the Reward of his goodness 1. The Description of a good man He is said to be one that loves the Law of God that is that loves to meditate upon it and to practise it 2. The Reward of his goodness Great peace have they that love thy Law The word Peace is many times used in Scripture in a very large sense so as to comprehend all kind of happiness sometimes it signifies outward peace and quiet in opposition to war and contention and sometimes inward peace and contentment in opposition to inward trouble and anguish I understand the Text chiefly in this last sense not wholly excluding either of the other My design at present from these words is to recommend Religion to men from the consideration of that inward peace and pleasure which attends it And surely nothing can be said more to the advantage of Religion in the opinion of considerate men than this For the aim of all Philosophy and the great search of wise men hath been how to attain peace and tranquillity of mind And if Religion be able to give this a greater commendation need not be given to Religion But before I enter upon this Argument I shall premise two things by way of Caution First That these kind of Observations are not to be taken too strictly and rigorously as if they never failed in any one instance Aristotle observed long since that moral and proverbial sayings are understood to be true generally and for the most part and that is all the truth that is to be expected in them As when Solomon says Train up a child in the way wherein he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it This is not to be so taken as if no child that is piously educated did ever miscarry afterwards but that the good education of children is the best way to make good men and commonly approved to be so by experience So here when it is said that great peace have they that love Gods Law the meaning is that Religion hath generally this effect though in some cases and as to some persons it may be accidentally hindered Secondly When I say that Religion gives peace and tranquillity to our minds this is chiefly to be understood of a Religious state in which a man is well settled and confirmed and not of our first entrance into it for that is more or less troublesome according as we make it If we begin a religious course betimes before we have contracted any great guilt and before the habits of sin be grown strong in us the work goes on easily without any great conflict or resistance But the case is otherwise when a man breaks off from a wicked life and becomes religious from the direct contrary course in which he hath been long and deeply engaged In this case no man is so unreasonable as to deny that there is a great deal of sensible trouble and difficulty in the making of this change but when it is once made peace and comfort will spring up by degrees and daily encrease as we grow more confirmed and established in a good course These two things being premised I shall now endeavour to shew that Religion gives a man the greatest pleasure and satisfaction of mind and that there is no true peace nor any comparable pleasure to be had in a contrary course And that from these two heads From Testimony of Scripture and from the Nature of Religion which is apt to produce peace and tranquility of mind I. First From Testimony of Scripture I shall select some of those Texts which are more full and express to this purpose Job 22.21 speaking of God Acquaint thy self now with him and be at peace To acquaint our selves with God is a phrase of the same importance with coming to God and seeking of him and many other like expressions in Scripture which signifie nothing else but to become religious Psal 37.38 Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Or as these words are rendred according to the LXX in our old Translation Keep innocency take heed to the thing that is right for that shall bring thee peace at the last Prov. 3.17 Where Solomon speaking of Wisdom which with him is but another name for Religion says Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Isa 32.17 The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Matt. 11.28 29 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Now to come to Christ is to become his Disciples to believe and practise his Doctrine for so our Saviour explains himself in the next words Take my yoke upon you and learn of me and ye shall find rest for your souls Rom. 2.10 Glory and honour and peace to every man that worketh good And on the contray the Scripture represents the condition of a sinner to be full of trouble and disquiet David though he was a very good man yet when he had grievously offended God the anguish of his mind was such as even to disorder and distemper his body Psal 38.2 3 4 Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine iniquities are gone over mine head and as an heavy burthen they are too heavy for me Isa 57.20 21 The wicked are like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt there is no peace saith my God to the wicked And Isa 59.7.8 Misery and destruction are in their paths and the way of peace they know not they have made themselves crooked paths whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace Rom. 2.9 Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil You see how full and express the Scripture is in this matter I come now in the II. Second place To give you a more particular account of this from the Nature of Religion which is apt to produce peace and tranquillity of mind And that I shall do in these three particulars 1. Religion is apt to remove the chief causes of inward trouble and disquiet 2. It furnisheth us with all the true causes of peace and tranquillity of mind 3. The reflection upon a religious course of life and all the actions of it doth afterwards yield great pleasure and satisfaction First Religion is apt to remove the chief causes of inward trouble and disquiet The chief causes of inward trouble and discontent are these two Doubting and anxiety of mind and Guilt of Conscience Now Religion is apt to free us from both these 1. From Doubting and anxiety of mind Irreligion and Atheism makes a man full of doubts and jealousies whether he be in the right and whether at last things will not prove quite otherwise than he hath rashly
and without delay And because they are many I shall insist upon those which are most weighty and considerable without being very curious and solicitous about the method and order of them For provided they be but effectual to the end of perswasion it matters not how inartificially they are rang'd and disposed 1. Consider that in matters of great and necessary concernment and which must be done there is no greater argument of a weak and impotent mind then irresolution to be undermined where the case is so plain and the necessity so urgent to be always about doing that which we are convinced must be done Victuros agimus semper nec vivimus unquam We are always intending to live a new life but can never find a time to set about it This is as if a man should put off eating and drinking and sleeping from one day and night to another till he have starved and destroyed himself It seldom falls under any mans deliberation whether he should live or not if he can chuse and if he cannot chuse 't is in vain to deliberate about it It is much more absurd to deliberate whether we should live virtuously and religiously soberly and righteously in the world for that upon the matter is to consult whether a man should be happy or not Nature hath determined this for us and we need not reason about it and consequently we ought not to delay that which we are convinced is so necessary in order to it 2. Consider that Religion is a great and a long work and asks so much time that there is none left for the delaying of it To begin with Repentance which is commonly our first entrance into Religion This alone is a great work and is not only the business of a sudden thought and resolution but of execution and action 'T is the abandoning of a sinful course which we cannot leave till we have in some degree mastered our lusts for so long as they are our masters like Pharaoh they will keep us in bondage and not let us go to serve the Lord. The habits of sin and vice are not to be plucked up and cast off at once as they have been long in contracting so without a miracle it will require a competent time to subdue them and get the victory over them for they are conquered just by the same degrees that the habits of grace and virtue grow up and get strength in us So that there are several duties to be done in Religion and often to be repeated many graces and virtues are to be long practised and exercised before the contrary vices will be subdued and before we arrive to a confirmed and setled state of goodness such a state as can only give us a clear and comfortable evidence of the sincerity of our resolution and repentance and of our good condion towards God We have many lusts to mortifie many passions to govern and bring into order much good to do to make what amends and reparation we can for the much evil we have done We have many things to learn and many to unlearn to which we shall be strongly prompted by the corrupt inclinations of our nature and the remaining power of ill habits and customs and perhaps we have satisfaction and restitution to make for the many injuries we have done to others in their persons or estates or reputations In a word we have a body of sin to put off which clings close to us and is hard to part with we have to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God to encrease and improve our graces and virtues to add to our faith knowledg and temperance and patience and brotherly kindness and charity and to abound in all the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God We have to be useful to the world and exemplary to others in a holy and virtuous conversation our light is so to shine before men that others may see our good works and glorifie our father which is in heaven And do we think all this is to be done in an instant and requires no time That we may delay and put off to the last and yet do all this work well enough Do we think we can do all this in time of sickness and old age when we are not fit to do any thing when the spirit of a man can hardly bear the infirmities of nature much less a guilty conscience and a wounded spirit Do we think that when the day hath been idlely spent and squandered away by us that we shall be fit to work when the night and darkness comes When our understanding is weak and our memory frail and our will crooked and by a long custom of sinning obstinately bent the wrong way what can we then do in Religion what reasonable or acceptable service can we then perform to God when our candle is just sinking into the socket how shall our light so shine before men that others may see our good works Alas the longest life is no more than sufficient for a man to reform himself in to repent of the errors of his life and to amend what is amiss to put our souls into a good posture and preparation for another world to train up our selves for eternity and to make our selves meet to be made partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light 3. Consider what a desperate hazard we run by these delays Every delay of repentance is a venturing the main chance It is uncertain whether hereafter we shall have time for it and if we have time whether we shall have a heart to it and the assistance of Gods grace to go thorough with it God indeed hath been graciously pleased to promise pardon to repentance but he hath no-where promised life and leisure the aids of his grace and holy Spirit to those who put off their repentance He hath no-where promised acceptance to meer sorrow and trouble for sin without fruits meet for repentance and amendment of life He hath no-where promised to receive them to mercy and favour who only give him good words and are at last contented to condescend so far to him as to promise to leave their sins when they can keep them no longer Many have gone thus far in times of affliction and sickness as to be awakened to a great sense of their sins and to be mightily troubled for their wicked lives and to make solemn promises and professions of becoming better and yet upon their deliverance and recovery all hath vanished and come to nothing and their righteousness hath been as the morning cloud and as the early dew which passeth away And why should any man meerly upon account of a death-bed repentance reckon himself in a better condition than those persons who have done as much and gone as far as he and there is no other difference between them but this that the
weakness of this argument which is so transparent that no wise man can honestly use it and he must have a very odd understanding that can be cheated by it The truth is it is a casual and contingent argument and sometimes it concludes right and oftner wrong and therefore no prudent man can be moved by it except only in one case when all things are so equal on both sides that there is nothing else in the whole world to determine him which surely can never happen in matters of Religion necessary to be believed No man is so weak as not to consider in the change of his Religion the merits of the cause it self as not to examine the Doctrines and Practices of the Churches on both sides as not to take notice of the confidence and Charity of both Parties together with all other things which ought to move a conscientious and a prudent man And if upon enquiry there appear to be a clear advantage on either side then this argument is needless and comes too late because the work is already done without it Besides that the great hazard of salvation in the Roman Church which we declare upon account of the Doctrines and Practices which I have mentioned ought to deter any man much more from that Religion than the acknowledged possibility of salvation in it ought to encourage any man to the embracing of it Never did any Christian Church build so much hay and stubble upon the foundation of Christianity and therefore those that are saved in it must be saved as it were out of the fire And though Purgatory be not meant in the Text yet it is a Doctrine very well suted to their manner of building for there is need of an ignis purgatorius of a fire to try their work what it is and to burn up their hay and stubble And I have so much Charity and I desire always to have it as to hope that a great many among them who live piously and have been almost inevitably detain'd in that Church by the prejudice of education and an invincible ignorance will upon a general repentance find mercy with God and though their work suffer loss and be burnt yet they themselves may escape as out of the fire But as for those who have had the opportunities of coming to the knowledg of the truth if they continue in the errors of that Church or apostatize from the truth I think their condition so far from being safe that there must be extraordinary favourable circumstances in their case to give a man hopes of their salvation I have now done with the two things I propounded to speak to And I am sorry that the necessary defence of our Religion against the restless importunities and attempts of our adversaries upon all sorts of persons hath engaged me to spend so much time in matters of dispute which I had much rather have employed in another way Many of you can be my witnesses that I have constantly made it my business in this great Presence and Assembly to plead against the impieties and wickedness of men and have endeavour'd by the best arguments I could think of to gain men over to a firm belief and serious practice of the main things of Religion And I do assure you I had much rather perswade any one to be a good man than to be of any party or denomination of Christians whatsoever For I doubt not but the belief of the ancient Creed provided we entertain nothing that is destructive of it together with a good life will certainly save a man and without this no man can have reasonable hopes of salvation no not in an infallible Church if there were any such to be found in the world I have been according to my opportunities not a negligent observer of the genius and humour of the several Sects and Professions in Religion And upon the whole matter I do in my conscience believe the Church of England to be the best constituted Church this day in the world and that as to the main the Doctrine and Government and Worship of it are excellently framed to make men soberly Religious Securing men on the one hand from the wild freaks of Enthusiasm and on the other from the gross follies of Superstition And our Church hath this peculiar advantage above several Professions that we know in the world that it acknowledgeth a due and just subordination to the civil Authority and hath always been untainted in its loyalty And now shall every trifling consideration be sufficient to move a man to relinquish such a Church There is no greater disparagement to a mans understanding no greater argument of a light and ungenerous mind than rashly to change ones Religion Religion is our greatest concernment of all other and it is not every little argument no nor a great noise about infallibility nothing but very plain and convincing evidence that should sway a man in this case But they are utterly inexcusable who make a change of such concernment upon the insinuations of one side only without ever hearing what can be said for the Church they were baptized and brought up in before they leave it They that can yield thus easily to the impressions of every one that hath a design and interest to make Proselytes may at this rate of discretion change their Religion twice a day and instead of morning and evening Prayer they may have a morning and an evening Religion Therefore for Gods sake and for our own Souls sake and for the sake of our Reputation let us consider and shew our selves men Let us not suffer our selves to be shaken and carried away with every wind Let us not run our selves into danger when we may be safe Let us stick to the foundation of Religion the Articles of our common belief and build upon them gold and silver and precious stones I mean the virtues and actions of a good life and if we would do this we should not be apt to set such a value upon hay and stubble If we would sincerely endeavour to live holy and virtuous lives we should not need to cast about for a Religion which may furnish us with easie and indirect ways to get to Heaven I will conclude all with the Apostles Exhortation Wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord. Now the God of peace which brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom he Glory for ever and ever Amen A SERMON Preached before the KING AT WHITE-HALL IN LENT March 20 th 1673· Psal CXIX 156 Great peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them IN these words there are two things contained The Description of a good man and
at last upon this as the greatest felicity of humane life and the only good use that is to be made of a prosperous and plentiful fortune Eccl. 3.12 I know that there is no good in them but for a man to rejoyce and do good in his life And a greater and a wiser than Solomon hath said that it is more blessed to give than to receive Thirdly To employ our selves in doing good is to imitate the highest Excellency and Perfection It is to be like God who is good and doth good and to be like him in that which he esteems his greatest glory and that is his Goodness It is to be like the Son of God who when he took our nature upon him and lived in the World went about doing good It is to be like the blessed Angels whose great employment it is to be ministring spirits for the good of others To be charitable and helpful and beneficial to others is to be a good Angel and a Saviour and a God to men And the Example of our blessed Saviour more especially is the great Pattern which our Religion propounds to us And we have all the reason in the World to be in love with it because that very Goodness which it propounds to our imitation was so beneficial to our selves when we our selves feel and enjoy the happy effects of that good which he did in the World this should mightily endear the Example to us and make us forward to imitate that love and kindness to which we are indebted for so many blessings and upon which all our hopes of happiness do depend And there is this considerable difference between our Saviour's charity to us and ours to others He did all purely for our sakes and for our benefit whereas all the good we do to others is a greater good done to our selves They indeed are beholden to us for the kindness we do them and we to them for the opportunity of doing it Every ignorant person that comes in our way to be instructed by us every sinner whom we reclaim every poor and necessitous man whom we relieve is a happy opportunity of doing good to our selves and of laying up for our selves a good treasure against the time which is to come that we may lay hold on eternal life By this principle the best and the happiest man that ever was governed his life and actions esteeming it a more blessed thing to give than to receive Fourthly This is one of the greatest and most substantial Duties of Religion and next to the love and honour which we pay to God himself the most acceptable service that we can perform to him It is one half of the Law and next to the first and great Commandment and very like unto it like to it in the excellency of its nature and in the necessity of its obligation For this commandment we have from him that he who loveth God love his brother also The first Commandment excels in the dignity of the object but the Second hath the advantage in the reality of its effects For our righteousness extendeth not to God we can do him no real benefit but our charity to men is really useful and beneficial to them For which reason God is contented in many cases that the external Honour and Worship which by his positive commands he requires of us should give way to that natural duty of Love and Mercy which we owe to one another And to shew how great a value he puts upon Charity he hath made it the great testimony of our Love to himself and for want of it rejects all other professions of love to him as false and insincere If any man say I love God and hateth his brother he is a liar For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen Fifthly This is that which will give us the greatest comfort when we come to die It will then be no pleasure to men to reflect upon the great estates they have got and the great places they have been advanced to because they are leaving these things and they will stand them in no stead in the other world Riches profit not in the day of wrath But the conscience of well-doing will refresh our Souls even under the very pangs of death With what contentment does a good man then look upon the good he hath done in his life and with what confidence doth he look over into the other world where he hath provided for himself bags that wax not old a treasure in the heavens that faileth not For though our estates will not follow us into the other world our good works will though we cannot carry our riches along with us yet we may send them before us to make way for our reception into everlasting habitations In short works of Mercy and Charity will comfort us at the hour of death and plead for us at the day of Judgment and procure for us at the hands of a merciful God a glorious recompence at the resurrection of the just Which leads me to the Last consideration I shall offer to you which is the reward of doing good both in this world and the other If we believe God himself he hath made more particular and encouraging promises to this grace and virtue than to any other The advantages of it in This World are many and great It is the way to derive a lasting blessing upon our estate Acts of charity are the best Deeds of Settlement We gain the prayers and blessings of those to whom we extend our charity and it is no small thing to have the blessing of them that are ready to perish to come upon us For God hears the prayers of the destitute and his ear is open to their cry Charity is a great security to us in times of evil and that not only from the special promise and providence of God which are engaged to preserve from want those that relieve the necessities of others but likewise from the nature of the thing which makes way for its own reward in this world He that is charitable to others provides a supply and retreat for himself in the day of distress For he provokes mankind by his example to like tenderness towards him and prudently bespeaks the commiseration of others against it comes to be his turn to stand in need of it Nothing in this World makes a man more and surer friends than charity and bounty and such as will stand by us in the greatest troubles and dangers For a good man says the Apostle one would even dare to die 'T is excellent counsel of the Son of Sirach Lay up thy treasure according to the Commandment of the Most high and it shall bring thee more profit than gold Shut up thy alms in thy store-house and it shall deliver thee from all affliction It shall fight for thee against thine enemies better than a mighty shield and strong spear It hath sometimes happened that the obligation that men have laid upon others by their Charity hath in case of danger and extremity done them more kindness than all the rest of their Estate could do for them and their Alms have literally delivered them from death But what is all this to the endless and unspeakable Happiness of the Next life where the returns of doing good will be vastly great beyond what we can now expect or imagine For God takes all the good we do to others as a debt upon himself and he hath estate and treasure enough to satisfie the greatest obligations we can lay upon him So that we have the Truth and Goodness and Sufficiency of God for our security that what we scatter and sow in this kind will grow up to a plentiful harvest in the other World and that all our pains and expence in doing good for a few days will be recompensed and crowned with the Joys and Glories of Eternity FINIS Bishop Sanderson Juven Vell. Patere Seneca * Tully * Aristides Antonin lib. 10.
Gods mercy is great and he will be pacified for the multitude of my sins For mercy and wrath is with him he is mighty to forgive and to pour out displeasure And as his mercy is great so are his corrections also Therefore make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day For suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Humble thy self before thou be sick and in the time of sins shew repentance Let nothing hinder thee to pay thy vows in due time and defer not till death to be justified A SERMON Preached before the KING AT WHITE-HALL In April 1672. 1 Cor. III. 15 But he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire THE Context is thus According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise Master-builder I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid Jesus Christ Now if any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble every mans work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is If any mans work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward If any mans work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss But he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire In these Words the Apostle speaks of a sort of persons who held indeed the foundation of Christianity but built upon it such doctrines or practices as would not bear the trial which he expresses to us by wood hay and stubble which are not proof against the fire Such a person the Apostle tells us hath brought himself into a very dangerous state though he would not absolutely deny the possibility of his salvation He himself shall be saved yet so as by fire That by fire here is not meant the fire of Purgatory as some pretend who would be glad of any shadow of a Text of Scripture to countenance their own dreams I shall neither trouble you nor my self to manifest since the particle of similitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plainly shews that the Apostle did not intend an escape out of the fire literally but such an escape as men make out of a house or Town that is on fire Especially since very learned persons of the Church of Rome do acknowledg that Purgatory cannot be concluded from this Text nay all that Estius contends for from this place is that it cannot be concluded from hence that there is no Purgatory which we never pretended but only that this Text does not prove it It is very well known that this is a Proverbial phrase used not only in Scripture but in prophane Authors to signifie a narrow escape out of a great danger He shall be saved yet so as by fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the fire Just as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used 1 Pet. 3.20 where the Apostle speaking of the eight persons of Noah's family who escap'd the flood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they escaped out of the water So here this phrase is to be rendred in the Text he himself shall escape yet so as out of the fire The like expression you have Amos 4.11 I have pluckt them as a firebrand out of the fire And Jude 23 Others save with fear plucking them out of the fire All which expressions signifie the greatness of the danger and the difficulty of escaping it as one who when his house at midnight is set on fire and being suddenly wak'd leaps out of his bed and runs naked out of the doors taking nothing that is within along with him but imploying his whole care to save his body from the flames as St. Chrysostome upon another occasion expresseth it And so the Roman Orator who it is likely did not think of Purgatory useth this phrase Quo ex judicio velut ex incendio nudus effugit From which Judgment or Sentence he escaped naked as it were out of a burning And one of the Greek Orators tells us That to save a man out of the fire was a common proverbial speech From the words thus explained the Observation that naturally ariseth is this That men may hold all the Fundamentals of Christian Religion and yet may superadd other things whereby they may greatly endanger their salvation What those things were which some among the Corinthians built upon the foundation of Christianity whereby they endanger'd their Salvation we may probably conjecture by what the Apostle reproves in this Epistle as the tolerating of incestuous marriages communicating in Idol-feasts c. And especially by the doctrine of the false Apostles who at that time did so much disturb the peace of most Christian Churches and who are so often and so severely reflected upon in this Epistle And what their Doctrine was we have an account Act. 15. viz. that they imposed upon the Gentile Christians Circumcision and the observation of the Jewish Law teaching that unless they were circumcised and kept the Law of Moses they could not be saved So that they did not only build these Doctrines upon Christianity but they made them equal with the Foundation saying that unless men believed and practised such things they could not be saved In speaking to this Observation I shall reduce my discourse to these two Heads 1. I shall represent to you some Doctrines and Practices which have been built upon the Foundation of Christianity to the great hazard and danger of mens salvation And to be plain I mean particularly by the Church of Rome 2. I shall enquire whether our granting a possibility of salvation though with great hazard to those in the communion of the Roman Church and their denying it to us be a reasonable argument and encouragement to any man to betake himself to that Church And there is the more reason to consider these things when so many seducing Spirits are so active and busie to pervert men from the truth and when we see every day so many and their Religion so easily parted For this reason these two Considerations shall be the subject of the following Discourse I. First We will consider some Doctrines and Practices which the Church of Rome hath built upon the foundation of Christianity to the great hazard and danger of mens salvation It is not denied by the most judicious Protestants but that the Church of Rome do hold all the Articles of the Christian Faith which are necessary to salvation But that which we charge upon them as a just ground of our separation from them is the imposing of new Doctrines and Practices upon Christians as necessary to salvation which were never taught by our Saviour or his Apostles and which are either directly contrary to the Doctrine of Christianity or
determined For though a man endeavour never so much to settle himself in the principles of Infidelity and to perswade his mind that there is no God and consequently that there are no rewards to be hoped for nor punishments to be feared in another life yet he can never attain to a steddy and unshaken perswasion of these things And however he may please himself with witty reasonings against the common belief of mankind and smart reparties to their arguments and bold and pleasant raillery about these matters yet I dare say no man ever sate down in a clear and full satisfaction concerning them For when he hath done all that he can to reason himself out of Religion his conscience ever and anon recoyls upon him and his natural thoughts and apprehensions rise up against his reasonings and all his wit and subtilty is confuted and born down by a secret and strong suspicion which he can by no means get out of his mind that things may be otherwise And the reason hereof is plain because all this is an endeavour against nature and those vigorous instincts which God hath planted in the minds of men to the contrary For whenever our minds are free and not violently hurried away by passion nor blinded by prejudice they do of themselves return to their first and most natural apprehensions of things And this is the reason why when the Atheist falls into any great calamity and is awakened to an impartial consideration of things by the apprehension of death and judgment and despairs of enjoying any longer those pleasures for the sake of which he hath all this while rebelled against Religion his courage presently sinks and all his arguments fail him and his case is now too serious to admit of jesting and at the bottom of his soul he doubts of all that which he asserted with so much confidence and set so good a face upon before and can find no ease to his mind but in retreating from his former principles nor no hopes of consolation for himself but in acknowledging that God whom he hath denied and imploring his mercy whom he hath affronted This is always the case of these persons when they come to extremity not to mention the infinite checks and rebukes which their own minds give them upon other occasions so that 't is very seldom that these men have any tolerable enjoyment of themselves but are forced to run away from themselves into company and to stupify themselves by intemperance that they may not feel the fearful twitches and gripings of their own minds Whereas he who entertains the principles of Religion and therein follows his own natural apprehensions and the general voice of mankind and is not conscious to himself that he knowingly and wilfully lives contrary to these principles hath no anxiety in his mind about these things being verily perswaded they are true and that he hath all the reason in the world to think so And if they should prove otherwise which he hath no cause to suspect yet he hath this satisfaction that he hath taken the wisest course and hath consulted his own present peace and future security infinitely better than the Atheist hath done in case he should prove to be mistaken For it is a fatal mistake to think there is no God if there be one but a mistake on the other hand hath no future bad consequences depending upon it nor indeed any great present inconvenience Religion only restraining a man from doing some things from most of which it is good he should be restrained however so that at the worst the religious man is only mistaken but the Atheist is miserable if he be mistaken miserable beyond all imagination and past all remedy 2. Another and indeed a principal cause of trouble and discontent to the minds of men is Guilt Now Guilt is a consciousness to our selves that we have done amiss and the very thought that we have done amiss is apt to lie very cross in our minds and to cause great anguish and confusion Besides that Guilt is always attended with Fear which naturally springs up in the mind of man from a secret apprehension of the mischief and inconvenience that his sin will bring upon him and of the vengeance that hangs over him from God and will overtake him either in this world or the other And though the sinner while he is in full health and prosperity may make a shift to divert and shake off these fears yet they frequently return upon him and upon every little noise of danger upon the apprehension of any calamity that comes near him his guilty mind is presently jealous that it is making towards him and is particularly levelled against him For he is sensible that there is a just power above him to whose indignation he is continually liable and therefore he is always in fear of him and how long soever he may have scaped punishment in this world he cannot but dread the vengeance of the other And these thoughts are a continual disturbance to his mind and in the midst of laughter make his heart heavy And the longer he continues in a wicked course the more he multiplies the grounds and causes of his fears But now Religion frees a man from all this torment either by preventing the cause of it or directing to the cure either by preserving us from guilt or clearing us of it in case we have contracted it It preserves us from guilt by keeping us innocent and in case we have offended it clears us of it by leading us to repentance and the amendment of our lives which is the onely way to recover the favour of God and the peace of our own consciences and to secure us against all apprehension of danger from the divine Justice though not absolutely from all fear of punishment in this world yet from that which is the great danger of all the condemnation and torment of the world to come And by this means a man's mind is setled in perfect peace Religion freeing him from those tormenting fears of the Divine displeasure which he can upon no other terms rid himself of whereas the sinner is always sowing the seeds of trouble in his own mind and laying a foundation of continual discontent to himself Secondly As Religion removes the chief grounds of trouble and disquiet so it ministers to us all the true causes of peace and tranquillity of mind Whoever lives according to the rules of Religion lays these three great foundations of peace and comfort to himself 1. He is satisfied that in being religious he doth that which is most reasonable 2. That he secures himself against the greatest mischiefs and dangers by making God his Friend 3. That upon the whole matter he do's in all respects most effectually consult and promote his own interest and happiness 1. He is satisfied that he does that which is most reasonable And it is no small pleasure to be justified to our selves to be satisfied
that we are what we ought to be and do what in reason we ought to do that which best becomes us and which according to the primitive intention of our Being is most natural for whatever is natural is pleasant Now the practice of piety towards God and of every other grace and virtue which Religion teacheth us are things reasonable in themselves and what God when he made us intended we should do And a man is then pleased with himself and his own actions when he doth what he is convinced he ought to do and is then offended with himself when he goes against the light of his own mind by neglecting his duty or doing contrary to it for then his conscience checks him and there is something within him that is uneasie and puts him into disorder As when a man eats or drinks any thing that is unwholsom it offends his stomach and puts his body into an unnatural and a restless state For every thing is then at rest and peace when it is in that state in which Nature intended it to be and being violently forced out of it it is never quiet till it recover it again Now Religion and the practice of its virtues is the natural state of the soul the condition to which God designed it As God made man a Reasonable creature so all the acts of Religion are reasonable and suitable to our nature And our souls are then in health when we are what the Laws of Religion require us to be and do what they command us to do And as we find an unexpressible ease and pleasure when our body is in its perfect state of health and on the contrary every distemper causeth pain and uneasiness so is it with the soul When Religion governs all our inclinations and actions and the temper of our minds and the course of our lives is conformable to the precepts of it all is at peace But when we are otherwise and live in any vitious practice how can there be peace so long as we act unreasonably and do those things whereby we necessarily create trouble and disturbance to our selves How can we hope to be at ease so long as we are in a sick and diseased condition Till the corruption that is in us be wrought out our spirits will be in a perpetual tumult and fermentation and it is as impossible for us to enjoy the peace and serenity of our minds as it is for a sick man to be at ease He may use what arts of diversion he will and change from one place and posture to another but still he is restless because there is that within him which gives him pain and disturbance There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Such men may dissemble their condition and put on the face and appearance of pleasantness and contentment but God who sees all the secrets of mens hearts knows it is far otherwise with them There is no peace saith my God to the wicked 2. Another ground of peace which the religious man hath is That he hath made God his Friend Now Friendship is peace and pleasure both It is mutual love and that is a double pleasure And it is hard to say which is the greatest the pleasure of loving God or of knowing that he loves us Now whoever sincerely endeavours to please God may rest perfectly assured that God hath no displeasure against him for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness and his countenance shall behold the upright that is he will be favourable to such persons As he hates the workers of iniquity so he takes pleasure in them that fear him in such as keep his covenant and remember his commandments to do them And being assured of his favour we are secured against the greatest dangers and the greatest fears and may say with David Return then unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid What can reasonably trouble or discontent that man who hath made his peace with God and is restored to his favour who is the best and most powerful friend and can be the sorest and most dangerous enemy in the whole World 3. By being religious we do most effectually consult our own interest and happiness A great part of Religion consists in moderating our appetites and passions and this naturally tends to the composure of our minds He that lives piously and virtuously acts according to Reason and in so doing maintains the present peace of his own mind and not only so but he lays the foundation of his future happiness to all Eternity For Religion gives a man the hopes of eternal life And all pleasure does not consist in present enjoyment there is a mighty pleasure also in the firm belief and expectation of a future good and if it be a great and a lasting good it will support a man under a great many present evils If Religion be certainly the way to avoid the greatest evils and to bring us to happiness at last we may contentedly bear a great many afflictions for its sake For though all suffering be grievous yet it is pleasant to escape great dangers and to come to the possession of a mighty good though it be with great difficulty and inconvenience to our selves And when we come to heaven if ever we be so happy as to get thither it will be a new and a greater pleasure to us to remember the pains and troubles whereby we were saved and made happy So that all these put together are a firm foundation of peace and comfort to a good man There is a great satisfaction in the very doing of our duty and acting reasonably though there may happen to be some present trouble and inconvenience in it But when we do not only satisfie our selves in so doing but likewise please him whose favour is better than life and whose frowns are more terrible than death when in doing our duty we directly promote our own happiness and in serving God do most effectually serve our own interest what can be imagined to minister more peace and pleasure to the mind of man This is the second thing Religion furnisheth us with all the true causes of peace and tranquillity of mind Thirdly The Reflection upon a religious and virtuous course of life doth afterwards yield a mighty pleasure and satisfaction And what can commend Religion more to us than that the remembrance of any pious and virtuous action gives us so much contentment and delight So that whatever difficulty and reluctancy we may find in the doing of it to be sure there is peace and satisfaction in the looking back upon it No man ever reflected upon himself with regret for having done his duty to God or man for having lived soberly or righteously or godly in this present world Nay on the contrary the conscience
of any duty faithfully discharged the memory of any good we have done does refresh the soul with a strange kind of pleasure and joy Our rejoycing is this saith St. Paul the testimony of our consciences that in all simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world But on the other side the course of a vicious life all acts of impiety to God of malice and injustice to men of intemperance and excess in reference to our selves do certainly leave a sting behind them And whatever pleasure there may be in the present act of them the memory of them is so tormenting that men are glad to use all the arts of diversion to fence off the thoughts of them One of the greatest troubles in the world to a bad man is to look into himself and to remember how he hath lived I appeal to the consciences of men whether this be not true And is not here now a mighty difference between these two courses of life that when we do any thing that is good if there be any trouble in it it is soon over but the pleasure of it is perpetual when we do a wicked action the pleasure of it is short and transient but the trouble and sting of it remains for ever The reflection upon the good we have done gives a lasting satisfaction to our minds but the remembrance of any evil committed by us leaves a perpetual discontent And which is yet more considerable a religious and virtuous course of life does then yield most peace and comfort when we most stand in need of it in times of affliction and at the hour of death When a man falls into any great calamity there is no comfort in the world like to that of a good conscience This makes all calm and serene within when there is nothing but clouds and darkness about him So David observes of the good man Psal 112.4 Vnto the upright there ariseth light in darkness All the pious and virtuous actions that we do are so many seeds of peace and comfort sown in our consciences which will spring up and flourish most in times of outward trouble and distress Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart And at the hour of death The righteous hath hopes in his death saith Solomon And what a seasonable refreshment is it to the mind of man when the pangs of death are ready to take hold of him and he is just stepping into the other world to be able to look back with satisfaction upon a religious and well-spent life Then if ever the comforts of a good man do overflow and a kind of heaven springs up in his mind and he rejoyceth in the hopes of the glory of God And that is a true and solid comfort indeed which will stand by us in the day of adversity and stick close to us when we have most need of it But with the ungodly it is not so His guilt lies in wait for him especially against such times and is never more fierce and raging than in the day of distress so that according as his troubles without are multiplyed so are his stings within And surely affliction is then grievous indeed when it falls upon a galled and uneasie mind Were it not for this outward afflictions might be tolerable the spirit of a man might bear his infirmities but a wounded spirit who can bear But especially at the hour of death How does the guilt of his wicked life then stare him in the face What storms and tempests are raised in his soul which make it like the troubled sea when it cannot rest When Eternity that fearful and amazing sight presents it self to his mind and he feels himself sinking into the regions of darkness and is every moment in a fearful expectation of meeting with the just reward of his deeds with what regret does he then remember the sins of his life and how full of rage and indignation is he against himself for having neglected to know when he had so many opportunities of knowing them the things that belonged to his peace and which because he hath neglected them are now and likely to be for ever hid from his eyes And if this be the true case of the righteous and wicked man I need not multiply words but may leave it to any mans thoughts in which of these conditions he would be And surely the difference between them is so very plain that there can be no difficulty in the choice But now though this discourse be very true yet for the full clearing of this matter it will be but fair to consider what may be said on the other side And the rather because there are several objections which seem to be countenanced from experience which is enough to overthrow the most plausible speculation As 1. That wicked men seem to have a great deal of pleasure and contentment in their vices 2. That Religion imposeth many harsh and grievous things which seem to be inconsistent with that pleasure and satisfaction I have spoken of 3. That those who are religious are many times very disconsolate and full of trouble To the first I deny not that wicked men have some pleasure in their vices but when all things are rightly computed and just abatements made it will amount to very little For it is the lowest and meanest kind of pleasure it is chiefly the pleasure of our bodies and our senses of our worst part the pleasure of the beast and not of the man that which least becomes us and which we were least of all made for Those sensual pleasures which are lawful are much inferiour to the least satisfaction of the mind and when they are unlawful they are always inconsistent with it And what is a man profited if to gain a little sensual pleasure he lose the peace of his soul Can we find in our hearts to call that pleasure which robs us of a far greater and higher satisfaction than it brings The delights of sense are so far from being the chief pleasure for which God designed us that on the contrary he intended we should take our chief pleasure in the restraining and moderating of our sensual appetites and desires and in keeping them within the bounds of Reason and Religion And then It is not a lasting pleasure Those fits of mirth which wicked men have how soon are they over Like a sudden blaze which after a little flash and noise is presently gone It is the comparison of a very great and experienced man in these matters Like the crackling of thorns under a pot saith Solomon so is the laughter of the fool that is the mirth of the wicked man it may be loud but it lasts not But which is most considerable of all the pleasures of sin bear no proportion to that long and black train of miseries and inconveniences which they draw after them Many times poverty and reproach pains and diseases upon our
bodies indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil So that if these pleasures were greater than they are a man had better be without them than purchase them at such dear rates To the second That Religion imposeth many harsh and grievous things which seem to be inconsistent with that pleasure and satisfaction I have spoken of As the bearing of persecution repentance and mortification fasting and abstinence and many other rigours and severities As to persecution This Discourse doth not pretend that Religion exempts men from outward troubles but that when they happen it supports men under them better than any thing else As for Repentance and mortification this chiefly concerns our first entrance into Religion after a wicked life which I acknowledged in the beginning of this discourse to be very grievous But this doth not hinder but that though Religion may be troublesome at first to some persons whose former sins and crimes have made it so it may be pleasant afterwards when we are accustomed to it And whatever the trouble of repentance be it is unavoidable unless we resolve to be miserable for except we repent we must perish Now there is always a rational satisfaction in submitting to a less inconvenience to remedy and prevent a greater As for Fasting and abstinence which is many times very helpful and subservient to the ends of Religion there is no such extraordinary trouble in it if it be discreetly managed as is worth the speaking of And as for other rigours and severities which some pretend Religion does impose I have only this to say that if men will play the fool and make Religion more troublesome than God hath made it I cannot help that And that this is a false representation of Religion which some in the world have made as if it did chiefly consist not in pleasing God but in displeasing and tormenting our selves This is not to paint Religion like her self but rather like one of the Furies with nothing but whips and snakes about her To the third That those who are religious are many times very disconsolate and full of trouble This I confess is a great Objection indeed if Religion were the cause of this trouble but there are other plain causes of it to which Religion rightly understood is not accessary As false and mistaken principles in Religion The imperfection of our Religion and obedience to God And a melancholly temper and disposition False and mistaken principles in Religion As this for one That God does not sincerely desire the salvation of men but hath from all eternity effectually barr'd the greatest part of mankind from all possibility of attaining that happiness which he offers to them and every one hath cause to fear that he may be in that number This were a melancholly consideration indeed if it were true but there is no ground either from Reason or Scripture to entertain any such thought of God Our destruction is of our selves and no man shall be ruined by any decree of God who does not ruin himself by his own fault Or else the imperfection of our Religion and obedience to God Some perhaps are very devout in serving God but not so kind and charitable so just and honest in their dealings with men No wonder if such persons be disquieted the natural consciences of men being not more apt to disquiet them for any thing than for the neglect of those moral duties which natural light teacheth them Peace of conscience is the effect of an impartial and universal obedience to the laws of God and I hope no man will blame Religion for that which plainly proceeds from the want of Religion Or lastly A melancholly temper and disposition which is not from Religion but from our nature and constituion and therefore Religion ought not to be charged with it And thus I have endeavoured as briefly and plainly as I could to represent to you what peace and pleasure what comfort and satisfaction Religion rightly understood and sincerely practised is apt to bring to the minds of men And I do not know by what sort of Argument Religion can be more effectually recommended to wise and considerate men For in perswading men to be religious I do not go about to rob them of any true pleasure and contentment but to direct them to the very best nay indeed the onely way of attaining and securing it I speak this in great pity and compassion to those who make it their great design to please themselves but do grievously mistake the way to it The direct way is that which I have set before you a holy and virtuous life to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world A good man saith Solomon is satisfied from himself He hath the pleasure of being wise and acting reasonably the pleasure of being justified to himself in what he doth and of being acquitted by the sentence of his own mind There is a great pleasure in being innocent because that prevents guilt and trouble It is pleasant to be virtuous and good because that is to excel many others and it is pleasant to grow better because that is to excel our selves Nay it is pleasant even to mortifie and subdue our lusts because that is Victory It is pleasant to command our appetites and passions and to keep them in due order within the bounds of Reason and Religion because this is a kind of Empire this is to govern It is naturally pleasant to rule and have power over others but he is the great and the absolute Prince who commands himself This is the Kingdom of God within us a dominion infinitely to be preferred before all the Kingdoms of this world and the glory of them It is the Kingdom of God described by the Apostle which consists in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost In a word The pleasure of being good and of doing good is the chief happiness of God himself But now the wicked man deprives himself of all this pleasure and creates perpetual discontent to his own mind O the torments of a guilty conscience which the sinner feels more or less all his life long But alas thou dost not yet know the worst of it no not in this World What wilt thou do when thou comest to die What comfort wilt thou then be able to give thy self or what comfort can any one else give thee when thy conscience is miserably rent and torn by those waking furies which will then rage in thy breast and thou knowest not which way to turn thy self for ease then perhaps at last the Priest is unwillingly sent for to patch up thy conscience as well as he can and to appease the cryes of it and to force himself out of very pity and good nature to say peace peace when there is no peace But alas man what can we do what comfort can we give thee when thine
defer his repentance and the change of his life for one moment I thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments This day this hour for ought we know may be the last opportunity of making our peace with God Therefore we should make haste out of this dangerous state as Lot did out of Sodom lest fire and brimstone overtake us He that cannot promise himself the next moment hath a great deal of reason to seize upon the present opportunity While we are lingering in our sins if God be not merciful to us we shall be consumed Therefore make haste sinner and escape for thy life lest evil overtake thee 6. Lastly An apprehension of the possibility of making this change God who designed us for happiness at first and after we had made a forfeiture of it by sin was pleased to restore us again to the capacity of it by the Redemption of our blessed Lord and Saviour hath made nothing necessary to our happiness that is impossible for us to do either of our selves or by the assistance of that grace which he is ready to afford us if we heartily beg it of him For that is possible to us which we may do by the assistance of another if we may have that assistance for asking And God hath promised to give his holy Spirit to them that ask him So that notwithstanding the great corruption and weakness of our natures since the grace of God which brings salvation hath appeared it is not absolutely out of our power to leave our sins and to turn to God For that may truly be said to be in our power which God hath promised to enable us to do if we be not wanting to our selves So that there is nothing on Gods part to hinder this change He hath solemnly declared that he sincerly desires it and that he is ready to assist our good resolutions to this purpose And most certainly when he tell us that he hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live that he would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledg of the truth that he would not that any should perish but that all should come to repentance He means plainly as he saith and doth not speak to us with any private reserve or nice distinction between his secret and revealed will that is he doth not decree one thing and declare the contrary So far is it from this that if a sinner entertain serious thoughts of returning to God and do but once move towards him how ready is he to receive him This is in a very lively manner described to us in the Parable of the Prodigal Son who when he was returning home and was yet a great way off what haste doth his Father make to meet him he saw him and had compassion and ran And if there be no impediment on Gods part why should there be any on ours One would think all the doubt and difficulty should be on the other side Whether God would be pleased to shew mercy to such great offenders as we have been But the business doth not stick there And will we be miserable by our own choice when the Grace of God hath put it into our power to be happy I have done with the first thing The course which David here took for the reforming of his life I thought on my ways I proceed to the II. The success of this course It produced actual and speedy reformation I turned my feet unto thy testimonies I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments And if we consider the matter throughly and have but patience to reason out the case with our selves and to bring our thoughts and deliberations to some issue the conclusion must naturally be the quitting of that evil and dangerous course in which we have lived For sin and consideration can not long dwell together Did but men consider what sin is they would have so many unanswerable objections against it such strong fears and jealousies of the miserable issue and event of a wicked life that they would not dare to continue any longer in it I do not say that this change is perfectly made at once A state of sin and holiness are not like two Ways that are just parted by a line so as a man may step out of the one full into the other but they are like two Ways that lead to two very distant places and consequently are at a good distance from one another and the farther any man hath travelled in the one the further he is from the other so that it requires time and pains to pass from the one to the other It sometimes so happens that some persons are by a mighty conviction and resolution and by a very extraordinary and over-powering degree of Gods grace almost perfectly reclaimed from their sins at once and all of a sudden translated out of the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of his dear Son And thus it was with many of the first Converts to Christianity as their prejudices against the Christian Religion were strong and violent so the holy Spirit of God was pleased to work mightily in them that believed But in the usual and setled methods of Gods grace evil habits are mastered and subdued by degrees and with a great deal of conflict and many times after they are routed they rally and make head again and 't is a great while before the contrary habits of grace and virtue are grown up to any considerable degree of strength and maturity and before a man come to that confirmed state of goodness that he may be said to have conquered and mortified his lusts But yet this ought not to discourage us For so soon as we have seriously begun this change we are in a good way and all our endeavours will have the acceptance of good beginnings and God will be ready to help us and if we pursue our advantages we shall every day gain ground and the work will grow easier upon our hands and we who moved at first with so much slowness and difficulty shall after a while be enabled to run the ways of Gods commandments with pleasure and delight I have done with the two things I propounded to speak to from these words The course here prescribed and the success of it And now to perswade men to take this course I shall offer two or three Arguments 1. That Consideration is the proper act of Reasonable creatures This argument God himself uses to bring men to a consideration of their evil ways Isa 46.8 Remember and shew your selves men bring it again to mind O ye transgressors To consider our ways and to call our sins to remembrance is to shew our selves men 'T is the great fault and infelicity of a great many that they generally live without thinking and are acted by their present
to go on and fortifie their good resolutions to be more vigilant and watchful over themselves to strive against sin and to resist it with all their might And according to the success of their endeavours in this conflict the evidence of their good condition will every day clear up and become more manifest The more we grow in grace and the seldomer we fall into sin and the more even and constant our obedience to God is so much the greater and fuller satisfaction we shall have of our good estate towards God For the path of the just is as the shining light which shines more and more unto the perfect day And the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever I shall only make two or three Inferences from what hath been discoursed upon this Argument and so conclude 1. From hence we learn the great danger of sins of Omission as well as Commission Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God The mere neglect of any of the great duties of Religion of piety towards God and of kindness and charity to men though we be free from the commission of great sins is enough to cast us out of the favour of God and to shut us for ever out of his kingdom I was hungry and ye gave me no meat thirsty and ye gave me no drink sick and in prison and ye visited me not therefore depart ye cursed 2. It is evident from what hath been said That nothing can be vainer than for men to live in any course of sin and impiety and yet to pretend to be the Children of God and to hope for eternal life The Children of God will do the works of God and whoever hopes to enjoy him hereafter will endeavour to be like him here Every man that hath this hope in Him purifies himself even as He is pure 3. You see what is the great mark and character of a mans good or bad condition whosoever doth righteousness is of God and whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God Here is a plain and sensible evidence by which every man that will deal honestly with hâ—mself may certainly know his own condition and then according as he finds it to be may take comfort in it or make haste out of it And we need not ascend into heaven nor go down into the deep to search out the secret counsels and decrees of God there needs no anxious enquiry whether we be of the number of Gods elect If we daily mortifie our lusts and grow in goodness and take care to add to our faith and knowledg temperance and patience and charity and all other Christian graces and vertues we certainly take the best course in the world to make our calling and election sure And without this it is impossible that we should have any comfortable and well grounded assurance of our good condition This one mark of doing righteousness is that into which all other signs and characters which are in Scripture given of a good man are finally resolved And this answers all those various phrases which some men would make to be so many several and distinct marks of a child of God As whether we have the true knowledg of God and divine illumination for hereby we know that we know him if we keep his commandments Whether we sincerely love God for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments And whether God loves us for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness and his countenance will behold the upright Whether we be regenerate and born of God for whosoever is born of God sinneth not Whether we have the Spirit of God witnessing with our Spirits that we are the children of God for as many as have the Spirit of God are led by the Spirit and by the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the flesh Whether we belong to Christ and have an interest in him or not for they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof In a word Whether the promise of heaven and eternal life belong to us for without holiness no man shall see the Lord but if we have our fruit unto holiness the end will be everlasting life So that you see at last the Scripture brings all to this one mark viz. holiness and obedience to the Laws of God or a vicious and wicked life In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God Let us then deal impartially with our selves and bring our lives and actions to this tryal and never be at rest till the matter be brought to some issue and we have made a deliberate judgment of our condition whether we be the children of God or not And if upon a full and fair examination our consciences give us this testimony that by the grace of God we have denyed ungodliness and worldly lusts and have lived soberly and righteously and godly in this present world we may take joy and comfort in it for if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God But if upon the search and tryal of our ways our case appear clearly to be otherwise or if we have just cause to doubt of it let us not venture to continue one moment longer in so uncertain and dangerous a condition And if we desire to know the way of Peace the Scripture hath set it plainly before us Wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Though our case be very bad yet it is not desperate This is a faithful saying and worthy of all men to be embraced that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners And he is still willing to save us if we be but willing to leave our sins and to serve him in holiness and righteousness the remaining part of our lives We may yet be turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God We who have ventured so long upon the brink of ruin may yet by the infinite mercies of God and by the power of his grace be rescu'd from the base and miserable slavery of the Devil and our lusts into the glorious liberty of the sons of God And thus I have endeavoured with all the plainness I could to represent every man to himself and to let him clearly see what his condition is towards God and how the case of his soul and of his eternal happiness stands And I do verily believe that what I have said in this matter is the truth of God
persons but are rather the effects of Melancholy than any reasonable ground of trouble Some think that every deliberate sin against knowledg and after conviction is the sin against the Holy Ghost This is aknowledged to be a very great aggravation of sin and such as calls for a great and particular repentance but does by no means render a man incapable of forgiveness Others are troubled with blasphemous thoughts and those they think to be the sin against the Holy Ghost But this is generally the meer effect of Melancholy And the persons that are troubled with these black thoughts are no ways consenting to them but they rise in their minds perfectly against their wills and without any approbation of theirs And in this case they are so far from being the unpardonable sin that I hope yea and verily believe they are no sins at all but the meer effects of a bodily distemper and no more imputed to us than the wild and idle ravings of a man in a frenzy or a fever And God forbid that the natural effects of a bodily disease should bring guilt upon our souls So that these persons have reason enough for comfort but the misery is their present distemper renders them incapable of it 2. Secondly The other Use I would make of this discourse is to caution men against the degrees and approaches of this sin For if the sin against the Holy Ghost be of such a high nature and so unpardonable then all approaches to it are very dreadful Such as are profane scoffing at Religion and the Holy Spirit of God which dwells in good men Abuse of the holy Scriptures which were indited by the Spirit of God Perverse Infidelity notwithstanding all the evidence which we have for the Truth of Christianity and sufficient assurance of the Miracles wrought for the confirmation of it brought down to us by credible History though we were not eye-witnesses of them Obstinacy in a sinful and vicious course notwithstanding all the motives and arguments of the Gospel to perswade men to repentance Sinning against the clear conviction of our Consciences and the motions and suggestions of God's Holy Spirit to the contrary Malicious opposing of the Truth when the Arguments for it are very plain and evident to any impartial and unprejudiced mind and when he that opposeth the Truth hath no clear satisfaction in his own mind to the contrary but suffers himself to be furiously and headily carried on in his opposition to it These are all sins of a very high nature and of the nearest affinity with this great and unpardonable sin of any that can easily be instanced in And though God to encourage the repentance of men have not declared them unpardonable yet they are great provocations and if they be long continued in we know not how soon God may withdraw his grace from us and suffer us to be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin Be ready then to entertain the truth of God whenever it is fairly propounded to thee and with such evidence as thou art willing to accept in other matters where thou hast no prejudice nor interest to the contrary Do nothing contrary to thy known duty but be careful in all things to obey the convictions of thine own conscience and to yield to the good motions and suggestions of God's Holy Spirit who works secretly upon the minds of men and inspires us many times gently with good thoughts and inclinations and is griev'd when we do not comply with them and after many repulses will at last withdraw himself from us and leave us to be assaulted by the temptations of the Devil and to be hurried away by our own lusts into ruin and perdition A SERMON OF CHARITY AND ALMES Acts X. 38 Who went about doing good WHen Almighty God designed the Reformation of the World and the restoring of Man to the Image of God the Pattern after which he was first made he did not think it enough to give us the most perfect Laws of holiness and virtue but hath likewise set before us a living Pattern and a familiar Example to excite and encourage us to go before us and shew us the way and as it were to lead us by the hand in the obedience of those Laws Such is the Sovereign Authority of God over men that he might if he had pleased have only given us a Law written with his own hand as he did to the people of Israel from Mount Sinai but such is his Goodness that he hath sent a great Embassadour from Heaven to us God manifested in the flesh to declare and interpret his will and pleasure and not only so but to fulfil that Law himself the observation whereof he requires of us The bare Rules of a good life are a very dead and ineffectual thing in comparison of a living Example which shews us the possibility and practicableness of our Duty both that it may be done and how to do it Religion indeed did always consist in an Imitation of God and in our resemblance of those excellencies which shine forth in the best and most perfect Being but we may imitate him now with much greater ease and advantage since God was pleased to become Man on purpose to shew us how Men may become like to God And this is one great End for which the Son of God came into the world and was made flesh and dwelt among us and conversed so long and familiarly with mankind that in his own Person and Life he might give us the Example of all that holiness and vertue which his Laws require of us And as he was in nothing liker the Son of God than in being and doing good so is he in nothing a fitter Pattern for our imitation than in that excellent character given of him here in the Text that He went about doing good In which words two things offer themselves to our consideration First Our Saviour's great Work and Business in the world which was to do good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who employed himself in being a benefactour to mankind This refers more especially to his healing the bodily diseases and infirmities of men God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil Intimating to us by this instance of his doing good that he who took so much pains to rescue mens Bodies from the power and possession of the Devil would not let their Souls remain under his tyranny But though the Text instanceth only in one particular yet this general expression of doing good comprehends all those several ways whereby he was beneficial to mankind Secondly Here is his Diligence and Industry in this work He went about doing good he made it the great business and constant imployment of his life I shall propound to you the Pattern of our Saviour in both these particulars I. His great Work and Business in the world was to do good
take away his life Whatever he said or did though never so innocent never so excellent had some bad interpretation put upon it and the great and shining Vertues of his life were turned into Crimes and matter of accusation For his casting out of Devils he was called a Magician for his endeavour to reclaim men from their vices a friend of Publicans and Sinners for his free and obliging conversation a wine-bibber and a glutton All the benefits which he did to men and the blessings which he so liberally shed among the people were construed to be a design of Ambition and Popularity and done with an intention to move the people to Sedition and to make himself a King Enough to have discouraged the greatest goodness and have put a damp upon the most generous mind and to make it sick and weary of well-doing For what more grievous than to have all the good one does ill interpreted and the best actions in the world made matter of calumny and reproach And then Lastly If we consider how chearfully notwithstanding all this he persevered and continued in well-doing It was not only his business but his delight I delight says he to do thy will O my God The pleasure which others take in the most natural actions of life in eating and drinking when they are hungry he took in doing good it was his meat and drink to do the will of his Father He plyed this work with so much diligence as if he had been afraid he should have wanted time for it I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work And when he was approaching towards the hardest and most unpleasant part of his Service but of all others the most beneficial to us I mean his Death and Sufferings he was not at ease in his mind till it was done How am I straitned says he till it be accomplished And just before his Suffering with what Joy and Triumph does he reflect upon the good he had done in his life Father I have glorified thee upon earth and have finished the work which thou hast given me to do What a blessed Pattern is here of diligence and industry in doing good how fair and lovely a copy for Christians to write after And now that I have set it before you it will be of excellent use to these two purposes To shew us our Defects and to excite us to our Duty I. To shew us our Defects How does this blessed Example upbraid those who live in a direct contradiction to it who instead of going about doing good are perpetually intent upon doing mischief who are wise and active to do evil but to do good have no inclination no understanding And those likewise who though they are far from being so bad yet wholly neglect this blessed work of doing good They think it very fair to do no evil to hurt and injure no man but if Preachers will be so unreasonable as to require more and will never be satisfied till they have persuaded them out of their estate and to give to the poor till they have almost impoverish'd themselves they desire to be excused from this importunity But we are not so unreasonable neither We desire to put them in mind that to be charitable according to our power is an indispensable duty of Religion that we are commanded not only to abstain from evil but to do good and that our Blessed Saviour hath given us the example of both he did not only do no sin but he went about doing good And upon this nice point it was that the young rich man in the Gospel and his Saviour parted He had kept the Commandments from his youth Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal he had been very careful of the negative part of Religion But when it came to parting with his Estate and giving to the poor this he thought too hard a condition and upon this he forsook our Saviour and forfeited the Kingdom of heaven And it is very considerable and ought to be often and seriously thought upon that our Saviour describing to us the Day of Judgment represents the great Judg of the world acquitting and condemning men according to the good which they had done or neglected to do in ways of mercy and charity for feeding the hungry and cloathing the naked and visiting the sick or for neglecting to do these things Than which nothing can more plainly and effectually declare to us the necessity of doing good in order to the obtaining of eternal Happiness There are many indeed who do not altogether neglect the doing of this work who yet do in a great measure prevent and hinder themselves from doing it as they ought under a pretence of being employed about other Duties and parts of Religion They are so taken up with the exercises of Piety and Devotion in private and publick with Prayer and reading and hearing Sermons and preparing themselves for the Sacrament that they have scarce any leisure to mind the doing of good and charitable offices to others or if they have they hope God will pardon his servants in this thing and accept of their Piety and Devotion instead of all But they ought to consider that when these two parts of Religion come in competition Devotion is to give way to Charity Mercy being better than Sacrifice that the great End of all the Duties of Religion Prayer and reading and hearing the Word of God and receiving the holy Sacrament is to dispose and excite us to do good to make us more ready and forward to every good work and that it is the greatest mockery in the world upon pretence of using the means of Religion to neglect the end of it and because we are always preparing our selves to do good to think that we are for ever excused from doing any Others are taken up in contending for the Faith and spend all their zeal and heat about some Controversies in Religion and therefore they think it but reasonable that they should be excused from those meaner kind of Duties because they serve God as they imagine in a higher and more excellent way as those who serve the King in his Wars use to be exempted from Taxes and Offices But do those men consider upon what kind of Duties more especially our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles lay the great weight and stress of Religion that it is to the Meek and Merciful and Peaceable that our Saviour pronounceth Blessedness that pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction that the wisdom which is from above is full of mercy and good works These are the great and weighty things of Religion which whatever else we do ought not to be left undone Do they consider that a right Faith is wholly in order to a good Life and is of no value any farther