What can any man among us that professeth to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead say for himself if he leads a wicked Life What Apology can he make for the continuance in his sins Will he say that the Temptations to sin are too strong for him that he wants Grace and Strength to overcome his evil Habits and that through the corruption of his Nature he must of necessity remain a slave all his days to his Passions and Appetites whether he will or no Why in saying this he forgets that Christ is risen from the dead For if he did remember that he would remember also that there is a Vertue and Power above that of corrupt Nature which he as a Christian may easily come by if he seriously seek after it Namely The Grace and Strength of the Holy Spirit of God which I have been speaking of which Christ upon his Resurrection obtained the disposal of and which he never fails to send down upon every Soul that heartily prays for it and when ever he gives it he gives it in such measures that a man must certainly by the influence thereof overcome all his evil and corrupt Affections or if he do not it shall be entirely his own fault O what a mighty Comfort and Encouragement ought this to be to all those that heartily desire and endeavour to be good All such may with boldness approach to the Throne of Grace and confidently open their wants not doubting of such Relief as is most convenient for them Our Saviour is risen and sits at the Right hand of God He that loved us so dearly as to die for us is now entred into his Kingdom and is able to grant us whatsoever we ask Do we find our selves burdened with our sins Do we want strength to resist Temptations and to master our strong Corruptions Our Saviour is risen and now ever liveth to make intercession for us Let us fly to him for succour let us beg a portion of that Grace and Holy Spirit he hath purchased for us We may rest satisfied he will hear our Prayers and derive such vigour and influence upon our Souls that we shall in due time by the means thereof vanquish and triumph over every thing that opposeth us We cannot in any wise doubt of his Power for God by raising him from the dead hath made him both King and Priest hath exalted him to the highest Authority and Dignity both in Heaven and Earth We cannot doubt of his good will for he that underwent so many Difficulties and Agonies for us in the days of his Flesh cannot forget those whom he hath ransomed with so great a price nor suffer that Power which God hath given him to lie by him unimployed To conclude Let us not faint Let not our hearts be troubled Let us not despair of any thing Our Saviour is risen Our High-priest is entred within the vail hath taken possession of the highest Heaven where he continually makes intercession for us Such a High-priest as is kind and compassionate and tender-hearted that knoweth our frame and remembreth that we are but dust that pities our weaknesses and is sensible of the difficulties we have to conflict with as having himself had sufficient experience of them And withal such a High-priest as is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God through him Thus have I given some account of the Virtue of our Saviour's Resurrection in order to the making us sincerely Good What remains But that as we should heartily thank God for these Benefits of it so we should especially endeavour to be partakers of them not contenting our selves with a notional ineffectual Faith but labouring with St. Paul experimentally to know Christ Jesus and the Power of his Resurrection Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON XIII Preach'd before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL PSALM xcvii 1. The Lord is King the Earth may be glad thereof yea the multitude of the isles may be glad thereof THat is to say it ought to be Matter of exceeding Joy to all the Inhabitants of the World that amidst all the uncertainties and Hazards and Variety of Fortunes which they here find themselves exposed to there is One Above that governs all GOD that made the World is the King of it All the Beings of the Universe Angels Men and Devils with all the other Animate or Inanimate things in Heaven and Earth as they are His Creatures so are they truly and properly His Subjects and act entirely in subordination to Him as Ministers and Instruments do under the Guidance of the Principal Agent GOD doth as truly Reign in the World as any King does in his Kingdom He doth as truly order the Affairs of it as any Master doth those of his own Family Nay a Man 's own Thoughts and Actions are not by a thousand times so much attended by himself are not so much his Care as the Affairs of the Universe are attended by and are the Care of God Almighty This is the notion of the Lord 's being King and Do you not think it ought to be matter of Rejoycing to all Reasonable Creatures O Lord what a gloomy dismal Scene of things do they present us with that give other Accounts of these matters To banish God's Providence and Government out of the World is to banish all Joy all Peace all Hope all Comfort for ever from all those that have the power of Thinking A Brute indeed is not much concern'd how Matters are order'd An Ox may grow fat in his Stall and a Colt frisk in his Pasture let the Hypothesis of the Government of the World be what it will But to one that is made with a Faculty of Reasoning that has Hopes and Fears and can reflect on what is past and hath a prospect of what is future what black and melancholy Apprehensions must it cause in such a one to suppose that no care is taken of Human Affairs but that we sail in the tempestuous Ocean of this World every minute in danger of Rocks and Quicksands without any Pilot to steer us Take what Hypothesis you will either That there is no God but that all things comes to pass by Chance or inevitable Necessity Or That there is a God but that God having once put things into this Frame never meant to trouble himself more about them but left them to shift for themselves Natural Events falling out from necessary Causes and Civil Assairs being left to Mankind who are to shuffle and divide the World among themselves as well as they can I say proceed which way you will if you exclude God Almighty's Government you make
to that other People will be apt to fancy Silly and Ridiculous But this doth not at all reflect upon Religion nor doth it follow that because the Imprudence of this or the other particular Man exposes him to the Mirth and the Pleasantness of others that therefore all Religious Persons must fall under the same Fate Most certainly Religion where-ever it is governed by Knowledge and Sound Principles where-ever it is managed with Prudence and Discretion is a thing so Noble so Amiable that it attracts Love and commands Respect from all that are acquainted with it unless they be such profligately wicked Persons as I just now spoke of There is one Objection made from the Scripture against this and the former Point I have been speaking to which I desire to remove before I proceed to the Third General Head of my Discourse It is this That the Scripture is so far from representing Godliness as a means to improve our Fortunes or attain a Reputation in the World that it seems directly to affirm the contrary for it assures us that All those that will live godly in Christ must suffer Persecution That the Disciples of Christ shall be hated of all Men for His Name 's sake That the World shall revile and persecute them and speak all manner of Evil of them And that through many Tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God But to this it is easily answered that these and other such like Passages of Scripture do not speak the General and Common Fate that attends Godliness in all Times and Places of the World according to the Ordinary Course of God's Providence but only refer to that particular Time when Christianity was to be planted in the World then indeed Persecution and Disgrace Loss of Goods and even of Life it self was to be the common Portion of those that professed it Nor could it otherwise be expected for when a new Religion is to be set up and such a Religion as is perfectly destructive of all those others that have been by long Custom received and are by Laws established in the World it cannot be imagined but that it will meet with a great deal of Contradiction and Opposition from all sorts of Persons But this was a peculiar and extraordinary Case and could but last for a certain Time Now that Christianity hath obtained in the World and is adopted into the Laws of Kingdoms as God be thanked it is among us at this day so far need we be from fearing that the Practice of it will draw upon us any Persecution or such other Inconveniences as are mention'd in the fore-cited places that there is no doubt but that we may rationally expect from it all those External Benefits and Advantages which as we have seen it is in its own nature apt to produce and which God hath indeed made over to it by Promise in several Passages of the Scripture especially of the Old Testament For that I may mention this by the By I do not conceive that those Promises of Long Life Good Days and all manner of Worldly Prosperity with which the Practice of Godliness is so frequently enforced in the Old Testament were so appropriated to the Jewish Religion as to be antiquated or disannualled by the Introduction of the Christian but rather that they are still in force to all the Purposes they were then for that the Coming of Christ into the World did add many great Blessings and Privileges to the People of God which before they had not we are certain of But that it took away from them any that before they had this we no where read nor indeed is it probable But I hasten to the Third and last General Head I am to speak to which is The excellent Ministeries of Religion above all other things to the Pleasures of Humane Life Which Point if it be clearly made out I do not see what can be farther wanting to recommend it unto us as the most effectual Instrument for the serving all our turns in this World Now that Godliness doth indeed make the most excellent Provisions for all sorts of Pleasures will appear by these four Considerations First That it eminently ministreth to Health which is a necessary Foundation for all Pleasures Secondly It doth much increase the Relish and Sweetness of all our other Pleasures Thirdly It secures us from all those Inquietudes and Disturbances which are apt to embitter our Pleasures and make our Lives uncomfortable Fourthly It adds to Humane Life a World of Pleasures of its own which those that are not possessed of it are utterly unacquainted with First of all Godliness doth very much conduce to Health Which is so necessary to our Enjoyment of any sensible Good that without it neither Riches nor Honours nor any thing that we esteem most gratifying to our Senses will signifie any thing at all to us Now that a Sound and Healthful Constitution does exceedingly much depend upon a discreet Government and Moderation of our Appetites and Passions upon a sober and temperate Use of all God's Creatures which is an Essential Part of True Religion is a thing so evident that I need make no words about it What are most of our Diseases and Infirmities that make us miserable and unpity'd while we live and cut us off in the midst of our days and transmit Weakness and Rottenness to our Posterity but the Effects of our Excesses and Debauches our Wantonness and Luxury Certainly if we would observe those Measures in our Diet and in our Labours in our Passions and in our Pleasures which Religion has bound us up to we might to such a degree Preserve our Bodies as to render the greatest part of Physick perfectly superfluous But these things are too well known to need to be insisted on I therefore pass on to the next thing Secondly A Life of Religion doth very much increase the Relish and Sweetness of all our sensible Enjoyments So far is it from abridging us of any of our Earthly Delights as its Enemies slanderously represent it that it abundantly heightens them It doth not only indulge to us the free Use of all those good Creatures of God which he hath made for the Support and Comfort of Mankind while they are in these Earthly Bodies but also makes them more exquisitely quisitely gratifying and delightful than without it they could possibly be And this it doth in part by the means of that never sufficiently commended Temperance and Moderation I before spoke of for hereby it comes to pass that our Senses which are the Instruments of our Pleasures are always preserv'd in that due Purity and Quickness that is absolutely necessary for the right performing of their Offices and the rendring our Perceptions of any thing grateful and agreeable Whereas the Sensual and Voluptuous Man defeats his own Designs and whilst he thinks to enjoy a greater share of Pleasures than other Men really enjoys a less for his Dissoluteness and giving
great things and in which way soever of them we lay out our selves we serve excellent ends of Charity But there is another point of useful publick Charity which though the occasion of this meeting hath nothing to do with it yet the present necessity of the thing doth oblige me seriously to recommend to you There are few I believe in this City either ignorant or insensible of the extreme numerousness of Beggars in our Streets and unless care be taken their number is likely to increase for this seems to be a growing evil I dare not lay the fault of this upon the defectiveness of our Laws nor dare I say that the provisions made for the Poor are incompetent or disproportionable to the number of them for perhaps the usual publick Taxes and private Free-will Offerings discreetly managed would go a great way towards the curing this evil supposing the richer Parishes to contribute to the maintaining the poorer But here is the misery we do not sufficiently distinguish between our poor nor take care to make provisions for them according to their respective necessities There are some that by reason either of old age or evil accidents are perfectly unable to earn a livelihood for themselves or to be any way useful to the publick except by their Prayers and their good examples and to see such go a begging is a shame to our Christianity and a reproach to our Government There are others that are fit to labour and might prove useful Members of the Common-wealth many ways if they were rightly managed now the True Charity to these is not to relieve them to the encouragement of their idleness but to employ them to put them into such a way that they may both maintain themselves and help towards the maintaining of others and if they refuse this let them suffer for their folly for there is no reason that those should eat that will not work if they be able A necessity therefore there is if ever this scandalous publick nusance of common begging be redressed that these four things be taken care of 1. That those that cannot work be maintained without begging 2. That those that can work and are willing have such publick provisions made that they may be employed in one way or other according as they are capable and every one receive fruits of his labour proportionable to his industry 3. That those that can work and will not be prosecuted according to the Laws as Rogues and Vagrants and Pests of the Kingdom And lastly after such publick provisions are made for the maintaining both sorts of Poor that are objects of Charity that is the helpless and those that endeavour to help themselves that all persons be exhorted and directed to put their private Charity in the right Channel wholly withdrawing it from the lazy and the lusty Beggars lest they be thereby encouraged in their infamous course of life and giving it to those who by publick order shall be recommended to them These things I hope I may without offence recommend to the Wisdom and Care of the Government of this Honourable City since there are both Heads enough to contrive the particular ways of curing these evils and Hands enough that will be open to contribute what is needful to so useful a work Certain it is the thing is practicable since it hath been and is practised in some Towns of this Nation and in several beyond the Seas And that it is needful there is none that hath any true sense of Charity which consists as much in taking care to prevent the miseries and necessities of Mankind as in relieving them there is none that hath any regard to the Reputation of our Religion or the Honour and good Government of this City or Kingdom but must needs acknowledge It is one of the great Glories of this City that as they have been always faithful and prudent in the management of those Publick Charities that they have been entrusted with so have they been very ready to encrease and to add to them And God without doubt hath blessed them the more for this very thing as indeed the best atonement that any people can make for the many sins that the place is guilty of is the Sacrifice of Alms and Charity And I hope that which condemned Sodom to wit that there were not ten righteous men found in it that is Men that were of a Publick Spirit that were truly Liberal and Bountiful and Charitable for that is an usual Notion of Righteousness in the Old Testament and there are some passages in this History which make it probable that it may be the notion of it here I say that very thing it is to be hoped hath and will preserve this City of ours because as far as we can gather there are in it many times ten such Righteous persons In truth if there were not several good Men among us that by the exemplarity of their lives and their Charity do stand in the gap between the reigning sins of the times and the Judgments of God that threaten us for them it would be a melancholy thing to think what would become of us But so long as God is pleased to continue to us a succession of those that fear God and hate covetousness that make it their business to do good and to serve their generation there is hopes that he will yet continue to bless us And so gracious hath God been to our City and Kingdom in this respect that to the glory of his name be it spoken whatever boasts they of the Church of Rome are wont to make of the Charitableness of their Religion in opposition to the penuriousness of ours and reproach us with the bounty and munificence of our Popish Ancestors and the barrenness of their Protestant Successors yet we may safely affirm that there have been more publick works of Charity done in this City and Kingdom since the Reformation than can be proved to have been done in the same compass of years during all the time that Popery prevailed among us O therefore let us go on to do this Honour to our Religion let us go on by our good works to adorn the doctrine of God that we profess Let us not only equal but labour to exceed the Piety and the Publick-spiritedness of our Forefathers Let every one both Magistrates and People in their several capacities be zealous and vigorous both in consulting in contriving and in acting for the publick good as much as is possible And for your greater incouragement thus to do let it be remembred in the last place that besides the outward advantages both publick and private that we reap by being charitable this is the best course we can take to secure our everlasting Happiness in the World to come For to do good with our Wealth to be rich in good works to be ready to distribute willing to communicate is as the Apostle in the Text tells us the way to lay
and assuring them of Eternal Rewards if they would repent I say If they were Witnesses of these things I will appeal to all the World whether they had not greater Means of Conviction offered to them than if any Ghost had appeared to them from the Dead or any particular Miracle had been vouchsafed them for the bringing them over to Vertue and Sobriety But I believe no Body will much doubt of this for indeed the matter will not bear a dispute But here is the Question Whether we that live at this distance from our Saviour have the same Means of Conviction and Whether one now appearing from the dead to us would not be of greater force to persuade us than the standing Revelation of the Gospel as we have it now conveyed to us This therefore leads me to my second Proposition upon this Head which if it can be made out will wholly take away all Controversie in this Matter And it is this That we at this day have as great Arguments to convince us of the Truth of Christ's Revelation and consequently as great Motives from thence to persuade us to reform our Evil Lives as those that Lived in the Times of our Saviour It is true indeed we want the Evidence of Sense in these Matters which they had and upon that account it must be acknowledged that they have the Advantage of us But this we say notwithstanding that if we take all things together and weigh them Impartially we shall find that that Want is abundantly supplied to us in other respects For first of all Our Saviour's Gospel and all the Evidences of it I have been now speaking of were timely and faithfully recorded and are as faithfully transmitted down to us So that though we did not see or hear those things yet we have a certain and exact Account of them and such an Account as was never yet questioned by any Adversaries that lived in those Times when such a Question was most reasonably to be made and such an Account as appears by all the Evidences that a thing of that Nature is capable of to have been written by Eye-witnesses and such Witnesses as were honest undesigning Men and not only so but they sealed with their Blood the Truth of what they reported And this same Account was religiously received by all Christians in all Places without Contradiction in those very Times and was shortly after translated into a Multitude of Languages so that it is scarce possible it should in any Considerable Matter be corrupted And from that Time to this in a continual Succession there have been Men that have suffer'd Martyrdom for the Attestation of it and in the first Ages after Christ when they had the best Opportunities of Examining the Truth of these things many thousands did so Now I say Though acccording to the Ordinary Proverb Seeing be Believing Yet next to Seeing an universal well-grounded Tradition which hath visible Effects attending it hath the most force to gain belief Nay I do not know whether there be so much Difference between the Evidence of the one and the other as one would think at first Sure I am there are many Cases in which we do as firmly believe Matters of Fact upon the Credit of Tradition and the permanent Effects that do accompany it as if we our selves had been present and seen them with our Eyes Which of us for Instance doth make any more doubt of the Story of William the Conquerour his subduing this Kingdom or of Henry the Eighth his casting off the Pope's Supremacy than he doth of the Revolutions that have happned in his own time And yet these Matters of Fact are no better attested than the History of our Saviour and his Miracles and Doctrines But Secondly Though those that lived in our Saviour's time had Evidence of Sense for the Truth of what they believed concerning him and his Doctrine which we have not Yet this is to be considered that they laboured under far greater Prejudices against his Religion than we now do And consequently all that sensible Proof which they had of the Truth of it would not be more effectual for the convincing of them than that Proof we now have though it be less ought in reason to be for the convincing of us They that were the Hearers and Spectators of what our Saviour said and did had mighty and inveterate Prepossessions to struggle with They were educated in a quite Different Religion and so must be supposed to have entertained several Notions and Principles which would very difficultly be rooted out and indeed for the effecting of it there needed little less than an Almighty Power But it is not so with us we by our Education are already disposed and prepared for the receiving Christianity We have no praevious Engagements to alienate our Minds from it nay it is our Interest to be of that Religion rather than any other So that certainly a less Evidence for the Truth of it will be as convincing to us as a much greater would have been to those to whom our Saviour first Preached Nay I am very confident that this thing being duely considered it will appear that our Arguments for Christianity drawn from Tradition will be more convincing to thinking Men among us than those Arguments they had from Sense and Experience could be to them But Thirdly If to what hath been said we add the several Arguments for the Credibility of the Christian Religion which we now have at this distance that they had not nor could have that were our Saviour's Immediate Disciples we shall be satisfied that in point of Evidence we have indeed much the advantage of them We have now several standing proofs of our Religion which they could not have and which are so strong and conclusive that they do more than compensate for the want of that Evidence of Sense which they had and we have not I breifly Instance in these three following First The strange Propagation and Success of our Religion throughout the World and the Means by which it was Effected That a poor despised crucified Person should in a few Years draw all the Roman Empire after him and that without any visible Means except the Goodness of his Cause and the Reasonableness of his Doctrine and the Sincerity and Constancy of his Disciples not in fighting for their Master but in laying down their Lives for him And this against all the Power and all the Arts and Stratagems that the Devil or the Princes of this World could invent to stifle and suppress his Name This is so strong an Argument that this Cause was the Cause of God and that his Providence was particularly concerned in the promoting of it that he must seem little to be sensible either of God or Providence that is not convinced by it If Christianity had been of the same strain that the Religion of Mahomet is had been as well calculated for Mens Lusts and Worldly Interests as that
Treasure He rejoiceth over them to do them good His bowels earn his heart is turned within him his repentings are kindled together when through their miscarriages he is forced to pass any severe Sentence upon them All this is the language of God in Scripture when he speaks of his People and therefore we cannot doubt of his sincere affection to them and particular care of them All the doubt is whether these expressions ought to be applied to any other people than the Jews with respect to whom the Scripture useth them But we that believe the Gospel need not make much doubt of it For it is certain the reason of all these expressions of kindness to the Jews more than to other Nations was founded in this That they were the People whom God had chosen to plant his Church among They were the People where his Religion was owned But now it is evident to all Christians that after our Saviour came into the World and Preached his Gospel to all Nations the Jews as a Nation ceased to be God's Church or peculiar People and from that time all those Nations that embraced Christ's Religion came into their place and were from thence forward to be as dear to God and as much his Care and his Treasure as ever the Jews were And upon that account we of this Nation may with as much reason apply the expressions of Scripture to our selves which declare God's kindness and concernment for his People as ever the Jews did Especially considering that God has owned us of this Nation for his People in as remarkable a manner as any Nation in Christendom As appears not only from that glorious light of the Gospel which he has for many years blessed us with above any other people perhaps in the Christian World But also from the wonderful Providences by which he has from time to time preserved our Church and with it the true Religion among us notwithstanding the various attempts of our Enemies to subvert it O may these Mercies of God to our Nation never be forgotten and may we always remember them with that due thankfulness they call for at our hands And thus much of our first Head I beg leave to draw a practical Inference or two from what hath been said before I proceed to the other First Since it appears that God sits at the Helm and steers and manages all the affairs of Mankind and that publick Societies are more especially the objects of his Care and Providence Methinks this Consideration should be a good Antidote against all those troublesome Fears and Sollicitude we are apt to disturb our selves with about the success of publick Matters If indeed all things went in the World by Chance or Fate and there was no God that did superintend human Affairs I should think it very Natural for Men to be extreamly concerned at every piece of ill News they heard It might be allowed them to break their sleep in the night and to complain dismally in the day of the sad times that were coming upon us But since we are certain as much as we are certain there is a God and as much as we are certain that the Scripture is true that all our Affairs our publick as well as our private Affairs the Affairs both in Church and State are entirely in God Almighty's disposal and that He doth really manage and order all things among us and likewise so manageth them that all shall at last turn to the good of his People and to the good of every honest Man I say since we are or may be satisfied that our Business is in so good hands I must confess I do not see what reason People have to give themselves so much trouble and uneasiness about things that may or may not come Thus far indeed it is fit that every one should be concerned nay it is fit that every one should charge his Conscience with it Namely to do his Duty to the publick in his place and station to contribute all that is in his power towards the procuring and promoting the common Happiness and to endeavour all that in him lies towards the avertting those Judgments we have reason to fear But when a Man hath done this to what purpose is it for him to trouble himself any further I should think he had better follow our Saviour's advice which when all things be considered will be found Eternally Prudent and Reasonable Matt. 6.34 Take no thought for to morrow let the morrow take care for the things of it self Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof Secondly This Doctrine ought to teach us this farther Lesson to depend altogether upon God Almighty and upon him only for the good success of our Affairs either in Church or State whenever they are in a doubtful or dangerous condition Prov. 19.21 For though many are the devices in the hearts of men nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand It is in vain to trust humane means For be our strength never so great or be those that manage for us never so industrious or be our hearts never so much united Yet it is an easy matter for God to blast all our designs and to disappoint all our Counsels in a Moment He hath often done so where Men have been confident in their own strength 2 Kings 19.34 In one night's time he made that prodigious Army of Assyrians that came up against Jerusalem and thought themselves sure of taking it to decamp and fly back into their own Country leaving a hundred and fourfcore thousand of their number Dead upon the place There is in truth no trusting to an Arm of Flesh For the successes of War depend upon a thousand Contingencies which it is not in the power of mortal Men either to foresee or remedy Eccles 9.11 Psal 33.16 So that the race is not always to the swift nor the battel to the strong nor can a King be sav'd by the multitude of an Host nor any mighty Man be delivered by his much strength But the God of Heaven that ruleth in the Kingdoms of Men it is He that preserves or destroys that gives Victory or sends a Defeat as it pleaseth him And therefore he is by way of eminence stiled The Lord of Hosts the God of Battels On the other hand If our Affairs at any time be in so very bad a posture that we cannot not avoid the having a melancholy dismal prospect of things yet let us not be discouraged let us still trust in God let us do what belongs to us to do for the obtaining his Mercy and Favour and then refer the Event to him God hath certainly a kindness for his People and if we do our parts towards the preserving his Affection to us we may still hope he will continue to be our Saviour and Deliverer Is is as easy to God to save by few as by many the Walls of Jericho at his Command Josh 6.20
as the Cloaths we wear do not alter the Complexion or Features of our Body so neither doth the Religion we Profess any more affect the Temper of our Souls We serve our selves in both Cases of the outward Conveniencies that are to be had by them but we are still the same Persons both as to our outward and inward Lineaments But alas this is a very sorry way of being Religious and will do us no great kindness We may perhaps reap some secular advantages by it but yet even the very trouble and pains it puts us to do equal the Conveniencies we have from it The Men that live thus are just served like those that work in rich Mines They are daily imployed about Gold and Silver or Gems and they work hard and they have their days wages for their Labour but they are not a whit the richer for the Treasures that come into their hands Your Religion will never serve you to any extraordinary purposes till your hearts be affected with it as well as your understandings Let me therefore advise you as you love either your Happiness in this World or in the next make it your principal care to get a lively and vigorous Sense of God impressed upon your Minds And look upon it as the greatest Interest you have to carry on the greatest Business you have to do in this World as it really is to approve your selves to this God by a sincere endeavour in all your Conversation to walk as his Son Jesus Christ hath taught you If you do this you will certainly find the Sweet and Comfort of it both here and hereafter When all is said it is a vain thing for any Man to expect a tolerable easie passage thro' this World unless he have the Hopes of God's Favour to support him under the Multitude of evil Accidents which the State of Humane Life will necessarily expose him to And as for the other World without these Hopes he is perfectly lost And to be able to entertain any rational Hopes of God's Blessing and Favour is a very vain thing likewise unless we make it our business with our whole Hearts and Souls to serve and please and obey Him There are a great many Rules and Maxims that we use to give to our Friends or our Children for the making their Fortunes and I cannot deny but they are exceeding good ones Thus for instance we advise them to get a true understanding of their Business and to pursue it diligently to keep out of ill Company to avoid Drinking or Gaming and Lewdness and to study the Tempers and Humours of Mankind and to learn to apply themselves dexterously to those they have occasion to converse with why these and such others are excellent Rules and most worthy of all Men to be studied and practised But still there is one Rule above all these and without which all the other will signifie very little to the making a Man's Life easie and comfortable and that is to preserve a lively sense of God upon our Spirits to have his fear always before our Eyes to love him above all things to value his Favour more than Life and to dread his Displeasure as the worst of Evils If we can but once get our Souls into this frame we have done our Business both for this World and for Eternity All the other particular Rules and Advices will be in a great measure superfluous for he that is possessed of this good Principle will of course naturally fall into the practice of them And besides this Fear and Love of God in our Hearts as it is the most effectual means according to the usual Disposition of the Divine Providence to put us into good Circumstances of Living so it is the only means of making our Circumstances happy to us if they be good or of making them easie and supportable if they be bad I do therefore most earnestly recommend it to you as you desire that either you or yours may prosper nay as you would not be very miserable be not contented with a superficial outside Religion but affect your minds as deeply as is possible with a sense of God and what you owe to him and endeavour to impress the same sense upon your Friends and Children and all that are about you The truth of it is so much doth our present happiness as well as our suture depend upon this belief of God and love to him and hopes of his favour that were it not for this the present World with all the imaginary Pleasures and Glories of it would appear to all wise and good Men not only an empty dull unsatisfactory place but a dismal melancholy Prison If it was supposed that all things here were the effects of blind Chance or fatal Necessity and that there were no Wisdom and Goodness that did preside over the World or took care of Mankind no considering Man could desire to live here The Second thing I would leave with you is this That after you have got into your minds a hearty sence of God and his Providence and his Presence and Goodness so as that you mean to make it the business of your lives to recommend your selves to him you would in the next place take care to keep up that sence by a a constam and daily Worship of him For God's sake and for your own Souls sake do not neglect your Prayers You must never think that God will bless you if you do not make a Conscience of daily paying him your tribute of Honour and Worship Be sure therefore you be constant in your private Devotions As you every day receive the renewed pledges of God's Love and Goodness towards you in a thousand instances So let every day your Affection and Gratitude be expressed to him by hearty Prayer and Thanksgiving This is absolutely necessary to be done as I have often told you if you mean to preserve any hearty sense of Religion in your minds But besides this I have another thing to recommend to all those that have Families They are Heads and Governours of a Society For indeed the first notion of Society is that of a Family Every Family is a little Kingdom and every Kingdom is or ought to be a great Family Now is it natural is it decent that there should be any Society upon Earth wherein God should not be owned and worshipped And yet woe be to us how many thousands of Families are there in this Kingdom nay I am afraid even iâ— about this City wherein God is not so much as named in publick unless perhaps by the way of affront by the way of Cursing or Swearing We deservedly complain of the great Loosness and Profaneness and Irreligion that hath overspread the face of this Nation O! I doubt a great deal of the blame of it lies upon the Housholders the Masters of Families among us If they would take better care of their Children and Servants and let them know what it is
What a dreadful one was this of the Gunpowder Treason in the Reign of her Successor How many Dangers have threatned us since that time from that quarter What a horrible storm but of late did we apprehend and justly enough too was impending over us And yet blessed be God who hath never sailed to raise up Deliverers to his People in the day of their Distress that storm is blown over And we are here not only in Peace and Quietness in the full possession of our Native Rights and Liberties and in the Enjoyment of the Free Exercise of our Religion which is one of the most desirable things in the World But such is the deliverance that God hath wrought for us that we also seem to have a fair prospect of the Continuance of these Blessings among us and according to Humane Estimate to be in a good measure out of the danger of our old Inveterate Enemy Popery I mean which one would think had now made its last effort among us Is not this now a great Blessing And must not all sincere Protestants of what perswasions soever they be in other respects necessarily believe so Certainly they must if they think it a Blessing to be delivered out of the hands of our Enemies and to be in a Condition to serve God without fear Let us all therefore own it as such to God Almighty let us thankfully remember all his past Deliverances from Popery and especially let us never forget those of this Day neither the former nor this late one We have reason to believe that God hath a tender Care of his Church and Religion in these Kingdoms not only because he hath so many times so signally and wonderfully appeared for the preservation it But more especially because we know and are convinced that our Religion is according to his Mind and Will being no other than that which his Son Jesus Christ taught unto the World that is to say no other than that which is in the Bible which is our only Rule of Faith It infinitely concerns us all therefore so to behave our selves as to shew that we are neither unthankful for Gods past Mercies nor unqualified for his future Protection And in order to that I know no other way but this that we all firmly adhere to to the Principles of our Religion and that in our Practices we conform our selves to those Principles That is to say In the first place That we sincerely love and fear God and have a hearty sense of his Presence and Goodness and Providence continually abiding in our Minds That we trust in him depend upon him and acknowledge him in all our ways That we be careful of his Worship and Service paying him the constant Tribute of our Prayers and Praises and Thanksgiving both in Publick and Private And then secondly that we be pure and unblameable in our Lives avoiding the Pollutions that are in the World through Lust and exercising Chastity and Modesty Meekness and Humility Temperance and Sobriety amidst the sundry Temptations we have to conflict with And thirdly that we have always a fervent Charity to one another that we Love as Brethren endeavouring to do all the good we can but doing harm to none Using Truth and Justice and a good Conscience in all our dealings with Mankind Living peaceably if it be possible with all Men. And not only so but in our several Places and Stations promoting Peace and Unity and Concord among Christians and contributing what we can to the healing the sad Breaches and Divisions of our Nation And then lastly that we pay all Submission and Duty and Obedience to the King and Queen whom God hath set over us endeavouring in all the ways that are in our Power to render their Government both as easie to themselves and as acceptable to their Subjects and as formidable to their Enemies as is possible If all of us that call our selves Protestants would charge our selves with the Practice of these things how assured might we reâ—… that God would bless us that he would continue his Protection of our Nation our Church our Religion against all Enemies whatsoever and that we might see our Jerusalem still more and more to flourish and Peace to be in all her Borders May God Almighty pour upon us all the Spirit of his Grace and work all these great things in us and for us And in order hereunto may he send down his Blessings upon the King and Queen and so influence and direct all their Councils both Publick and Private that all their Subjects may be happy in their Government and 〈◊〉 peaceably and quiet lives under them in all Godiness and and Honesty And after such a Happy and Peaceable Life here may we all at last arrive to God's Eternal Kingdom and Glory through the Merits of his dear Son To whom c. SERMON XI Preached before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL On CHRISTMAS-DAY 1691. Heb. ix 26. Now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself THis Text doth naturally suggest Five things to be insisted on most of them proper for our Meditations on this Day which therefore I shall make the Heads of my following Discourse I. In general the Appearance of our Lord. Now hath he appeared II. The Time of that Appearance In the end of the World III. The End and Design for which he appeared To put away Sin IV. The Means by which he accomplished that End By the Sacrifice of himself V. The Difference of His Sacrifice from the Jewish ones His was but once performed Theirs were every day repeated If his Sacrifice had been like theirs then as you have it in the former part of the verse must he often have suffered since the Foundation of the World But now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself This is the just Resolution of the Text into its several particulars of each of which I shall discourse as briefly and practically as I can I. I begin with the first The Appearance of our Lord in general Now hath he appeared Let us here consider first Who it was that appeared And then How he did appear The Person appearing we will consider both as to his Nature and as to his Office He that appeared as to his Nature was God and Man both these Natures were united in him and made one Person He was God with us So the Angel stiles him in the first of St. Matthew He was the Word that was with God and was God and by whom all things were made He was I say that Word made Flesh and dwelling among us So St. John stiles him in the first of his Gospel Lastly He was God manifest in the Flesh so St. Paul stiles him in the first Epistle to Timothy This was the Person that the Text saith Now appeared that is the Son of God in Humane Nature God of
demonstration by the sending his own Son into it how little a Value he sets upon these Things But II. I proceed to the Second Point which my Text leads me to speak to and that is the Time of our Saviour's Appearance here mentioned Once hath he Appeared in the end of the World You see here that the time of his Appearance is said to be the end of the World But how is that to be understood If we take the expression in the literal sense and as we commonly use it the thing is not true For there have already passed near seventeen Hundred Years since our Saviour's Appearance and yet the end of the World is not come nor do we know when it will But there will be no difficulty in this matter if we carefully attend to the Phrase the Apostle here useth and interpret it according to the Propriety of the Language in which it is delivered The word in my Text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which every body that is versed in the style of the New Testament knows may be better and more naturally rendred the Consummation or Conclusion of the Ages than the End of the World Fot the understanding this Phrase we must have recourse to the known Idiom of the Jews who used to speak of the several Oeconomies and Dispensations under which the World successively had been or was to be as of so many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ages The last of which Ages and the Accomplishment and Completion of all of them they held to be the Age of the Messiah beyond which they knew there was to be no other Age or Oeconomy With reference to this way of speaking the times of the Gospel-dispensation are frequently called in Scripture the Last Times the Last Days the Fulness of the Times and in the Text the Consummation or Shutting up of the Ages The meaning of all which Phrases is no more than this That the Times of the Gospel that is the Appearance and Revelation of our Saviour though God intended them from the beginning yet should they be the last of all Times There should be several Dispensations set on foot in the World before they came and when those times were fulfilled when the Ends of those Dispensations were accomplished then should our Saviour appear and begin his Kingdom which should never be succeeded by any other This is the true meaning of Christ's appearing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Text expresseth it that is not as we translate it in the end of the World but in the last of the Ages or at the time when the Ages were fulfilled and accomplished Now what use are we to make of this Consideration the Apostle himself doth fairly intimate to us in the beginning of this Epistle God saith he who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath made heir of all things and by whom he made the Worlds And so he goes on to set forth the incomparable Dignity and Preheminence of this last Messenger of God above that of either Angels or Men by whom he had spoken to Mankind before But what is the inference he draws from all this Why That you may see in the beginning of the second Chapter We ought therefore saith he to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard that is to say the Doctrine of the Gospel lest at any time we let them slip For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation as was spoken to us by the Lord Jesus The Apostle's Argument here proceeds on this manner God's Revelation of his Will to Mankind and the discovery of his Grace and Goodness was not all at once but gradual and by parts He first spake to Mankind by the Patriarchs who were burning and shining Lights in their Generations He afterwards singles out the Nation of the Jews to be his peculiar People and to them he gives a written Law which was delivered to them by Angels in the hand of Moses their Mediator as the Apostle speaks in the third of the Galatians which Law was a shadow or dark representation of the Good things which were afterwards to be revealed After this he sends Prophets in a continual Succession for several Ages who do more clearly discover God's will to them who call upon them to Holiness and Virtue and who speak in very plain Terms of that Great Salvation which God should one day manifest to the World And last of all as the Lord of the Vineyard in the Parable dealt with his Husbandmen who after he had sent Servants one after another of different Qualities and Degrees at last sent his own Son So at last I say did the great Lord of the World when the fulness of the time was come send his own Son to be his Embassador to Mankind his own Son who was the Brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person If now as the Apostle here argues If under the former Dispensations when God only declared his Will by Angels or by Prophets he was yet so severe that no Transgression or Disobedience escaped without a just recompence of Vengeance How can we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation as that was which in these last days was preached by Jesus Christ How can we escape if these last and greatest Methods of God for our good and in which all the Treasures of his Goodness are displayed I say if these have no effect upon us in order to the making us both Holy and Happy What Teachers what Instructers can we further expect What new Lights or Assistances do we yet wait for Can any one think that God should set on foot some other new Dispensation for the bringing off those wretched People upon whom this last could prevail nothing Do we dream of another Covenant or another Mediator between God and Man besides Christ Jesus Do we fancy that God will send some other Embassador or Saviour into the World after he hath sent his own Son Or that the Son of God will come a second time in Humane Flesh and again be crucified for us No certainly God hath afforded the last and greatest means for Man's Salvation and no other is ever to be expected Christ hath once appeared in the end of the World to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself and to those that believe in him and love him and obey him will he appear the second time to their alvation But never will he appear again to make a new Reconciliation for those Men that are not reconciled to God by his first Appearance To such as our Apostle speaks in the Tenth Chapter There remains no more Sacrifice for Sin but a fearful expectation of Judgment and fiery Indignation
visible that whosoever hath either read History or hath made Observations must needs have taken notice of them If ever there were any extraordinary Deliverances vouchsafed to Kingdoms or Cities or particular Persons or ever any remarkable Judgments inflicted upon any of these which so carried the Marks and Signatures of God's Hand in them that the One could not in reason but be attributed to the Care that he had that Religion or Innocence should not be oppressed and the Other must in reason be interpreted as a Divine Vengeance that pursued the Guilty for their Crimes If ever there were any Prophecies that did punctually foretell a Particular Event that came not to pass till many Years after and such an Event as was perfectly contingent and depended upon the Wills of Men If ever there were any Notices given of Approaching Calamities by Voices from Heaven by strange Appearances in the Air and such other like Presages not naturally to be accounted for If ever there were any Apparitions any Witchcraft any effects of a Diabolical Power by which it may appear that there are a sort of Invisible Beings in the World which do bear ill will to Mankind but yet are so curbed that they cannot do all the Mischief they would If ever there were any Miracles wrought either by Moses and the Prophets or by Jesus Christ and his Apostles for the confirmation of the Jewish or the Christian Religion Lastly If ever any Good Man did ever receive any Blessing or avoid any Misfortune which he might rationally look upon as an Answer to the Fervent Prayers that he had put up to God or others had put up for him I say If any of these things that I have now named be true as all Histories give us a World of Instances of the truth of all of them and as for some of them I do not doubt but they fall within the compass of our own Observation and Experience I say if any of these things be true then have we a convincing Proof that there is a Power that doth interpose in the Affairs of the World superiour both to that of Nature and to that of Mankind and which moderates all things according as it seems good unto him But in truth we need not go to supernatural Events or to particular Providences for the Truth of this For in my Opinion the daily effects that every one of us sees and feels the very Subsistence of the World for so many Ages in that regular frame that it was at first and the fair Treatment and Encouragement how unequally soever things seem to be distributed which vertuous and religious men have always found in it and do yet find notwithstanding that far the greatest number of men are of another stamp I say these very things seem an Argument beyond exception That there is a God that presides over us and takes care of us But Fourthly and lastly God has yet given us a further Proof of this by his own many Authentick Declarations in the Holy Scriptures which we call his Word One of the main businesses of which is Dan. 4.17 to assure us That He rules in the kingdoms of men and disposeth of all their Affairs There He is set forth as the Author of all Events Amos. 3.6 both good and bad so that no evil happens in a City but the Lord doth it There He is represented as the searcher of all hearts the Judge of all mens Designs and Actions the Avenger of all Evil Practices and the Refuge of all Good Men. There we are told that He is the God of of Battles Psal 33.16 and that no King is saved by the multitude of his Armies nor any mighty Man delivered by his own strength but Salvation is from the Lord. And so are Disappointments also There we are assured Psal 33. â—4 that He from his Habitation looketh down upon all that dwell on the earth He fashioneth the hearts of them he understandeth all their ways Pror 19.21 And though many are the devices that are in their Hearts yet it is his counsel only that shall stand In a word Eph. 1. â—â— it is God as the Apostle tells us that worketh all things and he worketh them all according to the counsel of his own will So that nothing comes by chance nothing is done in vain but all Events are in pursuance of a Design Nay not so much as the Event of casting a Lot which seems the most fortuitous contingent thing in the whole World is left at random For even in that Case the disposal of the Lot as Solomon tells us Prov. 16.33 is from the Lord. All this is not only the Doctrine but in a great measure the very Language and Expression of those Holy Books And what can we desire more Or what words can we invent that shall declare more fully the thing we are speaking of None can that I know of except perhaps those of our Saviour with which I shall shut up this point Matt. 10.29 Fear not saith he to his Disciples Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing yet not one of them falls to the ground without the will of your Father Nay I say unto you the very hairs of your head are all numbered O wonderful this what God Almighty number the very Hairs of our Heads Lord what is man that thou shouldst have such respect unto him and do that for him which even the nicest and most delicate of Men never yet did for themselves But thus art thou pleased to express thy particular regard to the Sons of Men. Thus art thou pleased to let us see that none of us are so inconsiderable but that we are within the Verge of thy Providence and Objects of thy Care And therefore much more are Cities and States and Kingdoms so wherein the Fortunes of so many Individuals are wrapt up O blessed be God for his Love to Mankind O for ever adored be his Name for thus humbling himself to take notice of us and our Affairs and likewise for giving us such abundant Assurance that he doth so Since therefore we have such mighty Evidence of all sorts that the Lord is King let the Earth be glad yea let the multitudes of the isles be glad thereof And we shall still see greater reason thus to be glad if we consider a little more particularly the Rules and Measures by which God administers the Affairs of his Kingdom Which are not as too often happens in Human Governments Arbitrary Will or Humour but perfect Wisdom and Justice and Goodness Tho' it be true what the Psalmist saith Psal 135.6 That Whatsoever the Lord pleaseth that doth he in Heaven and in Earth and in the Sea and all deep places Yet it is as true that the Lord will never be pleased to do any thing either in Heaven or in Earth but what is suggested by infinite Goodness and in such ways as are the Result of Infinite Wisdom
we call Judgment and Vengeance is unaccountable unless it serve for the doing Good to the World Fourthly and Lastly From hence it follows that all Events whatsoever that ever did or do or shall happen in the World either with respect to Nations and Kingdoms or with respect to particular Persons are really the Best that could or can happen And if things were ordered otherwise it would not be so well A strange Paradox you will say this is that not only the Mischiefs and Calamities that fall upon Mankind but even their Faults and Mismanagements nay their very Sins and Wickednesses should be for the best But really so it is and so it must be if both infinite Wisdom and Goodness and Power govern the World Not but that a particular man's Sins may be the occasion of his Ruin nay and certainly will be so if he persist in them And likewise the Faults of a People may and will have such an ill influence upon the Community as if they be not amended the Desolation of the Nation may at last ensue thereupon But still tho' every thing that happens do not prove for the Good of that particular Person or that particular People that is immediately concerned in the Event yet it will certainly prove for the General Vniversal Good So that take all the whole Series of Events together that have or shall come to pass all the World over we may undoubtedly affirm that All things have been as well managed as it is possible they could be and will be so to the end of the World And this we our selves shall be satisfied of when we come to be in a condition of making a just estimate of things For indeed to suppose otherwise is to say either that Infinite Wisdom doth not act so wisely as it might do or that Perfect Goodness might do more Good than it does do or lastly that Omnipotent Power cannot do every thing that is possible All which Suppositions are plainly absurd and contradictious And now if all these things be true as they certainly are how natural is the conclusion of my Text Since God is the King of all the World and such a King likewise that the Measures of his Government are exact Goodness and Wisdom and Righteousness what have all Mankind to do especially Good Men but to Rejoyce and be glad This is the Psalmist's Inference from this Doctrine And this is the present Business of the Day And therefore let us all practise accordingly That is the only Application I desire to make of what hath been said And Two ways we ought to express our Rejoycing First In a hearty sense of all God's past and present Mercies to us and an actual giving Him our Thanks for the same Secondly In a chearful dependance upon Him for his Future Blessings Give me leave to speak a little to these two Points and I have done First Let us be heartily sensible of All God's Kindness to us both past and present and unfeignedly thank Him for the same It is very remarkable that not only David but the Prophets likewise when they are treating of God's Kingdom call upon the Isles in a particular manner to take notice of it See Isa xxiv 15. xlii 4 10 c. as here in my Text Let the multitudes of the Isles be glad thereof As if the Isles in a more particular manner were to have a share in the Blessings of his Government And no doubt it was so intended and accordingly it hath so come to pass For it is the Isles of the Gentiles by which Name the Scripture expresseth those Countries that were at the greatest distance from the Continent of Judea I say it is these Isles which now at this day God's ancient People the Jews being for their Infidelity long ago rejected are the principal Seat of his Church and Kingdom and to which He vouchsafeth the Light of his Gospel and the Means of Salvation so true is God to all his Promises But now of all the Isles of the Gentiles if any one above the rest hath felt the benign and gracious Influences of the LORD 's being our King certainly Ours is that Island How wonderfully bountiful hath God been to us in a continued succession of Publick Blessings even from the first beginning of Time that we have had any Memorials of Events among us We had the Happiness to be early made a Province of the Roman Empire and by that means were trained up to Civility and Arts and Good Manners That made way for the greatest Blessing that Heaven could bestow upon us even the receiving Christianity And that Blessing we had with the most early being the first among the Nations that embraced it When through the just Judgment of God Barbarism and Ignorance overspread the face of Europe and by the occasion thereof Superstition and Idolatry made its way and all the Western Kingdoms gave up their Power to a Foreign Usurper even then this Island made the longest stand nay and was never so perfectly subdued but that Popery was here a different thing from what it was in the Southern Climates When the happy time came that God thought fit to set on foot the Reformation having first made way for it by the restoring of Learning such was His particular Care of us that this was one of the first Kingdoms that was brought over to it And we have this Advantage above all other Reformed Churches that as our Reformation was regularly made and by just Authority so it was made most agreeably to the Pattern of the Primitive Churches of Christ And God be thanked according to the goodness of it such hath been its Success ever since for we have all-along from that time to this except the interruption of a few Years in the late Times served God in Peace and Happiness under the same Establishment And we trust we shall do so to the end of the World Many indeed have been the Oppositions and Disturbances that have been given us by our Adversaries both at home and abroad but as manifold likewise have been our Deliverances and that in a most wonderful manner I need not mention them for they are known to us all How many Secret Conspiracies against our Protestant Kings and Queens hath God Almighty's Mercy detected and defeated How many Open Attempts against our Laws and against our Religion hath He by strange Providences brought to nought More than once hath He by wonderful methods preserved us when we gave up our Church and our Liberties in a manner as lost and that in so easie and quiet a way that there was no concussion of the Nation followed thereupon Are not these Extraordinary Instances of God's Kindness to a People And ought not we who have receiv'd and do yet enjoy the Benefit and the Comfort of them to remember them with Thankfulness all the Days of our Life But some of us perhaps are not now in a Humour to think of these things our