What fear what horror what agony will possess thee O sinful soul when thou shalt be brought into a perfect apprehension of thy Judge and of thy self and he shall begin to order out before thee the things which he hath done when the whole Trinity shall begin to unfold its common work and that sacred Person blessed for ever upon whose shoulders the Iudgment is laid shall unfold to thee his peculiar and thou must render a severe account of thy returns When the mystery of thy Creation shall be unveiled to thee When thou shalt apprehend throughly what it is to have been fetcht out of the dark and barren shade of an eternal privation to be put in a capacity of glory When he shall recount to thee the proceedings of his handy work the method of thy making the several articles and gradations of his Providence in the formation and information of thee How at first he poured thee out like milk and crudled thee cheese How he spun out thine arteries and veins and whilst thou wert yet in thy blood he said unto thee live How he guarded thee with muscles and strengthened thee with sinews and propt thee with bones and covered thee with skin furnished thee with organs endowed them with senses invested thee with reason crowned thee with freedom enlightned thee with principles of Science and Conscience bounded thee by his Precepts encouraged thee by his Promises restrained thee by his threatnings When he shall run over the benefits of thy daily preservation and rigorously examine what thou hast done for him When God the Son shall display to thee what he hath done and suffered for thee and shall set before thine eyes the great mystery of thy Redemption When he shall bring thee to apprehend the price that he has paid that ransom which thou hast not regarded When it will not be in thy power to pass over these considerations as now thou dost but they shall be forced into the essential center of thy Soul When thou shalt have a clear sight of the abasement of a God incarnate When thou shalt know how to be moved at the sight of a despised and an abused Godhead When he shall charge thee with the blewness of those stripes and the ghastliness of those wounds which thou hast made When he shall rehearse to thee the miseries of his life and the circumstances of his death When he shall recount to thee the woundings of the taunts and reproaches the smart of the whips the terrour of the agony which made him sweat great drops of blood the pricks of the thorns the piercing of the nails the launcing of the spear and the ineflable horror of the dereliction when he cried out in the bitterness of his soul My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And when he shall fiercely call upon thee to answer for the wounds that thou hast made to render him his blood that thou hast spilt to account to him for that life which thou hast bereft to shew him the fruit of all his pains and sufferings to present him thy returns for all these benefits and favours then tell me what thou wilt answer O stupid soulâ— How art thou provided to reply Wilt thou deny that he has done these things for thee or canst thou shew as much for him Hast thou returned him that being which he hath given thee and so been even with him in a form of words though that come infinitely short indeed Hast thou sacrificed thy self for his benefit or abased thy self for his commodity What wilt thou plead when thou art called The time is coming thy Judgment hastning thine account is unavoidable thy Judge inexorable Alas what could I have done for him what profit could I have brought him if I should have pined away in the exercise of Devotion and been eaten up with zeal If I should have spent my substance in Burnt-Offerings or Calves of a year old If I should have presented him with thousands of Rams or ten thousand Rivers of Oil To what purpose then should I endeavour that which I could not have performed Why should I trouble my self with vain attempts and spend my strength about that which I never could accomplish neither if I be righteous is he the better nor if I be wicked is he the worse our goodness extends not to him if thou sinnest what dost thou against him if thou be righteous what receiveth he at thine hand Is this then the evasion I need not stand to unfold the disingenuity the stupor and madness of this evasion However though these things shall be urged upon us they are not all these offer themselves in the consideration of the person of the Judge but are not all the matter of thy Judgment For Thou shall be brought to Iudgment for these things there is the matter of thy Judgment For All these things there is the extent Because this latter adds only a Modality to the former and I desire not to be over tedious we will put these two together And now we are descended from those less familiar Considerations to which we were forced to strein our understandings in the contemplation of our Judge into the compass of our own sphere to the survey of our own operations we are come from the incomprehensible ways of God to the ways of our own hearts Walk in the ways of thy heart c. and But know c. In the judgment of this life men are tryed by the works of their hands or the words of their mouths for theft or murder for slander or Treason men may be brought to Judgment but thought is free he has lived well that has carried his crimes close the crafty Politician and the concealed Hypocrite escape There the case is quite contrary the Judgment takes in primarily the ways of the heart and the words and actions as they proceed from them Wherefore let us withdraw a space into our selves and endeavour to mete out the extent of that Proposition For all the ways of the hearts of men God will bring them to Judgment How would it trouble us to recount and bring to memory every thought but of one only day and how many disorders and irregularities should we find in such a reflection How do our thoughts flote upon our brains and we know neither whence they come nor what becomes of them When they are broken in upon our minds we cannot hold them and when they are gone from us as it was with Nâ—buchadnâ—zzar's â—ream it is not in our power to recover them How many roving fancies present themselves unto us in a moment and how many sudden and imperfect Complacencies and distastes are raised by them Leave but thy self unbound unfixed by hearing or reading or business c. for an hour and then tell me what suppositions and consequences and resolutions thou hast made And how thou hast felt thy self to strein upon the borders of Lust or Envy of Pride or Anger of Discontent
of softning or breaking the hearts of men have hardened them yet more in a course of desperate impenitency Felix trembled and said Go thy way When Belshazzar had plundered the house of God and was making a debauch in the bowls of the Temple the finger wrote upon the wall MENE We read that his countenance was changed and an horrible trembling seised upon him The joynts of his loyns were loosed his knees smote one against another But we do not read that he repented As plagues were multiplyed so Pharaoh's heart was hardned and he vowed he would not let the people go When the King of Moah was in anguish and in great distress it was a warning to repent but he took his eldest son and offered him for a sacrifice upon the wall When the Philistines made war upon Saul and God was departed when he was sore afraid and his heart greatly trembled who would not expect that he should have turned unto the Lord But he betook him to the witch of Endor Of Ahaz it is said that in the time of his afflictions he trespassed yet more this is that King Ahaz And we read that when a great hail fell from heaven Men blasphemed God because of the hail But if single mercies and judgments will not do perhaps an intermixture of them may prevail and indeed for a rational and probable means to bring men to repentance the imagination and apprehension of man can go no higher than to such a case where signal and remarkable judgements are brought upon some and others are reserved and set as it were upon a Scaffold or a Theatre in safety to behold the destruction and plagues brought upon their Neighbours Turbantibus quora ventiâ— Eterra magnum alterius spectare laborem So Israel beheld the Egyptians drowned in the Sea and Corah and his complices swallowed in the Land This is the case of those whom God preserves from plagues and famines and desolationsâ— making them survivors and spectators of the destructions brought upon the world And this was the case of the persons in the Text this one would think should never fail When he slew them then they i. e. the remnant sought him and turned them early and sought after God Nay but even this hath also too often failed for even these did but flatter him with their lips and dissemble The Israelites that were spectators of the drowned Egyptians within three days fell to their wonted murmurings The Spectators of Corah within one day returned to their rebellion The Prophet Amos in the name of God complains of those that had escaped famine and pestilence and sword I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha and ye were as a fire-brand snatched out of the burning yet have ye not turned unto to me saith â—he Lord. And this was the case of the persons in the Text they were a remnant of men which were not killed by the plagues brought upon others yet they repented not Notwithstanding the wonder according to reason we have seen the truth and observed the frequency of such mens impenitency in common experience it remains that we consider the consequence and issue of it observable from the Text as it stands in relation to the Antecedent parts and the Catastrophe of this Vision They repented not And the seventh Angel sware that there should be time no more no more time for repentance no longer reprieve of vengeance III. Such an obstinate impenitâ—ncy is the gâ—eat provocation of the wrath of God such a final impenitency is the certain forerunner of final ruine and destruction Though the Lord be patient he is not of wood or of stone though he be slow to anger yet he can be angry and who can stand before him when he is angry It is true that the Lord is strong and patient and our God is provoked every day he is long-suffering and abundant in forbearance though we do evil an hundred times he prolongs our days He is not extreme to mark what is done amiss He considers that we are but dust and as a wind that passeth away and cometh not again Many and many a provocation on he passes by for He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men Bâ—hold he stands at the door and knocks By his word and by his works and by his spirit striving to reclaim the sons of men that he may keep their life from the pit and their soul from perishing But if all this cannot prevail what can reasonable men expect or what would they have him do His Spirit shall not alway strive with men his aâ—used lenity and his affâ—onted longanimity will be turned into jealousie and fiery indignation For to him belongeth venâ—eance as well as mercie and the God to whom vengeance the God to whom vengeance belongeth will shem himself God will arise and his enemies shall be scattered He will awake as one out of sleep he will rouze himself up as a Gyant refreshed with wine He will smite his enemies in the hinder parts and put them to a perpetual shame Thus saith the Lord of hosts the mighty one of Israel Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries and avenge me of mine enemies Concerning persons the Apostle tells us of a certain state wherein there remains no more sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for of judgement Concerning Nations our Saviour tells of a certain measure of iniquity Fill ye up the measure of your fathers so false is that conceit so dangerous is that imagination that men can repent at any time at leastwise whensoever they shall have a mind to it They shall call saith God but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me As I live saith the Lord I will not be enquired of by you Saul enquired of the Lord he answered him not neither by prophets nor by Vrim nor by dreams Esau sought for repentance but he found no place for repentance though he sought it even with tears I gave her space to repent but she repeâ—ted not behold I will cast her into great tribulations This is a case which I tremble to insist upon What tongue can express the misery of such a person or such a people How dreadful is this place surely this is none other than the gate of Hell the entrance of all the miseries of this world and of the world to come 1. Temporal 2. Spiritual and 3. Eternal 1. The Lord shall send upon them cursing and vexation and rebuke until they be destroyed and perish quickly They shall be cursed in all their interests and concernments in their estates in their credit in their relations in their persons Cursed shall they be in the city and cursed in the field cursed in the basket and in the store They shall become an astonishment and a proverb
SIX SERMONS PREACHED By the Right Reverend Father in God SETH Lord Bishop of SARVM LONDON Printed by Andrew Clark for Iames Collins at the Kings Arms in Ludgate-street 1672. THE Contents I. AGainst Resistance of Lawful Powers on Rom. 13. 2. And they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation Preached at Whitehal Novemb. 5. 1661. II. Against the Antiscripturists on 2 Tim. 3. 16. All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God Preached at Whitehal Feb. 20. 1669 70. III. Concerning the Sinfulness Danger and Remedies of Infidelity on Heb. 3. 12. Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Exhort one another daily Preached at Whitehal Feb. 16. 1667 68. IV. A Sermon Preached before the the Peers in the Abby-Church at Westminster Octob. 10. 1666. on Eccles. xi 9. But know that for all these things God will bring thee to Iudgment Rejoyce O young man c. V. A Sermon concerning the Strangeness Frequency and desperate Consequence of Impenitency Preached at Whitehal April 1. 1666. soon after the great Plague on Revelat. 9. 20. And the rest of the men which were not killed by the Plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands VI. A Sermon against Ingratitude Preached at Whitehal Feb. 26 1664 65. sometime before the great Plague on Deut. 32. 6. Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Against RESISTANCE OF Lawful Powers A SERMON Preached before the KING at White-Hall Novemb. v. 1661. LONDON Printed by A. C. for Iohn Martyn and are to be sold by Iames Collins at the Kings Arms in Ludgate-street Against Resistance of Lawful POWERS ROM xiii 2. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation AMongst all the stratagems of the Devil tending to the undermining of Religion and the subversion of the souls of men though there cannot be any more unreasonable yet there was never any more unhappily successful than the creating and fomenting an Opinion in the World That Religion is an enemy to Government and the bringing Sincerity and Zeal in Religion into jealousie and disgrace with the Civil Powers It was by this jealousie blown into the heads of the High Priests and the Sanhedrim amongst the Jews and of Herod and Pontius Pilate that Christ himself the Captain of our Salvation the Author and Finisher of our Faith was accused condemned and executed on a Tree By this the Apostles were haled before the Governours of Provinces forced from one City to flee unto another for this they endured bonds and imprisonment and sundry kinds of death It was through this fancy that the Christians for three hundred years together endured the rage of Heathen Emperours being destitute afflicted and tormented Our Lord Christ was traduced as an enemy to Caesar a man refractary to the Roman Laws and a Nonconformist to the Religion and Laws of his Country The Apostles were charged as disturbers of the publick peace with turning the world upside down The Primitive Christians were accounted enemies to the Commonwealth adverse and malevolent to the Empire and the Christian Religion it self was bruited and surmised to have something in it offensive and dangerous to the Civil Government as appears not only by the Edicts of Heathen Emperours but also by the Apologies of Clemens Alexandrinus Iustin Martyr Tertullian Athenagoras c. Neither was it thus only of old before the Roman Empire was become Christian but even since the time of Constantine down to our Fathers days nay to our own we shall find the Devil still managing the same pretence carrying on the same Antichristian mystery of iniquity which began to work in the time of our Lord Christ and his Apostles Those that profess to know the Arcana Imperii and publickly proclaim themselves to the World to be qualified for Molders of Commonwealths and Dictatours to Princes are the Writers of Politicks Machiavel abroad and others nearer home some of these pretending discoveries of things unknown to all our Fathers if they be strictly analysed will be found to resolve their whole mystery into this one pretence That Religion in the height and exaltation of it is prejudicial to Policy and that to be a thorow-paced a sincere and zealous Christian is to be dangerous to the State As the remedy for which evil they have thought fit and necessary to enervate the Principles of all Religion so far as to remove the Doctrine of Good and Evil the Immortality of the Soul the Rewards and Punishments of the World to come that so Religion may appear wholly to derive from Policy How destructive these Doctrines are not only to the souls of men in reference to the World to come but to the interests of this life the regular and secure acquisition and enjoyment whereof are entirely derived from the great and everlasting Ordinance of Government I am not now called to speak But surely it cannot be unnecessary to endeavour to state this Question to search into the grounds of this pretence to examine thorowly from whence all this clamour these fears and jealousies whence all this mighty scandal hath arisen The Gospel of our Saviour is not like the Alcoran which hates the light and abhors a strict examination of the Principles whereon it stands When the Jews contended with our Saviour and opposed his Doctrine he desired to bring the matter in question to a rational decision Iohn x. The Question there was Whether he were the Son of God And he propounds them this fair 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 37. If I do the works of my Father believe me if I do not believe me not And I verily as a Minister of Christ though the meanest of ten thousand am bold in the power and through the evidence of the truth of the Gospel to say Let the Adversaries of Religion search and look let them employ their Wit their Industry their Logick if any thing can be found in the Principles of Christianity prejudicial to the power of just and lawful Magistrates Nay moreover if it be possible for Men or Angels to state the Rights of Civil Government upon clearer and firmer Principles to secure them by more powerful Obligations to urge them upon men by more efficacious Motives of Rewards and Punishments than those are which the very Foundations of Christianity do expresly propound then let the Gospel and the Ministers of it endure all that contempt and obloquy which these men desire to cast upon them And for the Foundations of our Religion there are those that tell us that Christianity is founded upon Cephas which is indeed by interpretation a Stone but the Apostle tells us Ephes. ii 20. that we are built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Iesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone wherefore by these the present Question is to be decided If any men at any time taking upon them the sacred name of Christians have swerved from the Rule of their
subtilty as well as by force The Opposition of Elymas the Sorcerer to Saint Paul is expressed by this word Act. xii 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the opposition of Iannes and Iambres to Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. iv 15. 3. And lastly it signifies opposition by Words as well as by Deeds So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to gainsay and to resist are the same Luke xxi 15. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to contradict Acts vi 10. The words then do clearly and plainly comprehend all manner of resistance or opposition This hitherto concerns the Proposition taken materially if we reflect upon the form of it there will be two things to be considered First That the Proposition is indefinite and equipollent to an Universal They that resist that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every soul as in the first Verse that resists without any exception of persons Secondly That the Act of Resistance is set down likewise absolutely without any restraint in respect of any pretences or causes whatsoever So that the sence of the words resolved and expounded by the Scriptures is this Every Soul which upon any pretence whatsoever in any manner whatsoever shall resist the lawful Authority that is over him shall receive to himself damnation that is he puts himself thereby into a state of damnation This I conceive to be the meaning of the Holy Ghost in the words of my Text. I must acknowledge that two things have been questioned in this Proposition by the men of this unhappy viperous and adulterous Generation I. The first is Whether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be interpreted so severely as to signifie eternal damnation II. Whether that which is said concerning all persons and pretences can be made good upon the Principles of Christianity I. As to the former of these I shall only say that the Argument brought against this interpretation doth in truth exceedingly confirm it The Allegation is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used in Scripture for Temporal Judgment The place produced is 1 Cor. xi 29. He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 damnation to himself where the Apostle seemeth to explain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the following words Verse 30. For this cause many are weak and sickly and many sleep viz. by Temporal Judgments And indeed this is true but these things likewise ought to be observed 1. That the same penalty is denounced in the Gospel to those who resist Authority and to those that are guilty of the body of Christ 1 Cor. xi 27. and trample upon the blood of the everlasting Covenant 2. That neither Ananias and Sapphira nor yet the Corinthians were by their Temporal Judgments exempted from Eternal 3. And lastly That seeing the great difference betwixt the Legal and Evangelical dispensation did consist in this that the express Promises and Threatnings under the Law were Temporal and under the Gospel Eternal if God shall under the Gospel besides Eternal punishments due to every sin add moreover to some particular sins the threatnings of temporal Judgments let these men consider what advantage they have gotten and what can more be devised to contribute to the aggravations of such a sin I shall say no more to the first Question nor to that part of the Text which concerns the damnation of Resisters precisely considered but shall apply my self to the resolution of the second II. It is impossible in half an hour to speak concerning all those pretences for resistance of Magistrates which being raised by Satan and made use of by the children of disobedience are falsly charged upon Religion I shall single out some of the chief of them and examine them by the Law and the Testimony by the Old and New Testament adding to them as occasion requires the judgment and practise of the Primitive Christians and afterwards make a brief Application Those which have given the greatest scandal as having troubled the Christian World and almost turned it upside down are reducible to the two Heads of Religion and Civil Affairs First Those which refer to Religion are such scandalous Tenets as these I. That Erroneous suppose Heretical or Idolatrous Powers may be resisted especially if they endeavour to force men to their own Religion II. That Christian Magistrates have no power in matters of Religion viz. None 1. In religious Causes 2. Over religious Persons By Orders By personal Gifts Secondly Those which refer to matters Civil are reducible to such as these I. Harsh Administration II. Pretences of Competition of Power and the like Now I shall not be afraid or backward to acknowledge that if any one of these Tenets be agreeable to the Principles of Christianity or to the practise of the Primitive and purest Christians who are to be presumed to have known the mind of Christ and his Apostles then we are to admit that there is reason in what is alledged to create a Jealousie upon Religion For 1. If Erroneous Heretical or Idolatrous Magistrates may be resisted because they are so or because they join oppression of godly men unto their errour in Relistion how can any Kingdom stand These are matters wherein every man makes himself a Judge and it is not material whether he judge righteous or unrighteous judgment the matter once stated in Thesi that in such cases men may resist the Hypothesis is easily made and men let loose to act according to their proper apprehensions or the pretences of those who have power with them What shall be done when at the same time a Prince shall be judged by one part of his Subjects Heretical and prophane for departing from Superstition and vindicating his power from unjust Usurpations over it while another part shall judge him to be Superstitious and will never believe him to abhor Idols so long as he will not commit Sacrilege What shall be done while some conclude him to be irreligious because he will not worship Images others Idolatrous because he kneels at the Communion and both esteem him an Oppressour because he restrains their Zeal and hinders them from that excess of Riot which they pant after to the devouring of one another Supposing this Tenet to be true it is indeed evident no Government can be But now what colour can there be to charge this Tenet upon Christianity Doth the Old or New Testament give any occasion to this Doctrine Is it countenanced 1. by Moses or 2. by the Prophets or 3. by our Saviour or 4. by the Apostles 5 That Cloud of Witnesses the Noble Army of Martyrs did they give Testimony to this Assertion or to the contrary I may not insist a word to each of these 1. Moses was so far from the Doctrine of Resistance that notwithstanding the hardness of Pharaoh's heart the cruelty of the bondage the weakness of the Egyptians by Plagues the numbers of Israel six hundred thousand and three thousand five hundred and fifty
Iudah loved him After all this you know his Provocations his Advantages and his Behaviour he durst not touch the Lords anointed and when another pretended to have done it at Saul's entreaty in extremis he revenged his death and lamented over him Ye mountains of Gilboa c. 2. But that other Pretence that after a lawful Sovereign is established according to the Supposition of my Text and my Discourse the power still remains in the people in the diffused body of them or their Representatives to alter the Government as they please it is in respect of Policy and Government what the Sin against the Holy Ghost is to Religion it destroys the foundations of the peace and safety of men and makes that to be the Artifice of man which is the Ordinance of God How much God abhorred this Pretence will appear in the Case of Corah and his company When God sent Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt he sanctifyed him and put his Name upon him Thou shalt be to hinâ— instead of God and when he had brought them forth he made him a Prince and a Law-giver over them The supreme Power was in Moses who called to his assistance a Senate or Parliament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consisting of the Heads of the Tribes of Israel In this Council Nature soon began to work some envied Moses whom God had chosen and Aaron the Saint of the Lord. Dathan and Abiram the Sons of Eliab Heads of Families in the Tribe of Reuben thought both the Civil Power and if that must be transferred from the first-born to one Tribe the Priesthood also was due to them being Eldest Brethren of the Eldest Tribe Korah an eminent man amongst the Levites was offended that the High-Priests Office went beside him and was settled upon Aaron and his Posterity These were their secret griefs for a redress whereof they make a party in the Parliament they gain to them two hundred and fifty men famous in the Parliament men of renown and in order to their ambitious Designs they remonstrate against Moses Vers. 13. and their Declaration was this Pretence which we are upon that all the Congregation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were Holy and that Moses and Aaron had lifted up themselves above them that is that their power was a contrivance of themselves not an Ordinance of God that notwithstanding what God had done to settle the Civil and Ecclesiastical power it remained still in the people or their Representatives assembled together Now the Scripture tells us that since the world began God was never more highly provoked then upon this occasion when he heard this he was wrath and greatly abhorred them he invented a new thing in the world for their sakes for the Earth opened and swallowed up Datâ—an and covered the Congregation of Abiram I have now done with these Pretences and my endeavour hath been to vindicate Religion from the charges of unbelieving Politicians and indeed to shew that it is not a Spirit of carnal Compliance but the true and genuine Spirit of Christianity which runs through the Doctrine and Government of the Church of England After what hath been spoken I hope I may presume to say with the Apostle Do we now make void the Laws through â—aith yea we establish the Laws We have seen the Christian Theory doth the Philosophical Theory provide better for the safety of Princes and the estabishment of Government It tells us in effect that Might is Right that every thing is just or unjust good or evil according to the pleasure of the prevailing Force whom we are to obey till a stronger then he cometh or we be able to go through with resistance That in reference to this life Obedience is a matter of Wit and Prudence and after life there remain for us no Concernments How stramineous is this Theory compared with the Christian Theory which speaks in this wise Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers c That this is the genuine Christian Theory hath in some measure been demonstrated so that indeed it may be wondered from whence these Prejudices have arisen But alas that my head were waters They have one grand Objection to which having spoken I shall conclude If this be the Doctrine of Christianity how comes it to pass that those who pretend the highest to Religion and profess themselves the onely Christians the Bigot and Jesuited Romanist the frighted and transported Reformist have been authors of the most horrible Treasons and Rebellions On the one hand what mean the Catholick Leagues On the other the Solemn League and Covenant forced upon Subjects renitente Principe On one hand what means shall I say the lowing of the Oxen or rather the roaring of the Bulls the thundring of Excommunications the absolving Subjects from their Allegiance the Actual Murthers of Princes the attempts for blowing up King Lords and Commons at one clap What is the meaning of the noise of the Bells of the claps of Squibs and Fire-works which we hear On the other hand what was the meaning of that black and terrible dispensation which will cause the ears oâ— all Posterity to tingle It is but a little while since the anointed of the Lord the holiest the wisest the best of Kings was taken in the snares of men pretending to reformation and sacrificed to the fury of men possessed by an evil Spirit from the Lord. He was offered as a Lamb that is dumb or rather like the Lamb of God to the rage of wild fanatical Enthuâ—iasts It is but a very little while since the Lamentation of Ieremy was in the mouth of all the faithful in the Land Our Kings and our Princes were amongst the Gentiles provoked to serve other Gods the Law was no more the Prophets also received no vision from the Lord. And all these things were brought to pass by men pretending wonders in Religion And they would know the reason of all these Dispensations But who art thou O man who pressest into the secret of Gods Pavilion How unsearchable are his Iudgments and his ways past finding out such knowledge is too wonderful we cannot attain unto it It may be these things have been done that the Sayings of our Saviour might be fulfilled It cannot be but offences will come but wo be to them by whom they come and It were better that a milstone c. It may be the Gunpowder-Treason was permitted to be designed that the disappointment might be had in everlasting remembrance and celebrated as it is this day Son of man write the name of the day even of this same day the King of Babylon set himself against Ierusalem this same day It may be God suffered the late Rebellion to prevail that he might not leave himself without witness but shew forth his wonders in our days in the miraculous restitution of our gracious Sovereign and the Church If he had not been driven
the Spirit So Paul was forbid by the Spirit to preach the Word in Asia II. And for the Conviction of the unbelieving World They had diversities of gifts and different Administrations To one was given the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge to another Faith to another the gift of Healing to another Miracles Prophesies Discerning of Spirits The gift of Tongues As it is in the words which I quoted God bare them witness with gifts of the Holy Ghost and with Signs and Wonders and that he did so far that I shall be justified by Christ himself if I shall affirm that the Apostles after his death did greater miracles then he himself did in his life Of the same kind with our Saviours some they performed by means having an appearance of greater strangeness Christ healed by his touch his word his spittle Peter by his shadow Paul by Handkerchiefs taken from his body But one great thing there was wherein they exceeded The Great and Manifest and frequent Effusions of the Spirit the Reception of it upon themselves the communication of it to others by Prayer Preaching Laying on of Hands By these it was that the unbelieving world was convinced and even Simon Magus himself It is by the power and Vertue of those effusions that we are here met together at this time that the World continues Christian at this day And these are some of those standing means and Arguments whereby the proneness of our hearts to infidelity may be overcome and faith may be begotten confirmed recovered at this day These are therefore to be revolved Exhort one another dayly To come therefore to a Conclusion My text it self is an Application by way of Exhortation Exhortations are enforced by Reasons of Duty and Concernment and these I have hitherto endeavoured to lay before you If indeed there were no Sinfulness in Infidelity Or if in such times as ours it were excusable If there were no danger of falling into it or no means left to remedy or prevent it it would then indeed be to little purpose to Exhort men to beware But if the state of all these things is otherwise if that be plain and evident agreeable to Scripture to Reason and to Experience if the Speaker hath not beaten the Air nor the heaâ—ers been careless and inattentive I know not what can be required to enforce and sharpen the exhortation If the time would suffer it and I were speaking to a Common or Injudicious Auditory I might think my self concerned after all that hath been spoken to the understanding to Apply my discourse to your affections I should take unto me the various forms of Application used in this Epistle I would Reprove Rebuke Exhort I would cry aloud and would not spare I would liâ—t up my voice like a Watchmans trumpet warning you from the Lordâ— concerning the Spirit of irreligion and infidelity which is said to have overspread the land I would take to my self a Lamentation yea it should be for a Lamentation for the Professors of Infidelity and the Infidelity of Professors every where But I may not now be permitted to enlarge upon these things I may only pray to God to give you understanding in all things and beseech you earnestly to consider what hath been spoken Concluding in the words of the Text Take heed brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Exhort one another dayly FINIS Die Jovis 11 o Octobris 1666. ORdered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled That the thanks of this House be given to the Lord Bishop of Exon. for his Pains in the Service he performed in Preaching a Sermon before the Peers in the Abby-Church at Westminster yesterday being the day appointed by His Majesty for Fasting and Humiliation in consideration of the late Dreadful Fire which wasted the greater part of the City of London And that his Lordship be and is hereby desired to Print and Publish his said Sermon John Browne Cler. Parliam A SERMON Preached before the PEERS IN THE Abby-Church at Westminster October 10 th M. DC LXVI BY SETH then Lord Bishop of EXON LONDON Printed by A. C. for Iames Cellins at the Kings Arms within Ludgate near St. Pauls 1672. A SERMON Preached before the House of Peers AT WEST MINSTER ECCLES xi 9. But know that for all these things God will bring thee to Iudgment Rejoyce O young man c. THE great and general design of the Ministry and preaching of the Gospel is to bring men to Christianity not in the outward profession but in the true spirit and power thereof to the end they may be justified and sanctified and finally saved through Christ for ever The Particular design of this Dayes Observation is to humble our selves under the mighty hand of God in Consideration of his Judgments especially that late one in consuming with Fire the Ancient and noble Metropolis of this Nation and to endeavour to appease the wrath of God gone out against us To compass both these designs whereof the later is subordinate to the former I know no better expedient than to reason a while upon that important argument suggested in the Text. Who can think upon the Conflagration of our late Glorious City and not call to mind the great and terâ—ible day of Judgment Who can think seriously of Judgment and not be compelled to come in driven to Christianity that he may be saved from the wrath to come The great Instructor and Example of Christian Preachers he who saith of himself that Christ sent him to preach and not to baptize found no means so powerful to perswade men to Christianity as to reason upon this argument as first to lay before them the terror of Judgment and then whilst that was warm upon their hearts to make them a tender of the Gospel This is the great advantage and use the Apostle makes of the Doctrine of the Text. We must all appear saith he before the Iudgment-seat of Christ Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade men Upon these Considerations I shall hope for the pardon of this Noble Auditory if without affectation of Science I shall in a practical and familiar way of reasoning indeavour to imitate our Apostle in this particular If in the mean time it will be irksome and unpleasant to hear of the Judgment to come we shall do well to consider what it will be to undergo it we shall do well to reflect upon our Souls and search out the ground of this aversness Is it because we do not believe a Judgment to come or that we our selves shall be brought to Judgment Is it because we never consider who it is before whom me must appear or what things will be charged on our account Is it because we are so far gone in our arrears that it is to no purpose to call these things into our remembrance What ever it
be we may perhaps hear of that which may meet with and remove the prejudice and imposture that is upon us It is neither our Negligence nor Infidelity that will make void the Truth of God Whether we will hear or Whether we will forbear the Words which I have read remain firm and unalterable and they clearly contain these Propositions 1. There is a Judgment to come 2. Thou shall be brought to Judgment 3. God will bring thee to Judgment 4. God will bring thee to Judgment for these things the ways of thy heart c. 5. God will bring thee to Judgment for All these things 6. All this is certain and evident for it is not think or believe but Know that for all these things God will bring thee to Iudgment I. First then There is a Iudgment to come This is no Politick invention found out to fright thee from thy pleasures this is no Engine of State devised to keep you in a subordination to your Brethren this is no vain Thunder or foolish fire to affright you in to a blind obedience but it is the Tenor of the Scripture of the voyce of God King Agrippa believest thou the the Prophets I know that thou believest saith St. Paul Brethren do we believe the Scriptures I hope we do believe them This we do all profess to believe so often as we repeat our Creed and I hope the dissolution of our times has not yet shatter'd that foundation of our faith the ground work of our hopes even the Salvation of our souls Surely there are rewards for men doubtless there is a God which judgeth the earth What though the foundations of the world be out of course the pillar of Faith remains unshaken the Rod of the ungodly shall not for ever rest upon the back of the righteous I desire to make a little use of your faith for that which anon will be obtained from your reason There is a Judgment to come it 's as sure as death nay far surer they shall be judged which shall not dy they have been judged which could not dy the one at the end the other at the beginning of the world There is a Particular and a General Judgment the one at the dissolution of the lesser the other of the greater world the one at the hour of death the other at the day of Judgment A Judgment I say a strict examination an exact account a severe sentence words which make no thundring noise or tragical sound and so they may pass our hardned hearts without any motion wherefore let us judge of the tenor and moment of them by their antecedent signs Before one of them the evil days come The other is called the evil day Before one Solomon tells us that the Sun and the Moon and the Light and the Stars shall be darkned Before the other a greater than Solomon tells us that the Sun shall be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Bloud and the Stars shall fall from Heaven Before one the Keepers of the House shall tremble and the Strong men bow themselves Before the other the Mountains shall quake and the Powers of Heaven shall be shaken Before one we shall rise at the voyce of the Bird Before the other at the sound of the Trumpet Before one the silver Cord shall be loosed and the golden Bowl broken and the Pitcher broken at the Fountain and the wheel broken at the Cistern Before the other the silver Zone of the ecliptick and the golden Globe of the Sun the Orbs and the Vortices shall be confounded the wheel within a wheel the Heavens shall be rivel'd as a scrowl of Parchment and the Earth and the Elements shall melt away with fervant heat In the one the dust shall return to the earth as it was and and the spirit to God that gave it At the other the dust shall return from the earth to be as it was and the spirit from God that gave it Come now and let us reason together Are all these the fore-runners and symptomes of approaching Judgment then why art thou so drowsâ—e O my careless soul and why are thou so secure within me What strange Lethargy hath seised on thee Awake thou that sleepest and Christ shall give the light The time of thy dissolution is coming and after death the Judgment Retire therefore a while into thy self and commune with thy heart Enter thou into thy Closet and shut thy Door upon thee Let us examine our selves before we come to that strict Examen Let us make a Judgment of our expectation before we come to Judgment Do we believe a Judgment will come Then how are we provided against that Day Are our accounts ready Art thou able to stand in Judgment Shalt thou be clear when thou art judged When Paul reasoned before Felix concerning the Iudgment to come Felix trembled and because it was an unpleasant argument he put him off to anâ—ther time There is no doubt but our treacherous hearts would gladly put off these Considerations and deferr them to a more convenient season Nay but there is no time so convenient as the present when we are wrought into some apprehension of Judgment if we stay till our present thoughts are over we shall again be brought to lose the apprehension to forget the import and moment of the Judgment we shall come again to hear the Name thereof and to neglect it as an idle Noise and empty Sound Let us therefore not neglect this opportunity Let us search our seleves to the bottom Let us make a discovery of our final Resolution and secret Reserves in reference to Judgment We profess openly to believe that Christ shall come with Glory to judge both the Quick and Dead What are our inward thoughts in that particular and how are we provided against the Day of Judgment There is a Judgment to come that Judgment terrible the Examination strict the Condemnation insupportable and most of us utterly unprovided yet for all this it 's possible it may be avoyded All these things are true in Judgments here below and we see the proof of them at every Assizes yet all Offenders are not brought to Judgment but many Thieves and Murderers escape it It may be thus in the Judgment to come it 's possible it may be avoidable A miserable hope if this be all for Thon shalt be brought to Iudgment That 's the second Proposition And it contains the Universality or Particularity of the Judgment which you please thou and every man singuli generum genera singulorum all sorts of men and every man of every sort from Him that sitteth on the Throne to Her that grindeth in the Mill For we must all appear before the Iudgment-seat of Christ. It is appointed for all men once to dy and after death the Iudgment Death shall deliver up our Souls to the first and death shall deliver up our Bodies to the second Judgment The Grave shall deliver up her
spoils and the bodies of all men devoured of Beasts consumed of Fire swallowed by the Sea scattered to the four Winds in a moment in the twinckling of an eye shall be brought to Judgment And here shall I bewail the infirmity or inveigh against the negligence of us Men that suffer our selves to be hurried headlong by the power of our imaginations against the striving of our Consciences that suffer our Senses to carry away the crown from our Understanding and give over our selves to the impetuous stream of our passions That when we have a full information a compleat judgment a clear dictate of conscience we will suffer all these to be overborn in us by the Idola Specûs Tribûs c. which are brought into our imaginations That having clear and evident Principles we can yet doubt of their immediate consequences or whilest we profess an universal truth never descend to think of the particulars We know there is a vast difference between the things present and those to come and yet we form our thoughts of those according to the analogy of these deluding our selves with idle and childish imaginations God keeps silence we think he is such an one as we Vengeance is not prâ—sently executed we set our hearts to do wickedly We profess that all men must die and come to judgment yet we do not really believe that we our selves shall dy and come to judgment This is the fountain of our misery and the original of our spiritual miscarriages the discovery of the causes and remedy whereof lies deep in the Philosophy concerning Humane Nature but the thing it self is of every days observation we may recount it in these authentical examples David knew full well what belong'd to Murder and Adultery and what himself had done in the matter of Uriah yet he cried not out that he had sinned till Nathan had charged him Thou art the man Ahab undoubtedly had read the Law of Moses and knew the guilt of Murder and Oppression yet he goes on triumphantly he kills and also takes possession but when Elijah charges hime home In the field of Iezreel shall Dogs lick thy blood even thine then he cries out Hast thou found me O mine enemy 1 Kings 21. and having applyed things to his particular he Rent his Cloaths and put on sackcloth he fasted and lay in sackcloth and went softly Once more 'T is likely Belshazzar had a general Judgment and an universal Maxime in his mind That it was unlawful to spoil the House of God to plunder those things which were dedicated to the Lord and to debauch in the Bowls of the Temple and probably he had seen the hand-writing of the book of God to that purpose yet all this does not restrain him But when the Fingers write upon the Wall Mene Mene c. thou art weighed c. then his countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him the joynts of his loyns were loosed and his knees smote one against another This then is the Office of this second Proposition it charges us home it lays down the Universal and it brings it down to the Particular Thou shalt be brought to Judgment Thy Judgment is unavoidable O but then thy Evasion is crossed O my stupid Soul Thou art spoyled of thy frivolous ground of hope Thou shalt surely be cited and thou must appear if thou refuse to come thou shalt be brought to Judgment Return then again into thy self and take a review of thy condition what will the issue be of that Judgment to which thou must be brought What hopes are now remaining that thou shalt not be condemned when the Officers have haled thee before the Iudge that thou be not delivered to the Executioners If thou art called to Examination Canst thou elude thy Judge by thy wily Answers or Canst thou baffle or suborn the Witnesses Canst thou work off thy Jury not to find the Verdict or bribe the Judge to favour thee in thy Doom Canst thou withdraw him from the Rigour of Justice by the mediation of thy friends or melt him into compassion by the loudness of thy cries the sadness of thy lamentation Canst thou procure a Reversion or Reprieve of thy sentence or appeal from thy Judge unto another Canst thou make an escape from thine Executioner Or lastly Canst thou stoutly endure the sentence of Condemnation These are the hopes of men here brought to Judgement and why may not some of them be mine No thou knowest O treacherous heart all these to be fond impossibilities dreams and suggestions of a childish fancy if once this day be over and that time come thy hopes are barely these that Omniscience and Wisdom it self may be deluded by stupidity that Omnipotence and Power it self may be evaded by poor contemptible infirmity that Severity and Justice it self may be perverted by iniquity all this is evident by that which follows For we must all appear before the Iudgment seat of Christ. God will bring thee to Iudgment And here we are concerned to raise our thoughts and employ the utmost of our attention lest by the prejudice which our Idleness hath brought upon us we treasure up wrath to our selves against that day of Judgment 'T is true we daily hear of God and receive the names of his Attributes into our ears but we pass over his Name as if he were like to us and never bestow so much labour as to attain to a considerable notion of those names O that the God of Heaven would afford us here some glimpse of himself That he would illustrate us with some beam of his Majesty That he would be pleased to visit every unprovided soul and insinuate into it a full and clear apprehension of this Proposition God will c But how shall we endure to see his face No man can see my face and live Exod. 33. if the Israelites durst not hear him proclaim the Law how shall we endure to hear him denounce the Judgment If the Angels veil their faces not able to behold his Excellency how shall we be affected with his terrors If the Cherubims are oppressed with the sight of his glory what shall we be with the sense of his fury If we find our selves confounded and swallowed up into inextricable Labyrinths when we set our selves to consider of his immanent Attributes of his eternal Duration his unbounded Essence his unconfined Presence With what disposition can we entertain the terâ—or of his Judgment the search of his Omniscience the stroke of his Omnipotence If the best and choicâ—st of the Saints of God have been afraid and trembled at the thoughts of Judgment if they have been surprised with horror and confusion at the meer imagination of that Dreadful voice Arise and câ—me to Iudgment what shall the worst and most obdurate sinners when they shall be stript of this cloud of flesh and error and cited before the great tribunal there to render an account of their Creation Preservation and Redemption
or Melancholy O that you would but reflect a little upon your souls and consider how many wandring thoughts have broken in upon your minds since I began to speak of this important Subject You might save me the labour of further speaking and raise your selves to that which I endeavour I fear you might find among your sacred thoughts a mixture of others very unsuitable your envious your ambitious your covetous your idle thoughts All these are the matter of our future Judgment and however they slightly pass us here they are noted in the Book of God and when that Book shall be opened they will be charged or our account Thou tellest my wanderings saith the Psalmist Are not these things noted in thy Book I have already said enough to take up the consideration of the remainer of our time But our hearts being too heavy and our ears too dull of hearing to be moved with generals I must crave leave that I may be permitted to run over the heads of some particulars Thou must give an account of all things committed to thee Inward or Outward Natural or Spiritual thy senâ—es and thy understanding thine Outward and thine Inward faculties If thou hast been at a constant covenant with thine eyes and hast never suffered them to â—ove in loose disorders If thou hast bowed thine ears to discipline and never lâ—t them open to vain entertainments If thy taste hath been moderated by the necessities of nature and the laws of temperance and never let loose according to the lust of Riot If thy hands have been wholly imployed in the works of God and never been instruments to the machinations of the Devil If thy speech have never uttered any idle words but ever administred grace to the hearers If thy feet have only traced the ways of God and never stoâ—d in the way of sinners What hath been the exercise of thine inward faculties thine Apprehensions and thine Appetite If thy fancie hath ever been imployed in administring help to thine understanding and never afforded incentives to thy vile affections If thy memory have been taken up with the things which God hath done and Christ hath suffered for thee and hath afforded no place to Ribaldry and vanity How thou hast ordered thine Anger and Concupiscence What have been the object measure and end and circumstances of thy love hatred desire aversion delight sadness hope despair fear boldness anger envie jealousie and compassion How thou hast managed thine understanding and improved thy contemplative and active principles If thou hast advanced in the discovery of eternal verities or herded with the beasts that perish If thou hast cherished the principles of thy Synteresis and the dictates and reflections of thy conscience and never rebelled against them How thou hast determined the freedom of thy Will in thy volition and intention thine election and consent fruition and use when Good and Evil Life and Death have been set before thee How thou hast behaved thy self in Spirituals in gifts and graces If thou hast accepted that which hath been offered and improved what thou hast accepted or hid it in a Napkin In outward things how thou hast acquired and how thou hast managed thine Estate How thou hast behaved thy self in thy Relations publick and private in thy charge and in thy duty But the time would fail me to reckon up a considerable part of the exercises and objects of the wayes of the hearts of Men And now all these and many more are but the simple elements and common heads of our account Consider then O negligent and incogitant soul if thou couldst reckon up the ways of thy heart in any one of these kinds if thou couldst call to mind but every idle word whereof thou must give an account or thy motions upon every thing thou hast heard and remember in any one of these elements what thou hast done or else omitted Then tell me how wouldst thou find thy self possessed and how wouldst thou be disposed to Judgment Wouldst thou deem it needless or idle to call it betimes to thy remembrance Wouldst thou drive off thy thoughts of it to the time of sickness to the hour of death and rudely throw thy self upon it But then try and examine all these together contemplate a little upon the mixtures and combinations of them these will afford us many millions of millions of wayes far exceeding the varieties of the corporeal nature which proceed from the mixture of fewer elements so many as will utterly confound our thoughts to number Who can reckon up the wayes of the hearts of the children of Men Who can understand his errours And now that he that hath the World to uphold the Planets and Stars to guide the course of nature to maintain should keep a Register of our impertinâ—ncies and bring to Judgment all the wayes of Men the traces of a Ship in the Sea of a Serpent upon a Rock who hath believed our report we aâ—e apt to think it cannot be Surely he sees not these things â—ush he cares not for them This is indeed the last resort of the treacherous hearts of men the grand imposture which resolves into a species of Atheism and Infidelity O but then if I shall use the language of the Scriptures I must call thee fool and beast to doubt of that which is plain and evident to disbelieve that which may be known This Article concerning the Judgment to come is not a problem of Philosophy to be disputed this way and that way with equal probability neither is it only an Article of faith but it is a principle of natural Theology the Scripture speaks of it under terms of greater evidence St. Paul reasoned with Felix he disputed with the Philosophers concerning it he speaks of the terror of Judgment under terms of certainty and of a kind of Demonstrative evidence Knowing the terror of the Law c. and hear in the Text it is not said Think or believe But know that for all these things God will bring thee to Iudgment He is a â—ool that hath said in his heart there is no God and he that thinks he hath no understanding may well be compared to the beasts that perish so sure as there is a God and that man hath an understanding soul so surely it may be known That for all these things c. For if there be a God he must be infinitely just and if so he must render to every one according to their actions and if not here then hereafter and if so he must bring them to Judgment But â—e doth it not here The ways of Providence seem to be promiscuous there is a wicked man to whom it happens according to the way of the righteous and a righteous man to whom it happens according to the way of the wicked Dives receives pleasure Lazarus pain therefore so sure as there is a God there will be a Judgment Again If man have an understanding soul be must have
freedom in his actions and if so he deserves either good or evil and if there be deserts there must be rewards and if there be rewards there must be a Judgment So then so sure as thou art an understanding creature so sure there is a Judgment to come Once more Reward is answerable to desert and desert is only in what is free and what is free in man is the ways of his heart wherefore they are to be brought to Judgment and if any then all for no reason can be fancied why some should be brought to Judgment and others not Wherefore if it be sure that God is in Heaven and that Man hath an understanding soul then it is also sure that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment that God shall bring to judgment every secret thing And now how sure and evident are these things more sure and more plain if we will attend than any other truths in the world for there is not any known truth which doth not evict the truth of these things We know a truth because we plainly and evidently understand the composition or division of the notions in a Proposition or the Deduction of a Proposition from some others therefore if we know any truth we presuppose that we have souls which understand the notions of things and if souls which understand these notions then to be sure they are not bodies no combination of fire and air and earth and waâ—er no disposition of insensible atomes can cause the subject to apprehend and judge to reason and discourse and if they be no bodies then they are not subject to corruption It is evident therefore that our souls are understanding and also immortal deserving and capable of future Judgment And as evident it is also that there is a soveraign Power a God that governs and will Judge the Earth This is not a Rhetorical undertaking but a just an measured truth there is not any thing in the world from whence these two may not be plainly and evidently evicted viz. a Godhead from the Creature and thine own Immortality from the discovery of a Godhead The world which thou seest had it a beginning or had it not if it had a beginning he is thy God that made it if it had no beginning then there are past as many myriads of years as minutes of time which is infinitely more absurd to grant than to say thou hast as many hands as fingers as many wholes as parts If then at any time we find our selves to doubt of these things it is not because we are the beaux esprits or forts esprits our doubting proceeds from dulness and the want of that strong reason to which we do pretend the things are certain in themselves and evident He is not far from any one of us in whom we live and move and have our being and the Light of nature discovered our Immortality not only to Philosophers but even to the Heathen Poets to him that sung to us that We are also his off-spring So that now thy pretences are all taken off and every imposture of the heart discovered Return then once again into thy bosome and take account of thy apprehensions The day of the Lord is coming and stealing upon thee as a thief in the night the day of Judgment the great and terrible day A day of darkness and of gloominess a day of a whirlwind and a tempest a day of anguish and tribulation Where wilt thou hide thy self O that 's impossible Where shall we go then from his presence shall we call to the Mountains to fall upon us How wilt thou appear O that 's intolerable for our God is a consuming fire What wilt thou do when the day of Judgment comes and this may be the hour this minute thou mayest be smitten and hurried hence to Judgment Thousands have fallen besides us and ten thousands at our right hand and why may not we be next The time of our particular Judgment cannot be far away and why may we not reasonably apprehend the approach of the General Judgment either of this World or at leastwise of this sinful Nation Our Lord Christ indeed tells us that of the day and hour of the final Judgment Knoweth no man Yet he hath given us the signs of his coming The Apostles have left us Characters of the last days the Prophets have declared the manner and apparatus of the coming of the Lord to Judgment We read that when the Disciples admired the stones and the buildings of Herod's Temple at Ierusalem Christ told them That the day was coming when there should not be left one stone upon another upon this the Disciples ask him privately three Questions 1. When shall these things be 2. What shall be the sign of thy second coming And 3. of the end of the World As for the precise moment of these things he denies to tell it them Nay he professes that as he was the Son of Man he did not know it But for the other two he condescends to their curiosity he tells them the signs of his coming and of the end of the World and that they shall be such as these You shall hear saith he Matth 24. of Wars and rumours of Wars Nation rising against Nation and Kingdom against Kingdâ—m There shall be Traytors and false Prophets Saying Lo here is Christ Behold a new Messias in the Wilderness Lo there is Christ Behold he is at a Conventicle in the secret Chambers He tells us that iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold that he shall hardly find faith on the earth as it was in the dayes of Noe they ate they drank till the floud came and swept them all away so shall the coming of the Son of Man be He tells us Luke â—1 there shall be Famines and Earthquakes Pestilence and fearful sights great signs from Heaven in the Earth distress of Nations great perplexities the Sea and Waves roaring Mens hearts failing them for fear looking after those things that are coming upon the Earth Concerning the last dayes St. Paul tells us that there shall be perilous times that on one hand there shall be a sort of men that shall be lovers of themselves Covetous Proud Boasters Ranters and Blasphemers On the other hand there shall be a Race of heady high minded Traytors having a form of godliness creeping into houses leading captive silly women They shall despise Dominion and speak evil of Dignities they shall be Separatists from the Church and false pretenders to the Spirit These saith St. Iude are they that separate themselves sensual having not the Spirit St. Peter tells us that in the last times there should be a loose prophane a bold Atheistical Gigantick race of scoffers walking after their own lusts saying Where is this God of Iudgment let him make speed and hasten his work that wâ— may see it Where is the promise his of coming since the fathers
he hath swallowed up the habitations of his people he hath taken away his Tabernacles and destroyed his places of Assemblies the Ramparts and the Walls lament and languish her Gates are sunk to the ground her Barrs are destroyed Who can express the terror of this fatal Judgment the unexpected eruption the sudden increase the irresistible force the remorsless rage the insatiable voracity of this fiery Judgment the present sufferings the lasting miseries of private persons are inexpressible the publick damage the dangerous consequences it may be unconceivable What thing shall I liken to thee O Daughter of my People Whereunto shall I compare the day of thy Visitation To the destruction of Ierusalem to the great and terrible day of Judgment O the terrors and affrightments the shriekes and lamentations the agonies the confusions of that Day They that were on the house top durst not stay to take any thing out of their houses nor he that was in the field return back to take his Cloaths they that were in the City betook themselves to the Fields and Mountains where they beheld their flaming habitations where they trembled to behold the abomination of desolation raging in the holy places How were the wise men amazed and the strong men terrified despair seised them counsel and strength fled away from them there was no help in them they presently gave all for lost they stood affrighted at a distance gazing at the dreadful spectacle in vain they thought it to contend it looked so like the coming of the Son of Man The breath of the Lord kindled the fire he rode upon Cherub he came flying upon the wings of the wind He made the winds his Messengers and the flames of fire his Ministers He brought the Winds out of his Treasure and to point the flame directly upon the bulk and body of the City through his power he brought in the South-East wind as a thief in the night as pains upon a woman in travel as the lightning that cometh from the East and passeth to the West so came this flaming Judgment and so shall the coming of the Son of Man be I cannot endure to dilate upon this Argument Sorrow and anguish are in the consideration of it Animus meminisse horret luctuque refugit Great is the Judgment and there is reason for us to fear that it may be portending and symptomatical YEt who can tell but God may have mercy upon us but he may yet save us from destruction though our breach be great as the Sea yet is not in it self irreparable though our wounds be deep and gaping they are not desperate or uncurable hitherto we may say with the Apostle We are chastned but not killed afflicted but not in despair The signs and symptoms of an approaching final Judgment are not so decretory and peremptory that we should despair God's signal Judgments have hitherto been accompanied with signs of mercies and this is a plain case that he is not fond of our destruction and that he had rather that we should live He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men He stands pausing and hesitating as he did once before O Ephraim how shall I give thee up O Ephraim O England How shall I give thee up O England What mean else those Alternations and those mixtures and combinations of wonderful Judgments and of wonderful deliverances and mercies which our ears have heard and our eyes have seen We have heard with our ears and our Fathers have told us what wonderful deliverances he wrought in their time of old We have seen vicissitudes great and prodigious mixtures and combinations marvellous in our eyes horrible destructions and wonderful restitutions succeeding one another raging Plagues at home and signal Victories abroad God hath filled us with bitterness and covered us with ashes But it is his mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not If the arm of his Justice and Severity hath been made bare that it might be seen of all the people He hath not left his mercy without witness If his Judgment hath been great and terrible in that which is consumed his Mercy is wonderful and miraculous in that which is preserved Plainly except the Lord had left us a Remnant and visibly interposed to do it we should not have had this place wherein to humble our selves before him We should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah It was he that in the midst of Iudgment remembred mercy when the flaming vengeance was in its height when in the opinion of all men it had arrived at the state of irresistibility and when every mans heart failed him when the hopes of all men were sunk into despair He checked the domineering vengeance he put up the flaming Sword he conâ—roul'd the streaming waves of fire and said thus farr shall ye come and no further In a wondeful manner he preserved the Goods and Persons of the poor Inhabitants of the City He restreined the rage of our enemies that cryed concerning our Ierusalem Down with it Down with it Aha! so would we have it He suffered not a foreign Enemy to land nor our domestick foes to make a head in our confusions He was a wall of fire about the the persons of our Gracious Sovereign and his Royal Highness and of those valiant Noble Persons which adventured boldly and strenuously and indefatigably laboured the publique preservation He hath given signal Preservations and Victories to our Fleets abroad he hath restored our High-born and Noble Generals and our Fleet in health and safety He hath given us plenty of all things necessary for the life of man In one great word to sum up an aggregation of great and various mercies he hath upheld our Religion and our Government in peace and for an earnest of his further preservation he hath given us this seasonable opportunity with health and safety in this place to attend the Publique Service to advise and assist in this arduous Juncture of affairsâ— Arduous and difficult indeed it is to restore our City and defend our Country to restore the Houses of God and Publique Buildings to re-edifie ten Thousand private habitations to sustein the poor and needy to preserve the rights and properties of men to find such a temper of Justice and equity that there be no decay no just complaining in our Streets To uphold the Traffick of the Nation and to keep it in order and security free from private Robberies and publick Insurrections and therefore in order to all those ends to uphold our religion in the zealous and effectual exercise in the sincerity and uniformity thereof to preserve it from encroachments and undermining Tolerations ruinous to Religion destructive to the Government of the Nation And all this while to make provision against our dangerous and cruel enemies Gebal and Ammon and Amalek the French Dutch and the Dane who have conspired to our destruction These things are arduous but
wrestle and strive with our Redeemer and not let him go until he bless us Until he open our eyes to see the dangers we are in and through his mercy shew us a way to escape them Till he quicken us up to resolutions of amendment and carry us strongly through these resolutions Until he heal our backslidings and make up our breaches Until he save our souls from death and our Nation from destruction To work our selves to these Resolutions and to fix us in them to make them abide upon us all our days let us remember what hath been spoken and let us frequently meditate upon that Sarcastical Concession of the Text Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth walk in the ways of thy heart and the sight of thy eyes But know that for all these things God will bring thee to Iudgment FINIS A SERMON CONCERNING The Strangeness Frequency and Desperate Consequence OF Impenitency Preached at WHITE-HALL April 1. 1666. Soon after the great Plague BY SETH then Lord Bishop of EXON LONDON Printed by E. T. and R. H. for Iames Collins at the Kings-Arms within Ludgate near St. Pauls 1672. A SERMON Containing The Strangeness Frequency and Desperate Consequence OF IMPENITENCY Revel 9. 20. And the rest of the men which were not killed by the plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands ALthough I am not without apprehension that the frequencie of penitential discourses and the seeming easiness of repentance may indispose some persons for such an attention as is necessary both to speaker and hearers for a due performance of the Offices which we are about yet I shall not spend time in making Apologies for the Argument which I have chosen Among all the aggravations of our sins there is none more heinous than the frequent hearing of our duty Among all the errors of our lives there is none more fatal than that concerning the easiness of the duty of Repentance To discover the fallacy and to prevent the dangerous consequences of this imagination I have chosen at this time to treat of this instructive instance of the Text. If Repentance were so easie as is imagined why did not these men repent that are mentioned in the words which I have read They had not only the Dictates of Nature and the advantage of the Scriptures to move them to it they had the Ministry of Angels to perswade them they had Thunders and Trumpets to awaken them and rouze them up they had signs and wonders in the heaven above and in the earth below they had providential instances of prodigious judgements and wonderful mercies They were spectators of grievous Plagues brought upon their neighbours they were Monuments of singularâ— mercies and deliverances a long time continued to themselves When thousands fell beside them they were a remnant kept alive when others were destroyed they were preserved for experiment to try whether yet they would repent I say the persons in the Text were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rest of the men that were not killed by those Plagues And the rest of the men that were not killed yet repented not of the works of their hands My endeavours at this time will be by shewing the danger and fatal consequences of impenitence to move my self and others to repent And to determine precisely who these persons were of what Nation of what Church of what condition in what time they lived what were the Plagues brought upon them when and how they were executed and such other particulars I am no way obliged by the design which I have propounded About these particulars Expositors extremely differ in this they all agree that they had the advantage of the Scriptures to bring them to repentance Whatever is the exact either liberal or mystical meaning of this vision of the seven Angels and the seven Trumpets and of that lofty tragical Scheme wherein it is represented thus much is evident that notwithstanding all Gods dealings with men to bring them to repentance they will sometimes continue in impenitence and that this is an horrible provocation The words which I have chosen contain the sad result of the labours of six Angels the warning of six Trumpets the operation of six Plagues and six Deliverances And they are the common node or term connecting the Antecedent parts of the vision beginning at the 8 th Chapter with the Catastrophe thereof delivered in the 10 th They are to be considered two ways 1 Absolutely where we have 1 Matter containing the character of their persons described by 1 Gods dealing with them not killed remnant of others killed killed by grievous plagues 2 Their dealings with Godâ—repented not not of the works of their hands worship of Devils Idols first Table Sorceries Murthers Fornications Thefts second Table 2 Form and manner in the form of an Epiphonema express'd by the particle yet repetible upon every part of their character not killed yet repented not yet repented not of the works of their hands Yet is vox Admirantis Accingenâ—is advindictant It first implies the strangeness of the case and secondly the desperateness of the provocation for the words are to be considered not only absolutely but also 2 Relatively as they look backward and forward and are the connexion of the Antecedent parts of the Vision with the Catastrophe Six Angels sounded six Trumpets and executed six Judgementsâ— yet they repented not They repented not and the seventh Angel sounded and swore that time i e. Time of repentance respite of vengeance should be no longer The words thus resolved would afford many considerable observations I shall take up three that lye uppermost 1. From the form and manner of the words as they are an Epiphonema expressing a kind of wonder and admiration I shall observe the strangeness of the impenitency of such men as these considered in common reason 2. From the matter of them I shall observe the frequencie of such impenitencie in common experience 3. From the relative consideration of the words as they connect the Catastrophe of the Vision with the Antecedent parts of it I shall observe the lamentable consequence of this impenitency And 4. Conclude with a few words of Application I. First then to bring to our apprehension the strangeness of impenitencie of such men as these considered in Thesi and in Theory it will be needful only to reflect upon the causes of admiration and to lay before you some of their advantages and Motives to Repentance Things wonderful in their nature are those whose causes are unsearchable things strange and admirable to common reason are such as happen contrary to the Laws of Nature and of Reason From the former cause the motion of the heavens is wonderful from the latter it was prodigious and admirable that the sun stood still in Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Ajalon That God should take advantage upon the lapsed Angels that upon their offence
that he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity that he will wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such an one as goes on still in his wickedness If a man will not turn he will whet his sword and bend his bow If a Nation will not repent then smite with thy hand stamp with thy foot and say alas for it shall fall by the sword by the famiâ—e and by the pestilence Now the general inference of all these is still the same this is still the Logick of the Scriptures Our God shall come and shall not keep silence wherefore consider this ye that forget God We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade To this end we find the Lord sometimes disputing logically to convince and sometimes with divine and noble Oratory endeavouring to perswade sometimes by signal instances of pardoning mercies and of avenging judgements to induce men to repentance He speaks to their reason to their affections to their very senses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord if ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the land if ye rebel ye shall be devoured Are not my ways equal are not your ways unequal Again He expostulates with them sometimes upon the principles of ingenuity Thus saith the Lord What iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone away from me O my people what have I done unto thee wherein have I wearyed thee Testifie against me O Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee Sometimes he expostulates upon the point of interest How long shall vain thoughts lodge in your hearts How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity what will ye do in the end thereof Again he sets before us a multitude of glorious instances to shew that never any penitent was rejected however heinous however numerous were their sins The prodigal devoured his substance with harlots Mary Magdalen had seven Devils Peter denyed his Master with horrid oaths and imprecations Saul was exceedingly mad against him yet upon their repentance were accepted He had delivered Israel seven times and they forsook him and he said he would deliver them no more but they repented and his soul was straight-way grieved and he delivered them Instead of many consider that one instance of Manasses the evil son of good King Hezekiah He set up altars for Baalim and worshipp'd all the host of heaven Altars in the court of the temple an idol in the very temple he caused his sons to pass through the fire he observed times used inchantments dealt with familiar spirits and with wizards made Iudah and Ierusalem to do worse than the heathen And the Lord spake to him and he would not hear After all this in his afflictions he humbled himself and then God was intreated and heard his supplication His ways are not as our ways He forgave Nineveh and Ionah was displeased exceedingly he taxes him with easiness in relenting he charges him as if he had an ancient known infirmity of flexibility to his veracity and the honour of his Prophets Lord saith he was not this my saying and therefore I prevented it to slee to Tarshish for I knew that thou art merciâ—ul therefore take I beseech thee my life from me His thoughts are not as our thoughts when Nathan had told David a story of a poor man who had his ewe Lamb ravished from him then David was exceeding wroth and he swore As the Lord liveth the man that hath done this thing shall surely dye But when David who had taken Bathsheba and murthered Vriah said I have sinned Nathan said unto David The Lord â—ath put away thy sin thou shalt not dye On the other side we have instances of horrible judgements for Impenitency whereof I shall after take occasion to speak Now considering all these things is it noâ— strange that men should noâ— repent That no consideration of ingenuity or of interest should move them to it That neither the Law written in their hearts nor that which was delivered by the mediation of Angels nor the Gospel given us by the Son of God should bring them to it That neither reason nor experience neither mercies nor judgements neither the sweetness of a good conscience nor the torments of a bad the beauties of vertue nor the deformity of sin the shortness of life nor length of eternity the lightness of things present nor the exceeding weight of those which are to come That neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Trumpets nor things present nor thing to come nor height nor depth nor any other thing should be able to separate mâ—n from the love of sin Is it not strange The Apostles the Prophets were astonished at this nay God himself seems to be affected with wonder Hear O heavens and give ear O earth Be astonished O ye heavens and be horribly afraid they have forsaken me This is that wonder considered in it self according to common reason the object of our first observation drawn from the form and manner of the words by way of Epiphonema expressed by the particle yet yet they repented not II. The second Observation was taken from the matter of the words However such impenitency is very strange to common reason considered in the Theory yet it is too frequent in practice and in common experience The rest of the men repented not This is that grand contradiction that fatal paradox of the life of man His very being consists in rationality his acting is contrary to all the reason in the world Man only was created under the Law of Reason man only maintains a constant opposition to the law and reason of his creation He appointed the moon for certain seasons and the sun knoweth his going down The blustring winds the raging storms the unruly Ocean the Lyon the Tiger and the Bear these all pursue the law of their creation these all are obedient unto his word charmed to it by that powerful voice whereby they were created Man only stops his ears and refuses to hear the voice of this Almighty charmer charm he never so wisely so loudly or so variously The general ways and methods of his charming have been already mentioned I am now to lay before you the general success of those methods The success 1. Of his word and his messengers 2. Of his works of 1. Mercy 2. Judgement Single Intermixed 1. For the success or rather the unsuccessfulness of his word for the entertainment or rather the barbarous usage of his messengers how often do we find God and his Prophets Christ and his Apostles complaining and as it were fretting themselves with indignation As for the word sometimes they will not hear it More â—han seven times Ieremy complains almost in the
very same words Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel since the day that your fathers came forth of the land of Egypt until this day I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets daily rising early and sending them yet they hearkned not to me nor inclined their ear Where unto shall I liken this generation I have piped Sometimes they hear it as a song Loe thou art unto them as a very lovely song Sometimes they refuse it positively They say to the Seers see not and to the Prophets prophesie not unto us As for the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken in the name of the Lord we will not hearken unto thee They endeavour to suppress and to destroy it When Iehudi had read three or four leaves in Ieremies roll he cut it with a pen-knife and cast it into the fire until all the roll was consumed in the fire Instead of faith and obedience it meets with infidelity and atheistical opposition and contradiction Who hath believed our report saith one All the day long have I stretch'd forth my hands to a gain-saying people is the complaint of another They say unto God depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of his ways Speak to them in the name of Lord they say Who is the Lord that I should fear him discourse to them of the Almighty they say What is the Almighty that we should serve him What can the Almighty do What profit shall we have if we pray unto him Speak to them of God's searching Eye Surely say they God sees it not Tush God cares not for it of his over-ruling Providence nay say they but all things come alike to all there is one event to the just and to the unjust Tell them they must appear before the Judgment-seat of God and of Christ they scoffingly reply Where is the Promise of his coming since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were before Where is the God of Iudgment let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it This is the general entertainment of their message and for the persons of the Messengers they devise devices against them they smite them with the smiting of the tongue they threaten them they beat them sometime they take away their Liberty and sometime their Lives this was the portion of Ieremiah the men of Anathoth sought his life saying Prophesy not by the Name of the Lord that thou die not by our hand They charged him falsly they smote him they imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan they cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah they let him down with chords into the mire What do I instance in one particular since at once we read the general entertainment of the Prophâ—ts that were of old That they had trial of cruel mockings and courgings yea moreover of bâ—nd and imprisâ—nment they were stoned were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the word they wandred about in sheep-skins and goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented Moreover they scourged and crucified the Lord of Glory they put him to an open shame Neither were the disciples above their master or the servants above their Lord after scourgings and bands and imprisonments and many a sad and barbarous usage St. Iames was knocked on the head S. Peter was crucified S. Paul was beheaded and the râ—st were used accordingly Behold saith God I send unto you Prophets and wise men and some of them ye shall scourge in your Synagogues and some of them ye shall kill and crucifie If we diligently search the Scriptures and histories of the Church we shall find this to have been generally the success of the Word of God and of his Messengers instead of trembling and penitence and reformation to be enterteined with scorn and contempt and persecution 2. But it may be the Works of God may have better success upon the hearts of the children of men his works of 1. Mercy or of 2. Judgment The Apostle tells us that God's patience and fâ—rbearance leadeth menâ— unto repentance And the Prophet that when his judgments are abroad the inhabitants of the World will learn righteousness Indeed a Logical man reasoning upon Principles will be apt so to conclude But alas it is not so with men alas that so clear reasoning should be contradicted by evident experience and observation Nay they despise the riches of God's mercy and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath From the patience and longanimity of God they make perverse and Athâ—istical conclusions when thou of 〈◊〉 â— thief thou consentedst untoâ— him and hast been partaker with the adulterer these things hast thou done and I kept silence and thou thoughtest wickedly that I am such an one as thy self Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the Sons of men are fully set in them to do evil Solomon tells us that the prosperity of Fools shall destroy them and there are few so circumspect and wise as not to stumble at this stone of stumbling Neither Salomon's Wisdom nor his Father's Piety could preserve them upright amidst the snares of prosperity The danger as well as wickedness of this is intimated in Nathan's exprobration to Davidâ— Thus â—aith the Lord the God of Israel I anointed thee King over Israel I delivâ—red thee out of the hand of Saul I gave thee thy Masters house and thy Masters wives into thy bosom I gave thee the house of Israel of Iudah wherefore hast thou killed Uriah and taken his wife to be thy wife This was a temptation which the Israelites never could withstand notwithstanding all the Caveats given them by Moses When the Lord shall bring thee into the good land and shall give thee cities and houses which thou buildedst not Vineyards and Olive trees which thou plantedst not when thou shalt have eaten and be full Then beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God But Ieshurun waxed fat and kicked as the Lord multiplied his mercies â—o they multiplied their transgressions his prodigious and wonderful deliverances were answered with prodigious and wonderful ingratitude for they sinned yet the more and lightly esteemed the God of their Salvation But if the mercies of God will not prevail to draw men to repentance surely his judgments cannot fail to drive them to it whether they are sent upon a city or upon a man only Shall the Lion roar and shall not the forest tremble shall a trumpet â—e blown in the city and the people not be afraid Behold therefore and tremble and be afraid all ye that look upon Repentance as a slight and an easie duty and that deferr it for that reason It is not every horrour and shaking that will bring a man to Repentance And the instances are many wherein the judgments of God instead
and to destroy his thousands ten thousands hundred thousands Who can express the horror of his execution the terrors and consternations of them that did escape the various complications of anguish and misery torments and deaths of them that fell in the execution How did the city become solitary that was full of people she sate as a widow her children forsook her her friends fled away from her her streets were desolate her houses were full of the noisome carcases of the slain O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people And now again behold another interchange the goodness as well as the severity of God towards them that fell severity towards us goodness if we continue in his goodness He hath mingled mercy with his judgements he puts the experiment to the utmost to try if yet we will repent He hath not suffer'd us to fall into the hands of man not given us over into the hands of our insolent and barbarous enemies He hath given victory to the King he hath wonderfully preserved the person of his Royal Highness he hath kept our Ships and Navies from destruction In a marvailous way of mercy he hath sheltered our most gracious Soveraign and his Royal Relations and his whole Train and Family Those noble and eminent persons both of Church and State who to make themselves a stay and comfort to the poor and infected of the City cheerfully and constantly exposed themselves to danger he hath deliver'd from the snare of the hunter and from the noisome pestilence He hath given plenty And lastly he hath caused the destroying Angel to sheath his sword and stay his hand And we are met together a preserved râ—mnant of men that have not been killed by these plagues What shall we render O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men Let us repent therefore and turn from our evil ways let us do no more foolishly lest a worse thing come unto us We have seen the danger of Impenitency after so many Motives to Repentance Behold now wisdom cryes unto us and utters her voice in this great and noble Congregation How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity and ye scorners delight in scorning Turn ye turn ye at my reproof for why will ye dye ye house of Israel Never let it be said of us which is here spoken of the persons of the Text that the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands FINIS A SERMON AGAINST Ingratitude Preached at WHITE-HALL Soon after the great Plague By SETH then Lord Bishop of EXON LONDON Printed by E. T. and R. H. for Iames Collins at the Kings-arms within Ludgate near S. Pauls 1672. Note that the Sermon against Ingratitude ought to have been placed before that of Repentance A SERMON AGAINST Ingratitude DEUT. 32. 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise THese words are part of a Song made by Moses and both the song it self and these particular words are so very considerable that I should think it a disrespect put upon the judgments of a venerable intelligent auditory to be very laborious in gathering arguments to perswade your attention to them the matter the antiquity the penman do all render it considerable For as for the subject matter of the song it contain in it as the Hebrew writers have observed a summary of the law or pentateuch of Moses Consider it as a piece of Antiquity there is hardly any poem so venerable it was written before Homer or Hesiod Orpâ—eus or Linus David's or Asaph's poems and except a piece of the same hand it is the most antient song that is extant in the world It was penn'd by one of the most considerable persons look upon him humanely and he was very remarkable for his abstruse learning He was learned in all the learning of the Egyptians for his military conduct for his policy in administration of Government for his felicity in giving a law so suitable to the genius of the people that after so many thousand years it alone of all antient laws continues in veneration to this day But if we look upon him in reference to God there was none like unto him he conversed with God face to face he was admitted to his secrets he was entrusted with the administration of his powers in signs and wonders in the sight of Egypt and of Israel It was inspired and dictated not by the Muses or Apollo but by God himself Write thee this song and he wrote this song the same day whilest he was yet Deoplenus before the divine afflatus before his transport and rage had left him and therefore although he was the meekest and most modest man upon the earth although he resolutely declined his Embassy till God was angry because he was not eloquent but of a stammering speech yet now being conscious of that Spirit which moved within him he commends and justifies this song he undertakes for the fluency and smoothness and the exuberance of it he summons the â—ribes to record the expressions of his rage he callâ— upon heaven and earth to hear the verses made by indignation by indignation kindled and conceived by the contemplation of the greatness and excellency of God and his goodness in his dealings with this people of Israel and of the unworthiness of their return Give ear O Heaâ—ens saith he and I will speak and hearken O earth to the words of my mouth my doctrine shall drop as the rain c. The song indeed it self is large and very satyrical but the great argument or burthen of it is in the words of my text Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise The words are as I said the burthen or argument of the song applicable to every part of it repetible at the end of every stanza and indeed of every period God is a rock his work is perfect his ways are judgment They have corrupted themselves they are spotted perverse and crooked Do ye thus requite the Lord But more particularly God hath been good to Israel he raised him from nothing he redeemed him from bondage he was his Protector his Guide his Proveditore his food was of the most delicious his drink was generous of the pure blood of the grape and he grew fat upon it But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked Do ye thus requite O popule ingrate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again well but will God endure this base ingratitude doth he not see it or not resent it doth it not move him can he not will he not revenge himself upon them Yes the Lord saw it and was moved to Iealousie a fire was kindled in his anger Do ye thus requite the
Prophet brings men to the consideration of the love of a mother to her child can a Mother forget her Child c The love of Man to God holds no proportion to his Excellency and his goodness and the heart in judging of it is obnoxious to mistakes and very deceitful therefore the Apostle helps us towards an apprehension of it He that loves not his neighbour whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen So seeing the turpitude of mens ingratitude towards God is ineffable and inconceivable it will be requisite to speak a little of the unworthiness of Ingratitude towards men and leave you to work out this proportion Look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth so great nay infinitely greater is the unworthiness of ingratitude towards God And here I shall not go about to Philosophize or to demonstrate the turpitude of ingratitude from the nature of it à priori The immediate and evident corollaries of natural principles admit only of jejune and inconsiderable reasonings in that kind of demonstration The odiousness of ingratitude is such a corollary naturally and immediately flowing from that universal maxim quod tibi fieri non vis c. which runs thorow all morality and is not only the last resolution of Philosophy but of the Law and the Prophets and of the Gospel Luke 6. 31. As therefore when an abstruse proposition in matter of speculation is resolved into an evident principle or the contrary position into a plain absurdity the demonstrator goes no further but hath said all that can be pertinently spoken so when a piece of doubtful Morality is once resolved into this grand absurdity Omnia dixeris there is no more to be added all the rest is diminution It is said that Lycurgus made no law against ingratitude because Nature had made one to his hand So some Divines have observed that there is no direct precept against ingratitude in the Scripture though many testimonies in effect against it because it was needless as being supposed from the light of nature and below the Majestie of the spirit breathing in the scriptures to insist upon it according to that of our Saviour If ye love and do good and lend to them that love and do good to you what thanks or reward have you do not Sinners or Publicans even the same To that spirit which commands us to return good for evil to love our Enemies c. it were a kind of whiffling to command the return of good for good or prohibit the return of evil to those that have obliged us Now of these two sorts of ingratitude the former is branded in Scripture with an everlasting brand in the case of Pharaoh's Butler to Ioseph the Israelites to Ierubaal and the like But the ingratitude in the text being of the latter kind and of a deeper die and because the easiest Criterion of turpitude is the detestation of all the sons of men I shall endeavour à posteriori by some Scriptural instances of the resentments of that kind of ingratitude to shew the turpitude of it in the judgment of mankind We read when Ioash had commanded Zachariah to be stoned who was the son of Iehojada who had preserved him in his minority from Athaliah and made him King his own servants conspired against him and kill'd him in his bed because he remembred not the kindness of Iehojada but slew his son When Abner apprehended ingratitude in Ishbosheth whom he had made King consider his resentment he was very wroth he said am I a Dogs head who do shew kindness to the house of Saul God do so to Abner and more also except I translate the Kingdome from the house of Saul He swore he would do it and he did perform it It may be objected that the resentment of these men was not so considerable as that the Judgment of Mankind should be collected from it those that conspired against Ioash were Zabad the son of an Ammonitess and Iehozabad the son of a Moabitess and we read not any great praise either of the piety or morality of Abner Consider then the resentments of Gideon of whom it is said the Lord was with Gideon and of David the man after God's own heart When the men of Succoth dealt ungratefully with Gideon he said that he would tear their flesh with the thorns of the Wilderness and he took the Elaers of the City and the thorns of the Wilderness and with them he taught the men of Succoth i. e. he taught them better Morals When Nabal had upon a good day the shearers feast refused to give a little something that should come to hand and put a scorn upon David who is David c. then David said Surely in vain have I kept the goods of this fellow and he hath requited me evil for good so and more also do God to the enemies of David if I leave of all that perteineth to him before the morning light any that pisseth against the wall But it may be said that these be men of war and those enraged and these might be the resentments only of their passions Proceed we therefore to the resentments of Prophets and righteous men let us have recourse from David the Captain to David the Prophet and the Psalmist when he was composed and when he was composing Had it been my open enemies then I could have born it but it was thou my friend and my acquaintance it was an act of Treachery and Ingratitude let death seise upon them and let them go down quick into hell And again They rewarded me evil for good let them be confounded let them be as the dust before the wind let their way be dark and slippery and the Angel of the Lord persecute them Shall evil be recompensed for good saith Jeremy I stood before thee to speak good for them and they have digged a pit for my soul Therefore deliver up their children to the famine and pour out their blood by force of the sword c. Briefly because it may be objected that all these were the resentments of a legal and Mosaick spirit consider the resentment of the lamb of God the son of man the man Christ Jesus when he denounced a woe upon Corazin c. Woe unto thee Corazin woe unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre c. Therefore it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for thee Consider his resentment when he pronounced a judgment upon Ierusalem O Ierusalem Ierusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest those that are sent unto thee How often would I have gathered thy children and ye would not Behold now your house is left unto you desolate From what hath been spoken of the resentments of men the wickedness of Israels ingratitude against God though it cannot be