Repetition serves only to give an Emphasis, and it requires a great Judgment to place it Right; and is very absurd when it is placed Wrong: but we often see, that there is too lit­tle Regard had to this: The Skill of Altering Notes is the whole Design, which when there is not very great oc­casion for it, is like School-Boys Varying Phrases, or like Ringing the Changes; which how entertaining soever it be, when we have nothing to do but to at­tend to Sounds, is yet very Nauseous and Offensive to Devout Minds in Re­ligious Worship. I thank God, the Or­dinary Service of our Church is very Grave and Solemn, and well fitted to De­votion: And as for more Modern Com­positions, [Page 420] the Governours of Churches ought to take care to receive nothing into the Worship of God, but what is fitted to serve Devotion; and this would effectually answer the greatest Objections against Church-Musick.

Secondly, As for those who are Em­ployed in Singing the Church-Service and Anthems, to assist the Devotions of the Congregation, it certainly becomes them to behave themselves very De­voutly in it. Musical Instruments, which have no Life and Sense, may Minister to our Devotions, though they are capable of none themselves; but it gives great Offence and Scandal, to see those who are daily employed in Sing­ing Praises to God, to shew no Signs of Devotion in themselves, much more by an Irreverent Behaviour to betray great Symptoms of want of Devotion. I thank God we have no great reason to make this Complaint in this Church, and, I hope, shall every day have less; but this is a good occasion to mind all such Persons, how Devout they ought to be, (if Musick be a Help to Devoti­on;) who have this Advantage from Art and Nature, first to Excite their own [Page 421] Devotions, and then to Assist the De­votions of others; which last must be a very tasteless uneasie Employment, if they have no Devotion of their own: And a great Reproach also to their Art, when they themselves are Witnesses, how little Devotion it Teaches.

But there is one thing, which I be­lieve is not so well considered, which yet is just Matter of Scandal; for those who Sing Divine Hymns and Anthems at Church, and whose Prosession it is to do so, to Sing Wanton and Amorous, Lewd, Atheistical Songs out of it. Men, who have enter'd themselves into the Service of the Church, have Conse­crated their Voices to God; not so, as never to Sing any thing else but Hymns and Anthems, but yet so as never to Sing any thing to the Reproach of God, Religion, or Vertue. This unbecomes a­ny Man, who calls himself a Christi­an, much more those whose peculiar Employment it is to Sing the Praises of God.

Thirdly, As for Hearers, they ought also to consider, That their Business at Church, is not meerly to be Entertain­ed with Musick, but to Exercise their [Page 422] Devotions, which is the true End of Church-Musick; to Praise God with the more servent Passions. It is a Con­tempt of Religion, and of the House of God, to come only to please our Ears, to hear Better Voices, and more Curious Compositions, and more Art­ful Singing than we can meet with in other Places.

This I have reason to fear is the Case of very many who resort hi­ther; who, especially on the Lord's-Day, Crowd into the Church to hear the Anthem, and when that is over, to the great Disturbance of the Worship of God, and the Scandal of all good Christians, Crowd as fast out again. Though there is this good in it, that they make Room for De­vouter People, who immediately fill up their Places, to attend the Instru­ctions of God's Word. But I hope this will not be charged upon the Service of our Church, that Men who have no Devotion, come only for Mu­sick: For Church-Musick can't create Devotion, tho' it may improve it where it is.

But indeed we ought all to be a­ware that the Musick does not Em­ploy [Page 423] our Thoughts more than our Devotions; which it can never do, if as Common Sense teaches us it ought to be, our Minds be in the first place fix'd and intent upon the Prai­ses of God, which are express'd in the Hymn or Anthem; which when conveyed unto us in Musical Sounds, will give Life and Quickness to our Devotions; not first fixed on the Mu­sick, which most probably will leave the Devotion of the Anthem behind it. Those who find that Musick does not Assist but Stifle their Devotion, and many such there may be, had much better keep to their Parish-Churches, and prefer Devotion be­fore Musick. For to come to Church without any Intention to Worship God in his own House, or to pre­tend to Worship him without Devo­tion, are great Affronts to the Divine Majesty.

In a word: Those who profess themselves Lovers of Musick, ought to consider, what the true End of Mu­sick is, and to improve it to the No­blest Purposes. The meer Harmony of Sounds is a very pleasant and in­nocent Entertainment: Of all the De­lights [Page 424] of Sense, this is in it self the least sensual, when it is not abused to re­commend Vice, and to convey impure Images to our Minds: But yet meer­ly to be delighted with Charming and Musical Aires, does not answer the true Character of a Lover of Mu­sick: For it is the least thing in Mu­sick to please the Ear; its proper, natural Use, and the great Advantage and Pleasure of it, relates to our Passions: To Compose, to Soften, to Inflame them; and the Diviner Pas­sions it inspires us with, the more it is to be admired and valued, and then Musick must attain its greatest Glory and Perfection in true Devoti­on: That the Lovers of Musick ought to be very Devout Men, if they love Musick for that which is most va­luable in it, and its last and noblest End.

To conclude:

It concerns the Lovers of Musick to vindicate it from all Prophane A­buses; not to suffer so Divine a thing to be prostituted to Mens Lusts: To discountenance all Lewd, Prophane, Atheistical Songs, how admirable soe­ver the Composition be: To preserve [Page 425] Musick in its Virgin Modesty, and without confining her always to the Temple, make the Praises of God her Chief Employment, as it is her great­est Glory.

Thus have I spoke my Mind very freely; shewed you the Use and the Abuses of Musick, which was one great Inducement to me to comply with the Desires of those Honourable and Worthy Persons, who imposed this Office on me, that I might have an Opportunity of Saying that which I thought fit should be said at one time or other, and for saying of which, there could not be a more proper Oc­casion than this.

And I hope this may plead my Ex­cuse with all good Christians if it have drawn my Sermon out to too great a Length, and given too long an Inter­ruption to the Entertainment of those, the least part of whose Business it was to hear a Sermon.

To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be Honour, Glory, and Power, now and ever.

Amen.

IS Self-love then so dangerous a thing, as to make the Times peril­lous? What Times then can be prospe­rous and happy? What Age produces such Monsters as do not love them­selves? And where is the Man that would be contented to live in such an Age?

The Apostle then, by the Lovers of their own selves, cannot mean all those who are acted by this natural Principle of Self-love to take care of their own [Page 428] Happiness; for that is all Mankind, in all Ages of the World, and cannot be the Character only of the last Days, nor the cause of perillous Times.

Self-love is the very Life and Spirit of the reasonable World, which has no other Spring of Motion: It unites Men into Societies, is the Parent of all Arts and Sciences; it makes us take care of our selves, and it teaches us to do good to others: It is no Vertue it self, be­cause it is not Matter of our choice, but as necessary as our Being; but it is the Seed and Principle of all Moral Vertues, as it obliges us to make our selves happy, to preserve our Health, to encrease our Fortunes, to gain the Good­will and good Opinion of our Neigh­bours, to be easie to our selves, and to make the World easie to us; which re­quires the Practice of all healthful, thri­ving, and sociable Virtues.

It is Self-love which inspires us with that Divine Principle of Universal Good­ness and Charity, to do to other Men, what we desire they should do to us: It is this which makes us soft and ten­der to all the Impressions of Kindness, which makes us feel other Mens Suf­ferings, and other Mens Resentments in [Page 429] our own; which makes us relish the Sweetness and Pleasure of doing Good, by the Pleasure of receiving it, and gives us an Antipathy and Abhorrence of do­ing Injuries, from our natural Aversion to suffer them.

It is this Self-love which makes Man­kind governable, and secures the Peace and good Order of Humane Societies. Humane Laws would signifie very little without Rewards and Punishments, and Rewards and Punishments would signi­fie as little as Laws without Self-love: For could Men be unconcerned for them­selves; did they neither hope nor fear any thing, they could be governed only as Beasts are, by external Force. It is the love of our selves, which makes us de­light in Humane Conversation, and promote the Publick Good, wherein all Mens private Fortunes are involved.

In a word: This Self-love is the Prin­ciple of all Religion, which teaches us to love and worship God, who is eternal and essential Love and Goodness; to praise him for our Being, for our Pre­servation, for all the Enjoyments of this Life, and for the great Hopes and Expectations of the next: It teaches us to reverence his Laws, to fear his Justice [Page 430] and Power, to depend on his Provi­dence, to pray for the Supply of our Wants, and for the Pardon of our Sins [...] It gives Virtue and Efficacy to Faith and Hope, which are the great Gospel-Princi­ples of Obedience: For what would the belief and expectation of unseen Glo­ries signifie, if Men were not concern­ed to make themselves eternally happy? So wild and extravagant is that En­thusiastick Conceit of serving God with­out respect to the Recompence of Re­ward; which contradicts the whole Scope of the Gospel, all the Motives, and all the Principles of Evangelical Obedience, the Examples of all good Men, and of Christ himself, who for the Ioy that was set before him, endured the Cross, despised the Shame, and is set down at the Right Hand of God.

This is sufficient to prove, that St. Paul did not intend to condemn all Self-love, which when it acts regularly is the natural Principle of all Moral and Re­ligious Actions; and having prevented this Objection, which lay in my way, for the further Explication and Im­provement of these Words, I shall do these three Things.

• [Page 431]1. Inquire what that Self-love is, which the Apostle here condemns.
• 2. How dangerous and perillous such Times must needs be, wherein this Self-love prevails.
• 3. Shew the Folly and Unreasonable­ness, as well as Wickedness and Impiety of it.

1. What that Self-love is which the Apostle condemns. For can Self-love be the fruitful Parent of all Piety and Vir­tue, and the cause of all the Evil and Wickedness which is committed in the World? Can the same Fountain send forth sweet water and bitter? and yet thus we see it is, both good and bad Men act from a Principle of Self-love, and design their own happiness and sa­tisfaction. This inspires good Men with great and generous designs, sets them above this World, makes them devout Worshippers of God, and very just and charitable to Men: and it is the same Prin­ciple which acts in bad Men, and drives them into all the Excesses of wicked­ness; they gratifie their own Inclinati­ons [Page 432] and Appetites [...]y it; they find pre­sent Ease and Pleasure; they do what they love, they please themselves; they pursue what they call Happiness, which is Self-love still, though turned off of its natural Byass by mistaken Notions of Happiness.

All Men love themselves; but Self-love does not act alike in all Men, be­cause they are not all agreed what Self to love: For Man consists of Soul and Body, of Spirit and Flesh, which have different Interests, Appetites, and Incli­nations, and have distinct Pleasures and Satisfactions of their own. A good Man loves his whole Self, Soul and Body too, and designs and endeavours the Happiness of both, which is the en­tire Happiness of a Man; and this is a vertuous Self-love, which makes the Flesh subordinate to the Spirit, governs our sensual Appetites by Reason, im­proves our Minds in Wisdom and Know­ledge, raises our Souls up to God, and en­tertains them with the love and the ad­miration of that best of Beings; and a­bove all things, secures an eternal Inte­rest, the Salvation of our Souls, and the glorious Resurrection of our Bodies into immortal Life.

[Page 433] But a Bad Man loves but one part of himself, and that the meanest part too, and made much more mean and vile by being loved alone. His Self-love is no­thing else but the love of the Flesh, and of the Lusts, and Appetites and Pleasures of it, a love of this World, and all the objects of Sense, which gratifie a car­nal and fleshly Mind; the Soul is no part of his care, so far from it, that he is not willing to believe he has a Soul, unless it be to subdue Reason to Sense and brutish Passions, to stifle the natural no­tions of a Deity, to root up all the seeds of Piety and Vertue, or to charm his Conscience that it may not chide and condemn, and disturb him in his Enjoy­ments.

For the understanding of this we must observe, that when the Scripture condemns the love of our selves, it does not mean our Personal Self, for so eve­ry man does, and must love himself or his own Person, but it is to love some­thing for our selves, which we will have to be our selves, when God never made it to be so, which is our own Self, or a Self of our own making, and to love this Self in opposition to the Love of God and Men, which is to love our [Page 434] selves only, and to make all other things subordinate to Self, which is the ade­quate notion of a vitious Self-love.

1. It is a Self of our own making, that is, it is what a Sinner will call Him­self, and will account his whole Self; and in pleasing of which he placeth his whole happiness, though it be but a lit­tle part of that Self, which God made. God made Man Soul and Body, but such Men will call nothing themselves but Flesh: God made Man for a ratio­nal and intellectual Happiness, as he made him a reasonable Creature; but such Men place their whole Happiness in Sense. Now Flesh is not the Man of Gods making; the Pleasures of Sense are not the Happiness of a Man: Man was made to enjoy the Pleasures of Sense in con­junction with those of Reason, and in subordination to the Diviner Pleasures of the Mind; but a sensual Happiness he was not made for; that's the Happiness of an inferiour and brutish Nature: And those who will have this to be their Self and their Happiness, are their own Creatures, not Gods; and are lo­vers of their own Selves, of their own In­ventions, their own Ways and Devices, as the Scripture speaks.

[Page 435] 2. Such Men are Lovers of themselves in opposition to the Love of God: that is they are lovers of Pleasures more than lovers of God, as the Apostle here speaks: They prefer their own Will and Hu­mour and the Gratification of their Lusts before the Will and Laws of God, and in contradiction to them. A Good Man lives in subordination to God, as a Creature ought to do to his Maker and Sovereign Lord; the Will of God is the Rule of his Will and Choice, the Love of God gives Laws and Bounds to his Love of himself: He pleaseth himself in such Instances as God allows, he denies his own Will and Appetites, Inclinations and Interests when they op­pose the Will and Laws of God: Such a Man can hardly be said, to have any Self, to have any Will, any Love, any Desires of his own, for God is all this to him; God lives in him, he is more Gods, than he is his own, as St. Paul speaks. I live, yet not I but Christ li­veth in me, 2 Gal. 20. But a Bad Man hath divided himself from God, cast off his obedience, affects an indepen­dent State, to stand by himself, and to be his own Lord and Master, and a God to himself; and such a Man [Page 436] is properly said to love himself, for he distinguishes himself from God, and pre­fers himself before him.

3dly, Such Men are properly said to be Lovers of themselves, because they love themselves in opposition to the rest of Mankind; they gratifie their Lusts, and serve their private Inte­rests, without any regard to the Laws of Justice or Charity: It is their Principle to do good to themselves without ever being concerned, what either private Men, or publick Societies suffer by it: They are the whole world to themselves, and have no body else to please or take care of, unless they can serve their own designs by it: Such men are properly Lovers of themselves, that is, only of themselves, for they love no body else: And this is the sordid, narrow, selfish Spirit of Flesh and Sense, which dwells within it Self, is its own Center, and its own Circumference; for Flesh is a narrow Principle, can have no Pleasures nor feel any Pains but its own, and therefore must confine its Love and Care to its self; but a Man, who has a truly great and divine mind, who loves all Men as himself, and loves himself in conjuncti­on [Page 437] with the rest of Mankind, can by no means be called a selfish Man, or a lover of himself, for he has an universal love to Humane Nature, which begins with himself, but extends to all the World.

This is a plain and short account, what this vicious Self-love is, and why it is so called.

2dly, The Second thing I proposed, was to shew how dangerous and peril­lous such Times must needs be, wherein this Self-love Prevails. Now those are perillous Times, which expose Men to great Dangers and to great Troubles and Calamities, and that with respect to their own private Fortunes, with respect to the Publick, and with respect to the State of Religion; and what a malig­nant influence this vicious Self-love has upon all these great and dear Interests, is so visible, that methinks it should need no proof; and therefore I shall at present only give some brief Hints of it.

And I shall not here take notice how much such Self-lovers suffer from them­selves, and from their own Self-love; for though this makes themselves [...]iserable, [Page 438] it does not make the Times dangerous; the Times may be very prosperous, and good Men very happy, though such Sinners may reap the Fruits of their own Works, and be filled with their own De­vices; though they sacrifice their Ho­nour, their Estates, their Health, their Lives to Intemperance and Lust; though Ambition heats their brains into a Di­straction, and Cares, and Disappoint­ments break their Hearts, or Guilt di­sturbs their Consciences, and fills them with Rage and furious Despair; the World is not much concerned in this; let such Self-lovers look to it, and thank themselves for what they suffer; but then the Times are dangerous with re­spect to our private and personal Interests, when Men are in great danger from one another; when they are never secure from private Injuries, when they know not whom to trust, nor with whom to converse, when it is hard to find a Friend, and almost impossible to escape an Ene­my; when the greatest Virtue, Inno­cence, Inoffenciveness, nay the Divinest Charity, and all the charms of an ob­liging Conversation, cannot secure Men from Envy, Rapine, and Detracti­on, from the Venom of Tongues, or [Page 439] from more malicious designs against their Lives and Fortunes; such a State as this will make all Good Men wish as David did, O that I had wings like a Dove, for then would I flie away and be at rest; Lo then would I wander far off, and remain in the Wilderness, I would hasten my E­scape from the windy Storm and Tempest. 55 Psa. 6, 7, 8 Verses.

And this is the very State which Self-love puts Mankind into, when it prevails in the World. This a late admired Philosopher calls the State of Nature, wherein every Man is a Woolf to a Man, but in truth it is only the State of this vicious Self-love which is the Cor­ruption and Degeneracy of a reasonable and sociable Nature. If Man was made for Society, it cannot be his Nature to love no body but himself, which is a Contradiction to the Nature and End of Societies. He must first put off Nature, if that be this Self-love, before he can be capable of living in Society, which seems very unaccountable, that a Creature, who was made for Society, should not be fit for Society till he change his Na­ture.

For Men cannot live together in safe­ty, while they are all acted by this Prin­ciple; [Page 440] Self-love makes every Man his own Center, and the Center draws all to it self, all that is within its sphaere of activity. Pride is Self-love, such an esteem for our selves, as values no Man's Honour or Reputation but our own; and this draws all Honour to it self, is not contented unless it can out­shine all others, and either by a greater brightness swallow them up, or eclipse them by black and misty Vapours, by all the Arts of Infamy and Reproach.

Covetousness is Self-love when Men will be rich, whoever be poor, and by whatever Arts they can do it; and this draws all riches to it self, and snatches them from all that come within its reach: and what Injustice and Violence, Theft, Murders, Perjuries does this oc­casion.

Self-love is the love of the Flesh, the love of carnal and sensual Pleasures, which will please it self whoever be grieved and injured by it: Such bru­tish Sensualists have no regard to the Ho­nour and Peace of Families, to the Mo­desty of Virgins, to the Sacred Vows of Wives, to the Stain and Infamy of Po­sterity; nay, many times not to the dig­nity of Humane Nature; but gratifie [Page 441] their Lusts in contradiction to them all.

Where Self-love reigns, there is no place for Compassion, for Charity, for Justice, for true Friendship; every thing must give way to Self; and let any man judge whether such be not perillous Times; some such Men there are always in the World, and great numbers of them too, and we daily feel what mis­cheifs they do; but the more the num­bers of them encrease, the more this Self-love prevails, the more intolerable will Humane Conversation be.

And if we allow, that Pride, Ambi­tion, Covetousness, Sensuality, are great Enemies to the Peace and Prosperity, to the good Order and Government of any Nation, we must grant that Self-love, which is the impure Fountain, from whence all these corrupt Streams flow, is very destructive to Humane Societies too; it corrupts publick Justice, loosens the reigns of Govern­ment, softens and emasculates Mens Spirits, renders them unfit for Counsel, or for Arms; makes them contemptible to their Neighbours, and brings down the Judgments of God upon them.

Is any thing so destructive to any [Page 442] State as Divisions and Factions at home? and was there ever any State-Faction without Self-love and private Interest at the bottom? when great Men will ri­val one another, and are impatient either of Superiours or Equals; and prosecute their Private Animosities with the Pub­lick Danger; and when common safety requires united Hearts and Counsels, will not adjourn their private Quarrels, nor sacrifice their private Interests and Re­sentments to save a Nation.

It is wonderful to observe, that when a Kingdom is divided into Parties and Factions, the most threatning dangers are so far from uniting them, that they take advantage of Publick Fears and Ap­prehensions, to get ground of their Ad­versaries, tho' they hazard the whole by it: and what are such Factions but a Combination of Self-lovers, who di­vide themselves from the Publick Inte­rest, unless their Private Humours and Intrigues may take place; when a Party will be the Whole, and if others will not let them be the Whole, let the Whole, perish.

This is the narrow, peevish, unsocia­ble Spirit of Self-love, a temper, which generous Heathens had in the greatest [Page 443] abhorrence; and till a more publick Spi­rit revive in the World, we must never expect to see easie and happy days: The Times will be perillous, while men are such Lovers of themselves.

But how deplorable must the state of Religion needs be, when Self-love pre­vails, which is such a direct contradi­ction to all Piety and Virtue, to the Love of God and Men? The Apostle indeed tells us of these Lovers of themselves, that they have a Form of Godliness, but deny the Power thereof. They make a Show of Religious Worship, and it may be a very glorious and pompous Show too, for this may serve their Interest, and give them Reputation with their Prince, or with the People, but their Religion has no power upon their Lives, cannot subdue any one Lust, as it is impossible it should, while they are acted by Self-love.

And yet it is much to be desired, that such Men would retain a Form of Godliness; that they would not publickly affront Religion, nor ridicule all that is Sacred; but it is in vain to hope for thus much from all of them. St. Paul's perillous Times was a very Modest and a very Religious Age to ours, wherein men seem to be ashamed to be thought Reli­gious; [Page 444] and therefore if they ever think fit to go to Church, take great care that no Man, who sees them shall suspect, that they come thither to worship God.

But though few Men attain to such an outragious Contempt of Religion as this, yet all the Corruptions of Reli­gion are more owing to Self-love than to Innocent Mistakes. This secretly influ­ences Mens Faith, and forms their No­tions and Opinions. This invents a Form of Godliness, and turns Religion in­to Show and Pageantry; when Men bring Self-love into the Church, it quick­ly turns true Religion out; it is Pride, and Ambition, or Covetousness, and a love of sensual Pleasures which makes Men Infidels and Hereticks, and occa­sions all the Schisms which divide the Church. For when such Self-lovers cannot cast off all Religion, they must fit their Religion to Self-love, to serve their Lusts, or to give them security in the Enjoyment of them; when they cannot raise Self up to the terms of Religion, they must bring Religion down to Self: It were easie to give undeniable Proofs, and infinite Examples of this; but I must proceed.—

For having shewn, what this vicious [Page 445] Self-love is, and what Mischeifs it does in the World, both to Mens private For­tunes, to publick Societies, and to the Church of God; it remains 3dly, To consider the Folly and Unreasonableness, as well as Impiety of this Principle. All the Wickedness, that is committed in the World, and most of the Miseries which Mankind suffer, are owing to Self-love; and could we convince Men of the Fol­ly and Unreasonableness, and Impiety of this; it would lay the Axe to the very Root of all Wickedness, it would re­form the World, and heal all the Ma­ladies and Distempers of it: And to do this the more effectually I shall distinct­ly apply what I have to say, to the several Notions of Self-love.—

1. Let us consider Self-love, as it signifies the love of Flesh and Sense, when we love a part of our selves for the whole, and expect our whole entire Happiness from the gratification of some inferior Appetites, which at first hearing appears as absurd and impossi­ble, as it is to make a Part the Whole. The greatest part of Mankind in all Ages have made this Experiment, but no Man was ever made happy by it. We see infinite Examples of miserable Sinners [Page 446] and the most prosperous always find that that they want something else to make them happy; and would Men wisely consider the nature of things, they would find, that it is impossible it should be o­therwise.

What is Happiness, but such a State of Ease and Rest and Self-enjoyment, as is agreeable to our Natures? and can a rea­sonable Soul then find its compleat and perfect satisfaction in the Pleasures of sense? the perfection and the happiness of our Natures is the same thing, and therefore that which perfects our Na­tures, must perfect our Happiness. Is Sense then the perfection of a reasonable Nature? if not, how can it be its perfect Happiness? Is not Wisdom and Know­ledge the perfection of the Understand­ing? is not the love of the best and most excellent Being the perfection of the Will? and is not this the perfection of a Reasonable Soul? and is it possible to make a Man happy, who feels none of those divine and exalted Pleasures, which are proper to a Mind. Well! but if the enjoyments of Sense will give a compleat and entire satisfaction, that will make the Man happy, when he has no relish of any other Pleasures; and then we [Page 447] need not dispute which Pleasures are greatest in themselves, when the Man has what he likes best, and is happy in it, which is as much as to say, that it makes no difference whether a Man en­joy the happiness of a Man or of a Beast; that a Beast is as happy a Creature as a Man, a Worm as an Angel, because it has what satisfies, and wants and de­sires no more. But however let us con­sider whether the pleasures of Sense can give perfect ease and satisfaction to a reasonable Soul; that they do not all Men find, and the reason why they can­not do it is very plain.

The Pleasures of Sense cannot give perfect ease and satisfaction without a full, unconfined, and undisturbed En­joyment, and without such an Enjoy­ment as equals the Desire.

As for the first, not to take notice how apt Men are to be disturbed in their En­joyments from without, there is enough within the very Frame and Constituti­on of a Reasonable Soul do disturb them: For they find there a Natural Sense of the difference between Good and Evil, a Na­tural Modesty which makes them blush in secret at some infamous Vices, and sours the Pleasures, and frequently in­terrupts [Page 448] the commission of them; a na­tural belief of a God, who is the Judge of the World, and the Avenger of all wick­edness; a strong perswasion, that they shall live after death, and be rewarded and punished according to their works: I need not tell you, how uneasie such thoughts as these make the enjoyment of all sensual pleasures, and an uneasy Happiness is a contradiction; that if God intended Man for a Sensual Happiness, I must confess he is the worst contrived Creature in the world, as if he were made by chance, not by a wise Creator; for the Principles of his nature disturb and contradict the enjoyment of his natural Happiness. Or whether you will call this Nature or Education, or what you please, there are very few Men, with the help of all the Wit and Philosophy of Atheists, can deliver themselves from this Belief, and from these Fears; and much fewer do it, than pretend to do so; and therefore there are very few who have an easy and undisturb'd Enjoy­ment of Sensual Pleasures, that is, who are easy and happy in them, unless to sin with Fear, with Shame, with Guilty Remorse, with frightful Presages of judg­ment, be an easy and undisturb'd Enjoy­ment.

[Page 449] As for the Second it is very plain, that the Enjoyment of Sensual Plea­sures can never answer the vast and boundless Desires of Happiness in Hu­mane Nature; a reasonable and intelli­gent Being has no other bounds to its Desires of Happiness, but the most per­fect and perpetual Enjoyment, whereas Sensual Pleasures besides all other Disap­pointments, must wait the Returns of Strength and Appetite and Objects, and therefore cannot always be had, or cannot always please. Sensual Plea­sures can never be the Happiness of any Creature, which has any higher Principle then Appetite, for Appetite is the utmost bounds of Sensual Enjoy­ments; but when Knowledge serves instead of Appetite, as it must do in Reasonable Creatures, it creates such Desires as no Appetites can answer: This makes Sensual Men so insatiable in their Desires of Pleasure, though Bruit Beasts know their Measures, because they misplace their Natural Desires of Hap­piness, which are boundless and infinite upon Sensual Pleasures, which are li­mited and confined: and what Disa­pointments and Distractions must this create, when there is no proportion [Page 450] between the Desire and the Object, besides those Sensible Mischiefs of it, which do not much contribute to their Happiness. For when Desire for­ces an Appetite, beyond the Strength of Nature, and the Natural End and Use of such Pleasures, it impairs their Health, weakens their Bodies, shortens their Lives, or makes them miserable, which are the common Rewards of Intemperance and Lust. These Beasts, who are governed by Appetite, know nothing of; Sense is their Happiness, and Appetite is the Measure of their Enjoyment, and Sensual Pleasures can fill and satisfie a meer Sensual Appe­tite; but when knowledge is both the Reason and the Measure of our De­sires, Sensual Pleasures can never fill such Desires; for we know more than Nature it self can enjoy, and yet when we place our highest Happiness in it, must desire all we know; and as long as we know, which is longer than we can enjoy: This proves that nothing can be the Happiness of a knowing and reasonable Creature, but Intellectu­all Pleasures, where Knowledge is En­joyment, and then Enjoyment will equal Knowledge and Desire; but when [Page 451] Knowledge and Enjoyment are two Things, they may be parted, and may be unequal; and such a Creature cannot be compleatly happy.

2dly, All Men who believe, that there is a God, must confess, that it is very foolish and very wicked to love our Selves in opposition to God. Is it possible for a Reasonable Crea­ture to be happy, who separates himself from God? the World may much better subsist without the Sun; for God is the Life of a Reasonable Soul, the brightest Object of our Minds, Eter­nal Truth and Wisdom; there is no­thing worth knowing without God; for to contemplate his Wisdom and Goodness and Power in all Things, is that which gives a relish to all o­ther Knowledge. In him we live, move, and have our Being; no Wise Man would be contented to live in a World which has not a God to govern it, nor to live any longer in it than he can trust to, and depend on his Protection; and is it then the way to be happy to divide our Selves from God? can any Man chuse better for himself, than God can? do we know our Selves [Page 452] so well as he that made us; does not God know what Happiness he hath made us for? or does he envy us the Happiness for which he made us? Why then did he make us for such a Happiness? so impious is it to think, that God has forbid us any thing which is our true Happiness. So vain is it to hope, to make our selves happy in contradiction to the Will and Laws of God. No Man thinks honourably of God, who does not believe, that his Laws are the most infallible Methods of our Happiness, as well as the Try­al of our Subjection and Obedience; and he who does so, can never think of making himself happy by disobey­ing God.

But supposing it were otherwise, is it not perfect Distraction to oppose our selves against God? Can we make our selves happy whether he will or no? Are we a fit Match for infinite Power? Can we resist his Almighty Arm? How easily can he look us into Misery and Confusion? And does it not become us to submit to him, and rather chuse to obey his Will than to suffer his Vengeance? This is the Na­tural State of a Creature, to live in [Page 453] subjection to his Maker and Sovereign Lord, to receive Laws from him, and to give up himself without any reserve to his Government and Disposal, and therefore this is the Natural Me­thod of our Happiness too.

3dly, As for the Third Notion of Self-love, to love our selves in opposi­tion to the Love of Men, to divide our selves from the rest of Mankind, and to carry on a Separate Interest, to which, as far as we are able, we make all other Interests give place. This is so hateful a Temper, that the very naming of it, is enough to expose it. No Man dares to undertake its De­fence; those who are most guilty of it dare not own it, but disguise it with some more popular Appearances. A great and generous Mind that is con­cerned for all the World, that does all the good it can, that is ready to sa­crifice his private Ease, Satisfactions and Fortunes, nay Life it self, to serve his Country, or to cleanse the World of Monsters, is the Darling and Favo­rite of Mankind; he is loved, he is re­verenced of all, as a common Friend of Humane Nature and Humane So­cieties. [Page 454] But a Man who loves no bo­dy but himself, is a universal Enemy, and all Men ought to have a Care of him, and all Men will despise and ab­hor him, when they know him: These Self-lovers themselves, when they see their own Picture in another Face, will spit at it; for those who love no body but themselves, yet desire that all Men should love them, and be very tender of their Concernments, though they value no bodies Interest and Happiness but their own.

But though this Self-love be univer­sally condemned, yet it is too uni­versally practised, and therefore I shall briefly shew, how impossible it is, that this Self-love, which divides us from the rest of Mankind, should make us happy. The Principles of Humane Nature, make the Exercise of it very uneasy, and that can never be our Happiness, which is a Force and Vio­lence to Nature.

We feel a Natural Compassion for the sufferings of Mankind, especially of Innocent Men, who have not deserved it; and as well as any Man loves himself; this makes it very painful to serve his own Interest by doing injury to o­thers.

[Page 455] One of the first Principles of Mo­rality, which all Men confess to be highly reasonable, is to do to other Men, what we desire they should do to us, which is the Fundamental Max­im both of Justice and Charity, and in other Words, is to love all Men as our selves, and no Man can violate this Law, that is, no Man can love himself in opposition to the rest of Mankind, without falling under the Censures and Reproaches of his own Mind, which is no happy State.

One of the Divinest Pleasures of Humane Nature is to do good; this I take to be the great Advantage and Glory of Riches and Power, that it makes Men Publick Patrons, and Tu­telar Angels to their fellow Creatures, which is the nearest Resemblance of the Perfection and Happiness of God, and in the Pagan World made Gods of Men: But Self-love knows nothing of this Happiness, but destroys not only the Sense, but the Notion of it.

But to set aside other Considerations, Mankind will not suffer a Man to make himself Easie and Happy by Self-love: When he is known, they combine against him, as a common Enemy, they load [Page 456] him with Infamy and Reproach, they strip him of his ill-gotten Riches, and severely revenge his Injuries: this is the great End of Humane Government, and the proper use of the Rods and Axes of Princes, to restrain and govern Self-love, and to punish the outrages it commits.—

This is enough to satisfie us of the Folly, and Unreasonableness of this Principle, and how impossible it is, that Self-love should make any Man happy. I will add but one Argument more to disswade you from it, that this Self-love can never enter into Heaven. That is a Holy Place, a Spiritual State, wherein nothing can enter that is Un­clean; Flesh and Blood, whether a flesh­ly Carnal Mind, or an Earthly Body, cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. There God is all in all, there is Universal Love among all those blessed Inhabitants, and therefore there can be nothing of Self. O that blessed Place, where there is perfect Unity and Harmony of Souls, no Parties and Factions, no Emulations and Jealousies, no Private Interests, no Rivals; where all center in God, and embrace each other, and mingle Flames, [Page 457] and feel and rejoyce in each others Happiness:

To which Blessed Place, God of his in­finite Mercy bring us all through our Lord Iesus Christ: To whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Honour, Glory, and Power, now and for ever.

Amen.

THIS is the Principle of that true greatness of Mind, which ap­peared in the Apostles and Primitive Christians, and enabled them to do that which the Pagan Philosophy boa­sted of without doing, viz. to contemn the World, and to live above its Hopes and Fears, to bear the Miseries of Life, and to despise the Pleasures of it, to suf­fer Shame and Reproach, and the loss of all Things, and Death it self, made [Page 460] as terrible, as Pain could make it, not only without Fear, but with Joy and Triumph. For which Cause saith the Apostle, 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 and eternal weight of glory: while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen, are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

By the Things which are seen, is meant, all the Good and all the Evil things of this Life; by the things which are not seen, all the Happiness and Miseries of the Life to come. But is not this a very strange Choice, to prefer what is absent and unseen, before what is present and sensible? To be unconcerned about the Happiness or Miseries of this Life, and to live upon unseen Hopes and Fears? No sai [...] [...] Apostle, We have all the reaso [...] [...] world to do so, because seen thing [...] [...]re but temporal, and unseen things are e­ternal: This World will last but a little while, the Fashion of this World passeth away, but the World to come will have [Page 461] no end; and this makes such a difference between seen and unseen Things, that there can be no reasonable Competition, as there is no Comparison between them. So that in speaking to these Words, there are two things distinctly to be considered.

1. The Reasonableness of this Princi­ple of looking to unseen Things, or of li­ving by Faith, for it is Faith alone, that can give us a View of the invisible World. And,

2. The Reasonableness of this Choice, in preferring unseen before seen Things, because, the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

1. The Reasonableness of this Chri­stian Principle of Action, of looking at unseen things, or living by Faith. Some unthinking Men are apt to make a Jest of believing; if you have any natural Reasons, or sensible Demonstrations, they will hearken to you, but Faith is below a man of Wit and Philosophy; who knows how many Cheats and Impostors there have been in the World: [Page 462] But such men little consider, how neces­sary Faith is in Humane Life, that they themselves in a thousand Cases, have no other Principle to act upon in the great­est Concernments of this Life, and that upon much less evidence than we have for another World.

There are but three ways of knowing any thing, Sense, or Reason, or Faith, which last extends further, and has a more universal Influence upon the Go­vernment of our Lives, than either Sense or Reason. Our whole Conversation with Mankind is resolved into Believing, in­to a Civil, Historical, or Political Faith; all humane Commerce and Intercourse is founded on it, and there are very few Actions of our Lives, that can be per­formed without it; that he who will not believe must not live in this World. And is it not absurd and ridiculous then to laugh at believing? when they might as well laugh Sense and Reason out of the World, and live as well without them.

Now if we must live by Faith in this World, if we must believe, and must trust one another, if we must depend on Mens Word, or Oath, or Friendship, or Honesty, though we can have no [Page 463] natural Certainty or Demonstration of Moral Causes, what reason can there be to banish Faith out of Religion, which is of such absolute necessity in all the other Concernments of Life? One would think there should be less need of Faith for this World, than for the next, which is an invisible State, and can be certainly known only by Reve­lation; and if Faith be ever reasonable, it is most reasonable where it is most ne­cessary, where there is no other means of knowledge.

This is enough to shew you, how lit­tle those Men understand themselves, who ridicule Faith, which is to ridicule Humane Nature and all Humane Con­versation. If we may, if we must be­lieve, if we cannot live without belie­ving, it must make a man contemptible to talk against all Faith, which is an Es­sential part of Humane Knowledge, and a necessary Principle of Moral Pru­dence.

Some Men are so afraid of being thought easy and credulous, that they run into the other Extream, and will be­lieve nothing, at least nothing concern­ing another World: And think Infi­delity must needs be a Mark of Wit and [Page 464] Understanding, because it is directly op­posite to Credulity, which is a Mark of Folly; and by the same Rule Covetous­ness must be a Virtue, because it is the opposite Extream to Prodigality. Cre­dulity and Infidelity both argue the same weakness of Judgment; for it is as great want of Judgment, not to believe upon sufficient Evidence, as to believe with­out it; but Credulity is the most pardo­nable, because it is the better natured Fault, and argues the better Temper of Mind. A credulous Man believes too well of Mankind, and therefore is apt to trust them too soon; or he is very religiously inclined, and that disposes him to believe all religious Tales: But an Infidel distrusts all Mankind, and fears or hates all Religion, and there­fore will believe nothing: That of all the Men in the World, I would least trust my self with an Infidel; for those who distrust all Mankind, and hate God, know some Reason why they should do it, and they must find it in themselves.

Now if Faith be a reasonable Princi­ple of Action, if we may have such Moral Evidence of Things, which we cannot demonstrate, as a wise and cau­tious Man may and ought to rely on, [Page 465] and which no wise Man will contradict, or act against; why should not the same Evidence satisfie us, with reference to another World? If you would scorn a Man, who should reject Caesar's Com­mentaries, or any other approved Writ­ings, against the Faith of all History; Why does it not deserve as much scorn to reject the History of the Gospel, which is the best attested History in the World? If it be reasonable to believe, is it not very unreasonable to demand any other Evidence than what belongs to Faith? To demand the Evidence of Sense, or Demonstration, for pure mat­ters of Faith? When we have all the Evidence of Faith, all the Evidence, which a wise Man would ask for the Proof of any thing, which he did not and cannot see; to demand more, is to reject Faith it self, and to condemn all Mankind of Credulity, who believe any thing. And indeed, whoever considers what kind of Objections, Infidels urge against Christianity, will find, that they all tend either to downright Scepticism, or to reject all the Evidence of Faith, as unfit for a wise Man to act on, which overthrows all Humane as well as Di­vine Faith.

[Page 466] I know there are some, who think it reasonable to demand much greater E­vidence for another World, than what may satisfie a wise Man in the Affairs and Concernments of this Life: And thanks be to God, we have greater E­vidence and Certainty of Faith for ano­ther World, than we have for most of the Concernments of this Life, in which we must act by Faith, and Moral Evi­dence; as much greater, as a Divine Faith is more certain than Human Faith: But it is not reasonable to demand any other kind of Evidence for the next World, than the Evidence of Faith, be­cause we can have no other Evidence for unseen things, and if we have the high­est Evidence that Faith can give us, it is not reasonable to ask more.

But yet, why should not that Evi­dence satisfie us for another World, which in a thousand Cases satisfies us in this? What Excuse can we make for our Infidelity, if God give us such Evi­dence for another World, as wise Men think sufficient to act on in this? Their Reasons for this have so little appearance of Sense, that they may look like A­buses, and yet they are the best, and the only Reasons they can give.

[Page 467] 1. That they are forced in many Ca­ses to act upon Faith and Hope, and trust in this World, because in many Things, they can have no better Evidence, and yet are under a necessity of acting, and choosing one Thing or other, if they will live in the World: But they are un­der no necessity of believing any Religi­on, and therefore may demand such E­vidence, as will force an Assent, and leave no possibility of a Mistake or De­ceit. For why should they believe any thing, which they are not absolutely certain of, when they need not believe it unless they will.

Now both parts of this Answer are ve­ry faulty. Wise Men do not act upon Moral Evidence, and the Assurances of human Faith, meerly because they can have no better, but because they think this sufficient, and to be a wise and rea­sonable Principle of Action; and there­fore they act with great security, where they have no other Evidence, and are under no necessity one way nor other, did they not think it wise and safe and prudent; which shews, what the Sense of the wisest part of Mankind is con­cerning the Evidence of Faith.

And yet it is much stranger, that a­ny [Page 468] Man, who ever heard of another World, and of Heaven and Hell, can think it indifferent, whether he believe it or not. He must either believe, or disbelieve it, and the Consequence either way is of infinite Concernment. They have a mighty Mastery over themselves, if they can believe, and disbelieve what they will; there are such degrees of E­vidence, even of Moral Evidence, as wise men can't resist, and I think, that makes Faith necessary, if we believe like Men. But when we read in the Gospel, he that believes shall be saved, and he that believes not shall be damned, this lays a terrible necessity upon us; for if the Gospel be true, and we continue In­fidels, we must perish for ever: And if necessity will justifie our believing and acting upon reasonable Moral Evidence, though we have not the Evidence of Sense or Natural Demonstrations, those who do not think Eternal Happiness or Misery to be necessity enough, let them find a greater if they can.

2. Another Pretence is, that the vast difference between this World and the next, if there be another World, requires a very different degree of Evidence. The Things of this World are of such [Page 469] little Consequence, that they may bet­ter venture, though they should be de­ceived: But Religion is of Eternal Im­portance, and therefore it concerns them not to be too credulous in such mat­ters.

Now though there is a vast difference between this World and the next, I can­not bear, that Men who believe no other World, should make this difference; for if this Life be all that they expect, no Man can ever venture more than all, whether it be Time or Eternity; and if they will venture their temporal All, upon the Evidence of Faith, why is it un­reasonable to venture our Eternal All upon it, when we can have, and indeed need no better Evidence. But this ve­ry Consideration of the vast difference between Time and Eternity, turns upon themselves, and makes it wise and reasonable to act upon much less Evi­dence, than we have for the other World. For in Matters of such vast impor­tance, as every thing is that is Eternal, it concerns us always to be on the surest side where we venture least, if it should happen that we are mistaken. And let any Man consider, which is the surest side, to believe, or to disbelieve Chri­stianity, [Page 470] and a future State; If Christi­anity be true, and there be an Eternal State of Rewards and Punishments in the next Life, if we disbelieve it, we are mi­serable for ever; but if we do believe it, and it should not prove true, we loose no­thing by it but the transient Pleasures of Sin, and instead of them, have all the present Ease and Satisfaction of Ver­tue and great Hopes; and those who have tried both will tell you, that the Pleasures of Virtue far exceed the Plea­sures of Sin, and that the Hope and Ex­pectation of Immortal Life does more ravish and transport, than the Possession of this World can do.

The truth is, the Eternal Miseries of the next World are so very terrible, that no wise Man would run the least Hazard of them, but instead of demanding a demonstrative Certainty, that there is such a Place of Torment, would demand a demonstrative Certainty that there is not, before he would venture. And the Happiness of the other World so exceeds all our Imaginations, that a very little Evidence would perswade a wise Man to venture any thing, to be happy for e­ver.

The Sum of what I have said, in short [Page 471] is this: To despise all Faith, is to ridi­cule Human Nature and Human Conver­sation; for God has made us such Crea­tures, that three Parts of our Lives must be governed by Faith, and if Faith be a foolish, absurd, unsafe Principle of Acti­on, I'm sure Man is a very wretched and contemptible Creature; for Man must live by Faith. We cannot see each others Hearts and Thoughts, and I be­lieve no man desires that other. Men should see his Heart, how much soever he may desire to see theirs; and then we cannot converse with each other, with any Pleasure and Security, without believing. We are finite Creatures, our Lives are short, and we can be but in one Place at a time; and if we must be­lieve nothing, but what we our selves see, what a narrow contemptible thing is human Knowledge; and therefore we must allow of the Testimony of Eye and Ear Witnesses, and of credible Histories, which is the Evidence of Faith, and fur­nishes us with the best, as well as with the largest Part of our Knowledge, and with the wisest Rules and Examples of Life. And though we may be, and of­ten are mistaken, this only makes Men more prudent and cautious, not Infidels: [Page 472] But a Divine Faith gives us a much more infallible Assurance, than Human Faith can do; for we know, God cannot de­ceive us, as Men may, and then if we have as great, nay, much greater Evidence for a Divine Revelation, than we have for any other matters of Fact at such a distance; we have all the Evidence of the most certain Human Faith, and the infallible certainty of a Divine Faith.

Nay if they will but allow, which no considering Man can deny, that we have as good Evidence for the History of the Gospel, as they have for any other History, which they most firmly believe, it will be impossible for them to give a wise Reason, why they do not believe the Gospel. Nay were there less Evi­dence than there is, the vast Importance of it, which is no less than Eternal Life and Death, is reason enough to a wise Man to chuse the surest side, and to live by the Faith of another World.

2. Let us now consider the Reason and the Wisdom of this Choice. We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The difference between Temporal and [Page 473] Eternal, is so demonstrative a Reason, why we should prefer Eternal unseen things before temporal seen things; that it is hard to add any thing to give a new Strength to it, if Men do but understand what these Words, Time, and Eternity, signifie.

Suppose you should ask any Man, whether he would chuse to live threescore or fourscore years, or to live for ever, he would certainly won­der at your Question, and think it an Affront, since Nature teaches all Men to answer it without the least dispute, or consideration about it. All Men love Life, and above all things desire to live for ever; which is so strong a Passi­on; that I doubt not at all; but the ge­nerality of Mankind, (supposing no o­ther Life after this) would rather chuse to be Immortal Beggars, than Mortal Princes; or at least would content them­selves with a very mean Station in this World, and to take their Chance, as to the Sufferings of it, rather than not to be. For Life is sweet, and it is a plea­sant thing to the Eye, to behold the Sun. And if Men, who know no better, would be contented to take their Fortune in this World, and to venture an Eternal [Page 474] Round of uncertain and changeable Scenes, and prefer this before fourscore or a hundred Years of the greatest Pro­sperity and Glory; one would think, there should be no Comparison between the most prosperous State of this Life, and the eternal unchangeable Happiness of the next.

And yet we find by Experience, that though most Men are desirous to live as long as they can in this World, and would submit to any Conditions, which would make them Immortal here, they think the Case very much altered, when you promise them Immortal Life in the next World; as is very evident from this, that they will not submit to such a State of Discipline and Mortification to save their Souls, as they chearfully sub­mit to, to save their Lives. Skin for Skin, and all that a Man hath, will he give for his Life; but they will not part with all they have to save their Souls; nay, will venture their Souls to get or to save an Estate, or a very little part of it. And yet (which makes it more wonder­ful) there are great numbers of such Men, who profess to believe, that there is a­nother World, and that they must be happy or miserable for ever. This is ve­ry [Page 475] unaccountable, that all Men should agree, that what is eternal ought to be preferred before what is temporal, and yet that the Generality of Mankind should prefer temporal Things before the Things which are Eternal. What is to be said to these Men? Will you prove, that Eternity is to be preferred before Time? This is lost labour, for they all own it, and have a Natural Sense of it, which is more powerful than any other Arguments. Will you then perswade them to prefer Eternal before Temporal Things? but by what Arguments will you perswade, if Eternity it self cannot perswade? In such Cases where there is no need of disputing, no need to con­vince Mens Reasons, I know nothing left, but to paint and represent, to draw such lively Images and Pictures, as may move Mens Passions, and give them a feeling Sense of the difference between Time and Eternity. And to do this to as great Advantage as I can, I shall 1st. consider the difference between Time and Eternity. And, 2d. The difference between Things Temporal, and Things Eternal.

1st. The difference between Time and Eternity. You all see and feel what [Page 476] Time is, it passeth away swiftly, and we pass away with it; when we look back, it is but like a Dream, or a Watch in the Night, so soon passeth it away, and we are gone. Some few Years clear the Stage of this World, and bring new busy Actors, or idle Spectators on it; and by that time we can well turn our selves round, we see all new Faces and new Scenes of things, and our selves hasten­ing after, though we should happen to stay a little behind our Company. But who can represent Eternity? to live without end, a Duration, which it is not in the power of Numbers to measure, and therefore no Value can be put upon it.

To form such an Image of this in your Minds, as no Words can express, make Eternity present to you. Suppose this World to be at an End, as it will very suddenly be with us all, and that we were at this time in an Eternal State of Happiness or Misery; either with Laza­rus in Abraham's Bosom, or with Dives in Hell, tormented in endless Flames. Whatever the Happiness, or Misery of the next State is, is it possible for us now to conceive, what Passions will ac­company this Thought, that whether [Page 477] we find our selves happy or miserable, we shall be so for ever? What is the secure Triumph of a never fading Crown? What is the Terror, Confusion, Amazement of a never dying Worm? Thus it will be with us, as soon as we remove out of this World; and if the Thoughts of E­ternal Miseries, when we think seriously of them, do now astonish us; if the Hope of Immortal Life does now trans­port good Men, and give them the Vi­ctory over this present World, what will it do, when they shall see and feel, what they now only fear or hope?

And is this so unreasonable a thing, to suppose the other World present, which a very few Years, it may be a few Days, will make present to us? When we are so near the Grave, can not we look a little beyond it, and by an Eye of Faith contemplate the endless Happiness of good Men, and the end­less Miseries of the Wicked: This is what the Apostle means by looking at the things which are not seen, to have our Eyes fixt upon the other World as if it were pre­sent; and there is very great reason for it, for though these Eternal Things are not yet present to us, yet Eternity is. Though we do not yet see that eternal [Page 478] and unchangeable State of Happiness or Misery, yet we now know as well what Eternity signifies, as ever we shall do; and therefore we may contemplate the Nature of Eternity, and deeply affect our Minds with the Hope and Fear of it.

Though our Life in this World is short and perishing, yet our Souls are immortal, and therefore we are already Immortal Creatures, and an Immortal Creature from the first Moment of his Being is in Eternity, because he can ne­ver wholly die, or cease to be: So that Eternity, as it signifies an endless Dura­tion, is as much present to us now, as ever it will be, though we are not yet in that unchangeable State, which shall last for ever. And does it not become an Eternal Being to think of Eternity, when, though we shall not always be, what we now are, yet we shall always be; and a Creature which shall always be, ought above all to look at those un­seen Things which shall always be.

An Immortal Creature which must live for ever, is very little concerned in a changeable and vanishing State; for what do threescore or fourscore years signify, when we must live for ever? [Page 479] They bear no proportion to Eternity, and therefore can challenge but a very little Share and Interest in our Thoughts; An Immortal Creature must design nothing less than an Immortal Happiness, because nothing less is com­mensurate to our Being; and for the same Reason that we desire to be hap­py, we must desire to be happy as long as we are.

No time can be too soon for such Thoughts, because an Immortal Crea­ture should never live a Day without them: Were we to spend Eternity in an endless round of Changes, we should be no farther concerned, than to make e­very State of Life as easy and entertain­ing as we could: But when we know this World is the only changeable Scene, and that we must pass from hence into an Eternal and Unchangeable State, and that we must be either happy or misera­ble for ever, according as we behave our selves in this World; not to make Eter­nal Happiness the commanding and go­verning Design of our Lives, or to run any Hazard of it, for the sake of present things, is such a Degeneracy of an Im­mortal Nature, that such men very well deserve, if not to forfeit Immortal Being, [Page 480] yet to forfeit Immortal Happiness.

But not to dissemble any difficulties, I will propose this Case as fairly as any one can desire. No Man is so perfectly bruitish, as absolutely to prefer Time be­fore Eternity; every man had rather live for ever; but the difficulty is, when we may live threescore or fourscore Years in this World, (which though it be nothing to Eternity, yet is a very long State of Temptation) to deny our selves for so long a time, the present Pleasures and Satisfactions of Life, for the absent and unknown, though the endless Happiness of the next Life. The pretended Difficulties you see, are the present uneasy Restraints, which the Practice of Virtue lays upon our sensual Inclinations, and that we must deny our selves these present Satisfactions for the long Expectation of an absent and unknown Happiness.

Now I shall not at present dispute the Point between Vertue and Licentious­ness, which of them contributes most to the present Ease and Pleasure of Life: But to make you sensible, how unrea­sonable an Objection this is, I will put you another Case. Suppose instead of the Promise of Heaven, God had pro­mised [Page 481] Immortal Life in this World to the practice of Virtue; that this World should have been a Paradise to all Vir­tuous Men, where they should have li­ved for ever; and that wicked Men should have lived a very little while, nay, suppose the longest Period of Hu­man Life, in this World, and then have been cut off by some exemplary Punish­ment, and have perished in the Grave, what would you think reasonable in this Case? to chuse a Vertuous Immor­tality, or the short and dying Plea­sures of Sin? You could not pretend in this Case, that the Rewards were absent and unknown, for they would be present and sensible, they would be seen things, as all the Happiness of this Life is: But the difficulties of Ver­tue (till we had brought our earthly Appetites and Passions under govern­ment) would be the same that they are now: And if you would think it reasonable to be vertuous for an earth­ly Immortality, (as I perswade my self most Men would) I cannot imagine, that it should weaken the Argument, to translate this Immortal Life from Earth to Heaven, which is so much a happier Place than this Earth. And yet [Page 482] I doubt not, but were this the Case, that Vertuous Men should be immor­tal in this World, and none but Sinners should die, Sin would render Men the most contemptible and infamous Crea­tures, to prefer the short Extravagan­cies of Vice before a Vertuous Im­mortality. In short, the difference be­tween Time and Eternity is such a Rea­son as no difficulties can answer: Eter­nal Happiness is an abundant recom­pence for any temporal sufferings, and whatever the difficulties of Virtue and Religion may be, they must not be compared with Eternal Miseries.

2dly. As there is a vast difference be­tween Time and Eternity, so there is as vast a difference between Things Tem­poral and Things Eternal. I do not intend at present to represent to you the Eternal Happiness or Miseries of the next Life, as I find them described in Scripture; nor either lessen the Hap­piness, or aggravate the Sufferings of this present Life; but shall keep close to my Argument, and only consider the difference, which Time and Eterni­ty makes between things; and a very few Words will explain this: For it is evident, that whatever is subject to [Page 483] Time, is liable to Changes, Revoluti­ons, Intermissions; but what is Eternal hath an unchangeable Nature, and is always the same. And what a vast dif­ference does this make between the Happiness and Miseries of this perish­ing Life, and the Eternal Happiness, and Miseries of the next?

The Happiness of this Life can't be very valuable, because it is not con­stant, the Enjoyments of it are frequent­ly delayed, disappointed, or interrupt­ed; and the Miseries of it are not so very formidable, because they have their Allays and Intermissions too, and cannot continue long in great extremi­ty: This is the Nature of temporal things to change and alter, which les­sens the Pleasures, and tempers the Mi­series of Life: But an eternal, con­stant, uninterrupted Happiness, an e­ternal, constant, uninterrupted Misery, a Happiness and Misery without any end, and without any Intermission or Allay; this is perfect Happiness and perfect Misery, infinitely more to be desired, and feared, than what Time can alter. This represents Temporal Things as in themselves of no great value, and gives a Natural Preference [Page 484] to Eternal Things: Which is the rea­son of our Saviour's Exhortation; Lay not up for your selves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for your selves treasures in hea­ven, where neither moth nor rust doth cor­rupt, and where thieves cannot break through and steal. This makes a natural Subordination between Temporal and Eternal Things, and justifies the Wis­dom of our Choice in making to our selves friends of the mammon of unrighteous­ness, that when we fail, they may receive us into [...]verlasting habitations: Or like that wise Merchant in the Gospel, who having found a treasure hid in a field, went and fold all that he had, and bought that field. This is sufficient to con­vince those Men, who believe another Life, of the reasonableness of this Choice, to govern our Lives by the Faith and Hope of unseen things, not to look at the Things which are seen, but at the Things which are not seen. Bad Men themselves feel the force of this Argu­ment, and have no way to avoid it, but by making these unseen things more invisible than they really are: They love these seen things so well, [Page 485] though they are but temporal, that they are not willing to believe there are any such Unseen Eternal Things, which they are convinc'd ought to have the Preference, if there be any such E­ternal Things: And therefore for a Conclusion, I shall briefly reason the Case with these Men, nor directly to prove the Certainty of another World; but to shew them, how unreasonable and dangerous it is to entertain such an Aversion, as they manifestly betray, to the Belief of it.

For can any thing be more infamous than an Aversion to the Belief of Im­mortality? Is any thing more natural to Mankind, than the Desire of Im­mortality? Next to the Fears of be­ing miserable for ever, is there a more terrible Thought than falling into no­thing? And how unnatural then is it for Men to be afraid of believing them­selves immortal, and to take great Pains to perswade themselves against all the Hopes and Inclinations of Nature, that they shall dye like Beasts; and to ap­pear never better pleased, than when they can start some difficulties to weak­en the Belief and Hope of another World.

[Page 486] True, you'l say, this seems some­what unnatural, but this is partially represented and not the whole of the Case; the Gospel of Christ, which pro­mises Eternal Life to all Penitents, threatens Eternal Death too against all impenitent Sinners; and if upon the Authority of the Gospel, we believe the Resurrection of the Just into Im­mortal Life, we must believe the Re­surrection of the Wicked to Eternal Pu­nishments; and these are such terrible things, that it is more desireable there should be no Heaven, then that there should be a Hell, and they had rather reject these great Hopes, than take the Hope and the Fear together.

This no doubt is the true Reason of Mens infidelity, not that they absolute­ly despise Immortal Life, the Desire of which is so natural and necessary; but that they fear Eternal Miseries: And yet in this case it is very unnatu­ral to reject the Belief and Hope of Immortal Life: For the Desire of Im­mortality is the first and most necessary Desire of Nature, and therefore ought to govern all other Desires, for it is unnatural to prefer any thing before it. As fond as Men are of their Sins, [Page 487] yet any Man of understanding would be ashamed to own, that he had rather enjoy his Lusts thirty or forty Years, than be immortal. The Design of In­fidelity is not only to cure Men's Fears, but to salve their Reputation, and to make their Vices less infamous. If there be no Life after this, let us eat and drink for to morrow we die, seems natural and reasonable enough, but to eat and drink, and riot away Immor­tality, must make a Man infamous. Suppose God had promised Immortal Life to good Men, and threaten'd, not Eternal Punishments, but Annihilation to the Wicked. When Eternal Punish­ments were removed out of the way, would you have thought it reasonable then to believe Immortality, and to live vertuously for the Hopes of Im­mortality? Would you have thought it infamous then to prefer Sin and Anni­hilation, before Vertue and Immortali­ty; and is it not infamous then for the love of Sin, to reject the Hopes of Im­mortality, and to hope for Annihilati­on, as such Men generally do; if we think it reasonable to serve God, that we may be immortal, and that it would be infamous not to do so, supposing [Page 488] the certain Knowledge of Immortal Life; then the Threatnings of Eternal Punishments can be no reasonable pre­judice against the Belief of Immortali­ty; for there is no reason to reject the Hopes of Immortal Life for fear of such Miseries, as we may escape if we please; that is, if we believe and chuse Immor­tal Life: No Man who does not pre­fer something else, or to speak plainly, who does not prefer the short Pleasures of Sin before Immortal Life, need fear Eternal Miseries; and therefore it is not the Fear of Eternal Miseries, which they know they may escape, but the Contempt of Eternal Life which makes them Infidels, and it concerns them to consider well, what the Consequences of this are.

For 1. as I have already observed, and there needs no great Proof of it, nothing can be more infamous, than to contradict the most noble and gene­rous Desires of Human Nature: To be afraid to be immortal, is to desire to be a Beast, and to perish like a Beast; nay it is to desire what no Beast would desire; for Self-love and Self-preserva­tion is implanted even in the brutal na­ture: And what a prodigious Degene­racy [Page 489] is it of Human Nature, for Men to hate themselves and their own Be­ing, and to wish and hope that they may perish in the Grave. It is a vain thing to set up for the Reputation of Wit and Philosophy in this Cause, for Human Nature is against them, and therefore the generality of Mankind, who will always hope and desire on Natures side, will be against them too; and Nature so abhors the Thoughts of Annihilation and Dissolution, that all Men must despise those as very con­temptible Creatures, who can be con­tented to fall into nothing themselves, and abhor them for their malicious At­tempts to deprive other Men of the Hope of Immortality.

2. It is a strong Presumption against Infidelity, that it contradicts the Hopes and Desires of Nature. Are there any other Natural Desires and Appetites which have no Natural Objects to an­swer them? And why should we think, that Nature should implant in us a Desire of Immortality, if we were not made to be immortal: This cannot be, if we were made by a wise Being; for then all the Desires and Appetites of Nature must be wisely made, that [Page 490] is, fitted to the nature of that Being to which they belong, and then Im­mortal Desires can belong only to an Immortal Nature.

3. It also ought to be well consi­dered, that this makes Infidelity the most inexcusable Sin, for to reject not only all Supernatural Evidence, but all the Desires and Inclinations of Nature, will admit of no Excuse. This is an Apostacy from Human Nature, and though the Divine Goodness has a great tenderness for Human Infirmities, yet when Men wilfully put off Human Nature, they have no Right to the Excuses, or to the Compassion which is due to Men. And such Men ought to be very sure, that they are in the right, who have no Excuse to make, if they are in the wrong.

4. And yet it is impossible to be se­cure against the Inclinations, Desires, and Sentiments of Nature. It is possi­ble with great Art and Violence, for some time to stifle the Sense of Na­ture, but Nature will take some Oc­casion or other to get loose, and to revive our Fears, when we have for­feited all our Hopes.

For 1. It is certain there can be [Page 491] demonstration against Nature. If the Natural Desires of Immortality do not prove that we are immortal, yet they are a Bar against all demonstration that we are not: For that would be an ill-contrived Nature indeed, which should have Natural Desires and Ap­petites against demonstration. That should have a great Passion for Immor­tality, when it is demonstrable that we are not immortal. And if they cannot demonstrate, that we are not immor­tal, we shall certainly hope and fear on Natures side: And what will all the boasting Pretences to Infidelity signify, if they cannot cure our Natural Hopes and Fears?

2. For Natural Fears and Hopes are very Mechanical Passions, and not un­der the Government of our Wills and arbitrary Opinions. They are no more to be silenced with Wit and Sophistry, than some Natural Antipathies are, which Men may think to reason a­way, but as soon as the Object of that Antipathy appears, all their Ar­guments are lost, and they sweat, and tremble, and flie: And thus do Infidels too, who please themselves, that they can reason away another World into a [Page 492] Fairy Land, but yet can't think seri­ously of it without trembling.

3. For whatever Baffle men put up­on their Faith, yet these Hopes and Fears are so natural, that they can never perswade themselves, that what is reported of the other World, does not deserve to be hoped or feared. No Argument can convince any Man, that it is not desireable to live for ever, or that it is not the most terrible thing of all, to be miserable for ever, and then it is impossible not to hope or fear. The Desires of a less Happiness, or the Fears of a less Misery may be conquered; but when Men hear of Eternal Happi­ness and Eternal Misery, the one the most desireable, the other the most for­midable thing to Human Nature, it makes it impossible to any thinking Man, neither to desire nor fear.

This shews, how vain it is to struggle against Nature; for Nature will be too strong for all our Pretences to Wit and Philosophy; and thus all Infidels find it is at one time or other.

5. I shall add but one thing more; since the Desire of Immortality is so natural, consider what an Eternal Tor­ment this must be, if we lose Immortal [Page 493] Life by our Infidelity. Natural Appe­tites last as long as Nature does, and when they are disappointed, especially if it be by our own fault, will torment us as long as they last. Now besides all the positive Miseries, which our Sa­viour threatens against Infidels, here is a Natural Cause and Demonstration of their Misery: The very Loss of Eternal Life must eternally torment them, be­cause they must eternally desire it; and these disappointed Desires will turn into Eternal Anguish, Despair, and Self-re­venge.

Would but Men seriously consider these things, how unnatural the Inclinati­ons to Infidelity are, and how unnatural the Aversion to the Belief of Immortali­ty is, and what terrible consequences they have, it would make them willing and de­sirous to believe, and then they would find no want of Evidence. There would not be so much need then of disputing a­gainst Infidelity, but we might employ our time much better in exhorting and perswading you to the conscientious pra­ctice of our most holy Religion, that we may obtain the End of our Faith, even the salvation of our Souls.

Which God, &c.

IT gives great disturbance to good Men, not only to observe the ge­neral corruption of Manners that is in the World, but the means where­by Mankind are now corrupted: That the very Notions of Moral Good and Evil are almost lost among us, that Men call evil good and good evil, dark­ness light, and light darkness; bitter sweet and sweet bitter; and shew their [Page 496] good will to change the Natures as well as Names of things were that in their Power.

This may seem new and surprizing to Men unaquainted with the State of former Ages; but even upon this Ac­count there is no new thing under the Sun. Men have been as wicked in for­mer Ages as they are now, and have ta­ken the same ways to justifie their wickedness, and to harden themselves in Sin, that they do now. As great a Degeneracy as this is of Human Nature, the Prophet assures us in my Text, that there were such Men in his days, who called evil good and good evil, and thus it is likely to be to the end of the World; and yet there will always be a Succession of good Men, and the E­ternal Differences of Good and Evil will never be lost: But then good Men must endeavour by all wise Arts to preserve a Sense of Piety and Vertue, to vindi­cate Religion from the Attempts of A­theists and Infidels, and to put a stop to the growing evil: For this reason God by his Prophet denounceth a Woe against such Men; which it shall be my Business at present to explain to you.

[Page 497] 1. I shall explain the several Terms in my Text, what it is to call Evil Good, and Good Evil; to put Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness; to put Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for Bit­ter, and who those are, that are Wise in their own Eyes, and Prudent in their own Sight.

2. I shall enquire, how Men come to judge thus perversly of Things, which is intimated in the Order here observed: That they first call Evil Good, and then Good Evil; first put Darkness for Light, and then Light for Darkness; first Bit­ter for Sweet, and then Sweet for Bitter.

3dly, I shall consider the Woe de­nounced against these Men, and how unavoidable it is.

1. To explain the Terms. And 1. What is meant by calling Evil Good, and Good Evil. For are there any Men in the World so senseless or impudent as to affirm, That what Mankind call Sins are Vertues, or what they call Vertues are Sins? I never heard of such Men; and [Page 498] I believe there are no such Men to be found: For there is no Fault which A­theists themselves can find with those which we call Moral Vertues; such as Ju­stice and Charity, Meekness, Humility, Patience, Temperance, Chastity, and the like, but that they do not agree with their Inclinations and Interests, and they desire to be at liberty from such Restraints, to live as they like best: they are not pleas'd, that the one should be thought essentially Good, and the other Evil; or that the one should be thought commanded, and the other forbidden by a Divine Law, which makes them accountable to a Superiour Lord and Judge for what they do. But if you will not call them Sins or Vertues, nor pre­tend a Divine Law for it, they will al­low, what we call Moral Vertues, to be good Rules of Life, and very necessa­ry for the prudent Government of Hu­mane Societies, and such as Mankind ought to agree in for their own Sakes, and for the Common Good; and that the contrary Vices are great and pub­lick Mischiefs, which ought to be re­strained and punished by Civil Laws: They are very well contented, and think it necessary that Men should make them [Page 499] Laws, but not God: For this still leaves them at liberty to transgress these Laws, when they can do it safely, and when their Interest and Inclinations tempt them to it. This indeed is to reject the very Notion of Moral Good and Evil, but not in a strict Sense to call Evil Good, or Good Evil; for they allow of no such Distinction between Good and Evil in a Moral Sense. Tho' by the way I could never understand what they mean by this; for if the Matter of these Vertues or Vices be such things as are naturally good or evil, then the doing such things must be morally good or evil: For I know no other Notion of Moral Good and Evil, but doing or chusing such things as have a natural Good and E­vil: If to rob our Neighbour of his Estate, to desame him, to abuse his Wife or Daughter, be a great Injury to him, it is a great Wickedness in us: If to defend the Injur'd and Oppress'd, to relieve the Poor and Fatherless, and Wi­dows, be a great Good to them, it is a great Vertue in us. And I know not what other Sanction Men would have for na­tural Laws, but the natural Good or E­vil of things: and if there be an essenti­al and eternal difference between natu­ral [Page 500] Good and Evil, Nature has made an essential difference between doing Good and Evil, that is, between Vertue and Vice.

But to let this pass; since these Men discard all the Moral Differences of Good and Evil, and yet own, that what we call Vertues do a great deal of good, and what we call Vices do great hurt and mischief, the difficulty remains, in what Sense any Man can be charged with calling Evil Good, and Good Evil, and I can think but of two Accounts of this Matter.

1. That they make their own Appe­tites, Interests, and Inclinations the on­ly Rule and Measure of Good and Evil; as they must necessarily do, when they allow of no common Rule and Standard for all Mankind: For if, as these Men perswade themselves, there be no Law either of God or Nature to distinguish between Good and Evil, there can be no other distinction but what every Man's own Appetite and Inclination makes for him; that is his Good, which he best likes, and that is Evil, which he does not like. Good and Evil signifie no­thing more, but what pleases or displea­ses [Page 501] him; and therefore when he feels himself highly pleased and gratified with what the rest of Mankind think a great Evil, and really is so, he laughs at their Ignorance and Folly, and calls and chu­ses it as his Good; and when that which is really Good crosses his Interests and Inclinations, he rejects it as a great E­vil. When such Men think it their In­terest to be Unjust, or their Inclinations tempt them to be Unchaste, they don't think such Actions Vertues, for they disown that Name; but they think them good, that is, profitable and pleasing; nor do they think Justice, Temperance, and Chastity to be Vices, but great E­vils, as contrary to their Gain or Plea­sure, which is to call that which is mo­rally Good, Evil, and that which is mo­rally Evil, Good.

2dly, Besides this, the better to ex­cuse themselves from the Shame and Reproach of such Actions (which will be always infamous, when they have done and said all they can) though they dare not call Vice Vertue, nor Vertue Vice, yet they give good Names, which are the Appendages and Properties of some Vertues to their Vices, and bad Names to Vertue. This is so common, and [Page 502] so well known, that I need not insist on it.

An easie, obliging, friendly Conversa­tion is very charming, when it is go­verned by strict Vertue: these Men let the Vertue alone, and justifie their Vi­ces as only the Effects and Instances of good Humour and Sociableness, and of a complying Temper, to make their Company easie, and their Conversation pleasant and entertaining; and this they think a good Apology for all their Lewdness, Debaucheries, and Profaneness; which may make them agreeable Com­pany for one another; but very unfit for the Conversation, not only of good Men, but of prudent and cautious Sin­ners; but that is all one, they will have this good Humour, and that is a good Name, which will suit any Vice which pleases themselves and their Company. Thus to be diligent in our Business, prudent and frugal in our Expences, to mortifie our sensual Appetites, and de­ny the Cravings of Lust, and use our Bodies hardly, are very commendable things, when they are opposed to Idle­ness and Luxury, and have regard to the Care of our Families, and to make us capable of all Acts of Charity, and [Page 503] to subdue the Flesh to the Spirit, and to make us more devout Worshippers of God: And therefore a meer Earth­worm, who does all this for no other end but to get or to save his Money, tho' he starve himself, and his Family, and the Poor by it, and makes himself a vile Slave all his Days, calls this for­did Covetousness by these good Names, of Diligence, Prudence, Frugality, Tem­perance, Mortification, when in Truth it is nothing but a love of Money above his Ease and Pleasure, and adoring it as his God.

Thus on the other hand, Superstiti­on and Hypocrisie are very ill Names; and these at all Adventures they be­stow upon Piety and Vertue, to excuse their own Neglect and Contempt of both; as if no Man could be sincere, because there are some Hypocrites, or as if there were no such thing as Reli­gion, because some Men would appear to be religious, who are not, though it is a better Argument for Religion, that even bad Men desire to be thought re­ligious.

Thus an affected Singularity is very offensive and nauseous to all wise Men; and this is their Name for a sullen, inflexi­ble [Page 404] Vertue, which will not do a bad thing to please its Company, nor ad­mit bad Men into the Privacies and Fa­miliarities of Conversation; as if there were no Medium between affecting Singularity, and being wicked for Com­pany.

This is the Art of changing Names: call any Vertue or Vice by its own Name, such as Piety, Justice, Charity, Temperance, Chastity; or Profaneness, Injustice, Drunkenness, Adultery; and they have nothing to say against the one, nor for the other; for these are Names of Honour and Esteem, or of Infamy and Reproach all the World over: But if they can find any thing in Vice, which bears the least resemblance to what some Vertues oblige us to, they presently give the Names of those Ver­tues to their Vices; and if a vertuous Man may do any thing for wise and good Reasons, which has any Likeness or Analogy to what bad Men do for very bad Reasons, they give the Names of those Vices to Vertue, which is in a strict and proper Sense, to call Evil Good, and Good Evil: And this there are too many guilty of, who are not pro­fess'd Atheists or Infidels; who think it [Page 505] some Excuse for their Vices, if they can find any thing good to say of them, and an Apology for their Lukewarm­ness and Indifferency in Religion, if they can charge some zealous Professors with Pharisaism and Hypocrisy; but by whomsoever, and for what reason so­ever this be done, the Woe belongs to all those who call evil good, and good evil.

2dly. What is meant by putting dark­ness for light, and light for darkness. Darkness and Light very often in Scrip­ture signifie Vice and Vertue: Sin is the work of Darkness, to walk in the Light is to live holily, as St. Iohn tells us, 1 Iohn 1. ver. 6, 7. if we say we have fellowship with him, (God) and walk in darkness, live in any Sin, we lie and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, if we are holy as God is holy, then have we Fel­lowship one with another; and thus it is the same with calling Evil Good and Good Evil.

But then Darkness signifies also Igno­rance and Error, false and corrupt No­tions of God and Religion; and Light a clear and certain Knowledge, especi­ally in matters of Religion, what con­cerns [Page 506] the Will of God, and the way to Heaven, as our Saviour tells us, light is come into the world, but men love dark­ness rather than light, John 3. 19. And thus we must understand it here: Those Men who call Evil Good and Good E­vil, who reject the moral differences of Good and Evil, and confound the Names of Vertue and Vice, pervert all the Principles of Knowledge, and Rules of judging between Good and Evil; they put darkness for light, call all the arbitrary and ridiculous Principles of Atheism and Infidelity Light, and esteem them as the most true and certain Knowledge, though indeed they teach us nothing, but reduce us to the most perfect state of Ignorance, by unteach­ing all that Mankind knew before; for if there be no God, and no difference between Good and Evil, there is an End of all Knowledge, which is the Light of the Mind; for the next step is to put light for darkness, to reject all the Natural, and all the Supernatural Means of Knowledge, the Natural Notions of our Minds, the Natural Light of Rea­son, and the Supernatural Light of Re­velation, as meer Ignorance and Impo­sture, the Cheats of Education or of a [Page 507] timorous Fancy, or the Cunning of Statesmen, or the Inventions of Priests: Such Men you know there are in the World, and this Woe belongs to them.

3dly. To put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter is a corruption, not meerly of our Judgment, but of our Natural Sen­sation, of our Natural Taste and Relish of Things: Bitter signifies whatever is naturally uneasy, grievous, offensive, as bitter things are to the Palate; that which causes Trouble, Anguish, Re­morse, as all wicked Actions naturally do; now such thing [...] as are grievous and afflicting to all the rest of Man­kind, who have any natural Sense left, these Men call sweet, account their Plea­sure and Happiness: But then what is naturally sweet, hath a Natural Easi­ness, Pleasure, Satisfaction, as all good and vertuous Actions have; this they call bitter, these are the grievances of their Life, an intollerable Yoke, which they cannot and will not bear. This is the most degenerate State of Human Nature, which hath lost all Relish of Vertue, and all Sense of Shame and Fear and Remorse when they do Evil; their Minds are perfectly dead and stupid, [Page 508] without any Rational or Spiritual Sen­sations; they have nothing but their bodily Senses left, and by these alone they judge of Sweet and Bitter; what gratifies their bodily Senses, that is their Pleasure and Happiness, without any regard to Vertue, Modesty, or Ho­nour; what lays Restraints upon their sensual Inclinations, that is bitter, un­easy, and grievous; and no wonder that there is a Woe denounced against these Men.

4ly. Woe be to them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. Where the Proph [...]t speaks of the same Men still; those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter; and yet think themselves the only wise Men in the World, though they contradict the Sense of all Mankind, the natural un­corrupted Sense of their own Minds, the Light of Nature and the Word of God. This is the just Character of Atheists and Infidels, who think them­selves the only Wits, the only Philoso­phers, and laugh at all the rest of the World as easy, credulous, unthinking Fools, who are under the Tyranny of [Page 509] Custom and popular Opinions, which exposes them to all other Cheats. They think it an Argument of Wit and profound Thought to contradict all Mankind; for there are but few wise Men they say in the World, and the most are usually in the wrong, which may be allowed as to improved Know­ledge, which is gained by laborious stu­dy and observation; but the Folly lies on the other side, when Men advance Paradoxes, which contradict the uni­versal Sense of Nature; for in such Ca­ses the most are likely to be in the right, because Natural Productions are more common than Monsters; that a wise Man will rather think and judge with the Multitude, when they think on Natures side, than with the most famed Philosophers against Nature: But those who affect to contradict the rest of the World, must think themselves the only wise Men, if they think at all; that we have no more reason to wonder at their Pride and In­solence than at their Atheism and In­fidelity.

2dly. Let us now inquire how these Men come to sink into so degenerate a State, as one would think impossible [Page 510] to a reasonable Nature; and that is in­timated in that order which is observed in my Text; that they first call Evil Good, and then Good Evil; first put Darkness for Light, and then Light for Darkness, &c. As to consider this par­ticularly.

1st. They begin with calling Evil Good, for no Man can begin with calling Good Evil: Nature will have the first word, and pass the first Judg­ment on Things; and Nature as corrupt as it is, till it be depraved and vitiated by evil Customs, will call Good good, and Evil evil. Atheists and Infidels must confess, that as wise as they think themselves now, there was a time when they were as very fools as the rest of the World, that is, when they had the same Opinions about Good and Evil, which the rest of Mankind still have; when they did own a moral difference between Good and Evil, and called Good and Evil by their right Names; and it is as certain, that the only Rea­son for altering their Opinions and changing the Names of Good and Evil, was changing their Manners; that they grew very fond of what they themselves as well as the foolish Multitude thought [Page 511] and called Evil, and then they be­gan to think and to call it Good, and the necessary Consequence of this is to call Good Evil; and as unwilling as they are to own this, it is demonstrable there can be no other Reason for it.

Though these Men could prove (which they will never be able to do) that there is no moral, essential, immu­table difference between Good and Evil, between Vertue and Vice, yet this is no reason to call Evil Good, or Good E­vil; for though they were neither Sins nor Vertues, neither forbid nor com­manded by a Divine Law, yet they themselves confess, as I observed before, that what we call Vertues have so much Good in them, that they are the best and wisest Rules of Society and Conversation, necessary to secure every Mans private Interest, and the Peace and good Government of the World, and therefore fit to be encouraged, and to be made Laws in all civiliz'd Nati­ons; and that what we call Sins have so much Evil in them, that they are very destructive to Human Societies, and deserve to be restrained and pu­nished; and then it is certain there ne­ver can be any reason to call Evil [Page 512] Good, and Good Evil, which by their own Confession is a direct contradi­ction to the Nature of Things; it is to call that Evil, which they them­selves own to be a great and publick Good, and that Good which they own to be a publick Mischief, which there never can be any reason for: So that the Case is plain, it is not Reason but Lust which calls Evil Good and Good Evil; till Lust prevails above Reason, Vertue and Vice, Good and Evil, keep those Names which God and Nature has given them, and such Men offer as much Force and Violence to their Natural Understanding, when they call Evil Good and Good Evil, as they do to Natural Conscience, when they chuse the Evil, and refuse the Good. This is Answer enough to such Men, who would reason or laugh away the distinction between Good and Evil, and ought to be a Warning to us all, how we engage in a Course of Wickedness; for how much soever we despise and ab­hor these wicked Principles, we shall soon think as these Men do, if we grow as wicked as they are.

2dly, These Men first put Darkness for Light, and then Light for Darkness. [Page 513] Men are not born stark blind, but have the Light of Reason to discern the na­tural differences of Things, and to di­rect their Lives; and as weak and de­fective as meer natural Reason is, espe­cially in Matters of Religion and ano­ther World, it directs us to a safer Guide: For Reason it self teaches us to believe God, who cannot deceive us, and can it self judge of the external and visible Marks of a Revelation; that is, can judge, when God speaks, and what we must receive, as taught by God. This is the Light of Mankind, the Light of Reason or Revelation, what Nature teaches, or what God reveals: And all Mankind at first both see and own this Light; for no Man is born an Atheist or an Infidel: But bad Men, who have corrupted their Man­ners, and cannot justifie their Vices, nor quiet their Consciences, if they at­tend either to the Light of Nature or Revelation, must seek for other Reme­dies; and this makes them espouse the Principles of Atheism and Infidelity; and these they call Light, which in Truth is a meer Aegyptian Darkness; and then they must call Light Dark­ness, reject and scorn both the natural [Page 514] Dictates of Reason, and the superna­tural Revelation of the Divine Will, as Ignorance and Darkness.

Now, whatever Opinion Men have of their Philosophy, yet how they should learn what neither Nature nor God teaches them, or how they should discover, that what all the rest of the World believe, that God and Nature has taught them, is false, is a Mystery to me: And the only Account that can be given of it, is what our Saviour gives, That light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, be­cause their deeds are evil: And when they love Darkness, it is no wonder that they call it Light; but they must first call Darkness Light, before they can put out the Light, and turn it into Darkness.

Now if this be the Truth of the Case, as our own Experience, and our Obser­vations of other Men assure us it is, this is a sufficient Reason to reject all the Principles of Atheism and Infidelity without disputing; for they were not born and bred with us, as what is natu­ral is, and therefore must be owing to the Lusts and Vices of Men, which are the Works of Darkness, and hate the [Page 515] Light; and nothing seems stranger to me, than that of all the Men in the World, these Men should pretend to Reason, who have the least Right o [...] Pretence to it: For what Principles can they reason on, who reject the Light of Nature and of Revelation? What is Natural Reason, but the Reason of Hu­mane Nature? And how shall we know what this is, but by those common Prin­ciples of Reason, which Nature has im­planted in all Mankind, and which Art, and Wit, and Vice it self, have much ado to silence, and can never per­fectly root out? and certainly that is not Natural Reason, which contradicts all the Principles of Humane Nature; and what is that Reason, which is not the Reason of Humane Nature? Or how is Mankind concerned in such Reasons as can be no Rule to them, unless they put off Humane Nature? And indeed this is the Case of these very Men; they have put off Humane Nature, are de­generated into Bruits; and have the Reason and Understanding of Bruits, espouse such Principles as serve no other End, but to justifie the brutal Nature; and therefore laugh at the common Sentiments and Faith of Man­kind, [Page 516] and pretend to Reason, only to reason Humane Nature, as well as Revelation, out of the World. How subtilly soever these Men may dispute, it sufficeth me, that this is not the Ori­ginal Belief of Mankind, and therefore is not owing to God or Nature, but to Lust. No Man can call Light Dark­ness, till he is in love with Darkness for the sake of the Works of Dark­ness.

3dly. The same may be said of putting Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for Bitter. Men must first reconcile themselves to Wickedness, which is naturally very bitter, uneasie, and grievous, and shake off all sense of Shame, and Mode­sty, and Fear, before they can in good earnest reproach Vertue: For till Men are very wicked, Vertue is the great Pleasure, the truest and sweetest Pleasure of Humane Nature.

Thirdly. Let us now consider the Woe that is denounced against these Men, and how unavoidable it is: Woe be to them that call Evil Good, and Good Evil, &c. What this Woe is, is not here express'd; but an indefinite Woe is very terrible, for it includes all the Woes that God has any where in Scrip­ture [Page 517] threatned against Sinners, the Ven­geance of God in this World, and the eternal Miseries of the next. A Woe sig­nifies a State of extream Misery, where­in Men shall bewail and lament them­selves, without Hope or Redress; all the Miseries that such Sinners deserve, and therefore the greatest that Humane Nature can suffer; because this is the greatest Degeneracy of Humane Nature. And therefore to warn you all of fal­ling into this State, I shall briefly shew you how unavoidable this Woe is.

When Men are so in love with their Sins, that they resolve never to part with them, they vainly think, that the only way to secure themselves, is to ba­nish God out of the World, and to de­stroy all the differences of Good and E­vil, and then they may please them­selves, and live as they list, without Fear or Shame, or any Danger of a fu­ture Account.

Now so far they are in the right, that if they could banish God out of the World, their Work were done, and they might bid defiance to all the Pulpit-thun­der, and laugh at all the superstitious fears of Sinners. But to perswade themselves [Page 518] contrary to the Sense of Nature, and the universal Belief of Mankind that there is no God, will not banish God out of the World: And if they should find a God, after they have perswaded themselves there is none, as they cer­tainly will, they will find this God a provoked and terrible Judge: For what greater Contempt and Despite can be offered to God, than to perswade them­selves that there is no God? This is a State of open Enmity: They hate God, and would destroy his Being, if they could; for the Reason why they per­swade themselves there is no God, is be­cause they would have none; and those who hate God, are hated by him, and must suffer his eternal Vengeance.

Thus, if there were no essential dif­ference between Good and Evil, they might chuse for themselves, and call things by what Names they pleased, Evil Good, and Good Evil; but if there be such a difference, however they hav [...] made shift to conquer this Sense at pre­sent, if they refuse the Good, and chuse the Evil, they must lose all that Hap­piness, which they might expect from what is a natural Good; that is, all the [Page 519] true Happiness of Humane Nature, and suffer all those Miseries which those E­vils, which are contrary to the Happi­ness of Humane Nature, and destru­ctive of it, will expose them too. For Good and Evil are not empty Names; but Good signifies the Happiness of that Nature, whose Good it is, and E­vil its Misery: And if after all their Philosophy, there be such a distin­ction of Good and Evil with respect to Humane Nature (and that is a strange Nature which has no Good or Evil be­longing to it;) to reject the Good must deprive them of Happiness, and to chuse the Evil must make them mise­rable. And if there be a moral as well as natural difference between Good and Evil, that one deserves to be rewarded, and the other punished, we must ex­pect, that the Righteous Judge of the World will reward and punish us accord­ing to our Works.

If Men shut their Eyes, or put out the Light, and then call Darkness Light, and Light Darkness, how secure soe­ver this may make them at present, all that they gain by it, is to go to Hell blindfold, not to see their Danger, be­fore [Page 520] they feel themselves irrecoverably miserable. If there be a distinction be­tween Light and Darkness, in the Mo­ral and Spiritual, as well as in the Na­tural World, as there must be, if there be any difference between true Know­ledge and Wisdom, and Ignorance and Folly: If the Office of Light be to di­rect us in the way to Heaven, those blessed Regions of eternal Light, which those who wander in Darkness can ne­ver find: If the necessary Effect of put­ting Darkness for Light, be to lose the sight of the other World, both of Hea­ven and Hell, and the way that leads to each; if there be still a Heaven and a Hell, as they will certainly find there is, it will be impossible for them either to get to Heaven, or to miss Hell; they will lose their way in the dark to Heaven, but Darkness leads directly to Hell, whither no Man will venture to go but in the dark. Men, who have their Eyes open, and see Hell before them, are apt to start, and give back at such a Sight; but those who can shut their Eyes, and put out the Light, and neither see a God nor a Judge, Hea­ven nor Hell, will sin on, without fear of Hell, till they feel its Torments. [Page 521] There is no such infallible way to make our selves wicked and miserable as to shut out the Light, which would dis­cover to us both our Shame and Dan­ger. And let no Man envy those, who have so blinded their Minds, that they can sin without Shame and Fear, who does not think it a great Happiness to be eternally damned before they know it.

But there is this further Danger in putting Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness, that it ordinarily seals Men up to the Day of Destruction. Men, who thus wilfully and obstinately shut their Eyes, seldom open them again in this World; and it is too late for them to open them in the next. Such Men do not deserve, that God should use a­ny extraordinary Methods to convince them, and they have already hardened themselves against all the ordinary Means of Grace; especially when they are arriv'd at that degree of assurance, to be wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight; to think all Mankind easie, ignorant, credulous Fools, but themselves. There is no way left of dealing with such Men, as with reaso­nable Creatures; neither Argument nor [Page 522] Authority can prevail, while they be­lieve themselves the only Masters and Judges of Reason, and have judged all before-hand, and have nothing to do, but to keep their Ground, and to reject every thing that is offered for their Conviction with Scorn. This shews how dangerous a State these Men are in, and how little hope there is, if they be in the wrong, that they should ever see their Mistake, and deliver themselves out of the Snare: And certainly we ought to look well about us, before we shut our Eyes, when there is so little hope that we shall ever open them a­gain.

Thus when Men put Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for Bitter, what is Bitter will prove Bitterness in the latter end. If a Sense of Guilt and Sin be so grievous and tormenting, as all Men feel it is, before they have stupified their Con­sciences, and corrupted their natural Sense of things; when this unnatural Force is taken off, when these Opiates have lost their Virtue, and Conscience awakes again, as it will certainly do in the next World, it will awake in a ter­rible fright and fury; never to fall a­sleep more. When Sinners are convin­ced [Page 523] of their Wickedness, and of the Displeasure of God, and of the Danger Sin has brought them into, Repentance it self has its Agonies and Terrors, its Remorse, and Shame, and Fear, but not without Hope: And Repentance as it reforms our Lives, cures our Fears, and heals the Wounds which it made. But when Mens Eyes shall be opened in the next World, to see their Sin and their Misery; when Repentance comes too late to procure a Pardon; when they shall repent with eternal Anguish, Hor­ror, Despair, and Self-Revenge, then they will find, what an evil and bitter thing it is to sin against God, which breeds a Worm in the Conscience, which perpetually knaws and torments, but ne­ver dies.

To conclude. Let this warn us all how we engage in a Course of Sin, which is so apt to pervert our Judg­ments, to blind our Minds, and to cor­rupt our natural Sense of things. Or if we should at any time be conquered by the Temptations of the World and the Flesh, let us rather chuse the Shame and the Sorrows of Repentance, than take Sanctuary in Atheism and Infidelity, [Page 524] which may skin over the Wound at present, but cannot heal it; which may give us some present Ease and Relief, but will end in eternal Woe. Let us al­ways preserve a great Sense of God, and of the differences of Good and E­vil, and hearken to the Dictates and Reproofs of Natural Conscience and of the VVord of God, that we may ne­ver fall under the VVoe denounced in my Text against those who call Evil Good, and Good Evil; who put Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness; who put Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for Bit­ter; who are wise in their own Eyes, and prudent in their own Sight.

To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be Honour, Glo­ry and Power, now, and for ever.

Amen.

I Have already explained these Words, and shewn, 1. VVhat is meant by calling evil good, and good evil; by putting darkness for light, and light for darkness; by putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter; and who those are who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.

2. How Men come to judge thus per­versely of things.

[Page 526] 3. The Woe denounced against such Men, and how unavoidable it is.

But there is one which I must observe from the whole, which may be of great use to us, viz. The natural Progress of wick­edness, and what art and pains it requires to make a finisht and accomplisht Sinner.

In this corrupt State of Nature our sensual Inclinations are very strong, and the first thing we learn, is to please our Senses; and this is apt to corrupt our Lives with all worldly and fleshly Lusts; but still while Men are conscious to themselves in any Instances, that what they do is Evil, and deserves to be pu­nished both by God and Men, they are but very imperfect Beginners; they sin with Shame, and Fear, and Remorse; and it is to be hoped at one time or o­ther, the terrible Rebukes of their own Consciences, and the Fears of future Vengeance may reclaim them; if this does not put a stop to them, but they proceed in an habitual course of Wicked­ness, and are resolved not to part with their Sins, it is time for them to consi­der how to get rid of those tormenting Passions of Shame and Fear.

[Page 527] 1. And the first Step to this, is to de­stroy the Essential Differences of Good and Evil, to call Evil good, and Good evil; but how hard is it to do this? For, besides the difficulty of rooting up those natural Notions of Good and E­vil, which are so deeply imprinted on our Minds; which, if it be allowed pos­sible, as I believe it is not, must yet be acknowledged to be very difficult, as difficult as it must be to change or unmake our Natures: I say, besides this, what good did Sin ever do them, that they should call it good? Or, what hurt did Vertue ever do them, that they should call it evil? If they would but tell us what they mean by Good and Evil, we might come to some Resolu­tion in this matter: Nay, if they would but allow that the same thing cannot be both good and evil in its own na­ture, we might soon decide this Con­troversie. There is not any one Vice, how fond soever they may be of it themselves, but what they will condemn in other Men as a great Evil, especially when they themselves suffer by it; nor any one Vertue, how averse soever they are to practise it, but what they must [Page 528] commend in other Men as that which does a great deal of good, especially when they themselves receive good by it. Now can any Man possibly per­swade himself that that is evil, which at the same time he confesses does a great deal of good: Or, that to be good, which he confesses does great evil and mischief? Mens Lusts and Vices may perswade them to refuse the Good, and to chuse the Evil, and to think it very good for them to do so; but it is impossible for them, how much soever they gratifie themselves by it, to think those good Actions which do great Evil and Mischief; or those evil Actions, which do great Good to the World: to think in good earnest that they do good when they see and know that they do hurt and Mischief; or that they do Evil, when they do Good: And as long as this Di­stinction between good and evil Actions lasts, it is impossible for them to get rid of the Notions of Good and Evil.

But this they own, and are not much concerned about it, that in pleasing themselves in the Gratification of their Lusts, which they call Good, they ve­ry often grieve and injure other Men; [Page 529] to deny their own Profit, Pleasures and Satisfactions; nor to grieve and afflict themselves in the exercise of very ex­pensive and laborious Vertues for o­ther Mens Ease and Pleasure. All that they mean, when they reject the Mo­ral Differences of Good and Evil is, that what we call Vertues, do not in their own nature deserve Praise and Reward, nor Vice Shame and Punish­ment; and therefore they are at liberty to chuse what they please; and their only natural Rule is to please them­selves.

I shall not dispute this Matter with them now, which one would think those who live in human Societies, should be afraid, as well as ashamed to own, lest Man­kind should think it as much their Inte­rest to get rid of them, as they do to destroy all Beasts of Prey; but it seems impossible to me, that Men can really believe this, whatever they say.

That Praise and Shame are in their own natures inseparable from Vertue and Vice, is not only the Belief of all Men, but what all Men feel. Good Men find the Rewards of Vertue in the Ap­plause of their own Consciences; and the first Revenge that Sin takes upon bad Men, is in the Lashes and Reproaches [Page 530] of their own Minds. Prima est hoec ultio quod se Iudice, nemo nocens absolvi­tur. And that this is the universal sense of Mankind, I think needs no other Proof, but that it is the universal Lan­guage of Mankind. For in all Langua­ges under Heaven the Names of Ver­tue and Vice are Names of Honour and Reproach. Natural Perfections or Defects, such as Strength and Beauty, sound Reason and Vivacity of Wit, or Weakness, Deformity, Ignorance, Folly, or Dulness; or the external Circumstances of Fortune, as Riches or Poverty, Nobi­bility of Birth, or a mean Parentage, a mean or liberal Education, may be brought into Mens Characters; but you can never praise or reproach to any purpose, but upon account of Vertue or Vice: and should any Man venture to commend another for being unjust, unchaste, or intemperate, or to reproach him for the contrary Vertues, he would make himself ridiculous; for Mankind are unacquainted with such new Terms of Honour and Reproach, which in their Language signifie quite contrary: Nay, these very Men, who tell you that there is no natural Shame due to Vice, when­ever they quarrel and intend to reproach each other in good earnest (which often [Page 531] happens) they always make one Vice or other the Matter of their Reproach, which proves whatever they say, that they do still believe Vice to be very in­famous; or it is a great Misfortune to them, that there is no Language in the World for them to rail at each other in, without confuting their own Philosophy, and blemishing the Honour and Reputa­tion of Vice.

And how is it possible that these Men should perswade themselves that Vertue deserves no Reward, nor Vice Punish­ment, when they themselves find a kind Resentment of all good Offices that are done them, and a great Inclination to return them, which is to reward Ver­tue; and when they suffer Injuries, they have as sharp and quick a Sense of Re­venge, and are as restless and impatient to punish those Injuries, as if they thought they deserved it.

Nay, how dare they say, that Ver­tue deserves n [...] [...]eward, nor Sin Punish­ment, when in so saying they reproach all the wise Governments in the World, which make it a principal Care to punish Wickedness and reward Vertue, at least, as far as the Peace and Security of the Government is concerned in it; and yet if these Rewards and Punishments [Page 532] are not due by Nature, this is an En­croachment upon the Rights and Li­berties of Nature, which I should think as sacred and inviolable as the Liberty of Conscience which these Men are generally so zealous for.

Well! They will allow this too, that it is very fitting and necessary that some Laws should be agreed on for the Pre­servation and good Government of Human Societies; and that Men should submit their natural Liberties to the Restraints of Laws for the Benefit of publick Protection; but still this makes no moral Difference between Good or Evil; nor any natural Desert of Re­wards and Punishments; but it is all owing to Human Compacts and Go­vernments, and can reach no farther, and therefore not to another World; and as for this World, they are con­tented to take their Fortune in it, to use their natural Liberties as much as they can, and to defen [...] [...]emselves a­gainst private Revenge and publick Ju­stice as well as they can.

This is an Hypothesis, I confess, which effectually destroys all the moral Differ­ences of Good and Evil, and delivers Men from the Fear of God, and of the Punishments of the next Life; but what [Page 533] thinking Man can perswade himself to believe this? or can so firmly believe it, as to give him any Security and Confi­dence in sinning?

There are no Records, no Symptoms of any such original Contract as this, for Mankind to give up their natural Liberties to the Restraints of arbitrary Laws. The general Consent of all Na­tions (who had no Communication with each other) in this Distinction between Vertue and Vice, intimates no other Compact but that of a common Nature: And not only the wisest Philosophers, but the universal Voice of Mankind at­tribute these Laws to Nature, not to Human Institutions: And it must appear strange, if these Laws had no higher Original than Human Compacts, that Mankind for so many Ages should not know any thing of it, but should mistake them for the Laws of Nature, as after all the Information these Men can give the World, the generality of Mankind do to this day.

But suppose this Distinction between Vertue and Vice, and those Laws which command the Exercise of Vertue, and forbid Vice, were originally framed and enacted by Men; was there no Reason in the nature of things, why [Page 534] they agreed upon such Laws? Yes, they will grant that they were necessary for the Peace, and good Order and Go­vernment of Human Societies, to se­cure private Men from Injuries and Violence, and to make them helpful and beneficial to each other; and therefore they agreed to make them Laws: But why should we think that God and Nature has not made those Laws which have natural and necessary Reasons to make them Laws? Can meer Human Compacts and Governments either make or change the Reasons and Necessities of things? Can they, if they so pleased, make Vertue Vice, or Vice Vertue, and as well consult the Happi­ness of Mankind, and the good Govern­ment of the World by doing so? If not, then meer Human Compacts can neither make nor unmake these Laws. God has made these Laws for us, by making us such Creatures, and giving us such Natures as require such Laws, if we will live by Nature, and attain our natural Happiness; and who then can think that God will not as much exact from us the Observance of these Laws, as Men do? that he will not punish the Breach of these Laws, when Human Govern­ments find it necessary to do so? And [Page 535] has God made the Restraints and Pu­nishment of Mens Lusts and Vices ne­cessary, and will he not punish them himself? especially when the Authority of Human Laws and Human Govern­ment is very precarious without the Awe of Religion, as those Law-givers were very sensible; who, to give the greater Veneration to their Laws, pre­tended to receive them from their Gods. It is manifest, that this very Hypothesis which allows no other Difference be­tween Vertue and Vice, but what Hu­man Laws and Human Contracts make, leaves every Man at liberty to break these Laws when he can do it safely, or will venture the Punishment, which is the reason that makes these Men so fond of it, and shews how necessary a divine Au­thority is to enforce the Obligation of these Laws, and to secure the very being of Human Societies.

So that those who reason according to the common Principles of Humane Nature, can never get rid of the Noti­tions of moral Good and Evil, nor at­tribute these Laws to any other Author but that God who made us, and fitted our Natures to these Laws; and no Man who believes that God hath given us these Laws, can doubt whether he [Page 536] will punish the Breach of them. But then, if to this we add the more certain Revelation of the Gospel, wherein the Wrath of God is revealed from Hea­ven against all Unrighteousness and Ungod­liness of Men, this confirms all the Fears of Nature, and leaves no possible Hopes for Sinners, but Repentance from dead works, and Faith in our Lord Iesus Christ, that it is impossible for Men, who know any thing of the Gospel of Christ, to sin securely with their Eyes open; and therefore

2dly. The next step they take, is to put out their Eyes, or to put out the Light; to put darkness for light, and light for darkness; to reject all the com­mon Principles of Reason, and all Divine Revelation; as Ignorance, Folly, and Imposture; But what a Task is this? to perswade our selves that Darkness is Light, and Light Darkness? For the common Principles of Reason which A­theists and Infidels must reject, before they can deny the Being of God, or a Divine Revelation, shine as clear and bright in the Mind, as the Light of the Sun does in the Heavens; and the admi­red Principles of Atheism and Infidelity put out our Eyes, leave no Distinction between things, nor any certain Rules [Page 537] of judging; as to give some few In­stances of this.

There is nothing lies more easie and obvious in our Minds, than the Notion of a first Cause, which gave Being to all things else; I will not dispute this Point now, but alledge it as a first Prin­ciple, which Mankind naturally assent to, as the most reasonable Account of the Origin of all things. Now this the Atheist rejects: for if they should al­low a First Cause, they must own a God: for the first Cause of all things is a God: And this is the wisest Reason they have against it, though in truth it is a great Confirmation of the natural Notion of a First Cause; because the Belief of a God is as natural and uni­versal, as of a First Cause; And these two Notions, which are both so natu­ral to Mankind, do mutually confirm each other.

But what Account do these Men give of the Origin of all things? They ei­ther say the World is Eternal, and al­ways was what it now is; or that Atoms were Eternal, and that the World that now is, was made by chance: But is this the natural Perswasion of Mankind, that the World had no Beginning and no Cause; or that it was made-by chance? [Page 538] Is any thing in the World harder to be believed than this, which we can form no possible Notion of? Nature teaches nothing of all this; and how then should they come to know it? when they nei­ther saw the World from Eternity, nor saw it made by the fortuitous Jumble of Atoms.

It is certain these Principles differ as Light and Darkness do. To ascribe all things to a First Cause, gives a sensible Account how all things were made, and how they came to be so wisely made, which is Knowledge and Light: But to say that the VVorld was Eternal with­out a Cause, or that▪ it was made by chance, when we see all things in it so wisely made, only confounds and amazes us, and leaves us in Darkness.

Indeed all the Principles of Atheism and Infidelity have nothing natural or enlightning in them, but are a Force upon our Understandings, and destroy all the true Principles of Know­ledge.

It is very easie and natural to our Minds to believe that something is E­ternal; for if there ever had been no­thing, there never could have been a­ny thing: But the Question is, which is most easie and natural to Human Un­derstandings [Page 539] to say, that all things are Eternal without a Cause, or to assert one Eternal Being, who is the Cause of all things; and every Man may feel the difference between these two in his own Mind: for the Notion of a First Cause, is as easie and natural as of an Eternal Being; and that natural Notion we have of the Relation and Depen­dance between Causes and Effects, neces­sarily leads us to the Belief of a First Cause: for if all things were Eternal without a Cause, it is hard to conceive how there should ever after be any na­tural Relation between them of Cau­ses and Effects; and yet destroy the Doctrine of Causes and Effects, and there is an end of all Reason and Dis­course. But then, as we have no na­tural Notion of the Eternity of all things, so all the Appearances of Na­ture contradict it, and will not suffer it to lie easie in our Minds. We see every day that all Individuals are made; Men are born every day and die; and one Generation succeeds another; and thus it is with Beasts, and Birds, and all o­ther Animals; with Trees, and Fruit, and Corn, and Herbs; and is it possible for any Man to believe that any of these things were Eternal, when we [Page 540] see that the Individuals of all these se­veral kinds of Beings are daily made: for the World consists of Individuals; and if they are all made, the World was made. Necessary Existence is Es­sential to the Notion of an Eternal Being, which has no Beginning, nor any Cause, and therefore must be al­ways what it is, without the least Change; that to ascribe Eternity to a World, which is subject to perpetual Changes, is as great an Absurdity, as to assert an Eternal Succession without a Beginning.

Thus it is very natural to think, that the Effect can have nothing but what the Cause can give it; and therefore we may learn what the invisible Cause is, from visible Effects; that if we see any thing wisely made, we may conclude it had a wise Cause, and therefore nothing can more contradict the natural Sense of our Minds, than to ascribe such a World as we now live in, which discovers such wonderful Art in its Contrivance, to blind and undesigning Chance.

I do not dispute these Matters now, but only consider how unnatural it is to think so; and therefore how very diffi­cult it is for any Man in good earnest to espouse these Atheistick Principles.

[Page 541] Thus as for the Principles of Infide­lity, how hard is it for any Man to perswade himself that God never re­vealed himself and his Will to the World any otherwise than by the Works of Creation, when all Mankind have believed otherwise, and are natu­rally inclined to believe so; and there are great Reasons to think that God will do so, and none to think that he will not; especially when we have such e­vident Proof of this in Prophecy and Miracles, which so strongly perswade the rest of Mankind: For to deny Pro­phecy and Miracles when the Matter of Fact is plain, that there have been true Prophecies or Miracles, and no Man besides themselves, who believes a God, doubts whether he can foretel things to come, or exercise a Sovereign Authority over Nature when he pleases, can be called by no softer Names than Stupi­dity or Impudence; and whatever they say, it is not so easie for them to believe what they say; for Prophecy and Mi­racles carry such a Conviction with them of a Divine Power, and give such Au­thority to the Prophet, as is not easily resisted; as is evident from hence, that some of the wisest of these Men dare not deny the Authority of Prophecy [Page 542] and Miracles, could they be assured o the Truth of them; but they hear no Prophecies nor see any Miracles now, and may be imposed on by fabulous Re­lations, should they be over credulous of such Matters.

This would have been a good An­swer, had they only some idle and un­certain Reports of such things; but it can never satisfie themselves when they have such an Authentick History as the Bible, the Old and New Testament for the Foundation of Faith. Can any Man perswade himself to reject the Credit and Authority of all Histories? If he can't, whatever he may pretend, he will find it a very hard matter after all his Criticisms, to disbelieve the Gospel, which is the best attested and most credible History in the World: These are the Difficulties of being an Atheist or Infidel, without which Men can never reject or confound the Diffe­rences of Good and Evil, that all these Principles contradict the natural Ideas of our Minds, and destroy all the natural Rules and Measures of Reason, that we can no more distinguish between Truth and Falshood, than between Good and Evil; and if it be possible ever thus to efface the natural Notions of our Minds, [Page 543] yet it must be a very uneasie and difficult Task.

3dly. And yet it is at least as difficult to put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Men may bribe their Under­standings, but our natural Passions are not so easily stifled. When the Frame and Constitution of our Natures has annexed Shame, and Fear, and Remorse to bad Actions, which makes them very bitter and grievous in the Review, whatever they were in the Act; it is not laughing at these Fears as supersti­tious and owing to Education, which will cure them, no more than the Sto­icks Brags that Pain was no Evil, could prevent their feeling Pain. What is painful, will make us feel it, and A­theists and Infidels themselves, when they think they have reasoned and laught away all their Fears, find that besides their frequent Misgivings and Jealousies, when any great or surpri­zing Occasion sets them free, these Passions return on them with such a Fu­ry, as all their Philosophy cannot re­sist. Now this endangers all again; for natural Shame, and Fear, and Remorse, will make them own an Essential Diffe­rence between Good and Evil, when they feel it.

[Page 544] 4thly. But let us suppose all these Difficulties conquered, they are sensi­ble that there is one still remaining, viz. That all the rest of Mankind are against them. The Heathen World owned a God, and as learned Men have proved, one Supream God, though they corrup­ted both the Notion and Worship of God by Polytheism and Idolatry; but Atheism was so infamous among them, that some Atheistick Philosophers, such as Epicurus himself, was forced to dissemble it: They owned a moral Difference between Good and Evil; they owned Revelation, and institu­ted Religions, and had them, though not from God, yet from those evil Spirits, whom they worshipped for Gods. The whole Iewish Nation own the Writings of Moses and the Pro­phets; and the whole Christian World whom they are most at present concer­ned with, own both the Old and New Testament. These are great Authori­ties against them, which one would think should make Men modest, and put them a little out of countenance, and incline them to suspect, that they may be mistaken; but they are sensi­ble that Modesty would undo them, that to suspect whether they are in [Page 545] the right, is as fatal to them, as to know that they are in the wrong; and therefore they have no way left, but to out-face all the World, to laugh at all the rest of Mankind as superstiti­ous credulous Fools; and to think themselves the only wise Men in the World, to be wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own Sight. This in­deed perfects all the rest; and there is no help for it; for if they will con­tradict all Mankind, they must think either themselves, or all the rest of Mankind to be Fools.

Now I believe those who are at all acquainted with the Passions of Human Nature, cannot think this is a very easie thing to despise the general Sense of Mankind, (which at least looks more like the Sense of Nature, than the private Opinions of some few Phi­losophers) or to scorn all Men for Fools and Ideots, who ever believed a God and a Providence, the moral Diffe­rences of Good and Evil, Revelation, Prophecy and Miracles. Nothing but absolute Demonstration can reasonably harden a Man against such an univer­sal Consent; and it is enough to make any Man to suspect even Demonstra­tion it self, to have all the World a­gainst [Page 546] him: For we can never think that all Mankind should conspire to resist Demonstration; and yet, by what I have already said, you may easily perceive that they are far enough from demonstrating the Principles of Atheism and Infidelity.

But besides the general Sense of Mankind, which they may despise as an unthinking Multitude (though the less of Thought and Design, the more there appears of Nature in such a general Consent; but I say, besides this) they should consider how many very wise thinking Men, and great Philosophers have in these Points thought as the Multitude do. I will not name Moses, and the Prophets, nor Christ and his Apostles, for whom I know they have little Reverence; but what think they of Pythagoras, and Plato, and Tully, and Seneca, and Epictetus, and many other such Men? Were they all Fools too, and yet they were neither Atheists, nor Infidels, and were zealous Preachers of moral Vertue.

And as for the Unthinking Multi­tude, as they call them, it is worth considering, that the greatest Numbers of them are as wicked as they them­selves [Page 547] are, or could wish them to be, that it is sufficiently their interest to be Atheists and Infidels too; and yet Na­ture is too strong for their Fears, and they believe a God, and the Diffe­rence of Good and Evil, though they believe and tremble, as the Devils do.

It is wonderful what should give these Men such Confidence to despise all the World, and I can think of no other Reason for it, but that they find it necessary, and the only way they have to be even with the World, that since all Mankind despise them, they will despise all Mankind: But they find this a very unequal Match, and are very uneasie under it: For the Judgment of all Mankind is a perswa­sive Argument of the Sense of Nature; their despising Mankind is only a Sign of Folly and Impudence. I shall make some few Observations on what I have said, and so conclude.

I. I observe how the Love of Sin will corrupt Mens natural Sense and Notions of Things, and blind and stu­pifie their Minds. Nothing else but this can make an Atheist or an Infidel. That there wants no Proof of the Being of God, is evident from the general Belief of Mankind; and there [Page 548] is nothing in the Notion of a God, which should make any Man averse to the Belief of a God, but only his Justice in punishing Sinners; and that can make no Man afraid of believing a God, but those who resolve to live in Sin. There is no other Exception Men can take against the Gospel of Christ, which promises Forgiveness of Sins to those who repent of their Sins and reform their Lives; but that Repentance and Reformation are made the Gospel Terms of Forgivness, and Hell-fire is denounced against impenitent Sinners.

If we consider this before-hand, it may convince us how unnatural Sin is, and how foolish Sinners are, Sin can never be reconciled to the Principles of Nature, and Sinners are so foolish as to put out the Light of Nature, that they may transgress the Laws of Nature, which is a very foolish Design, to put out the Light, that we may sin, and not know it, till we feel our selves eternally damned for it.

2dly. This may satisfie us how dif­ficult a thing it is to sin with securi­ty, much more difficult than to obey the Laws of God. It is a much easier thing to conquer and subdue our sensual Lusts and Appetites, by the [Page 549] Arguments and Motives of Religion, by the Fear of God, and the Rewards and Punishments of the next Life, than it is to deliver our selves from the No­tions of Good and Evil, from the Be­lief of a God and of the Gospel of Christ, that if we consult our own Ease and Satisfaction, it is much easi­er to be a good Man, and to be sa­ved, than to live in Sin without the Fears of Damnation.

3dly. I observe how vain a thing it is to be wicked upon Principles. Men of Honour, when they know they do such things as the World accounts in­famous, think themselves in Reputa­tion bound to justifie them; but those Principles, whereby they pretend to justifie their Vices, are more infamous than their Vices themselves; as an A­theist, or Infidel in the Opinion of the VVorld, is a more contemptible Crea­ture than a common Sinner.

All Men, who are liable to Temptati­ons themselves, have a great Compassion for the VVeakness of Human Nature; but when Men will justifie their Vices, and justifie them by renouncing God and all Religion; this strikes those who otherwise it may be, are as bad them­selves with Horror and Indignation, [Page 550] makes wise Men despise them, and good Men abhor them; and I wish this general Contempt of them were more publick and visible, which would either cure their Atheism and Infidelity, or make them more mo­dest, that they should not appear so wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.

4thly. I observe the irrecoverable Condition of these Men, who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for dark­ness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter; who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight: they have hardened themselves beyond the ordinary Methods of God's Grace, and therefore must unavoid­ably fall under this VVo: For when Men have wilfully put out their Eyes, and stifled all the natural Notions of their Minds, you may as well think of converting bruit Beasts, as of con­verting them. This is a miserable hopeless State: VVhich God of his infinite Mercy deliver us all from, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

To whom with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be Honour, Glory and Power, now and for ever.

Amen.