which I command you this day And the Commission that Christ gave his Apostles to preach the Gospel runs thus Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature i. e. to all Mankind he that believeth and is baptiz'd shall be sav'd but he that believeth not shall be damn'd By this you may perceive that as far as there is either truth or probability in the Christian Religion so far forth he that refuses to become a Disciple to it runs a venture not only to lose the greatest blessings that Men can hope but to fall eternally into the greatest miseries that they can fear And indeed our Case in reference to the Christian Religion may not only be refer'd to the second sort of Cases lately mention'd but to the third sort too For as the language of the Author of the Christian Religion was to his Auditors If ye believe not that I am He the Messias ye shall dye in your sins so of the two greatest Heralds of it the one tells the Iews that neither is there salvation in any other For there is no other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved And the other tells the Thessalonians That the Lord Iesus shall be reveal'd from heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ who shall be punish'd with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power By all this it appears that the Christian Religion is not propos'd barely as a proffer of Heaven in case Men embrace it but as a Law that Men should embrace it upon the greatest penalty and as the onely expedient and remedy to attain eternal happiness and escape endless misery so that the forbearing to submit our necks to the yoke of Christ being as well a ruinous course as to reject it that which Reason here puts us upon is not so much to consider whether or no the Arguments for the Christian Religion be Demonstrations and will enable a Man to answer directly all Objections and Scruples for there are divers courses that Prudence may enjoin a Man to steer whilst Philosophy suggests speculative doubts about the grounds of such Resolutions but whether it be more likely to be true than not to be true or rather whether it be not more adviseable to perform the conditions it requires upon a probable expectation of obtaining the blessings it promises than by refusing it to run a probable hazard of incurring such great and endless miseries as it peremptorily threatens It will perhaps be said that this is a hard Case But that is an Allegation I am not here to consider since it properly belongs to the Doctrine about the Providence of God who being the only Author and absolute Lord of the Creatures who can receive neither Laws nor Benefits from them that can oblige him to them has a right to prescribe them what Laws he thinks fit that are not impossible for them to obey and to punish their disobedience to such Laws and much more has a right to annex what conditions he pleases to that inestimable Felicity he holds forth the proffer of it upon any terms being a free act of his meer goodness and the value of it incomparably surpassing whatever we Men can do or suffer to obtain it especially considering that as he might enforce his Commands as Sovereigns commonly do by threatning Penalties to the disobedient without proposing Rewards to the performers so he has given Men such probable Arguments to ground their expectations on that they will be self-condemn'd if they reject the Religion he proposes and yet maintain it to be decent if I may so speak for him to crown their Faith with unvaluable blessings But as I was saying the direct and full Answer to this Allegation belongs not to this place where it may suffice to say that whether the Case be hard or no yet this is the Case And therefore though the proofs of the Christian Religion did not amount which yet I do not grant to Moral Demonstrations a Man may act rationally in embracing that Religion if all things consider'd it appear more likely to be true than not to be true And I shall by and by shew you that this is not the onely Case where Prudence puts us upon making resolutions notwithstanding contrary doubts I know the harshness of the Case is by most Men made to consist in this That for a Religion whereof the truth suppos'd in its promises and threats is not demonstratively prov'd we must resign up our pleasures and sometimes undergo considerable hardships and losses and consequently we must quit what is certain for what is uncertain I have in another Paper had occasion to say something else to this Objection than what to avoid repetition shall make up my present Answer which consists of two parts The first whereof is That what we are to give up to become Christians is not really so valuable in itself as the Objecters think and that 't is of scarce any value at all if compar'd to the goods we may acquire by parting with them For alas what is it that Christianity requires us to forego but small petty enjoyments which those that have had the most of have found them and pronounced them unsatisfactory whilst they possest them and which manifest experience shews to be no less transitory than they have been declar'd empty since a thousand Accidents may take them from us and Death will infallibly after a short time which can be but a moment compar'd to Eternity take us from them And if it be said that these Enjoyments such as they are are at least the only happiness that we can make our selves sure of I must freely profess that I think it therefore the more reasonable to part with them if it be necessary upon the hopes that Christian Religion gives us For especially if a Man behold those things not only with a Philosophical eye that can look through them but with a Christian eye that can look beyond them if there be no greater happiness I do not think so poor a thing as Men call Happiness worth being greedily desir'd and if there be such a transcendent happiness as Christianity holds forth I am sure that deserves to be the object of my Ambition So that either the Meanness of worldly happiness will make me think it no great misery to want it or the Excellency of heavenly Felicity will make me think it great wisdom to part with earthly for it And now in the second part of my Answer I must invite you to consider with me that Christian Religion requires not of us actions more imprudent than divers others that are generally look'd upon as complying with the dictates of Prudence and some of them practis'd by great Politicians themselves in the weighty affairs of State You know what a
A Discourse CONCERNING REPENTANCE By N. INGELO D. D. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed by T. R. for Richard Marriott and sold by William Bromwich at the Sign of the Three Bibles in Ludgate-Street 1677. A DISCOURSE CONCERNING REPENTANCE PART I. LUKE 24. 47. That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations WHen man came out of his Creators hands he was happy and so long as he kept the state of his Nature he continued such for he enjoyed his Makers favour he walked with God had a friendly Converse with him and as he continually made a thankful acknowledgment of his dependance upon his Goodness and perform'd due Obedience to his Will so he was always under the care of his Providence and the Influences of his Grace which was so great a felicity that his condition might well be signified by the name of the place in which he dwelt The Paradise of Eden i. e. The Garden of Delight But see the frailty of created Beings when they are a little trusted with themselves Man soon fell from his happiness He was not content with his Makers allowance he would provide better for himself some other way But so disregarding his Creators Laws he threw himself out of the Divine favour and with himself his Posterity treading in the same steps of Disobedience though they knew how dear it cost their Forefather by the miserable Inheritance which he left them The unhappiness of the Estate so bequeathed being so heavy that men when they considered it would rather never have been born than thrown under the weight of it The merciful Son of God with an unspeakable compassion interposed himself between them and the dreaded Ruin and interceded for their pardon The eternal Father was highly pleased with his Mediation and as for his sake he did not lock the door of Hope against the first Runagate so neither did he afterward shut up his disobedient Children in the irrecoverable misery of their Sin For though they have cast themselves out of the Mercies of the ancient Covenant by breaking the Conditions of it yet the Son of God was pleased to be the Angel of a new Covenant and brought it from Heaven and sent his Celestial Messengers at his Birth to proclaim the Good-will which was contained in it and seal'd it with his Blood which when he was going to die he said he would shed for the remission of Sins And having performed that Promise full of unspeakable kindness when he was raised from the dead he commanded his Servants whom he had made intimate with the design of his Mercy that they should publish it to all the World and in his Name preach Repentance and upon that promise forgiveness of sin and declare that God would now accept of Return to Duty instead of Obedience which had never fail'd and that all such of sinful Mankind as would run away from their disobedient Party acknowledge their Fault lament their Rebellion throw down their Arms yield to Mercy and return to their Allegiance should come to be as they were at first by Gods allowance be put into the way of Happiness again For by the forgiveness of their sins God restores them to his Favour a Grace denied to a higher sort of Creatures than we are Angels when by sin they flung themselves out of Heaven I have designed this Discourse to treat of the way which God hath been pleased to accept and our Saviour to declare for our escaping the misery of sin which is Repentance And of this I shall speak as I find it described in the New Testament where two words are chiefly used to express the nature of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Change of mind as to what is past 2. Better care for the future And these I shall explain as Holy Writ and the practise of Gods Church do direct 1. A change of mind as to what is past So Tertull. In Graeco sono Poenitentiae nomen ab animi demutatione compositum est which he said respecting the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He which repents must begin with a severe condemnation of his former course So Isidor Pelusiota l. 4. c. 60. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How can he repent of what he hath done who doth not condemn it as wicked This part of Repentance expresseth it self in two things 1. Humble Confession of Sin 2. Earnest Prayer for Pardon 1. Humble confession of sin which is both required in many places of Scripture and appears to have been the practise of Penitents He which confesseth and forsaketh finds mercy If we confess our sins he is faithful It is meet to be said unto God I have sinned He can never hope for pardon who will not confess his sin As Confession belongs to Repentance so if it be right it must have these two things joyned with it 1. Sorrow and 2. Shame 1. We must make our Confessions having in our souls a great sorrow for having offended God a great displeasure against our selves for our disobedience When the Apostle perceived the Corinthians to have fallen into a great sin he wrote a sharp Letter to them and the consideration of that and what they had done wrought in them the beginning of Repentance a godly sorrow or sorrow according to God which he doth require and will accept if it be sincere according to the nature of the sin committed It is fit that he who hath sinned should be grieved when he considers what he hath done and say as he did Eheuquà m ego totus displiceo mihi Poenitentia denot at paenam animi de re perper am gestâ sibi displicentis St. Peters Penitents were said to be pricked in their Hearts and the Scripture calls true Repentance a broken heart a contrite spirit And true Penitents usually expressed their sorrow in tears with which David is said to water his Couch and St. Peter upon consideration of his grand sin is said to have gone forth of the Company and to have wept bitterly He which truly considers what it is to have sinned would if he could wash away the stain with tears of blood When the weight of the sins of others began to sit close and heavy upon our Saviours shoulders it put him into such an Agony that it made clammy drops of thick sweat like viscous blood trickle from his Body to the ground Therefore Penitents of old to express their due grief used to gird themselves with Sackcloth and fit in Ashes For anciently in great mournings it was the custom to put on Sackcloth to cover their heads with Ashes and sit in the Dust. As we see in the Story of the King of Niniveh in that great affliction of soul which surprised him upon Ionas's denunciation of wrath against him and his people and in the case of Thamar in the astonishing grief which seized her upon the loss of her Honour So Iob when he
the Prophet brings in the Heavens as wondring at it Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be ye horribly afraid saith the Lord for my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Waters and hewed them out Cisterns broken Cisterns which can hold no water 'T is true it was applyed principally to their forsaking the living God to serve dead Idols Hath a Nation changed their Gods which yet are no Gods but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit It was a strange Impudence in those wicked Jews of whom this Prophet speaks who when they were in a bad Condition made such by their sins would mend it by their sins They were in captivity because of their wickedness and in particular for Idolatry and were told so by the Prophet See what use they made of it We will burn Incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink-offerings to her as did our Fathers who were then well and had plenty of all things Lyars They were now in Famine for that Disobedience and yet said we will do what hath come into our minds when as all the Prosperity which they enjoyed before was from observing Gods Commands and they bereav'd themselves of it now by forsaking God as the Prophet told them before that they procured this to themselves in that they forsook the Lord their God And that their own wickedness should correct them and make them know that it was an evil thing and bitter that they had forsaken God and that the fear of displeasing him was not in them and that it should enter into their heart i. e. to gnaw it when they considered what they had done What less folly are they guilty of who forsake the peace of Conscience and hope of Immortality and pleasures of Divine Favour for the embraces of an Harlot voluptuous Riots unjust Gain or for all that Good that any or all sorts of sin can bring in exchange When they come to themselves as it was said of the Prodigal for a sinner is out of his wits they say to themselves as the Apostle did to the Romans What profit have we of those things which now only produce shame in our souls Or as that great Souldier when he saw the folly of his base Condescension in the sad Consequences of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Prodigal I have left the bread and all good entertainments of my Fathers house to feed upon Husks with Swine I have of a Freeman made my self a slave to Corruption When David not weighing things in the Balance of the Sanctuary i. e. esteeming them as God doth according to the true worth did undervalue the happiness of good men because they wanted that prosperity which he saw some wicked men enjoy when he came to consider better how did he condemn the folly of his former thoughts in these words So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a Beast before thee But as I have none in Heaven but thee so in Earth there is nothing that I can desire in comparison of thee Thy favour is better than life or any thing in it This was the folly of the first sinners they would mend the estate God had put them in by following their own counsels and so for the slight and short pleasure which they had in eating forbidden fruit lost the joy of Divine Favour and the peace of their own Consciences and flung themselves into shame and fear Art not thou ashamed whoever thou art which consents to sin to throw thy self out of the joy of thy soul a serene tranquillity of mind into melancholy and grief when thou seest how by sin thou hast debased thy self lost thy honour and devested thy self of the Dignity and Pleasure of Vertue for some mean satisfaction of bodily Appetite and indulging some vile Affection 2. The folly of Sin appears more he which disobeys God will transgress his Laws and go beyond the bounds which God hath set though they lay no curb upon Appetite nor stop the course of Action be to preserve us from that mischief into which we shall fall if we go farther than they permit A madman will on though you stop him only upon the top of a Precipice Is not the pleasure of single Life enough with Chastity and Divine Love or if Nature requires another state are not the modest allowances of Marriage enough without the unclean pleasures of forbidden Beds Is not the satisfaction of eating and drinking to a temperate chearfulness much better than to be drown'd in excess of Wine and choked with Gluttony and Surfets Is not a competency of worldly Means sutable to the necessities of our Condition and number of our Relatives thankfully enjoy'd better than the tormenting content of a ravenous Temper which makes the man haunted with it always to endeavour to add House to House Land to Land and to encrease his Heap with unjust Actions as well as greedy Desires When the Fool which makes a mock of sin comes to himself and is made to see what he hath done his countenance will fall as it was said of Cain and he will be ashamed to have parted with the sprightly erect temper of his Soul which with Innocence he had in the favour of God when by sin he finds himself depressed grieved undone Sampson broke the Law of his God which as a Nazarite he had upon him and suffered a Harlot to cut off his Hair but when he went out to shake himself as he said and found the Spirit of God departed from him what horrour with shame with despondence of Soul seiz'd upon him 3. The folly of a sinner appears also in this that he is not sensible of the great danger which his sin leads him into no though he hath been often told of it See this point of Folly in a few Particulars 1. He minds not that an action once done cannot be recalled and that therefore sin once committed cannot be undone Non est nunquam omnino fecisse facere cess asse He which sins makes himself guilty 2. He acts as supposing that he may be happy without the Divine Favour or may disobey and not lose it as if God could stand Neuter among men in the World and did not impartially weigh the actions of men and were not of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity But the Fool sins on neither minding the threatnings which are annexed to the Laws which he breaks nor considering that he who made those threatnings is Almighty and so can both put them in execution and appoint such punishments as we can neither imagine nor endure 3. The sottishness of the security appears more plainly because God hath declared that he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness Is thy heart set to do evil because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily Shall a Malefactor
a Man guilty because it is thought reasonable to suppose that though each Testimony single be but probable yet a concurrence of such Probabilities which ought in Reason to be attributed to the Truth of what they jointly tend to prove may well amount to a Moral certainty i. e. such a certainty as may warrant the Judge to proceed to the sentence of death against the Indicted party To apply these things now to the Christian Religion If you consider with how much approbation from discerning Men that judicious Observation of Aristotle has been entertain'd where he says that 't is as unskilful and improper a thing to require Mathematical Demonstrations in Moral Affairs as to take up with Moral Arguments in matters Mathematical you will not deny but that those Articles of the Christian Religion that can be prov'd by a Moral though not by a Metaphysical or Physical Demonstration may without any blemish to a Man's Reason be assented to and that consequently by vertue of the foregoing Considerations those other Articles of the Christian Faith that are clearly and legitimately deducible from the so demonstrated Truths may likewise without disparagement be assented to We may also here consider further That the choosing or refusing to embrace the Christian Religion which is not propos'd to us only as a System of Speculative Doctrines but also as a Body of Laws according to which it teaches us that God commands us to worship Him and regulate our Lives the embracing I say or not embracing this Religion is an act of humane choice and therefore ought to be determin'd according to the dictates of Prudence Now though in matters that very much import us we may wish for and endeavor after such Reasons whereby to determine our Resolves as may amount to Moral Demonstrations yet Prudence will not always require that we should refuse to act upon Arguments of a less Cogency than Moral Demonstrations For oftentimes in humane Affairs it so falls out that divers hazards or other inconveniences will attend whatever resolution we take and in that case all that Prudence requires or can enable us to do is to take that resolution which upon the whole matter seems to be preferable to any other though that which is thus prefer'd may perhaps be liable to some Objection that cannot be directly answer'd but only obliquely by the preponderancy of the Arguments that persuade the choice against which the Objection is made But here perhaps you will tell me that the safest way in a case of such importance is to suspend an action that is every way attended with difficulties and to forbear either embracing or rejecting the Christian Religion till the truth or falseness of it come to appear evident and unquestionable To which I answer that indeed in matters of bare Speculation about which our Vnderstandings only need to be conversant the suspension of Assent is not only practicable but usually the safest way but Des. Cartes himself who has been the greatest Example and Inculcator of this Suspension declares that he would have it practis'd onely about humane Speculations not about humane Actions Sed haec interim dubitatio ad solam contemplationem veritatis restringenda non quantum ad usum vitae quia persaepe rerum agendarum occasio praeteriret antequam nos dubiis nostris exolvere possemus Non raro quod tantum est verisimile cogimur amplecti vel etiam interdum etsi è duobus unum altero verisimiliùs non appareat alterutrum tamen eligere And in some of his other writings he speaks so much to shew that 't is unreasonable to expect in matters where embracing or rejecting a course that requires practice is necessary such a certainty as he judges necessary to make a true Philosopher acquiesce in reference to Propositions about speculative matters that I find by one of his Letters that he was vehemently accus'd for having taught that Men need not have as sure grounds for choosing vertuous and avoiding vitious courses as for determining about things meerly Notional And here let me observe to you the difference that I take notice of in the cases where we are put upon deliberating whether we will choose or refuse a thing propos'd For it may be propounded to us either as a proffer on whose acceptance an advantage may be hop'd or as a duty which besides the advantage it promises to the performance has a Penalty annex'd to the non-performance or as an onely expedient to avoid a great mischief or obtain a great good Thus when in the Theatrum Chymicum some of its chief Authors as Lully Geber Artephius who pretend to have been Adepti i. e. Possessors of the Elixir very earnestly exhort their Readers to apply themselves to so noble and useful a study as Alchymy by the help of which the last nam'd Artephius is said to have liv'd a 1000 years they make but a Proposition of the first sort For though a prosperous attempt to make the Philosophers stone supposing there be such a thing would possess a Man of an inestimable Treasure yet if he either refuse to believe these Writers or if he do believe them refuses to take the pains requir'd of him that would follow their counsel he can only miss of the wealth c. they would make him hope for but is really never a whit the poorer or in a worse condition than if they had not endeavour'd to engage him But if an absolute Sovereign commands something to be done by his Subjects and to enforce his Command does not only propose great Recompenses to those that shall perform what is prescrib'd but threatens heavy penalties to the disobedient this will belong to the second sort of Cases above mention'd in which as 't is evident a Man has not the same latitude allow'd him as in the first But if we suppose that a Man by a translation of very peccant Matter has got a spreading Gangrene in his Arm and a skilful Chirurgion tell him that if he will part with his Arm he may be recover'd and save his life which else he will certainly lose This Case will belong to the last sort above mention'd the Patients parting with his Arm being the onely remedy of the Gangrene and expedient to save his life and recover his health And here also 't is manifest that there are far stronger Motives than those mention'd in the first Case to make a positive and timely Resolution To bring this home to our Subject I need but mind you that the Christian Doctrine does not only promise a Heaven to sincere Believers but threatens no less than a Hell to the Refractory The voice of Moses to the Iews is this Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse a blessing if ye obey the Commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day and a curse if ye will not obey the Commandment of the Lord your God but turn aside out of the way