of the whole Earth for in all places where there are Men of this Character and Quality Men of the truly Christian Temper and Spirit Men that obey the Law of Christ and live as he did there are the Members of Christ's Body For Christ is not a Name and a Word nor is Christianity a Profession and a Shew only nor is the Company of the Faithful Men of an external Denomination but Christ is a spiritual Head and Christianity is an inward Principle of Life and Power and Christians are not those who have a Form of Knowledg and Godliness but the Power They are Christians who are inwardly such who have not only wash'd their Flesh in the Sacred Font but who have purified their Hearts who have cleansed their Consciences from dead Works to serve the Living God And where-ever in the World such Men are in what places how remote soever they are of the same Body of which Christ is Head and in whatsoever distant times they lived they were of the same Society For there were alway two great Corporations or Bodies of Men in the World and never more one who obeyed the Laws of God of whom the only begotten of the Father the Eternal Word is the Head the other who cast the Laws of God behind them and follow their own Lusts of these the Devil the Prince of Apostate Angels is the Governour So that the Men of this Christian Temper and Life in whatever Ages or Places of the World they have lived or do or shall live they are of this Society or Church Nay it extends it self further to those in Heaven also the Spirits of just Men made perfect They are indeed the Church Triumphant but they are still of the Church so that of this there shall be no end When we shall put off these corruptible Bodies and leave this Earth and go to Heaven yet even then and there we shall continue in the same Society and be Members of the Body of Christ From this Consideration we may infer What a grand Privilege it is to be of this truly Catholick Church which hath been in all Ages of the World and which will continue for ever which is not only in all places of this Earth but in Heaven also For by our being of the same Body we are engaged and disposed to an universal Love to all holy and good Men as Men of the fame Country or Town are more inclined to love each other rather than Strangers And this is a great Advantage indeed to have our Love directed aright and increased But besides this we communicate with the Saints of all Times and Places and receive many Benefits upon the account of their Prayers and their Holiness How many times hath the infinitely good God transmitted down his Blessings to many Generations for the sakes of his Abrahams and his Davids and the whole World but especially Men of the same Society with them have fared the better because of them This also is considerable That we cannot be separated from this Body by any length of Time or distance of Place where-ever we live or where-ever we are if we be of the Christian Spirit and Temper and live the Life of Christ we are of the Christian Church Nay tho it should happen that we be deprived of the outward Ordinances provided this be not through our own â—ault our Neglect or Contempt of the Divine Institutions we are not in this Case deprived of the Inward and Spiritual Influences which we have by our Union with this Mystical Body For the Prayers of the Vniversal Church bring Blessings upon us and the Spirit of Christ which enlivens and animates all his Members quickens us excites and assists our Endeavours and that care which our great and good Lord hath of all his Disciples reacheth us and we partake of his Protection as well as others that are of his Kingdom Thirdly There is such an excellent Order established in this Christian Polity that there is no clashing nor interfering of opposite interests but on the contrary each part doth assist other and is assisted by it and they all most friendly conspire together in the best manner to promote the welfare of all and every one There are no Confusions and Disorders but every one hath his Work his Business allotted him and that is according to every Man's Gifts and Qualifications and every Man is required to attend and do that Work which he is sitted for Now because Order and consequently Peace cannot be preserv'd without Government Christ hath instituted an excellent Government in his Church a Government that is both gentle and yet sufficiently strict for the attaining its Ends which is the Common Good And herein our Saviour hath shewn that he hath a care of the Body and therefore hath appointed Officers Deacons to see to the necessities of the Saints Men whose Business it should be to receive the charitable Gifts of some and bestow them upon the Indigent But he hath taken especial care of the Soul and therefore hath appointed others Presbyters whose Work this is to teach and instruct to exhort and persuade Men to live well and to administer his Holy Sacraments And he hath set Bishops over them to see that they do their Office and these Superiors are to ingage Men by their own Examples as well as by their Authority There are several Abuses and things which are destructive of Government all which our wise and good Governor the Lord Jesus hath as much as can be by his Institution prevented They are such such as these 1. Vsurpation of Office This will quickly bring in the greatest Disorder imaginable into any state if any Man may thrust himself into what Office he pleaseth for mens Ambition will lead them to desire those things for which they are no way fitted and divers will be aiming at the same which would therefore bring in Everlasting Contentions To prevent this our Saviour hath shewn by his own Example that Men must not take the honour of such Offices to themselves and by his Apostles hath straitly charged that none run before they be sent And therefore they did in the first times of Christianity which hath been continued ever since solemnly Ordaiâ— and set apart Men by Fasting and Prayer and Imposition of Hands 2. But lest they should authorize Men that were not fit for that Employment we have in several places of the inspired Epistles the Qualifications and Characters of those Men who should be commissioned 1 Tim. 3. 2 3. 3. That they may not affect a boundless Absoluteness he hath declared to them and others that he is Supream that they are all subject to him and that therefore we are to call no Man Master on Earth That is own none here to be Absolute and Supream account none to have Dominion ever our Faith They are all under Christ tho they be above us and must be accountable to him Nay they must be owned and obeyed by us
engage us also to do or suffer any thing for them We cannot but draw this easy Conclusion If he so loved us we ought also to love one another I mention only some and those but a few of the Advantages which we may and do receive by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper for the increase of our Holiness and our Peace And this may suffice at present to the Sixth Particular I now proceed to the Seventh and last Seventhly The wise and good Counsels together with the holy and virtuous Examples of the Members of this Society both those that are on Earth and those that are in Heaven There is no Member of the Christian Church who wants Counsel or deserves Reproof or to whom Exhortation is necessary but lives among those who both can and will as Occasion serves advise and rebuke and persuade him for the Christian is fully instructed in what is good and fit and it is his duty not to suffer Sin upon his Brother but we are to exhort one another daily to the practice of Holiness And if we look into the Remains of the good Men who in former Ages were Members of the Church on Earth we shall find a rich Treasure of most wise and excellent Counsels that will direct our Behaviour in every Condition we can fall into These are extant in the Books of the Scripture and in other Writings of a Christian Spirit and Temper And as for the Examples how many are those that have gone before us in the ways of Holiness and Vertue whose Practice is our sure Guide in the ways that lead to Happiness I need not mention those known and celebrated Names of Abraham Isaac and Jacob of Job and David and the Prophets of the Lord who were all Members of the same Church of which the Eternal Word the only Begotten of the Father is the Head Besides these ancient Worthies we have the Lives of those good Men who were with and since our Saviour who have set us the fairest Copies of Meekness and Humility of an undaunted Courage a firm Patience an Obedience to Superiors a Justice and Honesty in all Dealings an universal Charity and Good-will an exact Temperance a true and an excellent Religion In short they have gone before us in all the ways of Holiness and Goodness But over and above and which is more than all these we have upon sure Record the most admirable Patern of Goodness that ever the World saw in the most excellent Life of our most blessed Lord. There is Holiness in perfection and Vertue in its most exalted state there we see the utmost possibilities of Goodness to which Human Nature can be raised on this Earth This and the rest of those great Examples serve to instruct our Ignorance to quicken our Dulness and to encourage our Faintings and Despondencies Besides these we have Examples of Men now alive which teach us Religion and Vertue and engage us to practise it As bad as the World is there are those who shine as Lights in the midst of the darkness of this Earth There are many whom the Grace of God hath taught to live soberly and righteously and godly who keep their Appetites and Passions under due restraint and good government so that they are harmless in their Conversation and not only so but they live to the good purposes of promoting their own and other Mens good Estate and Welfare I have now briefly touched upon the Privileges Men do or may receive by being Members of the Christian Church but I have not in my Discourse observed the Method which I intended because I would be shorter I shall therefore only mention how it is with them in respect of God and of the Devil And briefly the Case is thus in respect of God That it is a matter of far less difficulty for us who have the Gospel and live tho but in the outward Communion with the Church to repent of our Sins and become good Men and to live holy Lives than it was or is to any others This is now made so practicable so feasible a matter that no Man falls short of it who is not foolishly obstinate unaccountably sottish and unnaturally neglectful of himself and careless of his own Happiness so that whoever fails it must be resolved into his own gross stupidity sottishness and self-neglect for he is now put into a condition and capacity of receiving the greatest Mercies from the Divine Bounty and is in the way in which God usually does communicate them But as many as are recovered out of a state of Sin to a Life of Vertue their past Sins are all pardoned their frequent Infirmities and Shortnesses are also remitted so as they shall not rise up in Judgment to condemn them and they have eternal Life ascertain'd to them by the immutable Promise of that God who cannot lie They are under his Protection and special Providence who orders all things that befall them so as that they turn to their Advantage and are made serviceable to their Vertue and will increase their Happiness Lastly As to the Devil the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that works in the Children of Disobedience They are redeem'd from under his Vassalage he hath now no more Power over them he cannot domineer over their Souls or Bodies as he did before the coming of our Saviour His Oracles are silenced his Power lessened the Light of the glorious Gospel hath scatter'd the Powers of Darkness so that now they creep into the Corners of the Earth Now that Mens Souls are freed from the Ignorance and those Errors under which they were held their Bodies are also free from the Hellish Cruelties of Tyrannical Fiends They are no longer under the Power of Satan now that they are become Subjects of the Kingdom of Christ who hath conquered and triumphed over the Head of the Apostate Spirits and hath the Keys of Hell and Death Thus I have briefly represented the great Benefits which accrue to Men by being Members of the Church of Christ whether we consider them as single Persons or as in Societies with reference to God or the Devil For whether we consider the Greatness and Largeness the vast Extent and long Continuance of the Church or the excellent Wisdom and Goodness of many of its Members whether we look on the Engagement laid upon them in their first Admission into the Church or the admirable Order and Government of it or the incomparably good Laws which are given to all its Members or the proper and wholesom Discipline which is used in it or the Religious Exercises which are used in the Publick Assemblies we must necessarily confess that all these will have a mighty Influence on Men to make them good in themselves and good in all their Relations And if they become good they are then from under the Dominion of the Devil and within the Kingdom and so under the Protection and Care of the Soveraign Lord of
the Doctrine of Indulgences for Sins to come of Masses for the Dead and the like which whosoever considers in their tendencies I doubt not but they 'll be satisfied it 's the Interest of Money not of Goodness that is carried on by the Asserters of those Opinions that they serve Mammon and their Religion is Covetousness This Inordinacy of Desire turns Apostles into Judas's Pastors into Robbers the House of Prayer into a Den of Thieves and it doth as easily transform the Flocks of Sheep into Herds of Wolves For notwithstanding the Sheep's Coat and Shape if there be a ravening Appetite an unsatisfied Desire 't is a Wolf tho it seem a Sheep a Wolf in Sheeps cloathing Nor can it be expected it should be otherwise but if the Sea hath overflown its high Banks the lower Marshes must needs be drowned and if the Physician be seized with this Disease the unskilful Patient must be so much more If the Spiritual Men whose Converse is in Heaven yet be so much within the Influences of this Earth the Laity they whose Employment is in it must be more under the power of them If the Light of the Heavenly Bodies be obscured by terrestrial Vapors then the Candle which is in the Earth must be put out by its Damps And if the Disciples of Jesus be under the Power of Desire it 's not to be imagin'd that Moses's Scholars or the Followers of Mahomes or the Worshippers of many Gods should be free from its Dominion We 'll therefore take it for granted that if Christendom be not exempt from this Tyranny of Desire the rest of the World is not If the Gospel hath not rectified Mens Affections neither the Pentateuch nor the Alcoran nor the Traditions of the Gentiles have or can do it Thus we see that Desire hath an Empire further extended than ever they had who would be call'd Lords of the World We 'll next consider how this Catholick King this universal Bishop this proud Sultan this great Cham manages his Affairs And we may observe that this Vsurper who hath dethroned Reason the lawful Sovereign of the World and hath assumed his Scepter does use the same evil Arts which all others do Where he hopes to gain the Affections of his Subjects he practises Flattery gratifies them tho to then Ruine and pleases tho in that he undoes them Where they will not love they shall fear and if he cannot court them by Flatteries he will rule them as a Tyrant and in both ways his Government is arbitrary and irregular Either Laws are never made or never kept in his Dominions That which is commanded is for the most part evil or impossible no Reason to be given of it besides Will And tho it were not yet sooner might the free Air be hedged in or the Winds chained up than the Subjects of this Prince who are Sons of Appetite be restrained Nor can they be turned from their Purpose unless by a Passion accompanied with more Power than they have As the Stream of a great River cannot be turned from its Course except it be met by the fiercer Tide The calm and quiet Decisions of Controversies that used to be in Courts of Judicature where Reason ruled are either wholly laid aside or strangely degenerate and so either to bad purpose or to none at all Here the Clients do not consider Justice but Interest neither do they regard Right or Title if they can make the least Pretence and therefore will desire in their Advocates not Law but Oratory and Sophistry They will also suborn Witnesses that shall swear for Hire not for Truth and will corrupt their Judges to pervert the Sense of the Law and under colour of Justice to be unjust In these Courts the richest Client hath most Right and the best Purse carries the Cause Or if this will not do they try another If they either want Craft or Money they will fly to Power if they cannot out-wit their Neighbours they will try to out-master them if the Court and the Law will not give it for them they 'll see what the Camp and Army will And now the Armour is put on the Sword girded on the Thigh and the Trumpet sounds to Battel the Guns begin to thunder and lighten thousands are murdered Cities burnt whole Countries laid waste Or if this fail too and be found insufficient to execute the Commands of inordinate Desire the Souldier then will turn a Religionist and he that wore a Vizard of Justice will put on a Form of Godliness will persuade People to gaze into Heaven whilst he picks their Pockets and will tell them they cannot make sure of an Inheritance there unless they part with their Possessions here falsifying the Gospel now as he did the Law before and wresting our Saviour's plain Words to the enriching himself and impoverishing his Brother Thus I have given a brief Representation of the State where Desire rules by which Fiction we may a little guess at the Truth of Things and how they are and have been and are likely to be in the World because of Covetousness Assuredly this was it that made the Grecian and Romans in former days and the Turks in these later to make so great a part of Mankind their Tributaries This hath made Men seek after new Worlds as if the old were too little to bound their Desires This took away the Land and Liberties and Lives too of many thousand Americans This made the Goths and Vandals invade Italy the Moors Spain and the Danes and Saxons to mention no other England But need we go to Histories and past Times for proof of the evil Effects of Desire No surely our own Observation and the Days we live in will give us too many Nor will I rake into the Ashes where lie hid the Sparks of Contention that kindled our late Wars no let them lie buried in eternal Oblivion Nor do I care to uncover the Graves of the Dead let their Dust rest in Peace for me Nor will I discourse of the Actions of our Governors where we are for the most part unable to understand and therefore incompetent to judg whether they proceed from Desire or Understanding for so I should speak rashly and perhaps falsely too of my Rulers Let us therefore consider the Mischief Desire doth amongst our selves and so we shall keep within the compass of our Knowledg What Havock doth it make whilst the poor envy their rich Neighbours and they again grind the Faces of the Poor Whilst they that have much grasp at all and would leave their Brethren Possessors of nothing and in this Sence seem to construe our Saviour's Words To him that hath shall be given and from him that hath 〈◊〉 that hath little that makes no Increase shall be taken what he hath But I need not insist on the Oppression Force Extortion Over-reaching that is amongst us which is the Issue of unlawful Desire They whose Employment lies in Courts of Judicature have
those Works to â—â—â—fection which they begin whilst they 〈◊〉 old for most of them are such as reâ—â—â—re a considerable time for the doing them I am sure that is such which we have here mentioned III. That in which the Child must be train'd is his Way so 't is in the Hebrew which we render the Way he should go that is in the course and kind of his Life and Practice in what he should do all the days of his Life let him begin to walk in that way let him be initiated in the Work and Business of his Life let him begin beâ—â—mes what he should always be doing His Way i. e. in that Practice and Life for which he was made in the doing those Works for which his Nature was design'd by his great and wise Creator and for which he is by peculiar Endowments and Abilities Temper and Disposition as well as by his Condition and Circumstances fitted and capacitated This I take to be the true meaning of that Phrase His Way which implies two things 1. The Way that 's common to all Men the Way of Man of every Man every one endow'd with humane Nature and Faculâ—ieâ— 2. That Way which is peculiar to this or that or the other Man that for which by his Genius as we say by his Temper and Inclination or by his external Condition he is most adapted and fit and as it were set apart That is by Divines commonly called our general Calling this our particular That Way which is common to all and is the Way of every Man is the doing those Works which every one that has the Nature of a Man is made and furnished to do I need not mention those of the Body which are common to us with Beasts But the other which are more peculiar to Man and belong as it were to him are Knowledg and Choice and keeping good Order among all our Faculties pursuing the Inclinations we have to our own Perfection and Happiness and to help others to be in as good a condition as our selves are or would be To be devout towards God To be just and honest true and faithful and charitable to Men To do that universally which we think to be fit and right which upon the largest knowledg we can get we judg to be good To do no Evil and to do all the Good we can possibly This is the Way of every Man That which is this or that Man's Way besides is to be employed in this or that Trade according as he is fitted the Husbandry Merchandise Mechanick or Liberal Arts the Study of Physick Law Divinity as his own Inclination and Capacity and the Opportunity he has to attain to any of these shall direct Tho we cannot read it in the Faces of Children yet in their Humour and Carriage we may conjecture what they will be fit for Now whosoever takes a survey of the Nature of Man as he will discover it was the Contrivance and Work of great Wisdom and Goodness so from an Observation of the several Faculties and Capacities Inclinations and Appetites Instinct and Saâ—â—city of Mankind he will conclude which is the Way in which he should go which is the Way of Man the Life that is suitable to such a Nature as ours is For he will be fully resolved in this that it must be the natural Exercise and Perfection of those Powers the filling those Capacities in the Pursuit of those Inclinations the Regulation and Satisfaction of those Appetites the Observance of those Instincts and giving heed to such Presages and Conjectures as the Mind by its Nimbleness and Sagacity makes If these be considered 1. Severally and a part 2. Jointly as they are all united and consisting together they make up the whole human Nature As they consist with and are in subordination to each other they will give us a clear view of the whole Way or Life of Man all that he was made for by his great Creator That which will help us to a more distinct knowledg of this will be to compare our Nature with the Brutish which is below us and the Angelic which is above us We partake of both Natures we have the Faculties and Appetites both of Angels and of Brutes From hence I infer That if we live wholly as either meer Animals or as pure Spirits we live not agreeably to our Nature and State We must on the one hand raise up our selves above the low Life of Sensitives and yet we must not foar so high as the Life of Spirits devested of Flesh and Blood That Way is too low and this too high the Way of Man lies in the middle betwixt these two We must not sink down into and yet we must comply with our earthly fleshly animal State And indeed here is the great Difficulty to see that these two Lifes do not clash and interfere but conspire with and be serviceable and friendly to each other to bring down Heaven to Earth and to advance Earth to Heaven as much as is possible This is the Skill this is Wisdom indeed that the Soul condescend to the Condition and Services of this lower Life of Flesh and Sense and yet not lose not forgo its own spiritual Life To come down from and yet still to be in Heaven whilst we are on Earth To behave our selves like Men in the Flesh and yet at the same time to act as becomes those who are endow'd with spiritual divine Souls this is the way of Man in contradistinction to the way or life of brute Animals Quest But how is this Life to be attained What must we do that we may neither sink below our selves and become Brutes nor yet stretch our selves beyond our Line and live like the Spirits which are not in conjunction with earthly Bodies Answ Let us be in a sincere and constant pursuit of that which is and when we are fittest to judg we think to be best This will be as the Polar Star to direct our Course If we mind this we shall steer safely betwixt the two Rocks we shall neither depress the Soul nor neglect the Body we shall advance Understanding and Liberty and all the rational and higher Faculties And this will be done without prejudice to Sense and the Animal Life and Powers If we constantly aim at doing that which is best which is that to which by our very Natures we are framed we shall then make more account of our Soul than of our Body more account of Understanding and Liberty and Conscience than of Sense and Animality we shall bring the Body into subjection and keep the Animal serviceable to the Mind And when they are once come to this which is the true natural State and tends to the preservation and perfection of them both as well as conduces to that of the World without then the Interests are reconciled they are all one they combine and conspire together the Soul makes much of its good Servant the Body and the
to understand by Nature the Corruptions and Depravations of it So many that declaim against Nature interpret that Phrase 1 Cor. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which should be rendred the animal Man the Man that lives the Life of a mere Animal one that hath not the Reason and Understanding of a Man By Nature therefore I understand here 1. Nature in General 2. Particularly that part of humane Nature which is common to Man with inferior Torts of Beings 3. That wherein he differs from and excells them and agrees with those that are better 1. As for Nature in general it is observable that all Beings do by their motions and alterations conspire to the preserving of the Universe that they do not more endeavour their own Good and Continuance than the Good of the Whole Nay many times they leave their own proper Tendencies and seem to neglect as it were their private Concerns to promote the more Publick and Universal This is so obvious to every Observation and there are so many Instances of it in both animate and inanimate Bodies that I need not insist upon it I shall only mind you of another almost as common as this that Animals of the same kind are loving and helpful to each other and do not only associate and herd together but will also expose themselves to danger for their mutual Defence and other good Offices But I go on further and more particularly 2. To that part of Nature which is in Man common to him with other Animals his Body how does every Part minister to other and all of them conspire to preserve and perfect the whole How is Nourishment conveyed from one to another through the whole Body And when it is thus with it the Body is in its natural good State of Health If it be otherwise if one Part draw all the Nourishment to it self it is then diseased and this tends to the Dissolution of the whole and consequently of that Part it self which does not distribute Add to this what the Naturalists have observ'd that no Passion is more agreeable to Man's Body than Love which is the Principle of doing Good that nothing contributes more to his Health nor is a more certain Argument of it than Good-will that the very Body of Man is never in better State than when he is most enclined to do good Offices And that the Motions which maintain Life are then most equally vigorous when we are in the Exercise of Charity and Compassion 3. This is no less congruous to the Nature of Man as distinguished from all other Animals it is agreeable to the Mind and Reason of Man Hear the Sence of an honest Heathen which is the Voice of Nature not of Revelation Saith he to his Friend Qui tibi amicus est scito hunc omnibus amicum esse Again Non sum uni angulo natus Patria mea est totus hic Mundus Nor was it only one but many of the Philosophers that called themselves Citizens of the World not that they forgot their Native Country but they remembred their Relation to the whole They look'd on themselves in the same order to the Universe which others do to the Town where they were born and dwell Again Posterorum res ago He did not content himself to be a Benefactor to the present Age but would take care also that those that should be born after should receive advantage by his Labours and so they have Lucan says of Cato and as many as speak of him say the same Hi mores haec dura immota Catonis Secta fuit servare modum finemque tenere Naturamque sequi Patriaeque impendere vitam Non sibi sed toti genitum se credere Mundo Thus we see Nature taught the very Heathens And I do the more willingly insist on this Argument from Nature because I cannot think that the God of Nature being also the Author of our Religion should make this inconsistent with that or destructive of it And because by this means we shall have a great assistance both in the understanding of our Duty and in making us willing to do it Had this been duly observ'd Men had never sacrificed their Sons to Moloch And if this be received one of the greatest Objections against our being Religious vanishes In general then If it be natural for the Soul of Man before it be corrupted with any of those Passions that are the off-spring of Folly to observe and be affected with the welfare and ill State of others besides it self If it be displeased and unquiet and griev'd when it goes ill with them and joyed and delighted to see them in good Plight then it 's natural to it to will and endeavour their good and welfare The Understanding of Man is a large and unlimited kind of thing it reaches forth it self to all Beings and views them and wherever it sees Good it loves and desires the continuance and when it observes Evil it 's troubled and wishes it were not and will endeavour it may not be And if this be natural to the Mind of Man unaltered by wicked Practices and foolish Passions then it is natural to it to do good universally and then certainly to all Mankind Again it 's natural to the Soul of Man to love Pleasure and to pursue it and to be averse from whatsoever displeases it Now nothing can be the object of Pleasure but Good or if any Evil be 't is only in order to what is Good and as it serves that i. e. as it is good in Reality No Man can be delighted to see any Beings in an ill Plight or if he be he is in an unnatural state himself and his Soul is corrupted More particularly and distinctly If we understand by natural that which proceeds from an inward Principle and which tends to preserve and perfect Nature in general and particularly that which is a Conclusion deriv'd from Principles of Reason and clear Discourses for that 's natural to Man which is rational then I will use this Method to evince that all this which is here required is agreeable to Nature in general and to humane Nature in Particular 1st It 's natural for us to be acting If we either conform to the rest of the Beings we live with in the World or act agreeably to our own Natures we must be doing The best Philosophers assure us that in the vast Universe there is not one little Particle that is idle but the World and all in it are in uncessant motion tho' some Bodies that move more slowly and less discernibly than others are said to be at rest Whether we climb up into Heaven or dive into the Sea or dig into the Bowels of the Earth we shall find all Beings employed and busy nothing idle The Heavenly Bodies are whirling about perpetually the Waters cease not to run and in the Caverns of the Earth which might be imagined the dens of Sleep yet the Mines are made And
will be done with least pains and difficulty And 3dly with most certainty wen our Endeavours will be most effectual A Time when any Action is the best or as good as any that can be done is the season of that Action that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Opportunity simply so called And when that action is not only the best that can be done but can also be best done at that time this is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good Opportunity The former we find Heb. 11. 15. the latter in St. Mat. 26. 16. All our Actions depend 1st on our own Power the inward Principle from whence they proceed 2dly on the Concurrence of Divers External Causes which make us act with more ease and in less time and more surely to effect what we endeavour According to this we may be said to have an Opportunity of doing good to Men whenever we can do it and when we have so much assistance from External Causes as that we can best i. e. with most ease and quickness and certainly do what we intend As i. e. When and whilst as soon and as oft as we have Opportunity Do not over-run do not stay behind but accompany the Season take the Tide set up your Sails when the Wind is with you lose no time slip no opportunity and whilst that lasts let us continue up and be doing with the first Light and hold on till the Night come when no Man can Work Let us do Let us not only think of doing good and talk but do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let it be our Work our Business our Trade that in which we employ our selves the word implies Care and Diligence and perhaps Pains in acting The thing to be done Good requires more Power to effect it than Evil does Very impotent things can do great Mischiefs but they must be Powerful that do any great Good Besides We had need thus to work in this Business of doing Good because we shall find Difficulty and meet with Opposition in it Our corrupted Natures are very backward to it it is contrary to the Practice of this degenerate World Let us use our Endeavour to do what we can And let none reflect on the Wisdom of that Divine Spirit by which St. Paul writ nor so deny their own Sense as to say they can do nothing this is but a Plea for Idleness and Unwillingness to do good by the same reason they may also say they cannot walk nor speak For all our Power both for the one and the other is from God originally But what is that which we are to do Let us do Good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that which is profitable behooveful beneficial and advantagious By this Word we are here and every where when it is used of Creatures to understand that which conduces to the Preservation and Perfection of their Beings and Powers When we call any thing good we refer it always to something or other Here it is applied to Men and we understand by it particularly Wisdom and Vertue inward Quiet and Pleasure Life and Health and all those Circumstances which contribute towards the getting and securing of these Perfections Briefly that which has a tendency to Man's attaining his End his Perfection and Happiness that we call Good To do Good to Men is to do those Actions which tend to make them as perfect as is possible for them and to bring them into the happiest Circumstances they can be in Vnto all Men i. e. not to our selves only but to them that partake of our Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Aâ—â— This doubtless means Men. But yet our Kindness to them is not exclusive of other inferior Animals The good Mom is merciful to his Beast And as the Ointment poured on Aaron ' s Head ran down to the lowest â—â—m of his Garinent so the Beneficence of a good Man is so diffusive that it reaches the lowest parts of the Creations of God of which according to Philo the High-Priest's Vestment was an Emblem Indeed our Goodness as the Psalmist speaks extends not unto God and very little to Angels farther than it excites and occasions their greater Joy But it may to the Saints that are on Earth and to all our Brethren the Sons of Adam and to the Croâ—tures of a lower kind which God has made to serve us But our Apostle here means Men all that have rational Souls and Bodies of the same Make with our selves and capable of as great Happiness or Misery He requires us to do Good to all these to exclude none whether they be Acquaintance or Strangers our Countrey-men or Foreigners Friends or Enemies all tho of contrary Persuasions or of bad Practices all and every one We are to aim at the Happiness of every Man to endeavour the Perfection and good State of All. An unlimited Love an unconsined Charity is here required and a selfish or a contracted Affection are here excluded where-ever Man is Love is to be But is there no difference to be made Yes in case of a Competition of opposite Interests some are to be preferred above and before others So the Apostle directs in the following Words Especially to them who are of the Houshold of Faith i. e. who are of the Houshold or Family of God by Faith as Grotius expounds it i. e. the Children and Servants of God which they are in an especial manner who believe and obey the Gospel the Disciples and Followers of Christ Jesus whose Life was in nothing more remarkable in nothing so imitable by us as in Benignity and Kindness and universal Charity They who by Faith obey him are of the Family of God God takes especial care and provides for them he takes them as it were under his Roof and Harbour They profess and practise the best Religion in the World And altho they may be ignorant of or mistaken in some Matters yet they believe and understand so much as makes them deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World to love other Men so as they do to them as themselves would be dont â—o by them and to love and trust in their God who made and redeem'd and sanctifies and will eternally save them Let them be of the Eastern or Western Church let them dwell in the North or South let their Differences be what they will if they be as I have described they are the chief Objects of our Care and Benevollence We are to do good to them chiefly tho not only Having thus briefly gloss'd on all the Words I shall treat chiefly of that Clause Let us do Good into All i. e. to the Community of Mankind and to all Particulars A Man may be deceived whilst he is contemplating Generals only unless he descend to Particulars An Idea of Human Nature is a lovely thing no Man thinks of it but is pleased with it