coâ—… cerns the Christian Church we maâ—… learn from the Epistles to the Sevâ—… Churches of Asia what it is provokâ—… our Lord either severely to punish us to remove the Gospel from us Tâ—… Church of Ephesus though she had aâ—… quitted her self well in many thing yet had left her first Love had abated very much of her Zeal and Fervour for the Name and Religion of Christ. The Church of Pergamâ—…s is threatned for suffering those among her who taught Idolatrous Worship and fleshly Lusts And the Church of Thyatira likewise for suffering the Woman Iezaâ—…el to commit Fornicatâ—…on and to eat things sacrificed to Idols The Church of Sardis made a glorious and pompous Profession of Religion but without the true Life and Spirit of it â—…e had a name to live but was dead And the Church of Laodicea grew very cold and indifferent even in the Profession of Religion as well as in the Practice of it she was neither hot nor cold 〈◊〉 lukewarm All these our Saviour summons to Repentance and threatens to punish or destroy them if they did not Chap. 2 and 3. of the Revelations The Application of all this to our selves is so obvious that I need not multiply Words about it We are that very Nation wherein all these Evils meet it is hard to name any Vice which is not openly committed amongst us without Fear or Shame Nay things are come to that pass that to be a modest Sinner to boggle at any Wickedness oâ—… to blush at it is as great a Reproach as to be Virtuous And though somâ—… Men are ashamed to own themselveâ—… Atheists yet to believe in Christ and to own any Reveal'd Religion or tâ—… talk seriously of Providence of God governing the World and punishinâ—… Cities and Nations for their Wickeâ—… ness is thought a Jest and I wiâ—… it were a Jest only among vile anâ—… mean People of no Fortune or Education whereas we often see that theâ—… Condition makes them modest and uâ—… taught Nature teaches them better tâ—… they are corrupted by the Examples 〈◊〉 Men of Wit and Figure in the Worlâ—… And as for those who pretend to Relâ—… gion it is a very melancholy Prospecâ—… to observe how little of the true Liâ—… and Spirit of Christianity there is 〈◊〉 mong them There is indeed Noiâ—… and Zeal and Faction enough amonâ—… some People and that makes others 〈◊〉 cold and indifferent The Tempers of thâ—… Church of Sardis and Laodicea thâ—… one that had a Name to live but waâ—… dead the other that was lukewarmâ—… make much the greatest Parties amonâ—… us and the very best Men I fear are too much inclined to the State of Ephesus which had left her first Love those great Passions and Ardours of Devotion which ought to inspire the Minds of Christians Let us then hear the Rod and tremble See how God dealt with the Iewish Church for these Sins see what our Lord hath done to the Churches of Asia and though we cannot say what God will do to us because we know not what wonderful Designs are in the Womb of Providence yet we know what we do and how God hath dealt with those who have done as we do which is too just reason to fear that he will deal so by us too unless we repent and reform which they did not For 2dly When the Judgments of God are upon us the Reformation must be universal too It concerns every Man to reform himself for a Nation can never be reformed but by the Reformation of particular Men who make up the Nation and therefore when we are summon'd to Repentance as the Judgments of God summon us all every Man must examine himself what he has to repent of and reform himself But yet there is great difference between a National and Personal Repentance and Reformation and they serve very different Ends. A Nation may be said to be reformed and God may in great Mercy remove his Judgments though what is never to be expected every particular Man do not repent and reform himself But then such a National Reformation requires the Execution of publick Justice against publick Wickedness to make Sin publickly infamous and to teach the greatest and most powerfuâ—… Sinners Modesty To banish if noâ—… Sinners yet Sin out of our Courts and out of our Streets and to make it once more seek for Night and Darkness foâ—… a Covering that Virtue may no longer blush in Company or need Apologies Nor Vice dare to brave it at Noon-day There has indeed of late been some Care taken by publick Laws and Royal Proclamations to punish the Prophanation of God's Name by accursed Oaths but yet in most Cases Men may be as vile as they please and as publickly so as they please and little or no notice taken of them nay they may talk and write what they please against God and Religion ridicule the History of Moses and the Gospel of our Saviour and the Mysteries of the Christian Faith and gain Credit and Reputation by it I hope there are not many Christian Nations in the World which in so publick a manner permit these things We have talk'd of Liberty of Conscience and Reformation to good purpose if the only Effect of it be a Liberty of ridiculing the Christian Faith which might make one suspect that all the Zeal some Men have express'd against Popery was at the bottom of it a Zeal for Atheism and Irreligion which the Discipline of Popery as bad a Religion as it is would not endure it is indeed well fitted to make Atheists and Infidels but will make Men have a care how they profess it And it is to be feared that this Scepticism and Infidelity and Contempt of Religion will prove a Back-door to let in Popery again upon us But to leave these Thoughts with those whose proper Care and Business it is whether a Nation will be reformed or not it concerns every particular Man to hear the Rod The Judgments of God warn us of his Anger and Displeasure against Sin that we may fly from the Wrath to come and we do not hear the Voice of the Rod nor improve Judgments to their true end if we do not so repent and reform as to save our Souls and this to be sure must be a Personal and an Universal Reformation And yet even with respect to present Judgments a Personal Repentance and Reformation is of great use for when the Judgment is Publick and National God many times makes a remarkable distinction between Persons Say ye to the Righteous it shall be well with them for they shall reap the fruit of their Doings Wo unto the Wicked it shall be ill with him for the Reward of his Hands shall be given to him Which is spoke with respect to Publick Judgments Isa. 3. 10 11. Which is a sufficient Encouragement for particular Men to repent and reform their Lives whatever others do But it is time to apply what I have now discoursed to the
profligate Sinners can shelter themselves in a Schism and palliate or expiate their other Crimes by a factious Zeal and therefore if ever we desire to see Christianity flourish we must Pray heartily for Peace and Unity among Christians But that we may the better understand what we are to Pray for let us briefly enquire wherein the Unity of the Church consists and that is in the Unity of Faith the Unity of Communion and the Unity of Love and Charity 1st Unity of Faith Whereby I do not understand that all Christians must agree in all the Opinions and Speculations of Religion it would be well if it could be so but this can never be while men have such different Understandings and Abilities such different Skill and Opportunities of enquiry but the Unity of Faith is secured by an Agreement in all the Fundamental Articles of Religion though a little varied in some nicer Speculations which are like the different Features in mens Faces which distinguish them from one another but do not alter the Human Shape And this is the difference between the Disputes which divide Papists and Protestants and the Disputes of Protestants among themselves The first subvert the Foundations of Christian Faith and Worship and therefore these Differences can never be Accommodated and Reconciled they will not part with their Errors and we must not embrace them if we love our Souls for as dear a thing as Peace is we must not part with Truth for Peace But now the Disputes among all that are allowed to be Protestants whatever mistakes there may be on any side do not overthrow any necessary Article of the Christian Faith and therefore the Unity of the Faith may be secured amidst all these Disputes Some of these Disputes are only inconvenient Modes of speaking and the difference is only in Words when both Parties really mean the same thing which I believe if all Heat and Passion were laid aside would in a great measure appear to be the true State of that Protestant Controversy about Justification by Faith alone Others are mere Philosophical Disputes in which the Christian Faith is not peculiarly concerned for they have been and are disputed in all Religions such as the Controversy about God's Eternal Decrees and the Power and Efficacy of Nature and Grace which is only a reviving of that old Philosophical Dispute about Necessity and Fate and God's concourse with second Causes to produce their Effects And thus it is in some other Cases Now methinks such Disputes as these which do not properly belong to the Christian Faith should not divide the Christian Church Let men dispute about them as Philosophers but as Christians let it suffice them to believe what Christ and his Apostles have plainly taught us t at is enough to carry us to Heaven and methinks it should be enough to make us agree in the Way thither As to Explain this more particularly but very briefly There is no good Protestant but will confess That we are Justified only by the Merits of CHRIST's Death and Sacrifice as the only Expiation and Atonement for our Sins That no works of Righteousness which we can do can make Satisfaction to God for our Sins nor merit Eternal Life which is the Gift of God That Christ is our only Saviour and that he is the Saviour only of his Body or Church That we are incorporated into the Body of Christ and put into a state of Justification by Faith and the Christian Sacraments That no impenitent unreformed Sinner though he do profess to believe in Christ and be baptized shall be saved by Him and therefore though Repentance and a Holy Life do not merit the Pardon of Sin nor Eternal Rewards yet they are necessarily required in all those who shall be forgiven and saved by Christ. This I say all good Protestants agree in and all this is plainly taught in Scripture and whoever believes this and practises accordingly shall certainly be saved And what need is there then of reducing all this into Artificial Schemes wherein Mens Fancies and Conceits differ What necessity is there of disputing what the Office of Faith or what the Efficacy of Works is in our Justification when we all agree that we are saved only by the Mercy of God and the Merits of Christ through Faith in his Blood and the Exercise of Repentance and a holy Life To understand the reason and order of things conduces much to the beauty and perfection of Christian Knowledge but Men may be saved and the Peace of the Church better secured without such particular Determinations Thus all good Protestants agree that all God's Works are known to him from the foundation of the World That Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world That God knows who are his and always did so That we are predestinated to the adoption of children by Iesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved That we are predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will 1. Ephes. 5 6 11. That when God comes to judge the World he will appear infinitely just and good and merciful That bad men shall have no reason to complain of God and that good men shall have nothing to arrogate to themselves This secures the Glory of God of his Wisdom Goodness Justice Power and Soveraignty and what need is there to enquire any farther into the Divine Decrees than the Scripture has revealed in the particular explication of which when men follow their own Fancies they vastly differ from each other to the great disturbance of the Peace of the Church We are assured by plain Testimonies of Scripture That God desires not the death of a Sinner but rather that he should return and live That our destruction is of our selves That all the good we do is wholly owing to the Grace of God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure That all the evil we do is owing to our selves That every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death This we all agree in and this attributts the glory of all the good we do to God and the shame of all the evil we do to our selves this encourages us to do good in a confident assurance of the Divine Grace and teaches bad men that they must not think to excuse their wickedness by charging it on God And this is all that is necessary for us to know because it is all that is needful to the purposes of Religion and a holy Life But when men frame this into Philosophical Hypotheses they then divide as far from each other as East and West and all the attempts of reconciling them
is likely enough he thought him to be some extraordinary person He knew by the Ancient Prophecies that the Messias was to appear and knew from the Prophet Daniel that the time for his coming was accomplished nay it is probable he knew all the circumstances of his Birth and heard that â—…imony God gave him at his Bapâ—… This is my beloved Son but he saw he was a Man though an extraordinary Man and might not know that he was any thing more and having formerly foiled our first Parents in Paradise in the state of innocence hoped for the like success again Now if Christ himself was tempted by the Devil none of us must hope to escape tempted we shall be and therefore must take care to stand upon our guard and to fortify our Minds against all temptations And this encouragement we have from the Example of our Saviour that to be tempted is no Sin unless we yield to a temptation for He was tempted as we are yet without sin and we cannot imagine had it been a sin to be tempted that God would have permitted the Devil to have tempted our Saviour which may ease the fears of some Melancholly Christians who are afflicted with evil and tempting thoughts which their Souls abhor for whatever the cause of such thoughts be whether a frighted and disturbed imagination or the suggestion of wicked Spirits they can no more defile the Soul which abhors and rejects them with grief and indignation than they can the Paper on which they are writ Nay hence we learn that God many times exercises those with the greatest and most difficult Tryals and Temptations who are most dear to him He had no sooner proclaimed Christ his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased but he leads him by the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil This Life is a State of Tryal and Probation and Temptations though they create some trouble and difficulty to good men yet do them no hurt If good men Conquer Temptations do but exercise encrease and confirm their Graces and make them great and illustrious examples to the World glorify the Divine Power in the Victories and Triumphs of his Servants over the World the Flesh and the Devil give them a secure hope in God and a transporting sense of his Love and prepare great rewards for them in the next Life And if they happen in any particular encounter to be overcome as St. Peter himself was when he denied his Master yet they rise again with glory and the sense of their sin and the shame of a defeat fills them with sorrow indignation self-revenge gives them new spirit vigour activity resolution makes them more patient of hardships and sufferings more unwearied in doing good more humble and modest and more perfectly resigned to the Will of God to dispose of them and their Services to his own Glory as he pleases God does not train up those whom he Loves and whom he prepares for Glory in ease and softness Whom the Lord loveth he chastneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth And the more difficult Temptations he exposes us to the greater honour he does us the more glorious will our Triumphs the richer and brighter will our Crowns be Let us then behold our Saviour in the Wilderness separated from humane conversation and all the comforts of Life in the midst of wild Beasts and tempting Spirits and not think that God uses us hardly if at any time he lets loose the Tempter upon us and gives him power over all we have as he did in the Case of Iob to afflict us in our Relations our Bodies our Estates good Names or whatever gives us the sharpest and keenest sense of suffering and is the most difficult exercise of our Faith 2. Let us consider the time when our Saviour was tempted viz. immediately after his Baptism being full of the Holy Ghost 4. Luke 1. 1. As soon as our Saviour was baptized he was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness For Then in my Text relates to the time of his Baptism and St. Luke tells us this was done in his return from Iordan where he was baptized by Iohn By this Religious Rite our Saviour had devoted himself to the immediate service of God in the Salvation of Mankind and was inaugurated into his Prophetick Office by that Testimony which was given to him by a Voice from Heaven This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and this was the Critical time both for the Devil to tempt and for our Saviour to baffle all his temptations and to triumph over him Could the Devil have conquered our Saviour in this first assault there had been an end of this Glorious design of mans Salvation when he had enslaved and captivated the Saviour himself and therefore he began as early with â—…he second Adam as he did with the first though not with the like success Had our first parents resisted the first â—…emptation we had been happy for â—…ver but they yielded and brought â—…eath upon themselves and their Posteâ—…ity but the seed of the Woman whom God had promised should â—…reak the Serpents Head who was made manifest to destroy the works the Kingdom and the Power of the Devil by God's order and appointment first encounters him in his own person resists his most furious assaults makes him reâ—…reat with shame and despair as foreseeâ—…ng his own destiny and the final destruction of his Kingdom As the old Serpent seduced our first Parents in Paradice and brought sin and misery and death into the world so it was very fitting that the Saviour of Mankind should give the first proof of his Divine power in conquering the Tempter This gives us great encouragement to fight under Christ's Banners against the World the Flesh and the Devil for the Captain of our Salvation has already conquered and if we are not wanting to our selves we shall be more than Conquerors through Christ who strengthens us He knows what the power of temptations is and what measures of Grace are necessary to resist them and if we do not forsake him he will not forsake us He has conquered himself and knows how to conquer and if we faithfully adhere to him we shall conquer too Nay in case we should some time be conquered this has made him a merciful and compassionate High Priest being in all things tempted like as we are He knows the weakness of humane nature and the power and subtilty of the Tempter and prays for us as he did for St. Peter That our faith fail not that if we fall we may rise again by Repentance And this is a mighty Consolation That if any man sin 〈◊〉 have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous who is not only a Propitiation for our Sins but was tempted also as we are 2ly St. Luke observes that our Saviour was full of the Holy Ghost which he received without measure at his Baptism when the Holy
considering what they do I might name many but shall content my self with some few at present which are least observed and which prove Snares to good Men as for instance To impose upon our selves constant Tasks of Religion that we will Read and Pray so much and so often every Day and observe voluntary Fasts and abstain from such innocent Diversions c. which Men commonly resolve in some great Heats and Fits of Devotion which they fancy will continue in the same fervour but never do and then these Tasks grow very uneasie as every thing of Religion does when it grows a Task and then they degenerate into dulness and formality and then Men either leave them off and with that are tempted to leave off Religion it self or they are so very cold that they fancy themselves spiritually dead and fall into Melancholly into Desertions into Despair it self It is a dangerous thing for Men by rash and arbitrary Vows to tye themselves up from doing that which otherwise they might very innocently do and which they will be strongly tempted to do when they have vowed not to do it The Guides of Souls know that this is no imaginary Case but what they so often meet with and see such ill effects of that it is very fit to warn Men of the Snare Were there no other reason against the Monkish Vows of Celibacy Poverty and Obedience I should think this sufficient that considered only as perpetual Vows they are a dangerous State of Temptation and for my own part I would never advise any Man to make a perpetual Vow to do or not to do any thing which it is not perpetually his Duty to do or not to do Thus to marry with Persons of a disagreeable Age or a disagreeable Humour or a contrary Religion is to put our selves into a state of Temptation but such particular Instances would be endless and therefore I forbear If God lead us into Temptation he will give us sufficient strength to resist if we improve his Grace if we lead â—…ur selves into Temptation and God â—…eave us to the power and subtilty of â—…he Tempter the sin and the folly is our own 5thly I observe by what means our Saviour conquered the Devil's Temptations and that was by the Authority and by the Word of God It is written Man shall not live by bread alone It is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God It is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve These are such Answers as would admit of no Reply for the Authority of God can never be answered And thus we must conquer also if ever we will conquer by a firm Faith in God and Belief of his Word Faith is our Shield and the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit and we have no other sure Defence against all Temptations This ruined our first Parents in Paradise when their Reason and Natural Powers were in their greatest Vigour Perfection and Integrity that instead of insisting on God's Authority they ventured to reason the Case with the Tempter Set aside the Authority of God and the Devil will quickly out-wit and out-reason us he is skilled in all the Arts of Deceit and Methods of Perswasions and without God's Authority our Courage our Resolution our Honour our Reason it self even all the Rants and triumphant Speculations of Philosophy will fail us in the Day of Trial to Tempt is either to deceive or to perswade and there is no other secure defence against either but the Authority and the Word of God The wisest Reasoner may be imposed on by so artificial a Tempter but God can neither deceive nor be deceived and then while we believe God and have regard to his Commands we cannot be deceived neither And what is able to resist all the Terrors and Flatteries of the World and the Flesh but the Authority of that God who is our Maker and our Judge What insignificant Names are Virtue and Vice how weak and feeble is the sense of Decency and Honour and the Dignity of Human Nature and of a Life of Reason after we have read or writ so many Volumes about it when we feel the soft Charms of Pleasure and our Eyes are filled with visible Glories Who would not part with a fine Thought or two with some pretty Notions of Moral Beauty and Intellectual Pleasures for a Happiness which may be seen and felt But the Authority of GOD the firm belief of his Promises and Threatnings the hopes and fears of another World are beyond all other Perswasions unless any thing can perswade a Man to be eternally miserable This may suffice to be spoke in General concerning our Saviour's Temptation We come now to consider II. The particular Temptations wherewith our Saviour was Assaulted and they are Three 1. The first was to relieve his Hunger after his long fasting by working a Miracle And when the Tempter came to him he said If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread This was a very artificial Temptation which it may be none but Christ himself would have been aware of For what hurt was it for the Son of God to work a Miracle What hurt was it for a Man who was Hungry to relieve his Hunger For here was no Temptation to excess but to satisfy the necessities of Nature What hurt was it for him who afterwards fed so many Thousands by Miracles in this great Distress to have wrought a Miracle to satisfy his own Hunger This was very plausible and looked like very charitable Advice but yet there was a secret Snare in it 1st For this was made a Trial whether he were the Son of God or not If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread Now had he complied with this it had argued a distrust of his Relation to God and of the Love of his Father and this was a Temptation to Sin Thus the Tempter dealt with our first Parents made them jealous of God's good Intentions towards them and by that Tempted them to Disobedience The Serpent said unto the Woman Ye shall not surely die For God knoweth that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil That is God envies your Happiness and therefore has forbid you to Eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus the Devil suggested to our Saviour that he had great reason to question whether he were the Son of God because he was destitute of all the Comforts and Supports of Life and after forty Days fasting had nothing in the Wilderness to Eat unless he would turn Stones into Bread And though this part of the Temptation our Saviour takes no notice of in his Answer but scorns it yet we find it makes a very powerful Impression upon other Men who are apt to measure God's Love or Hatred by present things when they
are Prosperous they conclude they are the Favourites of Heaven when they are Afflicted and meet with cross Events then God is angry with them and has forsaken them And though this argues such a stupid Ignorance of Christianity that one would think it could be no Temptation to a Christian yet it is too Notorious that three parts of the Melancholy the Desertions nay despair of many Christians is owing to no other Cause they think their Condition safe for the next World while they are Prosperous in this but as soon as the World begins to Frown they are irrecoverably Damned but would such men consider that our Saviour himself wanted Bread in the Wilderness and had no place whereon to lay his Head it would cure these Desertions if there be no greater Guilt which a strait Fortune awakens the sense of which I doubt is too often the Case 2dly There was another Snare in this to perswade our Saviour to supply the necessities of Nature by extraordinary means without the immediate Direction and Command of God for this had been a distrust of God's Care and Providence to have relieved his own wants by preternatural and uncommanded Methods And therefore to this he Answers It is written Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God That is Bread indeed is the ordinary Provision God has made for the support of Man's Life but when these ordinary and natural Provisions fail he has other ways to support Life as he fed the Israelites with Manna and Quails in the Wilderness and gave them Drink out of a Rock but then we must patiently and securely expect by what means God will provide for us â—…d till the word proceed out of his mouth â—…l we have some particular Command â—…d Direction for it we must take no â—…xtraordinary Uncommanded much â—…ss Forbidden ways to preserve our â—…ives for this is want of Trust in God â—…r want of Submission to his Will â—…xtream want and necessity is almost 〈◊〉 irresistible Temptation to humane Nature to distrust the ordinary Proâ—…isions of Providence and to provide â—…r our selves by what means we can â—…nd to justify what we do by such neâ—…essities it requires a great degree of â—…aith and Trust in God when we have â—…o Prospect of ordinary Succours patiâ—…ntly to expect God's Provision withâ—…ut going out of God's way But â—…hus our Saviour was Tempted and â—…as taught us how to conquer this Temptation Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God If Bread fail we must expect by what other means God will supply our Wants and not transgress those Laws God hath prescribed us how desperate soever our Condition seem to be 2dly The next Temptation is in the other extreme to presume so far upon his Interest in God's Favour and Protection as to make dangerous and vain-glorious Experiments of God's care He set him upon a pinacle of the temple and said unto him If thou be the Son of God cast thy felf down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall beat thee up lest at any time thou shouldst dash thy foot against the stone When the Tempter perceived that Christ wholly relied on the Directions and Authority of Scripture he inforces his Temptation with Scripture too misunderstood and misapplied And these are the most dangerous Temptations of all which impose upon Men with a shew of Religion as our late Experience of a wild Enthusiastic Age will tell us when nothing so bad could be thought of but some Men had Scripture-Examples or Precepts or Prophesies or Parables to justifie it and therefore we must be aware of this as well as of all the other Arts and Stratagems of the Tempter In answer to this our Saviour proves that this Text could not mean that God would command his Angels to bear him up in their hands if he should â—…ling himself from the Pinacle of the Temple because we are expresly forbid to make such Experiments of God's Protection as this It is written Thou â—…halt not tempt the Lord thy God To tempt is to try and to tempt God is to try what he will or can do for us beyond his Promise and beyond the ordinary Methods of his Proâ—…idence especially when we either â—…urmur against God for not answerâ—…ng our unreasonable demands or preâ—…ume upon his favour to do that which he has forbid us to do or exâ—…ect his Protection and Blessing when we put our selves out of the ordinary â—…rotection of his Providence it were â—…asie had I time to give instances of â—…ll these ways of tempting God the â—…emptation of our Saviour concerns â—…e last I mentioned out of a vain-gloâ—…ous humour and a presumption of God's peculiar favour to us voluntaâ—…ly without any reasonable pretence â—…uch less necessity to thrust our selves â—…to apparent and unavoidable Dangers â—…nd expect God should save us by Miâ—…cles for this is what our Saviour was tempted to to fling himself down from the Pinacle of the Temple in a presumptuous confidence of God's care of him that he would command his Angels to bear him up in their hands This looks like Faith in God a plerophory of Hope and full assurance of his Love but indeed is Vanity Pride Insolence Presumption and a tempting of God It is such an Affront and Indignity as wise Men will not bear from their best Friends when they impose upon them not to do them a real kindness but to gratifie their vanity and humour in such Demands as a wiâ—… Man cannot honourably grant And yet there is a more dangerous and fatal Presumption than this wheâ—… men have such a strong Imagination oâ—… their being the Sons the Chosen and Elect People of God that they thinâ—… they cannot do any thing to forfeâ—… God's Love they may make moâ—… bold with God's Laws than other Men for God sees no sin in his People nay indeed that it is no Sin to advancâ—… themselves and the Cause they haâ—… Espoused which they call the Glorâ—… of God by extraordinary means thaâ—… is by transgressing all the known and ordinary Rules of Justice and Charity These are dangerous Temptations â—…nd we have seen the miserable Effects â—…f them and therefore let no man â—…ink that he is so great a favorite of Heaven as to have God at his beck â—…o save him by Miracles when he â—…ilfully exposes himself to such Danâ—…ers as nothing but Miracles can Deâ—…ver him from much less to think â—…at God will alter the nature of Good â—…nd Evil for his sake that he will disâ—…ense with his Laws Laws which â—…re as Eternal and Unchangeable as â—…is own Nature when ever such vain â—…nthusiasts pretend to serve themselves â—…nd his Glory by the breach of them 〈◊〉 is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God 3. These two Temptations were maâ—…aged with great Art to deceive the
to his Lord what Love was this to the Souls â—…f Men it is certainly the most perâ—…ect imitation of the Love of Christ â—…at is possible to Man Christ so â—…oved us as to come down from Heaven to live a laborious Life and â—…o die an accursed Death for us this great Apostle so loved his Lord and so loved the Souls of Men that â—…e made it his choice to stay some time out of Heaven and to encounter all the Miseries and Terrours of this Life to serve Christ and his Church Where is this Divine Spirit now to be found Let us my beloved Brethren who are entrusted also with the Care of Souls by the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls blush to think how far short we fall of this Example let this inspire us with a flaming Love and Zeal for the Souls of Men for whom Christ died and make us at least contented to deny our selves some of the Ease and Security and Pleasures of Life to serve the Church of Christ which he hath purchased with his own blood But to keep my self within some Bounds I shall briefly Discourse on these two Heads which are very proper for this Occasion and very proper to my Text. First The great Rewards of faithful Pastors and Ministers of Christ and how much it is for their advantage to be removed out of this World St. Paul was very sensible of this which made him desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Secondly How necessary the Lives of such Men are to the Church and what a great loss it is when God removes them out of it Nevertheless to abide in the Flesh is more needful for you 1. Let us then consider in the first place the great Rewards of the faithful Ministers of Christ and how much it is for their advantage to depart and to be with Christ. Now I do not here intend a comparison between Heaven and Earth Good God! what different things are these and what Christian doubts whether Heaven be a happier Place than this World Heaven whither no Troubles or Sorrows can follow us no persecuting Sword no persecuting Tongue where we shall be delivered from all the Wants Necessities and Infirmities of the Body from â—…unger and Cold and Nakedness â—…m wracking Pains and languishing â—…cknesses where there is eternal Ease â—…d Rest and Joy without labour â—…ithout discontents without quarrels â—…here our Souls shall be perfected in â—…owledge and in love where we â—…all dwell in the Presence of God see â—…m as he is and know him even as â—…e are known where we shall dwell â—…ith Christ adore his Love behold â—…s Glory and be transformed our â—…lves into the likeness and image of â—…s Glory We have but obscure imâ—…rfect Conceptions of these things â—…w Heaven will out-do our highest â—…xpectations as much as the most â—…erfect state of Happiness in this World â—…ways falls short of what we expectâ—… and this is the case of all good â—…en it is a mighty happy Change â—…ey make when they remove from â—…arth to Heaven But there are different Degrees of Glory in the next World proportionâ—…d not only to our different attainâ—…ents in Virtue but to those different Trusts in Services which we have been employed in and have faithfully discharged here We read of the Reward of a Prophet that he who gives a Cup of cold Water to a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall have a Prophet's Reward which must signify some peculiar Reward that shall be bestowed on Prophets We know so little of the other World that we cannot conceive what these different Rewards shall be The Prophet Daniel represents it by an external Glory 12. Dan. 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever But our Saviour represents this by a different degree of Rule and Empire 12. Luke 42 43 44. And the Lord said Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make ruler over his houshold to give them their meat in due season This is the honourable Character of Gospel Ministers in this World that they are Rulers in God's houshold to instruct and feed them with the Word of Life and their Reward is proportioned to their Work Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Of a truth I say unto you That he will make him ruler â—…ver all that he hath What this Rule â—…ignifies in the other World is a Mysteâ—…y to us especially since we have â—…ancied the other World to be only a State of Contemplation not of Actiâ—…n where we shall have nothing to do â—…ut to see God and to love and to praise him but no service to do for â—…im but we know there are different â—…orders of Angels who are employed in great Trusts and Offices Arch-Angels Angels Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers which are names of Rule and Government though we know not what their Power and Authority is nor how they Govern in like manner our Saviour promises his Apostles Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel 19. Matth. 28. The like we may see in the Parable of the Pounds and Talents He who hath gained ten Pounds had Rule over ten Cities and he who gained five Pounds had Rule over five Cities for these Servants to whom the Lord gave these Pounds and Talents to improve plainly signify his Stewards and the Ministers of his spiritual Kingdom for no other Persons have in so peculiar a manner this honourable Character of the Servants of Christ throughout the Gospel And if there be Order and Government among the Angels themselves Why should we think that there is nothing like this among glorified Saints If Angels are the Ministers of God there is no reason to think that Heaven is a State of meer Rest and Contemplation especially when Happiness consists in Action And if Christ have any Ministers of his spiritual Kingdom in the next World it is most reasonable to think that those shall have the greatest Authority and be employed in the noblest Services who have been his faithful Stewards and Ministers in this World For the Church on Earth and in Heaven is the same Church though their State be very different and therefore they do not lose their relation to Christ nor their station in his Church by removing to Heaven It is a Sacerdotal Kingdom our High Priest is King and therefore a Priest of Iesus how mean soever this be thought now will be one of the highest Characters in Heaven What the Happiness of this is we cannot tell but we know that there are no empty Titles in Heaven but every degree of Dignity there signifies a peculiar degree of Happiness
will observe a just proportion Let no Man then enquire how much he must give the proper enquiry is how much he must love Let no man satisfy himself with some small trifling Presents which bear no proportion to what he has upon pretence that God has prescribed no proportion of giving but let him ask himself Whether in his own Conscience what he gives bears any proportion to that love and charity to the poor and miserable which God requires and let him remember that though God has not fixt the proportions of giving he requires great degrees of Charity and though Men may give liberally without Charity yet not to give in some due proportion is a certain sign of want of Charity when there wants no ability to give Give me leave to observe by the way that what I have now said of Charity is true of all other Christian Graces and Virtues that it is the principle which both must and will give laws and measures to the external acts of such Graces and Virtues As to instance at present only in the Acts of Religious Worship the measures and proportions of which are as much disputed and no more determined and limited by the Laws of our Saviour than those of Charity We are commanded to fast and pray and to communicate at the Lord's Table and to read and meditate on the Holy Scriptures and such other acts of Religion but we are not told how often we must fast and pray and receive the Lord's Supper nor how much time we must spend in our publick or private Devotions for though all the publick Exercises of Religion must be regulated by the publick Authority of the Church which as to time and place and other external circumstances is the safest rule yet our private Devotions are free and both publick and private Devotions have a great latitude and thus as it is in the case of Charity some men think they can never spend time enough in the publick and private â—…xercises of Religion and others â—…hink a very little will serve the turn â—…nd any trifling pretence is sufficient to â—…xcuse them from their Closets or the Church and especially from the Lord's Table And the resolution of this is the same â—…s in the case of Charity We are commanded to be devout Worshippers of God and the true spirit of Devotion â—…aturally prescribes the external meaâ—…ures and proportions Devout minds who have a true sense of God and of their constant dependance on him That they owe all temporal and spiritual Blessings to him and daily need the pardon of their Sins the ptotection of his Providence and the supplies of his Grace will never fail to worship God whom they inwardly reverence and adore and as our devout sense of God encreases in strength and vigour the external expressions of devotion will be more frequent more lively and affecting for nature will exert it self and will exert it self in proportion to its strength and vigour But to return 3. The third thing I proposed I must at present wave that where there is a willing mind with a fit proportion according to our abilities which as you have heard there will be where there is a truly willing and charitable mind whether it be more or less that we give it is equally acceptable to God Such a man is accepted according to what he hath not according to what he hath not and indeed there is no great occasion to insist on it for it is self-evident that God will not exact that from us which we have not Only we must observe that this does not excuse any man from Charity though he have nothing to give he must have a willing charitable mind to make him accepted nor does it excuse those from Charity who have but little to give for they must give according to what they have nor does it excuse those who have nothing to give from other acts of Charity which require the giving nothing and a great many such acts of real charity there are which poor people may do for each other though they have not a penny in their purse But it is time now to turn my Discourse to the proper business of this great Solemnity Publick Charities are always reckoned amongst the greatest Ornaments of any Country and make up the most lovely and charming part of their Characters Stately and magnificent Buildings shew great Art and great Riches and a gallant and noble Genius but great Charities have something divine and strike the Mind with a Religious Veneration There may be much more magnificent Shows than this Day 's Procession but none which affect wise and good Men with a sincerer Pleasure To follow a great number of Orphans in the mean but decent Dress of Charity singing the Praises of God and praying for their Benefactors is beyond all the Roman Triumphs however adorned with a pompous Equipage and great numbers of Royal Slaves These present us with nothing but the miserable Spectacles of Spoil and Rapine the uncertain Changes and Viâ—…issitudes of Fortune the lamentable Fate of conquered Princes and People and the Pride and Insolence of Conquerors but here are the Triumphs of a generous Goodness and divine Charity Triumphs without Blood and Spoil without Slaves and Captives unless redeem'd Slaves rescued from the Jaws of Poverty and all the Injuries and Miseries of a ruined Fortune That to me this great City and this honourable Train never looks greater than in this humble Pomp. A Pomp not for Vanity and Ostentation but to endear and recommend Charity by shewing the visible and blessed Fruits of it and to the same End I must give you an account of the present State of these publick Charities The Report was here Read THAT these are all great Charities I need not tell you indeed all so great that it is hard to know to which to give the Preference and what occasion all these Charities have of fresh liberal and constant Supplies the Report acquaints you But I cannot pass over one thing I observe in this Report and which I fear many necessitous People feel that there have been no Orphans taken into Christ's Hospital this Year nor as I remember for two Years last past I do not mention this by way of Reflection as any fault in the administration and government but to put you in mind how much that excellent Foundation needs your Supply and though I do not love to compare Charities they being all of great use and necessity in their kind yet I think this Foundation has something to plead for it self beyond any other A helpless Age destitute of Friends â—…nd all means of Support will plead â—…or it self without saying any thing â—…t is a pitiable Sight to see poor â—…nnocent Children turned helpless inâ—…o the wide World to starve or beg or steal or to suffer all imaginable Difficulties and Necessities at home without Education without Government or Discipline without being used â—…o labour or taught any honest
of Earthly Rivals yet it fires at great Examples and is ashamed to be out-done by Equals in love to God or Men especially when the Honour of the Church whereof they are Members and the Religion which they profess is concerned It is well known how many pious and charitable Foundations are owing to Popish Superstition they hoped to expiate their Sins and to merit Heaven by their good Works and in this hope and this perswasion they did a very great many We understand better than to think of meriting any thing of God much less of purchasing a liberty of sinning by Acts of Charity but if those great Rewards which are promised to Charity and which we profess to believe will not make us charitable without the Opinion of Merit and Satisfaction Charity is so great and excellent a Vertue and so very useful to Mankind that at least thus far Popery will be thought the better Religion and therefore as the Apostle argues As ye abound in every thing in faith and utterance and knowledge and all diligence and in your love to us see that ye abound in this grace also As we have a more Orthodox Faith a clearer and a distincter Knowledge and a purer Worship than the Church of Rome let us excel in Charity too and convince the World that to renounce Popery is not to renounce good Works SERMON X. Preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor and Court of Aldermen at Guild-hall Chappel on Sunday April 25. 1697. Coloss. II. 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men after the Rudiments of the world and not after Christ. HAD St. Paul lived in our Age it would have required little less than the Courage and Bravery of the Spirit of Martyrdom to have said this And nothing but the Authority of so great an Apostle which though some Men do not much value yet they dare not openly despise can skreen those who venture to say iâ—… after him What some Men call Philosophy and Reason and there is nothing so foolish and absurd which some Men will not call so is the only thing which those Men adore who would either have no God or a God and a Religion of their own making And what Attempts some have made to undermine all Religion and others to corrupt and transform the whole Frame of the Christian Religion upon a Pretence of its contradicting Natural Reason and Philosophy is too well known to need a Proof That thus it was in his days and that thus it was likely to be in future Ages St. Paul was very sensible when he gave this Caution to his Colossians and I 'm sure it is as proper a Caution for us as ever it was for any Age since the writing of this Epistle for this vain Pretence to Reason and Philosophy never more prevailed and never did more mischief to the World It is an endless and fruitless Task to go about to confute all the absurd Hypotheses and wild inconsistent Reasonings wherewith Men abuse themselves and others The Experience of so â—…ny Ages wherein Philosophy was in all 〈◊〉 Glory and the several Sects disputed â—…d wrangled eternally without ending â—…y one Controversie gives no great Enâ—…uragement to hope for much this way 〈◊〉 least it can never be expected that â—…dinary Christians should be better â—…structed and confirm'd in the Faith by â—…hilosophical Disputes The Christian Religion has from â—…e very Beginning been corrupted by 〈◊〉 mixture of Philosophy Thus it was 〈◊〉 the Apostles days and thus it has â—…een more or less in all Ages of the Church to this day and the direction the Apostle gives for the security of the Christian Faith is Not to dispute such Matters but to distinguish between Philosophical Disputes and Matters of Revelation and to reject all the Pretences of Philosophy when it does or seems to contradict the Faith of Christ or would make any corrupt Additions to it Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to make a Prey or to carry away as a Prey that is to seduce them from the Christian Faith or from the Pâ—…rity and Simplicity of it Through Philosophy and vain deceit that is through the vain deceit of Philosophy which cheats Men with a flattering but empty appearance may unsettle weak Minds but cannot lay a sure and solid foundation of Faith may cheat Men out of their Faith but when that is done can give them nothing certain in the room of it For it is but after the traditions of men and after the rudiments of this world Some of these Doctrines may possibly plead Prescription as having been so long received that no Man knows their Original or if they have the Authority of some Great Name yet it is but a Human Authority and they are but the traditions of men and of Men who at best had no better Information than from the visible appearances of Nature and their own imperfect Observations and corrupt or defective Reasonings after the rudiments of this world And is this an Authority to oppose against the Faith of Christ which both wants that Divine Confirmation which he gave to his Doctrines and contradicts them For they are not after Christ neither taught by Christ nor consonant to what he taught These Words might afford great Variety of Discourse but I shall confine my self to what is most Usefull and reduce that into as narrow a compass as I can by shewing I. What great need there is of this Caution To beware lest any man spoil us through Philosophy and vain deceit II. What great reason we have to rejectall these vain Pretences to Philosophy when they are opposed to the Authority of a Divine Revelation I. As for the first of these Whoever considers what an Enemy these vain Pretences to Philosophy have always been to Religion will see need enough for this Caution True Reason and the true Knowledge of Nature which is true Philosophy would certainly direct us to the Acknowledgment and Worship of that Supreme Being who made the World And yet we know that there never was an Athiest without some Pretence to Philosophy and generally such loud noisy Pretences too as make ignorant people think them very notable Philosophers and that tempts some vain empty Persons to affect Atheism that they may be thought Philosophers That this is vain deceit all Men must own who believe there is a God And if it be possible to pretend Philosophy for Atheism it self it is no great wonder if it be made to patronize Infidelity and Heresy But this plainly shews of what dangerous Consequence it is to admit Philosophical Disputes into Religion which if at any time they may do any service to Religion much oftner greatly corrupt it and shake the very Foundations of it of which more anon At present I shall only shew you how the Matter of Fact stands That most of the Disputes in Religion
particular Occasion of this Day 's Solemnity though possibly some may think that this Application comes too late it might have been very seasonable one or two and thirty Years ago while the Marks of this terrible Vengeance were fresh and visible when the Ruins of our Houses and Churches could only tell us where London stood and shew us its Funeral Pile where its Glory lay in the Dust When so many thousand Families felt the smart of their ruined Fortunes and were either forc'd to begin the World again or sunk irrecoverably under it This fiery Vengeance had a Voice then and a very terrible Voice enough to awaken the most stupid and Lethargick Sinners But when we see our City rebuilt more beautiful than ever as the little poor Remains of the old one witness When our Riches and Glory are increased beyond the Example of most former Ages it seems too late to lament over the Ashes and Rubbish of our fired City when there are no visible Remains of these Ruins to move our Pity or Sorrow And indeed were this the only Design of this Annual Fast it were high time to put an end to it or to turn it into a Thanksgiving Festival For it is in vain to expect that after three and thirty Years the return of this Day should revive and renew our Sorrows and Lamentations when our Ruins are removed our Losses repaired and those frightful Impressions which the sight of that devouring Fire made on us forgot and little left to put us in mind that our City was burnt but the Inscription upon the Monument and the sight of a New City with the several Dates of its Resurrection which must needs qualifie all melancholy and sorrowful Reflections on what is so long past But though the Design of this Solemnity is not to represent and act over again a new doleful Scene of Horror Confusion and Amazement which neither Nature nor Art can imitate as we saw it once on this Day without such another amazing Sight which God grant we may never see again till the General Conflagration yet it is of great use to keep up a lively Sense of such Judgments upon our Minds which become the Subject of Reason of cool Thoughts and wise Consideration when the Terror and Frightfulness of them is over Judgments could never make a lasting Reformation in the World were we concerned to remember them no longer than we feel their Smart but they are intended both for Punishment and Instruction the Punishment ends with the Smart and that puts an end to all whining and tragical Complaints but this alone is the Discipline of Fools or Brutes The Instruction is for Men and this is to last as long as Memory and Thought and Reason last What could the Fire of London teach us thirty three Years ago which it does not teach a wise Man still And what Thoughts and devout Passions became us then which are not still on this Day the proper Exercise of our Devotion When we saw our Churches and Houses in Flames when we saw those furious Torrents of Fire rowling down our Streets and despising all the Opposition that Humane Art or Strength could make as if they had known by what a Divine and Irresistible Commission they acted there were few Men to be found who did not express a great Fear and Reverence of the Power and Justice and terrible Majesty of God who did not see and own the Hand of God and the visible Tokens of his Displeasure and begin in good earnest to think of reforming their Lives and making their Peace with God who had now taken the Rod into his own Hand When we saw our Riches make to themselves Wings and fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven when we saw all our Pride and Glory the Toil and Labour of our whole Lives the Food and the Instruments of our Lusts vanish into Smoke and Dust this effectually taught us the Uncertainty of all present things and made us seriously consider what an ill State those were in who had nothing to trust to but such vanishing Treasures and how reasonable our Saviour's Command is Not to lay up for our selves Treasures on Earth where Moth and Rust do corrupt and where Thieves break through and steal but to lay up for our selves Treasures in Heaven which are not subject to such Casualties which will make us bear such Losses better when they come and secure our eternal Interest When Men saw their Riches and Treasures vanish in a Cloud it naturally made them consider how much of this they owed to the Poor how much they daily spent upon their Lusts and how much they had unjustly got that is how much of what God had taken from them was not their own and how much they had abused the Gifts of God Very wise and pious Thoughts had they lasted and yet too plain to be missed by those who thought at all when they saw these Lessons written in bright Characters of Fire Now was all this do you think calculated only for Sixty six Is not God the same still a Just and Righteous Judge who is angry with the wicked every day though he do not every day bend his Bow and let fly his Arrows though he do not every day make the Earth tremble and quake and the very Foundations of the Hills to shake because he is angry though we do not every day see a Smoke go out of his Presence and a consuming Fire out of his Mouth though he do not upon every Provocation appear in his terrible Majesty riding upon the Cherubins and flying upon the Wings of the Wind. Methinks one such Example might serve us for some Ages without expecting or desiring to be summoned again to Repentance by new Terrors God is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness He delights more to display his Glory in Acts of Goodness and Bounty to his Creatures but Judgments are his strange Work which makes the signal Execution of them so very rare and the way to have them rare is not to forget them to learn Righteousness by the things which we have suffered to fear and tremble before that God who is so terrible in his Doings towards the Children of Men. But if the Fire of London was too long since to work upon our Fears at this distance though I confess I wonder how any Man who saw that Sight should ever forget it or remember it without a just Awe and Reverence of God but I say if these Impressions of Fear and Terror are lost let the Beauty and Glory of our New City our increasing Riches our flourishing Trade our Ease and Plenty teach us to Love and Reverence and Worship and Praise that God who in the midst of Iudgment hath remembred Mercy who hath pluck'd us as a Firebrand out of the Fire and hath not suffered our Enemies to triumph over us who said Down with it down with it even to the Ground This is the way to
its Love and Care to its self but a Man who has a truly great and divine mind who loves all Men as himself and loves himself in conjunction with the rest of Mankind can by no means be called a selfish Man or a lover of himself for he has an universal love to Humane Nature which begins with himself but extends to all the World This is a plain and short account what this vicious Self-love is and why it is so called 2dly The Second thing I proposed was to shew how dangerous and perillous such Times must needs be wherein this Self-love Prevails Now those are perillous Times which expose Men to great Dangers and to great Troubles and Calamities and that with respect to their own private Fortunes with respect to the Publick and with respect to the State of Religion and what a malignant influence this vicious Self-love has upon all these great and dear Interests is so visible that methinks it should need no proof and therefore I shall at present only give some brief Hints of it And I shall not here take notice how much such Self-lovers suffer from themselves and from their own Self-love for though this makes themselves â—…iserable it does not make the Times dangerous the Times may be very prosperous and good Men very happy though such Sinners may reap the Fruits of their own Works and be filled with their own Devices though they sacrifice their Honour their Estates their Health their Lives to Intemperance and Lust though Ambition heats their brains into a Distraction and Cares and Disappointments break their Hearts or Guilt disturbs their Consciences and fills them with Rage and furious Despair the World is not much concerned in this let such Self-lovers look to it and thank themselves for what they suffer but then the Times are dangerous with respect to our private and personal Interests when Men are in great danger from one another when they are never secure from private Injuries when they know not whom to trust nor with whom to converse when it is hard to find a Friend and almost impossible to escape an Enemy when the greatest Virtue Innocence Inoffenciveness nay the Divinest Charity and all the charms of an obliging Conversation cannot secure Men from Envy Rapine and Detraction from the Venom of Tongues or from more malicious designs against their Lives and Fortunes such a State as this will make all Good Men wish as David did O that I had wings like a Dove for then would I flie away and be at rest Lo then would I wander far off and remain in the Wilderness I would hasten my Escape from the windy Storm and Tempest 55 Psa. 6 7 8 Verses And this is the very State which Self-love puts Mankind into when it prevails in the World This a late admired Philosopher calls the State of Nature wherein every Man is a Woolf to a Man but in truth it is only the State of this vicious Self-love which is the Corruption and Degeneracy of a reasonable and sociable Nature If Man was made for Society it cannot be his Nature to love no body but himself which is a Contradiction to the Nature and End of Societies He must first put off Nature if that be this Self-love before he can be capable of living in Society which seems very unaccountable that a Creature who was made for Society should not be fit for Society till he change his Nature For Men cannot live together in safety while they are all acted by this Principle Self-love makes every Man his own Center and the Center draws all to it self all that is within its sphaere of activity Pride is Self-love such an esteem for our selves as values no Man's Honour or Reputation but our own and this draws all Honour to it self is not contented unless it can out-shine all others and either by a greater brightness swallow them up or eclipse them by black and misty Vapours by all the Arts of Infamy and Reproach Covetousness is Self-love when Men will be rich whoever be poor and by whatever Arts they can do it and this draws all riches to it self and snatches them from all that come within its reach and what Injustice and Violence Theft Murders Perjuries does this occasion Self-love is the love of the Flesh the love of carnal and sensual Pleasures which will please it self whoever be grieved and injured by it Such brutish Sensualists have no regard to the Honour and Peace of Families to the Modesty of Virgins to the Sacred Vows of Wives to the Stain and Infamy of Posterity nay many times not to the dignity of Humane Nature but gratifie their Lusts in contradiction to them all Where Self-love reigns there is no place for Compassion for Charity for Justice for true Friendship every thing must give way to Self and let any man judge whether such be not perillous Times some such Men there are always in the World and great numbers of them too and we daily feel what mischeifs they do but the more the numbers of them encrease the more this self-Self-love prevails the more intolerable will Humane Conversation be And if we allow that Pride Ambition Covetousness Sensuality are great Enemies to the Peace and Prosperity to the good Order and Government of any Nation we must grant that Self-love which is the impure Fountain from whence all these corrupt Streams flow is very destructive to Humane Societies too it corrupts publick Justice loosens the reigns of Government softens and emasculates Mens Spirits renders them unfit for Counsel or for Arms makes them contemptible to their Neighbours and brings down the Judgments of God upon them Is any thing so destructive to any State as Divisions and Factions at home and was there ever any State-Faction without Self-love and private Interest at the bottom when great Men will rival one another and are impatient either of Superiours or Equals and prosecute their Private Animosities with the Publick Danger and when common safety requires united Hearts and Counsels will not adjourn their private Quarrels nor sacrifice their private Interests and Resentments to save a Nation It is wonderful to observe that when a Kingdom is divided into Parties and Factions the most threatning dangers are so far from uniting them that they take advantage of Publick Fears and Apprehensions to get ground of their Adversaries tho' they hazard the whole by it and what are such Factions but a Combination of Self-lovers who divide themselves from the Publick Interest unless their Private Humours and Intrigues may take place when a Party will be the Whole and if others will not let them be the Whole let the Whole perish This is the narrow peevish unsociable Spirit of self-Self-love a temper which generous Heathens had in the greatest abhorrence and till a more publick Spirit revive in the World we must never expect to see easie and happy days The Times will be perillous while men are such Lovers of themselves But how
deplorable must the state of Religion needs be when Self-love prevails which is such a direct contradiction to all Piety and Virtue to the Love of God and Men The Apostle indeed tells us of these Lovers of themselves that they have a Form of Godliness but deny the Power thereof They make a Show of Religious Worship and it may be a very glorious and pompous Show too for this may serve their Interest and give them Reputation with their Prince or with the People but their Religion has no power upon their Lives cannot subdue any one Lust as it is impossible it should while they are acted by Self-love And yet it is much to be desired that such Men would retain a Form of Godliness that they would not publickly affront Religion nor ridicule all that is Sacred but it is in vain to hope for thus much from all of them St. Paul's perillous Times was a very Modest and a very Religious Age to ours wherein men seem to be ashamed to be thought Religious and therefore if they ever think fit to go to Church take great care that no Man who sees them shall suspect that they come thither to worship God But though few Men attain to such an outragious Contempt of Religion as this yet all the Corruptions of Religion are more owing to Self-love than to Innocent Mistakes This secretly influences Mens Faith and forms their Notions and Opinions This invents a Form of Godliness and turns Religion into Show and Pageantry when Men bring Self-love into the Church it quickly turns true Religion out it is Pride and Ambition or Covetousness and a love of sensual Pleasures which makes Men Infidels and Hereticks and occasions all the Schisms which divide the Church For when such Self-lovers cannot cast off all Religion they must fit their Religion to Self-love to serve their Lusts or to give them security in the Enjoyment of them when they cannot raise Self up to the terms of Religion they must bring Religion down to Self It were easie to give undeniable Proofs and infinite Examples of this but I must proceed For having shewn what this vicious Self-love is and what Mischeifs it does in the World both to Mens private Fortunes to publick Societies and to the Church of God it remains 3dly To consider the Folly and Unreasonableness as well as Impiety of this Principle All the Wickedness that is committed in the World and most of the Miseries which Mankind suffer are owing to Self-love and could we convince Men of the Folly and Unreasonableness and Impiety of this it would lay the Axe to the very Root of all Wickedness it would reform the World and heal all the Maladies and Distempers of it And to do this the more effectually I shall distinctly apply what I have to say to the several Notions of Self-love 1. Let us consider self-Self-love as it signifies the love of Flesh and Sense when we love a part of our selves for the whole and expect our whole entire Happiness from the gratification of some inferior Appetites which at first hearing appears as absurd and impossible as it is to make a Part the Whole The greatest part of Mankind in all Ages have made this Experiment but no Man was ever made happy by it We see infinite Examples of miserable Sinners and the most prosperous always find that that they want something else to make them happy and would Men wisely consider the nature of things they would find that it is impossible it should be otherwise What is Happiness but such a State of Ease and Rest and Self-enjoyment as is agreeable to our Natures and can a reasonable Soul then find its compleat and perfect satisfaction in the Pleasures of sense the perfection and the happiness of our Natures is the same thing and therefore that which perfects our Natures must perfect our Happiness Is Sense then the perfection of a reasonable Nature if not how can it be its perfect Happiness Is not Wisdom and Knowledge the perfection of the Understanding is not the love of the best and most excellent Being the perfection of the Will and is not this the perfection of a Reasonable Soul and is it possible to make a Man happy who feels none of those divine and exalted Pleasures which are proper to a Mind Well! but if the enjoyments of Sense will give a compleat and entire satisfaction that will make the Man happy when he has no relish of any other Pleasures and then we need not dispute which Pleasures are greatest in themselves when the Man has what he likes best and is happy in it which is as much as to say that it makes no difference whether a Man enjoy the happiness of a Man or of a Beast that a Beast is as happy a Creature as a Man a Worm as an Angel because it has what satisfies and wants and desires no more But however let us consider whether the pleasures of Sense can give perfect ease and satisfaction to a reasonable Soul that they do not all Men find and the reason why they cannot do it is very plain The Pleasures of Sense cannot give perfect ease and satisfaction without a full unconfined and undisturbed Enjoyment and without such an Enjoyment as equals the Desire As for the first not to take notice how apt Men are to be disturbed in their Enjoyments from without there is enough within the very Frame and Constitution of a Reasonable Soul do disturb them For they find there a Natural Sense of the difference between Good and Evil a Natural Modesty which makes them blush in secret at some infamous Vices and sours the Pleasures and frequently interrupts the commission of them a natural belief of a God who is the Judge of the World and the Avenger of all wickedness a strong perswasion that they shall live after death and be rewarded and punished according to their works I need not tell you how uneasie such thoughts as these make the enjoyment of all sensual pleasures and an uneasy Happiness is a contradiction that if God intended Man for a Sensual Happiness I must confess he is the worst contrived Creature in the world as if he were made by chance not by a wise Creator for the Principles of his nature disturb and contradict the enjoyment of his natural Happiness Or whether you will call this Nature or Education or what you please there are very few Men with the help of all the Wit and Philosophy of Atheists can deliver themselves from this Belief and from these Fears and much fewer do it than pretend to do so and therefore there are very few who have an easy and undisturb'd Enjoyment of Sensual Pleasures that is who are easy and happy in them unless to sin with Fear with Shame with Guilty Remorse with frightful Presages of judgment be an easy and undisturb'd Enjoyment As for the Second it is very plain that the Enjoyment of Sensual Pleasures can never answer the
would I cannot imagine that it should weaken the Argument to translate this Immortal Life from Earth to Heaven which is so much a happier Place than this Earth And yet I doubt not but were this the Case that Vertuous Men should be immortal in this World and none but Sinners should die Sin would render Men the most contemptible and infamous Creatures to prefer the short Extravagancies of Vice before a Vertuous Immortality In short the difference between Time and Eternity is such a Reason as no difficulties can answer Eternal Happiness is an abundant recompence for any temporal sufferings and whatever the difficulties of Virtue and Religion may be they must not be compared with Eternal Miseries 2dly As there is a vast difference between Time and Eternity so there is as vast a difference between Things Temporal and Things Eternal I do not intend at present to represent to you the Eternal Happiness or Miseries of the next Life as I find them described in Scripture nor either lessen the Happiness or aggravate the Sufferings of this present Life but shall keep close to my Argument and only consider the difference which Time and Eternity makes between things and a very few Words will explain this For it is evident that whatever is subject to Time is liable to Changes Revolutions Intermissions but what is Eternal hath an unchangeable Nature and is always the same And what a vast difference does this make between the Happiness and Miseries of this perishing Life and the Eternal Happiness and Miseries of the next The Happiness of this Life can't be very valuable because it is not constant the Enjoyments of it are frequently delayed disappointed or interrupted and the Miseries of it are not so very formidable because they have their Allays and Intermissions too and cannot continue long in great extremity This is the Nature of temporal things to change and alter which lessens the Pleasures and tempers the Miseries of Life But an eternal constant uninterrupted Happiness an eternal constant uninterrupted Misery a Happiness and Misery without any end and without any Intermission or Allay this is perfect Happiness and perfect Misery infinitely more to be desired and feared than what Time can alter This represents Temporal Things as in themselves of no great value and gives a Natural Preference to Eternal Things Which is the reason of our Saviour's Exhortation Lay not up for your selves treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for your selves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal This makes a natural Subordination between Temporal and Eternal Things and justifies the Wisdom of our Choice in making to our selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when we fail they may receive us into â—…verlasting habitations Or like that wise Merchant in the Gospel who having found a treasure hid in a field went and fold all that he had and bought that field This is sufficient to convince those Men who believe another Life of the reasonableness of this Choice to govern our Lives by the Faith and Hope of unseen things not to look at the Things which are seen but at the Things which are not seen Bad Men themselves feel the force of this Argument and have no way to avoid it but by making these unseen things more invisible than they really are They love these seen things so well though they are but temporal that they are not willing to believe there are any such Unseen Eternal Things which they are convinc'd ought to have the Preference if there be any such Eternal Things And therefore for a Conclusion I shall briefly reason the Case with these Men nor directly to prove the Certainty of another World but to shew them how unreasonable and dangerous it is to entertain such an Aversion as they manifestly betray to the Belief of it For can any thing be more infamous than an Aversion to the Belief of Immortality Is any thing more natural to Mankind than the Desire of Immortality Next to the Fears of being miserable for ever is there a more terrible Thought than falling into nothing And how unnatural then is it for Men to be afraid of believing themselves immortal and to take great Pains to perswade themselves against all the Hopes and Inclinations of Nature that they shall dye like Beasts and to appear never better pleased than when they can start some difficulties to weaken the Belief and Hope of another World True you 'l say this seems somewhat unnatural but this is partially represented and not the whole of the Case the Gospel of Christ which promises Eternal Life to all Penitents threatens Eternal Death too against all impenitent Sinners and if upon the Authority of the Gospel we believe the Resurrection of the Just into Immortal Life we must believe the Resurrection of the Wicked to Eternal Punishments and these are such terrible things that it is more desireable there should be no Heaven then that there should be a Hell and they had rather reject these great Hopes than take the Hope and the Fear together This no doubt is the true Reason of Mens infidelity not that they absolutely despise Immortal Life the Desire of which is so natural and necessary but that they fear Eternal Miseries And yet in this case it is very unnatural to reject the Belief and Hope of Immortal Life For the Desire of Immortality is the first and most necessary Desire of Nature and therefore ought to govern all other Desires for it is unnatural to prefer any thing before it As fond as Men are of their Sins yet any Man of understanding would be ashamed to own that he had rather enjoy his Lusts thirty or forty Years than be immortal The Design of Infidelity is not only to cure Men's Fears but to salve their Reputation and to make their Vices less infamous If there be no Life after this let us eat and drink for to morrow we die seems natural and reasonable enough but to eat and drink and riot away Immortality must make a Man infamous Suppose God had promised Immortal Life to good Men and threaten'd not Eternal Punishments but Annihilation to the Wicked When Eternal Punishments were removed out of the way would you have thought it reasonable then to believe Immortality and to live vertuously for the Hopes of Immortality Would you have thought it infamous then to prefer Sin and Annihilation before Vertue and Immortality and is it not infamous then for the love of Sin to reject the Hopes of Immortality and to hope for Annihilation as such Men generally do if we think it reasonable to serve God that we may be immortal and that it would be infamous not to do so supposing the certain Knowledge of Immortal Life then the Threatnings of Eternal Punishments can be no reasonable prejudice against the Belief of Immortality
World believe that God and Nature has taught them is false is a Mystery to me And the only Account that can be given of it is what our Saviour gives That light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil And when they love Darkness it is no wonder that they call it Light but they must first call Darkness Light before they can put out the Light and turn it into Darkness Now if this be the Truth of the Case as our own Experience and our Observations of other Men assure us it is this is a sufficient Reason to reject all the Principles of Atheism and Infidelity without disputing for they were not born and bred with us as what is natural is and therefore must be owing to the Lusts and Vices of Men which are the Works of Darkness and hate the Light and nothing seems stranger to me than that of all the Men in the World these Men should pretend to Reason who have the least Right oâ—… Pretence to it For what Principles can they reason on who reject the Light of Nature and of Revelation What is Natural Reason but the Reason of Humane Nature And how shall we know what this is but by those common Principles of Reason which Nature has implanted in all Mankind and which Art and Wit and Vice it self have much ado to silence and can never perfectly root out and certainly that is not Natural Reason which contradicts all the Principles of Humane Nature and what is that Reason which is not the Reason of Humane Nature Or how is Mankind concerned in such Reasons as can be no Rule to them unless they put off Humane Nature And indeed this is the Case of these very Men they have put off Humane Nature are degenerated into Bruits and have the Reason and Understanding of Bruits espouse such Principles as serve no other End but to justifie the brutal Nature and therefore laugh at the common Sentiments and Faith of Mankind and pretend to Reason only to reason Humane Nature as well as Revelation out of the World How subtilly soever these Men may dispute it sufficeth me that this is not the Original Belief of Mankind and therefore is not owing to God or Nature but to Lust. No Man can call Light Darkness till he is in love with Darkness for the sake of the Works of Darkness 3dly The same may be said of putting Bitter for Sweet and Sweet for Bitter Men must first reconcile themselves to Wickedness which is naturally very bitter uneasie and grievous and shake off all sense of Shame and Modesty and Fear before they can in good earnest reproach Vertue For till Men are very wicked Vertue is the great Pleasure the truest and sweetest Pleasure of Humane Nature Thirdly Let us now consider the Woe that is denounced against these Men and how unavoidable it is Woe be to them that call Evil Good and Good Evil c. What this Woe is is not here express'd but an indefinite Woe is very terrible for it includes all the Woes that God has any where in Scripture threatned against Sinners the Vengeance of God in this World and the eternal Miseries of the next A Woe signifies a State of extream Misery wherein Men shall bewail and lament themselves without Hope or Redress all the Miseries that such Sinners deserve and therefore the greatest that Humane Nature can suffer because this is the greatest Degeneracy of Humane Nature And therefore to warn you all of falling into this State I shall briefly shew you how unavoidable this Woe is When Men are so in love with their Sins that they resolve never to part with them they vainly think that the only way to secure themselves is to banish God out of the World and to destroy all the differences of Good and Evil and then they may please themselves and live as they list without Fear or Shame or any Danger of a future Account Now so far they are in the right that if they could banish God out of the World their Work were done and they might bid defiance to all the Pulpit-thunder and laugh at all the superstitious fears of Sinners But to perswade themselves contrary to the Sense of Nature and the universal Belief of Mankind that there is no God will not banish God out of the World And if they should find a God after they have perswaded themselves there is none as they certainly will they will find this God a provoked and terrible Judge For what greater Contempt and Despite can be offered to God than to perswade themselves that there is no God This is a State of open Enmity They hate God and would destroy his Being if they could for the Reason why they perswade themselves there is no God is because they would have none and those who hate God are hated by him and must suffer his eternal Vengeance Thus if there were no essential difference between Good and Evil they might chuse for themselves and call things by what Names they pleased Evil Good and Good Evil but if there be such a difference however they havâ—… made shift to conquer this Sense at present if they refuse the Good and chuse the Evil they must lose all that Happiness which they might expect from what is a natural Good that is all the true Happiness of Humane Nature and suffer all those Miseries which those Evils which are contrary to the Happiness of Humane Nature and destructive of it will expose them too For Good and Evil are not empty Names but Good signifies the Happiness of that Nature whose Good it is and Evil its Misery And if after all their Philosophy there be such a distinction of Good and Evil with respect to Humane Nature and that is a strange Nature which has no Good or Evil belonging to it to reject the Good must deprive them of Happiness and to chuse the Evil must make them miserable And if there be a moral as well as natural difference between Good and Evil that one deserves to be rewarded and the other punished we must expect that the Righteous Judge of the World will reward and punish us according to our Works If Men shut their Eyes or put out the Light and then call Darkness Light and Light Darkness how secure soever this may make them at present all that they gain by it is to go to Hell blindfold not to see their Danger before they feel themselves irrecoverably miserable If there be a distinction between Light and Darkness in the Moral and Spiritual as well as in the Natural World as there must be if there be any difference between true Knowledge and Wisdom and Ignorance and Folly If the Office of Light be to direct us in the way to Heaven those blessed Regions of eternal Light which those who wander in Darkness can never find If the necessary Effect of putting Darkness for Light be to lose the sight
credulous Fools and to think themselves the only wise Men in the World to be wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own Sight This indeed perfects all the rest and there is no help for it for if they will contradict all Mankind they must think either themselves or all the rest of Mankind to be Fools Now I believe those who are at all acquainted with the Passions of Human Nature cannot think this is a very easie thing to despise the general Sense of Mankind which at least looks more like the Sense of Nature than the private Opinions of some few Philosophers or to scorn all Men for Fools and Ideots who ever believed a God and a Providence the moral Differences of Good and Evil Revelation Prophecy and Miracles Nothing but absolute Demonstration can reasonably harden a Man against such an universal Consent and it is enough to make any Man to suspect even Demonstration it self to have all the World against him For we can never think that all Mankind should conspire to resist Demonstration and yet by what I have already said you may easily perceive that they are far enough from demonstrating the Principles of Atheism and Infidelity But besides the general Sense of Mankind which they may despise as an unthinking Multitude though the less of Thought and Design the more there appears of Nature in such a general Consent but I say besides this they should consider how many very wise thinking Men and great Philosophers have in these Points thought as the Multitude do I will not name Moses and the Prophets nor Christ and his Apostles for whom I know they have little Reverence but what think they of Pythagoras and Plato and Tully and Seneca and Epictetus and many other such Men Were they all Fools too and yet they were neither Atheists nor Infidels and were zealous Preachers of moral Vertue And as for the Unthinking Multitude as they call them it is worth considering that the greatest Numbers of them are as wicked as they themselves are or could wish them to be that it is sufficiently their interest to be Atheists and Infidels too and yet Nature is too strong for their Fears and they believe a God and the Difference of Good and Evil though they believe and tremble as the Devils do It is wonderful what should give these Men such Confidence to despise all the World and I can think of no other Reason for it but that they find it necessary and the only way they have to be even with the World that since all Mankind despise them they will despise all Mankind But they find this a very unequal Match and are very uneasie under it For the Judgment of all Mankind is a perswasive Argument of the Sense of Nature their despising Mankind is only a Sign of Folly and Impudence I shall make some few Observations on what I have said and so conclude I. I observe how the Love of Sin will corrupt Mens natural Sense and Notions of Things and blind and stupifie their Minds Nothing else but this can make an Atheist or an Infidel That there wants no Proof of the Being of God is evident from the general Belief of Mankind and there is nothing in the Notion of a God which should make any Man averse to the Belief of a God but only his Justice in punishing Sinners and that can make no Man afraid of believing a God but those who resolve to live in Sin There is no other Exception Men can take against the Gospel of Christ which promises Forgiveness of Sins to those who repent of their Sins and reform their Lives but that Repentance and Reformation are made the Gospel Terms of Forgivness and Hell-fire is denounced against impenitent Sinners If we consider this before-hand it may convince us how unnatural Sin is and how foolish Sinners are Sin can never be reconciled to the Principles of Nature and Sinners are so foolish as to put out the Light of Nature that they may transgress the Laws of Nature which is a very foolish Design to put out the Light that we may sin and not know it till we feel our selves eternally damned for it 2dly This may satisfie us how difficult a thing it is to sin with security much more difficult than to obey the Laws of God It is a much easier thing to conquer and subdue our sensual Lusts and Appetites by the Arguments and Motives of Religion by the Fear of God and the Rewards and Punishments of the next Life than it is to deliver our selves from the Notions of Good and Evil from the Belief of a God and of the Gospel of Christ that if we consult our own Ease and Satisfaction it is much easier to be a good Man and to be saved than to live in Sin without the Fears of Damnation 3dly I observe how vain a thing it is to be wicked upon Principles Men of Honour when they know they do such things as the World accounts infamous think themselves in Reputation bound to justifie them but those Principles whereby they pretend to justifie their Vices are more infamous than their Vices themselves as an Atheist or Infidel in the Opinion of the VVorld is a more contemptible Creature than a common Sinner All Men who are liable to Temptations themselves have a great Compassion for the VVeakness of Human Nature but when Men will justifie their Vices and justifie them by renouncing God and all Religion this strikes those who otherwise it may be are as bad themselves with Horror and Indignation makes wise Men despise them and good Men abhor them and I wish this general Contempt of them were more publick and visible which would either cure their Atheism and Infidelity or make them more modest that they should not appear so wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight 4thly I observe the irrecoverable Condition of these Men who call evil good and good evil who put darkness for light and light for darkness who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight they have hardened themselves beyond the ordinary Methods of God's Grace and therefore must unavoidably fall under this VVo For when Men have wilfully put out their Eyes and stifled all the natural Notions of their Minds you may as well think of converting bruit Beasts as of converting them This is a miserable hopeless State VVhich God of his infinite Mercy deliver us all from through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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