SERMONS PREACH'D UPON Several Occasions By JOHN Lord Archbishop of Canterbury The Fourth Volume LONDON Printed for B. Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal-Exchange in Cornhill and W. Rogers at the Sun against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet MDCXCIV His Grace John Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury The Texts of each Sermon SERMON I. MAtth. XXV 1 2 c. Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bride-groom And five of them were wise and five were foolish c. Page 3. SERMON II. Ezra IX 13 14. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespass seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our Iniquities deserve and hast given us such a deliverance as this Should we again break thy Commandments and join in affinity with the people of these Abominations wouldst not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us so that there should be no remnant nor escaping 43 SERMON III. Matth. V. 44 But I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you Page 83 SERMON IV. Luke X. 42 But one thing is needful 123 SERMON V. Matth. 25.46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal 153 SERMON VI. Ecclesiastes IX 11 I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battel to the strong nor yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favour to men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all 185 SERMON VII Jeremiah VI. 8 Be thou instructed O Jerusalem lest my soul depart from thee lest I make thee desolate a land not inhabited Page 221 SERMON VIII Acts XXIV 16 And herein do I exercise my self to have always a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards men 259 SERMON IX Zech. VII 5 Speak unto all the People of the Land and to the Priests saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month even those seventy years DID YE AT ALL FAST UNTO ME EVEN UNTO ME 297 SERMON X. Psalm LXXIII 25 Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee 339 SERMON XI Jer. IX 23 24. Thus saith the Lord Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might let not the rich man glory in his riches But let him that glorieth glory in this That he understandeth and knoweth Me that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness and judgment and righteousness in the earth For in these things I delight saith the Lord. 379 SERMON XII Tit. III. 2 To speak evil of no man 419 The Parable of the ten Virgins IN A SERMON Preached before Her ROYAL HIGHNESS THE Princess ANN of Denmark AT Tunbridge-Wells September 2 d. 1688. The Parable of the ten Virgins MATTH XXV 1 2. c. Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom And five of them were wise and five were foolish c. MY design at present is to explain this Parable and to make such Observations upon it as seem most naturally and without squeezing the Parable to spring from it And then to make some Application of it to our selves Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten Virgins By the Kingdom of Heaven is meant the state and condition of things under the Gospel By the ten Virgins those who embraced the Profession of it which is here represented by their taking their Lamps and going forth to meet the Bridegroom in allusion to the ancient Custom of Marriages in which the Bridegroom was wont to lead home his Bride in the Night by the light of Lamps or Torches But this Profession was not in all equally firm and fruitful and therefore those who persever'd and continued stedfast in this Profession notwithstanding all the temptations and allurements of the World and all the fierce storms and assaults of persecution to which this Profession was exposed and being thus firmly rooted in it did bring forth the fruits of the Spirit and abound in the Graces and Virtues of a good life These are the wise Virgins But those who either deserted this Profession or did not bring forth fruits answerable to it are the foolish Virgins And that this is the true difference between them will appear if we consider how the Parable represents them vers 3 4. They that were foolish took their Lamps and took no Oyl with them But the wise took Oyl in their Vessels with their Lamps So that they both took their Lamps and both lighted them and therefore must both be suppos'd to have some oyl in their Lamps at first as appears from verse 8. where the foolish Virgins said unto the wise give us of your oyl for our Lamps are gone out They had it seems some Oyl in their Lamps at first which kept them lighted for a little while but had taken no care for a future supply And therefore the difference between the wise and foolish Virgins did not as some have imagin'd consist in this that the wise Virgins had Oyl but the foolish had none but in this that the foolish had taken no care for a further supply after the Oyl which was at first put into their Lamps was spent as the wise had done who besides the Oyl that was in their Lamps carried likewise a Reserve in some other Vessel for a continual supply of the Lamp as there should be occasion the wise took Oyl in their Vessels with their Lamps Now the meaning of all this is That they who are represented by the wise Virgins had not only embraced the Profession of the Christian Religion as the foolish Virgins also had done for they both had their Lamps lighted but they likewise persever'd in that Profession and brought forth fruits answerable to it For by Oyl in their Lamps and the first lighting of them which was common to them both is meant that solemn Profession of Faith and Repentance which all Christians make in Baptism By that farther supply of Oyl which the wise Virgins only took care to provide is signified our constancy and perseverance in this Profession together with the fruits of the Spirit and the improvement of the Grace received in Baptism by the practice and exercise of all the Graces and Virtues of a good life whereby men are fitted and prepar'd for Death and Judgment which are here represented to us by the coming of the Bridegroom This being plainly the main scope and intention of the Parable I shall explain the rest of it as there shall be occasion under the several Observations which I shall raise from the several parts of it And they shall be these
the land of the living unless it be that one infallible Point of Wisdom to which God directs every man and of which every man is capable viz. Religion and the Fear of God Vnto man he said Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding Secondly When knowledge and wisdom are with great difficulty in any competent measure attain'd how easily are they lost By a disease by a blow upon the head by a sudden and violent passion which may disorder the strongest Brain and confound the clearest Understanding in a moment Nay even the excess of knowledge and wisdom especially if attended with pride as too often it is is very dangerous and does many times border upon distraction and run into madness Like an Athletick constitution and perfect state of health which is observ'd by Physicians to verge upon some dangerous disease and to be a forerunner of it And when a man's Understanding is once craz'd and shatter'd how are the finest notions and thoughts of the wisest man blunder'd and broken perplex'd and entangled like a puzled lump of silk so that the man cannot draw out a thought to any length but is forc'd to break it off and to begin at another end Upon all which and many more accounts Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom which is so very imperfect so hard to be attain'd and yet so easie to be lost 2. Neither let the mighty man glory in his might Which whether it be meant of natural strength of body or of military force and power how weak and imperfect is it and how frequently foil'd by an unequal strength If we understand it of the natural strength of men's bodies how little reason is there to glory in that in which so many of the Creatures below us do by so many degrees excell us In that which may so many ways be lost by sickness by a maime and by many other external Accidents and which however will decay of it self and by Age sink into infirmity and weakness And how little reason is there to glory in that which is so frequently foil'd by an unequal strength of which Goliah is a famous Instance When he defied the Host of Israel and would needs have the matter decided by single Combate God inspired David to accept the Challenge who though he was no wise comparable to him in strength and would have been nothing in his hands in close fight yet God directed him to assail him at a distance by a weapon that was too hard for him a stone out of a sling which struck the Giant in the forehead and brought his unwieldy bulk down to the Earth Or if by might we understand military force and power how little likewise is that to be gloried in considering the uncertain events of War and how very often and remarkably the Providence of God doth interpose to cast the Victory on the unlikely Side It is Solomon's observation that such are the interpositions of Divine Providences in humane Affairs that the Event of things is many times not at all answerable to the power and probability of second Causes I returned says he and saw under the Sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battel to the strong And one way among many others whereby the Providence of God doth often interpose to decide the Events of War is by a remarkable change of the Seasons and Weather in favour of one Side As by sending great Snows or violent Rains to hinder the early motion and march of a powerful Army to the disappointment or prejudice of some great Design By remarkable Winds and Storms at Sea to prevent the Conjunction of a powerful Fleet And by governing all these for a long time together so visibly to the Advantage of one Side us utterly to defeat the well laid design of the other Of all which by the great mercy and goodness of God to us we have had the happy experience in all our late signal Deliverances and Victories And here I cannot but take notice of a passage to this purpose in the Book of Job Which may deserve our more attentive regard and consideration because I take this Book to be incomparably the most ancient of all other and much elder than Moses And yet it is written with as lively a sense of the Providence of God and as noble Figures and Flights of Eloquence as perhaps any Book extant in the World The Passage I mean is where God to convince Job of his ignorance in the secrets of Nature and Providence poseth him with many hard Questions and with this amongst the rest Hast thou entred into the treasures of the Snow hast thou seen the treasures of the Hail which I have reserv'd against the time of trouble against the Day of Battel and War The meaning of which is that the Providence of God doth sometimes interpose to determine the Events of War by governing the Seasons and the Weather and by making the Snows and Rains the Winds and Storms to fulfil his word and to execute his pleasure Of this we have a remarkable Instance in the defeat of Sisera's mighty Army against whom in the Song of Deborah the Stars are said to have fought in their courses The expression is Poetical but the plain meaning of it is that by mighty and sudden Rains which the common Opinion did ascribe to a special influence of the Planets the River of Kishon near which Sisera's Army lay was so raised and swoln as to drown the greatest part of that huge Host For so Deborah explains the fighting of the Stars in their courses against Sisera They fought says she from Heaven the Stars in their courses fought against Sisera the River of Kishon swept them away As if the Stars which were supposed by their influence to have caused those sudden and extraordinary Rains had set themselves in Battel-array against Sisera and his Army Therefore let not the mighty man glory in his might which is so small in it self but in opposition to God is weakness and nothing The weakness of God says St. Paul is stronger than men All power to do mischief is but impotence and therefore no matter of boasting Why boastest thou thy self thou Tyrant that thou art able to do mischief the goodness of God endureth continually The goodness of God is too hard for the pride and malice of man and will last and hold out when that has tir'd and spent it self Thirdly Let not the rich man glory in his riches In these men are apt to pride themselves even the meanest and poorest spirits who have nothing to be proud of but their money when they have got good store of that together how will they swell and strut as if because they are rich and increased in goods they wanted nothing But we may do well to consider that Riches are things without us not the real Excellencies of our Nature but
and that men who are resolv'd to continue in an evil course are glad to be of a Church which will assure Salvation to men upon such terms The great difficulty is for men to believe that things which are so apparently absurd and unreasonable can be true and to persuade themselves that they can impose upon God by such pretences of service and obedience as no wise Prince or Father upon earth is to be deluded withal by his Subjects or Children We ought to have worthier thoughts of God and to consider that He is a great King and will be obey'd and observ'd by his creatures in his own way and make them happy upon his own terms and that obedience to what he commands is better and more acceptable to him than any other sacrifice that we can offer which he hath not required at our hands and likewise that he is infinitely wise and good and therefore that the Laws which he hath given us to live by are much more likely and certain means of our happiness than any inventions and devices of our own Thirdly I observe that even the better and more considerate sort of Christians are not so careful and watchful as they ought to prepare themselves for Death and Judgment whilst the Bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept Even the Disciples of our Saviour whilst he was yet personally present with them and after a particular charge given them from his own mouth Watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation yet did not keep that guard upon themselves as to watch with him for one hour In many things says St. James we offend all even the best of us And who is there that doth not some time or other remit of his vigilancy and care so as to give the Devil an advantage and to lye open to temptation for want of a continual guard upon himself But then the difference between the wise and foolish Virgins was this that tho they both slept yet the wise did not let their Lamps go out they neither quitted their Profession nor did they extinguish it by a bad life and tho when the Bridegroom came suddenly upon them they were not so actually prepar'd to meet him by a continual vigilancy yet they were habitually prepar'd by the good disposition of their minds and the general course of a holy life Their Lamps might burn dim for want of continual trimming but they had Oyl in their Vessels to supply their Lamps which the foolish Virgins had taken no care to provide But surely the greatest wisdom of all is to maintain a continual watchfulness that so we may not be surpriz'd by the coming of the Bridegroom and be in a confusion when Death or Judgment shall overtake us And blessed are those Servants and wise indeed whose Lamps always burn bright and whom the Bridegroom when he comes shall find watching and in a fit posture and preparation to meet Him Fourthly I observe likewise how little is to be done by us to any good purpose in this great work of Preparation when it is deferr'd and put off to the last And thus the foolish Virgins did but what a sad confusion and hurry they were in at the sudden coming of the Bridegroom when they were not only asleep but when after they were awaken'd they found themselves altogether unprovided of that which was necessary to trim their Lamps and to put them in a posture to meet the Bridegroom When they wanted that which was necessary at that very instant but could not be provided in an instant I say what a tumult and confusion they were in being thus surpriz'd the Parable represents to us at large vers 6 7 8 9. and at midnight there was a cry made Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him Then all those Virgins arose and trimmed their Lamps that is they went about it as well as they could and the foolish said unto the wise give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out At midnight there was a cry made that is at the most dismal and unseasonable time of all other when they were fast asleep and suddenly awaken'd in great terror when they could not on the sudden recollect themselves and consider what to do when the summons was so very short that they had neither time to consider what was fit to be done nor time to do it in And such is the Case of those who put off their Repentance and Preparation for another World till they are surpriz'd by Death or Judgment for it comes all to one in the issue which of them it be The Parable indeed seems more particularly to point at our Lord 's coming to Judgment but the case is much the same as to those who are surpriz'd by sudden Death such as gives them but little or not sufficient time for so great a work because such as Death leaves them Judgment will certainly find them And what a miserable confusion must they needs be in who are thus surpriz'd either by the one or the other How unfit should we be if the general Judgment of the World should come upon us on the sudden to meet that great Judge at his coming if we have made no preparation for it before that time What shall we then be able to do in that great and universal consternation when the Son of man shall appear in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory when the Sun shall be darken'd and the Moon turned into blood and all the powers of Heaven shall be shaken when all Nature shall feel such violent pangs and convulsions and the whole World shall be in a combustion flaming and cracking about our ears When the Heavens shall be shrivel'd up as a Scroll when it is roll'd together and the Earth shall be toss'd from its Center and every Mountain and Island shall be removed What thoughts can the wisest men then have about them in the midst of so much noise and terror Or if they could have any what time will there then be to put them in execution when they shall see the Angel that standeth upon the Sea and upon the Earth lifting up his hand to Heaven and swearing by Him that liveth for ever and ever that Time shall be no longer as this dreadful Day is described Rev. 10.5 6. and chap. 6.15 where Sinners are represented at the Appearance of this Great Judge not as flying to God in hopes of mercy but as flying from Him in utter despair of finding mercy with Him The Kings of the Earth and the Great Men and the Mighty Men and the Rich Men and the Great Captains hid themselves in the Dens and in the Rocks of the Earth and said to the Mountains and Rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb For the Great Day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand The biggest and the boldest Sinners
that ever were upon Earth shall then flee from the face of Him whom they have so often blasphemed and denied and shall so far despair of finding mercy with Him in that Day who would sue to Him for it no sooner that they shall address themselves to the Mountains and Rocks as being more pitiful and exorable than He to hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb From the wrath of the Lamb to signify to us that nothing is more terrible than Meekness and Patience when they are throughly provok'd and turn'd into Fury In such dreadful confusion shall all impenitent Sinners be when they shall be surpriz'd by that Great and terrible Day of the Lord And the Case of a dying Sinner who would take no care in the time of his Life and Health to make preparation for another World is not much more hopeful and comfortable For alas how little is it that a sick and dying man can do in such a strait of time in the midst of so much pain and weakness of Body and of such confusion and amazement of Mind With what heart can he set about so great a Work for which there is so little time With what face can he apply himself to God in this extremity whom he hath so disdainfully neglected all the days of his Life And how can he have the confidence to hope that God will hear his cries and regard his tears that are forc'd from him in this day of his necessity when he is conscious to himself that in that long day of God's Grace and Patience he turned a deaf ear to all his merciful invitations and rejected the counsel of God against himself In a word how can he who would not know in that his Day the things which belonged to his peace expect any other but that they should now be for ever hid from his eyes which are ready to be clos'd in utter darkness I will not pronounce any thing concerning the impossibility of a death-bed Repentance But I am sure that it is very difficult and I believe very rare We have but one Example that I know of in the whole Bible of the Repentance of a dying Sinner I mean that of the penitent Thief upon the Cross And the circumstances of his Case are so peculiar and extraordinary that I cannot see that it affords any ground of hope and encouragement to men in ordinary Cases We are not like to suffer in the company of the Son of God and of the Saviour of the World and if we could do so it is not certain that we should behave our selves towards Him so well as the penitent Thief did and make so very good an end of so very bad a Life And the Parable in the Text is so far from giving any encouragement to a Death bed Repentance and Preparation that it rather represents their Case as desperate who put off their Preparation to that Time How ineffectual all that the foolish Virgins could do at that time did in the conclusion prove is set forth to us at large in the Parable They wanted Oyl but could neither borrow nor buy it They would then fain have had it and ran about to get it but it was not to be obtain'd neither by entreaty nor for money First they apply themselves to the wise Virgins for a share in the over-plus of their Graces and Virtues the foolish said unto the wise give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out but the wise answered not so lest there be not enough for us and you The wise Virgins it seems knew of none they had to spare And then they are represented as ironically sending the foolish Virgins to some famous Market where this Oyl was pretended to be sold go ye rather to them that sell and buy for your selves And as dying and desperate persons are apt to catch at every twig and when they can see no hopes of being saved are apt to believe every one that will give them any so these foolish Virgins follow the advice and whilst they went to buy the Bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut and afterwards came also the other Virgins saying Lord Lord open to us but he answered and said verily I say unto you I know you not You see how little or rather no encouragement at all there is from any the least circumstance in this Parable for those who have delay'd their Preparation for another World till they be overtaken by Death or Judgment to hope by any thing that they can then do by any importunity which they can then use to gain admission into Heaven Let those consider this with fear and trembling who forget God and neglect Religion all their Life-time and yet feed themselves with vain hopes by some Device or other to be admitted into Heaven at last Fifthly I observe that there is no such thing as Works of Super-erogation that is that no man can do more than needs and than is his duty to do by way of Preparation for another World For when the foolish Virgins would have begg'd of the wise some Oyl for their Lamps the wise answered not so lest there be not enough for us and you It was only the foolish Virgins that in the time of their extremity and when they were conscious that they wanted that which was absolutely necessary to qualify them for admission into Heaven who had entertain'd this idle Conceit that there might be an over-plus of Grace and Merit in others sufficient to supply their want But the wise knew not of any they had to spare but supposed all that they had done or could possibly do to be little enough to qualify them for the glorious Reward of eternal Life Not so say they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lest at any time that is lest when there should be need and occasion all that we have done or could do should be little enough for our selves And in this Point they had been plainly instructed by the Bridegroom himself But ye when ye have done all say we are unprofitable servants and have done nothing but what was our duty to do And yet this Conceit of the foolish Virgins as absurd as it is hath been taken up in good earnest by a grave Matron who gives out her self to be the Mother and Mistress of all Churches and the only infallible Oracle of Truth I mean the Church of Rome whose avowed Doctrine it is that there are some Persons so excellently good that they may do more than needs for their own Salvation And therefore when they have done as much for themselves as in strict duty they are bound to do and thereby have paid down a full and valuable consideration for Heaven and as much as in equal justice between God and Man it is worth that then they may go to work again
measure of their Sins is full it is no wonder if the Cup of his indignation begin to overflow It is said of the Amorites four hundred years before God brought that fearful ruin upon them that God deferr'd the extirpation of them because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full When neither the Mercies nor the Judgments of God will bring us to repentance we are then fit for destruction according to that of the Apostle What if God willing to shew his wrath and make his power known endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction They who are not wrought upon neither by the patience of God's Mercies nor by the patience of his Judgments seem to be fitted and prepared to be ripe and ready for destruction 2. Because this incorrigible temper shews the Case of such persons to be desperate and incurable Why should they be smitten any more says God of the People of Israel they will revolt more and more How often would I have gathered you says our B. Saviour to the Jews even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not Behold your house is left to you desolate that is ye shall be utterly destroyed as it hapned forty years after to Jerusalem and to the whole Jewish Nation When God sees that all the means which he can use do prove ineffectual and to no purpose he will then give over a People as Physicians do their Patients when they see that nature is spent and their case past remedy When men will not be the better for the best means that Heaven can use God will then leave them to reap the fruit of their own doings and abandom them to the demerit of their Sin That which now remains is to apply this to our selves and to the solemn Occasion of this Day And if this be our Case let us take heed that this be not also our Doom and Sentence First The Case in the Text doth very much resemble Ours And that in three respects God hath sent great Judgments upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespasses He hath punish'd us less than our iniquities have deserv'd And hath given us a very great and wonderful Deliverance 1. God hath inflicted great Judgments upon us for our evil deeds and for our great Trespasses Great Judgments both for the quality and for the continuance of them It shall suffice only to mention those which are of a more ancient Date Scarce hath any Nation been more calamitous than this of Ours both in respect of the Invasions and Conquests of Foreigners and of our own Civil and intestine Divisions Four times we have been Conquer'd By the Romans Saxons Danes and Normans And our intestine Divisions have likewise been great and of long continuance Witness the Barons Wars and that long and cruel Contest between the two Houses of York and Lancaster But to come nearer to our own Times What fearful Judgments and Calamities of War and Pestilence and Fire have many of us seen And how close did they follow one another What terrible havock did the Sword make amongst us for many years And this not the Sword of a Forreign Enemy but of a Civil War the mischiefs whereof were all terminated upon our selves and have given deep wounds and left broad scars upon the most considerable Families in the Nation Alta manent civilis vulnera dextrae This War was drawn out to a great length and had a Tragical end in the Murther of an excellent King and in the Banishment of his Children into a strange Countrey whereby they were exposed to the Arts and Practices of those of another Religion the mischievous Consequences whereof we have ever since sadly labour'd under and do feel them at this day And when God was pleas'd in great mercy at last to put an end to the miserable Distractions and Confusions of almost twenty years by the happy Restoration of the Royal Family and our ancient Government which seem'd to promise to us a lasting settlement and all the felicities we could wish yet how soon was this bright and glorious morning overcast by the restless and black Designs of that sure and inveterate Enemy of ours the Church of Rome for the restoring of their Religion amongst us And there was too much encouragement given to this Design by those who had power in their hands and had brought home with them a secret good will to it For this great Trespass and for our many other Sins God was angry with us and sent among us the most raging Pestilence that ever was known in this Nation which in the space of eight or nine Months swept away near a third part of the Inhabitants of this vast and populous City and of the Suburbs thereof besides a great many thousands more in several parts of the Nation But we did not return to the Lord nor seek him for all this And therefore the very next year after God sent a terrible and devouring Fire which in less than three days time laid the greatest part of this great City in ashes And there is too much reason to believe that the Enemy did this that perpetual and implacable Enemy of the peace and happiness of this Nation And even since the time of that dreadful Calamity which is now above twenty years agone we have been in a continual fear of the cruel Designs of that Party which had hitherto been incessantly working under ground but now began to shew themselves more openly and especially since a Prince of that Religion succeeded to the Crown our eyes have been ready to fail us for fear and for looking after those dreadful things that were coming upon us and seem'd to be even at the door A fear which this Nation could easily have rid it self of because they that caused it were but a handful in comparison of us and could have done nothing without a foreign force and assistance had not the Principles of Humanity and of our Religion too restrain'd us from violence and cruelty and from every thing which had the appearance of undutifulness to the Government which the Providence of God had set over us An instance of the like patience under the like provocations for so long a time and after such visible and open attempts upon them when they had the Laws so plainly on their side I challenge any Nation or Church in the World from the very foundation of it to produce Insomuch that if God had not put it into the hearts of our kind Neighbours and of that incomparable Prince who laid and conducted that great Design with so much skill and secrecy to have appear'd so seasonably for our rescue our Patience had infallibly without a Miracle been our ruine And I am sure if our Enemies had ever had the like Opportunity in their hands and had overbalanced us in numbers but half so much as we did them they would never have
of Fortune by which the wiser among them did understand the Divine Providence Plutarch speaking of the Romans says that Time and Fortune the very same with Solomon's Time and Chance here in the Text did lay the foundation of their Greatness by which he ascribes their success to a remarkable Providence of God concurring with several happy Opportunities And Livy their great Historian hath this remarkable Observation That in all human affairs especially in matters of War Fortune hath a mighty stroke And again No where says he is the event less answerable to expectation than in War and therefore nothing is so slight and inconsiderable which may not turn the Scales in a great matter And Caesar himself who was perhaps the most skilful and prosperous Warriour that ever was makes the same acknowledgment As in all other things says he so particularly in War Fortune hath a huge sway And Plutarch observes That there was no Temple at Rome dedicated to Wisdom or Valour but a most magnificent and stately one to Fortune signifying hereby that they did ascribe their success infinitely more to the Providence of God than to their own Courage and Conduct I proceed now in the Second place to give some reason and account of this Why the Providence of God doth sometimes thus interpose to hinder and defeat the most probable designs of men To bring men to an acknowledgment of his Providence and of their dependance upon Him and subordination to Him and that He is the great Governor of the World and rules in the Kingdoms of men and that all the inhabitants of the Earth are as nothing to Him and the power of Second Causes inconsiderable That He doth according to his will in the Armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none may stay his hand or say unto him what dost thou God hath so order'd things in the administration of the affairs of the World as to encourage the use of means and yet so as to keep men in a continual dependance upon him for the efficacy and success of them To encourage Industry and Prudence God generally permits things to their natural course and to fall out according to the power and probability of second Causes But then lest men should cast off Religion and deny the God that is above lest they should trust in their sword and their bow and say the Lord hath not done this lest men should look upon themselves as the Creators and framers of their own fortune and when they do but a little outstrip others in wisdom or power in the skill and conduct of humane affairs they should grow proud and presumptuous God is pleased sometimes more remarkably to interpose to hide pride from man as the expression is in Job to check the haughtiness and insolence of mens spirits and to keep them within the bounds of modesty and humility to make us to know that we are but men and that the reins of the World are not in our hands but that there is One above who sways and governs all things here below And indeed if we should suppose in the first frame of things which we call Nature an immutable Order to be fix'd and all things to go on in a constant course according to the power and force of second Causes without any interposition of Providence to stop or alter that course upon any occasion In this case the foundation of a great part of Religion but especially of Prayer to God would be quite taken away Upon this Supposition it would be the vainest thing in the World to pray to God for the good success of our undertakings or to acknowledge Him as the Author of it For if God do only look on and permit all things to proceed in a settled and establish'd course then instead of praying to God we ought to ply the means and to make the best provision and preparation we can for the effecting of what we desire and to rely upon that without taking God at all into our counsel and consideration For all application to God by Prayer doth evidently suppose that the Providence of God does frequently interpose to over-rule events besides and beyond the natural and ordinary course of things and to steer them to a quite different Point from that to which in human probability they seem'd to tend So that it is every whit as necessary to Religion to believe the Providence of God and that He governs the World and does when He pleases interpose in the affairs of it as that he made it at first I come now in the Third and last place to make some Inferences suitable to the Occasion of this Day from what hath been said upon this Argument And they shall be these First From hence we may learn not to account Religion and time spent in the Service of God and in Prayer to Him for his blessing upon our endeavours do be any hindrance to our affairs For after we have done all we can the event is still in God's hand and rests upon the disposal of his Providence And did men firmly believe this they would not neglect the duty of Prayer and behave themselves so carelesly and unconcernedly and irreverently in it as we see too many do they would not look upon every hour that is spent in Devotion as lost from their business If men would but take a view of what hath happen'd to them in the course of a long Life I believe most of us would see reason to acknowledge that our prosperity and success in any kind hath depended more upon happy opportunities upon undesign'd and unexpected occurrences than upon our own prudent forecast and conduct And if this were well consider'd by us we should not methinks be so apt to leave God out of our counsels and undertakings as if he were a mere Name and Cypher in the World It is I am sure the advice of one that was much wiser and more experienc'd than any of us will pretend to be I mean Solomon Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths Be not wise in thine own eyes fear the Lord and depart from evil There is no Principle that ought more firmly to be believed by us than this That to live under a constant sense and awe of Almighty God to depend upon his Providence and to seek his favour and blessing upon all our designs being fearful to offend Him and careful to please Him is a much nearer and surer way to success than our own best Prudence and Preparations And therefore at such a time more especially when we are going to War or engaged in it we should break off our sins by repentance and the sincere resolulution of a better course We should earnestly implore the blessing of God upon our undertakings and not only take great care that our Cause be just but likewise that
the end of these men How thou didst set them in slippery places c. This satisfied him that when-ever the secret design of God's Providence should be unfolded whether in this World or the other how strange and cross soever things might seem to be at present yet in the issue and conclusion it would appear that neither are bad men so happy nor good men so miserable as at present they may seem to be So that upon a full debate of this matter the Psalmist concludes that these Objections against Providence do spring from our ignorance and short and imperfect view of things whereas if we saw the whole design from beginning to end it would appear to be very reasonable and regular Thus my heart was grieved so foolish was I and ignorant and as a beast before thee And in regard to himself he tells us that he saw great reason to acknowledge God's tender care over him in particular and that he could find no security or comfort for himself but in God alone Nevertheless I am continually with thee thou hast holden me by thy right hand Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory as if he had said I am sensible of thy constant presence with me and care of me and do entirely depend upon thy guidance and direction not doubting but that my present troubles and afflictions will have a happy and glorious issue And at last he breaks out into a kind of exultation and triumph for the mighty consolation which he found in the firm belief of the Being and Providence of God as the great stay and support of his Soul in the worst condition that could befall him in the words of the Text Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee If a man were to chuse a happiness for himself and were to ransack Heaven and Earth for it after all his search and enquiry he would at last fix upon God as the chief happiness of man and the true and only rest and center of our Souls This then is the plain meaning of the Text That nothing in the world but God can make man happy Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee That Man of himself is not sufficient for his own happiness is evident upon many accounts Because he is liable to so many evils and calamities which he can neither prevent nor remedy He is full of wants which he cannot supply compassed about with infirmities which he can only complain of but is not able to redress He is obnoxious to dangers which he must always fear because he can never sufficiently provide against them Consider Man by himself and from under the conduct and protection of a superior and more powerful Being and he is in a most disconsolate and forlorn condition Secure of nothing that he enjoys and liable to be disappointed of every thing that he hopes for He is apt to grieve for what he cannot help and perhaps the justest cause of his grief is that he cannot help it for if he could instead of grieving for it he would help it He cannot refrain from desiring a great many things which he would fain have but is never likely to obtain because they are out of his power and it troubles him both that they are so and that he cannot help his being troubled at it Thus man walketh in a vain shew and disquieteth himself in vain courting happiness in a thousand shapes and the faster he follows it the swifter it flies from him Almost every thing promiseth happiness to us at a distance such a step of Honour such a pitch of Estate such a Fortune or Match for a Child But when we come nearer to it either we fall short of it or it falls short of our expectation and it is hard to say which of these is the greatest disappointment Our hopes are usually bigger than enjoyment can satisfie and an evil long fear'd besides that it may never come is many times more painful and troublesome than the evil it self when it comes In a word man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards He comes into the world naked and unarm'd and from himself more destitute of the natural means of his security and support than any other Creature whatsoever as it were on purpose to shew that he is more peculiarly the care of a Superior Providence And as man of all the Creatures of this lower World is only made to own and acknowledge a Deity so God in great Wisdom hath so order'd things that none of the other Creatures should have so much need of Him and so much reason to acknowledge their necessary dependance upon him So that the words of David are the very sense and voice of Nature declaring to us that Mankind is born into the World upon terms of greater dependence upon the Providence of God than other Creatures Thou art he says David there to God that tookest me out of the womb thou madest me to hope or thou didst keep me in safety when I was upon my mother's breasts I was cast upon thee from the womb thou art my God from my mother's belly Be not far from me for trouble is near Trouble is always near to us and therefore it is happy for us that God is never far from any of us For in Him we live and move and have our being And when we are grown up we are liable to a great many mischiefs and dangers every moment of our lives and without the Providence of God continually insecure not only of the good things of this life but even of life it self So that when we come to be men we cannot but wonder how ever we arriv'd at that state and how we have continued in it so long considering the infinite difficulties and dangers which have continually attended us That in running the gantlope of a long life when so many hands have been lifted up against us and so many strokes levell'd at us we have escaped so free and with so few marks and scars upon us That when we are besieged with so many dangers and so many arrows of death are perpetually flying about us to which we do so many ways lie open we should yet hold out twenty forty sixty years and some of us perhaps longer and do still stand at the mark untouch'd at least not dangerously wounded by any of them And considering likewise this fearful and wonderful frame of a humane Body this infinitely complicated Engine in which to the due performance of the several functions and offices of life so many strings and springs so many receptacles and channels are necessary and all in their right frame and order and in which besides the infinite imperceptible and secret ways of mortality there are so many sluces and flood-gates to let Death in and Life out that it is next to a
more particularly for a most glorious Victory at Sea vouchsafed to Their Majesties Fleet in this last Summer's Expedition For several great Mercies and Deliverances For a wonderful Deliverance indeed from a sudden Invasion design'd upon us by the inveterate and implacable Enemies of our Peace and Religion which by the merciful Providence of God was happily and strangely prevented when it was just upon the point of execution Next for the preservation of our Gracious Sovereign from that horrid and most barbarous Attempt design'd upon his Sacred Person And from those great and manifold Dangers to which he was exposed in his late tedious Expedition And for His safe and most welcome Return to us And lastly For a most glorious Victory at Sea The greatest and the cheapest that ever the Sun saw from his first setting out to run his Course The Opportunity indeed of this Victory was through the rashness and confidence of our Enemies by the wise Providence of God put into our hands But the improvement of this Opportunity into so great and happy a Victory we owe under God to the matchless Conduct and Courage of the Brave Admiral and to the invincible Resolution and Valour of the Captains and Seamen This great Deliverance from the design'd Invasion and this glorious Victory God vouchsaf'd to us at Home whilst His Sacred Majesty was so freely hazarding his Royal Person abroad in the Publick Cause of the Rights and Liberties of almost all Europe And now what may God justly expect from us as a meet return for his Goodness to us What but that we should glorifie Him first by offering praise and thanksgiving and then by ordering our conversation aright that he may still delight to shew us his Salvation God might have stood aloof from us in the Day of our distress and have said to us as he once did to the People of Israel so often have I delivered you from the hands of your Enemies but ye have still provok'd me more and more Wherefore I will deliver you no more He might have said of us as he did of the same People I will hide my face from them I will see what their end shall be For they are a very froward generation children in whom is no faith Our resolutions and promises of better obedience are not to be trusted all our Repentance and Righteousness are but as the morning cloud and like the early dew which passeth away Nay methinks God seems now to say to us as he did of old to Jerusalem Be instructed O Jerusalem lest my soul depart from thee and I make thee desolate a Land not inhabited We are here met together this Day to pay our Solemn acknowledgments to the God of our Salvation who hath shewed strength with his Arm and hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart Even to him that exerciseth loving-kindness and judgment and righteousness in the Earth In Him will we glory as our sure Refuge and Defence as our Mighty Deliverer and the Rock of our Salvation And now I have only to entreat your patience a little longer whilst I apply what hath been discoursed upon this Text a little more closely to the Occasion of this Day I may be tedious but I will not be long And blessed be God for this happy Occasion The greatest England ever had and in the true consequences of it perhaps the greatest that Europe ever had of Praise and Thanksgiving You have heard two sorts of Persons described in the Text by very different Characters The One that glory in their Wisdom and Might and Riches The other that glory in this that they understand and know God to be the Lord which exerciseth loving-kindness and judgment and righteousness in the Earth And we have seen these two Characters exemplified or rather drawn to the Life in this present Age. We who live in this Western part of Christendom have seen a mighty Prince by the just permission of God raised up to be a Terrour and Scourge to all his Neighbours A Prince who had in perfection all the Advantages mentioned in the former part of the Text And who in the opinion of many who had been long dazzled with his Splendour and Greatness hath pass'd for many years for the most Politick and Powerful and Richest Monarch that hath appear'd in these parts of the World for many Ages Who hath govern'd his Affairs by the deepest and steddiest Counsels and the most refin'd Wisdom of this World A Prince mighty and powerful in his Preparations for War formidable for his vast and well disciplin'd Armies and for his great Naval Force And who had brought the Art of War almost to that perfection as to be able to Conquer and do his business without fighting A Mystery hardly known to former Ages and Generations And all this Skill and Strength united under one absolute Will not hamper'd or bound up by any restraints of Law or Conscience A Prince that commands the Estates of all his Subjects and of all his Conquests which hath furnish'd him with an almost inexhaustible Treasure and Revenue And One who if the World doth not greatly mistake him hath sufficiently gloried in all these Advantages and even beyond the rate of a mortal man But not knowing God to be the Lord which exercises loving-kindness and judgment and righteousness in the Earth How hath the pride of all his Glory been stain'd by Tyranny and Oppression by Injustice and Cruelty by enlarging his Dominions without Right and by making War upon his Neighbours without Reason or even colour of Provocation And this in a more Barbarous manner than the most Barbarous Nations ever did carrying Fire and Desolation wheresoever he went and laying wast many and great Cities without necessity and without pity And now behold what a terrible Rebuke the Providence of God hath given to this mighty Monarch in the full Carrier of his Fortune and Fury The consideration whereof brings to my thoughts those Passages in the Prophet concerning old Babylon that standing and perpetual Type of the great Oppressors and Persecutors of God's true Church and Religion How is the Oppressor ceased the exactor of gold ceased He who smote the People in wrath with a continual stroke he who ruled the Nations in anger is himself persecuted and none hindreth The whole Earth is at rest and is quiet and breaks forth into singing The grave beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming it stirreth up the dead for thee even all the Captains of the Earth it hath raised up from their Thrones all the Kings of the Nations all they shall speak and say unto thee art thou also become weak as we are art thou also become like unto us how art thou fallen from Heaven O Lucifer Son of the morning How art thou cut down to the ground that didst weaken the Nations For thou hast said in thy heart I will ascend into Heaven I will exalt my