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 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 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 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 SERMON XI THE Folly and Unreasonableness OF DEISM Preach'd before the King at Hampton-Court Iune 16. 1700 John xiv 1. Ye believe in God believe also in me I Shall not consider these Words as they relate to what follows but only observe in them that our Saâ—…iour not only requires his Disciples to â—…elieve in God but that they should 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 I. The Folly of Deism I will begin with this to make Men consider a little what they intend by it or what wise End it will serve Every one sees what Men intend by Atheism to deliver themselves from the Fears of invisible Powers that they may follow their own Inclinations and do what they like best themselves without any Awe of God or Reproofs and Terrors of Conscience or the dismal Apprehensions of unknown and endless Punishments in the next World And this is the wisest Course Men can take who resolve to be wicked that they may sin with Ease and Pleasure without the bitter Allays of Shame and Fear But now if a Deist really is what he pretends to be that is if he does really believe that there is a God and that the Soul is Immortal and that Good Men shall be rewarded and Bad Men punished in the next World he believes a great deal too much to sin with Security and a great deal too little to have any comfortable Hopes of a better Life That this is certainly the most hopeless State that a Man can be in in this World it has all the Restraints and Fears of Religion but none of the Supports and Comforts of it As to shew this briefly 1. He who does heartily believe that there is a God who will punish Men for their Sins not only in this World but in the next believes too much to sin with Security though he believes nothing at all of Revelation For if Nature as they grant teaches Men that there is a Holy and Just Governour of the World who observes what we do and will punish Wickedness Natural Conscience also will accuse and terrifie and condemn wicked Men. Thus St. Paul assures us it was with the Heathen World before they had any Revelation of God's Will For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shew the Work of the Law written in their Hearts their Consciences also bearing witness and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another 2 Rom. 14 15. And the same is attested by all the Heathen Orators Philosophers and Poets And those natural Terrors of Conscience and Fears of Vengeance were in those Days before Men had ever heard of the Gospel of our Saviour so very unsupportable to bad Men that they took Refuge in Atheism against them as Lucretius does very honestly confess and admires his Master Epicurus for his brave and bold Attempt in delivering the World from the Fears of God and of Religion So that whoever believe a
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 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. Acâ—…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 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 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 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 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 pâ—…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 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
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 but did not dwell and sojourn with â—…hem which seems probable from â—…5 Levit. 35. where the Stranger that â—…ojourns with them seems to be entituâ—…ed to the like Charity as a Brother â—…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 tâ—…ou no â—…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 â—…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. Thou oughtest to have put my money tâ—… 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 were not much greater Friends to Trade and Merchandise than they were to Usury which they thought â—…nbecoming a Christian as ministring only to Covetousness and Luxury And yet I suppose the greatest Enemies at â—…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 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 not lend at all which was a greater â—…ardship to the Poor than Usury it â—…lf Meerly not to take Usury is no Virâ—…e but to lend to the Poor without â—…sury is To lock up our Money in â—…ur Chests to rust and canker and to â—…o no good with it is what St. Iames 〈◊〉 severely threatens rich Men for Go â—…ow ye rich men weep and howl for your â—…iseries which shall come upon you your â—…iches are corrupted and your garments â—…re moth-eaten your gold and your silver â—…s cankered and the rust of them shall be 〈◊〉 witness against you a Witness of your Covetousness and Uncharitableness â—…hat you have done no good with it â—…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 it is to hide our Talent in a Nâ—…kin for Money is improvable aâ—… must be improved either for Charâ—… or Increase to be a new and perpetâ—… 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 Dâ—… sign of the Law and â—…o betray unchâ—… ritable Men to a greater Evil than Usâ—…ry it self but if men lend freely to tâ—… Poor in such Proportions as Chariâ—… requires they may very innocenâ—… and virtuously without transgressâ—… this Law against Usury lend their Money for Increase to the Rich. 2. But our Saviour seems to meaâ—… something more by lending hoping for nothing again not only to lend freelâ—… without Usury but to lend where the Principal may be
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 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 wound upon the Spirit and â—…ose Sufferings which the Spirit of a Man can bear are rather to be chosen â—…han what the Spirit of a Man cannot â—…ear Lastly I observe That the Governâ—…ent of our own Passions contributes â—…ore to our Happiness than any exterâ—…al Enjoyments While our Minds are disordered with violent and tumultuâ—…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 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 SERMON VII Preach'd at the Funeral of the Reverend Richard Meggot D. D. and late Dean of Winchester December the 10th 1692. at Twickenham I. 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 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 forward to more perfect Attainmens in all Piety and Virtue The Philippians seem greatly concerned least the Progress of â—…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 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 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
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 being acknowledged above our Compreâ—…ension and therefore no reasonable â—…bjection against our Faith Thus as for the Doctrine of the Incarâ—…ation nothing can be plainer in Scripâ—…ure than that the Son of God was made â—…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 Nestoriâ—…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 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 pretence to Philosophy which raises all â—…ese Disputes and then tempts men to â—…ervert the Scriptures to justify their â—…hilosophy In all these cases we are concerned to â—…quire what the true sense of the Article 〈◊〉 for this the Scripture teaches and â—…o far our Faith is concerned and these â—…re not only justifiable but necessary Disâ—…utes if the true Faith be necessary And â—…uch were the Disputes of the Cathoâ—…k Fathers with the Sabellian Arian and â—…hotinian Hereticks Whether Father â—…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 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 Secondly Let us now consider what â—…eat reason we have to reject all the â—…in Pretences to Reason and Philosophy â—…en opposed to a Divine Revelation â—…r that is all the Apostle intends in this â—…ution not to discourage the use of â—…eason or the study of Philosophy â—…hich are great Improvements and a â—…lightful Entertainment of Humane â—…inds and with a wise and prudent â—…onduct may be very serviceable to Reâ—…gion too but we must not set up any â—…onclusions in Philosophy against the â—…hristian Faith nor corrupt the Faith â—…ith a mixture of Philosophy nor reâ—…ct any revealed Truths for want of â—…atural Ideas to conceive them by To shorten this Discourse as much as 〈◊〉 can I shall at present only shew you â—…hat reason we have to believe those â—…octrines which are thought the most â—…ysterious and inconceivable notwithâ—…tanding any Objections from natural Reason and Philosophy against them And the account of this must be resolved â—…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 is That we must believe things whiâ—… we do not see things which we haâ—… no Natural Notion or Conception of things which are not evident to Naturâ—… Reason for without this there is littlâ—… use of Faith no Authority of pure Revelation It is true the General Corruption oâ—… 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 nor against the belief of any such â—…pernatural Truths that we have no Natural Notion nor Natural
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 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 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 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 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 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 as our Reason cannot comprehend than 〈◊〉 is to make a whole World which â—…eason cannot comprehend When we make it an Objection against â—…ny thing that it is without Reason or â—…s we apprehend against Reason and contrary to Reason we must first conâ—…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 God-man All which concern the Essence 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 infinitely more superiour to Reason â—…an Reason is to Sense And it is the â—…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 â—…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 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 and sleep Will not our Food nourish us â—…less we understand how it is concoctâ—… and turned into Chile and Blood â—…d Spirits Nay is it of no use to â—…ow that God is an Eternal Omnipoâ—…nt Omniscient Omnipresent Being â—…less we can conceive how any Being â—…n be Eternal without a Cause and â—…ithout a Beginning Or can compreâ—…end how he can do and know all things â—…d be present in all places at once â—…ithout Extension and without Parts â—…e may make all the use that can be â—…ade of this World and of every thing 〈◊〉 it without understanding the essential â—…easons and Causes or internal Nature â—…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 â—…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 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 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
great Reproach to a Christian Nation where such Doctrines are publickly owned and profess'd and such Persons courted and flattered as â—…he most refined Philosophical Wits I pray God this Nation do not find the â—…ischievous Effects of it both in Church â—…nd State Government can never be long secure without the Sacred Authority of Religion and destroy Revealed Religion and we shall quickly have none as is too visible in the Lives of Deists I 'm sure it is a vain thing to talk of a Reformation of Manners while such Men are suffered to poison the very Fountains to undermine all Religion and to root up the very Foundations of Piety and Vertue I do not love to prophesie ill Things but that Nation cannot reasonably expect to receive Good from God which is so unconcerned for his Glory and Worship it being the standing Rule of his Government He that honoureth me I will honour but those which despise me shall be lightly esteemed To God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost be Honour Glory and Power now and for evermore Amen SERMON XII Preach'd on September 2. 1699. Being the Fast for the Fire of London at the Cathedeal Church of St. Paul's before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of London Micah vi 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 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 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 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 Majesty and irresistible Power theâ—… scourge and they threaten Sinners anâ—… call for Weeping and Mourning anâ—… Fasting And how unthankful soever thâ—… Iews were to God for his great Mercieâ—… and Deliverances yet they were not so insensible of his Judgments When he sleâ—… them then they sought him and returned and enquired early after God and remembred that God was their Rock and thâ—… High God their Redeemer Psalm 78â—… 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 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 doubt who it is that hath appointed the Rod This is the first and most naturaâ—… 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
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 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 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 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 SERMON XIV Preach'd at St. Paul's Cathedral November 22. 1699. Being the Anniversary Meeting of the Lovers of Musick Psalm LXXXI 1 2. Sing aloud unto God our strength make a joyful noise unto the God of Iacob Take a Psalm and bring hither the Timbrel the pleasant Harp with the Psaltery 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 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 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 Character
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 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 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 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 SERMON XV. Preach'd before the QUEEN at White Hall in Lent 2 Tim. iii. ver 1 2. This know also that in the last days perillous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves 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 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 Good-will 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 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 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
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