is had allowed as many sensual Liberties to its Disciples as that doth and lastly had been carried on in the World by the same ways and means that that hath been that is by the Force of Arms and Dint of the Sword it would have been no great wonder that it should have prevailed as we see it hath done But that a Religion which had no Worldly Advantages to promise to its Followers Nay on the contrary was so contrived that none could own it but he must at the same time deny all his Temporal Interests quit his Friends his Reputation and all his Fortunes in this World and live in hourly expectation of a Martyrdom that such a Religion as this should not only not die with the first Broachers of it but daily grow and spread and the more it was persecuted the more increase till at last it so weathered out all Opposition that it got Possession of the Thrones of Princes and Kings became Nursing Fathers to it I say Whoever is not convinced that the Finger of God was in this would scarce have been convinced that the Finger of God was in our Saviour's Miracles had he been alive and present when they were done But this Effect of Christianity both the Prophets and our Lord long ago foretold and this we now see was verified long ago and is still verified in our days Though those that lived with our Saviour had no experience hereof nor perhaps would several of them have been forward to believe it though it had been told them So that in this respect we have a most Considerable Argument for our Religion which they had not Secondly This is not all Those that undertook the Religion of our Saviour upon his Preaching had no Experience of it They were to be the first Experimenters themselves They ran a great Risque and ventured the Sale of all that they had and yet knew not so certainly what kind of Treasure they should Purchase But we have the Experience and Suffrage of Sixteen Ages which will all vouch that what we lay out in this way will prove valuable Treasure will Reward all the Pains and all the Expence we are at for the Purchasing of it We have never in the compass of our own knowledge nor in all History met with any who seriously laid out themselves in the Service of Jesus Christ and lived up to his Religion that ever grudged the Pains they took about it or repented themselves that they believed or practised as they did The more any Man has been a Christian still the more he hath thanked God for it still the more Quiet of Mind and Peace of Conscience he hath possessed the more he hath enjoyed him self and the less he hath feared Death and all other outward Calamities If ever any Christian hath repented of any thing it is that he hath not been Christian enough that he hath not so heartily believed in our Saviour and obeyed his Precepts as he should have done This we all know and must be sensible of and it is a mighty Evidence of the Truth and Goodness of the Religion we profess We now can try our Religion and give our Approbation of it by the same Standard and Measures by which we try and approve of our Customs and Common Laws After long experience we find the Usefulness and the Conveniency of it and to put another in its place would involve us in horrible Mischiefs and Dangers and Perplexities But this Argument for Christianity those that were the first Converts to it could not have and therefore in this respect also we have the advantage of them Thirdly and Lastly There is another very Considerable standing Argument for the Truth of the Christian Revelation which those in our Saviour's Time were uncapable of and that is the Events which he by the Spirit of Prophecy foretold should after his Death come to pass in the World most of which have punctually hapned as he predicted them and the rest in due time we doubt not will be accomplished I have not leisure to prosecute this Argument particularly only two things I cannot pass by without mention in both of which our Lord shewed himself as wonderful and as true a Prophet as ever appeared in the World The one is the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple which he foretold with all the Circumstances imaginable both as to Time and Manner Now all that he said concerning that Destruction was punctually verified even according to the Accounts that the Jewish Historian gives us of that Matter And when afterwards Julian the Emperour with a design to blast the Credit of our Saviour's Prophecy resolved to re-edifie that Temple and set Men on work for that purpose he was soon forced to desist from his Enterprise by Earthquakes and Globes of Fire issuing from out of the Foundations As the Writers of that time both Christian and Pagan do assure us The other Instance I mention is our Saviour's Prophecy of the Rejection of the Jews and that they should be carried Captive into all Nations till the Times of the Gentiles were fulfilled Now this we see hath been accomplished for many Ages and still continues to be so in our days That Nation of the Jews who were once the Peculiar People of God settled in the Land of Canaan by his own immediate Hand are now dispersed all the World over but no where incorporated into a Nation Yet which indeed is wonderful they continue Jews still a People that mingle not with the rest of the World and that are still as zealous for the Scriptures from whence we fetch the Grounds of our Christianity as ever they were So that they are a standing Monument of God's Vengeance upon a People for rejecting the Gospel and a standing Testimony of the Truth of our Saviour's Prophecies These things now with others that I might name are very considerable Evidences of the Truth of our Religion which those that were Contemporary with our Saviour could not have So that putting all these things together I think we may safely draw our Conclusion viz. That we now have as great or greater Arguments to convince us of the Truth of Christ's Revelation as or than they had who were Witnesses of what he did and taught And consequently those that are not persuaded now by the Evidence of it would not have been persuaded though they had seen with their Eyes or heard with their Ears the Publication of the Gospel Which is in effect to say They would not have been persuaded though one had risen from the dead But notwithstanding all this that I have said it is to be feared the thing will not easily go down with many of us but still with the Rich Man in the Parable after all that Abraham had said concerning Moses and the Prophets we will insist on our former Notion Nay but if one came to us from the Dead we should repent The Motives that are offered to us in the Gospel
are to put them to If we do not employ them this way we are so far from being better for them that we are much worse What will signifie our Wit and good Humour our Strength of Reason and Memory our Wisdom and Knowledge our Skill in Arts and Dexterity in managing Business our Wealth and Greatness our Reputation and Interest in the World I say what will all these signifie if they do not render us more Useful and Beneficial to others That which sets the price and value upon every worldly blessing is the Opportunity it affords us of doing Good To do Good seems to be the foundation of all the Laws of Nature the supreme Universal Law it is that by which the World is supported and take that away all would presently fall into confusion And perhaps if it were particularly examin'd it would be found that all the other Natural Laws may be reduced to this and are ultimately to be resolv'd into it It is a question whether there be any natural Standard whereby we can measure the Vertue or the Viciousuess of any Action but the Influence that it hath to promote or hinder the doing of Good This is that that seems to stamp Vertue and Vice To do Good is the great Work for the sake of which we were sent into the World and no Man lives farther to any purpose than as he is an Instrument of doing Good Be our Lives otherwise never so busie and full of action yet if others receive no benefit by them we cannot give our selves any tolerable account of our time we have in effect liv'd idly and done nothing To do Good is that which of all other services is most acceptable to God it is that which he hath laid the greatest stress upon in the Scripture it is that which he hath with the most earnest and affectionate persuasives with the strongest arguments with the greatest promises and with the most dreadful threatnings enforc'd upon us It is that which he hath chosen before all Sacrifices and all Relious worship strictly so called to be serv'd with It is that which he hath appoint-for the great Expression both of our Thankfulness for his Benefits and of our Love and Devotion to him Lastly it is that which Moses and the Prophets make the Sum of the Old Law and Christ and his Apostles the Sum of the New And very great Reason there is for it for to do Good is to become most like to God It is that which of all other Qualities gives us the greatest resemblance of his Nature and Perfections 1 Job 4.2 for perfect Love and Goodness is the very Nature of God and the Root of all his other Attributes and there was never any Action done any work wrought by him throughout the vast tracts of infinite space from the Beginning of time to this Moment but was an Expression of his Love and an instance of doing Good nay I doubt not to say the most severe acts of his Justice and Vengeance have all been such And therefore with great reason hath our blessed Lord told us Mat. 5.44 45. that the way to become the Children of our Heavenly Father is to do Good to all with the same Freedom and Unreservedness that God makes his Sun to shine upon the World And of this our Blessed Saviour himself was the most illustrious Example that ever appeared in the World so that to do Good is that which doth most truly and perfectly render us the Disciples and Followers of Jesus makes us really be what we pretend we are His whole Life as the Gospel tells us was but a continual going about doing Good The great Design of his Coming from Heaven and of all that he spoke and of all that he did and of all that he suffer'd upon Earth was the benefiting of others And he hath left it as the great distinguishing Badge and Character whereby his Disciples should be known from other Men that they should love one another even as he had lov'd them Joh. 13.34 35. that is as his Apostle expounds him they should love and do Good to that degree as to lay down their lives for their brethren 1 Joh. 3.16 But to do Good is not only our greatest Duty but our greatest Interest and Advantage which is that that Solomon chiefly refers to in the Text. It is certain that no Man can take a more Effectual way to render his Being in the world Happy and Comfortable to him according to the ordinary course and event of things in what Condition or Circumstances soever he is placed than to do all the Good he can in his life so that though a man that lays out himself in this way seems only to respect the good of other people yet in true reckoning he most consults his own profit For to do Good is the natural way to raise us Friends who shall be oblig'd to contribute their Endeavours to the furthering our honest designs to the upholding and securing us in our Prosperity and to the succouring and relieving us when we are in any evil Circumstances Such is the Contrivance and the Constitution of this World that no man can subsist of himself but stands in continual need of others both for their comfortable Society and their necessary Assistance in his Affairs Now of all men living the Good man who maketh it his Business to oblige all about him is most likely to be the best befriended To do Good is the truest way to procure to a man's self a Good name and Reputation in the World which as it is a thing desirable upon many accounts so it is a singular Advantage to a man for the carrying on his secular designs Nay to do good is to Embalm a man's name and to transmit it with a grateful Odour to Posterity The memory of a good man shall be blessed Prov. 1◠7 And the sense of Mankind has always been that too much honour could not be given to the name of those that have done good in their generation But which is a great deal more than all this to do Good is the most certain effectual means to procure the blessing of God upon our endeavours and to entitle our selves to his more especial Care and Providence and Protection So that let what will come in all circumstances and conditions the good man has the greatest assurance that all things shall at least be tolerably well with him and that he shall never be miserable Trust in the Lord saith David and be doing good Psal 37. verse 3. so shalt thou dwell in the Land and verily thou shalt be fed Nay farther to do Good is to entail a blessing upon our Children after us 〈◊〉 ◠25 I have been young and now am old saith the same Psalmist yet saw I never the Righteous that is the merciful and good man for that is the Notion of the word in that place and in most others such an one saw
fell down flat only at the sound of Rams-Horns 2 Kings 7. ch And when the City of Samaria was Besieged and brought into the greatest extremity that was possible so that Women even are their own Children yet in one night God by an unaccountable terrour which he struck into the hearts of the Enemies raised the Siege And such plenty was left in their Camp that every one of the Besieged had wherewith not only to satisfy his hunger but to enrich himself Only that Nobleman that would not believe this when it was foretold by the Prophet did not live to taste of the Fruits of God Almighty's Victory being trodden to Death in the Crowd II. But it is time to come to the second general point I observed from this Text viz. That the Happiness and Prosperity of Nations is to be attained the same way that any particular Man's happiness is that is to say by being sincerely virtuous and religious or as my Text expresses it by fearing God and keeping all his Commandments always This is a true Proposition both with respect to particular Persons and to Nations too but with this difference That if we take Happiness and Prosperity for that which the World accounts so that is to say the possession of a great many outward Blessings and the freedom from temporal evils and inconveniencies the Proposition is not so universally true with reference to particular Persons as it is with reference to Nations and Kingdoms For every Man that fears God is not always blessed with happy outward Circumstances On the contrary some good Men are exposed to many and great Afflictions and Misfortunes and Sicknesses and Crosses all their lives long But it is certainly true of all Nations and Peoples whatsoever Every Nation or Society shall fare better or worse in this World exactly according as they fear God or despise and affront him exactly according to the degree they keep God's Commandments or break them Though it is not certain that every particular Man shall always do so And there is great reason that it should be thus For First We know that all God's ways are just and equal Now as to particular Persons there is a great room left for the dispensing this Justice and Equity to them For they being in their natures made to live for ever it is enough for the vindicating God's Justice that they be at any time hereafter either rewarded for their Piety and Virtue or punished for their Wickedness and abuse of God's Mercies So that wicked Men may be happy and prosperous here and good Men may suffer many afflictions and tribulations without any the least reflection on the Justice or Goodness of the great Governour of the World Because there is a farther day reserved for the adjusting all Men's Rewards according to their Works But now the consideration of publick Societies and Nations is quite different Nations are not made to be Immortal but end with this World No Society as a Society shall be called to a future account But all the Rewards and Punishments they are capable of as Societies must be adjudged and distributed to them in this present Life And therefore if we suppose God to be the Judge and Governour of the World and of all the Nations in it as well as he is the Judge and Governour of particular Persons We must likewise suppose that he administers all affairs so that Righteous and Religious Nations have in this World the reward of their Virtue in the blessings of Peace and Plenty and all manner of temporal Prosperity And on the other side impious and incorrigible Nations are likewise punished in this World for their wickedness either by severe Judgments or by a total destruction as God in his infinite Wisdom sees cause This now that I have offered is I think so reasonable that if there was no more to be said it ought to go a great way towards the making of the point I have in hand highly credible But in the second place there is a great deal more to be said The word of God doth all along bear testimony to the truth of this A multitude of Texts of Scripture there are that do most plainly give this account of God's dealing with Nations and Peoples that I have now mentioned There is no Judgment threatned to any Nation in the holy Scripture and abundance of Nations are there threatned but it is upon account of the sins and wickedness they were guilty of Which Sins if they repented of so repented as to forsake them they might find mercy And accordingly we find in fact that God always dealt with Peoples and Nations according to these measures God had solemnly denounced destruction to the City of Nineveh by his Prophet and that within forty Days But upon the Repentance of the Ninevites and turning to God with all their hearts he reversed his Sentence tho' to the great discontent of the Prophet and gave them a further time On the other side he waited long for the Repentance of the Canaanites but would not destroy them because their sins though very heinous admitted a place for Repentance But when their iniquities were filled up to the measures according to which God proceeds in his destruction of Nations He then sent the Israelites to root them out and to take possession of their Land And thus was Nebuchadnezzar raised up by God to be a scourge to all the Nations about him for the punishment of their sins Nebuchadnezzar had indeed other things in his Head That which he designed was the gratifying his own Ambition and enlarging his Dominions But these were not the ends which God had to serve by him God made use of him as his Instrument as his Servant and so he calls him for the rendring to the Nations that just recompence of vengeance which their sins called for I mention these things the rather because they are instances of God's dealing with Heathen Nations who were under no particular Covenant with God And I might have recourse likewise to the Histories of all Nations to shew the truth of this Name any Nation that was ever remarkable for Justice for Temperance and severity of Manners for Piety and Religion though it was in a wrong way that did not always thrive and grow great in the World and that did not always enjoy a plentiful portion of all those things which are accounted to make a Nation happy and flourishing And on the other side when that Nation has declined from its former Virtue and grown impious or dissolute in manners we appeal to Experience whether it has not likewise always proportionably sunk in its Success and good Fortunes I am sure any one that will be at the pains to read either the Greek or the Roman or even the Turkish History will meet with matter enough there to satisfie him of the truth of this observation But I confine my self to the Scripture and in that the History of the Jews is