not enter into his Rest yet we are to consider that both the tenour of the Sentence which our Blessed Saviour hath assur'd us will be pass'd upon them at the Judgment of the Great Day Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire and likewise this Declaration in the Text that the Wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment though they do not restrain God from doing what he pleases yet they cut off from the Sinner all reasonable hopes of the relaxation or mitigation of them For since the great Judge of the World hath made so plain and express a Declaration and will certainly pass such a Sentence it would be the greatest folly and madness in the world for the Sinner to entertain any hope of escaping it and to venture his soul upon that hope I know but one thing more commonly said upon this Argument that seems material And that is this That the words death and destruction and perishing whereby the punishment of wicked men in the other World is most frequently express'd in Scripture do most properly import annihilation and an utter end of Being and therefore may reasonably be so understood in the matter of which we are now speaking To this I answer that these words and those which answer them in other Languages are often both in Scripture and other Authors used to signify a state of great misery and suffering without the utter extinction of the miserable Thus God is often in Scripture said to bring destruction upon a Nation when he sends great Judgments upon them though they do not exterminate and make an utter end of them And nothing is more common in most Languages than by perishing to express a person's being undone and made very miserable As in that known passage in Tiberius his Letter to the Roman Senate Let all the Gods and Goddesses saith he destroy me worse than at this very time I feel my self to perish c. in which Saying the words destroy and perish are both of them us'd to express the miserable anguish and torment which at that time he felt in his mind as Tacitus tells us at large And as for the word Death a state of misery which is as bad or worse than death may properly enough be call'd by that name And for this reason the punishment of wicked men after the Day of Judgment is in the Book of the Revelation so frequently and fitly call'd the second death And the Lake of fire into which the wicked shall be cast to be tormented in it is expresly call'd the second death But besides this they that argue from the force of these words that the punishment of wicked men in the other world shall be nothing else but an utter end of their Being do necessarily fall into two great inconveniencies First That hereby they exclude all positive punishment and torment of Sinners For if the second death and to be destroy'd and to perish signify nothing else but the Annihilation of Sinners and an utter extinction of their Being and if this be all the effect of that dreadful Sentence which shall be pass'd upon them at the Day of Judgment then the Fire of Hell is quench'd all at once and is only a frightful Metaphor without any meaning But this is directly contrary to the tenour of Scripture which doth so often describe the punishment of wicked men in Hell by positive torments And particularly our Blessed Saviour describing the lamentable state of the damned in Hell expresly says that there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth which cannot be if Annihilation be all the meaning and effect of the Sentence of the Great Day Secondly Another inconvenience of this Opinion is that if Annihilation be all the punishment of Sinners in the other World then the punishment of all Sinners must of necessity be equal because there are no degrees of Annihilation or not-being But this also is most directly contrary to Scripture as I have already shewn I know very well that some who are of this Opinion do allow a very long and tedious time of the most terrible and intolerable torment of Sinners and after that they believe that there shall be an utter end of their Being But then they must not argue this from the force of the Words before mentioned because the plain inference from thence is that Annihilation is all the punishment that wicked men shall undergo in the next Life And if that be not true as I have plainly shewn that it is not I do not see from what other words or expressions in Scripture they can find the least ground for this Opinion that the torment of wicked men shall at last end in their Annihilation And yet admitting all this for which I think there is no ground at all in Scripture I cannot see what great comfort Sinners can take in the thought of a tedious time of terrible torment ending at last in Annihilation and the utter extinction of their Beings Thirdly We may consider further that the primary end of all Threatnings is not punishment but the prevention of it For God does not threaten that men may sin and be punish'd but that they may not sin and so may escape the punishment threaten'd And therefore the higher the threatning runs so much the more mercy and goodness there is in it because it is so much the more likely to hinder men from incurring the penalty that is threatned Fourthly Let it be consider'd likewise that when it is is so very plain that God hath threatned eternal misery to impenitent Sinners all the prudence in the World obliges men to believe that he is in good earnest and will execute these threatnings upon them if they will obstinately stand it out with him and will not be brought to Repentance And therefore in all reason we ought so to demean our selves and so to perswade others as knowing the terrour of the Lord and that they who wilfully break his Laws are in danger of eternal Death To which I will add in the Fifth and last place That if we suppose that God did intend that his threatnings should have their effect to deterr men from the breach of his Laws it cannot be imagin'd that in the same Revelation which declares these threatnings any intimation should be given of the abatement or non-execution of them For by this God would have weaken'd his own Laws and have taken off the edge and terror of his threatnings Because a threatning hath quite lost its force if we once come to believe that it will not be executed And consequently it would be a very impious design to go about to teach or perswade any thing to the contrary and a betraying men into that misery which had it been firmly believ'd might have been avoided We are all bound to preach and You and I are all bound to believe the terrors of the Lord. Not so as sawcily to determine and pronounce what God must do in this
as our thoughts but as the Heavens are high above the Earth so are his ways above our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts And the best way to keep our selves from despairing of GOD's Mercy and Forgiveness to us is to be easy to grant Forgiveness to others And without this as GOD hath reason to deny Forgiveness to us so we our selves have all the reason in the World utterly to despair of it It would almost transport a Christian to read that admirable Passage of the Great Heathen Emperour and Philosopher M. Aurelius Antoninus Can the Gods says he that are Immortal for the continuance of so many ages bear without impatience with such and so many Sinners as have ever been and not only so but likewise take care of them and provide for them that they want nothing And dost thou so grievously take on as one that can bear with them no longer Thou that art but for a moment of time yea Thou that art one of those Sinners thyself I will conclude this whole Discourse with those weighty and pungent Sayings of the wise Son of Syrach He that revengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord and he will certainly retain his Sins Forgive thy neighbour that hath hurt thee so shall thy Sins also be forgiven when thou prayest One man beareth hatred against another and doth he seek pardon of the Lord He sheweth no mercy to a man like himself and doth he ask forgiveness of his own Sins Enable us O Lord by thy Grace to practise this excellent and difficult Duty of our Religion And then Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us For thy mercies sake in Jesus Christ to whom with Thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Adoration and Obedience both now and ever Amen The care of our Souls the One thing needful A SERMON Preached before the KING and QUEEN AT Hampton-Court April the 14 th 1689. The care of our Souls the One thing needful LUKE X. 42 But one thing is needful IN the accounts of Wise men one of the first Rules and Measures of human actions is this To regard every thing more or less according to the degree of its consequence and importance to our happiness That which is most necessary to that End ought in all reason to be minded by us in the first place and other things only so far as they are consistent with that great End and subservient to it Our B. Saviour here tells us that there is one thing needful that is one thing which ought first and principally to be regarded by us And what that is it is of great concernment to us all to know that we may mind and pursue it as it deserves And we may easily understand what it is by considering the Context and the occasion of these Words which was briefly this Our Saviour as He went about preaching the Kingdom of God came into a certain Village where He was entertain'd at the house of two devout Sisters The elder who had the care and management of the Family and the Affairs of it was imployed in making entertainment for such a Guest The other sate at our Saviour's feet attending to the Doctrine of Salvation which he preach'd The elder finding her self not able to do all the business alone desires of our Saviour that he would command her Sister to come and help her Upon this our Saviour gives her this gentle reprehension Martha Martha Thou art careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful And what that is he declares in the next words And Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her that is she hath chosen to take care of her Salvation which is infinitely more considerable than any thing else Our Saviour doth not altogether blame Martha for her respectful care of Him but cmmends her Sister for her greater care of her Soul which made her either wholly to forget or unwilling to mind other things at that time So that upon the whole matter He highly approves her wise choice in preferring an attentive regard to his Doctrine even before that which might be thought a necessary civility to His Person From the Words thus explain'd the Observation which I shall make is this That the care of Religion and of our Souls is the one thing necessary and that which every man is concern'd in the first place and above all other things to mind and regard This Observation seems to be plainly contain'd in the Text. I shall handle it as briefly as I can and then by way of Application shall endeavour to persuade You and my self to mind this one thing necessary And in speaking to this serious and weighty Argument I shall do these two things First I shall endeavour to shew wherein this care of Religion and of our Souls does consist Secondly To convince men of the necessity of taking this care I. I shall shew wherein this care of Religion and of our Souls doth consist And this I shall endeavour to do with all the plainness I can and so as every one that hears me may understand and be sufficiently directed what is necessary for him to do in order to his eternal Salvation And of this I shall give an account in the five following Particulars in which I think the main business of Religion and the due care of our Souls does consist First In the distinct knowledge and in the firm belief and persuasion of those things which are necessary to be known and believed by us in order to our eternal Salvation Secondly In the frequent Examination of our lives and actions and in a sincere Repentance for all the errours and miscarriages of them Thirdly In the constant and daily exercise of Piety and Devotion Fourthly In avoiding those things which are pernicious to our Salvation and whereby men do often hazard their Souls Fifthly In the even and constant practice of the several Graces and Vertues of a good Life I. The due care of Religion and our Souls does consist in the distinct knowledge and in the firm belief and persuasion of those things which are necessary to be known and believ'd by us in order to our eternal Salvation For this knowledge of the necessary Principles and Duties of Religion is the foundation of all good Practice wherein the life of Religion doth consist And without this no man can be truly Religious Without faith saith the Apostle to the Hebrews it is impossible to please God For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him Now these two expressions of pleasing God and seeking Him are plainly of the same importance and do both of them signify Religion or the Worship and Service of God which doth antecedently suppose our firm belief and persuasion of these two fundamental Principles of all Religion That there is a
God and That He will reward those that serve him Because unless a man do first believe these there would neither be ground nor encouragement for any such thing as Religion And this knowledge of the necessary Principles of Religion our B. Saviour calls eternal Life because it is so fundamentally necessary in order to our attaining of it This is life eternal says He to know thee the only true God and Him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ that is to be rightly instructed in the knowledge of the only true God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord Under which two general Heads are comprehended all the necessary Principles both of the Natural and of the Christian Religion And to the attaining of this knowledge which is absolutely necessary to Salvation no such extraordinary pains and study is requir'd but only a teachable disposition and a due application of mind For whatever in Religion is necessary to be known by all must in all reason be plain and easie and lye level to all capacities otherwise we must say that God who would have all men to be saved hath not provided for the Salvation of all men And therefore now that the knowledge of the true God and the light of Christianity are shed abroad in the world all that enjoy the Gospel are or may be sufficiently instructed in all things necessary to their happiness unless such care be used as is in the Church of Rome to take away the key of knowledge and to lock up the Scriptures from the People in an unknown Tongue and this as they pretend upon a very charitable consideration only it is to be hop'd that it is not true that the generality of Mankind are mad and have need to be kept in the dark But supposing men to be allowed those means of knowledg which God affords and hath appointed for us the great difficulty doth not commonly lie in mens Understandings but in their Wills Only when men know these things they must attend to them and consider them that the light which is in their Understandings may warm their Hearts and have its due influence upon their Lives II. The due care of our Souls consists in the frequent Examination of our lives and actions and in a sincere Repentance for all the errors and miscarriages of them In a more particular and deep humiliation and repentance for deliberate and wilful sins so far as we can call them to our remembrance and in a general repentance for sins of Ignorance and Infirmity and Surprize In the exercise whereof we are always to remember that the nature of true Repentance doth not consist only in an humble confession of our sins to God and a hearty trouble and contrition for them but chiefly in the stedfast purpose and resolution of a better life and in prosecution of this resolution in actual reformation and amendment By the constant exercise hereof we are put into a safe condition provided that we persevere in this holy resolution and course But if we still retain the love and practice of any known sin or if after we have taken up these good resolutions we return again to an evil course this is a clear evidence either that our Repentance was not sincere at first or that we are relaps'd into our former state And then our Souls are still in apparent danger of being lost and will continue in that dangerous state till we have renew'd our Repentance and made it good in the following course of our lives III. The due care of our Souls consists in the constant and daily exercise of piety and devotion both in private and in publick if there be opportunity for it especially at proper times and upon more solemn occasions By fervent prayer to God and by hearing and reading the Word of God with reverence and godly fear By frequenting his publick Worship and demeaning our selves in it with that solemnity and seriousness which becomes the presence and service of the great and glorious Majesty of God who observes our behaviour and sees into our hearts And by receiving the B. Sacrament as often as we have opportunity with due preparation and devotion of mind For these are not only outward testimonies of our inward piety but they are means likewise appointed by God to improve and confirm us in holiness and goodness And whoever neglects these Duties of Religion or performs them in a flight and superficial manner doth plainly shew that he hath neither a due sense of God nor care of himself For in vain does any man pretend that he does in good earnest design the End when he neglects the best and most proper means for the attainment of it IV. The due care of our Souls consists also in avoiding those things which are pernicious to our Salvation and whereby men do often hazard their Souls Such in general is the practice of any known Sin By this we do as it were run upon the swords point and do endanger our Salvation as much as a deep wound in our Body would do our Life And tho such a wound may perhaps be cur'd afterwards by Repentance yet no man that commits any wilful Sin knows the dismal consequence of it and whither by degrees it may carry him at last For upon such a provocation God may leave the Sinner to himself and withdraw his grace from him and give him up to a hard and impenitent heart to proceed from evil to worse and from one wickedness to another till he be finally ruin'd So dangerous a thing is it knowingly to offend God and to commit any deliberate act of Sin More particularly an inordinate love of the World is very pernicious to the Souls of men because it quencheth the heavenly life and fills our minds with earthly cares and designs it tempts men to forsake God and Religion when their worldly interests come in competition with them and betrays them to fraud and falshood and all kind of injustice and many other hurtful lusts which drown the Soul in perdition But besides these dangers which are more visible and apparent there is another which is less discernible because it hath the face of Piety and that is Faction in Religion By which I mean an unpeaceable and uncharitable zeal about things wherein Religion either doth not at all or but very little consist For besides that this temper is utterly inconsistent with several of the most eminent Christian Graces and Vertues as humility love peace meekness and forbearance towards those that differ from us it hath likewise two very great mischiefs commonly attending upon it and both of them pernicious to Religion and the Souls of men First that it takes such men off from minding the more necessary and essential parts of Religion They are so zealous about small things the tithing of mint and anise and cummin that they neglect the weightier things of the Law Faith and Mercy and Judgment and the Love of God They spend so much
of their time and heat about things doubtful that they have no leisure to mind the things that are necessary And are so concern'd about little Speculative Opinions in Religion which they always call fundamental Articles of Faith that the Practice of Religion is almost wholly neglected by them And they are so taken up in spying out and censuring Error and Heresy in others that they never think of curing those Lusts and Vices and Passions which do so visibly reign in themselves Deluded people that do not consider that the greatest Heresy in the World is a wicked life because it is so directly and fundamentally opposite to the whole design of the Christian Faith and Religion And that do not consider that God will sooner forgive a man a hundred defects of his Understanding than one fault of his Will Secondly Another great mischef which attends this temper is that men are very apt to interpret this zeal of theirs against others to be great Piety in themselves and as much as is necessary to bring them to Heaven and to think that they are very Religious because they keep a great stir about maintaining the Out-works of Religion when it is ready to be starv'd within and that there needs no more to denominate them good Christians but to be of such a Party and to be listed of such a Church which they always take for granted to be the only true one and then zealously to hate and uncharitably to censure all the rest of Mankind How many are there in the World that think they have made very sure of Heaven not by the old plain way of leaving their sins and reforming their lives but by a more close and cunning way of carrying their Vices along with them into another Church and calling themselves good Cathliques and all others Heretiques And that having done this they are in a safe condition as if a mere Name would admit a man into Heaven or as if there were any Church in the World that had this phantastical Privilege belonging to it that a wicked man might be saved for no other reason but because he is of it Therefore as thou valuest thy Soul take heed of engaging in any Faction in Religion because it is an hundred to one but thy zeal will be so employed about lesser things that the main and substantial parts of Religion will be neglected Besides that a man deeply engag'd in heats and controversies of this nature shall very hardly escape being possess'd with that Spirit of uncharitableness and contention of peevishness and fierceness which reigns in all Factions but more especially in those of Religion V. The due care of our Souls consists in the even and constant practice of the several Graces and Vertues of a good life or as the Apostle expresseth it in exercising our selves always to have a conscience void of offence towards God and men For herein is Religion best seen in the equal and uniform practice of every part of our Duty Not only in serving God devoutly but in demeaning our selves peaceably and justly kindly and charitably towards all men Not only in restraining our selves from the outward act of sin but in mortifying the inward inclination to it in subduing our Lusts and governing our Passions and bridling our Tongues As he that would have a prudent care of his health and life must not only guard himself against the chief and common diseases which are incident to men and take care to prevent them but must likewise be careful to preserve himself from those which are esteemed less dangerous but yet sometimes do prove mortal He must not only endeavour to secure his Head and Heart from being wounded but must have a tender care of every part there being hardly any disease or wound so slight but that some have dyed of it In like manner the care of our Souls consists in an universal regard to our Duty and that we be defective in no part of it Though we ought to have a more especial regard to those Duties which are more considerable and wherein Religion doth mainly consist as Piety towards God Temperance and Chastity in regard of our selves Charity towards the poor Truth and Justice Goodness and Kindness towards all men But then no other Grace and Vertue though of an inferiour rank ought to be neglected by us And thus I have endeavour'd as plainly and briefly as I could to declare to you in what Instances the due care of Religion and our Souls doth chiefly consist And I would not have any man think that all this is an easy business and requires but little time to do it in and that a small degree of diligence and industry will serve for this purpose To master and root out the inveterate Habits of Sin to bring our Passions under the command and government of our Reason and to attain to a good degree of every Christian Grace and Vertue That Faith and Hope and Charity Humility and Meekness and Patience may all have their perfect work and that as St. James says we may be perfect and entire wanting nothing nothing that belongs to the perfection of a good man and of a good Christian And this whenever we come to make the trial we shall find to be a great and a long work Some indeed would make Religion to be a very short and easy business and to consist only in believing what Christ hath done for us and relying confidently upon it Which is so far from being the true Notion of Christian Faith that if I be not much mistaken it is the very Definition of Presumption For the Bible plainly teacheth us that unless our Faith work by Charity and purify our hearts and reform our lives unless like Abraham's Faith it be perfected by works it is but a dead Faith and will in no wise avail to our Justification and Salvation And our B. Saviour the great Author and finisher of our Faith hath no where that I know of said one word to this purpose That Faith separated from obedience and a good life will save any man But He hath said very much to the contrary and that very plainly For he promiseth Blessedness to none but those who live in the practice of those Christian Graces and Vertues which are particularly mention'd by Him in the beginning of his excellent Sermon upon the Mount of Humility and Repentance and Meekness and Righteousness and Mercifulness and Purity and Peaceableness and Patience under persecution and sufferings for Righteousness sake And afterwards in the same Sermon Not every one saith He that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in heaven And again Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a Rock And afterwards He tells us that whosoever builds his hopes of eternal happiness upon any other
we are now so loth to think upon I say if we believe this it is time for us to be wise and serious And happy that man who in the days of his health hath retir'd himself from the noise and tumult of this world and made that careful preparation for Death and a better Life as may give him that constancy and firmness of Spirit as to be able to bear the thoughts and approaches of his great Change without amazement and to have a mind almost equally poiz'd between that strong inclination of Nature which makes us desirous to live and that wiser dictate of Reason and Religion which should make us willing and contented to die whenever God thinks fit Many of us do not now so clearly discern these things because our eyes are dazzel'd with the false light and splendor of earthly felicity But this assuredly is more worth than all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them to be able to possess our Souls at such a time and to be at perfect Peace with our own minds having our hearts fixed trusting in God To have our Accounts made up and Estate of our immortal Souls as well settled and secur'd as by the assistance of God's Grace humane care and endeavour though mix'd with much humane frailty is able to do And if we be convinc'd of these things we are utterly inexcusable if we do not make this our first and great care and prefer it to all other interests whatsoever And to this end we should resolutely disentangle our selves from worldly cares and incumbrances at least so far that we may have competent liberty and leisure to attend this great concernment and to put our Souls into a fit posture and preparation for another World That when Sickness and Death shall come we may not act our last part indecently and confusedly and have a great deal of work to do when we shall want both time and all other advantages to do it in Whereby our Souls when they will stand most in need of comfort and support will unavoidably be left in a trembling and disconsolate condition and in an anxious doubtfulness of mind what will become of them for ever To conclude This care of Religion and our Souls is a thing so necessary that in comparison of it we are to neglect the very necessaries of Life So our Lord teacheth us Take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be cloathed But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness The Calls of God and Religion are so very pressing and importunate that they admit of no delay or excuse whatsoever This our Saviour signifies to us by denying the Disciple whom he had call'd to follow him leave to go and bury his Father Let the dead says he bury their dead but do thou follow me There is one thing needful and that is the business of Religion and the care of our immortal Souls which whatever else we neglect should be carefully minded and regarded by every one of us O that there were such a heart in us O that we were wise that we understood this that we would consider our latter end Which God grant we may all do in this our day for his mercies sake in Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory now and ever Amen Of the Eternity of Hell-Torments A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITEHALL March 7. 1689 90. Of the Eternity of Hell-Torments MATTH 25.46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the Righteous into life eternal AMong all the arguments to Repentance and a good Life those have the greatest force and power upon the minds of men which are fetch'd from another World and from the final state of good and bad men after this Life And this our Saviour represents to us in a most lively manner in that prospect which in the latter part of this Chapter he gives us of the Judgment of the great Day namely that at the end of the World the Son of Man shall come in his glory with his Holy Angels and shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory and all Nations shall be gathered before him and shall be separated into two great Companies the Righteous and the Wicked who shall stand the one on the Right hand and the other on the Left of this great Judge who shall pronounce sentence severally upon them according to the actions which they have done in this Life The Righteous shall be rewarded with eternal happiness and the Wicked shall be sentenc'd to everlasting punishment And these that is the Wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment but the Righteous into Life eternal The Words are plain and need no explication For I take it for granted that every one at first hearing of them does clearly apprehend the difference between the Righteous and the Wicked and between endless Happiness and Misery But although these Words be so very easy to be understood they can never be too much consider'd by us The Scope and design of them is to represent to us the different Fates of good and bad men in another World and that their Ends there will be as different as their Ways and doings have been here in this World The serious consideration whereof is the greatest discouragement to Sin and the most powerful argument in the World to a holy and vertuous life Because it is an argument taken from our greatest and most lasting interest our happiness or our misery to all Eternity A concernment of that vast consequence that it must be the greatest stupidity and folly in the World for any man to neglect it This eternal state of Rewards and Punishments in another World our Blessed Saviour hath clearly revealed to us And as to one part of it viz. That good men shall be eternally happy in another World every one gladly admits it But many are loth that the other part should be true concerning the eternal punishment of wicked men And therefore they pretend that it is contrary to the Justice of God to punish temporary Crimes with eternal Torments Because Justice always observes a proportion between Offences and Punishments but between temporary Sins and eternal Punishments there is no proportion And as this seems hard to be reconcil'd with Justice so much more with that excess of Goodness which we suppose to be in God And therefore they say that though God seem to have declar'd that impenitent Sinners shall be everlastingly punish'd yet these declarations of Scripture are so to be mollified and understood as that we may be able to reconcile them with the essential perfections of the Divine nature This is the full force and strength of the Objection And my work at this time shall be to clear if I can this difficult Point And that for these two Reasons First For the vindication of the Divine Justice and Goodness
and learned a man as Origen was should be positive in an Opinion for which there can be no certain ground in Reason especially for the punctual and precise term of a thousand years and for which there is no ground at all that I know of from Divine Revelation But upon the whole matter however it be be it for a thousand years or be it for a longer and unknown term or be it for ever which is plainly threatned in the Gospel I say however it be this is certain that it is infinitely wiser to take care to avoid it than to dispute it and to run the final hazard of it Put it which way we will especially if we put it at the worst as in all prudence we ought to do it is by all possible means to be provided against So terrible so intolerable is the thought yea the very least suspicion of being miserable for ever And now give me leave to ask You as St. Paul did King Agrippa Do you believe the Scrâ—ptures And I hope I may answer for you my self as he did for Agrippa I know you do believe them And in them these things are clearly revealed and are part of that Creed of which we make a solemn profession every day And yet when we consider how most men live is it credible that they do firmly believe this plain Declaration of our Saviour and our Judge That the wicked shall go away into everlasting Punishment but the righteous into Life eternal Or if they do in some sort believe it is it credible that they do at all consider it seriously and lay it to heart So that if we have a mind to reconcile our belief with our Actions we must either alter our Bible and our Creed or we must change our Lives Let us then consider and shew our selves men And if we do so can any man to please himself for a little while be contented to be punish'd for ever and for the shadow of a short and imperfect happiness in this life be willing to run the hazard of being really and eternally miserable in the next World Surely this consideration alone of the extreme and endless misery of impenitent Sinners in another World if it were but well wrought into our minds would be sufficient to kill all the temptations of this World and to lay them dead at our feet and to make us deaf to all the Enchantments of Sin and Vice Because they bid us so infinitely to our loss when they offer us the enjoyment of a short Pleasure upon so very hard and unequal a condition as that of being miserable for ever The eternal Rewards and Punishments of another Life which are the great Sanction and Security of God's Laws one would think should be a sufficient weight to cast the Scales against any Pleasure or any Pain that this World can tempt or can threaten us withal And yet after all this will we still go on to do wickedly when we know the terrors of the Lord and that we must one day answer all our bold violations of his Law and contempts of his Authority with the loss of our immortal Souls and by suffering the vengeance of eternal Fire What is it then that can give men the Heart and Courage but I recall that Word because it is not true Courage but fool hardiness thus to out brave the Judgment of God and to set at nought the horrible and amazing consideration of a miserable Eternity How is it possible that men that are awake and in their wits should have any ease in their minds or enjoy so much as one quiet hour whilst so great a danger hangs over their heads and they have taken no tolerable care to prevent it If we have any true and just sense of this danger we cannot fail to shew that we have it by making haste to escape it and by taking that care of our Souls which is due to immortal Spirits that are made to be Happy or Miserable to all Eternity Let us not therefore estimate and measure things as they appear now to our sensual and deluded and deprav'd Judgments but let us open our eyes and look to the last issue and consequence of them Let us often think of these things and consider well with our selves what apprehensions will then probably fill and possess our minds when we shall stand trembling before our Judge in a fearful expectation of that terrible Sentence which is just ready to be pronounced and as soon as ever it is pronounc'd to be executed upon us When we shall have a full and clear sight of the unspeakable Happiness and of the horrible and astonishing Miseries of another World When there shall be no longer any Veil of Flesh and Sense to interpose between them and us and to hide these things from our eyes And in a word when Heaven with all the Glories of it shall be open to our view and as the expression is in Job Hell shall be naked before us and Destruction shall have no covering How shall we then be confounded to find the truth and reality of those things which we will not now be persuaded to believe And how shall we then wish that we had believed the terrors of the Lord and instead of quarrelling with the Principles of Religion and calling them into question we had lived under the constant sense and awe of them Blessed be God that there is yet hope concerning us and that we may yet flee from the wrath to come and that the Miseries of Eternity may yet be prevented in Time And that for this very end and purpose our most Gracious and Merciful God hath so clearly revealed these things to us not with a desire to bring them upon us but that we being warned by his Threatnings might not bring them upon our selves I will conclude all with the Counsel of the Wise Man Seek not Death in the error of your Life and pull not upon your selves destruction with the works of your own hands For God made not death neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the Living But ungodly men with their works and words have called it down upon themselves Which that none of us may do God of his infinite Goodness grant for his Mercies sake in Jesus Christ To whom with Thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Dominion and Power Thanksgiving and Praise both now and for ever Amen Success not always answerable to the probability of Second Causes A FAST-SERMON Preached before the House of COMMONS ON Wednesday April the 16th 1690. Jovis 17. die April 1690. Ordered THat the Thanks of this House be given to Dr. Tillotson Dean of St. Pauls for the Sermon Preached before this House Yesterday And that he be desired to Print the same And that Sir Edmund Jenings do acquaint him therewith Paul Jodrell Cler. Dom. Com. Success not always answerable to the probability of Second Causes Ecclesiastes IX 11 I
over let us say Peace be within thee For the House of the Lord our God for the sake of our Holy Religion and of that excellent Church whereof we all are or ought to be Members let every one of us say I will seek thy good And what greater good can we do to the best Religion how can we better serve the interest of it in all parts of the World than by being at peace and unity among our selves here in England upon whom the eyes of all the Protestants abroad are fixed as the Glory of the Reformation and the great bulwark and support of it That so under the Providence of Almighty God and the conduct of two such excellent Princes as He hath now bless'd us withal The One so brave and valiant and Both of them so wise so good so religious we may at last arrive at a firm establishment and become like mount Zion that cannot be moved the perfection of Beauty and Strength and the admiration and joy of the whole Earth which God of his infinite goodness grant for his mercies sake in Jesus Christ To whom with thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory dominion and power thanksgiving and praise both now and ever Amen A Conscience void of Offence towards God and Men. IN A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL February the 27 th 1690 1. A Conscience void of Offence towards God and Men. ACTS xxiv 16 And herein do I exercise my self to have always a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards men THese words are part of the Defence which St. Paul made for himself before Faelix the Roman Governour In which he first of all vindicates himself from the charge of Sedition ver 12. They neither found me in the Temple disputing with any man neither raising up the People neither in the Synagogue nor in the City that is they could not charge him with making any disturbance either in Church or State After this he makes a free and open profession of his Religion ver 14. But this I confess that after the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets Here he declares the Scriptures to be the Rule of his Faith in opposition to the Oral Tradition of the Pharisees More particularly he asserts the Doctrine of the Resurrection which was a principal Article both of the Jewish and the Christian Religion ver 15. And I have hope also towards God that there shall be a Resurrection both of the just and the unjust And having made this declaration of his Faith he gives an account of his Life in the words of the Text ver 16. And herein do I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men Herein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in this work do I employ my self or as others render it in the mean time whilst I am in this World or as others I think most probably for this cause and reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this reason because I believe a Resurrection therefore have I a conscientious care of my life and all the actions of it The Discourse I intend to make upon these words shall be comprized in these following Particulars I. Here is the extent of a good man's pious practice to have a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men II. Here is his constancy and perseverance in this course to have always a conscience void of offence III. Here is his earnest care and endeavour to this purpose I exercise my self IV. Here is the principle and immediate Guide of his Actions which St. Paul here tells us was his Conscience V. I shall lay down some Rules and Directions for the keeping of a good Conscience VI. Here is the great motive and encouragement to this which St. Paul tells us was the belief of a Resurrection and of a future State of Rewards and Punishments consequent upon it for this cause because I hope for a Resurrection both of the just and unjust I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men I shall speak but briefly to the three first of these Particulars that I may be larger in the rest I. Here is the extent of a good man's pious practice It hath regard to the whole compass of his Duty as it respects God and Man I exercise my self says St. Paul to have a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men And this distribution of our Duty under these two general Heads is very frequent in Scripture The Decalogue refers our Duty to these two Heads And accordingly our Saviour comprehends the whole Duty of Man in those two great Commandments the love of God and of our Neighbour Matth. 22.38 Vpon these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets that is all the Moral Precepts which are dispers'd up and down in the Law and the Prophets may be referr'd to these two general Heads II. Here is his constancy and perseverance in this course St. Paul says that he exercised himself to have always a conscience void of offence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 continually at all times in the whole course of his life We must not only make conscience of our ways by fits and starts but in the general course and tenour of our lives and actions without any balks and intermissions There are some that will refrain from grosser Sins and be very strict at some Seasons as during the Time of a Solemn Repentance and for some days before they receive the Sacrament and perhaps for a little while after it And when these devout Seasons are over they let themselves loose again to their former lewd and vitious course But Religion should be a constant frame and temper of mind discovering it self in the habitual course of our lives and actions III. Here is likewise a very earnest care and endeavour to this purpose Herein do I exercise my self says St. Paul The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here render'd exercise is a word of a very intense signification and does denote that St. Paul applied himself to this business with all his care and might and that he made it his earnest study and endeavour And so must we we must take great care to understand our duty and to be rightly informed concerning good and evil that we may not mistake the nature of things and call good evil and evil good We must apply our minds in good earnest to be thoroughly instructed in all the parts of our Duty that so we may not be at a loss what to do when we are call'd to the practice of it And when we know our Duty we must be true and honest to our selves and very careful and conscientious in the discharge and performance of it I proceed in the IV th
in execution As against the profanation of the Lord's Day by secular business by vain sports and pastimes which by the very nature of them are apt to dissolve the minds of men into mirth and pleasure and to carry them off from all serious thoughts of God and Religion and from the Meditations of another World and to give the Devil an advantage and an opportunity which be never fails to take to steal the good seed the Word of God which they have heard that Day out of their hearts and to make it of none effect And which is yet worse by lewd and sinful practices which are unlawful at any time but upon that Day are a double breach and violation of God's Law And likewise by neglecting to put in execution the Laws against profane Swearing and Cursing for which the Land mourns and against Drunkenness and Adultery and Fornication which are so common and so impudently committed amongst us whether they be Civil or Ecclesiastical Laws and it is hard to say which of them are most remisly executed And to mention no more by neglecting to prosecute that horrible Sin of Murther so frequently now committed in our Streets beyond the example of former Ages with that severity and impartiality which is necessary to free the Nation from the guilt of that crying Sin which calls so loud to Heaven for Vengeance And all this notwithstanding the Magistrates are under the Oath of God to put the Laws in due execution against all these Crimes so far as they come to their knowledge and fall under their cognisance 2. The Sins of the Ministers who serve at God's Altar and watch over the Souls of men whose bloud will be required at their hands if any of them perish through their fault and neglect There is no reason to doubt but that there are a good number of faithful Shepherds in the Land who watch over their Flocks with great care and conscience remembring the dreadful Account which they must one Day make to Him who shall judge the quick and dead of the Souls committed to their charge But yet how grosly do many of us fail of the faithful discharge of the substantial parts of this high Office wanting a just sense of the inestimable worth and value of the Souls of men for whom Christ died taking little or no care to instruct them in the good knowledge of the Lord and to lead them in the way to eternal happiness by an exemplary conversation Nay too many among us demean themselves so scandalously as perfectly to undermine the credit and effect of their Doctrine by leading lives so directly contrary to it and to alienate their People from the Church and to make them to abhorr the Sacrifice and Service of the Lord by their wicked and unhallowed Conversations hereby exposing them to the craft of Seducers and rendring them an easie prey to the Emissaries of the Church of Rome or to any other Sect and Faction that pretends a greater zeal for Religion or makes a better shew of a strict and unblameable life For who will regard or believe those Teachers who give all the evidence that can be by their lives and actions that they do not believe themselves and their own Doctrines When all is said the life and manners of the Preacher are the best eloquence and have that dint and power of persuasion in them which no words no art can equal Who so lives as he speaks does as it is said of our Blessed Saviour Speaks as one that hath authority and not as the Scribes Not as the Scribes whose words notwithstanding all the formality and gravity with which they were deliver'd did therefore want weight and force because as our Saviour tells us of them they said but did not their Lives were not answerable to their Doctrines Whereas our Blessed Saviour therefore spoke as never man spake because he liv'd as never man liv'd so innocent so useful so exemplary a life He was holy harmless and undefil'd He did no sin neither was guile found in his lips He fulfilled all righteousness and went about doing good This was that which made Him so powerful a Preacher of Righteousness and we must necessarily fall so much short of Him in the authority and efficacy of our Sermons as we do in the holiness and goodness of our Lives Such a Preacher and such a practice as that of our Blessed Saviour was is every way fitted to reprove and persuade and reform Mankind We now live in an Age and Church wherein they who are called to be the Teachers and Guides of Souls ought to take great heed both to their Doctrine and their Lives that the Name of God may not be blasphem'd and his holy Religion be brought into contempt by those who above all others are most nearly concern'd to preserve and support the credit and honour of it And we cannot but see how our Religion and Church are beset and endanger'd on every side by the rude assaults of Infidelity and by the cunning Arts of seducing Spirits and by our own intestine Heats and Divisions And it can never be sufficiently lamented no though it were with tears of bloud that we whose particular charge and employment it is to build up the Souls of Men in a holy Faith and in the resolution of a good Life should for want of due instruction and by the dissolute and profligate lives of too many among us and by inflaming our needless Differences about lesser things have so great a hand in pulling down Religion and in betraying the Souls of Men either to downright Infidelity or to a careless neglect and profane contempt of all Religion May not God justly expostulate this matter with us as he did of old with the People of the Jews A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the Land the Prophets prophesy falsly and the Priests bear rule by their means and my People love to have it so and what will ye doe in the end thereof When they who are the Pastors and Guides of Souls have by their ill conduct and management brought matters to that pass that the generality of the People sit down contented with the worst state of things and are become almost indifferent whether they have any Religion or not what can the end of these things be but that the Kingdom of God will be taken from us and given to a Nation that will bring forth the fruits of it If ever there be a publick Reformation among us it must begin at the House of God and they who are the Ministers of Religion must lead on this work and be more careful and conscientious in the discharge of that high and holy Office which is committed to them by the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls Else what shall we say when God shall challenge us as he once did the Pastors of the Jewish Church by his Prophet saying Where is the Flock that was given thee thy beautiful
found that which gave more joy and gladness to his heart the favour of God and the light of his countenance This gave perfect rest and tranquillity to his mind so that he needed not to enquire any further For so it follows in the next words I will both lay me down in peace and rest for thou Lord only makest me to dwell in safety The Hebrew word signifies confidence or security Here and no-where else his mind found rest and was in perfect ease and security I shall now only make two or three Inferences from this Discourse and so conclude First This plainly shews us the great unreasonableness and folly of Atheism which would banish the belief of God and his Providence out of the World Which as it is most impious in respect of God so is it most malicious to Men because it strikes at the very foundation of our happiness and perfectly undermines it For if there were no God Man would evidently be the most unhappy of all other Beings here below because his unhappiness would be laid in the very frame of his nature in that which distinguishes him from all other Beings below him I mean in his Reason and Understanding And he would be so much more miserable than the Beasts by how much he hath a farther reach and a larger prospect of future evils a quicker apprehension and a deeper and more lasting resentment of them So that if any man could see reason to stagger his belief of a God or of his Providence as I am sure there is infinite reason to the contrary yet the belief of these things is so much for the interest and comfort and happiness of Mankind that a Wise man would be heartily troubled to part with a Principle so favourable to his quiet and that does so exactly answer all the natural desires and hopes and fears of Men and is so equally calculated both for our comfort in this World and for our happiness in the other For when a man's thoughts have ranged and wandered as far as they can his mind can find no rest no probable foundation of happiness but God only no other reasonable no nor tolerable Hypothesis and Scheme of things for a Wise man to rely upon and to live and die by For no other Principle but this firmly believed and truly lived up to by an answerable practice was ever able to support the generality of Mankind and to minister true consolation to them under the calamities of life and the pangs of death And if there were not something real in the Principles of Religion it is impossible that they should have so remarkable and so regular an effect to support our minds in every condition upon so great a number of persons of different degrees of understanding of all ranks and conditions young and old learned and unlearned in so many distant Places and in all Ages of the World the Records whereof are come down to us I say so real and so frequent and so regular an effect as this is cannot with any colour of reason be ascribed either to blind Chance or meer Imagination but must have a real and regular and uniform cause proportionable to so great and general an effect I remember that Grotius in his excellent Book of the Truth of the Christian Religion hath this observation That God did not intend that the Principles of Religion should have the utmost evidence that any thing is capable of and such as is sufficient to answer and bear down all sorts of captious Cavils and Objections against it but so much as is abundantly sufficient to satisfie a sober and impartial Enquirer after Truth one that hath no other interest but to find out Truth and when he hath found it to yield to it If it were otherwise and the Principles of Religion were as glaring and evident as the Sun shining at Noon-day as there could hardly be any vertue in such a Faith so Infidelity would be next to an impossibility All that I would expect from any man that shall say that he cannot see sufficient reason to believe the Being and the Providence of God is this That he would offer some other Principles that he would advance any other Hypothesis and Scheme of things that is more agreeable to the common and natural Notions of Men and to all Appearances of things in the World and that does bid more fairly for the comfort and happiness of Mankind than these Principles of the Being of a God and of his watchful Providence over the children of men do plainly do And till this be clearly done the Principles of Religion which have generally been received by Mankind and have obtain'd in the World in all Ages cannot fairly be discarded and ought not to be disturbed and put out of Possession And this I think puts this whole matter upon a very fair and reasonable Issue and that nothing more needs to be said concerning it Secondly From what hath been said in the foregoing Discourse it naturally follows That God is the only Object of our trust and confidence and therefore to him alone and to no other we ought to address all our Prayers and Supplications for mercy and grace to help in time of need But now according to the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome the Psalmist here puts a very odd and strange Question Whom have I in Heaven but thee To which they must give a quite different answer from what the Psalmist plainly intended namely that God was the sole Object of his hope and trust and that upon Him alone he relied as his only comfort and happiness But to this Assertion of the Psalmist the Church of Rome can by no means agree They understand this matter much better than the Psalmist did namely that besides God there are in Heaven innumerable Angels and Saints in whom we are to repose great trust and confidence and to whom also we are to address solemn Prayers and Supplications not only for temporal good things but for the pardon of our Sins for the increase of our Graces and for eternal Life That there are in Heaven particular Advocates and Patrons for all exigencies and occasions against all sorts of dangers and diseases for all Graces and Vertues and in a word for all temporal spiritual and eternal Blessings to whom we may apply our selves without troubling God and our Blessed Saviour who also is God blessed for evermore by presuming upon every occasion to make our immediate Addresses to Him For as they would make us believe though Abraham was ignorant of it and David knew it not the blessed Spirits above both Angels and Saints do not only intercede with God for us for all sorts of Blessings but we may make direct and immediate Addresses to them to bestow these Blessings upon us For so they do in the Church of Rome as is evident beyond all denial from several of their Prayers in their most publick and authentick Liturgies They would
evil-speakings And the Apostle ranks backbiters with fornicators and murderers and haters of God and with those of whom it is expressly said that they shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And when he enumerates the Sins of the last times Men says he shall be lovers of themselves covetous boasters evil-speakers without natural affection perfidious false accusers c. And which is the strangest of all they who are said to be guilty of these great Vices and Enormities are noted by the Apostle to be great pretenders to Religion for so it follows in the next words Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof So that it is no new thing for men to make a more than ordinary profession of Christianity and yet at the same time to live in a most palpable contradiction to the Precepts of that Holy Religion As if any pretence to Mystery and I know not what extraordinary attainments in the knowledge of Christ could exempt men from obedience to his Laws and set them above the Vertues of a good Life And now after all this do we hardly think that to be a Sin which is in Scripture so frequently rank'd with Murther and Adultery and the blackest Crimes such as are inconsistent with the life and power of Religion and will certainly shut men out of the Kingdom of God Do we believe the Bible to be the Word of God and can we allow our selves in the common practice of a Sin than which there is hardly any Fault of men's Lives more frequently mention'd more severely reprov'd and more odiously branded in that Holy Book Consider seriously these Texts Who shall abide in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy Hill He that backbiteth not with his tongue nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour Have ye never heard what our Saviour says that of every idle word we must give an account in the day of Judgment that by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemn'd What can be more severe than that of St. James If any man among you seemeth to be religious and bridleth not his tongue that man's Religion is vain To conclude The Sin which I have now warned men against is plainly condemn'd by the Word of God and the Duty which I have now been persuading you to is easie for every man to understand not hard for any man that can but resolve to keep a good guard upon himself for some time by the grace of God to practice and most reasonable for all Men but especially for all Christians to observe It is as easie as a resolute silence upon just occasion as reasonable as prudence and justice and charity and the preservation of peace and good-will among men can make it and of as necessary and indispensible an obligation as the Authority of God can render any thing Upon all which Considerations let us every one of us be persuaded to take up David's deliberate Resolution I said I will take heed to my ways that I offend not with my tongue And I do verily believe that would we but heartily endeavour to amend this one Fault we should soon be better Men in our whole lives I mean that the correcting of this Vice together with those that are nearly allied to it and may at the same time and almost with the same resolution and care be corrected would make us Owners of a great many considerable Vertues and carry us on a good way towards perfection it being hardly to be imagin'd that a man that makes conscience of his Words should not take an equal or a greater care of his Actions And this I take to be both the true meaning and the true reason of that saying of St. James and with which I shall conclude If any man offend not in Word the same is a perfect man Now the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the Sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good word and work to do his will working in you always that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ To whom be glory for ever Amen FINIS V. 8 9 10 11 12. V. 8. V. 9. V. 10. V. 8. V. 9. V. 13. 1 Pet. 5.12 Philip. 1.27 1 Chron. 29.4 Psal 103.10 Lev. 26.13 Isaiah 1.4 Verse 5. Isaiah 9.13 Isaiah 26.11 2 Chron. 28.22 Judges 8.34 35. 1 Kings 11.9 2 Chron. 32.25 Isaiah 1.2 Verse 3. Isaiah 26.10 Deut 13.1 2. Verse 5. Numb 14.32 Judges 10.11 12 13 14. Jer. 2.19 Judges 10.13 Gen. 15.16 Rom. 9.22 Isaiah 1.5 Matth. 23.37 38. Psal 28.5 Psal 118.23 24. 1 Cor. 10.6 7 9 10 11. Numb 2.5 6. V. 11. Dr. Barrow Dr. Barrow Prov. 14.29 Eccl. 7.9 Prov. 16.32 Verse 45. Eph. 4.32 chap. 5.1 Luke 17.3 4. Rom. 12.17 V. 18. Matth. 6.14 15. Matth. 18.23 V. 35. M. Aur. Antoni lib. 7. Eccl. 23 1 2 3 4. Heb. 11.6 Joh. 17.3 Matth. 5.3 4 c. Matth. 7.21 V. 24. V. 26 27. John 13 17. Luke 6.46 1 Joh. 5.3 1 Joh. 2.4 John 14.15 V. 21. 1 Joh. 3.7 V. 10. Gen. 3.7 Isa 3.10 11. Matth. 19.17 Matth. 6.31 33. * Ita me Dij Deaeque omnes pejus perdant quà m bodiè perire me sentio c. Rev. 20.14 Wisd of Solomon ch 1. ver 12 13 16. 2 Chron. 14.11 Ps 33.16 Psal 44 6. Prov. 21.30 31. Prov. 3.5 6. Deut. 23.9 Isa 37.23 26 27 28 29 32. Isa 26.10 11. Isa 58.5 6 c. Jer. 15.2 Hos 9.12 Gen. 7.1 1 Cor. 10.11 Jer. 4.14 Jer. 13.27 Hos 11.8 9. Jonah 4.11 Psal 78. * Lib. 1. c. 3. Lib. 4. c. 5. Lib. 7. c. 1. Lib. 5. c. 2. Lib. 6. c. 11. Lib. 7. c. 1. Jer. 2.19 Psal 122. John 16.2 Luke 23.34 Acts 3.17 Acts 26.9 1 Tim. 1.13 Acts 3.19 Jam. 1.20 Boeth Acts 22.4 Acts 26.9 John 7.17 1 Cor. 4.4 Job 25.5 6. 1 Joh. 3.21 Prov. 14.32 Ps 37.37 Acts 23.1 John 17.4 2 Tim. 4.6 7 8. Zech. 8.18 19. Verse 9 10 11 12 13. 1 Kings 8.37 38 39 40. Jer. 8.6 Jer. 13.17 Psal 119.36 v. 53. v. 158. Dan. 9.5 7 8. Ezr. 9.6 7. Jer. 5.30 31. Jer. 13.20 21. Isai 1.4 5. Ezra 9.6 Joel 2.15 16 17. Ver. 18. Dan. 9 3â— Ver. 16 17 18 19. Dan. 4.27 Jer. 29.11 12 13. Job 41.33 34. Acts 10.4 Isa 58.7 9. 2 Chron. 7.14 Zech. 8.19 Ezek. 33.31 Ver. 1. Ver. 2. Ver. 10. Ver. 12. Ver. 13. Ver. 14. Ver. 15. Ver. 16. Ver. 17 18. Ver. 21. Ver. 23. Psal 22.9 10 11. Rom. 8.35 v. 38 39. Prov. 1.24 25 c. Isa 27.11 Psal 4.6 7 8. Psal 119. 1 Cor. 1.25 Job 28.12 Ch. 28.12 Job 28.28 Eccl. 9.11 â—â— 38.22 23. Psal 52.1 Prov. 23.5 Eccl. 5.13 Prov. 1.18 Job 40.9 Judg. 10.13 Deut. 32.20 Jer. 6.8 Isa 14. Psal 48.2 Rev. 18.17 Isa 26.11 Ecclus 19.16 James 3.2 Jam. 1.26 Eccl. 19.8 Ecclus. 19.13 14 15. Matth. 24.12 Ecclus. 19.8 9. Matth. 7. Psal 34.12 13. Jam. 1.26 1 Cor. 6.10 Wisdom of Solomon c. 1. v. 11. Ecclus. 19.10 Psal 34.12 13. Matth. 15.19 Rom. 1.29 1 Cor. 6.10 2 Tim. 3.2 3. Psal 15.1 Psal 31.1
mind the business of Religion in some degree but not so heartily and vigorously as a matter of such infinite consequence doth require and deserve And here I fear the very best are greatly defective and so much the more to be blamed by how much they are more convinc'd than others of the necessity of a Religious and Holy Life and that without this no man shall ever be admitted into the Mansions of the Blessed They believe likewise that according to the degrees of every mans holiness and vertue in this Life will be the degrees of his happiness in the other that he that sows sparingly shall reap sparingly and he that sows plentifully shall reap plentifully and that the measure of every man's reward shall be according to his improvement of the Talents that were committed to him But how little do men live under the power of these convictions And notwithstanding we are allur'd by the most glorious promises and hopes and aw'd by the greatest fears and urg'd by the most forcible argument in the world the evident necessity of the thing Yet how faintly do we run the Race that is set before us How frequently and how easily are we stop'd or diverted in our Christian course by very little temptations How cold and how careless and how inconstant are we in the Exercises of Piety and how defective in every part of our Duty Did we act reasonably and as Men use to do in matters of much less moment we could not be so indifferent about a thing so necessary so slight and careless in a matter of Life and Death and upon which all Eternity does depend Let us then shake off this sloth and security and resolve to make that the great business of Time which is our great concernment to all Eternity And when we are immers'd in the cares and business of this Life and troubled about many things let this thought often come into our minds That there is one thing needful and which therefore deserves above all other things to be regarded by us Secondly There are another sort of persons who are grosly careless of this one thing necessary and do not seem to mind it at all Who go on securely in an evil course as if either they had no Souls or no concernment for them I may say to these as the Master of the Ship did to Jonah when he was fast asleep in the Storm What meanest thou O sleeper Arise and call upon thy God When our Souls are every moment in danger of sinking it is high time for us to awake out of sleep to ply every Oar and to use all possible care and industry to save a thing so precious from a danger so threatning and so terrible We are apt enough to be sensible of the force of this Argument of necessity in other cases and very carefully to provide against the pressing necessities of this life and how to avoid those great temporal evils of poverty and disgrace of pain and suffering But the great necessity of all and that which is mainly incumbent upon us is to provide for Eternity to secure the everlasting happiness and to prevent the endless and insupportable miseries of another World This this is the one thing necessary and to this we ought to bend and apply all our care and endeavours If we would fairly compare the necessity of things and wisely weigh the concernments of this Life and the other in a just and equal balance we should be ashamed to misplace our diligence and industry as we do to bestow our best thoughts and time about these vain and perishing things and to take no care about that better part which cannot be taken from us Fond and vain men that we are who are so solicitous how we shall pass a few days in this world but matter not what shall become of us for ever But as careless as we are now about these things time will come when we shall sadly lay them to heart and when they will touch us to the quick When we come to lie upon a Death-bed if God shall be pleas'd to grant us then so much time and use of our Reason as to be able to recollect our selves we shall then be convinc'd how great a necessity there was of minding our Souls and of the prodigious folly of neglecting them and of our not being sensible of the value of them till we are ready to despair of saving them But blessed be God this is not yet our case though we know not how soon it may be Let us then be wise and consider these things in time lest Death and Despair should overtake and oppress us at once You that are young be pleas'd to consider that this is the best opportunity of your Lives for the minding and doing of this work You are now most capable of the best impressions before the habits of Vice have taken deep root and your hearts be harden'd through the deceitfulness of sin This is the acceptable time this is the day of salvation And there is likewise a very weighty consideration to be urg'd upon those that are old if there be any that are willing to own themselves so that this is the last opportunity of their lives and therefore they should lay hold of it and improve it with all their might For it will soon be past and when it is nothing can call it back It is but a very little while before we shall all certainly be of this mind that the best thing we could have done in this World was to prepare for the other Could I represent to you that invisible World which I am speaking of you would all readily assent to this counsel and would be glad to follow it and put it speedily in practice Do but then open your eyes and look a little before you to the things which are not far off from any of us and to many of us may perhaps be much nearer than we are aware Let us but judge of things now as we shall all shortly judge of them And let us live now as after a few days we shall every one of us wish with all our Souls that we had liv'd and be as serious as if we were ready to step into the other World and to enter upon that change which Death will quickly make in every one of us Strange stupidity of Men That a change so near so great so certain should affect us so coldly and be so little consider'd and provided for by us That the things of Time should move us so much and the things of Eternity so little What will we do when this change comes if we have made no preparation for it If we be Christians and do verily believe the things which I am speaking of and that after a few days more are pass'd Death will come and draw aside that thick Veil of sense and security which now hides these things from us and shew us that fearful and amazing sight which
That God may be justified in his sayings and appear Righteous when he judgeth And Secondly because the belief of the threatnings of God in their utmost extent is of so great moment to a good Life and so great a discouragement to Sin For the sting of Sin is the terrour of eternal punishment and if men were once set free from the fear and belief of this the most powerful restraint from Sin would be taken away So that in answer to this Objection I shall endeavour to prove these two things First That the eternal punishment of wicked men in another World is plainly threatned in Scripture Secondly That this is not inconsistent either with the Justice or the Goodness of God First That the eternal punishment of wicked men in another World is plainly threatned in Scripture namely in these following Texts Matth. 18.8 It is better for thee to enter into Life halt and maimed than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire And Matth. 25.41 Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And here in the Text these that is the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment And Mark 9. It is there three several times with great vehemency repeated by our Saviour where their worm dyeth not and the fire is not quenched And 2 Thes 1.9 speaking of them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of his Son it is said of them who shall be punish'd with everlasting destruction I know very well that great endeavour hath been us'd to avoid the force of these Texts by shewing that the words for ever and everlasting are frequently us'd in Scripture in a more limited sense only for a long duration and continuance Thus for ever doth very often in the Old Testament only signify for a long time and till the end of the Jewish Dispensation And in the Epistle of St. Jude verse 7th The Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are said to be set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire that is of a fire that was not extinguish'd till those Cities were utterly consumed And therefore to clear the meaning of the forementioned Texts First I shall readily grant that the words for ever and everlasting do not always in Scripture signify an endless duration and that this is sufficiently proved by the instances alledg'd to this purpose But then Secondly it cannot be denied on the other hand that these words are often in Scripture used in a larger sense and so as necessarily to signify an interminable and endless duration As where Eternity is attributed to God and he is said to live for ever and ever And where eternal happiness in another World is promised to good men and that they shall be for ever with the Lord. Now the very same words and expressions are used concerning the punishment of wicked men in another life and there is great reason why we should understand them in the same extent Both because if God had intended to have told us that the punishment of wicked men shall have no end the Languages wherein the Scriptures are written do hardly afford fuller and more certain words than those that are used in this case whereby to express to us a duration without end And likewise which is almost a peremptory decision of the thing because the duration of the punishment of wicked men is in the very same sentence express'd by the very same word which is us'd for the duration of the happiness of the righteous As is evident from the Text These speaking of the wicked shall go away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into eternal punishment but the righteous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into life eternal I proceed to the Second thing I propos'd namely to shew that this is not inconsistent either with the Justice or the Goodness of God For in this the force of the Objection lies And it hath been attempted to be answered several ways none of which seems to me to give clear and full satisfaction to it First It is said by some that because sin is infinite in respect of the Object against whom it is committed which is God therefore it deserves an infinite punishment But this I doubt will upon examination be found to have more of subtlety than of solidity in it 'T is true indeed that the dignity of the Person against whom any offence is committed is a great aggravation of the fault For which reason all offences against God are certainly the greatest of all other But that crimes should hereby be heighten'd to an infinite degree can by no means be admitted and that for this plain reason because then the evil and demerit of all sins must necessarily be equal for the demerit of no sin can be more than infinite And if the demerit of all sins be equal there can then be no reason for the degrees of punishment in another World But to deny that there are degrees of punishment there is not only contrary to reason but to our Saviour's express assertion that some shall be beaten with many stripes and some with fewer and that it shall be more tolerable for some in the day of judgment than for others Besides that by the same reason that the least sin that is committed against God may be said to be infinite because of its object the least punishment that is inflicted by God may be said to be infinite because of its Author and then all punishments from God as well as all sins against him would be equal which is palpably absurd So that this answer is by no means sufficient to break the force of this Objection Secondly It is said by others that if wicked men lived for ever in this World they would sin for ever and therefore they deserve to be punish'd for ever But this hath neither truth nor reason enough in it to give satisfaction For who can certainly tell that if a man lived never so long he would never repent and grow better Besides that the Justice of God doth only punish the sins which men have committed in this life and not those which they might possibly have committed if they had lived longer Thirdly It is said in the last place that God hath set before men everlasting Happiness and Misery and the sinner hath his choice Here are two things said which seem to bid fairly towards an answer First That the reward which God promiseth to our obedience is equal to the punishment which he threatens to our disobedience But yet this I doubt will not reach the business Because though it be not contrary to Justice to exceed in Rewards that being matter of meer favour yet it may be so to exceed in Punishments Secondly It is further said that the sinner in this case hath nothing to complain of since he hath his own choice This I confess is enough to silence the sinner and to make him to acknowledge that his destruction is of
Soul and so long as that remains unwounded the spirit of a man can bear his infirmities God is intimate to our Souls and hath secret ways whereby to convey the joys and comforts of his Holy Spirit into our Hearts under the bitterest afflictions and sharpest sufferings He can enable us by his Grace to possess our souls in patience when all other things are taken from us When there is nothing but trouble about us He can give us peace and joy in believing When we are persecuted afflicted and tormented He can give us that ravishing sight of the Glories of another World that stedfast assurance of a future Blessedness as shall quite extinguish all sense of present sufferings How did many of the primitive Christian Martyrs in the midst of their torments and under the very pangs of death rejoice in the hope of the glory of God There are none of us but may happen to fall into those circumstances of danger and of bodily pains and sufferings as to have no hopes of relief and comfort but from God none in all the World to trust to but Him only And in the greatest Evils that can befall us in this life He is a sure refuge and sanctuary and to repeat the words of the Psalmist after the Text When our heart fails and our strength fails God is the strength of our hearts and our portion for ever Now what would any of us do in such a Case if it were not for God Humane nature is liable to desperate straits and exigencies And he is not happy who is not provided against the worst that may happen It is sad to be reduced to such a condition as to be destitute of all comfort and hope And yet men may be brought to that extremity that if it were not for God they would not know which way to turn themselves or how to entertain their thoughts with any comfortable considerations under their present anguish All men naturally resort to God in extremity and cry out to him for help Even the most profane and Atheistical when they are destitute of all other comfort will run to God and take hold of him and cling about him But God hath no pleasure in fools in those who neglect and despise him in their prosperity though they owe that also entirely to him but when the evil day comes then they lay hold of him as their only refuge When all things go well with them God is not in all their thoughts but in their affliction they will seek him early Then they will cry Lord Lord but he will say to them in that day Depart from me ye workers of iniquity for I know you not Here will be the great unhappiness of such persons that God will then appear terrible to them so as they shall not be able when they look up to him to abide his frowns And at the same time that they are forc'd to acknowledge him and to supplicate to him for mercy and forgiveness they shall be ready to despair of it Then those terrible threatnings of God's Word will come to their minds Because I called and ye refused I stretched out my hand and no man regarded But ye set at nought all my counsel and would have none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me For that they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord They would none of my counsel they despised all my reproof Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own devices The ease of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them To which I will add that terrible Passage in the Prophet concerning the perverse and obstinate Jews They are a People of no understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour And men are miserable Creatures indeed when God their Maker doth abandon them and hath so far hardened his heart against them that he can have no pity and compassion for them Seventhly and Lastly Which is consequent upon all the rest God is such a Good as can give perfect rest and tranquillity to our minds And that which cannot do this though it had all the Properties before mentioned cannot make us happy For he is not happy who does not think himself so what-ever cause he may have to think so Now what in reason can give us disquiet if we do firmly believe that there is a God and that his Providence rules and governs all things for the best and that God is all that to good Men which hath now been said of Him Why should not our minds be in perfect repose when we are secure of the chief Good and have found out that which can make us happy and is willing to make us so if we be not wanting to our selves and by our wilful obstinacy and rebellion against him do not oppose and frustrate this design If a considerate Man were permitted to his own choice to wish the greatest good to himself that he could possibly devise after he had searched Heaven and Earth the result of all his wishes would be that there were just such a Being as we must necessarily conceive God to be Nor would he chuse any other Friend or Benefactor any other Protector for himself or Governor for the whole World than infinite Power conducted and managed by infinite Wisdom and Goodness which is the true Notion of a God After all his enquiry he would come to the Psalmist's conclusion here in the Text Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Vain Man is apt to seek for happiness elsewhere but this proceeds from want of due consideration For when all things are well weigh'd and all accounts rightly cast up and adjusted we shall at last settle in David's resolution of that great Question What is the chief Good of man There be many says he that say Who will shew us any good That is Men are generally inquisitive after happiness but greatly divided in their Opinions about it Most men place it in the present enjoyments of this World but David for his part pitches upon God in whom he was fully convinc'd that the happiness of Man does consist There be many that say Who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their Corn and Wine increased The great joy of the men of this World is in a plentiful Harvest and the abundance of the good things of this life But David had
greater Danger hanging over us from God If we allow our selves in this evil practice all our Religion is good for nothing So St. James expressly tells us If any man among you seemeth to be religious and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart that man's Religion is vain And St. Paul puts Slanderers and Revilers amongst those that shall not inherit the kingdom of God And our Blessed Saviour hath told us That by our words we shall be justified and by our words we shall be condemned To which I will add the counsel given us by the Wise-man Refrain your tongue from back-biting for there is no word so secret that shall go for nought and the mouth that slandereth slayeth the Soul I proceed in the IV th place to add some further Arguments and Considerations to take men off from this Vice As First That the use of Speech is a peculiar Prerogative of Man above other Creatures and bestowed upon him for some excellent end and purpose That by this Faculty we might communicate our thoughts more easily to one another and consult together for our mutual comfort and benefit Not to enable us to be hurtful and injurious but helpful and beneficial to one another The Psalmist as by Interpreters is generally thought calls our Tongue our Glory therewith we praise God and bless Men. Now to bless is to speak well of any and to wish them well So that we pervert the use of Speech and turn our glory into shame when we abuse this Faculty to the injury and reproach of any Secondly Consider how cheap a kindness it is to speak well at least not to speak ill of any A good word is an easie obligation but not to speak ill requires only our Silence which costs us nothing Some instances of Charity are chargeable as to relieve the wants and necessities of others The expence deterrs many from this kind of Charity But were a man never so covetous he might afford another man his good word at least he might refrain from speaking ill of him especially if it be consider'd how dear many have paid for a slanderous and reproachful word Thirdly Consider that no quality doth ordinarily recommend one more to the favour and good-will of men than to be free from this Vice Every one desires such a man's friendship and is apt to repose a great trust and confidence in him And when he is dead men will praise him and next to Piety towards God and Righteousness to Men nothing is thought a more significant commendation than that he was never or very rarely heard to speak ill of any It was a singular Character of a Roman Gentleman Nescivit quid esset maledicere he knew not what it was to give any man an ill word Fourthly Let every man lay his hand upon his heart and consider how himself is apt to be affected with this usage Speak thy Conscience Man and say whether as bad as thou art thou wouldst not be glad to have every man's especially every good man's good word And to have thy faults conceal'd and not to be hardly spoken of though it may be not altogether without truth by those whom thou didst never offend by word or deed But with what face or reason dost thou expect this from others to whom thy carriage hath been so contrary Nothing surely is more equal and reasonable than that known Rule What thou wouldst have no man do to thee that do thou to no man Fifthly When you are going to speak reproachfully of others consider whether you do not lie open to just reproach in the same or some other kind Therefore give no Occasion no Example of this barbarous usage of one another There are very few so innocent and free either from infirmities or greater faults as not to be obnoxious to reproach upon one account or other even the wisest and most virtuous and most perfect among men have some little vanity or affectation which lays them open to the railery of a mimical and malicious Wit Therefore we should often turn our thoughts upon our selves and look into that part of the Wallet which men commonly fling over their shoulders and keep behind them that they may not see their own Faults And when we have searched that well let us remember our Saviour's Rule He that is without sin let him cast the first stone Lastly consider That it is in many Cases as great a Charity to conceal the evil you hear and know of others as if you relieved them in a great necessity And we think him a hard-hearted man that will not bestow a small Alms upon one in great want It is an excellent Advice which the Son of Sirach gives to this purpose Talk not of other men's lives If thou hast heard a word let it die with thee and be bold it will not burst thee I shall in the V th and last place give some Rules and Directions for the prevention and cure of this great evil among men First Never say any evil of any man but what you certainly know When ever you positively accuse and endite any man of any Crime though it be in private and among Friends speak as if you were upon your Oath because God sees and hears you This not only Charity but Justice and regard to Truth do demand of us He that easily credits an ill Report is almost as faulty as the first inventer of it For though you do notmake yet you commonly propagate a Lye Therefore never speak evil of any upon common Fame which for the most part is false but almost always uncertain whether it be true or not Not but that it is a fault in most Cases to report the evil of men which is true and which we certainly know to be so But if I cannot prevail to make men wholly to abstain from this fault I would be glad to compound with some Persons and to gain this point of them however because it would retrench nine parts in ten of the evil-speaking that is in the World Secondly Before you speak evil of any man consider whether he hath not obliged you by some real kindness and then it is a bad return to speak ill of him who hath done us good Consider also whether you may not come hereafter to be acquainted with him related to him or obliged by him whom you have thus injured And how will you then be ashamed when you reflect upon it and perhaps have reason also to believe that he to whom you have done this injury is not ignorant of it Consider likewise whether in the change of Humane affairs you may not some time or other come to stand in need of his favour and how incapable this carriage of yours towards him will render you of it And whether it may not be in his power to revenge a spiteful and needless word by a shrewd turn So that if a man made no conscience of hurting others yet
a great deal more in Innocence And the more any man considers this the truer he will find it and when-ever we are serious we our selves cannot but acknowledge it When a man examines himself impartially before the Sacrament or is put in mind upon a Death-bed to make reparation for Injuries done in this kind he will then certainly be of this mind and wish he had not done them For this certainly is one necessary qualification for the Blessed Sacrament that we be in love and charity with our neighbours with which temper of mind this quality is utterly inconsistent Thirdly There is yet a more specious Plea than either of the former that men will be encouraged to do ill if they can escape the tongues of men as they would do if this Doctrine did effectually take place Because by this means one great restraint from doing evil would be taken away which these good men who are so bent upon reforming the World think would be great pity For many who will venture upon the displeasure of God will yet abstain from doing bad things for fear of reproach from Men Besides that this seems the most proper punishment of many Faults which the Laws of Men can take no notice of Admitting all this to be true yet it does not seem so good and laudable a way to punish one Fault by another But let no man encourage himself in an evil way with this hope that he shall escape the censure of men When I have said all I can there will I fear be evil-speaking enough in the World to chastise them that do ill And though we should hold our peace there will be bad tongues enow to reproach men with their evil-doings I wish we could but be persuaded to make the Experiment for a little while whether men would not be sufficiently lash'd for their Faults though we sate by and said nothing So that there is no need at all that good Men should be concern'd in this odious Work There will always be Offenders and Malefactors enow to be the Executioners to inflict this punishment upon one another Therefore let no man presume upon Impunity on the one hand and on the other let no man despair but that this business will be sufficiently done one way or other I am very much mistaken if we may not safely trust an ill-natur'd World that there will be no failure of Justice in this kind And here if I durst I would fain have said a word or two concerning that more publick sort of Obloquy by Lampoons and Libels so much in fashion in this witty Age. But I have no mind to provoke a very terrible sort of men Yet thus much I hope may be said without offence that how much soever men are pleas'd to see others abused in this kind yet it is always grievous when it comes to their own turn However I cannot but hope that every man that impartially considers must own it to be a fault of a very high nature to revile those whom God hath placed in Authority over us and to slander the footsteps of the Lord 's Anointed Especially since it is so expressly written Thou shalt not speak evil of the Rulers of thy People Having represented the great evil of this Vice it might not now be improper to say something to those who suffer by it Are we guilty of the evil said of us Let us reform and cut off all occasions for the future and so turn the malice of our Enemies to our own advantage and defeat their ill intentions by making so good an use of it And then it will be well for us to have been evil spoken of Are we innocent We may so much the better bear it patiently imitating herein the Pattern of our Blessed Saviour Who when he was reviled reviled not again but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously We may consider likewise that though it be a misfortune to be evil-spoken of it is their fault that do it and not ours and therefore should not put us into Passion because another man's being injurious to me is no good reason why I should be uneasie to my self We should not revenge the injuries done to us no not upon them that do them much less upon our selves Let no man's Provocation make thee to lose thy Patience Be not such a fool as to part with any one Virtue because some men are so malicious as to endeavour to rob thee of the Reputation of all the rest When men speak ill of thee do as Plato said he would do in that case Live so as that no body may believe them All that now remains is to reflect upon what hath been said and to urge you and my self to do accordingly For all is nothing if we do not practise what we so plainly see to be our Duty Many are so taken up with the deep Points and Mysteries of Religion that they never think of the common Duties and Offices of humane Life But Faith and a good Life are so far from clashing with one another that the Christian Religion hath made them inseparable True Faith is necessary in order to a good Life and a good Life is the genuine product of a right Belief and therefore the one never ought to be press'd to the prejudice of the other I foresee what will be said because I have heard it so often said in the like case that there is not one word of Jesus Christ in all this No more is there in the Text. And yet I hope that Jesus Christ is truly preach'd when-ever his Will and Laws and the Duties injoyn'd by the Christian Religion are inculcated upon us But some men are pleased to say that this is mere Morality I answer that this is Scripture-Morality and Christian-Morality and who hath any thing to say against that Nay I will go yet further that no man ought to pretend to believe the Christian Religion who lives in the neglect of so plain a Duty and in the practice of a Sin so clearly condemn'd by it as this of evil-speaking is But because the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged Sword yea sharper than Calumny it self and pierceth the very Hearts and Consciences of men laying us open to our selves and convincing us of our more secret as well as our more visible Faults I shall therefore at one view represent to you what is dispersedly said concerning this Sin in the Holy Word of God And I have purposely reserved this to the last because it is more persuasive and penetrating than any Humane Discourse And to this end be pleas'd to consider in what company the Holy Ghost doth usually mention this Sin There is scarce any black Catalogue of Sins in the Bible but we find this among them in the company of the very worst Actions and most irregular Passions of men Out of the heart says our Saviour proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications false-witness