Freedom This I doubt not but those words the whole Creation groaneth do signifie not only Men but the rest of the Creatures also which have been for so long a time abused to Unrighteousness Theoph. If thus it be in respect of the Creatures whose Being as to a great part of them is of the more insensible sort we may be sure that He who is a Jealous God of his Honour is more neerly concern'd Eubul Yes Theophilus he is throughly Sensible how Vnworthily in the Creations Thraldom he hath been dealt with and therefore all these things must have the Pollution which hath been thrown upon them to be purged off The Heavens shall pass away with a great Noise and the Elements shall Melt with Fervent Heat and all the Works therein shall be Burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 and so shall be purified from their Corruption and Stains For v. 12. it is said We look for a new Heaven according to his Promise and a New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness all which Expressions though by some they be made to signifie the Dissolution of the Jewish State and the Establishment of the Gospel of Christ in the World yet certainly they have relation to the Last Day the Day of Judgment also if not only unto That And the Fire is denoted as to destroy the Vain Works of Men on the Earth so likewise to purifie those parts of the Creation which have by Men been abused unto Sin and Vanity Theoph. Were the Foul Nature of Disobedience rightly discern'd surely Eubulus all Men would abhor it For could any one on this side Hell be willing to bring such Servitude on God such Thraldom on the Creation and thereby such unspeakable Deformity on Themselves Eubul Such Evils are there in Disobedience that when we think the worst of it we think not bad enough but we have as yet only in part seen it of such an Extensive Nature is this hateful Thing that it would spread itself beyond all Time and Place And so the Actors of it although somthing shorereach'd they be in their Deeds yet are not so in their Will and Desires Yea they may truly be said to affect a kind of Eternity in their Sins The Pleasures of Wickedness in which they make God to Serve as hath been said how sorry are they that they are of no greater a length And did they but know how to do it how forward would they be to stretch them out into an Infinite Duration and bind the Almighty all the way to minister to their Polluted Conversations If Conscience within doth check them full gladly would they remove it for ever out of their Breasts that it might disturb them no more And Him who in Heaven is the Lord of All they would either wholly Dethrone and Dispossess of all his Sovereignty or else would entrust him with it no farther than to Serve their Humours as they upon occasion should call for it Theoph. Pray give a particular Instance or two of what you now say Eubul Take Theophilus the Malicious Man first he cannot it may be do much against them whom he Hates but he hath a Will to punish them Eternally knew he but how And this methinks those severe Curses too much speak out when he Dreadfully upon any Displeasure bids God to Damn Them and as far as his Words and Wishes will do it gives them over unto the Devil to be taken Neither is it any better with the Ambitious Man. He would be always rising above others and the Great God must for ever administer to his Proud Wishes and Designs If he at any time be disappointed in his Hopes and Enterprises he inwardly rageth and is in effect sorry that the Power of the Highest is not so much at least in his Hand as that he may exalt himself above all other Men and continue there without any fear of ever being Lower thus far God must always Serve him and when he should be accustom'd for some time to the greatest Height on Earth we have reason to think he would next wish to be the Supream of Heaven too and to extort the whole Power from the Creator of the World. Some Men perhaps would think that what I have spoken borders too much upon Fancy but Theophilus in Reality it doth not And well for us it is That there is a God above who will not let go his Power That his Laws are fixt and that his Authority in them will never can never be overthrown Happy are we that Heaven will always be his Gift and Hell be never otherwise than in his Disposals Alas what should we do if we and all things else were in the power of some Men How miserable would their Malice and ill Nature make us to be on Earth Upon what light Offences should we be sent quick into Hell How would Heaven lie open to Pride and Ambition How all the Work of our Redemption be trodden under foot And those sacred Laws in so much Righteousness and Mercy given us by our Lord how turn'd into Confusion Nothing is so evil but might they have their Wills God's Power should serve for the accomplishing and perpetuating of it And not only his Holy Name and his Works but his Person and Glorious Attributes should be brought under and made Vassals to their wicked Imaginations and uncontroul'd Impiety Theoph. What could Disobedience do more if God were an Intruder in the World If he used his Power in an Oppressive way and if Man were least of all Creatures fitted for his Service Eubul Here it is Theophilus that Disobedience hath its Loathsomness For so far is the Almighty from being an Intruder that there was no God formed before him neither shall there be any after him nor is there any besides him He is the only Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords and so he usurps the Right of none affects no unjust Power The Heavens and the Earth were the Works of his Hands nor hath he ever made over his Right to any other None then can say that he intruded into the World and by Injustice holds the Dominion thereof Neither doth he Rule in an Oppressive way At the first â—â—nstrain'd by no necessity nor owing any thing to any one and needing the Services of none but prompted by his own Goodness alone He through his Power gave Being unto Men. When he had this done He honoured them with the Dominion over all Things in this Lower World but much more he honour'd them in making them such who could discern Him that Created them and could do him Service Indeed the meanest Creatures upon Earth however sensless in their Natures do yet serve God Even Snow and Hail Wind and Storm fulfil his Word but then they know not that they fulfil it and so their Obedience in respect of themselves is less worthy God may more truly be said to serve himself of them according to the Expression of the Prophet Jer. 34.10 than they be said properly
Mens Constancy and Perseverance What Christian Sorrow expressed at the Defection of any What tender-heartedness shewed towards those who after a Fall are repentant And in them all what Attractives are there for our Love I have somtimes thought that should a Person to whom the True God is unknown read or hear the earnest Exhortations the many taking Suggestions which in Holy Scripture are used for the engaging Men to Obedience he would judge that surely God is much advantaged thereby or otherwise he would not be so very desirous of it This I am sure we may with Truth say that were it possible our Obedience could add to the Blessedness of the Almighty he could not use more winning Speeches for the obtaining of it than now he doth But therefore because we can no way profit Him by the Observance of his Laws and because it is our own very great advantage if we do observe them how sweetly prevalent may so many persuasives seem unto us And how with an holy Gratitude may we say Lord what is Man that thou hast such regard unto him That thou givest him Line upon Line Exhortation upon Exhortation and continuest an uncessant care over him for the securing him unto Happiness Theoph. It is fit indeed that such Exhortations should be followed with Devotions Praises unto God who is so Gracious unto Men and Prayers that we may never suffer such persuasives to be fruitless upon us And it may fairly lead you Eubulus to the Devotional Part of Holy Scripture in the last place to be spoken unto Eubul This we shall find to be truly excellent also For it consisted of such Services as in their intent were fit for Men to pay unto their God. None of their Holy Feasts was there but was in Memory of some Signal Favour And as it was their pleasure to rejoyce thus before their Lord and Holy Benefactor so it may likewise be our pleasure to read of their Religious doing it Had the Creation of the World been understood by the Heathens Juvenal would not have derided the Jews as such Queîs Septima quaeque fuit Lux Ignava vitae partem non attigit ullam Who lost the Seventh part of their Time and improved it to no End of Life And if Plutarch had known the design of their carrying Boughs of Trees in their Feast of Tabernacles he would not in a Scoffing Manner have called it the Jewish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by an Odious comparing it with that intemperate Feast of Bacchus in which the Bacchides ran about with Javelins wrapped round with Ivy termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Their Sacrifices were Visible Prayers or Praises or Expiations in all of them the End was truly Excellent and no one of them had such Rites as required Secresie for a Shelter from an honest and Chast Eye And hence possibly it was that God forbad Groves to be near his Altar as having by their Shades and Recesses given occasion to those Uncleannesses which too frequently attended the Worship of the Heathens Neither ever did or durst any tacita libare acerra inaperto vivere voto ask those things which it were a shame Men should hear But the Scope of their Petitions was Gods Blessing in the way of Righteousness And as in these things their Religious Services were quite of a different Colour from those of the Nations and in every thing might have worn this Impress Holiness to the Lord so it is very remarkable what Humility and Submission of Spirit attended their Devotions when God laid Afflictions upon them It is the Lord let him do what pleaseth him saith Eli. I was Dumb I opened not my Mouth because Thou didst it saith David Though he kill yet will I put my Trust in Him saith Job Herein likewise very different from the Heathen who in their Sufferings were forward to accuse their Gods venting their Griefs in undecent Invectives against them But when we read of those sacred Heights of Devotion which some of their Holy Men rose unto how must we be affected how divided betwixt Love and Delight Our Souls are embruted if we be not almost transformed into the same Seraphick Temper with them who to use the words of one of them have thought One day in Gods Courts better than a Thousand Desiring nothing in Heaven but God nor any thing on Earth in Comparison of Him. And such Devotion how yet further is it improved by our Blessed Lord who hath continued all Night therein who hath Consecrated himself by Prayer a Sacrifice for the whole World and hath offered up upon his Cross Supplications with strong Cries and Tears hoth for Himself and Vs Who is it can avoid the being wholly possest with Love who contemplateth our Saviour at the Right Hand of God in a mighty way Mediating for us Though at a distance from us yet openly on our behalf urging his Merits Passion and Death and presenting our Prayers unto his Father Which that they may be the more acceptable he himself while on Earth hath given us a most perfect Prayer as a Patte n for our Imitation and a Form for our Use suitable to the greatest Ardour of Piety that Mortality is capable of Hath sent likewise from Heaven the Holy Spirit to make Intercessions for us with Groans that cannot be uttered joyning with us from within and giving our Prayers such a Fervour and Powerfulness as is not to be equall'd by Words Devotion raised to such Perfection as the having our Blessed Lord and the Holy Spirit so nearly concerned in it is so highly amiable that it requires only the being truly known for the being sincerely loved You have Theophilus in short measures an account of the Divine Law as the word Law may be taken in the wider sense Theoph. How acceptable the account you have given me is I cannot more truly say than by telling you I could have very willingly heard it much longer Yea so delightful are these other parts of Holy Writ that they afford a great pleasure even to some who are less Observers of the Preceptive Part than they ought to be I have known who have been very well versed in the Bible and could reherse if need were the chief things contain'd therein when yet their Practice hath been as lame as if they knew not a Letter there Eubul These Persons quite mistake what they read while they find a Pleasure therein without a respect to the Divine Law properly as such All the other parts of Scripture are as before was said some way or other in order to the Preceptive Part and if there be who understand them otherwise they go contrary to the Mind and Will of their Author But yet how can any one enjoy a Pleasure from that History which God hath caused to be written as an Encouragement to Obedience and not be encouraged at the same time to be Obedient himself Or how acknowledge the Divine Justice in the Punishment of Disobedience and
thou wash thee with Nitre and take thee much Soap yet thy Iniquity is mark'd before me how canst thou say I am clean Jer. 2.23 And upon the account of the Filthiness of Sin God is said to be of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity Hab. 2.13 Neither doth the New Testament speak otherwise of Disobedience Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts False-witnessings Blasphemies these are the Things which DEFILE the Man Matth. 15.19 And hence the Blood of Christ is said to cleanse us from all Sin. And Baptism is not only a Rite that doth initiate us into Christianity but is termed the Washing of Regeneration as purifying us from the Pollutions of our Natures And truly so odious and foul is Sin that when St. Paul would set it off most in its own Deformity he could find no worse word for it than itself for he calls it sinful Sin Rom. 7.13 The whole Nature of it being nothing else but Pollution Disobedient Persons may indeed in outward shape appear to us Comely and Beautiful And their Discourse and Deportment may in some things be taking enough But could we throughly discern a Soul Deform'd as to all its Faculties could we rightly see the Loathsomness of that Body whose every Member hath been made the Member of Vnrighteousness and wholly infected with the Poyson of Sin all the World could not afford so bad a sight as this Theoph. Nay Eubulus such a stain do vile Practices cast upon a Man that though perchance we never may have seen his Face or he himself may have lived many Ages since we yet shall have abject thoughts of him and a great Disrespect to his Memory And if he be of our own Age and Neigbourhood that our Eyes have somtimes a sight of him how do his Ill Morals infect even his outward Shape That whether we will or no we cannot but have some secret aversion from his Person though by reason of his Degree or Place we dare not always shew it Eubul It is even so as you say Theophilus But as Disobedience to the Divine Law throws a Pollution upon every Faculty of the Soul and Member of the Body so it also gives a further Deformity by bringing a Disorder into the Man and causing that which should be superiour and have chief command in him to be brought under and made to serve His sensitive Appetite getting above his Rational and his Body bearing sway over his Soul. Neither when such Disorder is at home and in his own Breast is it like to stay there alone but in all probability it will spread itself abroad and in the Community For the Discomposures which are there arise first from private Iregularities But not only doth Disobedience to the Divine Law overturn all order in the Man himself and breed Confusion in Kingdoms but what is abundantly worse it induceth a yet higher Disorder into the World Subjecting as it were the Great God of Heaven and Earth and making him to Minister unto his Creatures in the vilest Offices They are his own Words to his Disobedient People of Israel Isai 43.24 Thou hast made Me TO SERVE with thy Sins And what greater Deformity can there be thought of than such Disorder as this that shall reach not only so wide as the Earth but even unto Heaven And who would not hate Disobedience which is the Cause and Source of it Theoph. I can easily grant that from Disobedience to the Divine Laws there ariseth such Deformed Disorder as you speak of in Private Men and in Communities also on Earth But how can it extend itself unto Heaven for the bringing of God under It is his Name I am that I am which denotes the Immutability of his Being and such a Perfection as cannot any way be diminished As he is Omnipotent He cannot be over-power'd by any as He is the All-wise God there is none can Circumvent him As he is perfectly One in his Essence without any the least mixture He can no way be subject to any Alteration And as He is Eternal He not only can never cease to Be but also he cannot ever be less than infinitely perfect and infinitely Blessed Which is altogether inconsistent with serving for that supposeth Weakness and Deficiency Therefore Eubulus since I see you intend it as the chiefest Brand on Disobedience that it maketh the Almighty to be Inferiour and Servile I desire you would explain it to me For the Almighty's saying That by Mens Sins i. e. by the Breaches of his Laws he is made to â—â—â—e is the highest Infamy and Reproach to Disobedience and may render it loathsome to any considering Person And so is Worthy to be insisted on somthing largely by you Eubul In respect of his Nature and Person Theophilus God cannot for the reason you have given be made to serve Sin we with never so high an Hand we cannot put any restraints upon his Nature and be we never so Righteous we cannot render his Person more Blessed And to this Sense is that of Job 35.6 If thou be Righteous what givest thou Him Or what receiveth he of thine Hand If thou Sinnest what dost thou against Him Break his Laws thou mayst and provoke his Justice but thou canst never render Him less Perfect or less Blessed But then we must know that God is pleas'd in Holy Writ to speak after the way and fashion of Men not so as is perfectly agreeing with his own Nature but so as is most sutable to our Understandings and may most prevail with and move us Thus Eye Ear Mouth Arms Heart Feet and such like Members are in Sacred Scripture attributed unto God not that there are any such in reality in Him for He is a Spirit and altogether Incorporeal But that we might by these Sensible Things the better conceive those Perfections which are shadow'd out by them For it is not unworthy of Observation That there are no Members nor Parts of a Man ascribed unto God in Holy Scripture but what do betoken some Excellence or other in Him as his Power his Wisdom his Knowledge his Love and such like And none of those Parts that are as the Apostle terms them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more feeble less honourable or uncomely are any where attributed unto Him. The Jews have a Saying Lumen Supernum nunquam descendit sine Indumento Heavenly Light never descends without some Vail It otherwise would be too bright for our weak Eyes So these Members of the Body which God is pleased to admit of when he speaks of Himself unto Us are but as Coverings to those Excellencies which we could not so well understand should He have spoken sutably to Himself without any respect had unto us And as God doth condescend to our Vnderstandings by speaking unto us after an Human manner and in a way below Himself so in other things He speaks to move and excite our Affections when yet his
therefore in the beginning of his Sermon upon the Mount He endeavours rightly to instruct the Heart and Soul by acquainting those who are his Followers That They are blessed who are poor in Spirit who are meek who hunger and thirst after righteousness who are pure in Heart c. Which Expressions denote that the Mind should be rightly framed and that They who give up their Names unto him must have their Souls brought into order and adorned He tells them that They are the Salt of the Earth and will be good for nothing unless they endeavour to season others by their exemplary Conversation Matth. 5.13 They are the Light of the World and so they must shine before others that their good Works may be seen and God glorified V. 16. He extends the Commandment of doing no Murther even to the not being angry with another without a cause V. 22. The Precept of not committing Adultery he makes reach even to the forbidding of Lustful Looks and Desires V. 28. He forbids all Divorces unless in the case of Fornication V. 32. He restored Marriage to its Primitive Perfection by prohibiting Polygamy Matth. 19.5 They Two shall be one Flesh Emphatically They Two as exclusive of more which we learn from V. 9. of the same Chapter Whosoever shall put away his Wife except it be for Fornication and shall marry another committeth Adultery For how weak would it have been to pronounce it Adultery for a Man to marry after a Divorce if the adding one Wife to another before a Divorce should be no Adultery And if it shall be said that our Lord orders it as a punishment to him who puts away his Wife not to marry another but permits those to marry more than one who put away none it may be replyed That surely the Punishment might little be feared because it might be so easily avoided For who need care whether he married or not after the putting away a Wife if he might marry as many as he would before And we cannot think that He who is the Wisdom of God should ground any Law upon so sandy a Foundation He disallows of Swearing how true soever in ordinary Conversation Vers 34. He prohibits all Revenge in that we are not to resist an Adversary so as to pay an Injury for an Injury V. 39. He commands Love to be shewed even to Enemies Blessings to be given to those that curse us V. 44. And truly this Command and the foregoing one may seem to be added by our Saviour as not having the Law of Nature for its Foundation according to which the Decalogue was framed but being built upon that Love which our Saviour afterwards did shew when he died for his Enemies For the Law of Nature may seem to allow of this Vt no cui quis noceat nisi lacessitus injuriâ Cic. But when injured he may requite it When we do Alms we must not have respect unto our own Glory but only to the Glory of God and the Good of the Miserable Chap. 6. V. 1. When we Pray and Fast both must be done with a devout secresie that God in both may be chiefly looked unto and the Eye of Men not cared for V. 16. We are commanded while on Earth to have our Hearts in Heaven To lay up Treasures there by laying them out here in Charitable and Virtuous Deeds V. 19. We are forbid to be anxiously concern'd for any things of this World though never so necessary but are with a devout submission to depend upon God and to lay all our cares upon him V. 25. We are commanded not to judge others nor to be Censorious towards them but are to think no evil of them to put the best Interpretation upon their Actions and to look with a strict Eye upon ourselves only Chap. 7.1 2. Yea in all our behaviour towards others to observe that excellent Rule of doing to Them whatsoever we would that They should do unto us What Precepts can there be more full and clear than these are Can the Decalogue be better interpreted than by them Is there not in them a more perfect and spiritual Sense than can be presently discern'd in the Old Law If as David saith Thy Law is pure therefore thy Servant loveth it what Heights of Love must the purity of these Laws raise up in us More largely and clearer by far are our Duties towards God and our Neighbours here delivered far more Reason then have we to love them If we consider the Laws which immediately respect a mans self we shall find that they are much more fully given unto us than under the Old Law they were It hath been observ'd by some that in Moses's Law strictly consider'd there are no Precepts to be found that immediately respect a Mans self And it may seem to be so far true viz. That there are hardly any there but what are included in and deducible from those that primarily look another way And therefore if we will rightly consider things the Laws that respect ourselves are more properly belonging to the New Testament at least are there more directly and openly enjoyn'd Such are the Precepts If our Right Hand offend us to cut it off If our Right Eye to pluck it out Such also are other Precepts tending towards Mortification The preserving not only our Bodies free from Intemperance but the keeping them under that we may be pure and clean both in Body and Soul. The bearing of Afflictions and Injuries with a patient and quiet Spirit and others not unlike unto these Whoever shall look into the Laws given us as we are Christians must needs confess whether they respect God our Neighbour or ourselves that they are at least much more fully and clearly given than before they were If yet some of the greatest purity and Excellence be not added and so we have a great Enducement on this Consideration also to Love them Theoph. By this their Clearness Fulness and Perfection they are fitted for the greatest extension of our Faculties and the most Heroick Endeavours both of our Souls and Bodies Yea could we rise to the highest pitch of Virtue that Mortality is capable of we should find room in them for even yet Nobler Attainments and those such as would require our still pressing forwards till the last Moment of our Lives Whence how answerable are they to that Sacred Infinity which is in God! To whom we can at no time say All these things have we done what lack we yet What Humility may they not nourish in us whose Perfection we still fall short of What Care and Watchfulness that our Obedience may be approved What Prayers to God that his Goodness may help us in our Perseverance and his Mercy pardon us in our Failures But yet Eubulus I wish that what you have said were owned by all as a Truth Some there are whose Auditor I much against my will have been who have said these following things which are direct objections against
them If we look upon the Apostle's Words from which the former Opinion is taken to wit All things are yours there are these things indeed which much make for the Honour as well as the Benefit of Pious Men. All things are theirs so as that with a Christian Liberty they may use them without esteeming any of them unclean All things are theirs after such a manner as that if they should absolutely stand in need of them God would order them by his Almighty Power for their Service Lastly all things are so theirs that in probability God would not suffer his Sun to shine nor his Rain to fall on the Evil were there not Good Men in the World to value his Providence and Love. But then this is the whole that those Words will bear To say that God hath given the Saints the Right of Possession and authorized them to Ingross all the World to themselves is notoriously false For as the Oeconomy of the World now stands God doth dispose of the possession of things in those ways which all Civil Nations do give consent unto or the particular Laws of Nations allow of whether they be Inheritances by Descent or the Gift of others to us or Purchased by our Money or Acquired by our Labour Where any of these are there is a Right as being God's Gifts to us by those Methods and the depriving us of them by Fraud or Force would be down-right Injustice Add to this that the Right of Possession in these ways is discernable and certain while the founding it in Grace and Holiness gives no sure Light unto us at all For how shall we know who are the Good We see Impiety can wear as good a Face somtimes as the truest Virtue and Mens Hypocrisie may cheat not only others by a specious shew but even themselves too There is nothing I may say more in the dark than true Goodness we cannot be infallible in pronouncing it in another because his Heart and Thoughts in which it peculiarly resides cannot be seen by us And our own Hearts are so deceitful that they oftentimes no less lie hid to ourselves than they do to others And therefore if Grace and Holiness which they will have to be the Ground of Dominion and Possession is so uncertain That Right which from those is so much talk'd of must needs be as uncertain But suppose that such and such should be known undoubtedly to be Religious and Gratious Persons I would ask Have they all the same Right to enjoy every thing or have they not If they have there will this absurdity follow viz. That every one cannot at the same time use what every one hath a Right unto and Quarrels may arise who shall have the Precedence in them If they have not all the same Right how comes equal Grace in many to give an unequal Title A narrower to one than to another Or if it shall evidently prove as it evidently will that Human Laws or Customs and not Grace do make a Distinction of Property why should some others whom those Laws or Customs have by no means condemned be denied the benefit of Property from them Further yet God may possibly bestow these outward good things upon a wicked Man as Encouragements to a better course of Life Somtimes he may throw them upon him as a Scourge and somtimes he may think good to reward with the Blessings of the Earth some good Actions in him when yet his Crimes will not suffer him to have hereafter a place in Heaven And in which of all these cases have not wicked Men a Right to their Estates from God as well as from Men Will any good Man think that he hath any Title to those outward Possessions which God hath conferr'd to draw Men unto Virtue Or will he arrogate to himself as Blessings what God hath made Curses to others Or lastly shall the good things which God hath given as Rewards for some commendable Actions be thought much of envied and claimed when it may be they are all the Recompences which ever shall be given And what wicked Man is there to whom his Estate may not belong in one of these ways And surely to deprive him of it upon the account of Grace in ourselves or Corrupt Nature in him would be Impiety and Presumption towards God and Injustice and Dishonesty towards Man. So unreasonable and contrary to the Law of Righteousness is this first Opinion And is it Theophilus any otherwise with the second I do not know any Laws in the New Testament that are more express and direct than those against the Resisting of Sovereign Princes Let every Soul be subject to the Higher Powers for there is no Power but of God Whosoever resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation Rom. 13. And were it that upon the account of Religion we might resist why should the Holy Ghost so peremptorily forbid Resistence under an Emperour who he certainly knew would be a grievous Persecutor of the Gospel But if we look at the first progress of Christianity into the World the case will be evident The Gospel was not forcibly to enter the Territories of any Prince but by its own Excellence accompanied with cogent Arguments and humble Persuasions was to have admittance For indeed it was against the Nature of that which consisteth chiefly in Love to thrust itself upon the World by Acts of Hostility and Violence And if so can we reasonably think that when it is admitted it is to maintain itself by the Sword against those through whose Favour and Kindness it was first received This would be to make it by continuance to put on quite a different Nature from what it primarily had And were it to be such Princes could the less be blamed if they should be scrupulous in giving within their Dominions a place to that which at last might not allow a place to themselves there But surely Christ's Kingdom in its proper Nature is as little of this World as ever it was and so his Servants are as little to fight now as they were when He was upon the Earth It is a very remarkable place in St. Peter 2 Epist 2.10 11. where it is said That God will chiefly reserve those unto the Day of Judgment who are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities And that the holy Angels which are greater in Power and Might bring not railing Accusations against them which must needs be understood of evil Princes For what occasion may there seem for railing Accusations against those Princes that are Pious and Good Now if the blessed Angels with respect to God's Ordinance in them will speak with a kind of Heavenly Modesty and Deference concerning them is it lawful for us think we not only to let loose our Tongues in a bitter and inveighing manner but to lift up our Hands in Treasons and Rebellions against them And if those shall be reserved
Neighbours one to another Nothing can possibly prevail more upon Rational Men for Obedience to Princes than that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacred Ministers of God. That Damnation shall be received if resistance be made And that the Conscience within is to be preferr'd before the Fear of Wrath without And surely Princes may well embrace the Name and maintain the Practice of Christianity which thus secures them of the Hands and Hearts of their Subjects What stronger Motives can there be for Peoples Respect and Love to their Ministers than that they are Stewards of the Mysteries of God upon their account That in Christs stead they beseech them to be reconciled unto God And that they are set apart for this very thing to wit the promoting the welfare of their Souls and how prevalent such Motives have been we may learn from the Galatians carriage towards St. Paul who would if possible have plucked out their own Eyes and given them unto him Neither are the Duties of Pastors urged with less Weight The Church's being purchased by the Blood of God is the argument for their Feeding it and they are charged before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall Judge the Quick and the Dead to do it The consideration of which what Heart would it not affect For Mutual Love and Delight between Those whom Wedlock hath joyn'd it is an highly sacred Motive That Marriage is so far honour'd as to become Mysterious in the Signification of Christ the Bridegroom and the Church his Spouse and of that Vnion which is between them never to be dissolved And how admirably may the Hardness of Mens Hearts be overcome by such a Consideration as this And how is the Credit of those who are the Weaker Sex provided for by not being permitted now to be cast off upon every trivial Distaste For that Mysterious Signification which we said Marriage is enobled with doth plainly hint that the Bond thereof is to continue firm and unbroken and that the Faithful Affections both of the One and the Other in the Wedded Pair will certainly with other Virtues after this Life be rewarded living in a manner for ever in that Divine Love they did here represent Fathers must be tender to their Children and not provoke them to Wrath from that winning Motive that they have a Father in Heaven who they desire may not be pitiless and wrathful to them And Childrens Obedience is quickned by its being in the Lord Which Expression doth not only hint the Extent of their Obedience and how far it should reach but doth shew also that God is concern'd in it and doth observe whether it be truly perform'd or no. And the taking notice of the Fifth Commandment as being the first that hath a Promise annex'd unto it and the improving that Promise of Earthly and Temporal Blessings into Spiritual and Eternal is a very high Encouragement of the Duty The Faithfulness of Servants hath Motives admirably strong to wit That they do Service to Christ while they do it conscionably to their Masters That He sees their Diligence or Loitering when their Masters cannot And that He will reward whatsoever good thing any Man doth no less though he be bound than if he were free And Masters have a Motive equally as strong for their Gentleness and Goodness towards their Servants from their having a Master in Heaven with whom is no respect of Persons Which imports that the Authority which a Master hath on Earth shall not in Heaven or at God's Bar stand him in any stead if he bear it hardly and frowardly towards his Servant Lastly For the Duty of Neighbours one to another What more taking Motive can there be for their Love and Peaceableness than that they are as lively Stones built up a Spiritual House Absurd it would be if in our Buildings the Materials should be at variance and will it not be much more so in Gods Building where Jesus Christ is the chief Corner-Stone They are excited to love one another as being Brethren in a far more Noble Relation than that of Nature Thy Brother saith St. Paul in more than one place for whom Christ died And what an effectual and kindly Operation may this have in all those Matters of Discord which may arise among Neighbours and Friends Shall such or such an Offence make me an Enemy to him for whom Christ hath died Shall any Worldly Concern overturn that Love and break that Vnion which Christ hath Cemented and Established with his own most precious Blood A mighty Inducement for the love of Neighbours this Though not proper to this Relation alone but running through all the foregoing ones The higher place in every one of them being not too high and the lower one not too low to admit the Name of Brother And so all the Duties thereof may be promoted and the more benignly carried on by this Motive I thought it not amiss Theophilus in short thus to hint the Excellent Motives which the Gospel affords as proper to every particular Law by itself consider'd And they are as I said either purely Evangelical as flowing some way or other from the Mystery of our Redemption which could not have been known had it not been divinely revealed or else such as are to a much greater Persuasiveness urged than ever they were before Theoph. They prevail so much with me that methinks were I in the meanest of these Relations or could I by turns be each part in them all I could love every Law belonging to them for the apposite and excellent Motives which to every Law are annex'd But Eubulus you have not yet given me any taste of those Motives which respect the Laws to a Mans Self in particular Eubul But since you seem to desire it I will. And while I recount them in my thoughts somtimes though I approve of any thing that leads to Virtue be it even in the meanest of Philosophers yet I have a low esteem of the very highest of their Encouragements if compared with these of our Lord. For the keeping of our Bodies free from Intemperance and Vncleanness can there be any thing more prevailing than that they are Members of that Body to which Christ is the Head That they are Temples of the Holy Ghost That they are bought with a price even with the Blood of Christ And that they will not be lost when they are laid in the Earth but will be raised up again from the Dead And he who is wiling to weigh these things rightly How can he take the Members of Christ and make them the Instruments of Vncleanness the Receptacles of Luxury and Excess How can he pollute that Temple which the Holy Ghost doth Consecrate and delight to reside in How can he answer it if be defiles that Body which is not his own yea which our Saviour hath Cleansed with his Blood as well as Bought And with what Face can he abuse That
Epistles excepting those only to particular Persons are written to the Holy Brethren To the Churches of God that are sanctified in Jesus Christ And to all that call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus And hereupon we may discern as in a late Book hath been well discoursed that the Holy Scriptures are as it were a Trust committed to every Christian and he is to be so true to his charge as by no means to part with it Yea these Sacred Writings are our Lord's Will and Testament by which a Man becomes an Heir through Jesus Christ And if so then He that is Heir of an Estate hath surely no less right to the Conveyances that make over the Estate than he hath to the Estate itself And therefore if in common Estates upon Earth it will be every Man's Prudence to secure to himself the Deeds upon which the Estates depend In this Heavenly Inheritance it will be every Man 's not Prudence only but Duty to preserve to himself the Writings that conveigh it The reason is because though a Man may without blame somtimes part with an Inheritance on Earth yet with That in Heaven he cannot without the Imputation of Folly and Wickedness and even the exposing of his own Soul to Sale and Servitude The Pleadings of some Men viz. That the permitting the Scriptures to be in the Hands of the common People is the cause of Schisms and Heresies would have more weight with it if in the Ages most fruitful of Schisms and Heresies the Learned had not had therein as great a share as not to say a greater than any others and if where the Vulgar have of late in this matter seem'd most guilty we had not too much reason to believe That even Those who most complain of them have by their secret Emissaries seduced them on purpose into Errors and divided them into Parties when otherwise they would have walked in straiter Paths and been more at Unity amongst themselves But though there hath been by some an ill use made of the Scriptures yet God to whom These Things long before were not hid thought them not reason enough for hindring the Writing of his Will or for the withholding it when written from the Hands of any And his Goodness and Wisdom is herein manifested in that the ill effects which would have proceeded from the not writing his Laws or the denying them to the Eye of the Vulgar would in all probability have been far more and greater than from the contrary And the good effects of their being written and allow'd to the use of all Men are by the blessing of God much greater than the bad Consequences now are Theoph. Inferr'd also may be the Reasonableness that these Laws should endure without Abrogation or Change so long as the World shall stand The Gospel is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Everlasting Gospel Rev. 14.6 Such as never shall cease nor be as to the Laws of it in any case Repeal'd And upon this account it is that the Time from our Lord's Ascension to the End of the World or his Coming to Judgment is called the Last Days in Holy Writ A great many years indeed have passed since these Laws were given by our Lord and a great many more possibly may pass before the Dissolution of the World shall be but yet these are the Last Days because we are not to expect another Dispension nor another Lawgiver For it is He that will be with us in his Laws and by his Spirit unto the End of the World. Better Laws cannot be given None can Imagine how there should be any Other more sutable to Infinite Holiness Justice and Goodness in Him that gives them or more agreeable to the Nature and Soul of Men to whom they are given And so if the Gospel wherein these Laws are be called Everlasting if the Time that shall be to the End of the World together with that which hath already been since these Laws were given hath the Appellation of the Last Days upon the account that a further Declaration of God's Will is not to be expected we from our foregoing Discourse may easily perceive that abundant Reason there is why it so should be And whosoever they be that shall make the Breach of any of the Divine Laws either to be none or a less fault now than in former Ages it was under a Pretence that our Nature groweth weaker every Day than other and must therefore have its Allowances in Disobedience for so they seem too plainly to affirm who say Hodie pro fornicatione neminem esse deponendum quia fragiliora sunt nostra Corpora quà m olim erant Distinct 82 in Gloss do fouly reflect upon our Lawgivers perpetual institution and make those Sacred Precepts which should govern the evil Inclinations of Men to be in effect over-ruled by them which is a thing so extreamly ill that the World must be weak indeed when it is not odious to a Religious Ear. Eubul Your Inferences Theophilus are Right and I cannot at present think of another But that must not hinder your further going on with them Theoph. I have done what I promised following every one of yours with another But if you have made an end your ceasing is my excuse and may well be so Eubul To draw then to a Conclusion of this our Subject I hope in the Consideration of the Divine Laws we have not exceeded the bounds of our Duty by inquiring further than we ought to do Theoph. I think I justly may absolve you from any such fault now committed For though it be a fault over-curiously to pry into the Laws of our Lord as if all the Reasons of them were to be understood by us and though where we do not understand many things in Relation to them we are to acquiesce by persuading ourselves that they are in every respect Holy and Just yet where the reasons of them lie open to view or at least by an Humble and Devout search into them may easily be found out there it will be well-becoming us and no more than Duty to look into them That the Excellences of them may be discern'd by us and that our Love of them and Gods Glory from them may be the more raised and magnified And indeed Eubulus in all your words I have perceived nothing but what is agreeable to so humble a search and so pious an end And I acknowledge myself as much edified thereby so likewise much obliged to you Eubul The Design of our Discourse hath been good And that I trust will cast a Vail upon what Defects soever may have been in it And if it hath administred to your Satisfaction or in the Apostle's words but stirr'd up your pure Mind by way of Remembrance I shall account its doing so to be sufficiently my Reward A good Work it would be Theophilus if upon occasion we could prevail abroad for a due esteem and love of these sacred Laws Men are apt to
Box of Ointment on the Head of our Lord That wheresoever the Gospel should be preached in the whole World there also should this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her Mat. 26.13 In the same manner are the good Actions of Holy Men preserved in the Scripture that they may be told as a Memorial of them wheresoever these Sacred Writings shall come and so long as they shall last which shall be to the End of the World. Moses shall for ever be celebrated who refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh 's Daughter choosing rather to suffer Afflictions with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season Abraham's Faith shall never cease to be praised till Faith itself shall cease and be turned into Vision Gideon Barak Sampson Jephtha David also and Samuel and all the Prophets and Apostles shall for their faithful Deeds be had in Everlasting Remembrance Such Honour have all God's Saints And though they be happy in the enjoyment of the Recompence of Reward and may seem not to need any of that praise which Earth can give yet surely it cannot but be esteemed an high Favor from God unto them while they are Blessed in Heaven to be Honourable on Earth and Celebrated themselves here while they are praising God there Had we ourselves Theophilus no use and benefit from these examples yet their being Registred as an Honour to the Persons that lived so well is sufficient reason for their being written Though truly in this their Honour we may reap a great deal of satisfaction For those Righteous Actions which God hath so much honoured Them for we may justly conclude He will be well pleased with in Vs Since He is no Respecter of Persons in every Nation he that feareth Him and worketh Righteousness being accepted with him 'T is true indeed we cannot expect that God will give Divine Authority to any more Books than the Bible and write our Names in them But He hath other ways of Rewarding Holy Livers on Earth besides enrolling them in a Sacred Volume that shall last as long as the World. He can give us Honour and Prosperity while we Live and can Embalm us also in a lasting Name when we are dead And though he should not do this yet we read of another Book of God in which the Names and all the good Actions of Faithful Men are recorded and which at the last day will be opened when every man shall receive according to his works The Righteous Deeds of Holy Men being preserved in the Books of Scripture may put us in mind of this other Book And the Honour which they have of being never forgotten in this world encourageth us to the like Holy and Just Actions that we may be remembred in the world to come Theoph. God grant we may at last be remembred there and then I shall little care though the same Earth that covers my Body bury my Memory also Though yet the Honour of Living in Sacred Writings after Death and of being made instrumental to other Mens virtuous Deeds and to the more comely performing of them I acknowledge to be very great And since God is pleased to make a Good Name and the Being for Ages Exemplary to be a Reward of a well-led Life I will not blame Those why by rightly ordering their Lives have an Eye to such a Reward Eubul I am sure we have a great deal of Reason to account it a Blessing that we have had so many patterns of Virtue set us by which we are the better capacitated for being Happy ourselves and being also Examples unto others The Faith indeed of Abraham is thought by some to have been the more excellent and even to have given him the Name of the Father of the Faithful upon the account that he had no precedent Example of any ones Believing in God He dwelling in Vr of the Chaldees where they were all Idolaters But supposing this were so and that therefore our Faith cannot have the accomplishment of Father Abrahams because we have Him and many Others our Examples Yet our Condition in our Faith is much the more sure unto us than it would have been if we had had none in whose steps we might tread For who of us would have done as Abraham did We may therefore praise God in that he hath caused us to be Born into the World after so many excellent Persons whose Examples may direct us further than of our Selves we could have gone And albeit we shall not have the Honour to receive others into our Bosome when in Heaven as Abraham doth yet if we can the more easily have a place in his and be our Selves in some measure Leaders of other Men thither we shall have no reason to complain of any want of Happiness but a great deal of cause to rejoyce that the way to Heaven was made so plain and that we had so many encouragements in it not to faint And with reference unto this The Church hath piously ordered that we should bless Gods H. Name for all his Servants departed this Life in his Faith and Fear Beseeching him to give us Grace so to follow their Examples that with Them we may be partakers of his Heavenly Kingdom Theoph. A great Esteem and Love Eubulus we may have for the Examples of Holy Men but it must at last End in the Esteem and Love of the Laws of Christ which include in them all the Good that the best Examples of Men ever have shewn or can shew Eubulus It must so Theophilus For all those actions of Men and Women famous in their Generations The Practice of Righteousness and Mercy of Munificence and Liberality of Temperance and Sobriety of unfeigned Devotion and Piety towards God all of which every Man hath a Tongue to praise are but imperfect draughts of these Holy Laws I say imperfect Draughts Because no Man our Blessed Lord alone excepted hath ever yet risen to that height of Excellence which they require Very pleasing they are as they are represented in the Lives of Good Men though they there are not unlike a Beautiful Face drawn to great disadvantage and with many unbecoming Shades But could we see them without failure exprest in the demeanor of any Man and had Eyes clear enough to behold them we should confess that they were a Sight too good for Earth However in the commendable actions of Men with the imperfections of Mortality if we would but reflect thus to wit The Constancy of that Man is a pleasant thing to behold The Righteousness of this Man is truely Comely Mercy and Goodness here is a real Ornament to the Actor Friendship and Kindness there How amiable are they The Flourishing of Society in Peace and Industry and all publick Virtues The Affections and Tenderness of Parents The Submission and Dutifulness of Children The Dwelling of Brethren together in Unity And the Affability and Usefulness of Neighbors to each
other Who is it can look upon and not be highly pleased in them But all These are nothing else but the Excellencies of the Laws of our Lord And shall we not Reverence shall we not Love them If I say we would in the Laudable actions of Men though much distant from the Perfection of the Laws of Christ often cast our Thoughts upon those Laws acknowledging the Beauty to belong unto them which in all these things is really derived from them it would be no more than a due Expression of Esteem and Love towards them and at the best much â—â—ow their Excellency Meet therefore surely it is when we have a Mind to do any thing and have an Example of the same ready in Sacred Scripture that we think not ourselves presently authoriz'd thereby to do it Some actions even of good Men who are now happy in Heaven having not been always nor altogether Good. Let us make the Precepts of the Gospel to be our Touchstone and by comparing the Example with the Rule we shall quickly find whether it will hold good for our Practice or no. Choose we either those Examples of Holy Writ which in the whole or those which in some part of them are the Image of a Divine Law and thereupon have a perpetual Rectitude Yet in these later be sure to avoid that part of the Example which is transgressive of the Command As for those which had a Warrant only for the Time in which they were done they lay no more obligation upon us now than Circumcision and Sacrifices do but are wholly to be shunn'd And those which the Law of God is silent in and which are therefore merely indifferent we may justly esteem ourselves no more bound by them than we are to wear a Seamless Coat or to lye along every time we eat unless Human Laws shall upon Prudential accounts enjoyn the doing them And then for other Examples Theophilus not recorded in Scripture They also are to be Examined by the Rule If in any thing they deviate from the Laws of Christ we are not to follow them though they be grown the Practice of Many and of some who may seem to be more Understanding and Religious than most of their Neighbors Always bearing in mind that the Best have their Errors and Frailties and that the most dangerous Errors in Religion are for the most part if not always usher'd in with Semblances of Holiness more than ordinary which to wise Men do often betray themselves by being over-acted But the Divine Laws are in every respect sincere and perfect and will lead us into no paths but such as will undoubtedly bring us unto Happiness They have no Interest to set up besides the Glory of God and the everlasting Welfare of Souls And will bear the being search'd into themselves as well as they require that other things be proved by them We may through them find out the failures of many specious Actions and Pretences but may despair in any example to see those Excellences which are not in far greater measures in Them. And Thus Theophilus as well as I could I have answered your Request In the doing of which I cannot reasonably be thought to have detracted any thing from Sacred Examples by having made them wholly dependent on Sacred Laws Were there generally a greater Caution used in Those and a greater Love shewed to These Men would walk more Surely Themselves and would set far better Copies unto Others Theoph. I dare say none of those Holy Men who have left us their good Examples would think those good Examples injured by what you have said Since their greatest Care in them was to obey God's Law And their greatest Pleasure from them was to have done it This your kindness Eubulus together with your other shall I hope find that Entertainment with me which you would wish And among the Virtues which they tend to promote I will see that Friendship and Gratitude shall not be wanting DISCOURSE the Seventh The Contents COncerning the Divine Law as taken in a larger Sense Of the Historical part of Scripture particularly of the Creation All other Opinions concerning the Being of the World are cold and unaffecting Of the Fall of Man. It gives Light to many things which otherwise we should never have known the reason of The sad effects of our Fall are in great measure corrected by God's Mercy and made Comfortable to us Many things in the dark and mingled with falsities in profane Authors we may from hence more clearly discern Sacred History shews forth God's immediate Hand and plainly tells us that he punished and rewarded for such and such reasons Of the History of our Redemption How wonderful it is and what a Sacredness runs through all the Circumstances of our Lord's Conception Birth Life Death Resurrection and Ascension The great evidence of these things Of the Prophetical part of Scripture Especially of those Prophecies relating to our Blessed Saviour As Divine Truth is eminently seen in all of them so the quick and various workings of Providence for the fulfilling of some of them are very delightful The Predictions of the Heathen Oracles much different from these The Sibyllin Prophecies of suspected Credit Of the Adhortative part of Holy Writ God hath used the most taking words for the prevailing with Men for Obedience In the Gospel there is nothing wanting that may work upon the Soul of Man. Of the Devotional part of Sacred Scripture It consisteth of such Services were fit for Men to pay unto their God and needed not Secresie to shelter them from an Honest Ear or Chast Eye Devotion raised to a much greater perfection by having our Lord and the Holy Spirit so nearly concerned in it Those persons quite mistake what they read in Sacred Scripture who find a pleasure therein without any respect to the Divine Law properly as such What we are to think of those who are conscientiously Obedient to the Divine Law but yet find not that Delight therein which Earthly things do frequently give them and who hereupon are very apt to interpret their Love to God's Precepts to be unsincere and such as will be rejected The great reasonableness and Benefit of Holy Meditation THEOPHILVS I Remember Eubulus that as by the Word Law you understood the Preceptive Part of the Bible which you have hitherto discoursed of so you did not exclude from it what ever else is contained in Holy Writ EVBVLVS YEs Theophilus we may in a larger Sense understand this also And indeed since all Scriptures have some way or other a respect to the Precepts thereof therefore the Word Law doth oftentimes import the whole Scripture as is manifest in these places John 10. It is written in your LAW I have said ye are Gods. And Cap. 12. We have heard out of the LAW that Christ abideth for ever and Cap. 15. It is written in their LAW they hated me without a cause All which places are not in the
And some of these Enemies from the expressness of those Prophecies which respect our Saviours sufferings have been forced to say that there is to be a Suffering Messias as well as a Glorious one though they will not allow the True Messias who is both the One and the Other to be either Theoph. I could desire to be continually fixed on the thoughts of the Prophetick part of Scripture so divinely pleasant is it from the lively Representation of great and sacred things in after-times revealed I doubt not but there will be a true Beauty in that other part of holy Scripture which you termed the ADHORTATIVE Eubul If great Love intermingled with great Art in the enforcing of it can give a Beauty and what can give a greater Beauty than these it is truly amiable And indeed God who knoweth our Frame and Make and can tell what Words will most Sway the Affections of Men hath seemed to let go none that may prevail with them to be such as they ought to be Somtimes enforcing his Exhortations from the Greatness of his Favours the Excellences of his Laws the Natural Desires and Aversations of Men their Forgetfulness and such like I almost wonder how any of the Jews of Old could be Disobedient when they read such Words as these Ask now of the Days that are past since the Day that God Created Man upon the Earth and ask from the One side of Heaven unto the Other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is or hath been heard like it Did ever People hear the Voice of God speaking out of the mid'st of the Fire as Thou hast heard and Live Or hath God assayed to go and take him a Nation from the midst of another Nation by Signs and Wonders and a Mighty Hand Thou shalt therefore keep his Statutes He led thee through the great and terrible Wilderness where there was no Water and he brought thee forth Water out of the Rock of Flint He fed thee there with Manna which thy Fathers knew not Thy Raiment waxed not Old upon thee neither did thy Foot swell these Forty years Therefore shalt thou keep the Commandments of the Lord thy God. And where an Exhortation is set home by the recounting of such mighty Favours it cannot sure but prevail There is nothing usually will take more with a Man than the Reputation of being Wise and Vnderstanding The Excellency of Man consisting in nothing more than in a Power of Discerning and Acting what is good On this ground therefore it is that God builds his Exhortation Keep saith he and do these Statutes and Judgments for this is your Wisdom and Vnderstanding in the sight of the Nations Deut. â— 6 And since a Man will bear any thing better than the Name of Fool and accounteth it a great Discredit to act weakly and below a Man Therefore God so often in Scripture termeth Disobedience Folly and speaketh thus to Transgressors O ye Fools when will you learn Wisdom How long ye simple Ones will ye love Simplicity and Fools hate Knowledge Turn you at my Reproof I look upon Peace and Plenty to be as it were a visible Exhortation and a Persuasive that is palpable and may be felt But because these do somtimes steal away the Heart and are apt to render the Man forgetful of his Gracious Benefactor God in infinite Goodness is pleased to strengthen this Exhortation by Cautioning us when we have eaten and are full not to forget Him to take heed to ourselves and to keep our Souls diligently lest we forget the things which our Eyes have seen and lest we depart from the Lord our God all the days of our Life But should any be so heedless or perverse as not to be prevail'd upon by such Exhortations as these how can they hold out against God's pathetical Pleading with them Thus Ezek. 18 Ye say The Way of the Lord is not equal O House of Israel is not my Way equal are not your Ways unequal If ye offer the Lame and the Sick is it not evil Offer it now unto thy Governour will He be pleased with thee or accept thy Person saith the Lord of Hosts A Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master If I then be a Father where is mine Honour If a Master where is my Fear Malac. 1. I will plead with you saith the Lord and with your Childrens Children will I plead For pass over the Isles of Chittim and see and send unto Kedar and consider diligently and see if there be any such thing Hath a Nation changed their Gods which yet are no Gods But my People have changed their Glory for that which profiteth not Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be horribly afraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord of Hosts For my People have committed two Evils They have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Waters and hewed them out Cisterns broken Cisterns that can hold no Water Jer. 2. Theoph. These are highly moving And in my Opinion no less is that of quickning Mens Obedience even by the better Carriage of Beasts and Fowls I have nourished and brought up Children and they have rebelled against me The Ox knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib But Israel doth not know my People doth not consider Isai 1. I hearkned and heard but thy spake not aright no Man repented him of his Wickedness saying What have I done Yea the Stork in the Heavens knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but my People know not the Judgment of the Lord Jer. 8. He will be yet much lower than the Beasts and Fowls who seeing himself out-gone by them will not be ashamed and quicken his pace Eubul There are innumerable other Schemes of Speech which God Almighty useth as if he would not omit so much as one Figure or Topick of sacred Oratory by which the wicked Hearts of Men might be bent to their good And truly all the gracious Methods which under the Legal Dispensation he hath chosen for Persuasives are in force now under the Gospel for the engaging us to Obedience it being through the Blood of Christ that so much Care and Love was then shewed Only what were made Excitements to the Jews are now with the change of some Circumstances enlarged and do belong to the whole World. As for those Exhortations which are more strictly comprized in the Gospel what may we say of them or rather what may we not The New Covenant is so wholly in itself a Persuasive set off with the highest Expressions of Divine Wisdom and Love that where IT alone will not prevail all other Arguments may seem fruitless But that there may nothing be wanting which may work upon the Soul of Man what affectionate Beseechings are there added What earnest Invitations given How are pure Minds stirred up by way of Remembrance What fervent Prayers are made for
doth vindicate his own Soveraignty and Power which they as much as in them lieth have brought under and trampled upon And this he so doth as that they themselves may look upon it to be God's just Hand and that others also may acknowledge it his doing But then Communities of Men which by their publick Sins make the Almighty to serve are always when those Sins are ripe punished in this World for they cannot with any reason be thought punishable in the next because all Bonds of Civil Society are utterly broken and evacuated by the Death of the Whole Yea and those Private Men who have contributed their share to the Sins of a Nation as such are also oftentimes in some respect punished in this World even after Death by Publick Calamities reaching their Children or other Relations in whom themselves are in a manner still here continued Which to one who rightly considers it sheweth forth God's Righteous Judgments upon them But because it is not always safe to pronounce That the untimely Deaths or unexpected Miseries of some particular Persons are an immediate Stroke of God upon them for their Disobedience for our Christian Charity will not permit this when we know no signal Crimes by them And the great Afflictions of some who are not greater Sinners than other Men and of some whom we have reason to esteem as good Men may caution us in this point not to be over-forward to Judge And because also we see a great many wicked Men to live and become old to be in no Troubles as other Men to die in peace and leave the rest of their Substance for their Babes Therefore we may affirm it as a Truth Viz. That God seeth it fit generally not to cut off those Men nor yet to force them into Obedience who by their Disobedience do thus make him to serve He seeth it fit generally not to cut them off that they may have space for Repentance Thus did he to the Church of Thyatira I gave her saith he space to Repent of her Fornication And for this end may he spare these dealing with them as the Lord did with the Barren Fig-Tree hoping that though they be not fruitful this year they will grow better the next And this the rather because from the thoughts of this Goodness of God unto them they may the more effectually be prevail'd upon to repent Despisest thou saith the Apostle the Riches of his Goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering not knowing that the Goodness of God in this his Forbearance and Long-suffering leadeth thee to Repentance A Sorrow for former Sins and an Acknowledgment of God's Soveraignty for the future in Mens giving themselves up to his Service may arise from other Considerations but from none more directly or more forcibly than from that of his sparing them and suffering them to live that they may Repent and Turn unto him Neither may it be a small Motive for his not generally Cutting them off that in case they do not Repent there may from their Freedom from Punishment in this Life be afforded unto us a strong Proof that there will be Another Life after This in which those Sins which are here spared and Unrepented of shall most surely be punished God is a Righteous God and he hath told us plainly by his Prophet Nahum Chap. 1.3 That he will not acquit the Wicked And it is not Unobservable that These Words are put thus to wit The Lord is slow to Anger and great in Power and will not acquit the Wicked As much as to say Though he forbear long yet it is not as if he could not punish yea if they shall go on in their Disobedience and not Repent them of their Misdeeds they most certainly shall have the Reward of their Doings Now in that These Wicked Men who to the utmost of their Power make God to Serve do often live and dye without Punishments they must necessarily be punished after Death or else God will contrary to his Word acquit the Wicked But the Judge of the Earth will do Right though all Men shall be Lyars yet God cannot but be True And therefore he will not Cut them off that he may make them a strong Argument that there will be a Day of Punishments when this World is at an End with them And Lastly Theophilus we may not amiss think he will suffer them to Live that if They Repent not here they themselves may hereafter in the Other World confess that they are justly punished Though Gods sparing their Lives in so much Mercy when they had deserved to be struck Dead or sent Living into Hell were little minded by them on Earth it yet shall at the Great Tribunal have this effect upon them viz. To make them acknowledge that their Damnation is Just because They had so much favour shew'd them and they shut their Eyes upon it And surely as Gods Gracious Designs of Mens Turning unto him and being happy do take off whatever can be Objected against his not presently destroying the Disobedient So the Reputation of his Justice which will by this means be Exalted even among Those that in Hell shall suffer it may abundantly Vindicate Gods Government of the World from being slack and remiss though he do not immediately Condemn unto Death those who make him to Serve by their Sins Theoph. You have throughly satisfied me why God doth not presently Cut those off who are Rebellious But since all Power is his and with a Word He can do it why doth he not Force them into Obedience that his Sovereignty may be acknowledg'd by all and not opposed so much as in appearance by any Eubul One Reason may be Because he would have their Obedience to be their Virtue and such as shall become Rational Creatures to give He as Elihu saith Teacheth Them more than the Beasts of the Earth and maketh Them Wiser than the Fowles of Heaven that they may know what Good and what Evil is and may be sensible of the Favours that are shew'd unto them He hath given them a Will to choose or refuse what things are before them And hath planted Affections in their Souls by which Love and Gratitude may be Exercised Now when they shall endeavour to Understand what is truly Good and also what Gods Loving-kindness to them is when they shall choose that which is best and shall willingly serve Him whom they know to be the Lord of the World and their Lord Loving him for his Goodness and striving to express Thankfulness to him so far as they are able when I say they shall do this they will be Virtuous and shew themselves such as their Nature and Make require they should be But how unagreeable would it be for these Men to be forced contrary to their Mind and Will Wherein would they be Commendable should they do that which they could not help And how unsutable to Love and Gratitude is Violence and Constraint It is Love that is