will I think be very plain from these following Considerations First That the Judicial or Ceremonial Laws of the Jews were to pass away and did so not long after but this Law which our Saviour speaks of was to be perpetual and immutable for he tells us that Heaven and Earth should pass away but one jot or one title of this Law should not pass Secondly The observation of the Law our Saviour speaks of consisted in such things as the Scribes and Pharisees neglected for he tells his Disciples upon this occasion that except their righteousness did exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees they should in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven But now the Scribes and Pharisees were the most accurate and punctual People in the World in observing the Precepts of the Judicial and Ceremonial Law they were so far from taking away any thing from these observances that they had added to them and enlarged them by innumerable Traditions of their own so exact were they that they would pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin as our Saviour observes but then they were extreamly defective in Moral Duties they were unnatural to their Parents and would pretend that their Estates were consecrated to God that under this pretence of positive Religion they might excuse themselves from a Natural Duty and let their Parents starve for God's sake they were Covetous and Unjust and devoured Widows houses in a word our Saviour tells us they neglected the weightier Matters of the Law Mercy Judgment and the love of God and keeping faith with Men so that it is in these things that our Saviour means that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees viz. in the practice of Moral Duties which were neglected by them and consequently 't is the Moral Law which our Saviour came to confirm and establish Thirdly If we consider the instances which our Saviour gives in his following discourse by which we may best judge what he means He instances in Murder and Adultery and Perjury which are undoubtedly forbidden by the natural Law and then he iâ—stances in several Permissions which were indulged to them for the Hardness of their Hearts but yet did intrench upon the Dictates of right Reason and the first and original Constitution of things as the permission of Divorce upon every slight occasion and of Revenge and Retaliation of Injuries Fourthly If we consider that by the Law and the Prophets our Saviour means that which was principally designed and ultimately intended by them which was the Observation of moral Duties which as they were written in the two Tables by the immediate Finger of God himself so are chiefly inculcated by the Propheâ—s And so we find this Phrase of the Law and the Prophets elsewhere used by our Saviour when he mentions that great Rule of Equity that we should do to others as we would have them do to us Matth. 7. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets But how was this the Law and the Prophets when this Rule was never so much as mentioned in either Our Saviour means that this is the Foundation of all those Duties of Justice and Mercy which are so much inculcated in the Law and the Prophets So that our Saviour makes the Observation of moral Duties to be the principal Design of the Jewish Law and as it were the Foundation of it and therefore he calls moral Duties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the weightier matters of the Law Matth. 23. 23. But ye says he to the Scribes and Pharisees have neglected the weightier things of the Law judgment and mercy and fidelity The Scribes and Pharisees busied themselves chiefly about ritual Observances but our Saviour tells them that those other were the most considerable and important Duties of the Law and lay at the bottom of the Jewish Religion And much the same enumeration the Prophet makes where he compares Sacrifices and these moral Duties together Mic. 6. 6 7 8. Wherewith â—hall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God Shall I come before him with burnt offerings with Calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousands of rivers of Oyl Shall I give my first born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God He had required Sacrifices but had no regard to them in comparison with these II. No Instituted Service of God no positive part of Religion whatsoever was ever acceptable to God when moral Duties were neglected nay so far from being acceptable to him that he rejects them with Disdain and Abhorrence To this purpose there are almost innumerable Passages in the Prophets Isa 1. 11. c. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me When ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hands to tread my Courts Bring no more vain Oblations incense is an Abomination to me the new moons and sabbaths the calling of assemblies I cannot away with it is Iniquity even the solemn meeting and when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you when ye make many prayers I will not hear What is the reason of all this Because they were defective in the moral Duties of Religion so it follows your hands are full of Blood wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment relieve the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the Widow come now and let us reason together saith the Lord implying that till they had respect to moral Duties all their external Worship and Sacrifices signified nothing And so likewise Isa 66. 3. He tells them that nothing could be more abomible than their Sacrifices so long as they allowed themselves in wicked Practises He that killeth an Ox is as if he slew a Man he that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Dog's neck he that offereth an Oblation as if he offered Swine's Blood and he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol yea they have chosen their own ways and their Soul delighteth in their Abominations And to mention but one Text more out of the Old Testament Jer. 7. 4 5. Trust ye not in lying words saying the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord are these Throughly amend your ways and your doings throughly execute Judgment between a man and his neighbour oppress â—ot the stranger the fatherless and the widow and shed not innocent blood If they did not practise these Duties and forbear those Sins all the reverence for the temple and the
this was affirmed of some part of Brasil by some of the first Discoverers who yet at the same time owned that these very People did most expresly believe the immortality of the Soul and the Rewards and Punishments of another Life Opinions which no Man can well reconcile with the denial and disbelief of a Deity But to put an end to this Argument later and more perfect discoveries have found this not to be true and do assure us upon better acquaintance with those barbarous People that they are deeply possest with the belief of One supream God who made and governs the World Having thus given a particular Answer to Socinus his Arguments against the Natural knowledge of a God I will now briefly offer some Arguments for it And to prove that the knowledge and belief of a God is natural to Mankind my First Argument shall be from the Universal Consent in this matter of all Nations in all Ages And this is an Argument of great force there being no better way to prove any thing to be natural to any kind of Being than if it be generally found in the whole Kind Omnium consensus naturae vox est the Consent of all is the voice of Nature saith Tully And indeed by what other Argument can we prove that Reason and Speech and an Inclination to Society are Natural to Men but that these belong to the whole Kind Secondly Unless the Knowledge of God and his Essential Perfections be Natural I do not see what sufficient and certain foundation there can be of Revealed Religion For unless we naturally know God to be a Being of all perfection and consequently that whatever he says is true I cannot see what Divine Revelation can signifie For God's revealing or declaring such a thing to us is no necessary Argument that it is so unless antecedently to this Revelation we be possest firmly with this Principle that whatever God says is true And whatever is known antecedently to Revelation must be known by Natural Light and by Reasonings and Deductions from Natural Principles I might further add to this Argument that the only standard and measure to judge of Divine Revelations and to distinguish between what are true and what are counterfeit are the Natural Notions which Men have of God and of his Essential Perfections Thirdly If the Notion of a God be not Natural I do not see how Men can have any Natural Notion of the difference of Moral Good and Evil Just and Unjust For if I do not naturally know there is a God how can I naturally know that there is any Law obliging to the one and forbidding the other all Law and Obligation to Obedience necessarily supposing the Authority of a Superiour Being But the Apostle expresly asserts that the Gentiles who were destitute of a Revealed Law were a Law unto themselves but there cannot be a Natural Law obliging Mankind unless God be Naturally known to them And this Socinus himself in his Discourse upon this very Argument is forced to acknowledge In all Men says he there is Naturally a difference of Just and Unjust or at least there is planted in all Men an acknowledgment that Just ought to be preferr'd beâ—ore Unjust and that which is honest before the contrary and this is nothing else but the Word of God witâ—in a Man which whosoever obeys in so doing obeys God tho' otherwise he neither know nor think there is a God and there is no doubt but he that thus obeys God is accepted of him So that here is an acknowledgement of a Natural Obligation to a Law without any Natural Knowledge of a Superior Authority which I think cannot be and which is worse that a Man may obey God acceptably without knowing and believing there is a God which direcâ—ly thwarts the ground of his first Argument from those words of the Apostle Without Faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God that is he that will be Religious and please God must believe that he is so hard is it for any Man to contradict Nature without contradicting himself Fourthly My last Argument I ground upon the words of the Apostle in my Text That which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them Is manifest in them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among them God hath sufficiently manifested it to Mankind And which way hath God done this by Revelation or by the Natural Light of Reason He tells us at the 20 th ver For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen that is God who in himself is invisible ever since he hath Created the World hath given a visible Demonstration of himself that is of his Eternal Power and Godhead being understood by the things which are made The plain sense of the whole is that this wise and wonderful frame of the World which cannot Reasonably be ascribed to any other Cause but God is a sensible Demonstration to all Mankind of an Eternal and Powerful Being that was the Author and Framer of it The only Question now is Whether this Text speak of the Knowledge of God by particular Revelation or by Natural Light and Reason from the contemplation of the Works of God Socinus having no other way to avoid the force of this Text will needs understand it of the Knowledge of God by the Revelation of the Gospel His words are these The Apostle therefore says in this place that the Eternal Godhead of God that is that which God would always have us to do for the Godhead is sometimes taken in this sense and his Eternal Power that is his Promise which never fails in which sense he said a little before that the Gospel is the Power of God these I say which were never seen by Men that is were never known to them since the Creation of the World are known by his Works that is by the wonderful Operation of God and Divine Men especially of Christ and his Apostles These are his very words and now I refer it to any indifferent Judgment whether this be not a very forced and constrained Interpretation of this Text and whether that which I have before given be not infinitely more free and natural and every way more agreeable to the obvious sense of the words and the scope of the Apostle's Argument For he plainly speaks of the Heathen and proves them to be inexcusable because they held the truth in unrighteousness and having a Natural Knowledge of God from the contemplation of his Works and the things which are made they did not glorifie him as God And therefore I shall not trouble my self to give any other Answer to it for by the absurd violence of it in every part it confutes it self more effectually than any Discourse about it can do I have been the larger upon this because it is a Matter of so great Consequence and lies at the bottom of all Religion For
declarations of the wrath of God against Sinners that there is a Day of Judgment appointed and a Judge constituted to take cognisance of the Actions of Men to pass a severe Sentence and to inflict a terrible Punishment upon the workers of Iniquity More particularly our Lord and his Apostles have denounced the wrath of God against particular Sinâ— and Vices In several places of the New Testament there are Catalogues given of particular Sins the practice whereof will certainly shut Men out of the Kingdom of Heaven and expose them to the wrath and vengeance of God 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Know ye not that the Unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God So likewise Gal. 5. 19 20 21. The works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murthers Drunkenness Revellings and such like of which I tell you before as I have likewise told you in times past that they that do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Col. 3. 5 6. Mortiâ—ie therefore your Members upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the Children of disobedience Rev. 21. 8. The fearful and unbelieving that is those who rejected the Christian Religion notwithstanding the clear Evidence that was offer'd for it and those who out of fear should Apostatize from it The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable that is those who were guilty of unnatural Lusts not fit to be named and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorâ—erers and Idolaters and all Liars that is all sorts of false and deceitful and perfidious Persons shall have their part in the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone whiâ—h is the second death And not only these gross and notorious Sins which are such plain violations of the Law and Light of Nature but those wherein Mankind have been apt to take more liberty as if they were not sufficiently convinced of the evil of them as the resisting of Civil Authority which the Apostle tells us they that are guilty of shall receive to themselves damnation Rom. 13. 2. Profane Swearing in common Conversation which St. James tells us brings Men under the danger of damnation Ch. 5. 12. Above all things my Brethren swear not lest ye fall under Condemnation Nay our Saviour hath told us plainly that not only for wicked actions but for every evil and sinful word Men are obnoxious to the Judgment of God So our Lord assures us Mat. 12. 36 37. I say unto you that every idle word that Men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the Day of Judgment For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned He had spoken before of that great and unpardonable Sin of Blaspheming the Holy Ghost and because this might be thought great severity for evil words he declares the Reason more fully because words shew the Mind and Temper of the Man ver 34. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh The Character of the Man is shewn by his words saith Menander Profert enim mores plerumque oratio saith Quintilian animi secreta detegit A Man's Speech discovers his Manners and the secrets of his heart ut vivit etiam quemque dicere Men commonly speak as they live and therefore our Saviour adds A good Man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things and an evil Man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil things but I say unto you that every idle word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which I do not think our Saviour means that Men shall be call'd to a solemn account at the Day of Judgment for every trifling and impertinent and unprofitable word but every wicked and sinful word of any kind as if he had said do you think this severe to maâ—e words an unpardonable fault I say unto you that Men shall not only be condemned for their maliâ—ious and blasphemous speeches against the Holy Ghost but they shall likewise give a strict account for all other wicked and sinful speeches in any kind tho' much inferiour to this And this is not only most agreeable to the scope of our Saviour but is confirmed by some Greek Copies in which it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every wicked word which Men shall speak they shall be accountable for it at the Day of Judgment But this by the by Our Saviour likewise tells us that Men shall not only be proceeded against for Sins of Commission but for the bare Omission and Neglect of their Duty especially in Works of Mercy and Charity for not feeding the hungry and the like as we see Mat. 25. and that for the omission of these he will pass that terrible Sentence Depart ye Cursed c. So that it nearly concerns us to be careful of our whole Life of all our Words and Actions since the Gospel hath so plainly and expresly declared that for all these things God will bring us into Judgment And if the threatnings of the Gospel be true What manner of Persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness Secondly As the threatnings of the Gospel are very plain and express so are they likewise very dreadful and terrible I want words to express the least part of the terrour of them and yet the expressions of Scripture concerning the misery and punishment of Sinners in another World are such as may justly raise amazement and horror in those that hear them Sometimes it is exprest by a departing from God and a perpetual banishment from his presence who is the Fountain of all Comfort and Joy and Happiness sometimes by the loss of our Souls or our selves What shall it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or as it is in another Evangelist to lose himself Not that our Being shall be destroyed that would be a happy loss indeed to him that is Sentenced to be for ever miserable but the Man shall still remain and his Body and Soul continue to be the Foundation of his misery and a Scene of perpetual woe and discontent which our Saviour calls the destroying of Body and Soul in Hell or going into everlasting punishment where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched Could I represent to you the horror of that dismal Prison into which Wicked and Impure Souls are to be thrust and the misery they must there endure without the least spark of Comfort or glimering of Hope how they wail and groan under the intolerable wrath of God the insolent scorn and
Uncircumcision Barbarian Sâ—ythian bond nor free but Christ is all and in all Which is the same with what the Apostle says here in the Text that in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature that is these external Marks and Differences signifie nothing but this inward Change the new Creature Christ formed in us this in the Christian Religion is all in all But that we may the more clearly understand the just importance of this Metaphor of a new Creature or a new Creation I shall First Consider what it doth certainly signifie by comparing this Metaphorical Phrase with other plain Texts of Scripture And Secondly That it doth not import what some would extend it to so as to found Doctrines of great Consequence upon the single strength of this and the like Metaphors in Scripture without any manner of countenance from plain Texts First I shall consider what this Metaphor doth certainly import so as to be undeniably evident from other more clear and full Texts of Sripture namely these two Things 1. The greatness of this Change 2. That it is effected and wrought by a Divine Power 1. The greatness of this Change it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a new Creation as if the Christian Doctrine firmly entertained and believed did as it were mould and fashion Men over again transforming them into a quite other sort of Persons than what they were before and made such a change in them as the Creating Power of God did in bringing this Beautiful and orderly frame of things out of their dark and rude Chaos Thus the Apostle represents it 2 Cor. 4. 6. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness alluding to the first Creation hath shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ We are translated from one extream to another Acts 26. 18. When our Lord sends Paul to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles he tells him what a change it would make in them by opening their eyes and turning them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God And St. Peter expresses the change which Christianity makes in Men by their being call'd out of darkness into a marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. 9. And so St. Paul Eph. 5. 8. Ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord. And indeed wherever the Doctrine of Christ hath its full effect and perfect work it makes a mighty change both in their inward Principles and outward Practice it darts a new light into their Minds so that they see things otherwise than they did before and form a different judgment of things from what they did before it endues them with a new Principle and new Resolutions gives them another Spirit and another Temper a quite different sense and gust of things from what they formerly had And this inward change of their Minds necessarily produceth a proportionable change in their Lives and Conversations so that the Man steers quite another course acts after another rate and drives on quite other designs from what he did before And this is remarkably seen in those who are reclaimed from Impiety and Prophaneness to Religion and from a vicious to a virtuous course of Life The Change is great and real in all but not so sensible and visible in some as others in those who are made good by the insensible steps of a pious and virtuous Education as in those who are translated out of a quite contrary state and tâ—rn'd from the power of Satan unto God and translated out of the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Christ which was the case of the Heathen World in their first Conversion to Christianity Secondly This Change is effected and wrought by a Divine Power of the same kind with that which Created the World and raised up Christ Jesus from the Dead two great and glorious Instances of the Divine Power and to these the Scripture frequently alludes when it speaks of this New Creation God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined into our hearts Like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father so we also are raised to newness of life saith St. Paul Rom. 6. 4. And to the same purpose the same Apostle speaks Ephes 1. 19 20. And that ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the operation of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead So that our Renovation and being made new Creatures is an instance of the same glorious Power which exerted it self in the first Creation of things and in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Dead but not altogether after the same manner as I shall shew under the next Head I should now in the second place proceed to shew that this Metaphor of a new Creation doth not import what some Men would extend it to so as to found Doctrines of great consequence upon the single strength of this and other like Metaphors of Scripture without any manner of countenance and confirmation from plain Texts But this I reserve to another Discourse SERMON VI. Of the Nature of Regeneration and its Necessity in order to Justification and Salvation GALAT. VI. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature IN these words are contained these two Things First That the Gospel hath taken away the obligation of the Law having taken away the sign of that Covenant which was Circumcision Secondly That according to the terms of the Gospel and the Christian Religion nothing will avail to our justification and acceptance with God but the real renovation of our Hearts and Lives For the full explication of this I propounded to do these three Things I. To shew what is imply'd in this Phrase of a new Creature II. That this is the great Condition of our justification and acceptance with God and that it is the same in sense and substance with those other expressions in the two parallel Texts of Faith perfected by Charity and keeping the Commandments of God III. That it is very reasonable that this should be the Condition of our justification and acceptance to the favour of God I began with the first of these viz. To shew what is imply'd in this Phrase of a New Creature as to which I shew'd First What this Metaphor doth certainly import so as to be undeniably evident from other more clear and full Texts of Scripture namely the greatness of this Change and that it is effected by a Divine Power I now proceed Secondly To shew that it doth not import what some would extend it to and that so as to found Doctrines of great Consequence upon the meer and single strength of this and other like Metaphors of Scripture without any manner of countenance
Not but that Mankind had always apprehensions and jealousies of the danger of a wicked Life and Sinners were always afraid of the vengeance of God pursuing their evil Deeds not only in this Life but after it too and tho' they had turned the Punishments of another World into ridiculous Fables yet the wiser sort of Mankind could not get it out of their Minds that there was something real under them and that Ixion's Wheel which by a perpetual motion carried him about and Sisyphus his Stone which he was perpetually rolling up the Hill and when he had got it near the top tumbled down and still created him a new labour and Tantalus his continual hunger and thirst aggravated by a perpetual nearness of enjoyment and a perpetual disappointment and Prometheus his being chained to a Rock with an Eagle or Vulture perpetually preying upon his Liver which grew as fast as it was gnawed I say even the wiser among the Heathens lookt upon these as fantastical Representations of something that was Real viz. the grievous and endless Punishment of Sinners the not to be endured and yet perpetually renewed Torments of another World for in the midst of all the ignorance and degeneracy of the Heathen World Mens Consciences did accuse them when they did amiss and they had secret fears and misgivings of some mighty danger hanging over them from the displeasure of a superior Being and the apprehension of some great mischiefs likely to follow their wicked actions which some time or other would overtake them which because they did not always in this World they dreaded them in the next And this was the foundation of all those Superstitions whereby the Ancient Pagans endeavoured so carefully to appease their offended Deities and to avert the Calamities which they feared they would send down upon them But all this while they had no certain assurance by any clear and express Revelation from God to that purpose but only the jealousies and suspicions of their own Minds naturally consequent upon those Notions which Men generally had of God but so obscured and depraved by the Lusts and Vices of Men and by the gross and false conceptions which they had of God that they only serv'd to make them superstitious but were not clear and strong enough to make them wisely and seriously Religious And to speak the truth the more knowing and inquisitive part of the Heathen World had brought all these things into great doubt and uncertainty by the nicety and subtilty of Disputes about them so that it was no great wonder that these Principles had no greater effect upon the Lives of Men when their apprehensions of them were so dark and doubtful But the Gospel hath made a most clear and certain Revelation of these things to Mankind It was written before upon Men's Hearts as the great Sanction of the Law of Nature but the impressions of this were in a great measure blurred and worn out so that it had no great power and efficacy upon the Minds and Manners of Men but now it is clearly discovered to us the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven which expression may well imply in it these three things First The Clearness of the Discovery the wrath of God is said to be revealed Secondly The extraordinary Manner of it it is said to be revealed from Heaven Thirdly The Certainty of it not being the result of subtle and doubtful Reasonings but having a Divine Testimony and Confirmation given to it which is the proper meaning of being revealed from Heaven First It imports the Clearness of the Discovery The Punishment of Sinners in another World is not so obscure a Matter as it was before it is now expresly declared in the Gospel together with the particular Circumstances of it namely that there is another Life after this wherein Men shall receive the just recompence of Reward for all the actions done by them in this Life that there is a particular time appointed wherein God will call all the World to a solemn account and those who are in their graves shall by a powerful voice be raised to Life and those who shall then be found alive shall be suddenly changed when our Lord Jesus Christ the Eternal and only begotten Son of God who once came in great humility to save us shall come again in Power and great Glory attended with his Mighty Angels and all Nations shall be gathered before him and all Mankind shall be separated into two Companies the Righteous and the Wicked who after a full Hearing and fair Tryal shall be sentenced according to their Actions the one to Eternal Life and Happiness the other to Everlasting Misery and Torment So that the Gospel hath not only declared the thing to us that there shall be a future Judgment but for our farther assurance and satisfaction in this Matter and that these things might make a deep impression and strike a great awe upon our Minds God hath been pleased to reveal it to us with a great many particular Circumstances such as are very worthy of God and apt to fill the Minds of Men with dread and astonishment as often as they think of them For the Circumstances of this Judgment revealed to us in the Gospel are very solemn and awful not such as the wild fancies and imaginations of Men would have been apt to have drest it up withal such as are the Fictions of the Heathen Poets and the extravagancies of Mahomet which tho' they be terrible enough yet they are withal ridiculous but such as are every way becoming the Majesty of the great God and the Solemnity of that great Day and such as do not in the least â—avour of the vanity and lightness of humane imagination For what more fair and equal than that Men should be tried by a Man like themselves one of the same Rank and Condition that had experience of the Infirmities and Temptations of Humane Nature So our Lord tells us that the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son because he is the Son of Man and therefore cannot be excepted against as not being a fit and equal Judge And this St. Paul offers as a clear proof of the equitable proceedings of that Day God says he hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained And then what more congruous than that the Son of God who had taken so much pains for the Salvation of Men and came into the World for that purpose and had used all imaginable means for the Reformation of Mankind I say what more congruous than that this very Person should be honoured by God to sit in Judgment upon the World and to Condemn those who after all the means that had been tried for their Recovery would not Repent and be Saved And what more proper than that Men who are to be judged for things done in the Body should be judged in the Body and consequently
when Vice hath got such head that it can hardly bear to be â—keckt and controll'd and when as the Roman Historian complains of his times Ad ea tempora quibus nec vitia nostra nec remedia pati possumus perventum est things are come to that pass that we can neither bear ouâ— Vices noâ— the Remedies of them Our Vices are grown to a prodigious and intolerable height and yet Men hardly have the patience to hear of them and surely a Disease is then dangerous indeed when it cannot bear the severity that is necessary to a Cure But yet notwithstanding this we who are the Messengers of God to Men to warn them of their sin and danger must not keep silence and spare to tell them both of their sins and of the Judgment of God which hangs over them that God will visit for these things and that his Soul will be avenged on such a Nation as this At least we may have leave to warn others who are not yet run to the same excess of riot to save themselves from this untoward generation God's Judgments are abroad in the Earth and call aloud upon us to learn Righteousness But this is but a small Consideration in Comparison of the Judgment of another World which we who call our selves Christians do profess to believe as one of the Chief Articles of our Faith The Consideration of this should check and cool us in the heat of all our sinful Pleasures and that bitter Irony of Solomon should cut us to the heart Rejoyce O young Man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment Think often and seriously on that time wherein the wrath of God which is now revealed against sin shall be executed upon Sinners and if we believe this we are strangely stupid and obstinate if we be not moved by it The assurance of this made St Paul extreamly importunate in exhorting Men to avoid so great a danger 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the Body according to what he hath done whether it be good or evil Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord we perswade Men. And if this ought to move us to take so great a care of others much more of our selves The Judgment to come is a very amazing Consideration it is a fearful thing to hear of it but it will be much more terrible to see it especially to those whose guilt must needs make them so heartily concern'd in the dismal Consequences of it and yet as sure as I stand and you sit here this great and terrible Day of the Lord will come and who may abide his coming What will we do when that Day shall surprize us careless and unprepared what unspeakable horror and amazement will then take hold of us when lifting up our eyes to Heaven we shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of it with Power and great Glory when that powerful voice which shall pierce the ears of the Dead shall ring through the World Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment when the mighty Trumpet shall sound and wake the Sleepers of a thousand years and summon the dispersed parts of the Bodies of all Men that ever lived to rally together and take their place and the Souls and Bodies of Men which have been so long strangers to one another shall meet and be united again to receive the doom due to their deeds what fear shall then surprize Sinners and how will they tremble at the presence of the great Judge and for the glory of his Majesty How will their Consciences flye in their faces and their own hearts condemn them for their wicked and ungodly Lives and even prevent that Sentence which yet shall certainly be past and executed upon them But I will proceed no further in this Argument which hath so much of terror in it I will conclude my Sermon as Solomon doth his Ecclesiaâ—tes Ch. 12. 13 14. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole of Man for God shall bring every work into Judgment and every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil To which I will only add that serious and merciful Admonition of a greater than Solomon I mean the great Judge of the whole World our blessed Lord and Saviour Luke 21. 34 35 36. Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and so that day come upon you at unawares for as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole Earth Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accouuted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost c. SERMON XII Knowledge and Practice Necessary in Religion JOHN XIII 17. If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them TWO Things make up Religion the Knowledge and the Practice of it and the First is wholly in order to the Second and God hath not revealed to us the Knowledge of Himself and his Will meerly for the improvement of our Understanding but for the bettering of our Hearts and Lives not to entertain our Minds with the speculations of Religion and Virtue but to form and govern our Actions If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them In which words our blessed Saviour does from a particular instance take occasion to settle a general Conclusion namely that Religion doth mainly consist in Practice and that the knowledge of his Doctrine without the real effects of it upon our Lives will bring no Man to Heaven In the beginning of this Chapter our great Lord and Master to testifie his Love to his Disciples and to give them a lively Instance and Example of that great Virtue of Humility is pleased to condescend to a very low and mean Office such as was used to be performed by Servants to their Masters and not by the Master to his Servants namely to wash their feet and when he had done this he asks them if they did understand the meaning of this strange Action Know ye what I have done unto you ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am if I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye also ought to wash one anothers feet for I have given you an Example that ye should do as I have done to you Verily verily I say unto you the Servant is not greater than the Lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him if ye know these things
us in broken pieces or mixt and adulterated here a Lesson of Scripture and there a Legend but whole and entire sincere and uncorrupt God hath not left us as he did the Heathen for many Ages to the imperfect and uncertain direction of Natural Light nor hath he revealed his Will to us as he did to the Jews in dark Types and Shadows but hath made a clear discovery of his Mind and Will to us The Dispensation which we are under hath no vail upon it the Darkness is past and the true Light now shineth we are of the Day and of the Light and therefore it may justly be expected that we should put off the Works of Darkness and walk as Children of the Light Every degree of knowledge which we have is an aggravation of the Sins committed against it and when our Lord comes to pass Sentence upon us will add to the number of our stripes Nay if God should inflict no positive torment upon Sinners yet their own Minds would deal most severely with them upon this account and nothing will gall their Consciences more than to remember against what Light they did offend For herein lies the very nature and sting of all guilt to be conscious to our selves that we knew what we ought to have done and did it not The Vices and Corruptions which reigned in the World before will be pardonable in comparison of ours The times of that ignorance God winked at but now he commands all Men every where to Repent Mankind had some excuse for their Errors before and God was pleased in a great measure to overlook them but if we continue still in our sins we have no cloak for them All the degrees of Light which we enjoy are so many Talents committed to us by our Lord for the improving whereof he will call us to a strict account for unto whomsoever much is given of him much shall be required and to whom he hath committed much of him he will ask the more And nothing is more reasonable than that Men should account for all the advantages and opportunities they have had of knowing the Will of God and that as their knowledge was increased so their sorrow and punishment should proportionably rise if they sin against it The ignorance of a great part of the World is deservedly pitied and lamented by us but the Condemnation of none is so sad as of those who having the knowledge of God's Will neglect to do it how much better had it been for them not to have kuown the way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them If we had been born and brought up in ignorance of the true God and his Will we had had no sin in comparison of what now we have but now that we see our sin remains This will aggravate our Condemnation beyond measure that we had the knowledge of Salvation so clearly revealed to us Our Duty lies plainly before us we know what we ought to do and what manner of Persons we ought to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness We believe the coming of our Lord to Judgment and we know not how soon He may be revealed from Heaven with his Mighty Angels not only to take vengeance on them that know not God but on them that have known him and yet obey not the Gospel of his Son And if all this will not move us to prepare our selves to do our Lord's Will we deserve to have our stripes multiplied No Condemnation can be too heavy for those who offend against the clear knowledge of God's Will and their Duty Let us then be perswaded to set upon the practice of what we know let the light which is in our Understandings descend upon our Hearts and Lives let us not dare to continue any longer in the practice of any known Sin nor in the neglect of any thing which we are convinced is our Duty and if our hearts condemn us not neither for the neglect of the means of Knowledge nor for rebelling against the Light of God's Truth shining in our Minds and glaring upon our Consciences then have we confidence towards God but if our hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knows all things SERMON XIV The Sins of Men not chargeable upon God but upon themselves JAMES I. 13 14. Let no Man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any Man But every Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed NEXT to the Belâ—ef of a God and his Providence there is nothing more Fundamentally necessary to the practice of a good Life than the belief of these two Principles That God is not the Author of Sin and That every Man's Sin lies at his own door and he hath reason to blame himself for all the evil that he does First That God is not the Author of Sin that he is no way accessary to our faults either by tempting or forcing us to the Commission of them For if he were they would neither properly be Sins nor could they be justly punished They would not properly be Sins for Sin is a contradiction to the Will of God but supposing Men to be either tempted or necessitated thereto that which we call Sin would either be a meer passive Obedience to the Will of God or an active Compliance with it but neither way a contradiction to it Nor could these actions be justly punished for all punishment supposeth a fault and a fault supposeth liberty and freedom from force and necessity so that no Man can be justly punished for that which he cannot help and no Man can help that which he is necessitated and compel'd to And tho' there were no force in the case but only temptation yet it would be unreasonable for the same person to tempt and punish For as nothing is more contrary to the holiness of God than to tempt Men to Sin so nothing can be more against justice and goodness than first to draw Men into a fault and then to chastize them for it So that this is a Principle which lies at the bottom of all Religion That God is not the Author of the Sins of Men. And then Secondly That every Man's fault lies at his own door and he has reason enough to blame himself for all the evil that he does And this is that which makes Men properly guilty that when they have done amiss they are conscious to themselves it was their own act and they might have done otherwise and guilt is that which makes Men liable to punishment and fear of punishment is the great restraint from Sin and one of the principal Arguments for Virtue and Obedience And both these Principles our Apostle St. James does here fully assert in the words which I have read unto you Lâ—t no Man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for
the Natural Knowledge which Men have of God is when all is done the surest and fastest hold that Religion hath on Humane Nature Besides how should God judge that part of the World who are wholly destitute of Divine Revelation if they had no Natural Knowledge of him and consequently could not be under the direction and government of any Law For where there is no Law there is no Transgression and where Men are guilty oâ— the breach of no Law they cannot be Judged and Condemned for it for the Judgment of God is according to truth And now this being establisht that Men have a Natural Knowledge of God if they contradict it by their Life and Practice they are guilty of detaining the truth of God in unrighteousness For by this Argument the Apostle proves the Heathen to be guilty of holding the truth in unrighteousness because notwithstanding the Natural Knowledge which they had of God by the things which were made they lived in the practice of gross Idolatry and the most abominable Sins and Vices And this concerns us much more who have the glorious Light of the Gospel added to the Light of Nature For if they who offended against the Light of Nature were liable to the judgment of God of how much sorer Punishment shall we be thought worthy if we neglect those infinite advantages which the Revelation of the Gospel hath superadded to Natural Light He hath now set our Duty in the clearest and strongest Light that ever was afforded to Mankind so that if we will not now Believe and Repent there is no Remedy for us but we must die in our sins if we sin wilfully after so much knowledge of the truth there remains no more Sacrifice for Sin but a fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery indignation to consume us The Summ of what hath been said on this Argument is briefly this that Men have a Natural Knowledge of God and of those great Duties which result from the Knowledge of him so that whatever Men say and pretend as to the main things of Religion the Worship of God and Justice and Righteousness toward Men setting aside Divine Revelation we are all Naturally convinc'd of our Duty and of what we ought to do and those who live in a bad Course need only be put in mind of what they naturally know better than any body else can tell them that they are in a bad Course so that I may appeal to all wicked Men from themselves rash and heated and intoxicated with Pleasure and Vanity transported and hurried away by Lust and Passion to themselves serious and composed and in a cool and considerate temper And can any sober Man forbear to follow the Convictions of his own Mind and to resolve to do what he inwardly consents to as best Let us but be true to our selves and obey the Dictates of our own Minds and give leave to our own Consciences to Counsel us and tell us what we ought to do and we shall be a Law to our selves I proceed to the Sixth and last Observation namely that the clear Revelation of the wrath of God in the Gospel against the impiety and unrighteousness of Men is one principal thing which renders it so very powerful and likely a means for the Salvation of Mankind For the Apostle instanceth in two things which give the Gospel so great an advantage to this purpose the Mercy of God to Penitent Sinners and his Severity toward the Impenitent both which are so fully and clearly revealed in the Gospel The Gospel is the power of God to Salvation to every one that believeth becaâ—se therein the Righteousness of God is revealed that is his great Grace and Mercy in the Justification and Pardon of Sinners by Jesus Christ which I have already shewn to be meant by the Righteousness of God by comparing this with the Explication which is given of the Righteousness of God Chap. 3. ver 22. The other Reason which he gives of the Gospel's being the power of God to Salvation is the plain declaration of the Severity of God toward Impenitent Sinners Because therein also the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men. The force of which Argument will appear if we consider these following Particulars First That the Declarations of the Gospel in this Matter are so plain and express Secondly That they are very dreadful and terrible Thirdly That there is no safety or hope of impunity for Men that go on and continue in their Sins Fourthly That this Argument will take hold of the most desperate and proâ—ligate Sinners and still retain its force upon the Minds of Men when all other Considerations fail and are of little or no efficacy And Fifthly That no Religion in the World can urge this Argument with that force and advantage that Christianity does First That the declarations of the Gospel in this Matter are most plain and express and that not only against Sin and Wickedness in general but against particular Sins and Vices so that no Man that lives in any Evil and Vicious Course can be ignorant of his danger Our Lord hath told us in general what shall be the Doom of the Workers of Iniquity yea tho' they may have owned him and made profession of his Name Mat. 7. 21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord c. then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work Iniquity Math. 13. 49 50. So shall it be at the end of the World the Angels shall come forth and sever the Wicked from among the Just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth Math. 25. 46. The Wicked shall go away into Everlasting Punishment but the Righteous into Life Eternal Joh. 5. 28 29. The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnatiom Rom. 2. 6. St. Paul tells us that there is a Day of wrath and of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God who will render to every Man according to his deeds to them who obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of Man that doth evil 2 Thes 1. 7 8 9. That the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punisht with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Power Nothing can be more plain and express than these general