to our selves as concurring some way or other to this work Hence we are said to believe and repent to turn from our evil ways and to turn to the Lord to cleanse and purifie our selves Hence likewise are those frequent Commands in Scripture to amend our ways and doings to wash our hearts from wickedness to repent and turn our selves and to make our selves new Hearts and new Spirits So that all these Causes the Spirit of God his Ministers his Word and we our selves do all some way or other concur and contribute to this Effect God indeed is the Principal and hath so great an hand in this Work from beginning to end that all the rest are nothing in Comparison and we do well to ascribe to him the whole glory of it that no Flesh may glory in his sight But nevertheless in strictness of speech sufficiently warranted by Scripture the Ministers of God and the Word of God and we our selves do all co-operate some way or other to our Conversion and Regeneration and by ascribing to any of these such parts as they truly have in this work God is not robbed of any part of the glory of his grace much less of the whole Much less is it the ascribing it all to our selves whom we affirm to have the least part in it not worthy to be mention'd in Comparison of the riches of God's grace towards us And yet unless we do something what can be the meaning of making our selves new hearts and new spirits Is it only that we should be passive to the irresistible operation's of God's grace that is that we should not hinder what we can neither hinder nor promote that we should so demean our selves as of necessity we must whether we will or no. So then to make our selves new hearts and new spirits is to do nothing at all towards the hinderance or furtherance of this work and if this be thâ— meaning of it it is a Precept and Eâ—hortation just as fit for Stones as for Men that is very improper for either 2. Objection But however we do extenuate and lessen the grace of God if there be any active concurrence and endeavours on our part towards this Change For answer to this three things deserve to be consider'd First It is very well worthy our Consideration that they who make this Objection have the confidence to pretend that they do not dâ—minish the grace of God by confining it to a very small part of Mankind in Comparison nay they will needs face us down that by this very thing they do very much exalt and magnifie it and that the grace of God is so much the greater by how much the fewer they are that are partakers of it But I hope they only mean that the grace is greater to themselves in which conceit there is commonly as much of envy as gratitude but surely they cannot mean that the grace which is limited to a few is greater in it self and upon the whole matter than that which is extended to a great many it being a down-right Contradiction to say that the grace of God is magnified by being confined For at this rate of Reasoning the lesser it is the greater it must be and by undeniable consequence would be greatest of all if it were none at all So that it seems the grace of God may be extenuated in favour of our selves but when we do so we must say we magnifie it Secondly But to come close to the Objection tho' it be true that if God's grace in our Conversion do not do all it does not do so much as if it did all yet this is really no injury or dishonour to the grace of God and tho' in some sense it doth extenuate it it doth not in truth and reality take off from the glory of it In my Opinion the grace and favour of a Prince is not the less in offering a Pardon to a Traytor who puts forth his hand and gladly receives it than if he forc'd it upon him whether he would or no. I am sure it is in the first Case much fitter to give it and he on whom it is conferr'd much better qualified to receive it 'T is no disparagement to a Prince's Favour that it is bestow'd on one who is in some measure qualified to receive it But be it more or less in one Case than the other this is certain that in both Cases the Man ows his Life to the great grace and goodness of his Prince and I cannot see how it lessens the grace that the miserable Object of it the guilty and condemned Person was either by his humble submission or thankful acceptance of it in some degree better qualified to receive such a Favour than an obstinate Refuser of it Thirdly Which is the Principal Consideration of all we must take great heed that while we endeavour to make God to do all in the Conversion of Sinners we do not by this means charge upon him the ruine and destruction of impenitent Sinners which I doubt we should do if we make the Reason of their impenitency and ruine their utter impotency and disability to Repent and we certainly make this the Reason of their impenitency and ruine if there be no other difference but this between penitent and impenitent Sinners namely that in the one God works Repentance by an irresistible act of his Power so that he cannot but Repent and denys this grace to the other without which he cannot possibly Repent But the Scripture chargeth the destruction of Men upon themselves and lays their impenitency at their own door Oh Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help Hosea 13. 9. But where is the help when the grace absolutely necessary to Repentance is denied And how is their destruction of themselves if it is unavoidable let them do what they can Isa 5. 3 4. God appeals to his People Israel that nothing was wanting on his part that was fit and necessary to be done that they might bring forth the fruits of Repentance and better Obedience And now O Inhabitants of Jerusalem and Men of Judah judge I pray you between me and my Vineyard what could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes brought it forth wild grapes Is it true that God hath done all that was necessary to have brought them to Repentance Then if irresistible grace be necessary he afforded them that but that was not afforded them because then they must unavoidably have Repented and there had been no cause for this Complaint If he did not afford it but only the outward means of Repentance without the inward grace as some say then it is easie to judge why they did not Repent Because they could not and there seems to be no Cause either of Wonder or Complaint Besides that it will be hard to justifie that Saying What could I have done more
this may be and sometimes is I am so far from denying that I believe it to be so Some Men by an extraordinary power of God's grace upon their hearts are suddenly changed and strangely reclaimed from a very Wicked and Vicious to a very Religious and Virtuous Course of Life and that which others attain to by slower degrees and great conflicts with themselves before they can gain the upper hand of their Lusts these arrive at all on the sudden by a mighty Resolution wrought in them by the power of God's grace and as it were a new byass and inclination putâ— upon their Souls equal to an habit gain'd by long use and custom This God sometimes does and when he does this it may in some sense be call'd the infusion of the habits of Grace and Virtue together and at once because the Man is hereby endowed with a Principle of equal force and power with habits that are acquir'd by long use and practice A strong and vigorous Faith is the principle and root of all Graces and Virtues and may have such a powerful influence upon the Resolutions of our Minds and the government of our Actions that from this Principle all Graces and Virtues may spring and grow up by degrees into habits but then this Principle is not formally but virtually in the power and efficacy of it the infusion of the habits of every Grace and Virtue and even in those Persons in whom this Change is so suddenly and as it were at once I doubt not but that the habits of several Graces and Virtues are afterwards attained by the frequent practice of them in the virtue of this powerful Principle of the Faith of the Gospel as I shall shew in the progress of this Discourse And this I doubt not was very frequent and visible in many of the first Converts to Christianity especially of those who from the abominable Idolatry and Impiety of Heathenism were gained to the Christian Religion The Spirit of God did then work very Miraculously as well in the Cures of Spiritual as of Bodily Diseases But then to make this the Rule and Standard of God's ordinary Proceedings in the Conversion and Regeneration of Men is equally unreasonable as still to expect Miracles for the Cure of Diseases and 't is certain in experience that this is not God's ordinary Method in the Conversion of Sinners as I shall fully shew by and by Secondly I shall shew what Regeneration is by which it will plainly appear that there is no necessity that it should be effected in an instant and at once but that it will admit of degrees I do not deny that it may be in an instant and at once The Power of God is able to do this and sometimes does it very thoroughly and very suddenly But the question is whether there be a necessity it should be so and always be so Now Regeneration is the change of a Man's state from a state of Sin to a state of Holiness which because it is an entrance upon a new kind or course of Life it is fitly resembled to Regeneration or a new Birth to a new Creation the Man being as it were quite charged or made over again so as not to be as to the main purpose and design of his life the same Man he was before This is a plain sensible account of the thing which every one may easily understand Now there is nothing in Reason why a Man may not gradually be changed and arrive at this state by degrees as well as after this change is made and he arrived at this state of a Regenerate Man he may by degrees grow and improve in it But the latter no Man doubts of but that a Man that is in a state of grace may grow and improve in grace and there is as little Reason to question why a Man may not come to this state by degrees as well as leap into it at once All the difficulty I know of in this Matter is a meer nicety that there is an instant in which every thing begins and therefore Regeneration is in an instant so that the instant before the Man arrived at this state it could not be said that he was Regenerate and the instant after he is in this state it cannot be denied that he is so But this is idle subtilety just as if a Man should prove that an House was built in an instant because it could not be said to be built 'till the instant it was finish'd tho' for all this nothing is more certain than that it was built by degrees Or suppose the time of arriving at Man's estate be at one and twenty does it from hence follow that a Man does not grow to be a Man by degrees but is made a Man in an instant because just before one and twenty he was not at Man's estate and just then he was Not but that God if he please can make a Man in an instant as he did Adam but it is not necessary from this Example that all Men should be made so much less does it follow from this vain subtilety This is just the Case All the while the Man is tending towards a Regenerate state and is strugling with his Lusts 'till by the power of God's Grace and his own Resolution he get the Victory all the while he is under the sense and conviction of his sinful and miserable state and sorrowing for the folly of his past Life and coming to an effectual Purpose and Resolution of changing his Course and it may be several times thrown back by the temptations of the Devil and the power of evil habits and the weakness and instability of his own purpose 'till at last by the grace of God following and assisting him he comes to a firm Resolution of a better Life which Resolution governs him for the future I say all this while which in some Persons is longer in others shorter according to the power of evil habits and the different degrees of God's grace afforded to Men all this time the Work of Regeneration is going on and tho' a Man cannot be said to be in a Regenerate state 'till that very instant that the Principle of Grace and his good Resolution have got the upper hand of his Lusts yet it is certain for all this that the Work of Regeneration was not effected in an instant This is plainly and truly the Case as I shall shew in the Third Particular I propounded namely that it is evident from experience of the ordinary Methods of God's grace both in those who are Regenerated by a Pious and Religious Education and those who are reclaimed from a vicious Course of Life The first sort namely those who are brought to goodness by a Religious and Virtuous Education these at least so far as my Observation reacheth make up a very considerable part of the number of the Regenerate that is of good Men. And tho' it be certain considering the Universal Corruption
when Vice hath got such head that it can hardly bear to be â—keckt and controll'd and when as the Roman Historian complains of his times Ad ea tempora quibus nec vitia nostra nec remedia pati possumus perventum est things are come to that pass that we can neither bear ouâ— Vices noâ— the Remedies of them Our Vices are grown to a prodigious and intolerable height and yet Men hardly have the patience to hear of them and surely a Disease is then dangerous indeed when it cannot bear the severity that is necessary to a Cure But yet notwithstanding this we who are the Messengers of God to Men to warn them of their sin and danger must not keep silence and spare to tell them both of their sins and of the Judgment of God which hangs over them that God will visit for these things and that his Soul will be avenged on such a Nation as this At least we may have leave to warn others who are not yet run to the same excess of riot to save themselves from this untoward generation God's Judgments are abroad in the Earth and call aloud upon us to learn Righteousness But this is but a small Consideration in Comparison of the Judgment of another World which we who call our selves Christians do profess to believe as one of the Chief Articles of our Faith The Consideration of this should check and cool us in the heat of all our sinful Pleasures and that bitter Irony of Solomon should cut us to the heart Rejoyce O young Man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment Think often and seriously on that time wherein the wrath of God which is now revealed against sin shall be executed upon Sinners and if we believe this we are strangely stupid and obstinate if we be not moved by it The assurance of this made St Paul extreamly importunate in exhorting Men to avoid so great a danger 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the Body according to what he hath done whether it be good or evil Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord we perswade Men. And if this ought to move us to take so great a care of others much more of our selves The Judgment to come is a very amazing Consideration it is a fearful thing to hear of it but it will be much more terrible to see it especially to those whose guilt must needs make them so heartily concern'd in the dismal Consequences of it and yet as sure as I stand and you sit here this great and terrible Day of the Lord will come and who may abide his coming What will we do when that Day shall surprize us careless and unprepared what unspeakable horror and amazement will then take hold of us when lifting up our eyes to Heaven we shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of it with Power and great Glory when that powerful voice which shall pierce the ears of the Dead shall ring through the World Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment when the mighty Trumpet shall sound and wake the Sleepers of a thousand years and summon the dispersed parts of the Bodies of all Men that ever lived to rally together and take their place and the Souls and Bodies of Men which have been so long strangers to one another shall meet and be united again to receive the doom due to their deeds what fear shall then surprize Sinners and how will they tremble at the presence of the great Judge and for the glory of his Majesty How will their Consciences flye in their faces and their own hearts condemn them for their wicked and ungodly Lives and even prevent that Sentence which yet shall certainly be past and executed upon them But I will proceed no further in this Argument which hath so much of terror in it I will conclude my Sermon as Solomon doth his Ecclesiaâ—tes Ch. 12. 13 14. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole of Man for God shall bring every work into Judgment and every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil To which I will only add that serious and merciful Admonition of a greater than Solomon I mean the great Judge of the whole World our blessed Lord and Saviour Luke 21. 34 35 36. Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and so that day come upon you at unawares for as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole Earth Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accouuted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost c. SERMON XII Knowledge and Practice Necessary in Religion JOHN XIII 17. If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them TWO Things make up Religion the Knowledge and the Practice of it and the First is wholly in order to the Second and God hath not revealed to us the Knowledge of Himself and his Will meerly for the improvement of our Understanding but for the bettering of our Hearts and Lives not to entertain our Minds with the speculations of Religion and Virtue but to form and govern our Actions If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them In which words our blessed Saviour does from a particular instance take occasion to settle a general Conclusion namely that Religion doth mainly consist in Practice and that the knowledge of his Doctrine without the real effects of it upon our Lives will bring no Man to Heaven In the beginning of this Chapter our great Lord and Master to testifie his Love to his Disciples and to give them a lively Instance and Example of that great Virtue of Humility is pleased to condescend to a very low and mean Office such as was used to be performed by Servants to their Masters and not by the Master to his Servants namely to wash their feet and when he had done this he asks them if they did understand the meaning of this strange Action Know ye what I have done unto you ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am if I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye also ought to wash one anothers feet for I have given you an Example that ye should do as I have done to you Verily verily I say unto you the Servant is not greater than the Lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him if ye know these things
that of St. James Chap. 2. 22. by Works is Faith made perfect Sometimes and that also very frequently the Condition of the Gospel is exprest by words which import and signifie the change of our State as by Repentance Conversion Regeneration Renovation Sanctification the New Creature and the New Man which expressions are all so well known that I need not referr to particular Texts sometimes the condition of the Gospel is exprest by the visible and sensible effects of this inward change in our outward Liâ—e and Actions as namely by Obedience and keeping the Commandments of God So Heb. 5. 9. Christ is said to be the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him where Obedience is plainly put for the whole condition of the Gospel the performance whereof entitles us to Eternal Life and Happiness Now that by these various expressions one and the same thing is certainly intended and meant viz. The Condition of the Gospel that which is requir'd on our part in order to our full and perfect justification and acceptance with God is evident beyond all denial by comparing the three different ways whereby St. Paul doth express the same proposition for sense and substance in which he tells us what it is that will avail to our Justification under the Gospel that is according to the terms of the Christian Religion that it is neither here nor there that it signifies nothing whether a Man be Circumcised or not but that we be so qualified as the Gospel requires that the Conditions upon which the Blessings of the Gospel are promised be found in us And there are three Texts wherein the same thing is plainly intended in three very different expressions Gal. 5. 6. In Jesus Christ neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but Faith which is consummate or made perfect by Charity Gal. 6. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new Creature 1 Cor. 7. 19. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the Commandments of God It is evident that in these three Texts the Apostle designs to say the same thing and consequently that Faith which is made perfect by Charity and the new Creature and keeping of the Commandments of God are the same in sense and substance viz. the Condition of our Justification and acceptance with God under the Covenant of the Gospel or in the Christian Religion I shall at present by God's assistance handle the second of these Texts In Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new Creature And here the Condition of the Gospel is exprest to us by the change of our State which in Scripture is call'd our Regeneration or becoming new Creatures and new Men. Circumcision was but an outward sign and mark upon the Body and the Flesh though it did indeed prefigure and typifie the inward Circumcision of the heart the giving of Men new Hearts and new Spirits under the more perfect dispensation of the Gospel but now in Christ Jesus that is in the Christian Religion the presence or the want of this outward mark will avail nothing to our justification but that which was signified by it the renovation of our Hearts and Spirits our becoming new Creatures is now the Condition of our justification and acceptance with God The false Apostles indeed did lay great stress upon the business of Circumcision not so much out of zeal to the Law of Moses as to avoid Persecution ver 12. They constrain you to be Circumcised only left they should suffer Persecution for the Cross of Christ For at that time though the Christians were Persecuted yet the Jews by the Roman Edicts had the free exercise of their Religion and therefore they gloried in this external mark of Circumcision because it exempted them from suffering but St. Paul gloried in his sufferings for Christ and the marks of that upon his Body ver 14. God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and v. 17. I bear in my Body the marks of the Lord Jesus He tells them what necessities soever they might pretend of Circumcision either for their Justification or Salvation the true ground of all was to save themselves from Temporal Sufferings and that in the Christian Religion it signified nothing to recommend them to the favour of God whether they were Circumcised or not nothing would be available to this purpose but the renovation and change of their Hearts and Lives For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new Creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a new Creation to intimate the greatness of the Change which Christianity throughly entertained made in Men. Having thus cleared the occasion and meaâ—ing of these words I come now to consider the Particulars contained in them namely these two things First That the Gospel hath taken away the Obligation of the Law of Moses in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision Secondly That according to the terms of the Christian Religion nothing will avail to our justification and acceptance with God but the real renovation of our Hearts and Lives neither Circumcision nor uncircision but a new Creature 1. That the Gospel hath taken away the obligation of the Law of Moses In Christ Jesus that is now under the dispensation of the Gospel neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision There was never any general Obligation upon Mankind to this Rite of Circumcision but only upon the Seed of Abraham but yet upon the preaching of the Gospel many of the Jewish Christians would have brought the Gentiles under this yoak pretending that Christianity was but a superstructure upon the Law of Moses which together with the Gospel was to be the Religion of the whole World and there was some colour for this because our Saviour himself submitted to this Rite and was Circumcised which the Apostle takes notice of in the 4 th Chap. of this Epist ver 4. When the fullness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law that is Circumcised And 't is true indeed that our blessed Saviour was Circumcised but not to signifie to us the perpetuity of Circumcision and the continuance of it under the Christian Religion but for a quite different end as a testimony of his Obedience to that Law which tho' afterwards it was to expire yet was to be obeyed whilst it was in force by all that were born under it he was made under the Law and it became him who came to teach Mankind Obedience to the Laws of God to fulfill all Righteousness himself And therefore the Apostle in this Epistle where he takes notice of this that Christ was made under the Law gives this Reason of it that he might be the â—itter to free those who were under it from the servitude of it he was made under the Law that
Mankind John 15. 22 23 24. If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin that is in Comparison their Sin had been much more excusable but now they have no cloak for their sin He that hateth me hateth my Father also If I had not done among them the works which none other Man did they had not had sin but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father How is that Our Saviour means that they had now sinned against all the advantages of knowing the will of God that Mankind could possibly have at once opposing Natural Light which was the dispensation of the Father and the clearest revelation of God's will in the Dispensation of the Gospel by his Son Now have they both seen and hated both Me and my Father The two remaining Observations I shall reserve to another Opportunity SERMON XI The Danger of all known Sin both from the Light of Nature and Revelation ROM I. 18 19. For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them I Have handled Four of the Observations which I rais'd from these Words and shall now proceed to the other Two that remain Fifth Observation That the Natural Knowledge which Men have of God if they live contrary to it is a sufficient evidence of their holding the trâ—th of God iâ— unâ—â—ghteousness For thâ—â—eason why the Apostle chargeth them with this is Because that which may be known of God is manifest in that God hath shewed it â—nto them There is a Natural Knowledge of God and of the Duty we owe to him which the Apostle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that of God which is obvious to be known by the light of Nature and is as much as is absolutely necessary for us to know There is something of God that is incomprehensible and beyond the reach of our Understandings but his Being and Essential Perfections may be known which he calls his Eternal Power and Godhead thâ—se he tells us are clearly seen being understood by the things which are made that is the Creation of the World is a plain demonstration to Men of the Being and Power of God and if so then God is naturally â—nown to Men the contrary whereof Socinus positively maintains tho' therein he be forsaken by most of his Followers an Opinion in my Judgment very unworthy of one who not without Reason was esteemed so great a Master of Reason and tho' I believe he did not see it undermining the strongest and surest Foundation of all Religion which when the Natural Notions of God are once taken away will certainly want its best support Besides that by denying any Natural Knowledge of God and his Essential Perfections he freely gives away one of the most plausible grounds of opposing the Doctrine of the Trinity But because this is a Matter of great Consequence and he was a great Man and is not to be confuted by contempt but by better Reason if it can be found I will Consider his Reasons for this Opinion and return a particular Answer to them First He says that if the Knowledge of God were Natural it would not be of Faith but the Apostle says that we must believe that he is The force of which Argument if it have any lies in this that the Object of Faith is Divine Revelation and therefore we cannot be said to believe what we Naturally know The Schoolmen indeed say so but the Scripture useth the word Faith more largely for a rela perswasion of any thing whether grounded upon Sense or Reason or Divine Revelation And our Saviour's Speech to Thomas Because thou hast seen thou hast believed does sufficiently intimate that a Man may believe what he sees and if so what should hinder but that a Man may be said to believe what he Naturally knows that is be really perswaded that there is a God from Natural Light Secondly His next Argument is because the same Apostle concludes Enoch to have believed God because he pleased God and without Faith it is impossible to please him From whence he says it is certain that Men may be without this Belief which if it be Natural they cannot Indeed if the Apostle had said that whoever believes a God must of necessity obey and please him then the Inference had been good that all Men do not Naturally believe a God because it is certain they do not please him but it is not good the other way no more than if a Man should argue thus that because whoever acts reasonably must be endowed with Reason therefore Men are not Naturally endowed with Reason For as Men may Naturally be endowed with Reason and yet not always make use of it so Men may Naturally know and believe a God and yet not be careful to please him His Third Argument is that the Scripture says that there are some that do not believe a God for which he cites that of David The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God which certainly proves that bad Men live so as if they believed there were no God nay it may farther import that they endeavour as much as they can to stifle and extinguish the belief of a God in their Minds and would gladly perswade themselves there is no God because it is convenient for them there should be none and whether David meant so or not it is very probable that some may arrive to that height of Impiety as for a time at least and in some moods to disbelieve a God and to be very confident of the Arguments on that side But what then Is the Knowledge and Belief of a God therefore not Natural to Mankind Nature it self as constant and uniform as it is admits of some Irregularities and Exceptions in Effects that are meerly Natural much more in those which have something in them that is voluntary and depends upon the good or bad use of our Reason and Understanding and there is no arguing from what is Monstrous against what is Natural It is Natural for Men to have five Fingers upon a Hand and yet some are born otherwise but in voluntary Agents that which is Natural may be perverted and in a great measure extinguisht in some particular instances so that there is no force at all in this Objection His Fourth and last Argument is that there have not only been particular Persons but whole Nations who have had no sense nor so much as suspicion of a Deity This I confess were of great force if it were true and for the proof of this he produceth the instance of Brasil in America But I utterly deny the matter of fact and History and challenge any Man to bring good testimony not only of any Nation but of any City in the World that ever were professed Atheists I know
declarations of the wrath of God against Sinners that there is a Day of Judgment appointed and a Judge constituted to take cognisance of the Actions of Men to pass a severe Sentence and to inflict a terrible Punishment upon the workers of Iniquity More particularly our Lord and his Apostles have denounced the wrath of God against particular Sinâ— and Vices In several places of the New Testament there are Catalogues given of particular Sins the practice whereof will certainly shut Men out of the Kingdom of Heaven and expose them to the wrath and vengeance of God 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Know ye not that the Unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God So likewise Gal. 5. 19 20 21. The works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murthers Drunkenness Revellings and such like of which I tell you before as I have likewise told you in times past that they that do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Col. 3. 5 6. Mortiâ—ie therefore your Members upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the Children of disobedience Rev. 21. 8. The fearful and unbelieving that is those who rejected the Christian Religion notwithstanding the clear Evidence that was offer'd for it and those who out of fear should Apostatize from it The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable that is those who were guilty of unnatural Lusts not fit to be named and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorâ—erers and Idolaters and all Liars that is all sorts of false and deceitful and perfidious Persons shall have their part in the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone whiâ—h is the second death And not only these gross and notorious Sins which are such plain violations of the Law and Light of Nature but those wherein Mankind have been apt to take more liberty as if they were not sufficiently convinced of the evil of them as the resisting of Civil Authority which the Apostle tells us they that are guilty of shall receive to themselves damnation Rom. 13. 2. Profane Swearing in common Conversation which St. James tells us brings Men under the danger of damnation Ch. 5. 12. Above all things my Brethren swear not lest ye fall under Condemnation Nay our Saviour hath told us plainly that not only for wicked actions but for every evil and sinful word Men are obnoxious to the Judgment of God So our Lord assures us Mat. 12. 36 37. I say unto you that every idle word that Men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the Day of Judgment For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned He had spoken before of that great and unpardonable Sin of Blaspheming the Holy Ghost and because this might be thought great severity for evil words he declares the Reason more fully because words shew the Mind and Temper of the Man ver 34. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh The Character of the Man is shewn by his words saith Menander Profert enim mores plerumque oratio saith Quintilian animi secreta detegit A Man's Speech discovers his Manners and the secrets of his heart ut vivit etiam quemque dicere Men commonly speak as they live and therefore our Saviour adds A good Man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things and an evil Man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil things but I say unto you that every idle word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which I do not think our Saviour means that Men shall be call'd to a solemn account at the Day of Judgment for every trifling and impertinent and unprofitable word but every wicked and sinful word of any kind as if he had said do you think this severe to maâ—e words an unpardonable fault I say unto you that Men shall not only be condemned for their maliâ—ious and blasphemous speeches against the Holy Ghost but they shall likewise give a strict account for all other wicked and sinful speeches in any kind tho' much inferiour to this And this is not only most agreeable to the scope of our Saviour but is confirmed by some Greek Copies in which it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every wicked word which Men shall speak they shall be accountable for it at the Day of Judgment But this by the by Our Saviour likewise tells us that Men shall not only be proceeded against for Sins of Commission but for the bare Omission and Neglect of their Duty especially in Works of Mercy and Charity for not feeding the hungry and the like as we see Mat. 25. and that for the omission of these he will pass that terrible Sentence Depart ye Cursed c. So that it nearly concerns us to be careful of our whole Life of all our Words and Actions since the Gospel hath so plainly and expresly declared that for all these things God will bring us into Judgment And if the threatnings of the Gospel be true What manner of Persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness Secondly As the threatnings of the Gospel are very plain and express so are they likewise very dreadful and terrible I want words to express the least part of the terrour of them and yet the expressions of Scripture concerning the misery and punishment of Sinners in another World are such as may justly raise amazement and horror in those that hear them Sometimes it is exprest by a departing from God and a perpetual banishment from his presence who is the Fountain of all Comfort and Joy and Happiness sometimes by the loss of our Souls or our selves What shall it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or as it is in another Evangelist to lose himself Not that our Being shall be destroyed that would be a happy loss indeed to him that is Sentenced to be for ever miserable but the Man shall still remain and his Body and Soul continue to be the Foundation of his misery and a Scene of perpetual woe and discontent which our Saviour calls the destroying of Body and Soul in Hell or going into everlasting punishment where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched Could I represent to you the horror of that dismal Prison into which Wicked and Impure Souls are to be thrust and the misery they must there endure without the least spark of Comfort or glimering of Hope how they wail and groan under the intolerable wrath of God the insolent scorn and
that he would not do what he knew he ought to do or would do what he knew he ought not to do Now if a Man be simply and invincibly ignorant of his Duty his neglect of it is altogether involuntary for the Will hath nothing to do where the Understanding doth not first direct And this is the Case of Children who are not yet come to the use of Reason for tho' they may do that which is materially a fault yet it is none in them because by reason of their incapacity they are at present invincibly ignorant of what they ought to do And this is the Case likewise of Ideots who are under a natural incapacity of Knowledge and so far as they are so nothing that they do is imputed to them as a fault The same may be said of distracted Persons who are deprived either wholly or at some times of the use of their Understandings so far and so long as they are thus deprived they are free from all guilt and to Persons who have the free and perfect use of their Reason no neglect of any Duty is imputed of which they are absolutely and invincibly ignorant For instance it is a Duty incumbent upon all Mankind to believe in the Son of God where he is sufficiently manifested and revealed to them but those who never heard of him nor had any opportunity of coming to the Knowledge of him shall not be Condemned for this infidelity because it is impossible they should believe on him of whom they never heard they may indeed be Condemned upon other accounts for â—inning against the light of Nature and for not obeying the Law which was written in their hearts for what the Apostle says of the Revelation of the Law is as true of any other Revelation of God As many as have sinned without Law shall also perish without Law and as many as have sinned under the Law shall be judged by the Law Rom. 2. 12. In like manner those who have â—inned without the Gospel that is who never had the knowledge of it shall not be Condemned for any offence against that Revelation which was never made to them but for their violation of the Law of Nature only they that have sinned under the Gospel shall be judged by it Secondly there is likewise another sort of ignorance which either does not at all or very little extenuate the faults of Men when Men are not only ignorant but chuse to be so that is when they wilfully neglect those Means and Opportunities of knowledge which are afforded to them such as Job speaks of Job 21. 14. Who say unto God depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways And this sort of ignorance many among the Jews were guilty of when our Saviour came and preached to them but they would not be instructed by him The light came among them but they loved darkness rather than light as he himself says of them and as he says elsewhere of the Pharisees They rejected the Counsel of God against themselves they wilfully shut their eyes against that light which offered it self to them They would not see with their eyes nor hear with their ears nor understand with their hearts that they might be converted and healed Now an ignorance in this degree wilful can hardly be imagined to carry any excuse at all in it He that knew not his Lord's Will because he would not know it because he wilfully rejected the Means of coming to the knowledge of it deserves to be beaten with as many stripes as if he had known it because he might have known it and would not He that will not take notice of the King's Proclamation or will stop his ears when it is read and afterwards offends against it does equally deserve punishment with those who have read it and heard it and disobey'd it because he was as grosly faulty in not knowing it and there is no reason that any Man 's gross fault should be his excuse So that it is neither of these sorts of ignorance that our Saviour means neither absolute and invincible ignorance nor that which is grosly wilful and affected for the first Men deserve not to be beaten at all because they cannot help it for the latter they deserve not to be excused because they might have helped their ignorance and would not But our Saviour here speaks of such an ignorance as does in a good degree extenuate the fault and yet not wholly excuse it for he says of them that they knew not their Lord's will and yet that this ignorance did not wholly excuse them from blame nor exempt them from punishment but they should be beaten with few stripes In the Third place then there is an ignorance which is in some degree faulty and yet does in a great measure excuse the faults which proceed from it and this is when Men are not absolutely ignorant of their Duty but only in comparison of others who have a far more clear and distinct Knowledge of it and tho' they do not grosly and wilfully neglect the Means of further Knowledge yet perhaps they do not make the best use they might of the opportunities they have of knowing their Duty better and therefore in comparison of others who have far better Means and Advantages of knowing their Lord's Will they may be said not to know it tho' they are not simply ignorant of it but only have a more obscure and uncertain knowledge of it Now this ignorance does in a great measure excuse such Persons and extenuate their Crimes in comparison of those who had a clearer and more perfect knowledge of their Master's Will and yet it does not free them from all guilt because they did not live up to that degree of knowledge which they had and perhaps if they had used more care and industry they might have known their Lord's Will better And this was the Case of the Heathen who in comparison of those who enjoyed the light of the Gospel might be said not to have known their Lord's Will tho' as to many parts of their Duty they had some directions from Natural Light and their Consciences did urge them to many things by the obscure apprehensions and hopes of a Future Reward and the fear of a Future Punishment But this was but a very obscure and uncertain knowledge in comparison of the clear Light of the Gospel which hath discovered to us our Duty so plainly by the Laws and Precepts of it and hath presented us with such powerful Motives and Arguments to Obedience in the Promises and Threatnings of it And this likewise is the Case of many Christians who either through the natural slowness of their Understandings or by the neglect of their Parents and Teachers or other Circumstances of their Education have had far less Means and Advantages of Knowledge than others God does not expect so much from those as from others to whom he hath given greater Capacity and Advantages