that we cannot hear them because Sounds are not the Objects of Sight nor Colours of Hearing Now no man pretends that the pure Natures and Essences of things or their Essential Reasons Properties Unions Operations are the Objects of Humane Reason for no man living knows any thing about them And yet this is all the Incomprehensibility men have to complain of in the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation That they cannot comprehend how God can beget an Eternal Son nor how Three Divine Persons should be so united as to be essentially One God nor how the Divine and Humane Nature can be united into one Person God-man All which concern the Essence and Essential Properties Operations Unions Relations of the Deity which a modest man might allow to be incomprehensible if God be Infinite though he could comprehend the Natures Essences and Essential Reasons and Properties of Created Beings but when all Created Nature is such a Mystery to us that we know not the pure Nature and Essence of any one thing in the World is it an affront to our Reason that we cannot comprehend the Divine Nature Such Matters as these are neither without Reason nor against Reason nor contrary to Reason because Reason has nothing to do with them and can take no cognizance of them They belong not to Reason but to that Infinite Mind which comprehends it Self and the Ideas of all possible Beings A perfect comprehensive Knowledge of Nature belongs only to the Maker of all things for it is not only to know what things are but how to make them which would be a vain Curiosity and useless Knowledge to those who have not a Making and Creating Power This is to know things à priori with an Intuitive Ideal Knowledge which is infinitely more superiour to Reason â—…an Reason is to Sense And it is the â—…ffectation of this Intuitive making Knowledge which makes some Men Atheists and others Hereticks 2dly Another great Objection against such a Revelation as contains matters which Natural Reason cannot comprehend is To what purpose such â—…a Revelation serves What Merit there can be in believing such Doctrines And of what good use such a Faith can be to us Now I confess I cannot think it meritorious merely to believe things which are incomprehensible or that God any more intended to puzzle our Faith with revealed Mysteries than to puzzle our Reason in making a Mysterious World Whether we receive our information from Sense or Natural Reason or Revelation it is certain we must believe Mysteries if we believe any thing for all things have something mysterious and incomprehensible in their natures what natural Reason cannot account for and what God never intended we should understand For God never intended to teach us how to make the World nor how every Creature was made and therefore we cannot and are not concerned to know the internal Frame and Constitution of Nature But though neither Natural nor Revealed Knowledge extends to the Reasons and Causes of Nature and of essential Properties and Operations yet both natural and revealed Knowledge is of as much use to us as if we did perfectly understand all the secret and incomprehensible Mysteries of the nature of God or of the Natures of Creatures Both natural and revealed Knowledge are alike upon this account That they only acquaint us what things are and what ends they serve and then we know what use to make of them without understanding the secret Mysteries of Nature Is this World or any thing in it the less useful to us because we cannot conceive how God created all things of nothing Or because we do not understand the Nature of Matter nor how the several parts of Matter came by their different Virtues and Qualities Is Corn or Fruit or Herbs the less nourishing or refreshing because we know not how they grow Does it require any Philosophy to know how to eat and drink and sleep Will not our Food nourish us â—…less we understand how it is concoctâ—… and turned into Chile and Blood â—…d Spirits Nay is it of no use to â—…ow that God is an Eternal Omnipoâ—…nt Omniscient Omnipresent Being â—…less we can conceive how any Being â—…n be Eternal without a Cause and â—…ithout a Beginning Or can compreâ—…end how he can do and know all things â—…d be present in all places at once â—…ithout Extension and without Parts â—…e may make all the use that can be â—…ade of this World and of every thing 〈◊〉 it without understanding the essential â—…easons and Causes or internal Nature â—…f any thing and we must do so if we will make any use of it and we know God to all the ends and purposes for which Creatures ought to know God â—…hough his Nature be incomprehensible And thus it is in matters of pure Revelation such as the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation how unaccountable soever the Mystery of a Trinity in Unity the Eternal Generation and the Incarnation of the Son of God be yet it is the most useful Knowledge in the World Though we know not how the Eternal Father begat an Eternal Son of his own Substance nor how this Eternal Son in time became Man yet it is the most desireable Knowledge in the world to Sinners to know That God has an Eternal Son and that he so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son for the redemption of mankind that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life and that this Eternal Son of God became Man lived a poor necessitous laborious Life and died an accursed Death for the Salvation of Sinners and to know That the Holy Spirit which proceeds from Father and Son dwells in the Christian Church and quickens and animates the whole Body of Christ. If this be true as we must suppose in this Argument all Mankind must confess that this is a very useful Knowledge and never the less useful because a Trinity in Unity and the Eternal Generation and the Incarnation of the Son of God are great and unconceivable Mysteries Could we give a Rational and Philosophical Account of the Eternal Generation and of the Incarnation we should know more than we now do but Faith makes it as useful to all the purposes of Religion as the most perfect intuitive Knowledge could do This is a sufficient Answer to that Objection against the Usefulness of such Mysteries as have something incomprehensible and unconceivable in their Natures Which is an equal Objection against all created Nature which is but one great Mystery and yet the World is a very useful World and we know in some good degree what use to make of it And the Knowledge of those Gospel Mysteries which are the Subject of our present Dispute are manifestly of infinite use to us if the certain knowledge of the Pardon of Sin and Eternal Life by the Obedience and Sufferings and Death and Intercession of the Son of God Incarnate be of any use and
profligate Sinners can shelter themselves in a Schism and palliate or expiate their other Crimes by a factious Zeal and therefore if ever we desire to see Christianity flourish we must Pray heartily for Peace and Unity among Christians But that we may the better understand what we are to Pray for let us briefly enquire wherein the Unity of the Church consists and that is in the Unity of Faith the Unity of Communion and the Unity of Love and Charity 1st Unity of Faith Whereby I do not understand that all Christians must agree in all the Opinions and Speculations of Religion it would be well if it could be so but this can never be while men have such different Understandings and Abilities such different Skill and Opportunities of enquiry but the Unity of Faith is secured by an Agreement in all the Fundamental Articles of Religion though a little varied in some nicer Speculations which are like the different Features in mens Faces which distinguish them from one another but do not alter the Human Shape And this is the difference between the Disputes which divide Papists and Protestants and the Disputes of Protestants among themselves The first subvert the Foundations of Christian Faith and Worship and therefore these Differences can never be Accommodated and Reconciled they will not part with their Errors and we must not embrace them if we love our Souls for as dear a thing as Peace is we must not part with Truth for Peace But now the Disputes among all that are allowed to be Protestants whatever mistakes there may be on any side do not overthrow any necessary Article of the Christian Faith and therefore the Unity of the Faith may be secured amidst all these Disputes Some of these Disputes are only inconvenient Modes of speaking and the difference is only in Words when both Parties really mean the same thing which I believe if all Heat and Passion were laid aside would in a great measure appear to be the true State of that Protestant Controversy about Justification by Faith alone Others are mere Philosophical Disputes in which the Christian Faith is not peculiarly concerned for they have been and are disputed in all Religions such as the Controversy about God's Eternal Decrees and the Power and Efficacy of Nature and Grace which is only a reviving of that old Philosophical Dispute about Necessity and Fate and God's concourse with second Causes to produce their Effects And thus it is in some other Cases Now methinks such Disputes as these which do not properly belong to the Christian Faith should not divide the Christian Church Let men dispute about them as Philosophers but as Christians let it suffice them to believe what Christ and his Apostles have plainly taught us t at is enough to carry us to Heaven and methinks it should be enough to make us agree in the Way thither As to Explain this more particularly but very briefly There is no good Protestant but will confess That we are Justified only by the Merits of CHRIST's Death and Sacrifice as the only Expiation and Atonement for our Sins That no works of Righteousness which we can do can make Satisfaction to God for our Sins nor merit Eternal Life which is the Gift of God That Christ is our only Saviour and that he is the Saviour only of his Body or Church That we are incorporated into the Body of Christ and put into a state of Justification by Faith and the Christian Sacraments That no impenitent unreformed Sinner though he do profess to believe in Christ and be baptized shall be saved by Him and therefore though Repentance and a Holy Life do not merit the Pardon of Sin nor Eternal Rewards yet they are necessarily required in all those who shall be forgiven and saved by Christ. This I say all good Protestants agree in and all this is plainly taught in Scripture and whoever believes this and practises accordingly shall certainly be saved And what need is there then of reducing all this into Artificial Schemes wherein Mens Fancies and Conceits differ What necessity is there of disputing what the Office of Faith or what the Efficacy of Works is in our Justification when we all agree that we are saved only by the Mercy of God and the Merits of Christ through Faith in his Blood and the Exercise of Repentance and a holy Life To understand the reason and order of things conduces much to the beauty and perfection of Christian Knowledge but Men may be saved and the Peace of the Church better secured without such particular Determinations Thus all good Protestants agree that all God's Works are known to him from the foundation of the World That Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world That God knows who are his and always did so That we are predestinated to the adoption of children by Iesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved That we are predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will 1. Ephes. 5 6 11. That when God comes to judge the World he will appear infinitely just and good and merciful That bad men shall have no reason to complain of God and that good men shall have nothing to arrogate to themselves This secures the Glory of God of his Wisdom Goodness Justice Power and Soveraignty and what need is there to enquire any farther into the Divine Decrees than the Scripture has revealed in the particular explication of which when men follow their own Fancies they vastly differ from each other to the great disturbance of the Peace of the Church We are assured by plain Testimonies of Scripture That God desires not the death of a Sinner but rather that he should return and live That our destruction is of our selves That all the good we do is wholly owing to the Grace of God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure That all the evil we do is owing to our selves That every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death This we all agree in and this attributts the glory of all the good we do to God and the shame of all the evil we do to our selves this encourages us to do good in a confident assurance of the Divine Grace and teaches bad men that they must not think to excuse their wickedness by charging it on God And this is all that is necessary for us to know because it is all that is needful to the purposes of Religion and a holy Life But when men frame this into Philosophical Hypotheses they then divide as far from each other as East and West and all the attempts of reconciling them
Steward there are not many men I should sooner have thought on than Dr. Calamy to have been the Pattern That he did take care to give you Meat in due season I need not tell you because you all know it If Preaching in season and out of season if publick Instructions and private Applications where they were needful or desired be feed the Flock of Christ and to give â—…eat to his Houshold and Family this â—…e did and that very faithfully and â—…isely too In the first place he took care â—…o inform himself and to furnish â—…is own Mind with all useful knowâ—…edge and his constant Preaching though without any vain affectation of Learning which serves onely to amuse not to instruct did sufficiently discover â—…oth his natural and acquired Abilities He had a clear and distinct apprehension of things an easy and manly Rhetorick strong Sense conveyed to the mind in familiar words good Reasons inspired with a decent Passion which did not onely teach but move and transport the Hearers and at the same time gave both light and heat for indeed he was a good man which is necessary to make a good Preacher he had an inward vital sense of Religion and that animated his discourses with the same Divine Passions which he felt in himself He did not entertain his Hearers with School Subtilties or a conjectural Divinity with such thin and airy Speculations as can neither be seen nor felt nor understood but his chief care was to explain the great Articles of Faith and Rules of Life what we must believe and how we must live that we may be eternally happy And he did as a faithful Servant ought to do as he declared a little before his death that he never preached any thing but what he himself firmly believed to be true I need not tell you what a troublesome World we have lived in for some years past such Critical times as would try the Principles and Spirits of men when a prevaling Faction threatned both Church and State and the fears of Popery were thought a sufficient Justification of the most illegal and irreligious methods to keep it out when it was scandalous to speak a word either for the King or the Church when cunning men were silent and those who affected Popularity swam with the Stream then this great and good man durst reprove Schism and Faction durst teach men to conform to the Church and to obey and honour the King durst vindicate the despised Church of England and the hated Doctrine of Passive Obedience though the one was thought to favour Popery and the â—…ther to introduce Slavery but he was â—…bove the powerful Charms of Names â—…nd liked Truth never the worse beâ—…ause it was mis-called His publick â—…ermons preached in those days and â—…rinted by publick Authority are â—…asting Proofs of this and yet he was no â—…apist neither but durst reprove the Errors of Popery when some others who made the greatest noise and outâ—…ry about it grew wise and cautious This was like a truly honest and faithâ—…l Servant to oppose the growing Diâ—…tempers of the Age without any regard either to unjust Censures or apparent Danger And yet he did not needlesly provoke any man he gave no hard words but thought it severe enough to confute mens errors without upbraiding or reproaching their persons His Conversation was courteous and affable to all men soft and easy as his Principles were stubborn he could yeild any thing but the Truth and bear with any thing but the Vices of men He would indeed have been the wonder of his Age had he not lived in such an Age as thanks be to God can shew many such wonders and yet in such an Age as this he made an Illustrious Figure though he had his Equals he had not many Superiors Thus he lived and thus this good man died for thus he was found doing when his Lord came The first symptoms of his Distemper seized him just before his last Sermon at White-hall but gave him so much respite as to take his leave of the World in an excellent Discourse of Immortality which he speaks of with such a sensible gust and relish as if his Soul had been then upon the wing and had some fore-taste of those joys it was just a going to possess And indeed he encountered the apprehensions of Death like one who believed and hoped for Immortality he was neither over-fond of living nor afraid to die He received the Supper of our Lord professed his Communion with the Church of England in which he had lived and in which he now died and having recommended his Soul to God he quietly expected how he would dispose of him But I must not forget to tell you that he died like a true and faithful Pastor with a tender care and affection for his Flock When he imposed this unwelcome Office upon me he told me he â—…d not desire any praises of himself but â—…t I would give some good advice to â—…s people who said he are indeed 〈◊〉 very kind and loving people And â—…is was not the first nor the onely time 〈◊〉 have heard him own not onely your â—…nd reception of him at first but the repeated and renewed expressions of your affection which did signally manifest it self in his late Sickness and now accompanies him to the Grave A Character which to your honour I speak it you have now made good for several successions and which I hope you will never forfeit But what that good counsel is he would have me give you he told me not and therefore I can onely guess at his intentions in this Were he now present to speak to you I believe he could not give you better counsel than he has already done and therefore my advice to you is 1. To remember those Counsels and Exhortations which you have heard from your deceased Pastor Though the Sower be removed yet let that immortal Seed that Word of Life which he has sown live and fructifie in your hearts and bring forth the blessed Fruits of Righteousness He has shewed you the plain way to Heaven have a care you do not forget it have a care you do not wander out of it He has recommended the Communion of the Church of England to you He has taught you to be Loyal to your Prince and to be true to your Religion take care then that neither your Religion destroy your Loyalty nor your Loyalty corrupt your Religion remember that beloved person whose Memory is dear and sacred to you was neither a Rebel Papist nor a Fanatick 2. Since you have lost your Guide a faithful and a prudent Guide and the choice of a Successour is in your selves be very careful as the concernment of your Souls requires you should be of your Choice Consider what an Age we live in which requires an experienced and skilful Pilot to steer a secure and steady course Have a care of dividing into Factions and Parties let not meer private
considering what they do I might name many but shall content my self with some few at present which are least observed and which prove Snares to good Men as for instance To impose upon our selves constant Tasks of Religion that we will Read and Pray so much and so often every Day and observe voluntary Fasts and abstain from such innocent Diversions c. which Men commonly resolve in some great Heats and Fits of Devotion which they fancy will continue in the same fervour but never do and then these Tasks grow very uneasie as every thing of Religion does when it grows a Task and then they degenerate into dulness and formality and then Men either leave them off and with that are tempted to leave off Religion it self or they are so very cold that they fancy themselves spiritually dead and fall into Melancholly into Desertions into Despair it self It is a dangerous thing for Men by rash and arbitrary Vows to tye themselves up from doing that which otherwise they might very innocently do and which they will be strongly tempted to do when they have vowed not to do it The Guides of Souls know that this is no imaginary Case but what they so often meet with and see such ill effects of that it is very fit to warn Men of the Snare Were there no other reason against the Monkish Vows of Celibacy Poverty and Obedience I should think this sufficient that considered only as perpetual Vows they are a dangerous State of Temptation and for my own part I would never advise any Man to make a perpetual Vow to do or not to do any thing which it is not perpetually his Duty to do or not to do Thus to marry with Persons of a disagreeable Age or a disagreeable Humour or a contrary Religion is to put our selves into a state of Temptation but such particular Instances would be endless and therefore I forbear If God lead us into Temptation he will give us sufficient strength to resist if we improve his Grace if we lead â—…ur selves into Temptation and God â—…eave us to the power and subtilty of â—…he Tempter the sin and the folly is our own 5thly I observe by what means our Saviour conquered the Devil's Temptations and that was by the Authority and by the Word of God It is written Man shall not live by bread alone It is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God It is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve These are such Answers as would admit of no Reply for the Authority of God can never be answered And thus we must conquer also if ever we will conquer by a firm Faith in God and Belief of his Word Faith is our Shield and the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit and we have no other sure Defence against all Temptations This ruined our first Parents in Paradise when their Reason and Natural Powers were in their greatest Vigour Perfection and Integrity that instead of insisting on God's Authority they ventured to reason the Case with the Tempter Set aside the Authority of God and the Devil will quickly out-wit and out-reason us he is skilled in all the Arts of Deceit and Methods of Perswasions and without God's Authority our Courage our Resolution our Honour our Reason it self even all the Rants and triumphant Speculations of Philosophy will fail us in the Day of Trial to Tempt is either to deceive or to perswade and there is no other secure defence against either but the Authority and the Word of God The wisest Reasoner may be imposed on by so artificial a Tempter but God can neither deceive nor be deceived and then while we believe God and have regard to his Commands we cannot be deceived neither And what is able to resist all the Terrors and Flatteries of the World and the Flesh but the Authority of that God who is our Maker and our Judge What insignificant Names are Virtue and Vice how weak and feeble is the sense of Decency and Honour and the Dignity of Human Nature and of a Life of Reason after we have read or writ so many Volumes about it when we feel the soft Charms of Pleasure and our Eyes are filled with visible Glories Who would not part with a fine Thought or two with some pretty Notions of Moral Beauty and Intellectual Pleasures for a Happiness which may be seen and felt But the Authority of GOD the firm belief of his Promises and Threatnings the hopes and fears of another World are beyond all other Perswasions unless any thing can perswade a Man to be eternally miserable This may suffice to be spoke in General concerning our Saviour's Temptation We come now to consider II. The particular Temptations wherewith our Saviour was Assaulted and they are Three 1. The first was to relieve his Hunger after his long fasting by working a Miracle And when the Tempter came to him he said If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread This was a very artificial Temptation which it may be none but Christ himself would have been aware of For what hurt was it for the Son of God to work a Miracle What hurt was it for a Man who was Hungry to relieve his Hunger For here was no Temptation to excess but to satisfy the necessities of Nature What hurt was it for him who afterwards fed so many Thousands by Miracles in this great Distress to have wrought a Miracle to satisfy his own Hunger This was very plausible and looked like very charitable Advice but yet there was a secret Snare in it 1st For this was made a Trial whether he were the Son of God or not If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread Now had he complied with this it had argued a distrust of his Relation to God and of the Love of his Father and this was a Temptation to Sin Thus the Tempter dealt with our first Parents made them jealous of God's good Intentions towards them and by that Tempted them to Disobedience The Serpent said unto the Woman Ye shall not surely die For God knoweth that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil That is God envies your Happiness and therefore has forbid you to Eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus the Devil suggested to our Saviour that he had great reason to question whether he were the Son of God because he was destitute of all the Comforts and Supports of Life and after forty Days fasting had nothing in the Wilderness to Eat unless he would turn Stones into Bread And though this part of the Temptation our Saviour takes no notice of in his Answer but scorns it yet we find it makes a very powerful Impression upon other Men who are apt to measure God's Love or Hatred by present things when they
therefore it became the wisdom and Goodness of God to reveal these Mysteries of Salvation to us Especially if we add to this That the lapsed state of Humane Nature makes Supernatural Knowledge necessary Natural Knowledge we grant was sufficient for a state of Nature though no man would have had reason to complain had God in a state of Innocence by a more familiar intercourse with Man or by the frequent Conversation of Angels improved his Knowledge beyond the meer attainments of his Natural Faculties and it is not improbable but this might have been I am sure there is an impatient thirst after knowledge in Humane Nature and such a great curiosity for secret and hidden Mysteries that it looks very unnatural for Men to complain that God reveals more to them than Nature teaches But yet I say Natural Knowledge must be allowed sufficient to all the ends of Humane Life while Man continued Innocent for that is the Original state of Human Nature as all men must grant who believe that Man was made by God But when man sinned he forfeited the Favour of God and a natural Immortality and whether he should be restored or not and by what means he should be restored depended wholly on the Sovereign Will and Pleasure of God And therefore the Light of Nature though it could direct an Innocent Man how to Please and Worship God and to preserve himself Immortal it could not teach Sinners how to make attonement for Sin nor give them any certain hopes that God would forgive Sins and bestow immortal Life on them which makes it necessary that the Religion of a Sinner be a revealed Religion And if God in infinite Goodness is not only pleased to restore Sinners to Grace and Favour but to advance them to a supernatural state of Perfection and Happiness both of Soul and Body in the next World this must be done by supernatural Means and therefore requires a supernatural Knowledge for the Light of Nature can neither raise us above Nature nor discover supernatural Truths to us and this makes it necessary to know and believe such things as we have no natural Notion or Idea of Such things as neither eye hath seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive If Nature can't save us it can't discover to us the way of Salvation neither and if we must be saved by a supernatural Grace and Power it must be supernaturally revealed and what is Supernatural is the Object of Faith not of natural Knowledge This seems to me to give a plain account why God thinks fit to reveal such Mysteries to us as Nature cannot teach and as we have no natural Notion of because our lapsed state has made such Supernatural Revelations necessary to the recovery of Mankind and when we are fallen below the relief of Nature and of Natural Knowledge we ought to be very thankful to our good God for Supernatural Knowledge and supernatural Means of Salvation To God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost Three Persons one Eternal God be Honour Glory and Power now and for ever Amen SERMON XI THE Folly and Unreasonableness OF DEISM Preach'd before the King at Hampton-Court Iune 16. 1700 John xiv 1. Ye believe in God believe also in me I Shall not consider these Words as they relate to what follows but only observe in them that our Saâ—…iour not only requires his Disciples to â—…elieve in God but that they should believe also in him that is to believe that he came from God and hath revealed his Will to the World And from hence I shall take occasion to consider the Case of Deists who pretend to own that there is a God and to pay such Worship to him and to obey such Laws as meer Nature teaches but reject all Revealed Religions even the Gospel of Christ it self as no better than Cheats and Impostors This Profession of Deism is grown very fashionable among our great Pretenders to Wit and Philosophy and I am very glad that such Men are ashamed of the Name of Atheists and hope that a serious Consideration of the Folly and Unreasonableness of Deism that is to believe a God and to deny all Revealed Religion may dispose them to an impartial Inquiry into the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Faith I. The Folly of Deism I will begin with this to make Men consider a little what they intend by it or what wise End it will serve Every one sees what Men intend by Atheism to deliver themselves from the Fears of invisible Powers that they may follow their own Inclinations and do what they like best themselves without any Awe of God or Reproofs and Terrors of Conscience or the dismal Apprehensions of unknown and endless Punishments in the next World And this is the wisest Course Men can take who resolve to be wicked that they may sin with Ease and Pleasure without the bitter Allays of Shame and Fear But now if a Deist really is what he pretends to be that is if he does really believe that there is a God and that the Soul is Immortal and that Good Men shall be rewarded and Bad Men punished in the next World he believes a great deal too much to sin with Security and a great deal too little to have any comfortable Hopes of a better Life That this is certainly the most hopeless State that a Man can be in in this World it has all the Restraints and Fears of Religion but none of the Supports and Comforts of it As to shew this briefly 1. He who does heartily believe that there is a God who will punish Men for their Sins not only in this World but in the next believes too much to sin with Security though he believes nothing at all of Revelation For if Nature as they grant teaches Men that there is a Holy and Just Governour of the World who observes what we do and will punish Wickedness Natural Conscience also will accuse and terrifie and condemn wicked Men. Thus St. Paul assures us it was with the Heathen World before they had any Revelation of God's Will For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shew the Work of the Law written in their Hearts their Consciences also bearing witness and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another 2 Rom. 14 15. And the same is attested by all the Heathen Orators Philosophers and Poets And those natural Terrors of Conscience and Fears of Vengeance were in those Days before Men had ever heard of the Gospel of our Saviour so very unsupportable to bad Men that they took Refuge in Atheism against them as Lucretius does very honestly confess and admires his Master Epicurus for his brave and bold Attempt in delivering the World from the Fears of God and of Religion So that whoever believe a
God and live wickedly must fear on whether they believe the Gospel or not that Deism can do them no Service And yet I am pretty confident that the only thing which tempts so many Men to deny all Revealed Religion is the fear of that terrible Vengeance which the Gospel of our Saviour denounces against all wicked Men Lakes of Fire and Brimstone Blackness of Darkness the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels the Worm that never dieth and the Fire that never goeth out They are not willing to believe the Punishments of the Damned to be so terrible nor so certain as the Gospel represents them and therefore prefer the Light of Nature which gives a more uncertain Account of such Matters before the Gospel Revelation They can more easily bear and more easily baffle the natural Fears Misgivings and Jealousies of a guilty Conscience than such express Declarations of God's Wrath against Sinners The Holiness and Justice of God make it very reasonable and probable that God should punish Sinners But the Goodness of God gives great reason to hope too that he will not be so severe as the Gospel threatens much less that he will make any of his Creatures though Sinners eternally miserable This is the true Mystery of Deism when it signifies any more than concealed Atheism Mo Man chuses Deism as the more certain way of Salvation but that which makes them so fond of it and so averse to believe any more than the Light of Nature teaches is that they are not so certain to be damned But this is a very vain Design 1. For can there be greater Folly than to pretend to believe the Punishments of bad Men in the next World and yet to reject the Gospel for fear of being too certain of them Would not a wise Man in a Matter of such Consequence as this be glad to know certainly what he must trust to and to know the very worst of his Case The meaning of this indeed is very plain and a very wise Design it is they like the uncertain Fears of Nature much better than the certainty of the Gospel-Revelation because they are resolved to sin on and to venture the Punishments of the other World which they can the more safely and honourably do the less certain they are But is it either safe or honourable to venture future Miseries Would not a wise Man in a Matter of such vast Consequence chuse to be safe And though we reject the plain and express Revelations of the Gospel if it be still reasonable to fear as it must be if Nature teaches that God will punish Sinners it cannot be safe to venture Men who pretend to live by meer natural Reason ought to look upon reasonable Fears as certain Rules to live by for they have no other And â—…n they gain nothing by rejecting â—…e certain Revelation for they must fear on and if they act reasonably must live as if their Fears were certain and if they don't though they reject Revelation Natural Conscience will make them fear and tremble too whether they will or no. Tho' the Light of Nature does not give us such certain Evidence of future Punishments as the Gospel does yet the natural Fears of a guilty Conscience will as certainly torment us as if we did believe the Gospel For a reasonable Fear has a certain Torment proportion'd to the Object of our Fears Men do not fear meerly according to the Evidence they have for things but according to the Concernment of the things they fear And when eternal Miseries are the Objects of our Fear a little Evidence will raise a terrible and furious Passion 2. And though the Light of Nature does not so particularly acquaint us what the Punishments of the Damned are nor how long they shall con-continue as the Gospel does yet this gives very little relief to a Deist Tho' he 〈◊〉 not believe the Scripture Accoâ—…â—…f Eternal Punishments yet when his Fears are awakened he can set no bounds or measures to them The fear of unknown Miseries paints the Fancy with as frightful Representations as the Gospel makes for when we know not particularly what to fear we always fear the worst that can be This gave occasion to those Poetical Descriptions of Styx and Acheron and the Infernal Iudges and Furies and those various Torments inflicted on Tyrants and other bad Men and though they did not positively assert the Eternity of Punishments yet they set no Bounds to them but what the Principles of their Philosophy inferred in the various Transmigrations of Souls or Periodical Revolutions or the final Conflagration which they thought their Gods themselves could not escape The Light of Nature prescribes no Measures nor Limits to the Punishment of Sinners and therefore a Deist can never prove that they are not so great and so endless as the Gospel describes them and if Reason cannot prove them to be less guilty Fears will never make them less especially since the Gospel is now published to the World and those who will not believe it yet know what it says and though â—…hey can bribe their Reason not to believe it their Fears will be very apt to believe the worst And now I would desire these Men who think themselves so safe if they can â—…gh the Gospel and all Revealed Religion out of the World seriously to consider what they intend or what they gain by it If they do sincerely believe that there is a Righteous God who will judge the World and punish wicked Men they are as much obliged to live a Holy and Vertuous Life as a Christian is and if they do not they are exposed to the same Rebukes and Lashes of Conscience and guilty Fears That they have not so much certainty of this by the Light of Nature as the Gospel gives us makes no difference if they fear it their Fears will be as great and outragious the Sting of Sin will be as sharp but their Strength to resist the flattering Temptations of the World will not be so great The more certain our Faith is the more easie and secure our Victory will be and to weaken our Evidence is only to make our selves an easier Prey And if this be what they aim at to sin more easily and securely at present and by degrees to conquer their Natural Fears which they can more easily do and so make Deism an easie Step to Atheism I confess they are in a hopeful way But while they believe a God and 〈◊〉 Rewards and Punishments of the next Life it will do them no Service to reject the Gospel they may weaken their Faith by it but not cure but encrease their Fears Secondly As a Deist if he be true to the Principles he professes the belief of a God and of the Rewards and Punishments of the next life gains noâ—…ing at all by rejecting the Gospel â—…evelation so he loses all the Supâ—…rts and Comforts of the Gospel â—…xcepting those terrible theatnings â—…hich the
vast and boundless Desires of Happiness in Humane Nature a reasonable and intelligent Being has no other bounds to its Desires of Happiness but the most perfect and perpetual Enjoyment whereas Sensual Pleasures besides all other Disappointments must wait the Returns of Strength and Appetite and Objects and therefore cannot always be had or cannot always please Sensual Pleasures can never be the Happiness of any Creature which has any higher Principle then Appetite for Appetite is the utmost bounds of Sensual Enjoyments but when Knowledge serves instead of Appetite as it must do in Reasonable Creatures it creates such Desires as no Appetites can answer This makes Sensual Men so insatiable in their Desires of Pleasure though Bruit Beasts know their Measures because they misplace their Natural Desires of Happiness which are boundless and infinite upon Sensual Pleasures which are limited and confined and what Disapointments and Distractions must this create when there is no proportion between the Desire and the Object besides those Sensible Mischiefs of it which do not much contribute to their Happiness For when Desire forces an Appetite beyond the Strength of Nature and the Natural End and Use of such Pleasures it impairs their Health weakens their Bodies shortens their Lives or makes them miserable which are the common Rewards of Intemperance and Lust. These Beasts who are governed by Appetite know nothing of Sense is their Happiness and Appetite is the Measure of their Enjoyment and Sensual Pleasures can fill and satisfie a meer Sensual Appetite but when knowledge is both the Reason and the Measure of our Desires Sensual Pleasures can never fill such Desires for we know more than Nature it self can enjoy and yet when we place our highest Happiness in it must desire all we know and as long as we know which is longer than we can enjoy This proves that nothing can be the Happiness of a knowing and reasonable Creature but Intellectuall Pleasures where Knowledge is Enjoyment and then Enjoyment will equal Knowledge and Desire but when Knowledge and Enjoyment are two Things they may be parted and may be unequal and such a Creature cannot be compleatly happy 2dly All Men who believe that there is a God must confess that it is very foolish and very wicked to love our Selves in opposition to God Is it possible for a Reasonable Creature to be happy who separates himself from God the World may much better subsist without the Sun for God is the Life of a Reasonable Soul the brightest Object of our Minds Eternal Truth and Wisdom there is nothing worth knowing without God for to contemplate his Wisdom and Goodness and Power in all Things is that which gives a relish to all other Knowledge In him we live move and have our Being no Wise Man would be contented to live in a World which has not a God to govern it nor to live any longer in it than he can trust to and depend on his Protection and is it then the way to be happy to divide our Selves from God can any Man chuse better for himself than God can do we know our Selves so well as he that made us does not God know what Happiness he hath made us for or does he envy us the Happiness for which he made us Why then did he make us for such a Happiness so impious is it to think that God has forbid us any thing which is our true Happiness So vain is it to hope to make our selves happy in contradiction to the Will and Laws of God No Man thinks honourably of God who does not believe that his Laws are the most infallible Methods of our Happiness as well as the Tryal of our Subjection and Obedience and he who does so can never think of making himself happy by disobeying God But supposing it were otherwise is it not perfect Distraction to oppose our selves against God Can we make our selves happy whether he will or no Are we a fit Match for infinite Power Can we resist his Almighty Arm How easily can he look us into Misery and Confusion And does it not become us to submit to him and rather chuse to obey his Will than to suffer his Vengeance This is the Natural State of a Creature to live in subjection to his Maker and Sovereign Lord to receive Laws from him and to give up himself without any reserve to his Government and Disposal and therefore this is the Natural Method of our Happiness too 3dly As for the Third Notion of Self-love to love our selves in opposition to the Love of Men to divide our selves from the rest of Mankind and to carry on a Separate Interest to which as far as we are able we make all other Interests give place This is so hateful a Temper that the very naming of it is enough to expose it No Man dares to undertake its Defence those who are most guilty of it dare not own it but disguise it with some more popular Appearances A great and generous Mind that is concerned for all the World that does all the good it can that is ready to sacrifice his private Ease Satisfactions and Fortunes nay Life it self to serve his Country or to cleanse the World of Monsters is the Darling and Favorite of Mankind he is loved he is reverenced of all as a common Friend of Humane Nature and Humane Societies But a Man who loves no body but himself is a universal Enemy and all Men ought to have a Care of him and all Men will despise and abhor him when they know him These Self-lovers themselves when they see their own Picture in another Face will spit at it for those who love no body but themselves yet desire that all Men should love them and be very tender of their Concernments though they value no bodies Interest and Happiness but their own But though this Self-love be universally condemned yet it is too universally practised and therefore I shall briefly shew how impossible it is that this Self-love which divides us from the rest of Mankind should make us happy The Principles of Humane Nature make the Exercise of it very uneasy and that can never be our Happiness which is a Force and Violence to Nature We feel a Natural Compassion for the sufferings of Mankind especially of Innocent Men who have not deserved it and as well as any Man loves himself this makes it very painful to serve his own Interest by doing injury to others One of the first Principles of Morality which all Men confess to be highly reasonable is to do to other Men what we desire they should do to us which is the Fundamental Maxim both of Justice and Charity and in other Words is to love all Men as our selves and no Man can violate this Law that is no Man can love himself in opposition to the rest of Mankind without falling under the Censures and Reproaches of his own Mind which is no happy State One of the Divinest Pleasures
of Humane Nature is to do good this I take to be the great Advantage and Glory of Riches and Power that it makes Men Publick Patrons and Tutelar Angels to their fellow Creatures which is the nearest Resemblance of the Perfection and Happiness of God and in the Pagan World made Gods of Men But Self-love knows nothing of this Happiness but destroys not only the Sense but the Notion of it But to set aside other Considerations Mankind will not suffer a Man to make himself Easie and Happy by Self-love When he is known they combine against him as a common Enemy they load him with Infamy and Reproach they strip him of his ill-gotten Riches and severely revenge his Injuries this is the great End of Humane Government and the proper use of the Rods and Axes of Princes to restrain and govern Self-love and to punish the outrages it commits This is enough to satisfie us of the Folly and Unreasonableness of this Principle and how impossible it is that Self-love should make any Man happy I will add but one Argument more to disswade you from it that this Self-love can never enter into Heaven That is a Holy Place a Spiritual State wherein nothing can enter that is Unclean Flesh and Blood whether a fleshly Carnal Mind or an Earthly Body cannot inherit the Kingdom of God There God is all in all there is Universal Love among all those blessed Inhabitants and therefore there can be nothing of Self O that blessed Place where there is perfect Unity and Harmony of Souls no Parties and Factions no Emulations and Jealousies no Private Interests no Rivals where all center in God and embrace each other and mingle Flames and feel and rejoyce in each others Happiness To which Blessed Place God of his infinite Mercy bring us all through our Lord Iesus Christ To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Honour Glory and Power now and for ever Amen SERMON XVI Preached at the Temple Church 2 Cor. iv ver 18. While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen For the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal THIS is the Principle of that true greatness of Mind which appeared in the Apostles and Primitive Christians and enabled them to do that which the Pagan Philosophy boasted of without doing viz. to contemn the World and to live above its Hopes and Fears to bear the Miseries of Life and to despise the Pleasures of it to suffer Shame and Reproach and the loss of all Things and Death it self made as terrible as Pain could make it not only without Fear but with Joy and Triumph For which Cause saith the Apostle we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal By the Things which are seen is meant all the Good and all the Evil things of this Life by the things which are not seen all the Happiness and Miseries of the Life to come But is not this a very strange Choice to prefer what is absent and unseen before what is present and sensible To be unconcerned about the Happiness or Miseries of this Life and to live upon unseen Hopes and Fears No saiâ—… 〈◊〉 Apostle We have all the reasoâ—… 〈◊〉 world to do so because seen thingâ—…â—…re but temporal and unseen things are eternal This World will last but a little while the Fashion of this World passeth away but the World to come will have no end and this makes such a difference between seen and unseen Things that there can be no reasonable Competition as there is no Comparison between them So that in speaking to these Words there are two things distinctly to be considered 1. The Reasonableness of this Principle of looking to unseen Things or of living by Faith for it is Faith alone that can give us a View of the invisible World And 2. The Reasonableness of this Choice in preferring unseen before seen Things because the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 1. The Reasonableness of this Christian Principle of Action of looking at unseen things or living by Faith Some unthinking Men are apt to make a Jest of believing if you have any natural Reasons or sensible Demonstrations they will hearken to you but Faith is below a man of Wit and Philosophy who knows how many Cheats and Impostors there have been in the World But such men little consider how necessary Faith is in Humane Life that they themselves in a thousand Cases have no other Principle to act upon in the greatest Concernments of this Life and that upon much less evidence than we have for another World There are but three ways of knowing any thing Sense or Reason or Faith which last extends further and has a more universal Influence upon the Government of our Lives than either Sense or Reason Our whole Conversation with Mankind is resolved into Believing into a Civil Historical or Political Faith all humane Commerce and Intercourse is founded on it and there are very few Actions of our Lives that can be performed without it that he who will not believe must not live in this World And is it not absurd and ridiculous then to laugh at believing when they might as well laugh Sense and Reason out of the World and live as well without them Now if we must live by Faith in this World if we must believe and must trust one another if we must depend on Mens Word or Oath or Friendship or Honesty though we can have no natural Certainty or Demonstration of Moral Causes what reason can there be to banish Faith out of Religion which is of such absolute necessity in all the other Concernments of Life One would think there should be less need of Faith for this World than for the next which is an invisible State and can be certainly known only by Revelation and if Faith be ever reasonable it is most reasonable where it is most necessary where there is no other means of knowledge This is enough to shew you how little those Men understand themselves who ridicule Faith which is to ridicule Humane Nature and all Humane Conversation If we may if we must believe if we cannot live without believing it must make a man contemptible to talk against all Faith which is an Essential part of Humane Knowledge and a necessary Principle of Moral Prudence Some Men are so afraid of being thought easy and credulous that they run into the other Extream and will believe nothing at least nothing concerning another World And think
Infidelity must needs be a Mark of Wit and Understanding because it is directly opposite to Credulity which is a Mark of Folly and by the same Rule Covetousness must be a Virtue because it is the opposite Extream to Prodigality Credulity and Infidelity both argue the same weakness of Judgment for it is as great want of Judgment not to believe upon sufficient Evidence as to believe without it but Credulity is the most pardonable because it is the better natured Fault and argues the better Temper of Mind A credulous Man believes too well of Mankind and therefore is apt to trust them too soon or he is very religiously inclined and that disposes him to believe all religious Tales But an Infidel distrusts all Mankind and fears or hates all Religion and therefore will believe nothing That of all the Men in the World I would least trust my self with an Infidel for those who distrust all Mankind and hate God know some Reason why they should do it and they must find it in themselves Now if Faith be a reasonable Principle of Action if we may have such Moral Evidence of Things which we cannot demonstrate as a wise and cautious Man may and ought to rely on and which no wise Man will contradict or act against why should not the same Evidence satisfie us with reference to another World If you would scorn a Man who should reject Caesar's Commentaries or any other approved Writings against the Faith of all History Why does it not deserve as much scorn to reject the History of the Gospel which is the best attested History in the World If it be reasonable to believe is it not very unreasonable to demand any other Evidence than what belongs to Faith To demand the Evidence of Sense or Demonstration for pure matters of Faith When we have all the Evidence of Faith all the Evidence which a wise Man would ask for the Proof of any thing which he did not and cannot see to demand more is to reject Faith it self and to condemn all Mankind of Credulity who believe any thing And indeed whoever considers what kind of Objections Infidels urge against Christianity will find that they all tend either to downright Scepticism or to reject all the Evidence of Faith as unfit for a wise Man to act on which overthrows all Humane as well as Divine Faith I know there are some who think it reasonable to demand much greater Evidence for another World than what may satisfie a wise Man in the Affairs and Concernments of this Life And thanks be to God we have greater Evidence and Certainty of Faith for another World than we have for most of the Concernments of this Life in which we must act by Faith and Moral Evidence as much greater as a Divine Faith is more certain than Human Faith But it is not reasonable to demand any other kind of Evidence for the next World than the Evidence of Faith because we can have no other Evidence for unseen things and if we have the highest Evidence that Faith can give us it is not reasonable to ask more But yet why should not that Evidence satisfie us for another World which in a thousand Cases satisfies us in this What Excuse can we make for our Infidelity if God give us such Evidence for another World as wise Men think sufficient to act on in this Their Reasons for this have so little appearance of Sense that they may look like Abuses and yet they are the best and the only Reasons they can give 1. That they are forced in many Cases to act upon Faith and Hope and trust in this World because in many Things they can have no better Evidence and yet are under a necessity of acting and choosing one Thing or other if they will live in the World But they are under no necessity of believing any Religion and therefore may demand such Evidence as will force an Assent and leave no possibility of a Mistake or Deceit For why should they believe any thing which they are not absolutely certain of when they need not believe it unless they will Now both parts of this Answer are very faulty Wise Men do not act upon Moral Evidence and the Assurances of human Faith meerly because they can have no better but because they think this sufficient and to be a wise and reasonable Principle of Action and therefore they act with great security where they have no other Evidence and are under no necessity one way nor other did they not think it wise and safe and prudent which shews what the Sense of the wisest part of Mankind is concerning the Evidence of Faith And yet it is much stranger that any Man who ever heard of another World and of Heaven and Hell can think it indifferent whether he believe it or not He must either believe or disbelieve it and the Consequence either way is of infinite Concernment They have a mighty Mastery over themselves if they can believe and disbelieve what they will there are such degrees of Evidence even of Moral Evidence as wise men can't resist and I think that makes Faith necessary if we believe like Men. But when we read in the Gospel he that believes shall be saved and he that believes not shall be damned this lays a terrible necessity upon us for if the Gospel be true and we continue Infidels we must perish for ever And if necessity will justifie our believing and acting upon reasonable Moral Evidence though we have not the Evidence of Sense or Natural Demonstrations those who do not think Eternal Happiness or Misery to be necessity enough let them find a greater if they can 2. Another Pretence is that the vast difference between this World and the next if there be another World requires a very different degree of Evidence The Things of this World are of such little Consequence that they may better venture though they should be deceived But Religion is of Eternal Importance and therefore it concerns them not to be too credulous in such matters Now though there is a vast difference between this World and the next I cannot bear that Men who believe no other World should make this difference for if this Life be all that they expect no Man can ever venture more than all whether it be Time or Eternity and if they will venture their temporal All upon the Evidence of Faith why is it unreasonable to venture our Eternal All upon it when we can have and indeed need no better Evidence But this very Consideration of the vast difference between Time and Eternity turns upon themselves and makes it wise and reasonable to act upon much less Evidence than we have for the other World For in Matters of such vast importance as every thing is that is Eternal it concerns us always to be on the surest side where we venture least if it should happen that we are mistaken And let any Man consider which
is the surest side to believe or to disbelieve Christianity and a future State If Christianity be true and there be an Eternal State of Rewards and Punishments in the next Life if we disbelieve it we are miserable for ever but if we do believe it and it should not prove true we loose nothing by it but the transient Pleasures of Sin and instead of them have all the present Ease and Satisfaction of Vertue and great Hopes and those who have tried both will tell you that the Pleasures of Virtue far exceed the Pleasures of Sin and that the Hope and Expectation of Immortal Life does more ravish and transport than the Possession of this World can do The truth is the Eternal Miseries of the next World are so very terrible that no wise Man would run the least Hazard of them but instead of demanding a demonstrative Certainty that there is such a Place of Torment would demand a demonstrative Certainty that there is not before he would venture And the Happiness of the other World so exceeds all our Imaginations that a very little Evidence would perswade a wise Man to venture any thing to be happy for ever The Sum of what I have said in short is this To despise all Faith is to ridicule Human Nature and Human Conversation for God has made us such Creatures that three Parts of our Lives must be governed by Faith and if Faith be a foolish absurd unsafe Principle of Action I 'm sure Man is a very wretched and contemptible Creature for Man must live by Faith We cannot see each others Hearts and Thoughts and I believe no man desires that other Men should see his Heart how much soever he may desire to see theirs and then we cannot converse with each other with any Pleasure and Security without believing We are finite Creatures our Lives are short and we can be but in one Place at a time and if we must believe nothing but what we our selves see what a narrow contemptible thing is human Knowledge and therefore we must allow of the Testimony of Eye and Ear Witnesses and of credible Histories which is the Evidence of Faith and furnishes us with the best as well as with the largest Part of our Knowledge and with the wisest Rules and Examples of Life And though we may be and often are mistaken this only makes Men more prudent and cautious not Infidels But a Divine Faith gives us a much more infallible Assurance than Human Faith can do for we know God cannot deceive us as Men may and then if we have as great nay much greater Evidence for a Divine Revelation than we have for any other matters of Fact at such a distance we have all the Evidence of the most certain Human Faith and the infallible certainty of a Divine Faith Nay if they will but allow which no considering Man can deny that we have as good Evidence for the History of the Gospel as they have for any other History which they most firmly believe it will be impossible for them to give a wise Reason why they do not believe the Gospel Nay were there less Evidence than there is the vast Importance of it which is no less than Eternal Life and Death is reason enough to a wise Man to chuse the surest side and to live by the Faith of another World 2. Let us now consider the Reason and the Wisdom of this Choice We look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal The difference between Temporal and Eternal is so demonstrative a Reason why we should prefer Eternal unseen things before temporal seen things that it is hard to add any thing to give a new Strength to it if Men do but understand what these Words Time and Eternity signifie Suppose you should ask any Man whether he would chuse to live threescore or fourscore years or to live for ever he would certainly wonder at your Question and think it an Affront since Nature teaches all Men to answer it without the least dispute or consideration about it All Men love Life and above all things desire to live for ever which is so strong a Passion that I doubt not at all but the generality of Mankind supposing no other Life after this would rather chuse to be Immortal Beggars than Mortal Princes or at least would content themselves with a very mean Station in this World and to take their Chance as to the Sufferings of it rather than not to be For Life is sweet and it is a pleasant thing to the Eye to behold the Sun And if Men who know no better would be contented to take their Fortune in this World and to venture an Eternal Round of uncertain and changeable Scenes and prefer this before fourscore or a hundred Years of the greatest Prosperity and Glory one would think there should be no Comparison between the most prosperous State of this Life and the eternal unchangeable Happiness of the next And yet we find by Experience that though most Men are desirous to live as long as they can in this World and would submit to any Conditions which would make them Immortal here they think the Case very much altered when you promise them Immortal Life in the next World as is very evident from this that they will not submit to such a State of Discipline and Mortification to save their Souls as they chearfully submit to to save their Lives Skin for Skin and all that a Man hath will he give for his Life but they will not part with all they have to save their Souls nay will venture their Souls to get or to save an Estate or a very little part of it And yet which makes it more wonderful there are great numbers of such Men who profess to believe that there is another World and that they must be happy or miserable for ever This is very unaccountable that all Men should agree that what is eternal ought to be preferred before what is temporal and yet that the Generality of Mankind should prefer temporal Things before the Things which are Eternal What is to be said to these Men Will you prove that Eternity is to be preferred before Time This is lost labour for they all own it and have a Natural Sense of it which is more powerful than any other Arguments Will you then perswade them to prefer Eternal before Temporal Things but by what Arguments will you perswade if Eternity it self cannot perswade In such Cases where there is no need of disputing no need to convince Mens Reasons I know nothing left but to paint and represent to draw such lively Images and Pictures as may move Mens Passions and give them a feeling Sense of the difference between Time and Eternity And to do this to as great Advantage as I can I shall 1st consider the
would I cannot imagine that it should weaken the Argument to translate this Immortal Life from Earth to Heaven which is so much a happier Place than this Earth And yet I doubt not but were this the Case that Vertuous Men should be immortal in this World and none but Sinners should die Sin would render Men the most contemptible and infamous Creatures to prefer the short Extravagancies of Vice before a Vertuous Immortality In short the difference between Time and Eternity is such a Reason as no difficulties can answer Eternal Happiness is an abundant recompence for any temporal sufferings and whatever the difficulties of Virtue and Religion may be they must not be compared with Eternal Miseries 2dly As there is a vast difference between Time and Eternity so there is as vast a difference between Things Temporal and Things Eternal I do not intend at present to represent to you the Eternal Happiness or Miseries of the next Life as I find them described in Scripture nor either lessen the Happiness or aggravate the Sufferings of this present Life but shall keep close to my Argument and only consider the difference which Time and Eternity makes between things and a very few Words will explain this For it is evident that whatever is subject to Time is liable to Changes Revolutions Intermissions but what is Eternal hath an unchangeable Nature and is always the same And what a vast difference does this make between the Happiness and Miseries of this perishing Life and the Eternal Happiness and Miseries of the next The Happiness of this Life can't be very valuable because it is not constant the Enjoyments of it are frequently delayed disappointed or interrupted and the Miseries of it are not so very formidable because they have their Allays and Intermissions too and cannot continue long in great extremity This is the Nature of temporal things to change and alter which lessens the Pleasures and tempers the Miseries of Life But an eternal constant uninterrupted Happiness an eternal constant uninterrupted Misery a Happiness and Misery without any end and without any Intermission or Allay this is perfect Happiness and perfect Misery infinitely more to be desired and feared than what Time can alter This represents Temporal Things as in themselves of no great value and gives a Natural Preference to Eternal Things Which is the reason of our Saviour's Exhortation Lay not up for your selves treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for your selves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal This makes a natural Subordination between Temporal and Eternal Things and justifies the Wisdom of our Choice in making to our selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when we fail they may receive us into â—…verlasting habitations Or like that wise Merchant in the Gospel who having found a treasure hid in a field went and fold all that he had and bought that field This is sufficient to convince those Men who believe another Life of the reasonableness of this Choice to govern our Lives by the Faith and Hope of unseen things not to look at the Things which are seen but at the Things which are not seen Bad Men themselves feel the force of this Argument and have no way to avoid it but by making these unseen things more invisible than they really are They love these seen things so well though they are but temporal that they are not willing to believe there are any such Unseen Eternal Things which they are convinc'd ought to have the Preference if there be any such Eternal Things And therefore for a Conclusion I shall briefly reason the Case with these Men nor directly to prove the Certainty of another World but to shew them how unreasonable and dangerous it is to entertain such an Aversion as they manifestly betray to the Belief of it For can any thing be more infamous than an Aversion to the Belief of Immortality Is any thing more natural to Mankind than the Desire of Immortality Next to the Fears of being miserable for ever is there a more terrible Thought than falling into nothing And how unnatural then is it for Men to be afraid of believing themselves immortal and to take great Pains to perswade themselves against all the Hopes and Inclinations of Nature that they shall dye like Beasts and to appear never better pleased than when they can start some difficulties to weaken the Belief and Hope of another World True you 'l say this seems somewhat unnatural but this is partially represented and not the whole of the Case the Gospel of Christ which promises Eternal Life to all Penitents threatens Eternal Death too against all impenitent Sinners and if upon the Authority of the Gospel we believe the Resurrection of the Just into Immortal Life we must believe the Resurrection of the Wicked to Eternal Punishments and these are such terrible things that it is more desireable there should be no Heaven then that there should be a Hell and they had rather reject these great Hopes than take the Hope and the Fear together This no doubt is the true Reason of Mens infidelity not that they absolutely despise Immortal Life the Desire of which is so natural and necessary but that they fear Eternal Miseries And yet in this case it is very unnatural to reject the Belief and Hope of Immortal Life For the Desire of Immortality is the first and most necessary Desire of Nature and therefore ought to govern all other Desires for it is unnatural to prefer any thing before it As fond as Men are of their Sins yet any Man of understanding would be ashamed to own that he had rather enjoy his Lusts thirty or forty Years than be immortal The Design of Infidelity is not only to cure Men's Fears but to salve their Reputation and to make their Vices less infamous If there be no Life after this let us eat and drink for to morrow we die seems natural and reasonable enough but to eat and drink and riot away Immortality must make a Man infamous Suppose God had promised Immortal Life to good Men and threaten'd not Eternal Punishments but Annihilation to the Wicked When Eternal Punishments were removed out of the way would you have thought it reasonable then to believe Immortality and to live vertuously for the Hopes of Immortality Would you have thought it infamous then to prefer Sin and Annihilation before Vertue and Immortality and is it not infamous then for the love of Sin to reject the Hopes of Immortality and to hope for Annihilation as such Men generally do if we think it reasonable to serve God that we may be immortal and that it would be infamous not to do so supposing the certain Knowledge of Immortal Life then the Threatnings of Eternal Punishments can be no reasonable prejudice against the Belief of Immortality
for there is no reason to reject the Hopes of Immortal Life for fear of such Miseries as we may escape if we please that is if we believe and chuse Immortal Life No Man who does not prefer something else or to speak plainly who does not prefer the short Pleasures of Sin before Immortal Life need fear Eternal Miseries and therefore it is not the Fear of Eternal Miseries which they know they may escape but the Contempt of Eternal Life which makes them Infidels and it concerns them to consider well what the Consequences of this are For 1. as I have already observed and there needs no great Proof of it nothing can be more infamous than to contradict the most noble and generous Desires of Human Nature To be afraid to be immortal is to desire to be a Beast and to perish like a Beast nay it is to desire what no Beast would desire for Self-love and Self-preservation is implanted even in the brutal nature And what a prodigious Degeneracy is it of Human Nature for Men to hate themselves and their own Being and to wish and hope that they may perish in the Grave It is a vain thing to set up for the Reputation of Wit and Philosophy in this Cause for Human Nature is against them and therefore the generality of Mankind who will always hope and desire on Natures side will be against them too and Nature so abhors the Thoughts of Annihilation and Dissolution that all Men must despise those as very contemptible Creatures who can be contented to fall into nothing themselves and abhor them for their malicious Attempts to deprive other Men of the Hope of Immortality 2. It is a strong Presumption against Infidelity that it contradicts the Hopes and Desires of Nature Are there any other Natural Desires and Appetites which have no Natural Objects to answer them And why should we think that Nature should implant in us a Desire of Immortality if we were not made to be immortal This cannot be if we were made by a wise Being for then all the Desires and Appetites of Nature must be wisely made that is fitted to the nature of that Being to which they belong and then Immortal Desires can belong only to an Immortal Nature 3. It also ought to be well considered that this makes Infidelity the most inexcusable Sin for to reject not only all Supernatural Evidence but all the Desires and Inclinations of Nature will admit of no Excuse This is an Apostacy from Human Nature and though the Divine Goodness has a great tenderness for Human Infirmities yet when Men wilfully put off Human Nature they have no Right to the Excuses or to the Compassion which is due to Men. And such Men ought to be very sure that they are in the right who have no Excuse to make if they are in the wrong 4. And yet it is impossible to be secure against the Inclinations Desires and Sentiments of Nature It is possible with great Art and Violence for some time to stifle the Sense of Nature but Nature will take some Occasion or other to get loose and to revive our Fears when we have forfeited all our Hopes For 1. It is certain there can be demonstration against Nature If the Natural Desires of Immortality do not prove that we are immortal yet they are a Bar against all demonstration that we are not For that would be an ill-contrived Nature indeed which should have Natural Desires and Appetites against demonstration That should have a great Passion for Immortality when it is demonstrable that we are not immortal And if they cannot demonstrate that we are not immortal we shall certainly hope and fear on Natures side And what will all the boasting Pretences to Infidelity signify if they cannot cure our Natural Hopes and Fears 2. For Natural Fears and Hopes are very Mechanical Passions and not under the Government of our Wills and arbitrary Opinions They are no more to be silenced with Wit and Sophistry than some Natural Antipathies are which Men may think to reason away but as soon as the Object of that Antipathy appears all their Arguments are lost and they sweat and tremble and flie And thus do Infidels too who please themselves that they can reason away another World into a Fairy Land but yet can't think seriously of it without trembling 3. For whatever Baffle men put upon their Faith yet these Hopes and Fears are so natural that they can never perswade themselves that what is reported of the other World does not deserve to be hoped or feared No Argument can convince any Man that it is not desireable to live for ever or that it is not the most terrible thing of all to be miserable for ever and then it is impossible not to hope or fear The Desires of a less Happiness or the Fears of a less Misery may be conquered but when Men hear of Eternal Happiness and Eternal Misery the one the most desireable the other the most formidable thing to Human Nature it makes it impossible to any thinking Man neither to desire nor fear This shews how vain it is to struggle against Nature for Nature will be too strong for all our Pretences to Wit and Philosophy and thus all Infidels find it is at one time or other 5. I shall add but one thing more since the Desire of Immortality is so natural consider what an Eternal Torment this must be if we lose Immortal Life by our Infidelity Natural Appetites last as long as Nature does and when they are disappointed especially if it be by our own fault will torment us as long as they last Now besides all the positive Miseries which our Saviour threatens against Infidels here is a Natural Cause and Demonstration of their Misery The very Loss of Eternal Life must eternally torment them because they must eternally desire it and these disappointed Desires will turn into Eternal Anguish Despair and Self-revenge Would but Men seriously consider these things how unnatural the Inclinations to Infidelity are and how unnatural the Aversion to the Belief of Immortality is and what terrible consequences they have it would make them willing and desirous to believe and then they would find no want of Evidence There would not be so much need then of disputing against Infidelity but we might employ our time much better in exhorting and perswading you to the conscientious practice of our most holy Religion that we may obtain the End of our Faith even the salvation of our Souls Which God c. SERMON XVII Preached at the Temple Church Isaiah 5. ver 20 21. Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight IT gives great disturbance to good Men not only to observe the general corruption of Manners that is in the World
credulous Fools and to think themselves the only wise Men in the World to be wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own Sight This indeed perfects all the rest and there is no help for it for if they will contradict all Mankind they must think either themselves or all the rest of Mankind to be Fools Now I believe those who are at all acquainted with the Passions of Human Nature cannot think this is a very easie thing to despise the general Sense of Mankind which at least looks more like the Sense of Nature than the private Opinions of some few Philosophers or to scorn all Men for Fools and Ideots who ever believed a God and a Providence the moral Differences of Good and Evil Revelation Prophecy and Miracles Nothing but absolute Demonstration can reasonably harden a Man against such an universal Consent and it is enough to make any Man to suspect even Demonstration it self to have all the World against him For we can never think that all Mankind should conspire to resist Demonstration and yet by what I have already said you may easily perceive that they are far enough from demonstrating the Principles of Atheism and Infidelity But besides the general Sense of Mankind which they may despise as an unthinking Multitude though the less of Thought and Design the more there appears of Nature in such a general Consent but I say besides this they should consider how many very wise thinking Men and great Philosophers have in these Points thought as the Multitude do I will not name Moses and the Prophets nor Christ and his Apostles for whom I know they have little Reverence but what think they of Pythagoras and Plato and Tully and Seneca and Epictetus and many other such Men Were they all Fools too and yet they were neither Atheists nor Infidels and were zealous Preachers of moral Vertue And as for the Unthinking Multitude as they call them it is worth considering that the greatest Numbers of them are as wicked as they themselves are or could wish them to be that it is sufficiently their interest to be Atheists and Infidels too and yet Nature is too strong for their Fears and they believe a God and the Difference of Good and Evil though they believe and tremble as the Devils do It is wonderful what should give these Men such Confidence to despise all the World and I can think of no other Reason for it but that they find it necessary and the only way they have to be even with the World that since all Mankind despise them they will despise all Mankind But they find this a very unequal Match and are very uneasie under it For the Judgment of all Mankind is a perswasive Argument of the Sense of Nature their despising Mankind is only a Sign of Folly and Impudence I shall make some few Observations on what I have said and so conclude I. I observe how the Love of Sin will corrupt Mens natural Sense and Notions of Things and blind and stupifie their Minds Nothing else but this can make an Atheist or an Infidel That there wants no Proof of the Being of God is evident from the general Belief of Mankind and there is nothing in the Notion of a God which should make any Man averse to the Belief of a God but only his Justice in punishing Sinners and that can make no Man afraid of believing a God but those who resolve to live in Sin There is no other Exception Men can take against the Gospel of Christ which promises Forgiveness of Sins to those who repent of their Sins and reform their Lives but that Repentance and Reformation are made the Gospel Terms of Forgivness and Hell-fire is denounced against impenitent Sinners If we consider this before-hand it may convince us how unnatural Sin is and how foolish Sinners are Sin can never be reconciled to the Principles of Nature and Sinners are so foolish as to put out the Light of Nature that they may transgress the Laws of Nature which is a very foolish Design to put out the Light that we may sin and not know it till we feel our selves eternally damned for it 2dly This may satisfie us how difficult a thing it is to sin with security much more difficult than to obey the Laws of God It is a much easier thing to conquer and subdue our sensual Lusts and Appetites by the Arguments and Motives of Religion by the Fear of God and the Rewards and Punishments of the next Life than it is to deliver our selves from the Notions of Good and Evil from the Belief of a God and of the Gospel of Christ that if we consult our own Ease and Satisfaction it is much easier to be a good Man and to be saved than to live in Sin without the Fears of Damnation 3dly I observe how vain a thing it is to be wicked upon Principles Men of Honour when they know they do such things as the World accounts infamous think themselves in Reputation bound to justifie them but those Principles whereby they pretend to justifie their Vices are more infamous than their Vices themselves as an Atheist or Infidel in the Opinion of the VVorld is a more contemptible Creature than a common Sinner All Men who are liable to Temptations themselves have a great Compassion for the VVeakness of Human Nature but when Men will justifie their Vices and justifie them by renouncing God and all Religion this strikes those who otherwise it may be are as bad themselves with Horror and Indignation makes wise Men despise them and good Men abhor them and I wish this general Contempt of them were more publick and visible which would either cure their Atheism and Infidelity or make them more modest that they should not appear so wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight 4thly I observe the irrecoverable Condition of these Men who call evil good and good evil who put darkness for light and light for darkness who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight they have hardened themselves beyond the ordinary Methods of God's Grace and therefore must unavoidably fall under this VVo For when Men have wilfully put out their Eyes and stifled all the natural Notions of their Minds you may as well think of converting bruit Beasts as of converting them This is a miserable hopeless State VVhich God of his infinite Mercy deliver us all from through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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Courtships of the World cannot defend us from our selves we cannot stop our ears against 〈◊〉 we cannot harden our selves against â—…s Terrors it is a domestick Fury â—…hich when it is provoked and awakenâ—…d will be heard and will make us â—…emble will make us judge and conâ—…emn our selves and begin our own â—…orments in frightful Horrors and Agoâ—…es of Mind 2dly Whereas Reason can fortify the â—…ind against all external Calamities â—…hen our Spirits are wounded that â—…ttle Reason we have left proves our â—…ormentor When we are under the â—…ransports of violent and disorderly â—…assions Reason can't be heard or is â—…ibed by Passion to justify its own Exâ—…esses Wise Counsels are lost on such â—…en as much as a Lecture of Philoâ—…phy would be in the Noise and Diâ—…raction of an Alarm or Battel What a sullen and obstinate thing is â—…rief how does it pore on its own â—…isfortune nourish its Disease and â—…espise all Arts of Diversion that it is â—…ommonly above the cure of any thing â—…ut Time which weakens the Impresâ—…on or tires men with their own Comâ—…laints When our Consciences are wounded with Guilt this arms all the Reason we have against us for Reason in such Cases can never be on our side then Reason discovers our Shame and Danger aggravates our Sins and many times drives such awaken'd Sinners into the very Horrors of Dispair disputes against the possibility of their Pardon and blots their Names out of all the Promises of the Gospel how large and universal soever they be The Guides of Souls who are always consulted upon such Occasions how much soever they are despised at other times could tell a great many sad Stories of thiâ—… kind enow to convince Sinners that even Wit and Reason is a very dangerous Enemy when a guilty Conscience turns the edge of it against our selves 3dly When there is no Ease and Comfort within there is no other Remedy but to seek for Support and Comfort from abroad and there are a great many pretty Diversions in the World to entertain Men who are at leisure to attend them but these are no Entertainments to a wounded Spirit When men are galled by their own Passions by Fear Emulation Jealousy Discontent in the very midst of laughter â—…e heart is sorrowful As great as Haâ—…n was all his Riches and Power â—…ailed him nothing while he saw â—…ordecai the Iew sitting at the King 's â—…ate 5. Esth. 13. The good things of this World are â—…ry considerable when there is an eaâ—… and cheerful mind to enjoy them â—…t they cannot make a man easy and â—…ppy whose Mind is disturbed they â—…ay entertain an easy Mind but canâ—…t quiet the Tumults and Disorders of â—…ssions nor give any Ease to a woundâ—… Spirit Much less can external things apâ—…ase the Horrors of a guilty Consciâ—…ce Away all ye vain Delights will â—…ch a man say what have I to do with â—…easure when Torments everlasting â—…orments must be my Portion Why â—…o you tell me of Riches and Honours â—…hen the great God is my Enemy â—…hen I am despised and abhorred of my â—…aker and am thought worthy of no â—…etter Portion than Eternal Flames 〈◊〉 am not at leisure to attend the Flatâ—…ering Courtships of this World my Thoughts are taken up with a more â—…readful Prospect of things to come O Eternity Eternity the never-dying Worm the never-dying Death 4thly Nor can a wounded Spiâ—… find any Support from the Considerations of Religion unless it find its Câ—… there If the Belief of a Divine Providence and another World can cure oâ—… Love to present things it will give uâ—… quiet and easy Passions too but without this a wounded and distemper'â—… Spirit will reproach God as well aâ—… Men and rage against Heaven it self â—… like that wicked King This evil is 〈◊〉 the Lord why should I wait on the Lâ—… any longer As Solomon observes Tâ—… foolishness of Man perverteth his waâ—… and his heart fretteth against the Lord. If the Fear of God and of thoâ—… Punishments He has threatned agaiâ—… Sin makes us true and sincere Peâ—…tents conquers our vicious Habiâ—… and reforms our Lives this is such 〈◊〉 wounded Spirit as God will bind up again such a broken and contrite heaâ—… as God will not despise but the Thoughâ—… of God and of a future Judgment aâ—… very terrible to Impenitent Sinners It is a dreadful Prospect to look intâ—… the other World and to see those Lakes of Fire and Brimstone prepared for the Devil and his Angels And this 〈◊〉 all that Bad men can see in the next â—…orld Thus we see how supportable all â—…ternal Evils and Calamities are how â—…supportable a wounded Spirit is and â—…e comparing these two Cases will â—…ggest some very useful Thoughts to â—…s As First This is a great Vindicatiâ—… of the Providence of God with â—…spect to those Evils and Calamities â—…at are in the World Sufferings are â—…ery necessary in this corrupt and deâ—…enerate State of Mankind but though â—…od sees it necessary to punish Sinners â—…et he has made abundant Provision to â—…pport us under all external Sufferâ—…gs He inflicts nothing on us but â—…hat the Spirit of a Man can sustain â—…d support it self under but our â—…reatest Sufferings are owing to our â—…elves and no more chargeable on the â—…rovidence of God than our Sins are â—…othing that is external can hurt us â—…hile our minds are sound and healthâ—…l but it is only a disordered or guilty â—…ind which gives a Sting to Afflictiâ—…ns God corrects in measure as we â—…re able to bear but we our selves tye the Knots or add the Scorpions to thâ—… Scourge Secondly This greatly recommendâ—… the Divine Wisdom in that Provisioâ—… God has made for our Support undâ—… Sufferings As â—…t Since the generality oâ—… Mankind were not likely to prove anyâ—… great Philosophers GOD hath bestowed on them such a measure of Naturâ—… Courage as will bear Afflictions betteâ—… than the Reason and Philosophy 〈◊〉 more thinking men and we may generally observe that those who maâ—… the least use of their Reason and haâ—… the least share of External Comforâ—… have the greatest Portion of this â—…taught Courage because they need 〈◊〉 most 2. God has provided the greatâ—… Supports for the best men Thoâ—… who use their Reason and examine thâ—… nature of things will more easily beâ—… Poverty and Disgrace and such otheâ—… Evils than men who judge by Opinion and popular Mistakes Those who live by Reason and govern their sensual Appetites and Inclinations and use the things of this World so as not to be mastered by them retain that Courage and Strength of Mind which is lost by softness and Effeminacy But a truly devout man who beâ—…ieves the Wisdom and Goodness of Providence and the Rewards of the next Life has the greatest Support of all Whereas an impenitent Sinner who wounds his Conscience with Guilt and an Atheist who believes neither a God nor a Providence have nothing but Sottishness and Stupidity to support them and
could things be better ordered for the encouragement of Virtue and Religion Good men whatever their Condition be have the Advantage of the Wicked even as to this present Life they may be easy and enjoy themselves in all Conditions for GOD has provided for their present Support but if bad men be Sufferers they have nothing to support them and though they be prosperous they feel such Disorders of Passions or such guilty Fears as sowre all their other Enjoyments 3. God has so wisely ordered things that we cannot support our selves under Sufferings without making a wise and good use of them for the best Arguments to comfort us under Sufferings will afford us no comfort unless they make us better It is a great comfort that Afflictions are appointed by a wise and good God But he who considers this will naturally enquire into the Reason why God strikes will search and try his way and turn unto the Lord will hear the rod and who it is that hath appointed it That Afflictions are ordered for our good will make us endeavour to reap the Spiritual Benefit of them for that Afflictions are useful is no Comfort at all unless we make a wise use of them unless they bring forth the peaceable Fruits of Righteousness No Man can take Comfort in the Rewards of the next World without bearing his Sufferings well in this for our Sufferings will have no reward unless they make us better unless they purify our Minds and exercise our Faith and Patience and Submission to the Will of God 3dly I observe That it is better to suffer than to sin even with respect to our present ease because Sufferings may be born by an innocent and vertuous Mind but Guilt inflicts an unsupportable wound upon the Spirit and â—…ose Sufferings which the Spirit of a Man can bear are rather to be chosen â—…han what the Spirit of a Man cannot â—…ear Lastly I observe That the Governâ—…ent of our own Passions contributes â—…ore to our Happiness than any exterâ—…al Enjoyments While our Minds are disordered with violent and tumultuâ—…us Passions we can never be Easy and Happy whatever else we enjoy for this gives such a Wound to the Spirits as no external Enjoyments can heal But he who has his Passions under government who knows how to Love and Fear Desire and Hope though he may be a great Sufferer can never be miserable because he can support himself under all other Sufferings What a wrong Course then do the generality of Mankind take to make themselves happy They seek for Happiness without when the Foundation of Happiness must be laid within in the Temper and Disposition of our Minds An easy quiet Mind will weather all the Storms of Fortune but how calm and serene soever the Heavens be there is no peace to the wicked who have nothing but noise and tumult and confusion within To God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost be Honour Glory and Power now and for ever Amen SERMON VII Preach'd at the Funeral of the Reverend Richard Meggot D. D. and late Dean of Winchester December the 10th 1692. at Twickenham I. Phil. 23 24. For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you ST Paul wrote this Epistle to Philippi from Rome where he was in Bonds for the Gospel but though his Body was confined to a Prison his Soul his great Divine Soul was at Liberty to visit the Churches he had planted to advise and counsel and comfort them to encrease their Knowledge and to confirm their Faith to instame their Zeal and to spur them forward to more perfect Attainmens in all Piety and Virtue The Philippians seem greatly concerned least the Progress of â—…e Gospel should be hindred by St. Paul's Imprisonment and lest they and the whole Church should be deprived of the Labours and Ministry of so great an Apostle should this Persecution extend to Life as they had reason to fear it would As for the first St. Paul assures them That his Bonds were for the furtherance of the Gospel for his Imprisonment was taken notice of both in the Court and City which made Men curious to know what that Doctrine was which he preached and for which he suffered Bonds and this published the Gospel more effectually than his Preaching could have done Verse 12 13 c. As for the second he tells them He was no farther concerned either about Life or Death but that Christ might be magnified in his Body If he lived his Life was wholly devoted to the Service of Christ and of his Church if he died it would be for his own great Advantage To me to live is Christ and to die is gain verse 20 21. and this made it a hard choice to him whether he should desire to live or die whether he should get rid of his Bonds and make his Escape out of a troublesome World into the Regions of Ease and Rest to reap the Fruit of his Labours here in the eternal Enjoyment of his Lord whom he had so faithfully served or whether he should live to Encounter with a thousand Difficulties and Deaths in the Service of Christ and of the Souls of Men. What I should chuse I wot not for I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better nevertheless to abide in the Flesh is more needful for you Was there ever such a Dispute as this before That a Man who was as certain to go to Heaven as he was to die who had himself been snatch'd up into the third Heavens and had his Mind possest with strong and vigorous and lively Idea's of the Glories of that place who had seen and heard such things as could not be expressed who saw a Crown a glorious immarcessible Crown prepared for him I say that such a Man should make any question what he should chuse whether immediately to take possession of this Crown and Kingdom or to live longer in this World to suffer Bonds and Imprisonments Hunger and Cold and Stripes and all the ill usage which he had so often met with for no other reason but still to preach the Gospel and to enlarge the Borders of Christ's Church What a Contempt is this not only of the little Pleasures and Satisfactions but even of all the Miseries of Life What a Triumph is this over the World over all the Frowns and Terrours of it What a Triumph is this over Self such a degree of Self-denial as the Gospel it self does not command which is in some sence to deny Heaven to deny all the Joys of Christ's Presence for the sake of doing good For it is to delay to put off Heaven to adjourn his own Happiness that he may live the longer to serve his great Master though with great Difficulties and Labours What Love was this