SERMONS Preach'd upon Several Occasions Some of which were never before Printed By W. SHERLOCK D. D. Dean of St. Paul's Master of the Temple and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1700. TO THE READER ALL the Account I have to give of publishing this Volume of Sermons is only this that most of them were printed before by public Authority or by such Applications as to me were equivalent to Commands And my Bookseller having a mind to reprint those Sermons which he had an interest in desired me to add some few more to make a just Volume The choice I have made of such as I have added was not for the sake of any curious Composition or new Conceits much less for Wit and Satyr But I chose such as I hoped might be most useful in such an 〈◊〉 as this And if they shall do any good which I heartily beg of God they may I have all that I aimed at Will. Sherlock ERRATA PAge 25. line 3. for been treated read be entreated p. 44. f. indispesanble r. indispensible p. 46. l. 27. f. owes r. our p. 193. l. ult for in r. and p. 239. l. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 404. l. 21. f. they r. the. p. 413. l. 3. f. whensoever r. whencesoever â—…p 485. l. 8. f. nor r. not p. 526. l. 3. r. one thing r. Sermon 18 instead of 19. The CONTENTS THE Nature and Means of Church-Unity Sermon I. 122. Psal. 6 7. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee Peace be within thy Walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces The faithful and wise Servant a Funeral-Sermon Serm. II. 24. Matth. 45 46. Who then is a faithful and wise Servant whom his Lord hath made Ruler over his Houshold to give them meat in due season Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing The Measures of Providence towards the Church Serm. III. 77. Psal. 10 11 12. And I said this is my infirmity but I will remember the Years of the right hand of the Most High I will remember the works of the Lord surely I will remember thy wonders of old I will meditate also of all thy works and talk of all thy doings The Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness Serm. IV. 4. Matth. 1. Then was Iesus led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil The Charity of lending without Usury Serm. V. 4. Luke 35. But love your enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great and ye shall be the children of the Highest for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil A wounded Spirit an unsupportable Evil. Serm. VI. 18. Prov. 14. The Spirit of a Man will sustain his infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear St. Paul ' s Choice a Funeral Sermon Serm. VII 1 Phil. 23 24. 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 A Sermon upon the Queen's Death Serm. VIII 39. Psal. 9. I was dumb and opened not my mouth because thou didst it The Nature and Measure of Charity Serm. IX 2 Cor. 8. 12. 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 The danger of corrupting the Faith by Philosophy Serm. X. 2. Col. 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of Men after the rudiments of the World and not after Christ. TheFolly and Unreasonableness of Deism Serm. XI 14. Joh. 1. Ye believe in God believe also in me The Language and Interpretation of Judgments Serm. XII 6. Micah 9. The Lord's voice crieth unto the City and the Man of wisdom shall see thy name Hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it The Divine Presence in Religious Assemblies Serm. XIII 96. Psal. 9. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness The Use of Music in Religious VVorship Serm. XIV 81. Psal. 1 2. Sing aloud unto God our strength make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a Psalm and bring hither the Timbrel the pleasant Harp with the Psaltery The nature and evils of a vicious Self-love Serm. XV. 2 Tim. 3. 1 2. This know also that in the last days perillous times shall come for Men shall be lovers of their own selves The Reasonableness of Faith and the Preference of unseen things Serm. XVI 2 Cor. 4. v. 18. 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 The danger of confounding the Distinctions of Good and Evil. Serm. XVII 5. Isa. 20 21. Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own Sight The Progress of VVickedness and the Difficulties thereof Serm. XVIII 5. Isa. 20 21. Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight To the Right-Honourable Sir Iohn Chapman LORD-MAYOR OF THE City of LONDON My Lord IN obedience to the Order I received from your Lordship and the Court of Aldermen I Present you with this plain Sermon the whole Design of which is not to debate any thing nor to determine on which side the Truth lies in those warm Disputes which have been among us but to convince all those who Love and Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem how many Controversies there are which should be laid aside without Disputing and how a little condescention to each other may either happily Unite us into one Communion or at least Teach us to Live together in Love and Charity notwithstanding some different Apprehensions of Things and I hope so Charitable a Design as this will raise no new Disputes and Quarrels among us That GOD would preserve his Church restore Peace and Unity among Christians bless this Great and Populous City and direct your Lordship in the Government of it in these difficult Times is the hearty Prayer of MY LORD Your Lordship 's Most Obedient Servant WILL. SHERLOCK SERMON I. Preach'd before the Lord-Mayor at Guildhall-Chappel on Sunday November 4. 1688. CXXII PSALM 6 7. Pray for the peace of Ierusalem they shall prosper that love Thee Peace be within thy Walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces THough the particular time and occasion of Penning this Psalm is uncertain yet so much is plain that it was after David
Convictions of Conscience and enforceâ—… 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 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 â—…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 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 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 â—…nful Nation a People laden with Iniquiry a Seed of evil Doers Children that are Corrupters they have forsaken the Lord they have provoked the Holy One oâ—… Israel they are gone away backward And the whole Head is sick and the wholâ—… Heart faint From the Sole of the Foot unto the Head there is no Soundnesâ—… in it but Wounds and Bruises and puâ—… 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 anâ—… People of Gomorrah When Wickednesâ—… is grown universal and hath infected alâ—… Ranks and Orders of Men such a Nation is ripe for Judgment but it addâ—… greatly to the Guilt and Provocation when Men are not contented to bâ—… wicked without bidding open Defiane to God and to all Religion Wo untâ—… them who draw Iniquity with Cords of Vanity and sin as it were with Cart-ropeâ—… 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 leâ—… the Counsel of the Holy One of Israel draâ—… nigh and come that we may know iâ—… Who mock at the differences of Gooâ—… and Evil and value the Reputation oâ—… their Wit and Philosophy too much to beâ—… cheated with such empty Names Wo unto them that call Evil Good and Good Evil that put Darkness for Light and Light for Darâ—…ss that put Bitter for Sweet and Sweet 〈◊〉 â—…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 â—…ay the Righteousness of the Righteous from him Therefore as the Fire devouâ—…eth the Stubble and the Flame consumeth the Chaff so their Root shall be as Rotâ—…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 Sins God strikes but yet there were some Sins which God expressed 〈◊〉 severer Indignation against and seldoâ—… delayed to punish such as their Idâ—… latry and Contempt of the God oâ—… Israel of his Word and Prophets Prophanation of his Worship Atheâ—… istical Notions of Providence and 〈◊〉 Good and Evil or their abominabâ—… Hypocrisie in committing all the Lewâ—… ness and Villanies which Men couâ—… commit and sheltring themselves in aâ—… external Form and Appearance of Râ—… ligion which the Prophets every wheâ—… complain of To these Causes is oâ—… ing the universal Corruption of Maâ—… ners for it is impossible any Natiâ—… should so universally degenerate tâ—… they have either corrupted their Reâ—… gion by Superstition and Hypocrisie lost all Sense of it and therefore tâ—… calls for a speedy Vengeance As for what more particularly
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 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 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 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 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 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. SERMON XVII Preached at the Temple Church Isaiah 5. ver 20 21. Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
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 Prophâ—…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 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 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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 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 SERMON XIX Preached at the Temple-Church Isaiah 5. ver 20 21. Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own Sight 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 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 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
their Vices and bad Names to Vertue This is so common and 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 to subdue the Flesh to the Spirit and to make us more devout Worshippers of God And therefore a meer Earth-worm 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 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 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 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 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 thingâ—… 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 without any Rational or Spiritual Sensations they have nothing but their bodily Senses left and by these alone they judge of Sweet and
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 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 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 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 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 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. 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