or Aims or Intentions especially in religious Actions This must needs be the intent of our great Master here since we see he finds fault so often with Men that aimed to be seen of Men to have Glory of Men to gain the Applause and Commendations of Men and designed their Profit and Gain in Actions relating to Devotion The Christian that 's free from such sinister Aims in praying praising fasting giving of Alms preaching speaking to others of his Experiences and hath nothing before his Eyes but the Glory of God the good of his Neighbour the peace of his own Conscience and the Salvation of his own Soul may justly be said to be pure in Heart and this is agreeable to that simplicity which we hear so often press'd and which the Apostles did so much rejoyce in 2 Cor. I. 12. Without this our services want that Sincerity which must make them amiable to the searcher of hearts and the Apostle insists upon it Rom. XII 9. when he saith Let love be without dissimulation and since love to God is expressed by our religious exercises it must necessarily follow these must be free from sinister ends which if they be not they fall under the brand and character of Dissimulation 3. A pure heart delights in holy Thoughts These are Meat and Drink to it and such a person delights in thinking of the works of God and the operations of his hands of his will and of his commands of his promises and of his threatnings of his various providences and dispensations of Heaven and eternal happiness These Thoughts wonderfully purifie the heart and keep it clean these keep up the Spirit of Religion and make the soul a fit temple for the Deity to lodge in it 's true there is no man so holy and who lives in the world or hath a lawfull calling but must think of his concerns in the world how to manage them to the good of his family and relations and others such thoughts are very necessary in order to a prudent ordering of our affairs and without doubt are allowable and lawfull for which of you intending to build a tower sits not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it saith our Saviour Luk. XIV 28. But all this may be done and yet the heart delight in holy thoughts in these more than in the other in these for pleasure in the other for necessity to this purpose Solomon The thoughts of the righteous are right Prov. XII 5. but St. Paul more emphatically 2 Cor. IV. 18. We look not so much at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen Looking here is thinking and there is no beholding things invisible but by contemplation of the Heart and Mind Contemplation represents things eternal in lively colours and in seeing these the primitive Believers rejoyced more than in gazing on the riches and glories of this visible world temporal things they thought on by the by but the strength of their thoughts was reserved for the other A pure heart is a heart enamour'd with God a heart that loves nothing like him a soul whose secret desires are after him and whose desires are strong and vehement and though it hath obligations to love the creature yet it is in subordination to him and for him who is altogether lovely a heart which discovers its love not only by external obedience but by inward breathings and sighs and groans which cannot be uttered and loves any thing that belongs to him his word his laws his sacraments his faithfull ministers and those that truly fear him what this inward love is the admirable David describes at large Psal. CXIX and when in this Psalm you read such expressions as these With my whole heart have I sought thee v. 10. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times v. 20. Horror hath taken hold of me because of the wicked that forsake thy law v. 53. The law of thy mouth is dearer unto me than thousands of gold and silver v. 72. my soul fainteth for thy salvation v. 81. O how I love thy law it is my meditation all the day v. 97. How sweet are thy words unto my mouth yea sweeter than honey unto my taste v. 103. I say when you read such expressions as these you may guess at the nature of this love which purifies the heart Cassianus hath an observation which I cannot pass by without making some remarks upon it and it is this That the greatest sign of a pure heart is when that inward purity influences our very dreams and that a man instead of dreaming of trifles and impertinencies dreams of God and spiritual objects The observation seems a little odd because in dreams the fancy plays her Mistress reason because the bodily organs the tools whereby she works are asleep suspending her operations and dreams we know depend much upon the constitution and complexion of the body and yet there is some truth in it for if as Solomon notes Eccles. V. 3. A dream comes through multitude of business Men have been engaged in in the day time or from things they have heard or seen or discours'd of it may very well be that a person who hath got a habit of contemplating things divine and heavenly whose thoughts are taken up all day with spiritual objects may find a tincture of all this in his very dreams and the things he most delighted in and was most conversant with may present themselves to his fancy and there appear in lively shapes and dresses in the night and I do not doubt where a man could arrive to that felicity as to dream for the most part of Heaven and a future Happiness and pray and praise God in his dreams whenever his Imagination wakes in his sleep as it would argue that the person makes religion his business so it would be a very good sign of Purity of heart and that his heart and affections are truly set upon God but I will lay no stress upon this observation because it hath not the Scripture for its guide the characters I have given of the pure in heart are warranted by the word of God and in these we cannot be mistaken and those who are so are certainly blessed But then II. If the pure in heart are blessed those that are not so or will not be so cannot be happy which is the second point I am to speak to and I shall evince it by these following familiar arguments 1. Such persons cannot converse with God in this converse mans happiness consists and the reason why they cannot is because their hearts are impure Can two walk together except they be agreed saith God Amos III. 3. Purity and Impurity are incapable of communion When God converses with man he takes possession of the heart there he dwells there is his seat but if that be impure and full of darkness God avoids the infected place In this
Proportionable The Solitary good Man saves himself but he that is Religious in Society is in a way of saving both himself and those that see him In so wicked an Age as this is good Men had need shew themselves to the World to do something toward the Amendment and Reformation of it And without doubt some good they do and though it is to be wisht that the World were better yet that it is not worse they are beholding to such Examples which shews that some good is done by their Living and Conversing in Babylon III. Were I to speak to Princes to the Nobles to the Gentry of the Nation to Magistrates Ministers and to men in Authority this should be my Text. All such Persons who make some Figure in the World are like a City set upon a Hill to such the nether World the Plebeians the Commonalty and the Ordinary sort of People look up Their Example they take Notice of and these Examples they Ordinarily follow I would tell them that as God hath raised them above the Common level so God expects they should be eminent in Goodness and be as much above all Vice as they are above the common Rank I would tell them that their Sins are spreading and like the Plague destroy whole Cities and Towns I would tell them that in this Case they are more Barbarous than the Tyrants Mankind cries out upon for they lay several mens Consciences waste by their ill Practices which is more than sacking Towns and burning Cities All ye that are advanced to some Government and surely Parents and Masters of Families are so Behold your selves in this Glass according as your Examples are so will your Inferiours be I do not say it is so always but this is ordinarily the Effect of your Behaviour As you are so will your Children and Servants be at least there is Reason to think that so they will be for your Example strangely influences those that are under your Charge and Protection If you sanctify the Lords day both in Publick and Private by letting the Word of God dwell richly among you in all Wisdom Teaching and Admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with grace in your Hearts unto the Lord your Inferiours in time its possible would do so too If you are enemies to Pride to Intemperance to Drunkenness to Swearing there is hopes that your Inferiours will learn of you If you are Grave and Modest and curb your Passions and deny your selves for Heaven and Gods Service it is not improbable that your Inferiours will be wrought upon to make you their Patterns We see they do so in evil Things why should we despair of their following you in that which is good At least you have this Satisfaction that by your Example you shew'd them the Way to the Land which flows with Milk and Honey You will have this Comfort that your Example did not lead them into the Chambers of Death nor make them fling their immortal Souls away All ye that are Professours of Religion that pretend to be holier than ordinary the Eyes of the World will be upon you The least false step you make will be taken notice of See then that you walk Circumspectly as wise Men redeeming the Time because the days are Evil. IV. Such of you whom the Spirit of God hath made free from the Law of Sin you are not only a City set upon a Hill but behold you are come into mount Sion to the heavenly Jerusalem unto the City of the living God and to the innumerable company of Angels as the Apostle saith Heb. XII 18. Behold God hath called you to be Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem called you to be Companions of Angels called you to dwell on the Hill of God on the everlasting Hill How high is your Calling How excellent your Vocation How great the dignity God intends you Your conversation is to be in Heaven and will you mind the Trifles of the Flesh and so mind them as to set your Affections upon them Will you who are Born new Born I mean to an everlasting Kingdom will you be fond of this pitiful transitory World you that are intended for the highest Imployment will you do as the Children of the World do They are from Beneath you are from Above Do Eagles catch Flies and you that are intended to soar above the Clouds will you disgrace your Pedigree and and set your Affections on things Below God intends you as Conquerours and will you suffer your selves to fall a Prey to filthy Temptation and expose your selves to the Contempt and Scorn of the Fowler who Flatters you till he draws you into the Net and then Punishes you for being taken Behold the glorious City the City of our God the City set upon a Hill indeed the City which hath Foundations whose builder and maker is God! Do you hope to be Members of that Community and will you disparage your selves by Actions that will certainly exclude you from that Republick At the Gates of it no unclean Thing shall enter A clean Heart and a clean Life must give you jus Givitatis make you free Denisons of that City and will not you prepare your selves for the Honour of that Naturalization Except you imitate the Manners of the Citizens above you can never hope to be Partners with them in their Glory and what are their Manners Why They love Love is their Trade their Employment their Business their Pleasure their Delight their Satisfaction They love nothing but God or if they love any Thing besides him they love it for his Sake and love God in it Love is their Principle their End their Mark and their Entertainment Love is their Meat and Drink and their Recreation They love Dearly they love Constantly they love Eternally God is love and he dwells in them and they in God To be like them see that ye love him that hath begotten you again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead See that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently See that your love be without dissimulation See that ye love not in Word nor in Tongue but indeed and in truth and when the Thred of your Life shall break that Love which dwelt in you will exalt you to the Regions of perfect Love where the Inhabitants speak of Love and think of Love and sing of Love and tell one another how Christ hath loved them and wash'd them from their Sins with his own Blood To him be Glory forever Amen FINIS * Anno 1641. †So call'ed as some think from Bacchi ara Vid. Misson's Trav. Tom. 1. Lett. 6 * An. 1665. †The Rectory of Doulton in Devonshire ‖ An 1669. * Charles Lodowick Elector Palatine †An 1671. * Plin. l. 1. ep 12. * Varen descript Japon †The learned W. Sclater us'd to call this Distemper to which he himself was much subject Studiosorum flagellum * Before this last Illness of which he died he fell in the year 1678 into along and languishing Sickness occasioned through his indefatigable Application to the Duties and Functions of his Ministry It brought him well nigh to his Grave The good Man ascribed his Recovery under God to the tender Care of his vertuous Wife with whom he always liv'd in great Concord and Union and to the Prayers of pious People put up to Heaven on his behalf as appears from some devout Meditations which he compos'd on that Subject and which have been found since his Decease among his Papers In Thanksgiving to God for his Preservation at that time which he himself look'd on as next to miraculous he kept a Day Monthly in his Family ever after and preach'd yearly a Commemoration Sermon to his beloved Congregation at the Savoy wherein he rehearsed God's Mereies to him and excited others to hope and trust in him in the like Extremities He also distributed largely to the Poor upon that Day This was his constant Method to treasure up God's Providences to him and to sanctifie and improve them not only to his own Use but to the Use and Benefit of others * Hieron vit Hilarion * Platon Axiochus * Vulg. lat in locum †Theophylact on Matth. 24. Crucific Jesus p. 557. †Socrat. Apolog. * Jul. Celsus de vit J. Caesaris * He commenc'd Doctor at Cambridge in the Year 1681. This is mention'd here it having thro'inadvertency been omitted in its proper place Vid. Grot in Loc. Vid. Cornel à Lap. in Luc. G. Leti Vid. Cornel. à Lap. in Jacobi 1. v. ult Pliny
stamped and impressed upon his Soul He imitated God in those two things which one of the Ancients tells us will make us like God viz. speaking truth and bestowing benefits A man of greater simplicity and veracity I never knew and there are multitudes that will witness that he went about doing good He did vow in his Baptism to renounce the Devil the World and Flesh. Some men go no farther All their Religion comes from the Font. This good Man perform'd his Vow he cast out of himself the Evil One and renounced all his Works overcame the World in the noblest sense and subdued and mortified all the sinfull desires of the flesh He was a Conquerour and more than Conquerour He devoted himself intirely and without reservation to the service of his God It was not only his business but his choice and delight his meat and drink I need not say that he was much in Prayers and Fastings in Meditation and heavenly Discourse very frequent in devout Communions in reading and hearing the Word in watchings and great austerities He wisely considered that these were the means and not the end of Religion that these are not godliness but only helps and the way to it He arrived at the end of these things He had an ardent love of God a great Faith in him and was resigned to his Will He had an unspeakable Zeal for his Honour a profound regard to his Word and to his Worship and to all that had the nearest relation to him or did most partake of his image and likeness He was a Man after God's own heart He lived under a most gratefull sense of his Mercies he was governed by his fear and had a lively sense of God's special Care and Providence He had that sense of God's Mercy in giving us his Son to die for us that it was observed of him that when he discoursed of that Argument he used no measure no bounds or limits of his Discourse His heart was so affected with that Argument that he cou'd not put a stop to himself Jesus was his Lord and Master and he had his Life and Example always before him and conformed himself to it in the whole Tenour and Course of his Life His Religion was unaffected and substantial it was genuine and primitive and so great a pattern he was that he might have passed for a Saint even in the first and best times of Christianity He was of the Church of England and a most true Son of that Church and gave the greatest proofs of it Far was he from the Innovations of the Roman Church on the one hand and from Enthusiasm on the other His Writings are a sufficient proof of this I very well know that when the Church of England hath been traduced and disparaged he hath not forborn to make so vigorous a Defence that he lost a very great Man's friendship by it and felt the Effects of it afterwards by the loss of a considerable worldly advantage which he would otherwise have stood very fair for He shewed his Zeal for the Church of England when she was in greatest danger from many Enemies especially from the Church of Rome At that time when some were so wicked as to change their profession and others so tame as to sit still and not to concern themselves when the Enemies were at the Gates for there were too many that professed to be Sons of this Church and do so still who were over-awed and durst not appear with that Courage which God and all good Men might justly have expected from them then did this good Man bestir himself and lifted up his Voice like a Trumpet and undauntedly defended the Church when she most needed it God be praised there were others who did so likewise with great vigour and resolution and great hazard of their liberty and worldly Comforts And many of these had the hard hap to be traduced by their lukewarm Brethren who cry up the Church as if these were not the genuine Sons of this Church It hath not been for the advantage of the Church that those Men have been decried as not genuine Church-men who have done her the greatest service on the other hand some vaunt themselves to be such who have never been any support to their Mother in her greatest distress There are some of these who are like the Images we see in many Churches that are so placed in that bending Posture as if they bore upon their Shoulders the weight of the Building whereas in truth they are only the fancy of the Architect and bear no weight at all The Doctor believed the Doctrine of this Church obeyed her Injunctions and conformed to her Constitutions Headmonished and diligently instructed his Charge kept Multitudes in her Communion and lived up to her holy Rules and was ready to sacrifice all that was dear to him in the World to promote the true Interest of this Church He would not indeed take the Cure of Souls and then put them out to nurse to some cheap and negligent Curate receive the profits and leave another man to take the pains He would not take a Vicarage and swear residence before his Ordinary and afterwards refuse to reside on pretence of some privilege or exempt Jurisdiction c. as very many have done But a Church-man he was notwithstanding Indeed the best of men have been mis-represented And there are a Number of the most useless men that yet in all places are crying up the Church of England but have little regard to her holy Rules I knew two men of the same Faculty in the same neighbourhood They were in their profession very eminent One of these had the Name of a Church of England man the other of a Fanatick And yet it is well known that the first very rarely if at all came to the Church or Communion the other was a great frequenter of both The Doctor was a man of very good Learning He had very goods kill in Languages He had addicted himself to the Arabic from his younger time and retained it in good measure to the last He had great skill in the Hebrew likewise nor was his skill limited to the Biblical Hebrew only in which he was a great Master but he was seen in the Rabbinical also He was a most diligent Reader of the Holy Scriptures in that Language in which they were originally written Sacras literas tractavit indefesso studio This Dr. Spanheim says of him in his youth viz. that he was indefatigable in the Study of the Holy Scriptures He adds that he was then one of an elevated wit of a mind that was cheerfull and covetous of making substantial proficiency And also that he gave a Specimen of it about the year 1659 when he was very young by a publick defending a Dissertation concerning the Vow of Jephtah touching the sacrificing his Daughter This upon his own request and motion he publickly defended with great presence of mind He had very good
burning Lake that will be his Portion As Christ taught his Hearers nothing but what was grave and solid and weighty so the Ministers of the Word must feed their Auditours with solid Food not with Trifles or Legends or dry insipid Stuff but with things that may make them wise unto Salvation This Phrase opening the mouth is sometimes used in Scripture for speaking with boldness and courage in the Name of the Lord as Ephes. VI. 19. Pray for me that I may open my mouth boldly So the Ministers of the Word must not be meally-mouth'd but Cry aloud and spare not lift up their Voices like Trumpets and shew the People of God their Transgressions and the House of Jacob their Sins Isa. LVIII 1. There is no dallying with the sins of Men no complementing their Souls with flattering and enticing Words Their Sores must be rubb'd and Salt and Vinegar thrown into their Wounds where it is so that gentler means will do no good Nor must we fear the anger or displeasure of Men for we have a greater Master to please who will bring forth our Righteousness as the light and our Judgment as the Noon-day nay and make our very Enemies to be at peace with us however if he doth not there is huge comfort in the discharge of a good Conscience to which purpose Christ bids his Messengers or Ministers rejoyce when they are reviled and despightfully used and accordingly of the Apostles we read That they departed from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name of the Lord Jesus Acts V. 41. 3. As it is our Office to teach you so it is your Duty to be taught I say to be taught not to quarrel with our Admonitions to shew your selves tractable to suffer the Word of exhortation and to admit the good Seed we sow into a good and honest Heart It 's true you are not to be believe every Spirit but to try the Spirits whether they be of God 1 John V. 1. But then when you have try'd our Doctrines and find them agreeable to the Word of the living God there is no Tergiversation to be used but our words must be receiv'd as if God himself spoke to you for we press no other things upon you than God hath commanded you in the Scriptures These Scriptures you have in your Hands and with the Beraeans you are exhorted to search whether things are so as we represent them What a sad thing is it in Popery not one of the common People not a Lay-man dares bring a Bible to Church with him if he doth he is no good Catholick nay in some Countries in danger of being burnt for a Heretick A good Catholick must have no Bible must not read it must not meddle with it it 's a dangerous Book he must not look into it for fear he should learn Heresie there or rather for fear he should discover how he hath been deluded by the Priests and taught for Doctrines the Commandments of Men. See here the mighty advantages the Reformation hath brought to you You can come to Church with your Bibles under your Arms and have not only leave but are entreated to compare what we say with the Oracles of God to satisfie your selves of the Truth of what we deliver and to believe your own Eyes But then as I said having found that our Exhortations and Doctrines are according to the Law and to the Testimony let it not be said of you as it was of Ezekiel's Hearers Ezek. XXXIII 31. They came and sat before the Prophet they heard his words but they would not do them with their Mouths they shew'd much love but their hearts went after Covetousness What a happiness doth that Minister enjoy that can say of his Disciples as St. Paul of the Thessalonians 2 Thess. 1. 3. We are bound to give thanks to God always for you as it is meet because your Faith grows exceedingly and the Charity of you all toward each other abounds I conclude with St. Paul's Admonition Heb. XIII 17. Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give an account that they may do it with Joy and not with Grief for that is unprofitable for you SERMON III. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 3. Blessed are the Poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven HAving done with the Historical and Circumstantial Part of this Sermon contain'd in the First and Second Verses we go on to the Doctrinal And here a very glorious Scene opens a Scene of admirable Truths of Truths which are Paradoxes to persons who rise no higher than the Animal life perfect Mysteries which the Princes of this World know not which the Great understand not and which the sensual part of Mankind are ready to laugh at and which none but a thinking or thoughtfull Person can admire As the inspired David or whoever was the Collectour of the Psalms begins that Volume with the way to Bliss so our Saviour begins his Sermon with the same Subject Indeed this was his peculiar Province and of the weighty and momentous Errands he was sent upon this was one to teach Men the true way to Bliss endless and eternal Moses had done it before the Prophets had attempted the like Philosophers had made some Essays of that kind but their Notions were imperfect and they had no distinct notices of all the materials necessary and convenient for that excellent Structure and there was a Providence in it because the fuller Revelation of God's Will was reserv'd to the coming of the Messiah or the Son of God And it is remarkable that Christ in his Directions how to attain to solid Bliss runs counter to the World and such as are commonly counted the most wretched and miserable are here pronounc'd blessed It 's like some that were by when Christ deliver'd this Sermon expected he should have begun in another strain such as Blessed are the Rich and the Men whose Barns are large and who have much Goods laid up for many Years who have Money at command can eat what they list and drink what they please whose Lands bring forth plentifully and whose Presses run over who are courted and respected by all that know them whether great or low and are in a capacity of denying themselves in nothing that their fond Appetite craves But my thoughts are not as your thoughts saith God He takes other Measures and therefore Blessedness is here ascribed to Persons where a Man would least imagine or expect to find it even to the poor in Spirit Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Three things do here very naturally offer themselves to our Consideration I. Who the poor in Spirit are or what poverty in Spirit is II. In what sense the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs and belongs to them And III. How their Title to this Kingdom makes them blessed I.
let us II. Enquire whether this addition in the Text of the World Ye are the Light of the World makes the Command more Emphatical and the Duty of being Beneficial to others in spiritual Concerns more Extensive And to this I must answer in the Affirmative for as the Light of the World is the Sun so we know 1. That the Sun Shines at all Seasons Spring and Fall Winter and Summer So a Christians good Works and Virtues are to Shine not only in Adversity but Prosperity too not only in the Winter of Affliction but also in the Summer of Ease and Plenty both in the Spring of his Years and in the Fall of his Age. His doing Good must not be confined to a certain Time or to a certain Stage of his Life such as Sickness or a Death-bed but discover it self in the various Conditions God hath placed him in His Goodness must not Shine by fits Being inconstant it betrays its weak Foundation and when either a ruffling Wind can blow it away or the Sun melt it as Wax it s a sign it did not fall from Heaven 2. The Sun shines in all Places in all Parts of the Hemisphere so a Christians Goodness must shine and display its Glory in all Companies and Places too He must not with Peter Eat with the Gentiles and withdraw himself when those of the Circumcision come in must not only maintain his strict Obedience to the Gospel when he is in Company with mean little and inconsiderable People but even in Caesar's Family not only when it is safe to do it but also when he is in danger of losing by it either his Credit or Place or Estate not only in private but in publick too not only in Gethsemane but in the High Priests Palace too 3. The Sun the Light of the World shines upon all sorts of Men and Things good and bad Dunghills as well as Gardens and Vineyards participate of his Shine and Splendour So a Christian is to bestow his pains in illuminating and warming others not only on the tractable and such as are easily wrought upon but even on the stubborn and obstinate and not only on those who have already made some progress in goodness but on such too who are very bad and wholly destitute of the Life of God and Plough the barren Rock as well as the kinder Soil This makes his Goodness truly Catholick and Universal and in that resembles the Light of the World or the Sun exactly which gives Life to the Wormwood as well as to the Rose to the Thorn as well as to the Lilly and influences both the Thistle and the Lavender Inferences 1. Ye are the Light of the World Though this is spoken to all Christians yet it concerns the Ministers of the Gospel in a special manner Light How pure is it And how pure ought their Lives to be that are to Light others to Heaven If those Lights be Darkness how great must be that Darkness If their Lives be spotted with any scandalous Sin or Immorality what deformed Creatures must they be If they Preach one thing and Practise another how uncertain must the Sound of those Trumpets be and who shall prepare himself to Battel If they that are the Guides go astray how shall the Blind find their way to Paradise If the Sin against which they Thunder be found in their Skirts what hope is there that their Hearers and Disciples should become Wise unto Salvation If by their Holy Lives and Doctrine they Convert many unto Righteousness they shall shine as the Stars in the Firmament But if by their ill Example they Light others into the Chambers of Hell they shall Shine too but in the Flames of the burning Lake and there learn that the Servant who knew his Masters Will and did it not shall be beaten with many Stripes To be a Minister of the Gospel is something more than to be in Orders something more than to have a Living or Preferment in the Church something more than to perform the Offices prescribed by the Canons and Law of the Land Doing good must not only be their Work but Delight and Pleasure too Their Splendour lies not in shining Dignities but in fleeing youthful Lusts becoming Patterns of Virtue to those under their Charge and following Righteousness Faith Charity and Peace with all them that call on the Lord with a pure heart 2 Tim. II. 22. II. Ye are the Light of the World Then surely those who are in love with works of Darkness are no Christians What the works of Darkness are you will find 2 Tim. III. 1 2 3 4. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of themselves covetous proud boasters blasphemers disobedient to Parents unthankful unholy traitors heady high-minded lovers of Pleasure more than lovers of God and having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof They that are in love with any of these Works can be no Christians for the fundamental Law of our Religion is to depart from iniquity 2 Tim. II. 19. There is scarce any similitude which is more frequently made use of to express a Life of Holiness or a new Nature by than Light and Sin or love to it is as frequently represented by Darkness for in this love to a sinful course the mind is darken'd and hath no right apprehensions of God or of the Life to come or of the dreadful Consequences of neglecting so great Salvation no right Apprehensions of the Love of God or of the Sufferings of Christ or the Apprehensions are not bright not brisk not lively not convincing not operative as Light is and ought to be The Flesh and the World oppress the Mind or fill it with confused Notions of Religion which is a sign the Spirit of God that Spirit of Life and Light finds no entertainment there and therefore here can be no Christianity for true Christianity and God's enlightening and sanctifying Spirit go together Christianity makes us the Sons of God and whoever are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God Rom. viii 14. As many of you as are enamoured with any of the aforesaid sins or any other and surely you are enamour'd with them when all the Charms of the Love of God cannot oblige you to depart from them mince it and qualifie it as you will you walk in darkness at noon-day and the God of this World blinds your Eyes which hinders you from effectual believing and keeps out the glorious Light of the Gospel of Christ from shining into and warming your Hearts And what these Works of Darkness if cherish'd tend to and will end in you may easily know if you will but consider what you have so often heard that there is such a place as outward darkness where shall be howling and gnashing of teeth Matth. XXV 30. III. Ye are the Light of the World Light is not defiled by shining upon Dunghills No more must