power of his might resisting temptations growing in grace labouring after a greater hatred of sin a greater fortaste of Heaven a greater conformity to the will of God a greater sense of the love of God c. and he that in good earnest minds these things will have no great desire to busie himself about such pittiful trivial and impertinent things these will be trash and dirt to him and his soul will soar above them and scorn them as the Divels lime-twigs whereby he lies in wait to deceive And though I will not deny but that a man in case of danger and when his life is in jeopardy or when he would pass through a party of his enemies may lawfully disguise himself and by art change and alter his countenance that he may not be known and though a man who hath lately had the small Pox or hath been Sun-burnt or whose face hath been parch'd with Wind may lawfully take care by ordinary helps to reduce his face to his former or native colour and complexion and though we do not judge it against the law of God to hide some great blemish or defect in the Face whereby spectators may be offended and particularly Women that are with Child frighted and though it is not inconsistent with the rule of the Gospel to wash the Face when dirty yet all those paints and additional washes and artificial black spots whereby Men and Women endeavour either to set off their complexion the better to give themselves a more pleasing colour or to mend their meen or to make themselves look more beautiful or to attract the eyes and admiration and sometimes the unlawful Amours of those they converse withal are things which a Christian must be a stranger too When I say men it is not without reason for we read of such a beast as Paul the Second Pope of Rome who whenever he went abroad painted himself that the beauty of his Face might in some measure be answerable to the comeliness of his stature which was procere and tall and it 's to be feared that this effeminacy dwells in too many persons of the masculine Sex at this day However as Women are usually more faulty this way then Men so they give us but small hopes to believe that they are heirs of Heaven while they are so industrious to please men and others here on Earth St. Paul would not please Men no not in the Ceremonies of the Law which were things formerly commanded by God thinking it unworthy of a Christian that had been freed from that Yoke by the Son of God and how unworthy must it be then to please Men in things which God hath never commanded nay by many hints and places discover'd his dislike of How justly may God look upon 't as presumption to alter that Face which he thought fit to create in that shape it is of and what is it but contending with our Maker and expostulating with the Potter Why hast thou made me thus and controuling his art and wisdom while not content with the countenance he hath given we seek to appear in a better As we are Christians sincerity must be our character not only in heart but in the outward behaviour and what sincerity can there be in cheating Men with our Faces and to make them believe that to be natural which we know is counterfeit and artificial We that are naturally prone to pride and levity and lightness of deportment had not need encourage it by such incentives and put Oyl to that fire which without great help is apt to burn into Hell We shall meet with impediments enough from the World and the Devil in our spiritual race it 's madness therefore to encrease those obstacles by new inventions of our own and we that know how apt every thing is to damp our holy fervours had not need add such vanities to extinguish them In the whole Scripture we read of no Women that ever painted themselves but one that was cursed to a Proverb even Jezabel 2 Kings 9. 33. and Eusebius makes mention of a great instrument of the Devil whereby he sowed heresies in the Church that used this trade viz. Maximilla Even among the Heathen those that did so were none of the best fame and credit in the World such as Poppaea Nero's Wife and others and in Holy writ for the most part this delight is described as meretricious and a quality of Strumpets and Harlots as we see Ezech. 23.40 And certainly neither these examples nor descriptions can be any great inticement to a Christian to imitate such infamous patterns who is to remember those who have spoken to him in the name of the Lord and to follow their faith considering the end of their conversation Heb. 13.7 It was an excellent Character St. Gregory Nazianzene gave of the pious Gorgonia No Gold saith he adorned her Temples no flaxen hair no borrowed locks no artificial curles flew about her sacred Head no flowing Mantles no transparent Vails no looser garb hat wanton'd in the Air no costly stones vying with the brightness of the Stars no Painters arts help'd to grace her noble frame no operator assisted her to countermine the work of God in her and by deceitful colours to hide the curious fabrick of her Face or to prostitute the Divine shape that was in her to wanton and impurer eyes or to vitiate her natural image which was reserved for God and another World by an adulterous fictitious beauty But even then when she was acquainted with all the tricks and modes of ornaments she would acknowledge and own none but whather piety and the harmony of her soul did give her No other Red pleased her but what her modest blushes caused no white but what fasting and abstinence brought into her cheeks and as for Painting and modish looks and borrow'd Beauty she left those impertinencies and vanities to actors and Ministers of the Stage persons who have forgot to blush and are ashamed of nothing so much as of sobriety and gravity This is an example for all Christian Women to write Copies by and though the age we live in hath long ago learned to despise this self-denial as a starcht formality and precise niceness yet that doth not make it of less value before Almighty God who sees with other eyes and is resolved to rectifie these willful mistakes if other means here on Earth will not do it with Eâ—eâ—â—al Vengeance To this purpose St. Cyprian Art not thou afraid vain Woman who makest use of Paint and Washes and such other curious fooleries about thy Face art not thou afraid that thy Creator when thou comest before him will not know thee but exclude thee rather from the promised Inheritance May not he reasonably use the language of a Censor and a Judge and say This is not my Creature here I see nothing of my Image Thou hast polluted thy skin with false applications the hair I gave thee is changed
not by our example either draw people into errors or confirm them in their sins it bids us take heed of discouraging our neighbours from goodness and of laying a stumbling-block in the way of weaker Christians it bids us exhort one another daily and beware lest any of us be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin these are some of its principal rules and I need not add what our great Master hath told us ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Joh. 15.14 how these rules can be observed by persons that delight in these shews I cannot apprehend is it modesty to be a hearer of that ribaldry and filthy communication which some Plays are stuffed with Or to be a spectator of so many undecent and wanton gestures postures and actions which in some Comedies make up the greatest part of the shew Is this sobriety to stand by and hear men curse and swear and talk of things which should not be so much as named among Christians Is this decency to afford your presence in a place where the most debauched persons assemble themselves for ill ends and purposes Is this your fear of God to go and hear the most solemn ordinances of God railled and undervalued such as marriage and living up to the strict rules of reason and conscience Is this your watchfulness over your thoughts and words and actions to go and expose your selves to temptations to run into the Devils arms and give him an opportunity to incline your heart to sinful delights and being pleased with things which God abhors Is this that Godly simplicity the Gospel presses to pay for your being affected with the vain shews of this sinful World and to take liberty to hear and see what men of little or no Religion shall think fit to represent to you Is this redeeming of your time to throw away so many hours upon fooling and seeing mens ridiculous postures gestures and behaviours Is not this making war against your soul Is not this fighting against your happiness Is this the way to grow in grace and to advance in goodness and to abound more and more in the love of God which your Christianity obliges you to Is not this to clogg your soul Is not this to throw impediments in her way to felicity Is not this the way to make her inamour'd with the World from which a Christian is to run away as much as he can By your Saviours rule though you are in the World yet you are not to be of the World These shows alienate other mens affections from the best of objects and what security have you that they will not alienate yours Or have you a peculiar exemption from that danger If you have shew us your warrant let 's see your parent if you take the same way that profane persons take to dull their Religious desires how can it be otherwise but it will have the same effect in you if you use the same means why should not you fear the same unhappy influence Why should you shut your eyes against a thing as clear as the Sun Do not you see do not you perceive how sin grows upon you by frequenting these places Do not you find how under these shows the brutish part in you grows strong and vigorous how the Flesh distends its plumes grows easie and pleased and in time engrosses all the nobler faculties of your Soul As you are a Christian you are to bring your Flesh into subjection and to keep under your Body and do not these shews signally help towards its power and dominion over the nobler part and promote its Soveranity and triumph over the reasonable appetite What pampers it more then such sights What feeds its preposterous longings more then these Do not these evidently make this slave usurp Authority over her Mistress And is this fit to be done by Christians who are to crucifie the Flesh with its lusts and affections Who sees not that these sights are meer incentives to lust and fewel to feed the impurer fire in our breasts And is this to walk after the Spirit as we are commanded If they that walk afer the Flesh cannot please God how can you hope to please him while you allow your self in this work of the Flesh Is this to promote a lively sense of God Is the Stage likely to produce vigorous apprehensions of Gods grace and favour you know it damps and obscures them you know it is an Enemy to them you know it is the worm that hinders your Spiritual growth and yet will you fancy a necessity to frequent it Men may count it necessary to be drunk and to kill a person they do hate but will this necessity hold water when the great Judge comes to examine it The Flesh may count that necessary which reason apprehends to be absurd and impious and he that hearkens to the dictates of the brute within him will call any thing necessary though never so contradictory to the Oracles of Heaven and the lessons of our great Master Jesus Is this to have the same mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus I hope you do not question the duty and if you believe it incumbent upon you can you imagin that in frequenting the Stage you imitate his example Did he ever encourage such empty things Is there any thing in all the History of his life that may be said to countenance such doings Could he applaud these follies do you think whose life was a perfect pattern of holiness nay are not all his precepts levell'd against these scurrilities Is it possible to live up to his precepts and feed our eyes with these Shews Is it possible to be his friend and a friend to these vanities He whose life was a perpetual selfdenial in the pleasures of this life could he give the least colour or shadow of approbation of them He who preached up the Doctrine of the Cross could he have any liking to that which is directly contrary to that Doctrine Would any man that looks upon the jolly assembly in a Play-house think that these are Disciples of the crucified God Do they not look liker Mahomets Votaries or Epicurus his Followers Would not one think that they had never heard of the Cross and that whoever their Master was they were disciplined only to live merrily Would not one think that these persons are very different in their tempers from those Christians the primitive Fathers do describe who trampled on the World and were afraid of any thing that savoured of its satisfactions Would not one think that they are rather disciples of some Heathen Jupiter or Venus or Flora or some such wanton Minion then of the grave the austere and the serious Jesus for such he would have his followers to be these he would have tread in his steps these he would have known by actions and a behaviour like his own and is a Play likely to plant this noble temper in you Is the
the Government they have lived under whether they have paid Tribute to whom Tribute was due Honour to to whom Honour and whether they have not used their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness In the same manner Parents will be strictly examined whether they have brought up their Children in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord Children whether they honoured their Parents as became Persons who under God owed their being to them Servants whether they served their Masters according to the Flesh in singleness of Heart as unto Christ and likewise all other Persons according to the relations and Offices they stood in for in all these relations men are Stewards and both Reason and God's Justice and his Word require that all should give an account of their Stewardship At this time the Soul being throughly a waken'd from her former Lethargy every sin will appear more dreadful every errour more red every fault more bloody every offence blacker than ordinary for the Fire of that Day doth not only scorch but enlighten and elevate the Soul into a thinking state and none of the former Impediments will now be able to divert her Thoughts which will be fix'd upon an offended God and his Majesty Greatness and Holiness and make at this time more sensible impressions on her while every thing especially what hath been committed against God will appear in more lively colours and consequently if the Conscience hath not the remembrance of a former sincere Repentance to support her self withal the frights must necessarily be great and the whole frame sink into inexpressible confusion There are innumerable sins which neither Prince nor Magistrate can take notice of how many Poor are oppressed how many innocent men wrong'd daily A Socrates is abused and hath no helper but neither this Man's misery nor the others oppression shall escape the Eyes of that all-seeing Judge who will infallibly publish both the one and the other and make good the Type St. John speaks of Revel 6.5 And I beheld a black Horse he that sat on him had a pair of Ballances in his Hand Ballances to weigh every Man's evil works which if they be found to prepondenrate above the good or to be pure sins pure offences without a godly sorrow to take off either the colour or the the weight all will be turned into blackness and desolation 3. In the prospect of this Judgment there appears a very wonderful Scene the Person that is the Judge is the Lawgiver too the Party offended the Witness and his own Advocate He that shall sit on the Tribunal in that Day was the Person that came down from Heaven and blessed the World with the equitable Precepts of the Gospel it 's he that went up into a Mountain and from that Pulpit pronounced Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filed c. Matt. 5.1 2 3 4 5 6. It 's he that came to undeceive both the Jewish and Heathen World in the false Notions they had imbibed concerning their duty and cleared the Moral Law of Moses of the false Glosses the Pharisees had put upon it explain'd the will of God set it naked and pure before the People he came to call to Repentance and let them see what were the proper preparatives for the everlasting joys of Heaven It 's he who guarded the Law which he promulged with Sanctions suitable to his Majesty and Greatness and as he made the rewards Eternal so the punishments he threatned to the stubborn and impenitent were endless too So it became him who appeared in the World to offer infinite Mercy to poor Sinners to reveal to them God's infinite Love to their Souls and to acquaint them with the infinite condescension of the Son of God who would humble himself to the Death of the Cross to redeem them from the Bondage of the Devil He that came into this Valley of Tears with so much love and light about him might justly enjoin reformation of the whole Man and a transformation of the Mind and temper of the Soul and require a conformity to his own life and insist upon mens becoming patient and humble and charitable and contented and peaceable and watchful over their Thoughts and Words and Actions and Heavenly minded How could this Grace which appeared to all men challenge less then self-denial and contempt of the World and living in the Thoughts and Expectation of a better life and seeking earnestly for Glory and Honour and Immortality And as he that will be the Judge in that day is the Law-giver too so he understands best the meaning of his Laws nor will tricks and evasions and false constructions of those Laws signifie any thing before him who will not depart from the sense his Eternal Wisdom put upon them and which by his Prophets and Ministers he once caused to be proclaim'd in the Ears of men The Sinner in that day will no◠have to do with Deputies and Lieutnants and Delegates who too ofte◠make the Law a Nose of Wax an◠can turn and interpret it to what sense they please and their Interest dictates are sometimes unskilful and apt to mistake the Law of their Superiours and these Laws not being of their own making are the colder or the more remiss in executing them but here men shall see the Law-giver himself who will not be put off with pretexts and pretences as ordinarily Deputies and such Persons are 〈◊〉 who employ'd by the Supreme Law-givers in a Common-wealth or Kingdom Even here on Earth where the Lawgivers themselves sit Judges the Malefactor must expect severer dealings in this case even Lycurgus's Wife shall not escape that durst break her Husbands Law against riding in a Chariot during the time of Divine Service and Zaleucus his Son must lose his Eye for slighting his Fathers Orders against Adulterers not to mention the Severities of Epaminodas and others on their own Children where the Legislators have sat Judges of their Crimes and Errours The Almighty Judg in that day will justly resent the affront done to his Laws and indeed none is better able to declare the heinousness of such contempt than he and this must necessarily encrease the Terrour of that day And as he is the Law-giver against whose Precepts the Sinner hath offended so he is the Party offended too Sinner This is he whose Body and Blood thou hast so often receiv'd unworthily in the Sacrament this is he to whose Cross thou hast been an Enemy so many years on whose Merits thou hast trampled whom thou hast so often Crucified afresh whose House thou hast dishonoured whose Gospel thou hast been Ashamed of and therefore wonder not if such thundering fueries come forth forth from the Throne at last do'st not thou remember how oft thou
and Blood can smite the Stream and turn those sweeter Waters into Blood which nothing will do more effectually than the aforesaid prospect 2. This embittering of sensual and carnal delights is a thing of the greatest concernment and therefore must be necessary and all must be concerned in the Vertuous enterprize the greatest blessings the want of which make a Man perfectly miserable depend upon it even God's love of complacency and the Application of Christ's Merits and the Benefits of his death and Passion these belong not to the Soul that is enamoured with sensual delights no more than they appertain to Dogs or Swine nay they are useless and insignificant to such a Soul as much as the Mathematicks are to an ass or idiot There is a perfect antipathy betwixt these and the comforts we speak of for they are intended only for humble broken contrite Hearts which temper a Person that 's fond of sensual delights is not capable of nor can such a man relish them they are as Hay and Straw and Stubble to him and like a Person whose Appetite hath been spoiled by a raging Feaver he looks upon them as unsavoury and insipid food and though he may talk of them yet it is only as blind men do of colours As it is in Nature the Meat we eat must be agreeable to our Stomachs so it is in Grace There must be a Holy Principle within that makes these Spiritual comforts agreeable to it but sensual delights destroy that Principle and as Darkness drives out Light so these two are incompatible and indeed our blessed Saviour is very peremptory in his Assertion That he who doth not deny himself cannot be his Disciple Matth. 16.24 And what self-denial can there be where we do not deny our selves in that which is most pernicious to our better part For so are these sensual delights Not to be Christ's Disciple is to have no part in him Not to have any part in him is to be none of his Sheep and not to be of his Sheep is to be placed with the Goats at the left hand in the last Day and what the consequence of that is you may read Matth. 25.41 It s true maugre all that we can say to the contrary men who are resolved to indulge themselves in their bruitish delights will notwithstanding the contradiction they must needs be guilty of believe that they are Christ's Disciples and Favourites of Heaven and that Christ hath purchased Eternal Life for them and that at last they shall enjoy it but alas they know not what Eternal Life nor what believing means as well may a Man in Bedlam fancy himself to be a King as such Persons that they are the beloved of God while they live in that which is most contrary to his Nature and like Enemies to the Cross of Christ like Persons that have nothing but Body nothing but flesh nothing but sense about them If men may be saved contrary to Christ's Word contrary to his Declaration contrary to all the most solemn Protestations he hath made in the Gospel then such men may be saved not else who can reflect upon these doings without indignation or grief or sorrow or wishing for Rivers of Tears That men should pretend to own the Gospel and yet live directly contrary to the Laws of it argues either malice or distraction or stupid ignorance yet with such men for the most part we have to deal which makes St. Paul's exhortation highly reasonable Finally Brethren pray for us that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified and that we may deliver'd from unreasonable and wicked men for all men have not Faith 2 Thess. 3.1 2. 3. This embittering our carnal and sensual delights is that which men for certain shall wish they had done when they come to stand before the great Tribunal In that Day mens Eyes will be open'd and things will appear to them in other colours than now they do Their understandings will not be clogg'd with this World or divertisements They will have other apprehensions of the Nature of Vertue and Holiness and the Truth of what Christ hath deliver'd in the Gospel The reasonableness of his Precepts the Equity of his Commands the excellency of his Doctrine the Divinity of his Miracles the infallible certainty of his Promises and Threatnings will all shine bright in their Eyes of all these they will be throughly convinced and no doubt no scruple no ambiguity will remain as to any of these points the vileness of their pleasures the brutishness of their satisfactions the rashness of their delights the baseness of their enjoyments the brightness of those Vertues they have despised the Glory of that Grace which they might have had and would not and the trivialness of the things they preferr'd before these will then appear so plain so legible that there will be no room left for ignorance It 's true these things might be known here and would men take the right way they might come to be convinced and persuaded of them on this side Eternity for some we find are fully satisfied as to these particulars and walk suitably to them and therefore it cannot be impossible for others to attain to it but their insensibleness is rather an argument of stupid negligence and willful laziness and so it must be where People are not or pretend not to be satisfied in things of this nature It is therefore necessary there should a time come when they shall be able to make no excuse nor to evade the force of these Truths and when they shall behold how wise a choice the self-denying Soul hath made and what her mortifications and severities do end in what applauses they receive in Heaven what kind looks from the Everlasting Father what Honour what Dignity what preferment is designed and appointed for her how such a Soul Triumphs at this time over Hell and Devils dares all the Furies of the Burning-lake scorns those foes which led the sensual Sinner captive makes her Nest among the Stars of Heaven is placed in the Quire of Angels meets with all the Carresses of a Gracious God is encircled with Laurels and Crowns of Joy and all her misery and sorrows and fears are at an end Reason tells us that the sensual Sinner when he shall behold all this will wish he had follow'd her example for that 's the necessary and eternal Consequence of all imprudent actions especially those that are grosly so for after them men do as naturally wish that they had acted the part of wise men as Balaam that he might die the Death of the Righteous Thus men become wise after the Fact and when they find what Fools they have been would be content that they had foreseen the evil and hid themselves who would not wish in that Day he had embittered his sensual delights that finds he is undone by eating of those luscious Apples And I need not tell you that it is
Prince that Epaminondas being content with such a Dinner is not easily to be drawn by Bribes into a base and trayterous Action Fabritius the Roman General having concluded a Peace with the Samnites the Magistrates of the Samnites by way of Gratitude send six Ambassadours to him with vast Sums of Money begging of him to accept of it but he stroaking his Head and Face and Breast and Knees Gentlemen saith he while I can command these Limbs I have no need of Money and so dismissed them Curius gave the same Answer to them adding that he had rather rule over Persons that had Money than be possess'd of Money himself These Men were Heathens whose Delight in Virtue drown'd their Delight in these outward Comforts They saw what an Impediment to Goodness these Heaps of Silver were and therefore scorn'd to delight in a thing so base and trivial they were sensible that the Soul had her Riches as well as the Body and as the former by the Confession of Mankind went beyond the other in value so it was reasonable they should delight in the one more than in the other These Men were better Christians by the Light of Nature than thousands among us are with all the helps that Revelation and Grace affords not that the Fault lies in the means which are larger and richer than Pagans and Infidels have but that men stupifie their Souls more under these Advantages than Heathens did under the lesser Irradiations of the Divine Light and Splendour So then the very Heathens saw that the more spiritual the Delight was the nobler it was and the more it was refin'd and purified from the Dross of the World the more rational it was and therefore more amiable and fitter to be embraced and sure God must have provided but very ill for Mankind when he embued and impregnated their Souls with a Sense of Religion if he had not put something into Religion that 's charming and lovely whereby their Souls might be attracted to delight in it Religion being derived from him who is the Fountain of Delight and Satisfaction must necessarily have that in it which may make humane Souls rejoyce and exalt their Delight into a victorious Supremacy above all worldly Pleasures What did the Lord Jesus delight in who lived upon Alms What did the Apostles delight in who were in much Patience in Afflictions in Necessities and Distresses in Stripes in Imprisonments in tossings to and fro in Labours in Watchings in Fastings What did all the Primitive Believers delight in that were poor and naked driven into Exile banish'd forced to work in Mines chased away from the Comforts of Wife Children and Relations Something certainly they delighted in for humane Nature cannot well subsist without delight in something It could not be the Riches of this World for they had them not nor indeed did they care for them when they were offered them it was Religion that engrossed their Delight This made them joyful in all Condiditions this raised their drooping Spirits under the Rage of their Persecutors and certainly it would be hard if a glorious God with all his Attributes and the wonderful things he hath revealed to our Comfort were improper Objects of Delight and since these are the genuine Delights of a Christian O besotted Soul why dost thou delight in broken Cisterns when thou hast the Fountain of living Waters to delight in Why dost thou delight in Apes and Peacocks when thou hast the Creator of all these to rejoyce in Why dost thou delight in a morsel of Meat when thou hast the Birth-right of eternal Glory to delight in Why dost thou delight in the shade of the Bramble when thou hast the shadow of God's Wings to delight in Why dost thou delight in the nether Springs when thou hast the upper Springs of Mercy to delight in Why dost thou delight in Houses when thou hast a House made without Hands to delight in Why dost thou delight in the Rivers of Damascus when thou hast the River of God's Pleasure to delight in Why dost thou delight in a fading Beauty when thou hast him that 's altogether lovely to delight in Why dost thou delight in the Voice of a deceitful Siren when thou hast him whose Voice comforts the Mourners of Sion to delight in Why dost thou delight in the Slavery of thy Lusts when thou hast him whose Service is perfect Freedom to delight in Why dost thou delight in a little Gain in Drops of Happiness in Crums of Bliss in shining Dust when thou hast a Sea of Glory to delight in How deep must thy Soul lye immerst in Body if such illustrious Objects cannot delight it How far must thou be yet from the Kingdom of Heaven if things of this nature cannot content thee How earthly must thy Heart be how debauch'd how perverted from the end of its Creation if these spiritual Delights are insipid to it There are some here I believe who have tasted of both Delights the sinful ones of the Flesh and those which are proper for holy Souls tell me I beseech you whether you think a Fit of Laughter or a drunken Bout or a merry Meeting you once delighted in so sweet so comfortable so refreshing as the gentle and soft and kinder Influences of God's Spirit when you have been engaged in Prayer and Praises and Contemplations of a future State When you have been wrestling with God and after that work of Love have felt a holy assurance of God's Favour upon your Spirits can any thing be more pleasing or charming than those divine Communications When you have entred into Meditation of God's Goodness and the Love of God hath shined bright upon your Souls have not you felt that which hath been as much beyond all sensual Delights as an oriental Pearl is beyond Brass or Copper or such baser Minerals Have not you found a Joy stealing upon your Souls after such refreshing Considerations as hath transported you even into love of Martyrdom How contented have you been after such Exercises or after some signal Self-denial How harmonious have your Spirits and Affections been after such Enjoyments of God's loving Kindness and how like soft and curious Musick have these Gales of the Divine Goodness composed your troubled Thoughts and hush'd them into a lasting Peace And is not this infinitely better than the Pleasures of Sardanapalus of Dives and other luxurious men Will not this turn to better account at last than fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul Look upon Heliogabalus who tryed how great a Monster a man could make himself in his Cloaths you should see nothing but Gold and Purple his Beds were embroidered and the Feathers that were in them must be the softer Feathers of Partridges taken from under their Wings mix'd with the finest Rabbets hair He would ride in a Chariot shining with Rubies and Diamonds and not only in the out-side of his Shooes but even within he would have precious Stones he would not
us but little good another day and serve only to tell us that we were cheated by those Encomiums Alas How many men are counted Just and Righteous Honest and Good here on Earth whom the Great Judge will not find so when he comes to examine their deeds by the Rule of Sincerity Sirs matter not whether men do look upon you as devout but see that God may esteem you so Alas what doth it signifie that men call me Religious when God knows I am an Hypocrite What comfort can it be to me that men think me charitable when God sees I give Alms to be seen of men What will it profit me that men call me Zealous and Fervent when God sees that gain and profit is the cause of it What doth it avail me that men say I pray well when God sees I study to please the Company What great matter is it that men applaud me for a single Virtue when God sees I am partial in my Obedience What great advantage can it be to me that men say I am humble when God sees pride in that very humility The Apostle therefore bids us look to the manner of our performances He that gives let him do it with simplicity He that rules with diligence He that shews Mercy with cheerfulness Let love be without dissimulation be kindly affectioned one to another with Brotherly love c. Rom. 12.8 9 10. So when you pray let your Hearts breath out holy Desires when you sing let your Minds bear a principal Part in the Hymn when you come to the Table of the Lord let your Souls be touch'd with the love of Jesus when you are kind to your Neighbours banish all sinister Designs when you express any holy Fervours let God's Glory be in your Eye when you discharge any part of your Duty to God and Man let a cheerful Obedience to the Gospel be the Motive Do all this as unto God not as unto Men do it as if no Creature saw you do it as if none but God were before you do it as if you were to be summoned this Moment to Judgment such Services will endure the Probe such Devotions will stand good such Acts of Piety will hear searching such Works God himself will be a witness to that they were wrought according to his Will and by the Power of his holy Spirit 9. What Injuries you receive in this World from Men bear them patiently out of regard to this great Day of Judgment when God will set all things to rights and take care that you lose nothing by your Sufferings Rejoyce Christian in thine Innocence which God intends to proclaim in this Day before all Men and Angels He 'll wipe off all the Dirt and Aspersions that are thrown upon thee in this day He will bring forth thy Righteousness as the Light and thy Judgment as the Noon-day What need'st thou take notice of an Affront offer'd to thee when thy God stands engaged to take notice of it with a Witness in this day What need'st thou seek Revenge when thy Master whom thou servest is resolved to judge thy Cause in this Day What need'st thou fret and rage at the Contempt Men put upon thee here when thy great Lord will be sufficiently angry with the Offender in this day What need'st thou grieve that Men abuse thee here when thy Sovereign Master will grieve every Vein of the Reviler's Heart in this day What need'st thou be concerned for the Reproaches Men cast upon thee for thy Righteousness sake when he for whose Name thou sufferest will vindicate thy Wrong and call the Persecuter Fool for his Pains in this day Say not At this rate there will be no living for me in the World trust that God who hath promised to clear thy Innocence in this day and he will hide thee under the shadow of his Wings while thou art in this troublesome World he that preserved Elijah when Ahab and Jezabel and all the Prophets of Baal were enraged against him knows how to keep thee in the Hour of Temptation Ay but Revenge is sweet What if it be so to Flesh and Blood it will prove bitter to thy Spirit and if ever thou art saved a bitter Repentance must come in and salve the Wound and wilt thou prepare for a needless and uncertain Repentance How knowest thou whether God will after the Fact give thee his holy Spirit to come to this Repentance And what Cruelty is it when God is resolved to revenge thy Quarrel that thou wilt needs revenge it too If thou revengest it God will take no care to plead for thee but if thou leave thy Cause entirely to him thy Wrong will be infinitely recompens'd in this day Thus did thy blessed Master who when he suffer'd threatned not but committed himself to him that judges righteously Wilt thou boast of being his Disciple and art thou loth to follow his Example Fear not those Men who wrong thee now will be sufficiently sorry for the Injury either here if ever they be truly converted or hereafter when the Almighty will convince them to their everlasting Grief how much they were mistaken in their Verdicts and what sinister Constructions they put upon thy Actions how barbarous their Rage was against thee how inhumane the ill Language they gave thee and how unjust all their Reproaches were Do but stay a little while and thou shalt see it with thine Eyes Have but Patience untill that appointed day and thou wilt find the Prophet was in the right when he said The Righteous shall rejoyce when he sees the Vengeance so that a Man shall say Verily there is a reward for the Righteous Verily he is a God that judges in the earth Psal. 58.9 10. 10. Consider particularly That it will be more tolerable for Heathens and professed Infidels at this day than for Christians and not without reason Treason is more excusable in a Stranger than in a Citizen or Domestick and more may be pleaded for a sinful Life in a Pagan than in one of Christ's own Houshold A Heathen is obliged to God by the Right of Creation and Preservation but a Christian hath besides these Baptism and his Vows to tye him his Motives to the Fear of God are stronger than they can be in other Religions Where the greatest Rewards are there we may justly believe People will be most industrious most laborious and most sedulous No Religion proposes those rewards that Christianity doth The Heathens either had doubtful Apprehensions of an everlasting Happiness or were Strangers to the nature of it Among us this endless Glory is not only professed but most clearly revealed we are sure of it confident of it have no reason to dispute the certainty of it and the nature of it is discovered to us by him who came out of his Fathers Bosom therefore he that under these Manifestations proves careless and negligent of God's Love can have no Excuse And as Heaven is or may
wants have the Lord Jesus in thine Eyes regard not so much the poor Man's Nature because he is of the same Flesh with thee nor so much his Relation because he is of Kin to thee nor so much his Country because he is of the same Town that thou art of nor so much his Religion because he professes the same Faith with thee nor so much his Person because he is a Gentleman nor so much his readiness to extol thy bounty as the Love and Charity of the Holy Jesus to thy Soul and Body Have that in thine Eye chiefly when thou openest thy Hand let him be in thy Mind when thou distributest thy bounty this makes thy Charity amiable and acceptable and fit to be proclaimed and commended in this Day And indeed How dost thou know Christian but that thy Saviour may sometimes disguise himself and appear to thee in the shape of a poor Man and wilt not thou give freely wilt not thou give cheerfully wilt not thou give readily since thou knowest not but thou mayest give it to thy Saviour himself And how glorious an Encomium will it be in the last Day to hear him say before the World I was naked and this good Man cloathed me I was in Prison and he visited me The three Angels of Old disguised themselves in the shape of Travellers to try Abraham's hospitality and from hence possibly came the heathenish Fables that their Jupiter came in the Habit of a poor Man to Philemon who entertaining him Jupiter made his House a Temple and the Owner the Priest of it and that Apollo coming as a Traveller to Mydas and being kindly entertain'd by him rewarded his Bounty with vast Wealth and Riches though we have no warrant from Scripture to believe that Christ doth actually disguise himself to us in such shapes and appears to us to try our Charity yet it is no impossible thing and we may piously believe it thereby to encourage our selves to cheerful Contributions lest finding us hard-hearted and ill-natured covetous and incompassionate he deal with us as Jupiter among the Heathens is said to have dealt with Lycaon whom when he came to visit as a guest and found cruel instead of being hospitable he turned him into a Wolf Christ hath threatned the hard-hearted a worse and stranger Metamorphosis for they that will not be like him in doing good shall be doomed to be like Devils to mourn and lament as they and to Eternal Ages too for this is the Sentence Go into Everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels for I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat c. Mat. 25.41 42. 12. Let nothing discourage you from admiring those men who have always lived in the Thoughts and Contemplation of this future Judgment we admire men for their Parts Abilities and Accomplishments we admire Aristotle for his Learning Archimedes for his Mathematicks Socrates for his Gravity Absolum for his Beauty Achitophel for his Policy Saul for his Tallness Arion for his Musick Asahel for his Nimbleness the Men of Benjamin for their Skill in Slinging Darius for his Gratitude Cicero for speaking Virgil for Poetry Vrbino for Painting c. but these are poor things for our Reason to admire Men that live Day and Night in a sense of this future Judgment live continually in expectation of the Archangel's Trumpet or the Summons of Almighty God these are the Men whose Praise we ought to shew forth in the Gates Let others admire Demosthenes for his Rhetorick I will admire St. Paul who so look'd at the things not seen even at this Judgment as to rejoice in Tribulation and though troubled on every side yet was not distressed though perplex'd yet was not in despair though persecuted yet was not forsaken though cast down yet was not destroy'd appeared to the World as sorrowful yet was always rejoicing as poor yet made many rich as having nothing and yet possessed all things 2 Cor. 4.7 8 18. 2 Cor. 6.10 Let others admire Arcesilaus for his Prudence Scipio for his Fortitude Aristoclides for his humanity Pythagoras for his Philosophy I will admire the Primitive Believers who stood in such awe of this Great Day that their constant Thoughts and Contrivances were how to resist their Adversary the Devil and upon this account stood fast in Faith quitted themselves like Men were strong and always abounding in the work of the Lord. The thoughts of this Day made them vigilant sober heavenly minded despisers of the World charitable kind tender-hearted fruitful in all good works and why should we delude our selves or fancy we need not do so or that they did more then they ought to have done The Best of Men the Wisest Men the Holiest Men that ever lived have been frighted over-awed supported preserved in goodness by the contemplations of this Day and therefore if we are not it 's no sign that we are wiser then they but that we are more stupid we are all ambitious of participating of their glory and why should we be afraid of taking the way that led them to it These are the men who choose the better part These are the men who though laugh'd at by the World are a Crown of Glory and a Royal Diadem in the Hand of their God and for their Shame they shall have Double and for their confusion they shall rejoice in their portion Their light shall come the Glory of the Lord shall rise upon them They shall break forth on the right Hand and on the left and in Righteousness shall they be established They shall dwell on high their place of defence shall be the Munition of Rocks Bread shall be given them their Water shall be sure Their Eyes shall see the king of Glory in his Beauty they shall behold the Land that is very far off even the Land where Rivers of Pleasure flow where no Tears are to be seen no Sorrow to be found no anguish to be heard of These are the Men which at last shall sit down in the Throne of God and having suffered Hunger and Thirst with the Holy Jesus here shall Eat and Drink at his Table in his Kingdom These Men will at last be look'd upon with greater fear and reverence then now they are and when the bruitish World shall see them advanced to the highest Seats of Bliss and behold that these which once were the most contemptible Creatures shall judge the World with the Son of God they will change their Voices and with the Maltheses be ready to call them Gods whom but a little before they condemned as Varlets and Villains I conclude this discourse with St. Peter's exhortation 2 Pet. 3 9 15. The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise as some men count slackness but is long suffering to us ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance But the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of Persons ought ye to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness looking for and hastening unto the coming of the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on Fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat Nevertheless we according to his Promise look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwells Righteousness wherefore Beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that you may be found of him in Peace without Spot and Blameless FINIS ERRATA PAge 38. line 13. read Farms p. 4.5 l. 1. r. To let the World see the Bands p. 55. l. 12. r. persons are who are employ'd p. 210. p. 10. r. imitation BOOKS Printed for and sold by Mark Pardoe at the Sign of the Black Raven over against Bedford House in the Strand Doctor Horneck's best Exercise 8 o. Dr. Hooper's Sermon before the King on the Fifth of November His Sermon before the Lord Mayor Sir William Petty's Essay in Political Arithmetick 8 o. His Observations on Dublin Bills of Mortality 8 o. Novels of Elizabeth Queen of England containing the History of Queen Ann of Bullen in Two Parts 12 o. Observations on Feavers 12 o. Plain Man's way to Worship 12 o. Becteri Minera Arienaria 4 o. mdash De nova Temporis 4 o. Holder's Elements of Speech 8 o. Charras Experiments on Vipers in 8 o. Socrat. Eccl. Hist. l. 1. c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 24.25 Plat. in Phaed. Ps. 8.6 1 Sam. 15.23 Es. 1.3 Lam. 1.12.13.14 Chrysost. Homil 2. in 2 Thessalon Rev. 22.15 Zephan 1.14 15 16 17 18. Prov. 5.11 12. Happy Asectick p. 425 Seqq. Philip. 4.4 Eccl. 2.4 8 10 11. Gen. 4 21. Council Eliber c. 79. Council Constantinop 6. c. 50. Es. 3.18 19 20 21. 1 Tim. 2.9 10. 1 Pet. 3.3 4. De Serm. in monte lib. 2. 1 Tim. 2.9 1 Pet. 3.3 Vid Cyprian de Habit. virg Ed Oxon. p. 95. Esth. 14.16 Cyprian de Habit Virgin 1 John 2.15 16. Rev. 17.4 Tertull. de cult Faemin lib. 2 c. 13. Vid. Celada commentar in Judith c. 10 Plutarch in Apophthegm Aelian var. Hist. l. 8. Rom. 8.9 Rom. 8.5 Platin. in Paul 2. Euseb. lib. 5. c. 15. Gregor Naz. in laudem Gorgon De Habit. virg p. 100. Homil. 31. in Matth. Vid. P. Martyr loc com class 2. c. 11. P. Mart. loc cit Summ. Part. 2. tit 6. c. 6. § 3. De Bell. Belg. l. 1. Hom. 49. in Matth. De vanit scient c. 18. Ps. 119 47. Exod. 23.13 Vid. Gerh. Joh. Voss. de Idol l. 2. c. 8. Matth. 5.13 Ephes. 5.4 Mar. 8.38 Salvian degubern Dei lib. 6. Tertul. de spect c. 15. c. 15. c. 15. c. 16. c. 17. c. 23. c. 23. c. 25. c. 25. c. 26. c. 26. c. 27. c. 29. 2 Cor. 6.4 5. Pro. 7.14 Vid. Dreâ—â—l Tribun Christi l. 1. c. 8. § 5. In Epitaph Paulae Rom. Rev. 21.2 21. Psal. 37.6 1 Pet. 2.23 Matt. 11.22 Luke 6.38