Foundation of that upon the first and great Commandment Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength We need not to question but where-ever there is such a Love of God as is here required there will be true Godliness in all the parts of it And where this is wanting all external shews of Devotion want the true Life and Spirit of it For it is the Love of God which makes all our weak and imperfect Services to be acceptable to him and without it all our Prayers and our Fastings and all other appearances of Devotion are empty and infipid Formalities Not but that the Acts themselves are commendable but they are like a Body without a Soul dull and heavy or like the leaves of a Tree in Autumn which make a great noise in the Wind but are dry sapless and soon fall to the Ground But where the Love of God prevails it keeps up the Life and Order and Vigour of Devotion and preserves it from being tainted by hypocrisie or choaked by the love of this World or decaying from want of Constancy and Resolution Thus I have set before you some of the most remarkable Duties of Christianity not such as depend on the Opinions and Fancies of men but such as our Blessed Saviour the great Law-giver of his Church hath made the necessary Conditions of our Salvation by him And what now can we say for our selves We do call Christ Lord Lord or else we renounce our Baptismal Vow and all hopes of Salvation by him But can we say that we love God when we love what he hates viz. Sin Can we say we love him with all our Heart and Soul when our Hearts are so much divided between him and the Vanities of this World Can we say we love him with all our Might when our Love to God is apt to grow cold and remiss upon any apprehension of Difficulties Can we say that we love our Neighbour as our Selves when we despise and scorn him or over-reach and defraud him or oppress and ruin him If it go not so far are we as tender of his Reputation as of our own as unwilling to see him injured as ready to help him in his Necessities as we should desire it from others if we were in the same Circumstances If strict Sobriety and Temperance be the Duties of Christians where are those Virtues to be generally found I do not speak of particular Persons but I am afraid there is hardly such a thing left as a Sober Party among us What profane customary Swearing is every-where to be met with What Complaints are daily made of the Abounding of all sorts of Wickedness even to an open Scorn and Contempt not barely of Christianity but of any kind of Religion For many who have long denied the Power seem to be grown weary of the very Form of Godliness unless it serves some particular End and Design So that if we look abroad in the World we find little Regard shew'd to the Precepts of Christ and yet those who commit these things call Christ Lord Lord. What is the meaning of all this gross Hypocrisie Nothing would have been thought more Absurd or Ridiculous than for one who used no kind of Abstinence to be thought a Pythagorean or one that indulged his Passions à Stoick or one who eats Flesh and drinks Wine a Brachman or Banian It is really as much for any one to break the known and particular Precepts of Christ and yet desire to be thought a Christian. For a loose profane and debauched Christian is a Contradiction in Morality it is to be a Christian against Christ to call him Lord Lord and yet to defie his Laws and Authority A Star without Light a Guide without Eyes a Man without Reason a Sun with nothing but Spots are not more absurd Suppositions than a Christian without any Grace or Vertue But let us say what we will there are and will be such who will own Christ and call him Lord Lord and yet will not part with their sins for him There were multitudes of such formerly who would lay down their Lives for the Ground he trod on and yet would not mortifie one Sin for his sake The Reason is still the same which our Saviour mentions they hope that calling him Lord Lord will make amends for all and yet it is not possible that fairer warning should be given to any than he hath given in this Case that let them pretend what they will he will say to them at â—he great Day Depart from me all ye workers of Iniquity O dreadful Sentence Not to be mention'd without Horrour not to be thought upon without Astonishment How miserable for ever miserable must their condition be whom Christ at that day shall bid to Depart from him What is this some will be apt to say but to put all Christians into utter Despair For who is there that can say that he hath done all that Christ hath said Truly we have a sufficient Ground for deep Humility and serious Repentance and timely Reformation But there is a great difference between the Failing of our Duty and the Works of Iniquity between the Infirmities of those who sincerely endeavour to do his Will and the Presumptuous Sins of those who despise it between Sins committed and heartily repented of and Sins habitually practised and continued in without any Marks of Amendment Such must go out of this World in a State of Sin and therefore can expect nothing but that dreadfull Sentence which I tremble at the very thoughts of Repeating But there are others who in the sincerity of â—heir Hearts have endeavour'd to do his Will and whose Sincerity will be so far accepted by him that he will say to them at that Day Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World To which God of his infinite Mercy bring us through the Mediation of Christ Jesus our Lord. SERMON VIII Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL March the 13 th 1691 2 Romans VIII 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace IN thâ—se Words is imply'd a Distribution of Mankind into those who are carnally and spiritually minded which Distinction is so large and comprehensive as to take in all sorts and conditions of Men and of so great Moment and Importance that their Life or Death Happiness or Misery depend upon it But considering the Mixture of Good and Evil in Mankind it is not an easie matter to set the Bounds of the carnal and spiritual Mind and considering the frequent Impunity and Security of bad Men and the Fears and Troubles which the best are not exempted from it seems next to impossible to make out at least as to this Life that to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Yet our Apostle doth
said he doubted he could not Why then said the Philosopher smiling are not you ashamed to be guilty of so much Folly as to be so exceedingly cast down under such a Calamity as though you were the only Person in the World that underwent it This was agreeable enough to his Humour in exposing the Folly of Mankind which was a Subject large enough for his whole Life but he was too pleasant upon it I do not deny but the Moralists did find out some very usefull Considerations to bear Men up under the common Accidents of Life but those of greatest Moment were such as are much improved by Christianity viz. the Wisdom of Providence the Usefulness of Trials the Benefit of Patience and the Expectation of a better State 2. As to voluntary and chosen Sufferings We have in Scripture several extraordinary Instances of this kind of Magnanimity such as Abraham's leaving his Kindred and Country and going he knew not whither on God's Command and his readiness to sacrifice his Son which argued an entire Sacrifice of himself to the Will of God Such was Moses his choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Pharaob's Court Such was the Son of God's choosing to suffer for our sakes with admirable Resignation to the Divine Will and praying for his Persecutors under the greatest Agonies on the Cross. Such was the Apostle's Resolution and Courage when they rejoyced to be accounted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ when they were more than Conquerors in the midst of Persecutions And truly the Magnanimity of Suffering rather than Sinning was never so much shewn to the World as in the Case of the Primitive Christians There were some few Heroick Instances of Suffering for Truth among the Heathens but they were no more to be compared with the numerous Examples of the Primitive Church than the Miracles of the Vestal Virgins were with those of the Apostles It could not but amaze the common sort of Spectators of Rome who were wont to see the Gladiators who were either hired or condemned to that cruel Entertainment of others with their blood to behold a sort of grave and serious Persons expose themselves to so much Torment and Cruelty when so small a matter as burning a little Incense would set them free This was a new Spectacle to the World and it could not but put them upon thinking what strange sort of Philosophy this was which inspired ordinary Persons with such a Magnanimity in suffering They had never found those who pretended to Philosophy among them very fond of Suffering for the Doctrine they taught They rather liked the Example of Aristotle than Socrates who when the People of Athens were enraged against him withdrew to Chalcis and when he was upbraided with it made a witty Excuse that he had no mind the City of Athens should sin twice against Philosophy Whereas the Christians were so forward to suffer for their Doctrine that it was imputed as a Fault to them and it appears by Tertullian that some out-went the bounds of Christianity in offering themselves too freely to it This made such as Antoninus and others impute all their Sufferings to an invincible Obstinacy and a sort of Madness which possessed them which had been easily confuted if they would have had the Patience to have examin'd the Reasons and Grounds of their Religion as they did the peculiar Doctrines of the several Sects of Philosophers But this is not all which Christian Magnanimity doth imply for it is not only a Spirit of Power but of Love and of a sound Mind And so it hath II. A Respect to the Humours and Passions of Men. And truly there is such a Variety and uncertainty in them so much Folly and Mistake so much Prejudice and Peevishness in some so much Wilfulness and Stiffness in others so little Regard to the true Interests of Religion and Vertue under all the Pretences to it that those who sincerely desire to promote them had need of Magnanimity to bear them up against such Humours and Distempers of Men's minds Aristotle hath well observed that Magnanimity doth go beyond the Consideration of Dangers It makes a man more ready to do Kindnesses than to receive them and to forget Injuries I add and to forgive them for else it is rather want of Memory than Magnanimity It is well he adds one thing viz. that he that hath Magnanimity is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Contented within himself so he had need to be for he will find very little Satisfaction abroad especially in an Age when Sincerity is almost lost when Men have used themselves to so much Hypocrisie and Dissimulation with God and Man that they can zealously pretend to love what they would be glad to ruine and cry up Peace and Unity only to get an Opportunity to destroy them But still true Magnanimity keeps a Man's own mind at Ease and makes him to govern himself as the same Philosopher observes with due Temper and Moderation in all things Such a one is not only easie to himself but to all others as far as is consistent with his Duty For a mind truly great hath nothing of Bitterness or Sowerness Peevishness or Ill-will to the rest of mankind All malice and cruelty argue a mean and base Spirit The more noble and generous any Tempers are the more tender and compassionate they are the more ready to oblige the more easie to forgive the more willing to be reconciled But to be more particular there are two things implied in this Spirit of Love and of a sound Mind 1. The making all reasonable Allowances for the Infirmities of others It makes men to consider the Prejudices of Education the Variety and Weakness of most men's Judgments the Power of Perswasion the Biass of Parties and the Shame and Reâ—roach which Persons undergo that break off from them after they have been once ensnared by them On these Accounts it makes them rather pity than triumph over the Follies of mankind There are two things which a great mind doth most abhorr in Religion and are most directly contrary to a Spirit of Love and a sound Mind and these are Hypocrisie and Cruelty which make men false to God and Enemies to mankind These two often go together and although they are masked under a Pretence of Religion yet there are no two things more opposite to the true Spirit and Design of it St. John concludes that man to have no true Love to God who doth not love his Brother He that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen And we may argue the other way If a man doth not love God how can he love his Brother When the Love of God is the best Foundation for Charity and Kindness to our Brethren who were at first made after the Image of God and have it again renewed in them by the
incomprehensible Mysteries how a Man by Nature can be a God really and truly by Office how the incommunicable Perfections of the Divine Nature can be communicated to a Creature how God should give his Glory to another and by his own Command require that to be given to a Creature which himself had absolutely forbidden to be given to any besides himself It is said by a famous Jesuiâ— I will not say how agrecably to their own Doctrines and Practices about Divine Worship that the Command of God cannot make him worthy of Divine Worship who without such a Command is not worthy of it And it is very absurd to say that he that is unworthy of it without a Command â—an become worthy by it for it makes God to command Divine Honour to be given to one who cannot deserve it For no meer Man can desâ—rve to be made God But it is more agreeable to the Divine Nature and Will not to give his Honour to a Creature 3. But after all the Invectives of these Enemies to Mysteries we do not make that which we say is Incomprehensible to be a Necessary Article of Faith as it is Incomprehensible but we do assert that what is Incomprehensible as to the Manner may be a Necessary Article as far as it is plainly revealed As in the Instances I have already mentioned of the Creation and Resurrection of the Dead would they in earnest have Men turn Infidels as to these things till they are able to comprehend all the Difficulties which relate to them If not why should this suggestion be allow'd as to the Mysteries which relate to our Redemption by Jesus Christ If it be said the Case is not alike for those are clearly revealed and these are not this brings it to the true and proper Issue of this Matteâ— and if we do not prove a clear Revelation we do not assert their being Necessary Articles of Faith but my present business was only to take off this Objection that the Mâ—steries were incomprehensible and therefore not to be received by us II. And so I come to the second Way by which we are to examine the several Senses of Christ Jesus coming to save Sinners Which of them tends more to the Benefit and Advantage of Mankind or which is more worthy of all Acceptation And that will appear by considering these things 1. Which tends most to the raising our Esteem and Love of Christ Jesus 2. Which tends most to the begetting in us a greater Hatred of Sin 3. Which tends most to the strengthening our Hope of Salvation by Jesus Christ. 1. As to the raising in us a greater Esteem and Love of Christ. We are certain that the Infinite Love and Condâ—â—cension of Christ Jesus in undertaking such a Work as the saving of Sinners makes it most worthy of all Acceptation Some Men may please themselves in thinking that by taking away all Mysteries they have made their Faith more easie but I am certain they have extremely lessen'd the Argument for our Love viz. the Apprehensions of the wonderfull Love and Condescension of Christ in coming into the World to save Sinners And yet this is the great Argument of the New Testament to perswade Mankind to the Love of God and of his Son God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. This is indeed a mighty Argument of Love if by the only begotten Son be meant the Eternal Son of God who came down from Heaven as St. John speaks just before but if no more be meant but only that God made a meer Man to be hâ—s Son and after he had preached a while here on Earth and was ill used and crucified by his own People he exalted him to be God and gave him Divine Attributes and Honâ—urs this were an Argument of great Love to the Person of Christ but not to the rest of Mankind But God's Love in Scripture is magnified with respect to the World in the sending of his Son In this was manifested saith the Apostle the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the World that we should live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our Sins The great Love we still see is towards us i. e. towards Mankind but according to the other Sense it must have been herein was the Love of God manifested to his Son that for his Sufferings he exalted him above all Creatures He that spared not his own Son saith St. Paul but deliver'd him up for us all If he were the Eternal Son of God who came to suffer for us there is a mighty Force and Emphasis in this Expression and very apt to raise our Admiration and our Love but what not sparing his own Son is there if nothing were meant but that he designed by Sufferings to exalt him For not sparing him supposes an Antecedent Relation of the highest Kindness but the other is only designing extraordinary Kindness for the sake of his Sufferings Therefore the Argument for the Love of God is taken from what his Son was when he deliver'd him up for us all he was his own Son not by Adoption as others are St John calls him his only begotten Son and God himself his beloved Son in the Voice from Heaven and this before his Sufferings immediately after his Baptism when as yet there was nothing extraordinary done by him as to the great Design of his coming Which shews that there was an Antecedent Relation between him and the Father and that therein the Love of God and of Christ was manifested that being the only begotten Son of the Father he should take our Nature upon him and for our sakes do and suffer what he did This is indeed an Argument great enough to raise our Admiration to excite our Devotion to inflame our Affections but how flat and low doth it appear when it comes to no more than this that there was a Man whom after his Sufferings God raised from the Dead and made him a God by Office Doth this carry any such Argument in it for our Esteem and Love and Devotion to him as the other doth upon the most serious Consideration of it 2. Which tends most to beget in us a greater Hatred of Sin For that is so contrary to the Way of our Salvation by Jesus Christ that what tends most to our Hatred of it must conduce most to our Happiness and â—herefore be most worthy of all Acceptation It is agreed on all hands that Christ did suffer very much both in his Mind and in his Body In his Mind when it is said that he was troubled in Spirit that he began to be sorrowfull and very heavy and soon after My Soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death St. Luke saith that he was in an Agony wherein he not only prayed more
The Right Reverend EDW. STILLINGFLEET D. D. Lord Bishop of Worcester THIRTEEN SERMONS Preached on Several Occasions Three of which never before Printed By the Right Reverend Father in God EDWARD Lord Bishop of Worcester The Third VOLUME LONDON Printed by J. H. for Henry Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1698. THE CONTENTS SERMON I. ST Luk. XV. 18. I will arise and go to my Father and will say to him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee pag. 1 SERMON II. Coloss. II. 6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him p. 40 SERMON III. Pet. IV. 18. And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear p. 91 SERMON IV. Eccles. XI 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into Judgment p. 132 SERMON V. 2 Tim. I. 7. For God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear but of Power and of Love and of a sound Mind p. 169 SERMON VI. 1 Tim. I. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief p. 209 SERMON VII St. Luk. VI. 46. And why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say p. 255 SERMON VIII Rom. VIII 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace p. 294 SERMON IX St. John III. 17. For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved p. 336 SERMON X. St. Jam. IV. 17. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doth it not to him it is Sin p. 375 SERMON XI St. Matth. XXVI 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into Temptation the Spirit indeed is willing but the Flesh is weak p. 413 SERMON XII Acts XXVI 8. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the Dead p. 453 SERMON XIII Eccles. VII 16. Be not Righteous overmuch neither make thy self over wise Why shouldst thou destroy thy self p. 490 ERRATA Page 107. line 5. for These read There p. 238. l. 17. dele from Yet to l. 21st p. 284. l. 21st for or r. we p. 296. l. 25. for Lord r. Law p. 298. l. 14. put out â— p. 344. l. 9. dele little p. 417. l. 7. for heatedness r. heartedness p. 418. l. 18. for Weakness r. Willingness p. 434. l. 18. For Truce r. Time p. 463. l. 1st before of put in out p. 464. l. 17. for Sea r. Sun p. 483. l. 25. for Laws r. Lives p. 485. l. 24. after now put apt p. 490. Sermon 13. In the Text for lover r. over p. 496. l. 29. before To put in 1. p. 501. l. 17. before known insert have p. 503. l. 6. blot out that p. 506. l. 22. for gain r. again p. 507. l. 1st for This r. Thus. p. 508. l. 27. for indanger r. indulge p. 509. l. 6. for Molochi r. Moloch p. 522. l. 7. for exasperate r. extenuate p. 528. l. 16. for Solitude r. Solicitude SERMON I. Preached at WHITE-HALL February the 19 th 1685 6 St. Luke XV. 18. I will arise and go to my Father and will say to him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee IN the foregoing Verse we find the Prodigal Son so far awakened and come to himself as to be sensible of the miserable Condition he had brought himself into by his own folly and wickedness But before he came to this there is a remarkable Turn in the Course of his Life set down by our Saviour in the beginning of this excellent Parable For he was first very impatient of being under the wise Conduct of his Father and thought he could manage his own Affairs far more to his Contentment and Satisfaction if he were but permitted to use his Liberty and were not so strictly tyed up to the grave and formal Methods of living observed and required in his Father's House Which might pass for Wisdom in Age and be agreeable enough to such whose Life and Vigour were decayed and who were now to maintain their Authority over their Children by seeming to be so much wiser than they But it is a rare thing for Youth and Age to agree in the Opinion of Wisdom For it is not the Care the Experience the Judgment of a wise and tender Father that can allay the Heats or calm the Passions or over-rule the violent Inclinations of Youth but whatever it cost them afterwards some will be still trying the Experiment whether it doth not more conduce to the happiness of Life to pursue their own Fancies and Designs than to hearken to another's Directions though a Father's whose Circumstances are so much different from their own Thus our Blessed Saviour represents in the Parable this young Prodigal as weary of being rich and easie at Home and fond of seeing the Pleasures of the World and therefore nothing would satisfie him unless he were intrusted with the Stock which was intended for him that he might shew the difference between his Father's Conduct and his own And this very soon appear'd for this hopefull Manager had not been long abroad but he wasted his substance with riotous living And to make him the more sensible of his Folly there happened a more than ordinary Scarcity which made his low and exhausted Condition more uneasie to him But the Sense of Shame was yet greater with him than that of his â—olly and whatever shifts he underwent he would by no means yet think of returning home but rather chose to submit to the meanest and basest Employment in hopes to avoid the Necessity of it But at last Reason and Consideration began to work upon him which is called his coming to himself and then he takes up a Resolution to go home to his Father and to throw himself at his Feet to confess his fault ingenuously and freely and to beg pardon for his former Folly in hopes of Forgiveness and Reconciliation I will arise and go to my Father and say to him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee Under this Parable our Saviour sets forth the state of a Sinner 1. In his wilfull degeneracy from God his Father both by Creation and Providence his uneasiness under his just and holy Laws his impatience of being restrained by them his casting off the Bonds of Duty to him and running into all kind of Disorders without regard to God or his own Soul 2. In the dissatisfaction he found in his evil Courses being very much disappointed in the great Expectations he had in the Pleasures of Sin wasting his health interest reputation estate and above all the Peace and Tranquillity of his Mind which was
Assistance to sincere and humble Minds And that Assistance carries a Lumen Fidei into the Mind as Aquinas calls it 2. 2. a 3 ad 2. and by that he saith the Mind is united to Truth that its Assent is only fixed upon it and therefore there is no danger of Damnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and are thus illuminated by Faith in him Not that this is an Argument to convince others who have not that inward Sense which they have but the same Holy Spirit which did at first indite them may give such an inward and effectual Testimony as to the Truth of the Matter contained in them that from thence they may firmly conclude these Books to contain the Word of God And that Assurance which the Minds of good Men have from the Influence of Divine Grace may be more effectual and powerfull in them than all the pretended Infallibility or Demonstration in the World It is certain those cannot be deceived whom the Holy Spirit teacheth and the best and wisest of the Antient Schoolmen did make the great firmness and certainty of Faith not to depend on outward Motives but on inward Grace which so inlightned the Mind and fixed the Inclinations of the Soul that nothing is able to remove it This sort of Faith is no blind Assent but after all the Evidence which it hath to make its Assent reasonable it takes so fast a hold of Divine Truths by discerning the excellency and value of them that he that hath it is willing to let go any thing rather than that and although the Apprehension of Faith be not so clear as that of Science yet the Hypostasis as the Apostle calls it may be so firm that no Temptations may be able to shake it And he that can die for his Religion hath a stronger and better Fâ—ith than he that thinks himself never so infallible in the Grounds of it That is a true Divine Faith which purifies the Heart and thereby enlightens the Mind which works by Love and not by cavilling and wrangling about the Grounds of it which overcomes the World and not that which is overcome by the Temptations of it And such a Faith and only such a one will carry us to Heaven when if it were possible for us to have the utmost Infallibility in the Act of believing yet if it did not work effectually on our Hearts and Lives we might go infallibly to Hell And so I shall conclude this Discourse with the second Sense of the Obligation which lies on those who have received Christ Jesus the Lord so to walk in him i. e. to improve their sound Faith into the Practice of a good Life For alas What advantage will it be to us to have the most Primitive and Apostolical Faith if our Works be not answerable to it Why call ye me Lord Lord saith Christ and do not the things which I say Why do we pretend to receive Christ Jesus the Lord if we do not observe his Commands It is good saith St. Paul to be zealously affected always in a good thing And no doubt our Faith is such but then let us be zealous of good Works too that we may shew our selves to be that peculiar People who are redeemed by Jesus Christ. So that our Obligation arises every way from Christ Jesus the Lord to walk in him if we consider him as our Lord so we are to obey him if as Christ Jesus so he died for us to redeem us from all iniquity We can have no pretence to live in our sins if we have received him who commands us to forsake them for then we receive and reject him at the same time Let every one that names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity saith St. Paul what should those then do that profess to receive him as their Lord who are thereby bound to yield obedience to his Laws one of the great causes of the Degeneracy of the Heathen World was the separating Religion and Morality when this was left to the Schools of Philosophers to instruct men in whereas their Religion consisted only of some Solemn Rites and Sacrifices Let us have a care of as dangerous a Separation between Faith and Works or which is all one between receiving Christ and doing his Will For those are the proper Works of the Gospel wherein we own Christ as our Lord and do them because he commands us And the Apostle hath summ'd up the whole Duty of Christians in those comprehensive words Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. To whom c. SERMON III. Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL February the 22 d 1688 9. 1 Pet. IV. 18. And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear THis Epistle was written by S. Peter for the Incouragement of Christians under all their Sufferings but these Words seem to carry so much Terrour and Severity in them as though none but Martyrs and Confessors could have any Reason to hope for Salvation and all others were to be left in Despair Although Mankind be not easily satisfied concerning the Punishment denounced against the Ungodly and Sinner yet the Justice of God the Equity of his Commands the Freedom of their Choice the Contempt of Grace and their wilfull and obstinate Impenitency take away all just Cause of Complaint But that the Righteous should scarcely be saved seems hardly reconcilable with the Grace and Design and Promises of the Gospel For the Righteous here are not vain proud self-conceited Hypocrites such who think they need no Repentance but such who by the Grace of God were brought off from their former Sins and were redeemed from their vain Conversation with the precious Blood of Christ who had purified their Souls in obeying the Truth through the Spirit Who were a chosen Generation a royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People yet of such as these it is said if the Righteous scarcely be saved But how can this agree with the infinite Goodness and Mercy of God declared in the Gospel whereby Sinners are courted and encouraged to repent with the Hopes and Promise of Salvation Did not Christ come to save Sinners and St. Paul call this a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation and yet after all shall the Righteous scarcely be saved What Joy in Heaven can there be over one Sinner that repents if after his Repentance it be so hard to come to Heaven Doth not Christ himself invite those who are weary and heavy laden to come to him with a Promise that he will give rest to their Souls But what Rest can they have who notwithstanding their coming to him do with so much difficulty attain to Eternal Rest How can that
such a Case the Mind cannot be at ease till it be done So that the very Difficulty of Repentance lays the Foundation for greater Peace of Mind afterwards And who will think much of such a Difficulty which is so necessary to Peace with God and his own Conscience 2. The love of God above all things This is so fundamental a Duty that we cannot place our Happiness in God without it For if we do not love God above all things we must love somewhat else so and whatever we love above all things that we make our Happiness But I am affraid the greatest Part of the World love all things above him For we are to judge of Men's love and esteem by what they court and pursue and desire and delight in it is impossible there should be such a Love of God where the Stream of the Affections and Course of Actions run quite another way I mean to the Vanities of this World of which the Apostle hath said If any Man loves it the love of the Father is not in him But this is a hard Point For some degree of love to this World is allowable else how can we thank God for the Comforts of it And all Persons who know God do grant that his Perfections are far above all the World and therefore they seem to have a Value and Esteem for him above it We must here distinguish a notional Esteem from that which is Practical A notional Esteem implies no more than a mere Conviction that God must exceed all the Excellencies which are scattered in the Creatures but a practical Esteem is when the Acts of our Souls towards him are suitable to the Apprehensions we have in our Minds concerning him When we adore his infinite Perfections and delight in the Meditation of them when we desire to do all things pleasing to him and avoid what we know to offend him when we believe and hope and trust in him and commit our selves to his Conduct in this World in hopes of being happy with him in another This is the Love of God above all things but alas Where is this Love of God to be found It is no very hard Matter to work up a heated and devout Imagination to the Fancy of Raptures and Ecstasies and Mystical Unions but after all This is the love of God that we keep his Commandments As the true Love of a Prince is not to flatter and admire him and watch for his Smiles but to observe his Directions and obey his Orders and to do what is most for his Service And although such a Love of God be hard to those whose hearts are full of carnal Affections and are taken up with the Follies and Vanities of this World yet we cannot take one true step in the way to Heaven without the Love of God For even those who have most corrupted the Doctrine of Repentance do confess that there can be no true Contrition for Sin which is not founded on the Love of God as the Principle of it and however they have dangerously flattered and deceived those who are so weak to believe them that Attrition with the Sacrament of Penance is sufficient to put Men into the State of Grace yet St. Peter's Keys must have an extraordinary Virtue if they can change Nature into Grace or Fear into Love or mere Horrour of Conscience into true Repentance But although such a Love of God above all things be so hard a thing to Minds prepossessed with the Love of other things yet no one can deny that it is the most reasonable Duty in the World The very Thoughts of God if they are such as we ought to have imply that he is the best the wisest the most perfect Being and therefore the most amiable and desirable Object And whither then should the most Natural Stream of our Affections run but towards him What do we mean to suffer so much Earth and Filthiness to obstruct the free Passage of them in their most proper Course What can we meet with in this deceitfull World that can bear the least Proportion to such infinite Goodness Oh what a difference is there between our Reason and our Love We verily believe that God deserves our Love above all things and yet how small a share hath he in it We love what we profess to despise above all things viz. our Sins and this vain World and we really too much despise what we still profess to love above all things viz. God and our Eternal Happiness O miserable Condition of Humanity Made to be happy and yet fond of Misery loving what 's vain and yet despising Vanity hating what 's good and yet accounts it best and therefore fittest for our Choice and Love The Love of God above all things is so just and reasonable that those who do it least approve it as the most excellent Imployment of our Minds and those that do it most think they fall short of what God deserves from them The more we know of God the more we know that we ought to love and delight in him and all our Difficulty in the Practice of it can never make us think it is unreasonable to love him above all things without whom nothing can make us happy and who alone can do it 3. Universal Holiness of Heart and Life If this were not necessary to Salvation our Apostle would not have pressed it with so much earnestness as he doth As obedient Children not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all Manner of Conversation because it is written be ye holy for I am holy Again Dearly beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the Soul And again That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of Men but to the Will of God This is a hard saying to Mankind who part with nothing so hardly as with their Sins yet these must be parted with if ever we hope to get to Heaven I do not say that a Perfection in Holiness is required for that were to suppose Happiness in this World since there can be no perfect Holiness without it but there must be a constant uniform and sincere Endeavour after it by avoiding all known and wilfull Sins and doing all our Duties to God in such a Manner as our Conscience cannot charge us with gross Neglect or Insincerity There are some things we cannot say are down-right Sins yet if they lead to them if they indispose our Minds to God and his Service if they tend to Lightness and Vanity and make us more easie to entertain the Devil's Temptations we ought to avoid them as the Snares of the Devil So on the other side there are some things which we cannot say are plain and express and necessary Duties of Religion yet they tend so much
God if the want of knowing him be not through their own Fault Assoon as they know God they confess that they are bound to love him but are they not bound to know him assoon as they are capable What allowance may be made in the Cases of gross Ignorance or natural Stupidity we are not concerhed to enquire but we now speak of those who have all Advantages and Opportunities of knowing God betimes and as to such their Ignorance is so far from being an Excuse that it is their Sin And that can never excuse from a Fault but when it is no Fault to be ignorant But Not to know God when Persons know so many other things in the World besides him is so much greater a Fault because all those other things lead them to the Knowledge of him So that I take it for granted that no Man of Understanding can avoid the Knowledge of God without shutting his Eye against the clearest Light without darkening his Understanding by unreasonable Prejudices without Confusion of Thought and Perplexity of Mind without groundless Imaginations and ridiculous Suppositions and most commonly not without very disorderly Passions and vicious Habits which make the very Thoughts of God uneasie to his Mind But suppose we do own and believe a God are we bound always to be thinking of him Must we spend our time in Contemplation of him and neglect all our Affairs here If not what are the bounds of our Duty which we may not omit without Sin There are two things which are necessary for us to do with respect to God in our Minds 1. To have frequent and serious Thoughts of him without which it will be impossile to keep our Minds in that Temper which they ought to be in For the Thoughts of God keep up a vigorous Sense of Religion inflame our Devotion calm our Passions and are the most powerfull Check against the Force of Temptations And therefore we ought to allow our selves fit Times of Retirement for Recollection and Consideration wherein we draw in our Thoughts from the Business and Impertinencies of this Life and even these go a great way in that which looks like Business that we may converse with God and our own Minds And those who do not sometimes withdraw from the Noise and Hurry the Dust and Confusion of this World must be great Strangers both to God and themselves and mind any thing rather than their chiefest Interest But I am afraid there are too many among us of whom the Psalmist's words are too true God is not in all their thoughts I wish there were not some who would make good another Reading of those words viz. All their thoughts are there is no God But I think not so much their deliberate Thoughts as their Wishes and Desires But those can never alter the Nature of things and therefore the wisest thing they can do is to make the Thoughts of God desirable to them and that can be only by reconciling themselves to him by a hearty and sincere Repentance 2. We are always bound to have an habitual Temper and Disposition of Mind towards God This is that which is commonly called the Love of God and is opposed to the Love of Sin Which doth not consist in sudden and transient Acts of Complacency and Delight in him but in a firm Purpose and Resolution of Mind to obey him The Jews think that the fundamental Precept of the Law as to the Love of God with all their heart and soul and strength goes no farther than that they should do that which the Law requires as to the Worship and Service of God But certainly the Love of God must go deeper and rise higher or else it will never come up to the great Design of Religion which is not only to do those outward Acts of Service which he commands and expects from us but to bring our Souls nearer to him to make him our chief End and to direct the Course of our Lives and the Acts of our Obedience in order to it Now this is a Duty towards God so necessary to our Happiness that we must be always obliged to it and at all times although it be an Affirmative Precept For the true Reason of the Difference of Obligation is from the Nature of the Commands and not from the Manner of Expressing them either Negatively or Affirmatively The Reason of the perpetual Obligation of Negative Precepts is that it can never be lawfull to do what God forbids but it may be sometimes lawfull to omit what he requires because the Circumstances may make it not to be a Duty at that time But when an Affirmative Precept is of that Nature that no Circumstances can alter the Obligation of it then it binds as much as a Negative And so it is as to the Command of true Repentance and turning from the Love of Sin to the Love of God for no Man can be in such Circumstances wherein he is not bound to do it But as to particular Acts of Repentance and of the Love of God supposing that habitual Temper the Obligation of them is according to the proper Seasons and Occasions of them When a Sinner is conscious to himself of fresh Acts of Sin he is bound to renew his Repentance and the Omission of it adds to his Guilt and when God calls Men to Repentance in a more than ordinary Manner by strong Convictions of Conscience or some awakening Providence or by some solemn Times of Fasting he is guilty of a farther Aggravation of his Sin if he neglects those Seasons of performing the proper Acts of Repentance But suppose we do know God and have this habitual Love to him as our chief End doth this come up to all that Mankind owes to God Do we know him and love him and serve him as we ought to do Do we not fail in the Manner and Degree of those very Duties which we in some Measure perform And are not these Failings Omissions And will not these Omissions be charged upon us as Sins How then can Mankind hope to escape the Wrath of God against those who continue in the Practice of Sin To answer this we must distinguish between Omission as a Defect and as a Wilfull Sin We must say as St. James doth In many things we offend all and in all things I am afraid we offend some way or other if God would be exact to mark what is done amiss But here lies the main Point as to this Matter how far God will charge those things upon us as Omissions which in us come rather from want of Power than of Will to do them I do not mean of Natural Faculties for those we have entire but of Moral Power i. e. of such a Measure of Divine Grace as will enable us to do things beyond the Imperfection and Infirmity of our present State which in this fallen Condition is like that of a Man under a Dead-Palsie who hath all the
otherwise but in a way agreeable to infinite Wisdom and Righteousness If these were not the Perfections of his Nature he could not be God and if they be he can never do any thing repugnant to them And as long as we own him to be God we must allow his Wisdom and Righteousness in all he doth 3. He hath declared That he will give satisfaction to all Mankind concerning the Secrets of his Providence But not in this World and therefore we ought with Patience to wait for the day of the Revelation of the righteous judgment of God It is then great Boldness and Presumption in us to censure his Proceedings before that day comes And so I pass to the second Sense 2. These words may be taken with respect to Religion and here it is necessary to shew in what Sense this is to be understood For those who have no love to Religion think a little too much and are glad to find such Expressions as these to justifie their gross Neglect and Contempt of it But to prevent Mistakes I shall endeavour these things To fhew that if Religion be rightly understood there is no fear of Men's doing too much in it 2. That by reason of Mens Mistakes and false Notions about it they may easily exceed their due Bounds 1. That if Religion be rightly understood there is no Danger of exceeding the Bounds of it That I may speak more distinctly we are to consider Religion in general as comprehending all the Duties we owe to God which are of a different Nature 1. There are some Duties which are fundamental and necessary in our Minds without which we can have no Religion such are the owning God for our Creator and Governour and depending upon him for our Happiness 2. Some are External and Occasional which being positive Duties are capable of different Obligations according to the Circumstances of Persons And according to these we may lay down two Rules 1. None can do too much as to inward and fundamental Duties of Religion 2. None can do too much as to the external and positive Duties while they keep to that Obligation which God hath laid upon them or they have justly laid on themselves 1. As to internal and fundamental Duties as owning God and our Dependence upon him for our Happiness as being the Supreme Good and therefore only capable of making us Happy And there is so great a Necessity of this in order to our Welfare that we cannot exceed in it since we are his Creatures and are utterly unable to make our selves in the least Happy without him And if we take this Dependence upon God in all the parts of it we shall find we cannot go beyond our Duty in it For it implies these things 1. A clear and strong Conviction of our Minds that God alone can make us Happy And this we can never be too much convinced of yea all the Arguments in the World are few enough to settle our Minds about it Which appears by the great Pains the wise Man takes in this Book to convince Mankind that there is nothing but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit to be found here This he delivers upon his own Experience after all the Searches and Pain and Care and Contrivances he had used about it And after that he gives an account of the several Conditions of Life and shews that there is no Satisfaction to be had in any of them and he puts the utmost can be supposed that a Man enjoy a long and prosperous Life yet that is so inconsiderable to the future State that it bears no Proportion and therefore we ought to look above and beyond this State if we would be Happy 2. A due Sense of God upon our Minds which he calls remembring our Creator For although there be sufficient Evidence of his Being yet we are too apt to forget him there being so many other things to put him out of our Minds and therefore at all times we need to be called upon to remember our Creator but especially in the time of Youth when the Vanities and Pleasures and Temptations of the World have the greatest relish with us and when the things of Religion are most apt to be despised yet even then we cannot be too much put in mind of our Duty with respect to God Because an early Sense of God will prevent a deal of Evil and lay a Foundation for the greatest Peace of our Minds and the best Conduct of our Peace 3. A constant regard to God in the Course of our Actions Not meerly that we ought to be concerned for his Honour on whom we depend but we must consider what he hath commanded and what he hath forbidden and upon what Terms For God ought to prescribe to us the Conditions of our Happiness and it is a vain thing to expect it in any other way Therefore we can never be too solicitous about such things which our eternal Happiness depends upon Because a miscarriage herein is the most fatal We cannot be too much concerned about the Sincerity of our Repentance and Faith and Obedience to Christ because these are the plain and necessary Conditions of our Salvation and we cannot watch our selves too much against the Temptations to Sin which is the greatest Enemy to our Happiness and yet we are in continual Danger of falling into it and of continuing it And when the Danger is so great so near so constant we can never exceed in the Watchfulness and Care of our selves 4. Inward Love and Affection to God without which there can be no Happiness in him For that must suppose Union and mutual Satisfaction But how can we possibly exceed in this when God deserves so much more than we can give him And he requires no less from us than our whole Heart and Soul and Strength Which doth not only imply Integrity but Vigour in our Affection towards him And to content our selves with a mean degree of Love is to shew that we neither know nor esteem him as we ought for the more we known him we must love him the more So that in the great and fundamental Duties of Religion we can never do too much 5. Patient Submission to the Will of God under all the Accidents of Life The utmost Care we can use cannot alter the common Methods of Providence and here all things happen alike to all Therefore we cannot too much wean our selves from the uncertain Comforts of this Life nor too much resign our selves up to God's disposal We have always Passions enough within us to keep us in Exercise and Trials enough without us to put us upon subduing those Passions which are too apt upon every Cross and Disappointment to fly out and to grow uneasie Here is therefore work enough for us to do and is like to be so as long as our Bodies and Souls are together in this State And he that thinks he can do too much in this Work
should resist that which they account the clearest light they have and in so doing they must cast off the immediate Guidance of their Consciences which might have very bad Effects as to the Force and Power of Concience in other things I am afraid many do not impartially weigh and consider things as they ought but when or where did the Generality of Mankind do so he thinks such Scruples are weak and ought to be laid aside but they say they cannot overcome them and they have prayed and searched and used the best means and cannot be satisfied and what can they now do Conscience is really a nice and tender thing and ought not to be handled roughly and severely considering how unaccountable sometimes to others the real Scruples of some Consciences are Although Conscience be a Man's Judgment in order to Practice yet there may be a great strictness of Conscience where there is no strictness of Judgment and Conscience in some Cases is more nice for want of Judgment But what then must we condemn all those who labour under that Distemper And that you count want of Judgment in him he may look on as want of Sincerity in you We have been so long censuring and condemning each other for such things that God seems by his wife Providence to bring the Plea of Scruples of Conscience round that we may learn more Tenderness to each other By which we see that some may really scruple that which others wonder at and that Mens Consciences are not to be measur'd by the same Light for that is a Matter of Admiration to one which is of Scruple to another The best use we can make of this is to pity the Infirmities of Mankind and of those most who are under the Conduct of a mis-guided Conscience because whatever the Action be their Design and Intention is honest and good 2. In putting the worst Construction upon Mens Actions which is directly contrary to that Charity St. Paul so much commends for that not only bears the worst and hopes for the best but where a thing is capable of being made better by a favourable Sense it is ready to give it Now there are many things Men do which are accounted good or evil according to the Intention of the doer of them I do not say That alters the Nature of the Action in it self for what God commands is Good and what he forbids is Evil whatever Mens Intentions be but although a good Intention cannot make a bad Action good yet a bad Intention may make a good Action evil not in it self but to him that doth it And so there are two ways Men may exceed in judging 1. In making no Abatement in an evil Action as to the Person for the goodness of his Intention For altho ' the Action be not good by it yet it is so much less evil and in doubtful Cases it takes much from the Guilt although not where the Command is plain as in the Case of Saul 2. In charging Persons with a bad Intention in a good Action where there is no plain Evidence for then it is but Suspicion and an uncharitable Judgment Our Saviour might justly charge the Pharisees with this as to their Alms and Prayers because he knew their Hearts They laid them open enough to others by their Asfectation and where that is gross and notorious it were weakness and not charity to judge otherwise But where we have no ground for it to judge Men to Act upon bad Principles is being Righteous overmuch or rather being unrighteous and uncharitable 3. In judging Mens Condition towards God from some particular Actions although contrary to the general Course of them Think with your selves what strange and mistaken Judgments you should have past upon David and Ahab if you had been privy to the Adultery and Murder of the one and had seen the Humiliation of the other If you had seen Ahab in his Mortification when he fasted and put on Sackcloth and humbled himself you would have thought him a Saint for he seemed to have been in good earnest for the time And if you had judged of David by those particular Actions you must have concluded him a very bad Man but both these Conclusions had been false because taken up upon too slight and narrow an Inspection The same Case had been as to St. Peter's denial and the Repentance of Judas We must not form our Judgments of others by single and sudden Actions which Persons may fall into by Surprize or sudden Accidents and conclude all the rest to be like but we are to suspend our thoughts for the present and to weigh and compare the Course of a Man's Actions together For so God will judge Mankind and so ought we to judge of one another 4. In judging of Mens spiritual Estate from outward Afflictions which befall them Thus Job's Friends were righteous overmuch when they charged him so deep with Hypocrisie because his Calamities were extraordinary It is natural for such who believe Providence to interpret God's Actions towards Men are either as Marks of his Approbation or Displeasure But God hath no where declared so much and we have no Reason to pass such a Judgment on Men since the wise Man saith No Man can know Love or Hatred by the things which are before him And there is a just Man who perisheth in his Righteousness and a wicked Man that prolongeth his Life in his Wickedness If such had seen a just Man suffering to such a Degree they must have inferr'd that he was Guilty of some secret Wickedness which made God deal so hardly with him but the wise Man saith this was to be Righteous overmuch for God is not to Act according to our Measures He knows what is best and fittest for Men to undergo and he never Acts so as they shall have Cause to complain at last There is a just Man to whom it happeneth according to the work of the Wicked and there is a wicked Man unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the Righteous Therefore it is very unrighteous for us to pronounce any wicked meerly because they undergo greater Sufferings and more pinching Calamities than others There is no judging a Child to be out of his Fathers Love because he corrects him for his Faults as long as there is hopes of Amendment he will do it and when there is none he lets him alone to take his Course but he is then more displeased than ever 5. In judging too easily concerning the Faults and Mis-carriages of others Men shew their severity to others and partiality to themselves this way they think themselves hardly dealt with to be censur'd upon vain and idle Reports and yet they are too apt to do the same thing by others There is a Justice we ought to shew to the Reputation of others which lies here in doing as we think reasonable as others should do by us Some cannot think so