future Happiness is very consistent with our present and true Godliness may inherit the promises of this life as well as of another as the Scriptures assure us â— Tim. 4.8 It is not necessary to part with our present Happiness in order to the purchasing the Reversion of that in Heaven tho' if it were it would be great gain and advantage to us there is but one instance in Religion wherein this is to be done and that is in suffering persecution for Christ's sake and the Gospels in quitting all our Worldly Interests for the sake of Conscience and Religion and rather endure any evils here than to renounce Christ or any true part of Christianity this indeed is bearing the Cross and is the only hard part of Religion for which there shall be an abundant recompense hereafter and the hopes and expectations of that with the present Comfort and Satisfaction of Mind takes off from the burden and uneasiness of it and tho' without hopes of another life Christians might be of all Men most miserable in this when they fall under those Circumstances as the Apostle says 1 Cor. 15.19 yet with those hopes they are far from being so but with exception to that particular case which does not often happen Religion at the same time secures to us the greatest Happiness of this life as well as another and without losing any one Comfort or true Enjoyment of this World we may make sure of the next We may therefore put that question to our selves which is something like to that which Naaman's Servants put to him 2 Kings 5.13 Had God bid us do some great thing that we might be saved would we not have done it how much rather then when he bids us do nothing else in order to this but what is very reasonable and what tends to our Good here as well as our Salvation hereafter We must be therefore very bad judges of our own interest and very little understand that and so be very regardless of our selves as well as very ungratefull to the great God if we do not comply with whatever he has Wisely and Graciously appointed us in order to our Salvation What that is I shall now briefly consider and so give the true resolution to this question What shall I do to be saved And it is not very hard to resolve it God has not made it any difficult or abstruse thing to understand but the meanest Christian may easily comprehend it it 's not a Secret reserved only for the Wife and Learned but the poorest Soul if it be but sincere and honest may come to the true knowledge of it and there is hardly any without it tho' it may lie less clear and distinct in their thoughts Natural light teaches all men that such and such Actions are displeasing to God and that those who commit them shall be punished hereafter There is no Man who is guilty of any great wickedness but he finds some inward apprehensions of this in his own Mind and his own Conscience directs him in great measure what he must do to be faved but Revelation has made this so plain and evident that a Man must use great Art to deceive himself if he ever mistake it to believe the Gospel and live according to it is so plain a path-way to Heaven that there is no Christian but must see it and if he thinks of any other he cannot but know that he cheats himself and willfully puts a trick upon his own Soul St. Paul here told tho Jailor That he must believe on the Lord Jesu Christ and he should be saved v. 31. but this belief which is made the condition and means of Salvation must include all that which is consequent and ought to follow from such a belief all that Obedience to the Laws of Christ and that Repentance for past Sins and Newness and Holiness of life which is made as plain and indispensible a condition of Salvation as Faith it self and therefore St. Peter in answer to the same question to those who were greatly concern'd and prick'd in heart and said Men and Brethren what shall we do Acts. 2.37 answered Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Christ for the remission of sins Believing and embracing Christianity was the only way for a Jew or a Heathen to be saved and to have remission of Sins and when St. Peter bids them Repent and St. Paul bids them Believe they mean the same thing Faith is the first great Principle and Foundation of Repentance and all Christian Vertues and therefore as including and containing all those it is made the condition of our being saved by a Metonymy whereby the cause comprehends also the effect Faith in Scripture is not taken only for an assent to another's Words or a trust in them but it denotes a principle that worketh by love and is manifest by good works without which the Scripture expresly says it is dead and then it must be a strange mistake to make a bare faith the condition of our Justification and Salvation It is to be observed and I think it may be a little usefull to clear that matter that when Faith and Believing is made the only condition of being saved and nothing else is mention'd this is always spoken to those who were not yet Christians or Believers as when Christ says John 3.15 Whosoever believeth on the Son of Man shall not perish but have everlasting Life This is spoken to Nicodemus who then exprest his dis-belief of Christ's words and was not brought fully to believe in him tho' he was disposed for it So John 6.40 when Christ saith This is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting Life This is spoken to the Jews who murmured at Christ and were far from believing in him and so Christ bid the Apostles preach this to the unbelieving World Whosoever believeth and is baptized shall be saved Mark 16.16 i.e. Believing and Professing Christianity puts them into a salvable state and if they live according to this faith they shall certainly be saved as if we should say to a person who desires to know how he may be a Scholar Go to School or to the University this would put him into a certain way to Learning but he must not only be entred and enrolled there but he must study and read and do such things as belong to a Scholar When St. Peter bid the Jews and St. Paul the Jailor to believe and they should be saved they were such as yet had not embrac'd Christianity and Faith was the only means to bring them to that and so put them into a salvable state which ordinarily they cou'd not be in without it but then they must do all those other things which belong to Christians after they are brought to believe or else they wou'd lose and forfeit this their good state and therefore when Christ
and therefore 't is not to be wonder'd at that there should be different sentiments about the means in those who all joyned in the same end Our Friend with whom I have often canvassed the Question was in his judgment which he sincerely followed in all things for a Comprehension and tho' he had a just sense of the sin of Schism and look'd upon that among us as utterly unjustifiable and that nothing of any moment could be urg'd in defence of it yet his Opinion was that this was the only Method which the present follies and mistakes of Men would admit of to establish the honour and interest of the Church and to recover expiring Piety Charity and other Christian Virtues which by our divisions had received a wound not to be cured without the use of this balm Vpon these considerations he was prevail'd with so far to concern himself on this occasion as to reply to a little piece entituled Vox Cleri published by a Learned and Eminent Divine as in the name of the Clergy which Circumstance with the stile of the answer being a little too facetious for so aged a Divine as his Adversary raised him some Enemies but had he lived never so long I believe he would hardly have concern'd himself any further in proposing expedients of Peace the very mentioning of which as his experience taught him made Men ready to Battle The design of the Comprehension being laid aside the Toleration bill pass'd into a Law with prudent Limitations for registring the places of Assembling the names of Preachers and for securing the Fidelity both of them and their people who were to be known to what Congregation they belonged to the Government but as it has been managed and used without regard to the directions of the Statutes 't is a sanctuary for such as are as well Enemies to the Government as to Religion 't is an assumed liberty to avoid all civil Tyes and to be of any Religion or none to worship God in their own way or not to worship him at all 't is a refuge for Atheism Irreligion and Prophaneness and has produced such a neglect of publick worship and corruption of Morals as are very scandalous in a Christian Kingdom Some little Writers about this time expounded this Law to discharge all persons from all obligation to Church-Communion in point of Conscience but this tittle tattle was nothing to what has since follow'd every one taking the liberty according to the Model of Spinosa's happy Commonwealth to Speak and Write as he lists It was a little surprize to us so soon almost as our Controversies with the Papists and our fears from that party were over to be encountred with a set of Men who with unusual confidence profess an enmity to all Religion and bid defiance to the common faith of mankind who talk wildly of a Religion very improperly called so which has no dependance upon Times Places or Persons to Minister in holy things a Religion without worship or any publick Offices whereby it is profess'd a thing never heard of before in the World No man ought tamely to bear an attempt to set aside that publick Honour that is done to the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth and no Christian can be silent when the Lord that bought them is openly deni'd and his Mission ridiculed Whither are we going when Pamphlets are to be seen on every Stall wrote directly against Christianity when under the pretence of advancing Reason Revelation is thrown up and at best is allow'd to be no more than a means of Information but no necessitating motive of assent Are these men of Cardan the Astrologer's mind that the Law of Christ shall be chang'd and shall it give way to that sect which all the other Philosophers expos'd and Epicurus be set up as a Master and Teacher instead of our Blessed Saviour Do they think to be too hard for God Are they stronger than he It has been observed that whoever breaks violently in upon the Laws of his Country tho' he may for a time brave it and presume himself beyond controul in the end the Laws are always too hard for him and crush him to nothing and shall men hope to be safe who spit in the face of Heaven and trample all the Laws of God under their feet Lucretius was as great a Bravo and no way inferiour to any modern writer in the Atheistical way either in Wit or Argument and yet Religion has kept its ground and will do so whatever vain imaginations some few fools may entertain of gaining a victory over it however there are those who are resolved not to give over their attempts and seem to be combin'd in a close Confederacy and with united strength to try what they can do The Age every one sees is extremely addicted to lightness and vanity and to turn every thing that is grave and serious into ridicule to make the best advantage of this prevailing humour they have a sort of Retainers to Atheism who are as great Enemies to Reason as to Religion and have neither enquir'd into what Religion has to say for it self or the objections against it their work is to break a Prophane Jest or two upon it and if they can but set down these in writing they grow into a great Opinion of their Parts and take it for an affront for any Man to speak a wise word in their Company Others for each seems to have his part assigned him according to his Genius pretend to be men of deep thoughts and to have searcht into all the secret Arts of Priest-craft and to have examined the juggle of Mysteries to the bottom and withal to have a great Charity for the long misguided World opprest under the Tyranny and slavish fear of Religion and yet in all this their design seems to be meerly to banter mankind The Author of Christianity not Mysterious has wrote a labour'd Book to amuse the world and prove nothing he acknowledges there are Mysteries without number and yet will allow nothing to be call'd so he will not suffer Mysteries in Revelation where reason can know nothing beyond what is reveal'd to be argued from Mysteries in nature where reason is a proper Judge whereas one would think that if in things knowable by reason we find difficulties we cannot solve it should seem less strange when we meet with as great in matters of Revelation which we can know nothing of further than they are reveal'd He will not have a thing said to be above reason because it cannot be imagined or conceived and yet makes above reason to signifie something unconceivable or unimaginable and to be the same with Mystery He asserts that there is nothing in Religion that is above reason and yet confesses that there are things in it of which we have not an Adaequate and Compleat Idea which is what is meant by being above reason And because we need not understand what we cannot discover by
speaks to his Disciples who already believ'd in him and St. Paul writes to those who were already Christians or Believers they then tell them not only of Faith which is the first Christian Vertue and the root of all the rest but of Obedience and all good works of living as becometh the Gospel and of adorning their profession with all manner of Vertues which they make as necessary to Salvation as Faith it self Thus if ye keep my Commandments saith Christ ye shall abide in my love John 15.10 and Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you v. 14. and Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord or that meerly believeth in me shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that does the will of my Father which is in Heaven Mat. 7.21 So said St. Paul to the Corinthians Circumcision is nothing nor Vncircumcision but the keeping the Commandments of God 1 Cor. 7.19 and to the Galatians in Christ Jesus i. e. in the Christian Religion neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but a new Creature chap. 6. v. 15. that is a new temper of mind and habit of Life for by the Gospel the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men who hold the truth in unrighteousness Romans 1.19 and when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels he will take Vengeance on all them that obey not his Gospel who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the presence of the Lord 2. Thess 1.8 9. and those Christians who do any such works of the Flesh as are mentioned Gal. 5.19 21. shall not inherit the Kingdom of God but for the sake of those the Wrath of God cometh on the Children of disobedience Colos 3.6 tho' they do believe in Christ and have made profession of his Religion It is therefore as requisite for such to live according to all the Laws of the Gospel as it was at first to believe in Christ that they may be saved What a Christian therefore who already believes in Christ and owns his Religion to be true and what we who all do this should further do to be saved and to make sure of Heaven I shall in one general Advice direct to and that is this That we never allow our selves to live in any one known sin that we never willfully violate any Law of the Gospel nor suffer our selves in the Custom of any thing that we know is unlawfull he that does that is in a dangerous and desperate condition and is uncapable of being saved by the Terms of the Gospel for tho' that allows pardon for every sin we repent of yet it allows none to any one of those we do not repent of but live in and therefore as we value our Salvation let no darling Sin nor beloved Lust nor any the most profitable or pleasing Wickedness whatsoever be indulged or continued in by us it 's as much as our Souls are worth if we do for every willfull habit of sin does most certainly exclude and shut us out of the Kingdom of Heaven without timely Repentance and Amendment if we have therefore been ever guilty of any such and so have forfeited Heaven and our own Souls and made our selves liable to Eternal Wrath and Damnation let us endeavour with all speed to recover our selves out of that sad state and to snatch our Souls out of the Jaws of Hell and from the very brink of perdition and let us bless God that he affords us both time and means and power to do this and when we have Emerged out of that wretched Condition let us not throw our selves into it again by any new Sins but let us ever after avoid that rock where we were like to have split and let us spend all the remainder of our lives in perfecting our Repentance and in bringing forth fruits worthy of it and in a constant and unbroken and uninterrupted obedience to all the Laws of Christianity so shall we approve our selves to God and our own Consciences so shall we have good grounds of Peace and Comfort while we live and so shall we be certainly saved when we come to die which God of his infinite mercy grant unto us The Seventh Sermon JOB XXVIII 28. And unto Man he said Behold the fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from evil is Vnderstanding THE Fear of the Lord is a phrase often used in Scripture to express all Religion by and 't is indeed the true Principle and Foundation of it for whoever has an awfull sense and belief of a Being above him and a just dread of his Almighty Power upon his Mind will take care to avoid all those things that he knows are displeasing to him and to perform all those duties which shall procure his favour and be acceptable to him for all our Happiness depends upon his Pleasure and he can make us miserable when we anger and provoke him Every one tho' he may have lost the sense of love either of God or Religion and the desire of Spiritual and Heavenly Happiness and may be sunk into such a state as to have no great relish of those things yet may have the sense of fear strong upon him and may be greatly affected with what he thinks may destroy and ruin and make him miserable and therefore fear is the strongest and most powerfull passion and the most deeply rooted in humane nature for it arises from a Natural love of our selves and a care and desire of our own self-preservation and every Man has this in him tho' he has no higher or nobler principles of Vertue and Religion and therefore 't is the Character of the most deplorably wretched and wicked Creatures that they have no fear of God before their Eyes Ps 36.1 Sometimes the love of God sometimes the fear of God sometimes the knowledge of God the belief of God is made to express the whole of Religion and the sum of our duty because where one of these is there are all the rest in some degree or other and they cannot be separated or divided for he that believes a God and knows him to be as he is a Being of infinite Power and of infinite Goodness must fear him and love him too his power makes him an object of fear and keeps us from offending him and his Goodness makes him an object of love and so both those do the same thing and as different causes yet concur to the same effect and all Vertue and Religion is produced by them and owes its being and original to them for without respect to God there can be no such thing as Vertue and Religion and where there is a true fear of him there they will always be as necessarily conjoin'd as effects are to their causes and therefore by an usual Metonymy the one is put for the other And this Vertue and Religion which is thus founded in the
Father and the Son as receiving that Infinite and Eternal Essence from them both this is the explication of that adorable Mystery as 't is deliver'd by that excellent Prelate forementioned in his Authentick Book upon the Apostles Creed By this time his spirits and his breath fail'd him and he could proceed no further and now having entertain'd me as long as he could he gave me to understand That I must not expect much more from him about one thing or other but that he would look to be entertain'd by me the little time I should have him with me And immediately calling the Family to Prayers so soon as they were ended he went to Bed and was willing I should leave him for that night In the morning which was Thursday he desir'd me to accompany him in his Chariot to London to consult Dr. M not that he expected any relief from his prescriptions for he concluded himself too far gone to be recovered but because he thought it not fit to omit any thing that could be done for the sake of his Family chiefly whose interest it was that he should have liv'd a little longer with them I returned with him to his Lodgings but he found himself so far spent that he hastned to Bed and desired me to come up to his Chamber and in the Church form to commend his Soul to God Not being willing to sink his Spirits too much and presuming that his apprehensions of present Death were the effect of the disorder his Journey had thrown him into I made use of some other Collects proper at that time and purposely omitted the commendatory Prayer upon which he called to me and entreated me to use no other than that and if I pleas'd the Lord's Prayer with it For said he I am just going So soon as I had done Well said he I now thank thee and take my leave of thee I have nothing more to say to thee nor needst thou say any thing to me thou hast nothing further to do but to bid me good night And immediately turning himself on one side lay still and spoke no more all that night On Friday morning he told me he wondered to find himself alive however we perswaded him to bleed according to the Dr.'s order the night before he told us it was to no purpose and had an opinion he should die whilst he was bleeding but he added that he gave up his body to our management and we might do with it as we pleased by this time his Friend Dr. T came in to whom he talk'd sensibly of his case and told him he was so well skill'd in his Profession that he knew very well he could not live out another night The Dr. was no sooner gone but he called me to him and attempted a Discourse which he was not able to go thro' with what he aim'd at was something to this purpose What a poor Creature is Man if he had hopes only in this Life he must go naked and alone and without any Friend to accompany him to the dark Grave All that thou wilt see of me presently will be a stiff and senseless carkass I have already lost all my thought I can scarce tell what I say to thee I did not just now know where I was now I do I am in my Bed-chamber I have no power to command a thought thou shalt in a few moments see that they are all perish'd and gone This he repeated several times with some concern and in half an hour they went quite away and returned no more for all that afternoon he lay still only at ten at night he put forth one hand to me and lifted up the other and his eyes to Heaven to signifie to me that he had yet some knowledge tho' his speech was gone and that he was praying for himself and a little after midnight he breath'd his last I have seen many Persons die but none like him in all my life I heard not the least unbecoming word from him in all his illness which was to me the more strange because I knew the natural heat and eagerness of his temper he shew'd not the least sign of uneasiness or dissatisfaction in his circumstances nothing of fondness for this World or any desire to stay longer in it no manner of fear of death or doubts about his future good state but throughout his sickness and to the last minutes that his understanding continued a perfect contempt of all Earthly things vigorous hopes of a Blessed Immortality and an entire and absolute resignation of himself to the Will of God The truth is his behaviour was enough to make a Man in love with death and to long for a dissolution and at that time it made such an impression upon my spirits that while it lasted I thought I could with great ease have dy'd with him Having been longer than I intended in my account of the Author I shall leave the following discourses to speak for themselves There is evidently a spirit of true Piety that breaths in them and one general aim propos'd to promote a wise understanding and sincere practice of Religion They are publish'd as they were found in his ordinary Notes and not designed by him for the Press but if they may do any service to God and Religion and the Souls of Men Our Author himself would have ventur'd them Abroad into the World without being any ways concern'd for the defects and imperfections which may be spy'd out in 'em for in the prosecution of such noble ends he has declar'd himself sufficiently arm'd against all manner of censures whatsoever and publickly profess'd That it was more satisfaction to him to publish a few plain and usefull Discourses Pref. to Practical disc of Rep. than to have had the ability or met with the applause of writing the Wittiest or Learnedst Book in the World The First Sermon ROM IX 14. What shall we say then Is there unrighteousness with God God forbid THE Apostle in defence of Christianity and the Gentiles being received into it who were Strangers and Aliens rather than the Jews who were the Children of Abraham and God's peculiar People having to justifie this made use of an Instance of God's free disposing his Favours as he pleases and such as to the Jews was an unanswerable President because upon it all their Priviledges depended above the rest of the World the same Children not of Abraham only but of Israel to whose line the promised Seed was confined before they were either of them born or were in a capacity to do Good or Evil yet God declared that Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated v. 13. and notwithstanding the rights of Primogeniture yet transmitted this his Love and Hatred down even to their Posterities the Israelites and the Edomites upon this he seems to be startled with an Objection rising up from all this and looking him fully in the Face What shall we say then is their
Monitors of it in our own Bodies then what a melancholy thing must it be for a Man to think of going down into the place of darkness and forgetfulness to become a cold heavy lump a stiff dead Corps to have all his brisk and vigorous Spirits put out and extinguish'd and an end put to all his Pleasures and Enjoyments if he have not some Hopes of an after Immortality and of a better Life after this No Man could enjoy himself or be easie in his thoughts if he thinks at all who knows he must die in a little time if he has not the fears of Death took off and moderated by the Hopes and Expectations of Religion He that considers says Plutarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the nature of his Soul and that Death Translates us into a better State or at least one that is not at all evil has made an excellent provision both for the Happiness of life and against the fear of death and he make this one of the great means of procuring this Tranquility of Mind thus to overcome the fears of Death for otherwise that will embitter all our present Enjoyments and spoil all our Mirth and Jollity and draw a dark Cloud over all our Cheerfullness and Gaity to have the thoughts of Death steal in now and then upon us as they unavoidably will if we have nothing to make them less terrible and frightfull than they will be to a wicked Man he must be sadly scared and amazed at any such thing and cannot think much less look on Death without sad Misgivings and Horrors of Mind and therefore can never have any setled Peace and Tranquility in himself but it will be all broke by one thought of Mortality by the hearing a Knell or seeing a Coffin for let him seem to put on never so much false Courage and to laugh at these things in the midst of his Company and his Vices yet he trembles at them when he is alone and a cold and clammy sweat feizes upon him whenever he thinks of dying in earnest nothing can prevent this Despondency and dying of Mind and arm even against the natural fear of bodily Death which will often come upon us and scatter all our other Comfortable thoughts but Religion which takes out the sting of Death which lessens and abates its terror and fortifies us against it by the Christian Hopes of being free from all Guilt and Punishment hereafter and of having a better Life and being in another World when we are to part with this here Death must be very terrible to the thoughts either of an Atheist by Depriving him of all Being and of all Enjoyment or of a wicked Christian by consigning him to Judgment and Punishment and Translating him to Eternal Death and Misery only Religion can take off its Terror and sweeten the bitter Cup with the Supports and Comforts the Aids and Assistances the Hopes and Expectations it affords to a good Man in his last Agonies and Extremities and at all other Times when he thinks of dying Lastly Religion infuses inward and unspeakable Comforts into our Minds from its present Privileges and future Hopes from God and his Spirit and their secret Communications Operations and Influences upon our Souls which are the highest improvement and the highest degrees of Peace and Tranquility of Mind Nature and Philosophy knew nothing of this but Revelation and especially the Christian give us the Knowledge and Assurance of it and many a Pious and good Christian has felt the Effects and Comforts of it in his Soul when he has had a Cheerfull and well grounded Sense that his sins are pardoned in and through Christ upon his true Repentance and that he is justified by the Grace of the Gospel upon the Terms and Conditions of it and that he has a Title to Heaven by God's promise upon his own sincerity and has reason to Hope that he shall partake of all the great and glorious things that belong to the Christian Salvation these will raise and inspire him as it did the Apostles and first Christians with a more than ordinary Comfort Peace and Cheerfullness of Soul and make him very Happy tho' in the greatest Sufferings and outward Afflictions 'T was this which made the Christians Rejoyce always in the Lord Rejoyce in Tribulations Sing and be Cheerfull in Prisons and be more than Conquerors over all their Troubles when they had these inward Comforts to support and raise and invigorate their Minds when tho' their Enemies were implacable and irreconcileable yet God they knew was reconciled to them and tho' the World hated thom yet he loved them tho' they had Tribulation from without yet they had Peace in themselves and Peace in Christ as he promised them Mat. 16.32 and tho' all things were very dark and dismal about them yet they had a clear prospect of Heaven and like St. Stephen could see that opened thro a shower of Stones and Christ sitting at the right hand of God One such view of Christ and Heaven tho' but by the Eye of Faith would give a Man a Pleasure and Courage of Mind above not only the Pains and Torments he endured but all other Pleasures he ever felt in his Life A great but ill Man could say That the Pleasures and Comforts of Religion even when they are Mistaken and Enthusiastick are greater than all the Pleasures of Sense and Carnality What are they then when they are true and well grounded how do they not only give Peace to a Mans Mind but even Rapture not only Calm and Quiet it but Transport it not only give it Rest and Tranquility but Extasie and Joy This is called in Scripture the Joy of the Holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 and the Peace of God which passeth all Vnderstanding Philip. 4.7 for we do not know how God who is a Spirit can Communicate inward Joy and Peace to our Spirits and convey a secret Sense of his Favour and Relish of his Kindness and make us taste and see how Gracious he is as the Psalmist speaks Psa 34.8 and lift up the light of his Countenance upon us There is more in all this not only in the extraordinary supports promised in particular Cases and Circumstances but in the ordinary Hopes and Comforts of Religion to a good Man than all the Pleasures of this World all the Charms and Enjoyments of Flesh and Blood can ever amount to and as we plainly feel Peace and Ease of Mind to be a greater good than any bodily Pleasure and know this from Sense and Experience as well as Religion so when this is heighten'd by those unspeakable Joys and that inconceiveable Peace which is derived from God and Religion and his Holy Spirit these give such an improvement to this Peace and Tranquility of Mind as nothing can equal but the Enjoyment of Heaven and which the wife Heathens and Philosophers knew nothing of in their Discourses on this Subject Religion and Christianity therefore out-doe
going in this narrow way these deceive Millions of Souls who tho they believe Religion yet do not live up to it but corrupt and pervert it so as to take off its Force and Influence upon their Lives and make them never the better by it The other reserve which is a most desperate one is that of Atheism and Infidelity or an utter dis-believing all Religion or at least a comfortable Doubt and Suspicion that it may not be true and this I am afraid lies in too many Minds but then all Mankind have been out of their Wits in believing it for there have been very few either in the most Wise or most Barbarous Parts and Ages of the World but what have done so unless then we have been all Cheated with Books of Revelation and Histories of Miracles done by the Prophets of Old and by Christ and his Apostles afterwards which are better attested than any Actions or any Books besides that ever were in the World 1600 Years ago so that we may as well call in Question all the Greek and the Roman story as the Jewish and the Christian and when we have run into such a Frenzy of Scepticism as to do that and without having any positive proof against Religion and the Being of God and another World for it is impossible to have that and the greatest Atheist will not pretend to have any Evidence Certainty and Demonstration but that they may be true notwithstanding all his doubts after all this the whole Frame of Nature and the Wise contrivance of the World of the Heavens above and the Earth and Animals below is a standing Evidence as great as can be given of the truth of Religion in general and a Man's Reason must be wretchedly blinded with his Vices who doth not see it or who winks so hard that he will not discern it these wretched Reserves being therefore taken away I shall proceed to press the duty of entering in at the strait Gate and narrow way and propose the motives to engage us to this notwithstanding all the Difficulties I mentioned 1. Religion is a business of such importance that whatever straits and hardships there be in it we must not stick at those but resolve however to go through with it for our Life our Happiness our All our Eternal state lies at stake and depends upon it Our Saviour only tells us strait is the Gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto Life and wide is the Gate and broad is the way which leadeth to Destruction And this is sufficient if Life and Death be set before us whatever be the way to them we should look at the great Ends Issues and Consequences of things which are the mark a Wise Man always aims at and whatever means are in our Power to attain the one and avoid the other we should make use of without any long Counsel or Deliberation for no Man demurrs and considers whether he shall choose happiness and escape Misery Nature and Instinct prevent our Reason here and we are made with an inward spring which runs of it self to the one and flies from the other whenever we truly apprehend them and therefore did we consider what that Life is that Eternal Life of Happiness which Vertue leads to which is to live in the perfect Enjoyment of the greatest good and the purest Pleasures free from all Alloys and all Approach of the least Evil and Trouble to live for ever with God and Angels in rapturous Bliss and Heavenly Delights and Joy unspeakable to be Possest of a Crown a Kingdom of substantial Glory and all such Good and Desirable things that this World affords but a faint Shadow and imperfect Resemblance of we should find this is a Life worth being fond of and seeking after compared to which this our present short life mixt with so much real Care and Trouble and so little imaginary Pleasure is but a sort of Death but walking in a vain Shadow and Dreaming of Happiness and hardly worth a Wise Man's choosing were it not for a better Life which is only worth the name of Living where we are born into another World and Vertue shall give us a Glorious Immortality this is a Reward that will sufficiently Recompense our short Labours here and were Religion never so Difficult yet the worth and greatness of that were our Hopes and Desires of it proportionable to it would inspire us with new Vigour and Resolution and convey Strength and Power enough to carry us through them all for what will not a great reward make Men do whither will they not Travel where will they not fight what danger will they Flinch from what Labour will they Refuse when a certain and great reward is offered to ' em And had we but as good thoughts of Heaven as the Soldier has of Honour and Victory the Merchant of Gold and Gain and the Husbandman of a good Harvest we should never think much of all the Pains and Difficulties that are in Religion were they a great many more than they are as on the other side if Men had but a due sense of that Destruction to which the wide Gate and the broad way of wickedness leads 'em and the Sad and Dreadfull Condition their Vices will bring 'em to in another World did they consider what exquisite and amazing Misery both of Soul and Body is wrapt up in those Words of Hell and Damnation no Vice tho' never so Charming would make 'em endure it for one day no Pleasure of Sin for a Season would make 'em bear it for so long a time as this Life is and nothing would ever tempt 'em not only not to suffer it for ever but to run the hazard and venture of it were there not a thousand times the reason to fear it that we have by Religion and were it but meerly probable or but just possible which Atheism it self can never deny yet no Wise man would expose himself to such a Dreadfull and Irretrievable danger for the Poor and Pitifull Temptations that are in the greatest Sin But 2. Besides the Consideration of another World Religion with all its straitness and hardship does not abridge us of any Comfortable Enjoyments of this World nor Deprive us of any of the true Pleasures and good things here which a Wise Man would Desire or which our Nature was made for for they may be all enjoyed within the compass of Vertue and allowances of Religion and that with more Convenience and Advantage than in a Course of Vice and Wickedness Religion does not Deprive us of any good proper to our State and Nature nor tye us up from any of the Comforts or Pleasures of Life with a peevish severity and moroseness with a touch not tast not handle not but only restrains us from what would be Evil and Pernicious to us if it were allowed us keeps us from the forbidden Fruit and from those excesses and extravagancies that are Destructive to
Extraordinary when they have sufficient ordinary means so if he would do it it would hardly cure their perverse obstinacy and infidelity God is not willing to gratifie the wantonness or infidelity of mankind and prostitute his Almighty power to their Lusts and Follies by doing extraordinary things when there is no need of them he will not work Miracles as fast and as often as the Atheist is pleas'd to call for 'em when he has given him other sufficient demonstrations of a Divine power he will not send an Angel to Preach his Laws over all the Earth or to speak to men every day with a voice of Thunder when he has otherwise sufficiently made known his will to them Our Saviour would not come down from the Cross to satisfie the Cavils and unreasonable Request of an unbelieving Jew when he had done sufficient Miracles before to convince him he would not give such a sign as was desired by an Evil and Adulterous Generatition Mat. 12.39 when they had other signs enough As this would make his Almighty power Cheap and Contemptible to let it be at the pleasure and call of every unreasonable and humoursome person so if he should exert it never so often it would not have that effect we imagine upon them for he who is so unreasonable an Infidel and so obstinately unsatissied as to shut his Eyes against full Evidence and just Conviction will never be wrought upon in all likelihood by any thing that shall be done farther though Heaven should be at a farther expence and tire it self as it were to do Miracles without End or Number yet it would be still the same Of this we have a very great instance in the Old Testament Pharaoh who had so many Miracles wrought before him and as many Plagues as Miracles to make him Obedient to one Command of God when he saw the Rivers and all the Water in his Country turn'd into Blood Exod. 7.19 when all his Land was covered with Frogs and they came into his presence Chamber when the dust of the Earth was become Lice and he could not but confess that this was the singer of God when a great many more Miracles of which he could not but have a very great sense were done before his Eyes yet still his obstinacy was too hard for 'em and a Miracle beyond all the rest Indeed when he was under the present smart of a Judgment it would awaken him for a moment Exod. 8.28 but as soon as it was removed and he had respite he was immediately hardned And thus probably would an obstinate and hardned sinner when a Messenger from the dead was talking with him he would melt and soften and cry out as Pharaoh did I have sinned Exod. 9.27 and resolve at that time to let his sins go but yet in a little time he would harden again and resolve not to part with ' em Of this there is an instance as great and strange also in the New Testament and that is not in a single Person but in a whole Nation The Jews in our Saviour's time tho they saw him do such works as never man did such as out-did all that were recorded of any of their own Prophets tho' they saw him raise the dead and cure the sick and were Eye-Witnesses of the daily Miracles he wrought amongst them yet all this would not cure 'em of their obstinate Infidelity nor could the Son of God use any remedy for their perverseness and wilfull incredulity which plainly shows that men may arrive at such Stubbornness and Infidelity that even Miracles and the most extraordinary means will not work upon them Where there is not such an obstinacy of the Will but only a more innocent Ignorance caused by want of the same means that others have enjoyed there those extraordinary Miracles would have another effect as if the works which our Saviour did in Galilee had been done in Tyre and Sidon they had long ago repented in sack-cloath and ashes as he tells 'em Mat. 11.21 and so if a Messenger had come from the dead to those that had never heard of Moses or the Prophets or never had any Revelation or Means of knowing those things another way they would probably have been perswaded by him but when Men have once stood out against the ordinary means that God has afforded them there extraordinary ones will seldom prevail upon them if God should think fit to make use of 'em and that 5. As another reason why if they heard not Moses and the Prophets neither would they be perswaded tho' one rose from the dead because the mind is so blinded by the love of its sins and the Will so depraved and corrupted by them especially by a long custom and habit continued in against all the ordinary means of Grace and all the powerfull considerations of Religion that it becomes utterly incurable The love of Vice darkens a Mans mind and blinds his reason and judgment it bars up his Understanding against the plainest Truths and makes him resolve not to believe that to be true which it is his interest should be false and from hence it is that a great many who would be glad that there were no Heaven or Hell hereafter are brought to question the truth of them and pretend not to be satisfi'd with that Account and Evidence that the Scripture gives of them and if they had more and the same that they do now require to see one from the dead yet the love of wickedness would still make 'em very unwilling to believe it and their corrupted Wills would be too hard for their understandings it would be very hard to convince them that that was true which they had so great an inclination and so great a desire should be false And from hence it is that Men's Infidelity springs in matters of Religion not from want of sufficient Conviction to their understandings but from a corruption and pravity of their Wills by which means their understanding has a cloud and a film drawn over it so that it is quite darkned to the clearest and most evident light they grow senseless and stupified and their intellectuals are besotted and their reason depraved and the whole mind sunk into such a miserable state and condition that they are become such of whom the Scripture speaks John 12.40 He hath blinded their eyes and hardned their hearts that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted so that God should heal them and that neither with all the ordinary nor the extraordinary methods which he can use towards them Let us therefore take care not to fall into such a sad state and condition by indulging our selves in the love or the practice of any wilfull sin which may by degrees so strangely harden and deceive us so fascinate and bewitch us that when it has baffled and overcome all the ordinary remedies of the Divine Grace and Providence it shall be past