just to the same effect and with them I shall conclude The first is that of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews where having spoken most severe things and denounced no less than Hell fire against the false Brethren among them yet thus he comforts the Church to whom he writes Heb. 6.9 But beloved saith he we are persuaded better things of you and things that do accompany Salvation though we thus speak And what I pray is the reason he is thus persuaded Verily this ver 11. for God saith he is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which you have shewed to his name in that ye have ministred to the Saints and yet do minister It was purely their Charity to the Brethren that made him have these good hopes of them that they were in a state of Salvation Though that Church as to other things was in a very degenerate condition yet considering they had been laborious and diligent in the exercise of Charity and still continued so to be God would not forget them nay he was not so unrighteous as to forget them And then that which follows in the next verse is very observable verse 11. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to wit in the practice of Charity to the full assurance of hope unto the end If they would have their hopes of a future life assured to them the way to do it was to persevere in their diligent attendence to works of Mercy and Kindness and Charity The second passage is that of St. John Hereby saith he perceive we the love of God towards us 1 John 3. 16. c. because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren But whoso hath this World's good and seeth his Brother hath need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him My little Children let us not love in word neither in tongue but indeed and in truth and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him I pray mind that by our charitable disposition and doing good to our Brethren by this we know we are true Disciples of Jesus Christ and this is that that will assure our hearts will give us confidence to appear before God at the last day when he comes to judge the World And this is a point that the Apostle thinks so considerable that he goes over with it again in the next verse Beloved if our hearts condemn us not i. e. condemn us not as to this point of Love and Charity then have we confidence towards God and whatsoever we ask we shall receive of him because we do those things that are pleasing in his sight The last Text to this purpose that I defire may be taken notice of is that of St. Peter Above all things my Brethren 1 Pet. 4.8 have fervent Charity among your selves for Charity shall cover the multitude of sins O how comfortable are these words there is none of us even the best but hath a multitude of sins to answer for by what means now must we obtain that these sins shall be covered that is shall be forgiven Psal 33.1 for covering of sins is the forgiveness of them in the Scripture-language Why the Apostle hath directed us to the method above all things put on Charity for it is Charity that shall cover the multitude of sins Charity is of that power with God that it alone is able to overcome the malignity of many of our sins and frailties that would otherwise do us mischief If any thing can make atonement for the carelesness and the many failings of our lives and prevent the punishment that is due to them it is to be very charitable and to do much good Charity covers a multitude of sins in this life A great many temporal judgments that would otherwise have fallen upon us for our sins are hereby prevented and that not only private ones but publick too And I think it no Popery to affirm that Charity will cover a multitude of sins in the other life also That is whoever is of a truly charitable disposition and doth a great deal of good in his generation though he may have a great many infirmities and miscarriages to answer for yet if he be sincerely vertuous in the main and so capable of the rewards of the other world his other failings will be overlooked they will be buried in his good deeds and the Man shall be rewarded notwithstanding Or if he be a vitious person and so must of necessity fall short of the glory that shall be revealed yet still in proportion the good he hath done in his life will cover the multitude of sins Though it will not be available for the making him happy because he is not capable of being so yet it will be for the lessening his punishment He shall be in a much more supportable condition among the miserable than those that have been unmerciful or cruel or uncharitable in their lives O therefore what remains but that considering all these things we should be stedfast 1 Cor. 25.18 unmoveable always abounding in these works of the Lord for as much as we know that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 2 Pet. 1.5 c. Giving all diligence to add to Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity verse 1â— By our good works making our calling and election sure so some Copies have the 10th verse of 1 Pet. 1. that doing these things we may never fall but an entrance may be ministred to us abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ SERMON V. PREACHED AT BOW-CHURCH On the 29th of September 1680. Psalm cxij. 4. To the Vpright there ariseth Light in the Darkness GOdliness saith S. Paul 1 Tim. 4.8 hath the promise of this life as well as of that which is to come Of this Proposition of his the Psalm we have now before us may seem to be an Explication or Paraphrase For in this Psalm Two things are designed a description of the Pious Man and a description of his Blessedness in this Life each of which is done in five instances or particulars The terms wherein the Pious Man is here discrib'd are these following First He is one that Feareth God and greatly delighteth in his Commandments v. 1. Secondly He is one that is Righteous and Vpright in his Conversation ver 4. and 6. Thirdly He is one that is Prudent and Discreet in the managing of his Affairs verse 5. He guideth his affairs with discretion Fourthly He it one whose Heart is fixed trusting in the Lord v. 7. Lastly He is one that is extreamly Charitable He is gracious and full of Compassion
hence Did not God in this appear with a witness as a Voucher and Approver of his cause Was not this a demonstration to all the World that Christ Jesus was no Deceiver but that he came from God and that whatever he delivered was the Truth of God and to be received as the Oracles of God Certainly it was For that a man should be raised from the Dead by any other Power than the very Power of God all the World knows to be impossible The Devil though he can do very strange Feats in the natural World Yet I rever heard or read that either he or any of his Agents or Ministers so much as pretended to raise the dead to life again And certainly if he could have done it he would have done it often before this as in the case of Apollonius Tyanaeus Mahomet and others if it had been for no other reason than to baffle thereby the Evidence of our Saviour's Resurrection and render it unconcluding Ir must therefore certainly be the Power of God that raised up Jesus from the dead But then to suppose that God should employ this Tower for the giving Testimony to a Falshood that he should set his own Seal to attest an Untruth as he must be supposed to have done if Jesus was not his Son What an unaccountable thing is this No man that believes that God is faithful and just and true and that he governs the World can possibly imagine such a thing For this had been to have contradicted all his own Attributes and to have laid an invincible temptation and snare before all mankind to believe an Impious Lye You see then what an unexceptionable Proof nay Demonstration I may call it the Resurrection of Christ doth afford us of the Truth of his Religion which is the second Instance of the Power that is in it to bring men over to Holiness and Vertue III. But Thirdly the Power of Christ's Resurrection for the making us holy and vertuous will further appear in this respect Namely as it is in particular the great support of our Future Hopes the great Pledge and Assurance of our own Resurrection and Immortality For if Christ be risen then may we also be certain that we shall at last be raised by him Because Christ is not risen for himself only but as the first-fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. xv Good reason therefore had S. Paul to argue as he doth in that place If Christ be preached that he is risen from the dead how say some among you that there is no Resurrection On the contrary as he urges If we believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again Even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thess iv 14. For how can we desire to be better assured that our Bodies shall not for ever sleep in the Grave but shall at last be reunited to our Souls and both Soul and Body live eternally in unspeakable bliss and happiness I say How can we have greater assurance of this than by what was on this day brought to pass in our Saviour We have hereby a clear demonstration that the Resurrection is possible For Christ who was once dead is alive again and lives in unexpressible Glory at the right hand of God And at the same time that he rose he raised up other Bodies also of Holy Men to accompany him in his Triumph over Death But that is not all He that raised up himself and them hath given us his solemn Word and Promise in as express terms as is possible that he will by the same Power raise up us also and exalt us to the same Glory that he is possessed of He hath told us That he is the Resurrection and the Life And that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life and he will raise him up at the last day There cannot be a stronger Proof of any thing than our Saviour's Resurrection is of the happiness of good Men in another State Which being so How powerful a means must we needs conclude it to be for the Reforming the manners of Mankind and making them truly Holy and Vertuous Since we have thereby such a Demonstration given us of a glorious Immortality to be expected by us what is it that can be able to hinder or divert us from a serious pursuit of those things that lead to it What could God do more by way of Motive and Argument towards the Proselyting the World to Religion and Righteousness than he hath done by thus Ascertaining our future Happiness by the Resurrection of his Son Jesus To be certain that if we seriously apply our selves to a life of Piety here we shall be crowned with everlasting Felicity hereafter To be certain that if we follow the steps of our Blessed Saviour we shall for ever shine in the same Glory and Lustre that he now doth at the right hand of his Father To be able positively to say I know that my Redeemer liveth and I know that if I live as he did I shall for ever live with him and tho' it doth not yet appear what I shall be yet this I know that when he shall appear I shall be like him O what noble Thoughts what brave Resolutions is this able to inspire us with What Difficulties shall we be afraid of What Labours shall we not willingly undertake What Temptations shall we not easily vanquish in the Prospect of such an eternal Crown of Glory as awaits us and is secured to us by our Lord Jesus O happy we Christians that have so clear a Revelation of those things which God hath prepared for them that love him those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither did they enter into the heart of man Blessed for ever blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ that hath begotten us again to this lively hope by his Rosurrection from the dead O! what mighty Encouragements have we to set our selves against our Sins and to labour after the Perfection of Vertue in comparison of what those have who are ignorant of our Saviour's Resurrection and who know nothing of the other World but by the uncertain conjectures of their natural Reason If we had no other assurance of the Immortality of the Soul and the rewards and punishments of another life but what is afforded us by the light of Nature and the deductions of Philosophy I doubt we could never expect to see any great Reformation in our manners Some of the Philosophers have indeed to their immortal Fame asserted the truth of these things But then others of them have as much made it their business to run them down And as for those of them that spoke the best concerning the other World yet God knows their Discourses upon this Argument as will appear to any that reads them are generally very uncertain and altogether conjectural But admitting their Reasons to be strong and conclusive as I am far from denying
is thereby made a Blessing of God which without it perhaps might have been a Cross and an Affliction It is Prayer by which every Thing and every Action is sanctified to Believers I might name several other Benefits and Advantages to be reap'd from the conscientious Practice of this Duty But those that I have mention'd may I think if they be considered be sufficient to recommend it to any Man whatsoever that hath the least Kindness for himself And therefore I will not burthen your Memories with heaping up more Motives Only one thing I desire leave to press a little more earnestly and particularly than I have yet done and that is The Absolute Necessity of Constant Prayer in order to a Holy and Vertuous Life Do any of you here present in good earnest mean to live as you should do Do you really intend or desire to endeavour after such a Pitch of Vertue and Holiness as will be available for the saving your Souls everlastingly If you do not 't is in vain to attempt the perswading you to any thing of this Nature If you do then give me leave to tell you that it is absolutely necessary that you should live in the constant Exercise of Prayer otherwise you will never do your Business And on the other side I dare assure you if you do thus practise you will not fail of attaining the End you aim at These three things I dare lay down for Truth in this Matter First It is impossible for any Man to be good that lives without constant Praying Secondly Whoever is good at the present yet if he disuse himself in this Point he will not continue good long And Lastly Whoever makes a Conscience of Praying frequently and heartily and continues so to do tho' he cannot at present be said to be a good Man yet it is impossible for him long to continue bad he will certainly at last get the Victory over his Lusts and evil Habits So that Prayer is both the Means without which Vertue cannot be attained And the Means that never fails of attaining it And the Security of it when it is attained Of these three things very briefly and I have done First I say No Man can be a vertuous Man that lives without Praying I do not deny that some who make no great Conscience of this Duty but live in an habitual Neglect of it may so far retain the Notions of good and evil and those Notions may to far influence their Actions as that they shall not be notoriously and scandalously vicious It may be they will not lie nor cheat nor oppress any one It may be they do not live in a Course of Lewdness and Debauchery nor will be engag'd in any Design or Action that is apparently base or dishonourable But all this while these Men are far from being vertuous in the Sense we now speak of For we speak of such a Vertue as recommends us to God such a Vertue as will be effectual for our Salvation in the other World Now to such a Vertue as this there goes nothing less than an Universal Care over all our Actions a Serious Endeavour to frame all our Conversation suitably and conformably to the Laws of our Saviour But how can any Man think he takes Care of this that knowingly and willingly lives in a constant Contradiction to one of the principal Duties of our Saviour's Religion Our whole Duty is made up but of Three Things That a Man live soberly with respect to himself righteously with respect to his Neighbour and piously with respect to God Supposing now that a Man take care of the two former that is of doing his Duty to himself and his Neighbour which yet I believe never any Man did that made no Conscience of neglecting his Prayers But suppose a Man could satisfie himself as to these two Points of his Duty yet if he make no Conscience of the third that is of Piety towards God as no Man can make Conscience of that who makes it no matter of Conscience whether he says his Prayers or no in what Sense or Notion can this Man be said to have done his Duty or to lead a vertuous Life Certainly in no Sense at all For as to one third part of his Duty which is indeed as considerable at least if not more than either of the other he is a notorious Transgressour And tho' he be not unjust tho' he be not debauched yet wanting Piety towards God he is Impious And that will as certainly damn him as either of the other Either therefore one of these two things must be made appear that is to say that there may be Vertue such Vertue as will recommend us to God without Piety Or that there may be Piety without ever Praying or worshipping God neither of which I believe will be easily affirmed Or it will follow That where there is no Praying there is no Vertue and consequently no Salvation But besides We all know there is no Possibility of Living a Holy and Vertuous Life such a Life as our Religion requires of us and which alone will stand us in stead in the Day of Judgment without the Grace of God and the Assistances of his Holy Spirit And we all know likewise that these are no way to be come by but by earnest and affectionate and constant Prayer How therefore is it possible that any Man who is not very serious and frequent in the Exercise of Devotion should ever be able to live a Holy Life He may indeed by his own Study and for his own Interest possess himself of such good Qualities as may make a fair Shew in the World and recommend him to all about him But the inward Principle of Goodness and Holiness he cannot have Because he doth not practise the Means of obtaining the Grace and Spirit of God by which alone that Principle is to be wrought in him But Secondly Let a Man at present be in a good State of Soul yet it is impossible to preserve himself in that State without the constant Exercise of Devotion If a Man once begin to neglect his Prayers or to grow more dull and remiss in them or more averse to them it is a certain Argument that he is in a declining Condition as to Vertue and Goodness And as that Neglect or that Dulness or that Aversion increases in the same Degree doth the Goodness of his Condition abate also And when once it is come to that pass with him that the Flame of Devotion is quite extinguished in his Heart so that he can live and enjoy himself without any Converse or Intercourse with God in Prayer He may from that Period date the Loss of his Spiritual Life He is reduced to the State of a sensual natural Man Alive to the World and to his Lusts but perfectly dead to God The plain English is Prayer and Devotion is as necessary a Means to preserve the Union between the Soul and God in which
but a mean Employment to spend our time in spinning fine Nets for the catching of Flies Besides this Divine Life if it once took place in us would strangely dilate and enlarge our hearts in Charity towards our Brethren it would make us open our arms wide to the whole Creation it would perfectly work out of us all that Peevishness and Sowrness and Penuriousness of Spirit which we do too often contract by being addicted to a Sect and would make us Sweet and Benign and Obliging and ready to receive and embrace all Conditions of Men. In a Word It would quite swallow up all Distinctions of Parties and whatever did but bear upon it the Image of God and the Superscription of the Holy Jesus would need no other Commendatories to our Affection but would upon that alone account be infinitely dear and precious to us Let us all therefore earnestly contend after this Divine Principle of Holiness let us bring down Religion from our Heads to our Hearts from Speculation to Practice Let us make it our business heartily to love God and do his Will and then we may hope to see Peace in our days This this is that that will restore to the World the Golden Age of Primitive Christianity when the Love and Vnity of the Disciples of Jesus was so conspicuous and remarkable that it became into a Proverb See how the Christians love one another This this is that that will bring in the Accomplishment of all those glorious Promises of Peace and Tranquility that Christ hath made to his Church Then shall the Wolf dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard lie down with the Kid Then shall not Ephraim envy Judah nor Judah vex Ephraim but we shall turn our Swords into Plough-shares and our Spears into Pruning-hooks and there will be no more consuming or devouring in all God's Holy Mountain I should now proceed to the Second general Point in my proposed Method of handling this Text viz. To set before you the very great Engagements and Obligations we have upon us to follow after the Things that make for Peace and that 1. From the Nature and Contrivance of our Religion 2. From the great Weight the Scripture lays upon this Duty 3. From the great Vnreasonableness of our Religious Differences 4. From the very evil Consequences that attend them As 1. In that they are great Hindrances of a good Life 2. They are very pernicious to the Civil Peace of the State 3. They are highly opprobrious to Christianity in general And 4. and Lastly Very dangerous to the Protestant Religion as giving too many advantages and too much encouragement to the Factors of the Papacy But I have I fear already exceeded the Limits of a Sermon and therefore shall add no more God open our Eyes that we may in this our day understand the Things that belong to Peace before they be hid from our Eyes SERMON II. PREACHED AT BOW-CHURCH On the 30th of January 1675. 1 Tim. iv 8. Godliness is profitable unto all things having a promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come THese words are the enforcement of an Exhortation which St. Paul had made to Timothy in the Verse beforegoing which was that he should Avoid prophane and Old-wives Fables meaning those impious and superstitious Doctrines and the carnal and unchristian Observances that were grounded upon them some of which he had mentioned in the beginning of this Chapter which some at that time did endeavour to introduce into Christianity and instead of applying his mind to these that he should rather Exercise himself unto true Godliness This was the Exhortation The Arguments wherewith he enforceth it are Two First The Unprofitableness of these Carnal and Superstitious Doctrines and Practices Bodily exercise saith he profiteth little Secondly The real usefulness of solid Vertue and Godliness to all the Purposes of life Godliness is profitable to all things having a promise of this Life as well as of that which is to come I shall not here meddle at all with the former part of the Apostle's Exhortation or the Argument that hath relation to it but shall apply my self wholly to the latter craving leave most plainly and affectionately to press upon you the Exercise of Godliness upon those Grounds and Considerations on which the Apostle here recommendeth it Indeed to a Man that considers well it will appear the most unaccountable thing in the World that among all those several Exercises that Mankind busie themselves about this of Godliness should be in so great a measure neglected that Men should be so diligent so industrious so unwearied some in getting Estates others in purveying for Pleasures others in learning Arts and Trades All in some thing or other relating to this sensible World and so few should study to acquaint themselves with God and the Concernments of their Souls to learn the Arts of Vertue and Religious Conversation Certain it is this Piece of Skill is not more above our reach than many of those other things we so industriously pursue nay I am apt to think it is more within our power than most of them For in our other Labours we cannot always promise to our selves certain success A thousand things may intervene which we know not of that may defeat all our plots and designs though never so carefully laid but no Man ever seriously undertook the Business of Religion but he accomplished it Nay farther As we can with greater certainty so can we with less pains and difficulty promise to our selves success in this affair than we can hope to compass most of our worldly designs which so much take up our thoughts I doubt not in the least but that less labour less trouble less solicitude will serve to make a Man a good Christian than to get an Estate or to attain a competent skill in Humane Arts and Sciences And then for other Motives to oblige us to the study of Religion we have incomparably more and greater than we can have for the pursuit of any other thing It is certainly the greatest Concernment we have in the World It is the very thing God sent us into the World about It is the very thing that his Son came down from Heaven to instruct us in It is the very thing by which we shall be concluded everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable after this life is ended These things well considered we may justly I say stand amazed that Men should be so prodigiously supine and negligent in an Affair of this nature and importance as we see they generally are If there can any account be given of this matter I suppose it must be some such as this That the things of this World upon which we bestow our Care our Time our Courtship are present to us We see them every day before our Eyes we taste we feel the sweetness of them we are sensible that their enjoyment is absolutely necessary to our present well-being But as
III. PREACHED AT BOW-CHURCH On the 17th of February 1680. Eccles iij. 10. I know that there is no good in them but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his Life THIS Book of Ecclesiastes gives us an Account of the several Experiments that Solomon had made in order to the finding out wherein the Happiness of Man in this World doth consist And these Words are one of the Conclusions he drew from those Experiments No Man had ever greater Opportunities of Trying all the Ways wherein Men generally seek for Contentment than he had and no Man did ever more industriously apply himself to or took a greater Liberty in enjoying those Good Things that are commonly most admired than he did And yet after all his Labour and all his Enjoyments he found nothing but Emptiness and Dissatisfaction He thought to become Happy by Philosophy giving his Heart as he tells us Eccl. 1.13 to seek and search out all the things that come to pass under the Sun Yet upon Trial he found all this to be Vanity and Vexation of Spirit He apply'd his Mind to Political Wisdom and other sorts of Knowledge and his Attainments in that kind were greater than of any that were before him Yet he experienced at last Ver. 18. that in Wisdom was much Grief and he that increaseth Knowledge increaseth Sorrow He proved his Heart as he tells us with Mirth and Wine Chap. 2. Ver. 1 3. and all sorts of Sensual Pleasures to find if these were good for the Sons of Men And yet so far was he from his desir'd Satisfaction in these things that he was forced to say of Laughter Ver. 2. that it was mad and of Mirth What Good doth it He turned himself to Works of Pomp and Magnificence He built him stately Houses and made him Gardens and Vineyards Ver. 4. and Orchards and Fountains He increased his Possessions Ver. 8. and gathered Silver and Gold and the precious Treasures of Kings and of the Provinces He got him a vast Retinue and kept the most splendid Court that ever any Prince of that Country did Yet as he tells us when he came to look upon all the Works that his hands had wrought Ver. 11. and on the Labour that he had laboured to do behold all was Vanity and Vexation of Spirit and there was no Profit under the Sun But wherein then is there any Profit if not in these things What is that Good that the Sons of Men are to apply themselves to in order to their living as comfortably as the state of things here will allow This Question after an Intimation of the Uncertainty and Perplexedness of all Humane Events but withall of the Exactness of the Providence of God who hath made every thing beautiful in its Season he thus resolves in the Words of the Text I know saith he that there is no good in them but for a Man to rejoice and do good in his Life That is to say I have found by long Experience that all the Happiness that is to be had in the Good Things of this Life doth arise from these two Things Rejoicing in the Enjoyment of them and Doing Good to others with them while we live Take away these two Uses and there is no good in them Or if you please we may interpret the first part of his Proposition not of Things but of Men thus I know there is no good in them i. e. I am convinced that there is nothing so good for the Sons of Men or nothing that more contributes to their Happiness in this World than that every Man should rejoice and do good in his Life And to this purpose the Words are render'd by several Interpreters But it is no matter which of the Senses we pitch upon since in effect they come both to one thing Two Things then Solomon here recommends to every one that would live comfortably in this World Rejoicing and Doing Good And I do not know what can be more proper and seasonable to be recommended and insisted on to you at this time and on this occasion than these two things for the putting them in practice makes up the whole Design of this Meeting We are here so many Brethren met together to Rejoice and to do Good To Rejoice together in the Sense and Acknowledgment of God's Mercies and Blessings to us and in the Enjoyment of Society one with another And to do Good not only by increasing our Friendship and mutual Correspondence but by joining together in a chearful Contribution to those our Country-men that need our Charity To entertain you therefore upon these two Points seems to be my proper Business But in treating of them I shall make bold to invert the Order in which they are put in the Text and shall first speak of doing Good though it be last named and shall afterwards treat of Rejoicing The truth is Doing Good in the Order of Nature goes before Rejoicing for it is the Foundation of it There can be no true Joy in the Possession or Use of any Worldly Blessings unless we can satisfie our selves we have done some Good with them It is the doing Good that sanctifies our other Enjoyments and makes them Matter of Rejoicing Now in treating of this Argument I shall briefly endeavour these Three Things First I shall earnestly recommend to you the Practice of doing Good upon several Considerations Secondly I shall represent the Practicableness of it by shewing the several Ways which every Person though in the meanest Circumstances is capable of doing Good Thirdly I shall make two or three Inferences by way of Application I begin with the First Thing Seriously to recommend the Practice of doing Good But where shall I begin to speak either of the Obligations that lie upon us or of the Benefits and Advantages that do accrue to us by doing Good in our Lives Or having begun where shall I make an end The Subject is so copious that the Study of a whole Life cannot exhaust it The more we consider it still the more and the weightier Arguments will present themselves to us to engage us in the practice of it and the more we practise it still the more shall we desire so to do and the more happy and blessed shall we find our selves to be For to do Good is nothing else but to act according to the Frame and Make of our Beings It is to gratifie those Inclinations and Appetites that are most strongly rooted in our Natures such as Love and Natural Affection Pity and Compassion a Desire of Friends and a Propensity to knot our selves into Companies and Societies What are all these but so many Stimuli so many powerful Incitements of Nature to put us upon doing good Offices one to another To do Good is the End of all those Acquisitions of all those Talents of all those Favours and Advantages that God has bless'd us with it is the proper Use we
common as the first persecuted Chrstians did but we should be highly indiscreet not to say injurious both to our selves and the publick if we did But this notwithstanding their practice and the charge here laid upon us to be communicative will thus far oblige us viz. that we Christians should always retain that publick generous Spirit that they in the first times were acted with We should sit so loose from the World and so unconcerned in the distinction of meum and tuum that we should make it our business to do good with what we have thinking our Wealth best employed when it is put to that use And when the cause of God and the common interest of our Christian Brethren doth require it we should then as freely part with all we have as our Predecessors in Christianity did following herein the Precept of our Lord to the young Man who came to enquire of him what he should do that he might inherit Eternal Life and who was thus answered by our Saviour that though he had kept the Commandments yet he wanted one thing to make him perfect that is to make him a true Christian and that was to sell all that he had and give to the poor and come and follow him and then he should have treasure in Heaven Mat. 19.21 Thus have I given you a brief account of each particular of the rich Man's Duty as it is summ'd up in the Text and some perhaps will think it is severe enough whether it be so or no I now dispute not but I am sure it is severely required of them This we may gather from St. Paul's way of urging it charge them saith he that are rich in this World that they be not high minded c. He doth not say recommend this to them as a thing that is very reasonable in it self and will highly become them he doth not say put them in mind of it as a thing by which they may gain a great deal of Honour and Reputation to their Religion he doth not say exhort and persuade them to it as a thing that will at last conduce to their own advantage But he saith charge it upon them intimating that there was a necessity they should thus practice it was a duty indispensably incumbent upon all of them and this is the Second General Point I am to insist on And certainly this Order of St. Paul to Timothy is a standing warrant a perpetual commission to all Ministers of the Gospel to charge the same thing upon all rich Men in all places and times But in the pressing and enforcing this charge I shall not so much have regard to the three former Duties as to the last which concerns the doing good with our Wealth the exercising acts of Bounty and Charity as we have opportunity Charge them that are rich in this World that they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate Now in Four respects especially rich Men are thus to be charged and a necessity lies upon them to practise accordingly viz. In point of Gratitude Justice Religion Self-preservation If all these put together do not make the obligation indispensable I know not what will I will speak briefly of each particular First if rich Men do not thus employ their Wealth they are guilty of great Ingratitude That is the least evil imputation they fall under and yet to any ingenuous Man it is heavy enough for to call a Man Vnthankfull is as great a reproach as you can cast upon him Whoever acknowledgeth the Being of God and owns his Providence in the World must necessarily believe that all that portion of good things which he enjoys in this Life doth proceed from that God as the Author and Fountain though they be immediately conveyed to him by the Ministery of second Causes and his Reason and Humanity will suggest to him that there are some returns of Gratitude to be made to Him that of his free bounty hath thus obliged him but what returns can he make to God for his Blessings other than in communicating those Blessings among his fellow Creatures To think that a verbal acknowledgment of God's favours is a suitable return is against the common sense of Mankind who know that there goes more to a Man's being truly grateful than the entertaining the Person that obliged him with fair speeches and professions of his Obligations And on the other side to think of requiting God in a proper sense by returning real kindnesses to him for those he hath done to us is equally absurd for all the services we can pay to him cannot add any thing to his infinite Blessedness How then must we express our thankfulness for the Wealth that he hath bestowed upon us Why he himself hath prescribed the way to us He hath devolved his right to our kindness upon our Brethren He hath deputed them to receive the real testimonies of our gratitude to him and whatsoever obligations we put upon them he takes them as an expression of our Love and Thankfulness to him This our Saviour himself hath told us in express words in the 25 of S. Matt. Inasmuch saith he as ye have done it i. e. done acts of kindness and charity to one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me And the charitable contributions of the Hebrew Christians to their indigent Brethren is by S. Paul styled a work and labour of Love shewed to God himself Heb. 6. If therefore rich Men would not be unkind and ingrateful to him that gave them all they have there is a necessity they should do good c. Secondly The Practice of this must likewise be charged upon them in point of Justice as well as Gratitude it is a piece of dishonesty not to do good with the wealth that God hath given us for it is a falsifying our trust it is an embezling our Master's Goods and putting them to quite other uses than those he gave us them for We are not to think that God ever made a Man rich for his own sake alone for the serving his own turns and the satisfaction of his own private desires with-without respect to the community No at the best we are but the Stewards of God's Blessings A stock of Talents he hath committed to all of us to some in greater and to others in smaller proportions and out of this stock he hath given us leave to make a provision for the necessities and conveniencies of our selves and our families but we must not think all our own that accrues to us so that it is at our liberty whether we will hoard it up or spend it profusely No we must have regard to the rest of our Master's Servants After we have served our own needs we must dispense the surplusage among the Family of God otherwise we are false and wicked Stewards we abuse and misemploy our Master's Talents and a severe account we shall one
up to our selves in store a good Foundation against the time to come that we may lay hold on eternal life And this is the Third thing I am to insist on from the Text. I mean not here to trouble you with the Criticisms about the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text by disputing whether it should be render'd Foundation as it is in our Translation though to lay up a Foundation seems an unusual way of speaking we do not lay up Foundations but build upon them or whether the word should be taken to signifie the Bond or the Evidence that God hath given us for the performance of his part of the Covenant as it is used by this Apostle elsewhere where he tells us that the Foundation of God standeth sure having this seal that is to say 2 Tim. 2.19 that Covenant or Indenture that God hath made with Mankind standeth sure and hath this Seal put to it for Men do not put Seals to Foundations but to Covenants Or lastly whether the word should be rendred a Treasure so as to read the Text thus laying up to themselves a good Treasure against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life Vid. Dr. Hammond in loc The original word say the Learned is capable or being translated all these ways and the last seems as natural as any for to lay up Treasure to our selves against the time to come is a proper way of speaking and that which our Saviour frequently useth in that very thing we are here treating of But it matters not much which of them we pitch upon for they all come to one sense and that is this That to be very charitable in this World is a good means to secure to our selves a title to eternal happiness in the next But to prevent all misunderstanding that may happen of this point I desire before I speak directly to it to premise these two things First Though we do maintain with the Ancient Church the efficacy of Charity and good works for the furthering a Man's Salvation yet we utterly reject those Doctrines which the Modern Romanists have advanced in this matter The Popish doctrines about good works are these three following that good works are meritorious do deserve the Favour and the Rewards of God Almighty Again that the surplusage of a Man's good works that is to say the merits of so many of his good deeds as are over and above what is sufficient to save his own soul may by the Church be dispensed out to the benefit of others they being part of the Church's treasure and upon this foundation they ground their Indulgences And lastly that good works i. e. the Alms of dying persons that are given to the Church or Clergy will by the means of the Masses and Diriges that they purchase to be said for them be effectual for the freeing their Souls out of the Torments of Purgatory These are the Popish Doctrines concerning good works which we all justly reject as having no foundation in Scripture or good Antiquity and being apparently contrived for the promoting their secular gain and advantage But then as for the necessity or the conduciveness of good works to a Man's Salvation which is all we here plead for I know no good Protestant but doth as earnestly contend for it as any of that Communion Secondly Whatever efficacy we attribute to works of Charity as a means for the obtaining eternal life we would not be understood hereby to exclude the necessary concurrence of other Vertues and Graces to that end It doth not from hence follow that it is an indifferent matter what Religion a Man is of or what kind of life he leads if he be but mighty bountiful to the Poor and do a great deal of good in his life No how acceptable to God soever the Sacrifice of Alms and Charity be yet we are not to expect it shall be available to our Salvation unless it proceed from a pure Heart and be offered with a lively Faith in Jesus Christ and accompanied with a sincere endeavour to obey all God's Commandments Eternal Happiness is not proposed in the Gospel as a reward of any one single Vertue no not of the greatest but of all of them together if indeed there can be any true Vertue where there is not a conjunction of all I say if there can be for St. James seems to affirm that there cannot Whosoever saith he shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point Jam. 2.10 he is guilty of all But now having said this by way of caution to prevent all occasion that any may take from our so earnestly pressing Charity to undervalue and neglect other Duties It cannot be denyed on the other side that very great effects are by our Saviour and his Apostles ascribed to this vertue with respect to Mens Salvation in the other World Luk. 6.30 35. In the 6. of St. Luke our Lord thus adviseth Love saith he your enemies give to him that asketh do good and lend hoping for nothing again so shall your reward be great and ye shall be the children of the most highest Now sure to be entitled to great rewards and to be the children of the most high doth look farther than this present World Our Saviour without doubt means the same thing here that he expresses upon the same occasion in another place viz. they those that you do good to cannot recompence you Luk. 14.14 but you shall be recompenced at the Resurrection of the just Again Luk. 16. the Parable of the unjust Steward that provided so well for himself against a bad time out of his Master's Goods is wholly designed to this purpose and that the Application of it sufficiently shews for our Saviour having said that the Lord of this Steward commended him for his providence and care of himself he thus applies it to all his Disciples verse 9. Wherefore I say unto you make you friends to your selves of the Mammon of unrighteousness i. e. of these false deceitful riches that when you fail you may be received into everlasting habitations plainly declaring that the best provision that rich Men can make for themselves against the time of their death in order to their reception into the other World must be the charitable actions they do with their Wealth while they live here Lastly Luk. 12.33 In another place our Saviour saith the very same thing in effect that is said in the Text for this is his counsel to all that mean to be happy in the next life viz. that they sell that they have that is when the times are such that it is reasonable so to do that they give alms for thereby they provide to themselves bags which wax not old a Treasure in the Heavens where no thief approacheth nor moth corrupteth To these three Texts of our Saviour's I shall add three others of three of his Apostles which speak
ver 4. He sheweth favour and lendeth ver 5. He hath dispersed he hath given to the poor ver 9. Now the Blessedness of such a Man as this as to this Life is describ'd in the five instances following The first of which is A great and happy Posterity thus ver 2. His seed shall be mighty upon earth the generation of the Vpright shall be blessed The second is A Plentiful and an Ample Fortune thus in the third verse Riches and Plenteousness shall be in his house The third is A lasting Fame and Reputation thus again in the third verse His Righteousness remaineth for ever and likewise in the sixth verse He shall be had in everlasting remembrance The fourth is Honour and Power and Dignity even such as shall excite the Envy of the Wicked thus in the ninth verse His horn shall be exalted with honour the wicked shall see it and shall be grieved c. The fifth is Great Safety and Peace in the midst of Dangerous and Troublesome times thus in the Text To the Vpright there ariseth Light in the Darkness i. e. Light in the greatest Straits and Difficulties for that is the meaning of Darkness in this place Times of Darkness in the Scripture Language are Evil and Difficult and Dangerous times Now upon account of this Light that ariseth to the Vpright Man in Evil times it comes to pass as it followeth v. 6 7 8. that such a one shall not be moved for ever neither shall he be afraid of evil tidings for his heart is established and he shall not shrink until he see his desire upon his Enemies Or as the Chaldee perhaps better renders it until he see redemption in distress This is the just Analysis of the whole Psalm Now of these several Characters whereby the Pious Man is describ'd I have pitch'd upon that of his Vprightness to give an account of and to recommend to you at this time And of the several Instances of the Blessedness of such a Man I have pitch't upon that of Safety and Peace in the midst of Perillous and Troublesome times These two points I have chosen to entertain you upon as judging them most suitable to the present occasion and to our present circumstances And we find them both join'd together in the words of the Text To the Vpright there ariseth Light in the Darkness Here then we have Two things to consider First The Person to whom the Promise here made or the Blessedness here mentioned doth belong It is the Vpright Man Secondly The Promise or the Blessedness it self It is Light in times of Darkness I begin with the Character of the Person to whom this Promise is made He is the Vpright Man or as in our more common Language we express him the Honest Man the Man of Integrity We all know so well what is meant by these words that it would render the thing more difficult to offer Critically to give Light to them As all those General Terms whereby a Man 's whole Duty is exprest in Scripture have their several respects and considerations which difference them one from the other though they be all equally Comprehensive So hath this term of Vprightness That which it immediately and particularly respects is the Goodness of a Man's Principles and the suitableness of his Actions to them Or thus The Conformity of a Man's Mind to the Eternal Rules of Righteousness and the Conformity of his Actions to the Principles of his Mind This is that upon account of which any person is denominated Upright and contrary to this is all Hypocritical and Partial dealings in matters of our Duty So that if we would give the definition of an Vpright Man it should be in such terms as these He is a Man that in all things follows the Dictates of his Conscience Or he is One that makes his Duty the Rule of his Actions Or he is One that always proposeth to himself Righteous Ends and pursues those Ends in Righteous Ways This is the general description of the Vpright Man But for the more lively display of him and the rendring him as more Amiable so more Imitable it will be fit that we represent him a little more particularly under those several Respects and Capacities in which his Uprightness is principally seen and exprest And here we must consider him with respect to God and with respect to Men. Under the former Consideration we are to view his Religion under the latter his Civil Conversation And none ought to be surpriz'd that in the Character of an Vpright Man we take notice of his Religious Carriage towards God For in truth that is a point which is Essentially necessary to Uprightness He saith Solomon that walketh in Vprightness feareth the Lord. Prov. 14.2 Indeed take away Religion and the Fear of God and the Foundation of Vprightness is destroy'd For all the Principles of Conscience and all the Obligation to live up to those Principles is thereby taken away He that hath no sense of God and Religion can never think himself bound to observe any Rules in his Actions and Behaviour but what are subservient to the carrying on his private sensual worldly Interest And consequently whatever is Inconsistent with that be it never so base and vile and injurious he cannot take himself in point of Duty oblig'd to stick at it when he hath the least temptation to it The result of which is That he may commit all the villanies in the World and yet think himself as Innocent and his Actions as Commendable as if he had been never so Honest and Vertuous He therefore that is an Vpright Man hath a serious and hearty sense of God and Religion upon his Spirit and is above all things careful to preserve and increase that sense But then his conduct in this affair is much different from that of ordinary pretenders to Religion For he is a Man that doth not content himself with a mere speculative belief or an outward profession of the Truths of Religion but doth so far impress them on his Heart that they influence his whole Life and Conversation He doth not think it sufficient to be Orthodox in his Opinions or to be a Member of a True Church or to be zealous in maintaining and promoting the right way But he takes care to live as he believes to practise suitably to the prefession he makes As he holds fast the Form of Godliness so he never fails to express the power of it in an Innocent and a Vertuous Life He is a Man that in the whole Conduct of his Religious affairs minds Conscience more than any selfish consideration He takes not up his Principles either out of Humour or Passion to advance his Interest or to please a Party But he believes a thing because it is True and Professeth it because it is his Duty In matters of Religion he hath the indifference of a Traveller whose great concernment is to arrive at his Journeys end but
relish of Pride or Vanity or Affectation It is high time rather to abate something of our sumptuousness in these things than to proceed any farther And thus lastly in matters of Equity and Justice when we first begin to have a suspicion that such a practice is an indirect or knavish trick or that we are too severe and hard upon a Man upon whom we have got an advantage Why this suspition alone is enough in reason to check us in our cariere and to put us upon more fair and moderate courses This is a Rule that will for ever be fit for us to practice for it is grounded upon Eternal Reason Indeed it is as old as Morality Quod dubitas ne feceris Do nothing that you doubt of is a maxim that obtain'd among the Heathens as well as among us Christians I dare not indeed say that this Rule holds universally in all Cases For Cases do sometimes happen wherein it will be advisable for a Man to act even against his doubts But in such Matters as I am now speaking of Matters wherein a Man is at perfect Liberty to act or not to act In all such Cases it will always without exception be a true and a safe and a wise Rule And I am sure if Men would seriously charge themselves with the practice of it they would hereby prevent a Multitude of Sins and Transgressions with which they usually inflame their Accounts against the day of Judgment And thus much of the Rules I had to propose as to the use of our Liberty in such Cases where a Man is at a loss in finding out the Measures and bounds of Duty and Sin and upon that account is in danger of Transgressing I have only two things more to add upon this Argument by way of Application and I have done The one as a Caution to prevent the misapplying these Rules the other as an encouragement to put them in practice That which I have to say by way of Caution is this That what I have been now recommending especially under the two last Heads is not intended to be a Rule or direction to any Hypochondriack or Melancholy Persons or such as are apt to be over-scrupulous about their Actions For indeed to such Persons it is the worst advice that can be given For they are apt to doubt and boggle at every thing be it never so innocent and free from blame They dare not eat a hearty Meal for fear of being Intemperate And for fear of not being devout enough they exhaust their Spirits and spoil their Health through the continual intention of their Minds to serious things Now Persons that are of this temper are rather to be encouraged to take more Liberties than they do than to abate any that they make use of But their Case is of another Consideration and foreign to my present purpose and therefore I here say no more about it It being sufficient to have given this intimation to such People that they do not make an ill use of any thing that I have now represented for assuredly what hath been now said doth not much concern them 2. The other thing I have to say and that by way of Encouragement is this I doubt not but some will be apt to think that the Rules I have now given about the Exercise of our Liberty are much too strict and severe and that if they must be tied up to such Measures then farewel all the joy and pleasure and comfort of their lives But to such People I would crave leave to say that they have very wrong notions of this Matter The using of their Liberty in such a manner as I have been recommending would not rob them of one true pleasure or comfort that this World affords So far from that that I am very sure whoever frames his Life according to these Measures shall live a hundred times a happier Life and shall enjoy the World and all the pleasures and advantages of it much more to his own content and satisfaction than if he put no check to the craving of his Appetites but always indulged and gratified them in every thing and as much as they desired Assure your selves Vertue and Religion will never hinder you from enjoying any pleasure or satisfaction that is natural On the contrary there is great Reason to believe that the practice thereof will extreamly heighten and advance the satisfactions you can receive from your Worldly Enjoyments I doubt not in the least but to a sincerely pious and Vertuous Man and that hath a Regard to God in all his Actions even the very pleasures and comforts of this Life are more gratifying and affecting than to any sensual or wicked Man For such a one as he is more capable of enjoying them so do they come to him likewise without the mixtures of those uneasy troublesome bitter Reflexions that other Men feel in the very best of their Enjoyments Let no Man therefore apprehend any loss of his pleasures by entirely devoting himself to God's Service and using his liberty in that careful way I have been recommending Let him not think that he shall hereby be too much straitned and confined For certainly this is the true means not only to keep him for ever from being a Slave to any thing but also mightily to improve and encrease his Liberty For by thus exercising himself all the Powers of his Soul will be vastly enlarged and he will hereby attain both leisure and will to employ all his rational Faculties about the best and the noblest objects in the World which will yield him the greatest pleasure that is to be had on this side Heaven Whereas if he had given up himself to be govern'd by any of his sensual Appetites he had been a poor narrow confined Creature indeed not capable of any greater satisfactions or pleasures than what the Brutes do enjoy as well as himself but with less uneasiness and fewer disturbances It is true indeed a sensual Man hath no notion of this kind of pleasures no more than a Beast hath of the pleasures of a Man And therefore it is no wonder that such Men entertain all talk about them as little better than meer Cant and Jargon But I seriously appeal to all Men that have ever made any trials in the way of Religion and Vertue whether the Contentments and Satisfactions they have received from the rational use of their Liberty and the thoughts and reflexions that hereby they do approve themselves to God and live in hopes of his Favour and have a fair prospect of a glorious Immortal Sate in another world I say Whether they do not find the pleasures and contentments that arise from hence to be infinitely more solid and substantial and durable than any of those that they receive from the gratification of their sensual Appetites in a vitious unreasonable Manner Oh therefore Let none of us make any scruple of devoting our selves entirely and without reserve to
all worldly respects when I once came to the knowledge of the Christian Religion I dispised them all For in truth I found that they were so far from being real Advantages to me that they were rather hindrances in the way of Vertue and Piety Yea doubtless as he goes on in the 8th verse I account all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ That is to say Not only the above-named priviledges but all other things whatsoever Wealth Greatness Fame Friends and Life it self I account them all very pitiful things if they be compared with the inestimable advantages of being a Christian As I have once so I will again readily forsake all part with all things that the World holds most dear and valuable nay I will trample them under my feet like dirt and dung provided I may obtain the Favour of Christ And as he goes on in the 9th verse that I might be found in him not having my own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is by the Faith of Jesus Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith This passage hath been frequently misunderstood and interpreted to a sense that I believe St. Paul did not think of St. Paul doth not here oppose an inherent Righteousness to an imputed one but an outward natural legal Righteousness to that which is inward and spiritual and wrought in a Man by the Spirit of God The Righteousness which the Apostle here desires to be found in is not the Righteousness of Christ made his or imputed to him but a real Righteousness produced in his Soul by the Faith of Jesus Christ The plain Sense of the Verse seems to be this That which above all things I desire is to be found in Christ i. e. to be found a Disciple of his ingrafted into him by being a Member of his Church not having my own Righteousness which is of the Law i. e. not being content with those outward Priviledges and that outward Obedience which by my own natural Strength I am able to yield to the Precepts of the Law which is that Righteousness in which the Jews place their Confidence and by which they expect to be justified before God But that which is by the Faith of Jesus Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith i. e. that Righteousness which I desire and in which only I shall have the Confidence to appear before God is an inward Principle of Holiness that Spiritual renewed Obedience to God's I aws which he doth require as the condition of his Favour and Acceptance and which I can never attain to but by the Faith of Christ by becoming a Christian This is none of my own Righteousness but God's it being wrought in me by his Spirit accompanying the preaching of the Gospel and as it is his Gift so he will own it and reward it at the last â—ay This is the full importance of that Verse and then it follows by way of Explication of what he now said That I may know him and 〈…〉 Resurrection c. This is the 〈…〉 that I aspire after that I may know Christ nor only by a nâ—â—ional belief of his Doctrines 〈…〉 of his Religion but by a spirituâ—â— experimental Knowledge of him such a Knowledge as â—â—ansformâ—â—â— Spirit and Temper and that 〈…〉 the power of his 〈◊〉 i. e. then 〈◊〉 experience in my self all the good 〈…〉 that his Resurrection 〈◊〉 a power to work in me that I may see the Vertue and Efficacy of it in my daily dying to Sin and rising again to a 〈◊〉 holy and heavenly Life This is that Righteousness I long for and in comparison of which I account all things in the World but as less and as duâ—â— Thus have I given you a full account of the Text and all the Apostle's Discourse that it depends upon I now come to treat more particularly of it with reserence to the solemnity of this Day We all here present do profess to believe the Article of our Saviour's Resurrection and our business at this time is to celebrate the memory of it But we must not rest here We are not to look upon our Lord's Resurrection meerly as a thing to be believed or professed or commemorated or as a matter of Fact that only concerned himself But there is a great deal in it which doth nearly concern us The Apostle tells us there is a great Power in it even a Power of raising us from Sin to a Holy and Vertuous Life It is so ordered as to be capable of being and it ought to be a Principle of now Life in us as it was the beginning of a now Life in our Saviour Now this Vertue this Power this Efficacy of it as it is that which with the Apostle we ought all most earnestly to endeavour the experiencing in our selves so it is that which will be fittest for us at this time to apply our Meditations to My Work therefore at this time shall be to give some Account of the Power of Christ's Resurrection in order to the making Men good which the Apostle here speaks of to shew how or in what respects it doth instuence upon the Lives of Christians Now if we look into the Holy Scriptures we shall find that there is a four-fold Power attributed to it or that it hath an insluence upon our Lives in these four respects That is to say I. As it lays an Obligation upon Christians to Holiness and Vertue II. As it is the Principal Evidence of the Truth of our Religion the Design of which is to make Men Holy and Vertuous III. As it is the great Support of our future Hopes or our Hopes of another Life which indeed is the main Encouragement we have to apply our selves seriously to the business of Holiness and Vertue IV. And Fourthly as to it we do principally owe all that supernatural Grace and Strength by which we are inabled to live Holily and Vertuously Of these four Points I shall Discourse very briesly I. And First of all our Saviour's Resurrection hath an influence upon our Practice as it lays an Obligation upon Christians to lead Holy and Vertuous Lives As it is in it self an incitement to Piety and heavenly-Mindedness This is indeed the lowest instance of its Power but yet we ought not to pass it by because the Writers of the New Testament do frequently insist on it For thus they argue If Christ was crucified for our Sins then ought we to crucifie them in our members And if Christ rose again the third day then are we ingaged in conformity to him to rise again to newness of Life to lead a Spiritual Divine Heavenly Life such a lise as he now lives with God And this in the ancient times was taught every Christian in and by his Baptism Whenever a person was baptized
he was not only to profess his faith in Christ's Death and Resurrection but he was also to look upon himself as obliged in correspondence therewith to mortifie his former carnal affections and to enter upon a new state of Life And the very Form of Baptism did lively represent this Obligation to them For what did their being plung'd under water signifie but their Undertaking in Imitation of Christ's Death and Burial to forsake all their former evil courses As their ascending out of the water did their Engagement to lead a holy spiritual Life This our Apostle doth more than once declare to us Thus Rom. vi 4. We are buried saith he with Christ by Baptism unto death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life Thus again in the 10th and 11th verses of that Chapter In that Christ died he died unto sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto God likewise reckon ye your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is to say After the example of Christ's Death and Resurrection account ye your selves obliged to die to sin and to live to Righteousness Lastly To name no more Texts the same use doth the Apostle make of Christ's Resurrection in Coloss iii. 1 2. If ye then saith he be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God i. e. You by entring into the Christian Covenant are incorporated into Christ He is your Head you are his Members and therefore since he no longer leads a life of this World it will by no means become you to live like Worldlings or Epicures but being risen with him as the Members ought to do with the Head to mind those things that are above where he is to set your affections as he goes on on the things above and not on the things of the Earth For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God These things plainly shew that the Apostles delivered the Doctrine of Christ's Resurrection as a Practical Doctrine as a point which if Christians believed as they should do it would ingage them to mortifie their lusts to die to the World to place their affections on Spiritual things to have their conversations in Heaven where Christ our Head our Life now sits at the right hand of God II. Great will the insluence and Power of Christ's Resurrection upon our lives appear to be when we consider that it is indeed the principal Evidence that we have for the Truth of our Religion the very design of which is to make us Vertuous and Holy If any thing in the World can make a man good it must be a hearty belief of the Gospel And if any thing in the World can make a man heartily to believe the Gospel it must be the Resurrection of our Saviour from the dead All that Power therefore that the Gospel of Christ hath to make men good all that force and efficacy that its Arguments its Promises its Precepts its Encouragements its Threatnings have upon the Understandings and Wills of men in order to bring them to Vertue and Holiness I say all this may in a great measure uitimately be resolved into the Article of Christ's Resurrection For this Resurrection of his was the thing that did from the beginning and doth now and ever will ascertain mankind of the Truth of Christ's Religion This was and will be for ever the convincing Evidence that what Jesus taught was true Doctrine that what he commanded was of perpetual obligation that what he promised or threatned he was able to make good If Christ had not risen from the dead but had for ever been detained in the Grave notwithstanding all that might be urged from the Goodness of his Doctrine and the Inuncency of his Life and the multitude of his Miracles for the Proof of the Truth of Christianity though yet very strong and concluding Proofs these are I doubt it would hardly have met with that ready Entertainment in the World that we find it did But a great many both then and now would have made the same Objection against Jesus Christ and his Gospel that the Pharisees did of old that is to say That all his great Works and Miracles were done by Sorcery and Magick And that as for the Innocency of his Life and the great Vertue and Strictness that he expressed in his Conversation that was only used as a Trick and an Artifice the more easily to impose upon the World But now when it appears that Jesus who taught this holy Religion who did those Miracles who liv'd that vertuous Life did after he was put to a cruel death rise again to Life and conversed upon earth for forty days together and after that in the presence of many Spectators did ascend into Heaven I say when this appears as God be thanked it is evident beyond all contradiction here is no room left for any suspicion of this nature but all pretences of Imposture do perfectly vanish It is impossible for any considering man to believe Christ's Resurrection and at the same time to doubt of the truth of his Religion For thus let us reason Christ over and over again told his Apostles that he should be put to death but after that he would within three days rise again Matth. xvi 21. xvii 22. John xvi 16. Nay he told this not only to the Apostles but to all the People nay more than that he gave this as a Token as an Evidence to them whereby they should know and be convinced that he was what he gave himself out to be the Son of God and the great Prophet and Saviour that was to come John ii 19. Nay in the last place he not only refers the Jews to his Resurrection as an Evidence of his being the Christ but as the last and greatest Evidence that he had to give And such as if they were not convinced by they must expect no other Matth. xii 39 40. Our Saviour now laying such a mighty stress upon this point of his Resurrection putting his whole cause as I may speak upon this Issue I ask How is it possible to imagine that God Almighty should make these predictions of our Saviour good if he was not really what he pretended to be If Christ had been an Impostor it had been the easiest matter in the World to have stifled all his pretences for ever It had but been to have let him mouldered to dust in his Grave as all other men do and as He without the help of Omnipotency would have done and then all the World would have seen that he was a Deceiver But now when in stead of perishing in the Grave he was after three days restored to life again as he had foretold the People nay to a gloririous immortal Life What are we to conclude from
that the Souls Immortality is demonstrable by the light of Nature yet there are generally these two Inconveniences in the Arguments they make use of for the Proof of this matter which render them in a great measure ineffectual for the reforming mens lives First They are generally of so great Subtilty so Nice so Metaphysical so much above the reach of ordinary Capacities that they are useless to the greatest part of Mankind who have not understandings fitted for them And Secondly They have this inconvenience likewise that a Man doth not see the Evidence of them without actual attention to a long Train of Propositions which attention it may be when a Man most stands in need of their Support he shall neither have the leisure nor the humour to give But now the Christian Method of proving another Life is quite of another strain and wholly free from these inconveniences That Demonstration which Christ hath given us of a glorious Immortality by his Resurrection from the dead as it is infinitely certain and conclusive so it is plain and easy short and compendious powerful and operative No Man that believes the matter of Fact can deny the Cogency of it Men of the meanest Capacities may apprehend it Persons in a crowd of business and in the midst of temptations may attend to it And it hath this Vertue besides that it leaves a lasting impression upon the Spirits of those that do believe and consider it Thanks therefore to our Lord Jesus Christ for this excellent Instrument of Piety that he hath given us by his Resurrection Everlasting Praises to his name that he hath thus brought Life and Immortality to light by his Gospel This very thing alone was there nothing else to be said for the Christian Revelation would sufficiently justify both the Gospel it self and our Lord Jesus the Author of it to all Mankind nay and effectually recommend his Religion above all others that ever were taught to all Persons in all Nations of the World IV. Fourthly and Lastly There is still a further Blessing coming to us by our Saviour's Resurrection from the dead and in which indeed is chiefly seen and expressed the great Power of it for the making us Holy and Vertuous That is to say Unto it we do principally owe all that supernatural Grace and Assistance by which we are enabled to vanquish our Corruptions and to live up to the Precepts of our Religion As Christ by his Resurrection did oblige us to lead new lives As Christ by his Resurrection did demonstrate the truth of the Christian Religion which is wholly in order to our leading new lives As by his Resurrection he cleared up to us the certainty of our future State and thereby gave us the greatest Motive and Encouragement to lead new lives So in the last place by the same Resurrection he acquired a Power of conferring Grace and Strength and Influence upon us by the Virtue of which we are in fact inabled to lead new lives Tho' Christ by his death reconciled us to God and procured a Pardon of Sin for us yet the actual benefit of this Reconciliation the actual application of this Pardon did depend upon our performance of certain Conditions Which conditions were that we should mortify all our evil affections and frame our Lives suitable to the Laws of the Gospel But now the Grace and Power by which we are inabled to do this was not the effect of Christ's Death but of his Resurrection It was when he ascended up on high and led Captivity Captive that is when he had vanquished Death which had vanquished all the World before It was then as the Scripture assures us and not till then that he was in a capacity of giving gifts unto men It was not till he was glorified as St. John observes that the holy spirit was given Hence it is that we every where find the Apostles attributing the business of Man's Justification and Salvation as much or more to Christ's Resurrection than to his Passion If Christ be not risen saith St. Paul 1 Cor. xv your Faith is in vain ye are yet in your Sins Indeed if Christ had perished in the Grave we had still had all the load of our sins upon us because we had no assurance that God had accepted the Atonement and Propitiation which he had made for them And much less could we have promised to our selves that we should have been assisted by any Divine Power for the subduing of them Again the same St. Paul tells us Rom. iv that Christ was delivered for our sins and raised again for our justification Christ's Death was the Sacrifice the Satisfaction for our Sins But it was by the means of his Resurrection that that Sacrifice and Satisfaction is applied to us and we for the merits of it become justified before God Lastly To name no more Texts Who saith the same Apostle Rom. viii shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifyeth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Here then is the great Power of our Saviour's Resurrection to make us good Christ being risen from the dead hath all Power given him both in Heaven and in Earth God as St. Paul expresseth it hath put all things under his feet and hath given him to be head over all things to the Church Eph. 1.22 Now in the fullness of that Power that he is invested with as he doth on one hand with never-failing efficacy make continual Intercession for his Church and every Member of it So he doth on the other hand out of the fulness of that Power derive and communicate so much Strength and Grace and Assistance of the Divine Spirit to all Christians that if they make a good use of it they shall not fail to perform all those Conditions of Faith and Repentance and a Holy Life that are required of them in order to their being made actual partakers of all those unspeakable Benefits which he purchased for Mankind by his Death and Sufferings Christ by his Resurrection is become both our High-Priest and our King both our Advocate and our Lord. By that Power which he then obtained as our Priest and Advocate he doth with Authority recommend us and all our concernments to his Father As our King and Lord he rules and governs us he takes care of us he provides for us he represses the insults of his and our Enemies and defeats all their attempts against us And lastly he supplies us from time to time with such a measure of Grace and Strength and influence of his Divine Spirit as he sees is needful or proper for our Condition If all this now that I have said be the effect of our Saviour's Resurrection as it certainly is Must we not needs own that there is a mighty Power in it for the making us good
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
let us be constant in our Religious Offices Nay let us take every opportunity that our Affairs will allow us of raising our Minds to God and thanking him for his Infinite Love and Goodness to us and imploring the continual Influences of his Grace and Holy Spirit and re-inforcing our Vows and Purposes of persevering in his Service By this means we shall come to lead Spiritual Lives indeed Our Souls will be a perpetual Fountain of good Thoughts And while we live here our Conversation will be in Heaven For God and Christ and the things above will have our Hearts though the World hath our Bodies But then in the Fifth and last place Notwithstanding what I have hitherto said concerning the Diligence with which we are to keep our Hearts yet this is always to be remembered That with our Diligence we must be careful to joyn Discretion My Meaning is this We must have a care not to intend our Thoughts immoderately and more than our Tempers will bear even to the best things But we must so keep our Hearts as at the same time to preserve our Healths and keep up the Vigour of our Minds And the way to do that is Not to put them too much or too long upon the stretch at any one time But to relax them when there is occasion and to let them run out and entertain themselves upon any thing that comes next to hand so long as it is Innocent It is a vain thing to imagine that we can always be thinking of our great Business or that we can always be a Praying or Reading or Meditating or that as our Condition is in this World even the greater part of our Thoughts should be such as we call Devout and Religious Thoughts God hath provided a great deal of other Business for us to apply our Minds to so long as we live in this World And by minding that diligently and conscientiously we do serve God as acceptably as if we were Reading or Praying Nay even then when we have no urgent Business upon our hands to take up our Minds it is not necessary that we should be always thinking of Religion Nor would I call every Thought a vain or an idle or a sinful Thought that hath not God or our Spiritual Concernments for its Object Even the most Spiritually minded among us must oftentimes be content to be entertained with such Thoughts as our Company or our Temper or the present Circumstances we are in do suggest to us And provided those Thoughts be innocent and do not intrench upon the Laws of Piety and Purity and Charity be they otherwise very trifling and impertinent I say I would not look upon them as ill Thoughts nor have any one angry at himself upon account of them The truth of it is so long as we consist of Bodies and Souls we cannot always be thinking of serious things They indeed are the Wisest that think of them most but it is even dangerous to attempt to think of them always For as most Mens Constitutions are that is the ready way to spoil the Habit of our Bodies and by that means to render our Minds perfectly unfit for Thinking at all to any good Purposes Thus have I laid before you the Main Things wherein as I do believe the right Governing our Thoughts doth consist And I doubt not they are so safe and so effectual that whosoever will sincerely practise them as far as he can will so keep his Heart that the Issues from thence in his Life and Conversation will be Happy and Prosperous I conclude all with the Collect of this Day Almighty God who seest that we have no power of our selves to help our selves Keep us both outwardly in our Bodies and inwardly in our Souls that we may be defended from all Adversities which may happen to the Body and from all EVIL THOVGHTS which may assault and hurt the Soul through Jesus Christ our Lord. SERMON XV. Preach'd before the KING AT St. JAMES'S March 13. 1697 8. LUKE xviii 1. And he spake a Parable unto them to this end That men ought always to pray and not to faint THE Parable which our Saviour spake unto them to this end was this There was in a City a Judge who feared not God nor regarded Men and there was a Widow in that City and she came to him saying Avenge me of my Adversary And he would not for a while But afterwards he said within himself Though I fear not God nor regard Man Yet because this Widow troubleth me I will avenge her lest by her continual coming she weary me The Application of this Parable is easie and natural If a Man that neither fears God nor regards Men hath neither Sense of Religion nor Humanity may be supposed to be so far prevail'd upon by the earnest Prayer of a miserable necessitous Person as to grant the Request made to him and to administer Relief to the Supplicant merely upon account of the Continuance and Importunity of the Petitions that are put up Then how much more ought we to think that God who is Infinite Goodness it self who is always kind and bountiful to his Creatures who delights to do good to them even without their seeking and desiring it and who is so far from being at any Pains or Trouble for the supplying their Wants that it is altogether as easie to him to do what is requested of him as not to do it I say How much more ought we to think that this God upon our earnest and hearty Prayer to him for any thing we stand in need of will return us a kind Answer and grant us such Supplies as are proper for us But then we are to remember that we Pray always and faint not We must be diligent and importunate and persevering in our Devotions otherwise we are not to expect any more favourable return of them than the Judge in the Parable made to the Widow upon her once or twice putting up her Petitions to him This is the Effect of the Parable I mean not now farther to insist on it but to stick to that point for the sake of which our Saviour framed it Jesus spake a Parable unto them to this end That men ought always to pray and not to faint But what is meant by praying always and not fainting which our Lord here obliges us to Is it to be always on our knees and to mind no other business but Devotion So indeed they say some of ancient times expounded it but we meet with them no where but in the Catalogues of the Hereticks No certainly to pray always and not to faint doth imply a quite different thing of which I shall give an account in the following partiticulars First These words import that we should be always in a praying Temper in such a Disposition of mind that we always carry about us and have within us the necessary Requisites of hearty Prayer that is to say a firm Belief of