and Representative on Earth and therefore every Contempt of him is no less an affront to God himself We read in the 2 Sam. 21.1 That when the Land of Israel was smitten three years together with Famine the Oracle of God declared That it was for Saul and his bloody house because he slew the Gibeonites Now I pray tell me was not our National sin far greater than that of Israel's There it is true the King slew the slaves but here the slaves slew the King there one of the worst of Kings contrary to a National Oath slew the basest of the People but here the basest of the People contrary to many Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy Protestations and Covenants slew the best of Kings And will not God visit for these things Will our sins be less importunate for Vengeance than that of the Israelites Shall the Gibeonites Blood cry unto God from the ground and will not the Blood of this days Martyr cry under the Altar How long O Lord how long before thou avengest my Blood Yes verily and I am afraid that besides these many Plagues and Mischiefs we have groaned under there be severer Vengeance hanging over us his hand will be stretched out still unless we prevent it by a serious Confession and a sincere Repentance of our Sins when we were in the dregs of Misery and lying under the bitterness of Death Heaven smiled upon us and the great and all-seeing Eye gave us a tast of his Mercies by Restoring unto us our Dread Soveraign But examine your Consciences and enquire of your Hearts what Gratitude you express for this Mercy What returns have we made for so astonishing a Blessing We entertain'd the Change with a Joy too profuse but was it enough Religious We saw the great things were done for us whereof we were glad but did we so much consider the Lord had done them and were we not more affected with the variety and profitableness than with the Mercy and kindness of the Dispensation Have we seriously humbled our selves before God for this days Wickedness Have we Repented of it have we dispatched our Tears and Sighs as Embassadors from Heaven to plead in our behalf and to Sue out our Pardon That you and I and all of us are Guilty of the Sin is sufficiently notorious though after divers manners and circumstances as then the Distemper is Epidemical so let our Sorrow be Universal let us unanimously cry unto God that he wou'd forgive us not only this but all the sins we have since committed for God hath applyed the Sun-shine of his Mercies to melt us into Repentance as well as the Thunder of his Judgments to ruffle us into Obedience but let us seriously reflect if the Oyl of his Mercy hath not made us rather wanton and nimble in Feasts of Impiety than Active in his Service And as we have abused his Favours so neither hath his Judgements instructed us to learn Righteousness O cursed Impenitency for this days Murther I fear it is Thou that hast undone us I fear it is Thou that still causest us to lye under the Rod of Gods Anger how hast thou laboured our ruine and still study our Destruction Look down from Heaven and speak O Royal Charles was it not for thy Blood that God hath vex'd us with Plagues and beaten us in pieces like a Potters Vessel Was it not thy Blood which caus'd the Destroying Angel to fill our Air with such an horrid Infection that in less than nine Months above an Hundred Thousand Inhabitants were cut off from one City Speak O Royal Charles Was it not thy Blood which brought the most flourishing and famous City in the World to Ruine and Desolation overthrowing it as Sodom and Gomorrha were overthrown and have we yet made an Attonement to thy Hearse Are we not still insensible of our Wickedness Have we watered our Couch with Tears for this our Disloyalty Have we pay'd double Honour unto the Son for the great Dishonour done unto the Father 'T is true we have Sanctified a Fast and called a Solemn Assembly but have we Fasted from our Sins Is there not as much Rebellion in our Hearts as before we exprest in our Actions Are we not dayly Contriving and Plotting the Subversion of our Government How do we make our selves a Prey to our Adversaries by the Divisions amongst us by our Heading of Factions and Espousing little Parties and Interests Do we not dayly Speak Evil of Dignities and Despise Principalities and Powers Though God himself hath said Who shall say unto a King what dost thou And thou shalt not Speak Evil of the Ruler of thy People do we not contemn his Laws and refuse the Dictates of his Precepts and will not the Noise of Blood pull Vengeance upon our Heads if we prove no better Penitents Yes verily and I am afraid the Calamitous Distractions which at this day Infect our Nation proceedeth from our little respect to this days Solemnity Many instead of Fasting and Praying are Hectoring and Ranting and if this be the Religion of Saints tell me O good God! what is the Impiety of Devils Is it Comely thus to Mourn in Coloured Taffaty Will such a wrestling with God force him to a Blessing or rather will it not provoke Fire and Brimstone from Heaven utterly to undoe us I will up I will up saith the Lord and ease my self of my Adversaries making my Sword like that of Saul or Gideon loaden with the Blood of the slain and Fat of the mighty Yet still as if God only spoke big Words and all his Threats were meer Bravadoes of Heaven we slight and condemn both his Golden Scepter and Iron Rod. Alas was ever People so Prodigiously besotted as to think God will be thus infinitely provoked Let us begin then now to fear our God and to pay all Honour and respect to the Defender of his Faith are you not acquainted that our Nation is almost ruin'd and destroyed doth not Church and State lye a Bleeding are not your Estates wasted and your Trading decay'd Your Splendor Eclipsed Your Families broken and scattered yea and your Dignities trampled on Is it not high time then that we fall on our knees and beg of God that the Blood of his Son may cleanse us from that of our Soveraign Turn ye turn ye why will ye die If we seek unto God by Repentance he will repent of the Evil he intended to inflict upon us Oh! blessed Repentance it is Thou alone that canst save us It was Thou alone O Repentance that saved Eight Persons from the Flood Nineveh had fallen had not you supported it it had fallen had not you protected it it was the want of Thee that caused the Destruction of Egypt If Thou hadst been present Sodom had not been destroyed Come thou then to our succour O potent Repentance help us O help us Thou Joy of Angels and Crown of Nations stand up in defence of a no longer Rebellious but
seperated from Unity I shall not trouble my self with the Arguments they alledged to prove their Assertion but I am verily perswaded the Devil was the first Whigg in its proper sense Who not only by his saucy Affectation of a Parity with God caused a Division and Tumult in Heaven but also he still hath his Agents and Factors to create the like differences upon Earth he can't it 's true now stain the Glories of unblemish'd Saints or set Heaven it self at odds Yet alas How Prosperous is he in somenting Enmities Animosities and Divisions upon Earth Was it not the Devil who caused the Schism of Corah Dathan and Abiram Did not he breed the separation of the Eustasians who occasioned the Councel at Gangra Was it not he who Enkindled that Schismatical Fire of the Donatists Did not he blow it into such dismall and raging Flames that they had almost consumed and burnt the whole Church Yea even turn'd it into Ashes Had not that Councel at Africa been Assembled to quench and allay its fury And tell me I beseech you are not these Embers reviv'd afresh If we reflect on those who at this day disturb our Jerusalem are they not of the same dye and Complexion herein only differing that those of this Age have scrap'd the shreds of all old and out-worn Heresies to patch them up in a Scotch Tump or Geneva Frock but God grant all the Tantivy-men as they maliciously call us and Obedient Sons of the Church may unanimously concur to whip and scourge out all them who foment and cherish the Divisions of Church or State that the House of Prayer may no longer be a Den but an House and that for God too which is the next particular Secondly My House and upon this account it was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Councel at Laodicea where they Condemned even the Feasts of Charity celebrated therein for though they were good convincing Arguments of Christian Unity and Love and held the Authority of Apostolical Custom yet still it was thought great Prophanation of the Temple because it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proper only to God and not to be imployed to uses of our own God gives us a right and propriety to all others but this is Gods House and we may not make bold with it For as it hath a special Holiness so in like manner a special Honour pertaining thereunto We don't it is true consider it as Holy in respect of it self yet is it not Holy by reason of its use and special dedication unto God And if so how Erroneous are they who dispute against it and maintain any other place as much his and as much Holy Which if true to what end is that strict Command Make not my Fathers House an House of Merchandise Or how could our Saviour lay Sacriledge to the Jews charge because they Traded and Traficked there What more evident than that the Churches are to be used only for the Services of God And that ought to be the principle yea only end of our coming thither and not to dispatch Worldly concerns to make Compacts and Bargains as too frequent amongst us The Consecration and Dedication of Churches is no new nor unheard of thing no nor yet Superstitious they who censure it so cast dirt upon all Holy Antiquity Ah! of Holy Antiquity said I in the very face of God himself who hath ever Honoured and Accepted it 'T is the Consecration thereof makes it Holy yea and causeth God so to judge of it For though Stone and Morter are incapable of Grace yet by their Consecration they receive a Spiritual Power whereby they are made fit for Gods Worship and Service Now being Consecrated tell me O tell me the danger of Attributing Holiness thereto I am confident there is none if we will not run contrary in Opinion to the whole stream and current of the Ancient Fathers who declared it as their Judgment Whence O whence comes that rude and unhandsom Behaviour in the Church that he must have a piercing judgment indeed who can discern a difference between the Temple and the Theatre but from that Heretical Opinion condemned in the Messalian Hereticks that there is no more Holiness in the one than in the other Does not the Profane Usage proceed from the Profane Opinion thereof And he that conceived thus what can he be stiled less than Atheist or Heretick For let us have but an Honourable Opinion of God and from the Hem of such a Garment will flow a Virtuous and Honourable Opinion of his House Let us but Honour him and I declare it impossible to have no Veneration or Reverence for the Temple Let others stile it Superstitious but O my Soul come not thou into their Secrets but mount up thy self and imitate the Devotions of Primitive Christians who Worshipped God toward the East both Priest and People as soon as they presented themselves in his House All the time they were there with what Modesty and Silence with what Reverence and Attention did they demean themselves That it justly merited the Phraise of the House of God and they of a Choire of Angels rather than Men Were they not all upon their Knees at the Prayers All upon their Feet at the Sermon none presuming to Sit as being too bold and laisy a Posture in the House of God Nay were there not some who Audipedes incedebant in Templum In imitation of Moses they would not have their Shooes on their Feet in the Temple May not this shame yea God grant it rise not up in Judegment against them who Snort a Sleep in his House as if they had not a Cabin to rest in Who have their Hatts on their Heads when God and his Angels more immediately behold them And what O ye Watchmen of Israel and Prophets of the Lord shall we see our Master thus Dishonoured in his House and shall we wink at the Abuses Let us not be so faint-hearted and tame as if we were afraid to Speak but let us labour to maintain the Glory of his House Ought there to be no difference between the Temple of the Lord and an House accustomed to Revelling Shall a common Meeting place in the Market and that of Angels and Arch-Angels be one and the same Of Angels said I yea the very Presence Chamber of the King of Heaven This is a Duty especially incumbent on the Priest to Correct such Abuses and miscarriages in the Church that it may not be a Den but ever continue an House of Prayer Which is the next Particular Thirdly Though there be many Religious Duties to be exercised in the House of God yet Prayer is the principal yea no other is mentioned Gods House is the House of Prayer not of Preaching not that Preaching is excluded but Prayer must have the preheminence and upper-hand Preaching and Prayer are both good but of the two the the latter is the most worthy 't is pity two such fair Sisters should vie
Beauty but indeed God hath commanded me to declare that Prayer must have the most eminent nay only place My House is the House of Prayer This was the Apostles judgement when there was the highest necessity for Preaching for then the Gospel was to be planted in all the World nevertheless though it was then most useful yet Prayer was preferred before it for say the Apostles But we will give our selves continually unto Prayer and to the Ministry of the Word Acts 6.4 First Prayer then the Ministry of the Word now if it was so in their days the Argument is more forcible in ours because the Gospel is propagated and Christianity fully settled among us God forbid that I should in the least derogate from that Honourable Imployment of Preaching the Word yet I am more then convinced we must more strictly account for the neglect of Prayer than of Preaching Yet alas we think we may be remiss in our Duty of coming to Church if our Ears be not first alarm'd with the loud noises of a Sermon Bell as if Religion consisted in this only and went no higher than aurium Tenus To what end serves Preaching and all Learned Discourses but as Instruments and means to instruct us to Pray Thus you may hear St. Paul How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard And how shall they hear without a Preacher So that Preaching is the means to direct us to call upon him And I pray tell me if the means ought to be magnified beyond the end The Fathers 't is true were very frequent in such Pious Orations but this did not make Prayer more compendious for in the days of Chrysostom when Preaching was most used there was no part of the Liturgy omitted but now Prayer is slenderly respected we seem desirous of nothing but Preaching Many mens dislike to that incomparable Common Prayer practiced in the Church Pardon me Gentlemen if I impute it to those of our Function for how can we presume the Laity to have Reverence for it when we our selves seem to disown it by cutting it into little shreds and parts either to oblige a Faction or ease our selves But did we all unanimously agree to be obedient to our Rubrick as our Oath requires us men would soon have a greater respect for It and Us for what can create greater Distractions in the minds of men whilst they observe me exactly conformable to the Rules of the Church and another little or nothing regarding it for the same Obligation commands it from him which enjoyns it as my Duty The Roman Devotionals 't is true retain a great part of our Liturgy and do they not also the same Bible Sacraments and other Holy Duties and shall I deny that which is good because it hath sometimes been mixed with Evil The Vessels of the Temple were carried to Babylon and Prophaned by Belshazzar yet were they not restored and Consecrated by Ezra to the Service of God The Common Prayer-Book in like manner was most collected from the Roman Mass Book but what of this There were Liturgies extant in the Church before the Mass had Name or Being and Rome Christian was much Elder than that of Papal When therefore the Mistery of Iniquity began to play its Cards the Old or First Common Prayer was not Abolished only mixed with Errors and Corruptions which blemishes being taken away is it not as Beautiful as ever This then was the Pious Care of our first Reformers to refine it from its Dross and bring it to its Primitive Purity retaining nothing but what is pure Scripture or deducted there-from by the Judegment of our Holy Mother the Church But alas we so much degenerate from their Worthyness that we will not follow the form prescribed by them we are for new Lights and Inventions to guide us to Heaven we deny Common Prayer and magnifie the sudden Raptures of men as the Illuminations of the Spirit when really what are they better than an heap of Non-sense in Crampt words only glazed with the Saint-like Varnishes of a cast up Eye and Canting Tone Their chief Objections against the Liturgy are because it is a Form and enforced by Authority which are so ridiculous they are not worthy Confutation For what Prayers I pray best adorn the Beauty of Holiness those which are shuffled together by Chance or such as be Refined and Polished who Pray most Believingly he who digesteth what he Prays for or he who utters his first Sense and Thoughts Who Prays with fullest assurance to have his Prayers heard and Crown'd with Success He who weighs and ponders his Petitions Or he who either by implicite Devotion gives assent to all that proceed from the mouth of a Gifted Brother or else suspend his Amen when he hears things inconsistent with his reason or rule of Faith So that it cannot be because it is a Form but because commanded by Authority yet that very command layes the highest Obligation for our Obedience thereto Obedience says Samuel is better than Sacrifice The Levitical Law Commanded That the Firstlings of an Ass should be redeemed with a Lamb Now shall we in contempt of this Law break the Lambs neck and think an Ass a more proper Offering for the Temple Return then O Shunamite return return into the Embraces of thy Holy Mother the Church for she is all Fair there is no Spot in her she looked forth as the Morning Fair as the Moon Cleer as the Sun and Terrible as an Army with Banners The Prophanation of the Church Ye have made it c. That which was before phraised the Perfection of Beauty the Joy of the whole Earth whether the Tribes ascended as to the Patern of Heaven When Christ came to visit it it was neither like Heaven nor an House the very Sacrifices therein had need of an Expiation the Sanctuary it self could not be safe from Sacrilegious Cruelty God and Prayer were both driven out by Theeves The Temple was not barely Prophaned but Prophaned in the most hainous nature the greatness of the Offence may be measured by the harshness of the Term in that he calls not an House but a Den Ye have made c. Where I shall consider When the Church is made a Den And then secondly Who are the Theeves First An House receive the first peeping forth of Light all little Rayes and Glimmering will peirce themselves in But as for a Den it is a place of Horrour and Darkness and the Church may well be compared to it if there be wanting in it the Light of Ceremonies the Light of Doctrine and the Light of Life and Conversation in the Priest For First If the Light of Ceremonies be taken out of the Church we blow out the Light that is shining therein Rom. 1.20 is not Sense the guide to the Understanding Do not Visible things direct us to those that are Invisible Can
certainly yield our selves Servants to Sin and are ensnared by these Nets he hath privately laid to entrap men For when God perceives I make no good use of those Talents of Grace committed to my Trust not to my Trust as to keep them enwrapped in a Napkin but to improve to a further growing in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ which if I don't he then will most justly withdraw these his Graces which I have so foolishly mis-imployed and harden my heart as well to punish me for my Wickedness as also for my Folly that then when I might have made use of his supporting Grace to assist me I did willfully slight and neglect these opportunities of growing from Grace to Grace For to day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts In this Psalm the Sweet Singer of Israel insinuates an earnest Exhortation to Laud and Magnifie the Providence of God in his Wise conduct of the World together with that Infinite Wisdom in contriving and managing the Illustrious Fabrick and oeconomy of the Church both Triumphant and Militant and then he descends in v. 8. to exhort and admonish us not to Irritate and provoke him to Anger by our Impenitent Course and persisting in Wickedness but embrace every opportunity of Obedience to his Voice and of a perfect resignation to his Service and Pleasure least by a contempt and hardning our Hearts we tire and weary out the Patience of Heaven till it punish us as did those of Messah and Meribah by a Sclemn Protestation and Oath We shall not enter into the Land of Rost or Heavenly Canaan The words are naturally so pregnant I need not urge any thing there-from but what presents of its own accord I shall not then enlarge my Meditations further then to entertain you with this short Proposition That we must not in the least defer our Repentance but instantly comply with Obedience to that Voice which requires it of us For to day if you will hear c. Solomon seriously considering the hard Province of a man to relinquish habituated Vices advises all in his Book of Ecclesiastes To remember their Creator in the days of their youth For evident it is nothing more difficult for a man when he hath once set his Teeth on edge with the unwholsome Viands of Sin than to relish the Savoury Meats of Righteousness For Sin and Pleasure leave such a Tang and Hogoe in the mouths of Carnal men it renders so pleasant a gust to the Infirmities of Humane Nature that a Camel may as easily rush through the Eye of a Needle as such a person be capacitated for the Kingdom of Glory to which sense are those excellent words of the Prophet Can the Aethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard his Spots Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil He therefore that defers his Repentance in the Summer of his Age and will not acknowledge his Sins whilst he hath Strength and Vigour To resist the World the Flesh and the Devil but involv'd them in the excuses and denyal and clouds of Hypocrisy He will not find it a slender task when all Diseases and the Evils of Age shall muster up their forces in his Crazy-bones when all his wasting pleasures shall present their Items to his Bed rid view to find the Comforts of Repentance then Many Doctors pertaining to the Roman Conclave answering to the question At what time precisely a Sinner is obliged to Repent affirm At what time soever for say they the Precept of Repentance is of the same nature with that of Baptism and Prayer Nor this day nor to morrow is it absolutely necessary to be Baptized but sometime or other and if I Pray an hour or half hence the duty of Prayer is perform'd as fully as if I fell upon my Knees at the very instant of the Proclamation But with submission to better Judgements I dare boldly affirm this assertion can neither be confirm'd by Holy Writ or any Author who Preach nothing but the Sineere Word of God 'T is true I dare not conceal it God desires not the Death of a Sinner but abundantly rather that he turn and Live Yet if one who hath had the grand Blessing of Heaven to be born in the Pale of his Church who hath the Sun shine of the Gospel always beaming on him whose Life engendring Rays are sufficient to warm and soften a stony Heart yes And out of such stones to raise up Children unto Abraham if he will consume his Youth and Beauty in the Service of sin wearing out the gloss of his Life in open Hostility against God and Rallying his Forces to Bandy against the Almighty neither will he accept of his Services when he is worn out with years and hath nothing to present him but the thin Furrows and Wrinkles of Old Age. I appeal to your selves how just and reasonable it is for an Earthly Potentate who promise me if I will submit to his Commands and render an entire Obedience to all his Precepts for the space of one year at his expiration he will load me with Honours and burthen me with Riches how just is it for him to refuse me those Honours and deny me those Riches if I walk contrary to his ways and will not be obedient to the Dictates of his Laws May not then the Creator of Mankind in like manner withdraw the Graces we have so foolishly imbezelled and misimploy'd For is it reasonable for me professing Christianity to Ravel out the little moment of this Life in Sensual Pleasures and Delights never taking a turn in the Melancholly Shades of a Penitent Soul to imagine God will reward my Death-bed Sorrow as a Godly Sorrow when I have Prodigally spent all my Sprightly Strength in ranging the by-ways of Sin and compleating the Kingdom of Satan because he who expects a consummation of future Bliss must have his whole Life and all his Actions free from every imputation and appearance of Evil. The great Shepherd of our Souls loves not a Spotted or Ring streaked Flock but our whole Lives must be an unchequered and intire Holiness So soon as we have taken our Military Oath and are Enroll'd under Christs Banner we must begin our Warfare against the World Flesh and the Devil not having the most little and inconsiderable passage of our Life stain'd or sullyed by the dishonours of a dirty and unworthy Action I mean not that all the circumstances of our Life or whole retinue of our Actions can be as uncorrupted as the Rays of the Sun or as pure as the pure Sparklings of the White-stone and Heavenly Jerusalem no but yet we may in some measure resemble the Moon in which Phylosophers acquaint us there are certain Macule or Spots but no Deformities Whilst we are in this state of Imperfection we can't be so Clarified as to be free from all Indiscretions Errors and Mistakes Flesh and Blood are dayly attended by a
on my part who dare offend who can oppose me For were we so Wise and Valiant as not to afright our selves with our own shadows we shou'd find by the Encouragements of Gods Spirit that he who is with us is mightier than they who are against us Michael and his Angels are not only more Powerful and numerous than the old Dragon and his supposed Strengths but also more loving and careful to do us good Did we not therefore look through the discoloured Mediums of our own polluted Nature Was not the Eye of our Souls tinctured by the suffusions of Lust we should soon find our Strengths greater then we imagine For did we seriously weigh things in their proper ballance we might observe an Heroick Vigour in all Goodness and an Imbecility in Evil only Furthermore if by the assistance of Grace I can't prove my self more than Conqueror over Temptations why should I rejoyce when I fall into a variety and abundance of them Or can I imagine that God who remembers I am but Dust and knows whereof I am made who is better acquainted with my Form and Figure than I my self am wou'd he impose any thing upon me but what he knows is absolutely in my Power to perform Now you may observe both God and his Church bind every Christian at his first Admission into Covenant by the most Solemn Tye to resist Temptations The Substance of which Oath in Baptism is I. N. or M. do here in the presenee of God the Father our Lord Jesus Christ and all the Heavenly Host devote my self to the Services of my God I call Heaven and Earth Angels and Saints the Church Militant and Triumphant to bear witness that I renounce the World Flesh and the Devil and that I will resist their Temptations unto my last breath This I avow to be my Resolution and upon this account and this only I now desire to enter into Covenant with my God and be Initiated and Admitted a Member of his Church and I call my Conscience to Record this day that I will never repent of this Promise nor revoke it but continue Christs Faithful Souldier and Servant unto my Lives end So help me O my God Amen Now this being the form of our Oath in Baptism which we renew at our Confirmation and repeat every time we Communicate at the Lords Table we can certainly conclude it is to be performed for can we fancy to our selves God and his Church would urge us to Impossibilities and engage us to what cannot be effected No certainly for if men be perswaded the Sins they commit are irresistable why do they Sorrow and Repent for what is past Why do they contradict themselves and put a mock upon Heaven by promising Amendment for the future Instead of Confessing why do they not rather Expostulate with God and say 'T is true O Lord I have done many things amiss as I have been Informed by the Parson who calls himself thy Minister and trouble the World by thy Authority which if they be offensive I protest O my God I could not help them I had not Power to resist them If therefore thou wouldst have me for the future perform thy express Words and Commandments and practice those Duties our Preachers inculcate thou must asist me with a greater stock of Grace than hitherto thou hast furnished me withall Now can I presume any so horribly Profane so ridiculously Wicked to Pray after this method and utterly confound those two absolutely necessary parts of Repentance Confession and Contrition If it be thus I dare boldly affirm it the greatest Sins we are tempted to commit are no Sins at all But indeed God will be justified in his sayings and found clear when he is judged for there is no thinking circumspect man if he applyes the Grace of God can be over matched by any Tryal or meet a Temptation that is irresistable For if I can conquer Sin in the Mountains and Strong holds I need not doubt but to baffle him in the Plains and Valleys if I can overcome those great and Gigantick Sins of Idolatry Adultery Fellony Treason and the like why may I not escape those of a lesser magnitude such as Pamphleting the Government and Libelling Authority such as Lying and Slandering Cheating and Cousening Back biting and Speaking evil one of another Shall a Pigmye subdue the Crane or a Dwarfe prove Conquerour of a Gyant Can I go upon the Lyon and the Adder and shall a Frog or a Worm â—lisorder me Did not Christ come to redeem to himself a Church and to present it without Spot or Blemish before the Throne of Grace Now how can We be of this number and not under that qualification Void of Offence towards God and towards Man Thirdly Some may enquire how far we must proceed in Righteousness that we may get a Conquest and Mastery over our Nature and be free from those Imbecilities in saying What I hate that do I. To which I answer There is no set or determinate degree of Endeavour but even as much as we can or are able There is no size or Standard the Excess of which would appear Monstruous But Religion is like unto the flawless Diamond where bigness taxes the value and the unusual bulke both rates and Enhances the Lustre and the Price To give God all that I can is the great command both of the Law and of the Gospel For so noble is the nature of Religion that it admits of failings but by one of the Extremes that of Defect Mediocrity which in other Passions is an Excellency is here an Imperfection It being therefore impossible for us to be too Loyal and Obedient too Religious and Dutyful we must make it the business of our Lives the Care of our Thoughts our only Concern and greatest Imployment in the World To be Holy as God is Holy abstaining from all things whatever that can impede or hinder the promotion and growth of an Holy Life for what is our chiefest righteousness better then Menstruous Raggs if the Lord was extreme to mark what we have done amiss After our very Innocency which otherwise wou'd appear stain'd may through the merits of Christ prove acceptable unto God whatsoever thou findest in thy Heart to do perform it with all thy might and vigour He that will live according to the exact Rules of Christianity must bend his Nerves and Sinews do his utmost towards the demolishing all the Strong-holds of Satan For we can never be clean and free from all Sin until we have done our best and utmost towards the Mortification of it for until that be done how can we be satisfied where the blame and fault resteth or whether it can be effected or not If any man can profess that Purity of Life and strictness of Conversation as to assert that he hath endeavoured to husband and employ his Talent of Grace to the most proper and best advantage that he hath Endur'd as much as is possible
to be Endur'd that he hath Loved as much as he could Love that he hath Watched till he can Watch no longer my Soul for his that Man is blameless in the sight of God because God hath commanded me to tell you he does not expect Brick where he does not afford Straw he accepteth of what a man hath requiring nothing which he is not able to perform For God looks into my Heart and enquires if That be right if I have no Rebellion in Thought as well as Act if I have no affections to Sin no glances to Temptations If I have liquorish desires after the Onyons and Garlick or Flesh-pots of Egypt if I apply all prudent and effectual methods to Mortifie my Sins In a word if I be sincere and real in my Actions and Intentions For unless God at his coming find us in this Sinless state we must never expect the Blessing of his Kingdom But if he does my Soul for yours we shall undoubtedly be saved by the Blood of Christ For consult the Histories of all the most vile and wicked men that ever had a Being upon Earth and as you will find few or none but sometimes or other performing some good Action and yet that Action did not interrupt or put stop to their courses of Impiety so the most Religious of Pious Souls in like manner have their Indiscretions and Mistakes Failings and Errors sometimes doing that which is Wicked and Sinful Nevertheless because their Hearts stand most firm and right towards God He in Mercy will not impute those over sights to Eternal Condemnation The sweet Singer of Israel is a Royal Instance to confirm this Doctrine He was a man after Gods own Heart Nay the Text tells you He was blameless save only in the matter of Uriah Nevertheless did you never read how he numbred the People and can you not plainly read the Characters of Divine Wrath in that severe Judgement wherewith he Plagued his People for this his Transgression Yet still because David was a good man serving God with an upright Heart not intending to disoblige him but committing this Sin through inadvertency it was not imputed to him In short If I endeavour all that I can to arrive at the Perfection I am capacitated for and do what lyes in me to inherit the Promise if I Labour and Hope for it using the most ready and probable means not being deluded by the cunning Arts of a false and treacherous Heart I shall stand upright in the Congregation of the Just and though I cannot with the Romanist challenge Heaven by Merit yet I shall find it as my Saviour hath told me My Fathers good pleasure to give me a Kingdom The Conclusion Fourthly Thus you have the Imbecilities of Man natural together with a Possibility as well as absolute Necessity of their Conquest by man Spiritual and Regenerate For the Devil as Potent and Crafty as he is cannot ravish our Wills nor force our Inclinations the worst he can do is to prompt and perswade to watch Advantages and administer suitable Sollicitations but cannot compel us to entertain them No man is undone or ruin'd Eternally but himself is the Cause of it he that would not cannot be overcome provided he keep his Resolutions fix'd and stedfast This is the true way of Conquest and Victory over Satan Resist the Devil and he will flee from you Jam. 4.7 If we do but make good our ground his Temptations will vanish and disappear What remains but that we be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his might that we take unto our selves the whole Armour of God and be thereby enabled to stand against the Wiles of the Devil Let us Reverence the Greatness and Nobility of our Natures being born anew they are of too Divine a Frame and Temper than to be Prostituted and Defiled Let all opportunities and occasions of Vice be avoided with a quick and jealous care A Temptation is easilier prevented than removed when once it has thrust it self upon the Sinner We should frequently review our Lives and call our Actions to a severe and impartial Account and Examination that we may know what is their Spring and Fountain what their Tendency and Inclination and what will be the Consequence and Issue of them and that if the Politick Enemy of ours have conveyed in a Suggestion in disguise we may pull off the Mask and resent it in its proper Form and Figure And this reckoning ought to be enquir'd into so soon as ever we have sinned or we know that he hath gotten the upper-hand over us for the less Sin hath prevail'd the easier the Fight and Conquest more certain But if he have had much better of us the Argument is more forcible because we have the more to do and therefore we must begin by times The longer our Journey the more early we must set out we must not defer this Labour till it be render'd more difficult by Age or impossible by Death Nothing more true than short Tarryings create long Journeys if we neglect the Duties of our Sprightly years our Journey will be more tedious when our Vigour is decaying and we are weaken'd by Age. Oh! Blessed Pythagoreans who were taught every night to call themselves to an Account for the Actions of the preceding day Sextius the Phylosopher never used to go to Bed 'till he had first Expostulated with himself saying What Evil Habit have I Cured to day What Vice have I resisted Wherein am I better than I was before Oh! let Us imitate those brave Examples and accustom our selves to this excellent course and then we shall quickly find our Victory over sin far more easie and feazable That then which we do let us do quickly whilst the Marrow swells in our Bones and our Blood be hot and boils within our Veins before Evil days come and we be snatch'd away and there be none to deliver us I Pray tell me are not You and I and all the Members of the Catholick Church desirous to end our days in Religion and Piety To die in the Arms and Embraces of our Holy Mother the Church To expire and breath out our last under the safe care and conduct of some Godly and Religious Minister When we are Sick and returning our Souls to him who lent them then nothing but Prayers and doleful Complaints The Groans of Timorous Repentance and the faint Labours of an almost impossible Mortification Yes and least your Souls should miscarry we presently dispatch a little Mercury or Messenger for the despised Parson Then and only Then we look upon our Priest so much laugh'd at in our Plays and made the May game of our Stage as a Barnabas or Son of Consolation then we adjudge him as a Messenger or Physician sent from God to heal our Plague-Sores what are his Words but Oracles Religion but Truth Sin but a burthen and most uneasie to be born And the Sinner more foolish than the Beasts that perish But I Pray Sirs as you prize your Souls as you value Heaven as you expect Eternal Life or dread the Terrors of Everlasting Burnings seriously to consider with me whether the Doctrines we Preach the words we deliver the Councels we give are they not as True now whilst ye live and enjoy the Happy Priviledges of Health as they be when ye approach the Paths of Death Why should they not then have the same Powerful Influence and make that impression on our Lives now they commonly do then Let us then Mortifie our Sins betimes least we never Mortifie them at all the Fable will tell you The Snail out-went the Eagle and wonne the Race because she set out betimes Let us begin our Warfare whilst it is called to day resolving to die unto the World that we may be found alive unto God Let us grow in Grace going on to Perfection till we arrive at the full measures of the stature of Christ and into the perfect Liberty of the Sons of God so that we shall not complain in the Text What I hate that do I but hate what God hates doing nothing that is forbidden not by virtue of our own Strength or Power but because Christ is our Strength and he dwells in us and we in him Grant us Grace therefore we beseech thee O Lord to withstand the Temptations of World the Flesh and the Devil and with pure Hearts and Minds to follow thee the only God through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen FINIS