to Saints and Angels contrary to the plain Law and Word of God a Zeal for the sacrilegious depriving of the People of half the Sacrament contrary to our Saviour's plain Institution and the acknowledged Practice of the Catholick Church for a thousand years a Zeal for that most absurd of all Doctrines that ever was taught in any Religion I mean the Dostrine of Transubstantiation not only without any sufficient Authority from Scripture as is acknowledged by several of the most learned of the Roman Church but contrary to Reason and in defiance of the Sense of all Mankind a Zeal for these and many more like gross Errors and Practices cannot possibly be a zeal according to knowledge 2. That is a zeal without knowledge the degree whereof is manifestly disproportion'd to the Good or Evil of things about which it is conversant when there is in Men a greater and fiercer Zeal for the Externals of Religion than for the Vital and Essential Parts of it for the Traditions of men than for the Commandments of God for Bodily Severities than for the Mortification of our Lusts for the Means of Religion than for the End of it a greater zeal against the Omission and Neglect of some senseless and superstitious Practices than against the Practice of the grossest Immoralities and against the Denyers of the Doctrines of Transubstantiation and of the Pope's Infallibility an equal if not a greater zeal I am sure a more severe Prosecution than against those who deny our Saviour to be the true Messias and the Son of God This certainly is not a zeal according te knowledge Nor 3. That which is prosecuted by unlawful and unwarrantable Means That cannot be a zeal of God according to knowledge which warrants the doing of Evil that Good may come the violating of Truth and Faith and of the Peace of Humane Society for the Cause of the Catholick Church and breaking the eternal and immutable Laws of God for the advancing of his Glory Nor 4. An uncharitable Zeal which is an Enemy to Peace and Order and thinks it self sufficiently warranted to separate from the Communion of Christians and to break the Peace of the Church upon every scruple and upon every fancy and conceit of unlawful Impositions tho' in the most indifferent things nay upon this single Point because a thing which they acknowledge lawful and indifferent in it self is in the worship of God enjoyned by Authority The most unreasonable Principle that I think ever was avowed among Christians not to do a thing which otherwise they might do only because it is enjoyned and to fancy that an indifferent thing becomes comes presently unlawful because it is commanded by lawful Authority and that it is a Sin to do any thing in the Worship of God which is not left to their Liberty whether they will do it or not This is not only a Zeal without knowledge but contrary to common Sense Nor 5. A Furious and Cruel Zeal which St. James calls a bitter or a wrathful Zeal and which tends to confusion and every evil work which is blind with its own rage and makes Men as St. Paul says of himself when he persecuted the Christians exceedingly mad against all that differ from them and stand in the way of their fierce and outragious Zeal 6. And lastly A Zeal for ignorance is most certainly not a zeal according to knowledge and this is a Zeal peculiar to the Church of Rome by such strict Laws to forbid People the use of the Holy Scriptures in a known Tongue nay not so much as to allow them to understand what they do in the Service of God to require them to be present at their Publick Prayers and to joyn with them in them without letting them know the meaning of them to pretend to teach them by reading Lessons to them in an unknown Tongue and all this under pretence of increasing their Devotion as if the less Men understand of the Service of God the more they would be affected with it and edified by it And yet there is nothing in which the Church of Rome hath been more zealously concerned than to keep the People in ignorance Nothing they hive opposed with more obstinacy against the repeated application of Princes and People at the beginning of the Reformation than to allow the People the use of the Scriptures in their publick Prayers in an unknown Tongue And their obstinacy in this Point was not without Reason nothing being more certain than that if the People were once brought to understand the Scriptures they would soon quit their Religion which in so many things is so directly contrary to the word of God The III. And last thing remains to be spoken to viz. How far the doing of things out of a Zeal for God doth Mitigate and Extenuate the Evil of them For when the Apostle here testifies concerning the Jews that they had a zeal of God he speaks this in favour of them and by way of mitigation of their fault I bear them record I who was once acted by this ignorant and furious zeal which now possesseth them and persecuted the Christians in the same outragious manner as they still continue to do and all this with a very good Conscience as I thought and out of a zeal for God and the true Religion So he tells us Acts 26.9 I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth So that his zeal was sincere and with a real intention to do Service to God and Religion and yet for all that was very faulty and sinful and if he had persisted in it Damnable so that his confidence that he was in the right and the Sincerity of his zeal in acting according to the perswasion of his Conscience did not alter the Nature of the actions he did out of this zeal and make them less wicked in themselves tho' it was some mitigation of the fault of the Person and render'd him more capable of the Mercy of God by Repentance than if he had done contrary to his Conscience and the clear convictions of his own Mind And therefore the best way to understand the great Evil and Wickedness of this furious and blind Zeal will be to consider the account which St. Paul after his Conversion gives of his own doings and what load he lays upon himself notwithstanding the Sincerity of his Zeal and that he acted according to his Conscience Acts viii and ix you have the History at large of his outrageous doings how he made havock of the Church entering into every house and haling men and women to Prison how he breathed out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Acts 22.4 I persecuted says he this way unto the death binding and delivering into Prisons both men and women And Ch. 26.10 11. Many of the Saints did I shut up in Prison and when they were put to death I gave my voice
that I am ascended into Heaven ye shall put up all your Prayers and Requests to God in my Name and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you that is I need not tell you though I shall certainly do it that I will interceed with the Father for you for he of himself is kindly disposed and affected towards you for my sake The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved we St. Paul likewise commands Christians to perform all Acts of Religious Worship in the Name of Christ Col. 3.16 17. Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord and whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him And this Precept of addressing all our Prayers and Thanksgivings to God by Jesus Christ as the only Mediator between God and us is the more remarkable because it is given in opposition to the Worshipping of God by any other Mediators and Intercessors in Heaven for us and to that Superstition which had begun so early to prevail among some Christians at Calosse and Laodicea of Worshipping God by the Mediation and Intercession of Angels against which he had cautioned in the former Chapter Ver. 18 19. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels not holding the head Intimating that for Christians to address themselves to God by any other Mediator but Jesus Christ only was a defection from Christ the Head and High Priest of our Profession And that this is the Apostle's meaning Theodoret assures us in his Comment upon this Place where he tells us That some who maintained an observance of the Law together with the Gospel asserted also That Angels were to be worshipped saying That the Law was given by them And this Custom he tells us remained a long time in Phrygia and Pisidia and that upon this account it was that the Synod of Laodicea in Phrygia about the middle of the 4th Century forbad Christians by a Law to pray to Angels And yet more expresly in his Comment upon those Words Chap. 3. Ver. 17. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him For because says he they meaning those of whom St. Paul warns the Colossians to beware because they did command men to worship Angels he enjoins the contrary that they should adorn both their words and actions with the memory or mention of the name of Christ their Lord And send ye up saith he thanksgiving to God and the Father by him and not by the Angels And then he makes mention of the Canon of the Synod of Laodicea which says he in pursuance of this Rule and being desirous to cure that old Disease made it a Law that none should pray unto Angels nor forsake the Lord Jesus Christ It seems then that some Reliques of that Impious Custom of praying to Angels which Theodoret here calls That old Disease had continued from St. Paul's time to the Council of Laodicea which was the occasion of that severe Canon then made about that matter the very Words whereof I will set down because they are remarkable viz. That Christians ought not to forsake the Church of God and go away from it and to invocate Angels and to make Conventicles all which are forbidden If any therefore be found giving himself to this secret Idolatry let him be Anathema because he hath forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and is gone over to Idolatry What shall be said to them who do not only secretly and in their Private Devotions but in the Publick Assemblies of Christians and in the most Publick Offices of their Church invocate Angels and pray to them So that it was praying to Angels or making use of them as Mediators and Intercessors with God for us which St Paul here reproves so severely in the Colossians as a Defection from Christ and the Christian Religion And indeed considering how frequently the Scripture speaks of Christ as our only way to God and by whom alone we have access to the throne of grace we cannot doubt but that God hath constituted him our only Mediator and Intercessor by whom we are to address all our Requests to God John 14.6 Jesus there saith unto Thomas I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me I am the way the truth and the life that is the true and living way to the Father which the Apostle calls a new and living way Heb. 10.19 20. Having therefore boldnenss to enter into the holieft by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us No man cometh to the Father but by me that is we can have no access to God by Prayer or by any other Acts of Religious Worship but by him So St. Paul tells us Eph. 2.18 For through him speaking of Christ we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father We both that is both Jews and Gentiles Under the Law the Jews had access to God by their High Priest who interceeded with God and offered up Prayers in behalf of the People The Gentiles they addressed themselves to God by innumerable Mediators by Angels and the Souls of their departed Heroes which were the Pagan Saints Instead of all these God hath appointed one Mediator and Intercessor in Heaven for us Jesus the Son of God and by him all mankind both Jews and Gentiles have access by one Spirit unto the Father And we have no need of any other as the Apostle to the Hebrews reasons Chap. 7.24 25. But this person speaking of Christ because he continueth for ever hath an unchangeable Priesthood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Priesthood which doth not pass from one to another as the Priesthood under the Law did when upon the Death of one High Priest another succeeded in his Place but our High Priest under the Gospel since he abides for ever is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us So that Jesus Christ is an All-sufficient Mediator and able to carry on and accomplish the Work of our Salvation from first to last And as we do not find that God hath appointed any other so we are sure that there needs no other since he is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him and that he lives for ever to make intercession for us Secondly I proceed now in the Second place to shew That this Doctrine or Principle of one Mediator between God and men is most agreeable to one main end and design of the Christian Religion and of our Saviour's coming into the World which was to destroy Idolatry out of the World which St. John calls the works of the Devil 1
other terms than of denying ungodliness and worldly lusts and of living soberly righteously and godly in this present world And besides this Consideration we have the best Testimony in the World of their Unblameable Lives viz. the Testimony of their profest Enemies who did not persecute them for any personal Crimes which they charged particular Persons withal but only for their Religion acknowledging them otherwise to be very innocent and good People Particulary Pliny in his Letter to Trajan the Emperor who had given him in Charge to make particular Enquiry concerning the Christians gives this honourable Report of them That there was no fault to be found in them besides their obstinate refusal to Sacrifice to the Gods that at their Religious Meetings it was an essential part of their Worship to oblige themselves by a solemn Sacrament against Murder and Theft and Adultery and all manner of Wickedness and Vice No Christian Historian could have given a better Character of them than this Heathen Writer does But 3. The Success of the Gospel will appear yet more strange if we consider the Weakness and Meanness of the Instruments that were employed in this great Work A company of plain and illiterate Men most of them destitute of the advantages of Education went forth upon this great Design weak and unarmed unassisted by any worldy interest having no Secular Force and Power on their side to give countenance and authority to them and this not only at their first setting out but they remained under these Disadvantages for three Ages together The first Publishers of the Christian Religion offered Violence to no Man did not go about to compel any by Force to entertain the Doctrine which they Preached and to list themselves of their number they were not attended with Legions of armed Men to dispose Men for the reception of their Doctrine by Plunder and Free-Quarter by Violence and Tortures this Modern Method of Conversion was not then thought of nor did they go about to tempt and allure Men to their Way by the Promises of Temporal Rewards and by the Hopes of Riches and Honours nor did they use any artificial insinuations of Wit and Eloquence to gain upon the Minds of Men and steal their Doctrines into them but delivered themselves with the greatest plainness and simplicity and without any studied Ornaments of Speech or fine Arts of Perswasion declared plainly to them the Doctrine and Miracles the Life and Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ promising Life and Immortality to them that did believe and obey his Doctrine and threatning Eternal Wo and Misery in another World to the despisers of it And yet these contemptible Instruments notwithstanding all these disadvantages did their work effectually and by the Power of God going along with them gained numbers every day to their Religion and in a short space drew the world after them Nor did they only win over the Common People but also several Persons considerable for their Dignity and Eminent for their Learning who afterwards became zealous Assertors of Christianity and were not ashamed to be Instructed in the Saving Knowledge of the Gospel by such mean and unlearned Persons as the Apostles were for they saw something in them more Divine and which carried with it a greater Power and Perswasion than Humane Learning and Eloquence 4. We will consider the mighty Opposition that was raised against the Gospel At its first appearance it could not be otherwise but that it must meet with a great deal of difficulty and opposition from the Lusts and Vices of Men which it did so plainly and so severely declare against and likewise from the Prejudices of Men that had been brought up in a contrary Religion no Prejudice being so strong as that which is founded in Education and of all Prejudices of Education none so obstinate and hard to be removed as those about Religion yea tho' they be never so absurd and unreasonable Hath a Nation changed their Gods which yet are no Gods Men are very hardly brought off from the Religion which they have been brought up in how little Ground and Reason soever there be for it the being trained up in it and having a reverence for it implanted in them in their tender Years supplies all other defects Had Men been free and indifferent in Religion when Christianity first appeared in the World and had they not had their Minds prepossest with other apprehensions of God and Religion and been inured to Rites and Superstitions of a quite different Nature from the Christian Religion or had they at that time been weary of the Superstitions of their Idolatrous Worship and been enquiring after a better way of Religion then indeed the Christian Religion had appeared with great advantage and would in all probability have been entertained with a readiness of Mind proportionable to the Reasonableness of it But this was not the Case When the Doctrine of the Gospel was first Publisht in the World the whole World both Jews and Gentiles were violently prejudiced against it and fixt in their several Religions The Jews indeed in former times had been very prone to relinquish the Worship of the True God and to fall into the Heathen Idolatry But after God had Punisht them severely for that Sin by a long Captivity they continued ever after very strict and firm to the Worship of the True God and never were they more tenacious of their Religion and Law than at that very time when our Saviour appeared in the World And though He was foretold in their Law and most particularly described in the authentick Books of their Religion the Prophets of the Old Testament yet by reason of certain groundless Traditions which they had received from the Interpreters of their Law That their Messias was to be a great Temporal Prince they conceived an invincible Prejudice against our Saviour upon account of the Mean Circumstances in which he appeared and upon this Prejudice they rejected him and put him to death and persecuted his Followers And though their Religion was much nearer to the Christian than any of the Heathen Idolatries yet upon this account of our Saviour's Mean Appearance they were much more averse to the Entertainment of it than the grossest Idolaters among the Nations Not but that their Prejudice also was very great the common People being strongly addicted to the Idolatry and Superstitions of their several Countries and the Wiser and more Learned whom they call'd their Philosophers were so puft up with a conceit of their own Knowledge and Eloquence that they despised the rudeness and simplicity of the Apostles and look'd upon their Doctrine of a Crucified Saviour as ridiculous and the Story of his Resurrection from the dead as absurd and impossible So St. Paul tells us that the Cross of Christ was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness But besides the Opposition which the Gospel met withal from the Lusts and Prejudices of Men
the Powers of the World did likewise strongly combine against it Among the Jews the Chief Priests and Rulers did with all their force and malice endeavour to stifle it in the birth and to suppress it in its first rise and several of the Roman Emperors who were then the great Governors of the World engaged all their Authority and their whole Strength for the extirpation of it and raised such a storm of Persecution against it as swept away greater numbers of Mankind than any Famine or Plague or War that ever was in the Roman Empire And yet this Religion bore up against all this Opposition and make its way through all the Resistance that the Lusts and Prejudices of Men armed with the Power and Authority of the whole World could make against it And this brings me to the 5. and last Consideration I mentioned the great discouragement that was given to the Entrance of this Religion There was nothing left to invite and engage Men to it but the Consideration of another World for all the Evils of this World threatned every one that took the Profession of Christianity upon him Whoever was known to be a Christian was liable to Reproach and Ruin to cruel Mockings and Scourgings to Banishment or Imprisonment and Confiscation of Estate but these were slight and tolerable Evils in comparison of others that were commonly inflicted upon them they were condemned to the Mines and to the Lions and all imaginable Cruelties were exercised upon them the most exquisite Torments that could be devised and Death in all its fearful shapes was presented to them to deter Men from embracing this Religion and to tempt them to quit it And yet they persisted in the Profession of their Religion and for the sake of it did not only take joyfully the spoiling of their goods but the most barbarous usage of their Persons and demeaned themselves not only with Patience and Courage but with Exultation and Triumph under those Tortures which no Man can hear or read of without horror And they did not only bear up thus manfully for one brunt but when these violent Persecutions were renewed and repeated upon them Christianity supported it self under all these daunting Discouragements for almost Three hundred Years and held out till the very Malice of their Persecutors was out of breath and their Cruelty had tired it self Nay it did not only support it self under all these Oppositions but grew and prospered and the Blood of Martyrs became the Seed of the Church and Christians sprang up faster than any Persecution could mow them down For Men by Degrees became curious to enquire into the Cause of such Sufferings and the Reason of so much Constancy and Patience under them and upon enquiry were satisfied and became Christians themselves and many times their very Persecutors were ready to Sacrifice their Lives the next Day for that very Cause for which but the Day before they had put others to Death And it cannot here be reasonably Objected that Christians yielded up themselves to all these Sufferings upon the same Account that some brave Spirits among the Heathen laid down their Lives for their Country namely out of a desire of Fame and to perpetuate their Names in After-ages this I say cannot reasonably be said in this Case because these Sufferers were not the great and ambitious Spirits the Flower and Select Part of Mankind but the Common People and many of them of the tenderer Sex and Age who have usually a greater Sense of Pain than of Glory and yet so were they animated by their Religion and Transported beyond themselves as not only to submit but many times to offer themselves to those Sufferings by declaring themselves to be Christians when no Man accused them and when they knew they should die for making that Profession so that it is harder to justifie their forwardness to Suffer than the sincerity of their Sufferings Besides that nothing could be more foolish and unreasonable than for Men to hope to get a Name by Suffering in a Crowd and to be particularly remembred to Posterity when they dyed in such multitudes that no Man knew the Names of the greatest part of the Sufferers You see then how strongly the Gospel prevailed how soon this new Religion over-ran the World how suddenly it subdued the Spirits and changed the Manners of Men and by what mean and despicable Instruments to all humane appearance this great Work was done and how in despite of all Opposition and Discouragements it was carried on Can any one of the false Religions of the World pretend to have been propagated and establisht in such a manner meerly by their own force and the Evidence and Power of Truth upon the Minds of Men and to have born up and sustained themselves so long under such fierce Assaults as Christanity hath done As for the Religion of Mahomet it is famously known to have been planted by force at first and to havâ— been maintained in the World by the same violent means So that great Impostor openly declares that he came not to plant his Religion by Miracles but the Sword And as for the Idolatries of the Heathen they came in upon the World by insensible degrees and did not oppose the Corruptions of Men but grew out of them and being suited to the vicious Temper and Disposition of Mankind they easily gained upon their Ignorance and Superstition by Custom and Example They were just such a Corruption of Natural Religion in such times of darkness and ignorance and by such insensible steps as there hath been since of the Christian Religion in some Parts of the World which we all know But no sooner did the Light of the Gospel shine out upon the World but the Idolatry and Superstition of the Heathen fell before it like Dagon before the Ark of God and tho' it had the Power of the World and Countenance of Authority on its side yet it was not able to maintain its ground and no sooner was that Prop taken away which was the only support of it but it presently sunk and vanisht it was not driven out of the World by Violence and Persecution but upon the breaking in of so great a Light it silently withdrew as being ashamed of it self And when afterwards the Emperor Julian endeavoured to retrieve it by his Wit and Authority and used all imaginable Arts and Stratagems to suppress and extinguish Christianity he was able to effect neither for the Christian Religion kept its ground and Paganism after it had made a little Blaze died with him Now to what Cause shall we ascribe this wonderful Success and Prevalency of the Gospel in the World There can but these Two be imagined the Excellency of the Christian Religion and the Power and Presence of the Divine Spirit accompanying it 1. The Excellency of the Christian Religion which both in respect of the goodness of its Precepts and the assurance of its Rewards hath plainly the advantage
us from the first Spring and Original of Mankind of which general Consent and Tradition it is one of the hardest things in the World to assign any good Reason if the Things themselves were not true Therefore I shall not go about to force my way into this Argument concerning the Existence of Spirits and Beings distinct from Matter by dint of dispute which perhaps would neither be so proper nor so profitable for this Assembly but shall take the thing as I find it received by a general Consent of Mankind And so the Books of Divine Revelation do Nor was there Reason to proceed in any other method than to suppose these things and take them for granted as generally assented to by Mankind without either asserting them for new Discoveries or attempting to prove what was so universally believed The Scriptures indeed have more particularly declared the Nature of these Spirits as also their Order and Employment as in the words which I have read to you where the Office and Employment of Good Angels is more particularly discovered Serm. VI. Are they not all says the Text ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation The Author of this Epistle to the Hebrews having had occasion in comparing the two Dispensations of the Law and the Gospel to speak of the Angels by whose Ministry the Law was given did not think fit to entertain those to whom he wrote with any nice and curious Speculations for School Divinity was not then in fashion about the Nature and Order of Angels but tells us what it concerns us more to know namely what their Office and Employment is in regard to us Concerning their Nature he only tell us that they are Spirits as to their Office and Employment he says in general that they are Ministring Spirits that is that they stand before God to attend upon him ready to receive his Commands and to execute his Pleasure more particularly that they are upon occasion appointed and sent forth by God to minister on the behalf and to do good Offices for them that shall be heirs of salvation Which last words are a description of pious and good Men such as had sincerely embraced the Christian Religion and were thereby become the Children of God and Heirs of Eternal Salvation So that these words are a brief Summary of the Doctrine of Good Angels and of what the Scripture has thought fit to reveal to us concerning them Which may be referred to these Three Heads First Their Nature Are they not Spirits Secondly Their general Office and Employment Are they not Ministring Spirits Thirdly Their special Office and Employment in regard to good Men they are sent forth to minister for them that is in their behalf and for their benefit who shall be heirs of salvation And this is as much as is necessary for us to know concerning them and all this is very agreeable to the general Apprehension of Mankind but the Scripture hath very much cleared and confirmed to us that which was more obscure and less certain before I shall briefly explain and illustrate these Three Heads and then draw some useful Inferences from the whole First For their Nature they are Spirits This is universally agreed by all that acknowledge such an Order of Beings that they are Spirits But whether they are pure Spirits devested of Matter and all kind of corporeal Vehicle as the Philosophers term it hath been a great Controversie but I think of no great Moment and Consequence Not only the ancient Philosophers but some of the ancient Christian Fathers did believe Angels to be cloathed with some kind of Bodies consisting of the purest and finest Matter which they call Aetherial And this Opinion seems to be grounded upon a pious Belief that it is the peculiar Excellency and Prerogative of the Divine Nature to be a pure and simple Spirit wholly separate from Matter But the more current Opinion of the Christian Church especially of later times hath been that Angels are mere and pure Spirits without any thing that is Material and Corporeal belonging to them but yet so that they have a Power to assume thin and airy Bodies and can when they please appear in Humane Shape as they are frequently in Scripture said to have done And this seems most agreeable to the Scripture Account of them tho' I think it is no necessary Article of Faith either to believe that they are cloathed with some kind of Bodies or that they are wholly devested of Matter But however this be they are described in Scripture to be endowed with great Excellencies and Perfections they are said to excell in strength Psal 103.20 and in Knowledge and Wisdom Hence are those Expressions of being as an Angel of God to discern good and bad 2 Sam. 14.17 Wise according to the wisdom of an Angel v. 20. To be of great Activity and Swiftness in their Motions hence it is that they are represented in Scripture as full of wings and to excel in purity and holiness hence is that Title given them in Scripture of the Holy Angels This is the Summ of what the Scripture hath in several places delivered to us concerning the Nature and Properties of good Angels and beyond this all our Kowledge of them is mere Conjecture and Uncertainty and the nice Speculations concerning them idle and wanton Curiosities Indeed the Scripture gives sufficient intimation of several Ranks and Orders among them by calling Michael an Archangel and Chief Prince and by distingushing them by the names of Principalities and Powers and Thrones and Dominions But what the difference of these Names import though some have attempted to explain yet I do not find that they have discovered any thing to us besides their own Ignorance and Arogance in pretending to be wise above what is written intruding into those things which they have not seen being vainly puft up in their fleshly minds as the Apostle censures some in his time Secondly We have here their general Office and Employment they are ministring Spirits they are as I may say domestick Servants and constant Attendants upon that great and glorious King whose Throne is in the Heavens and whose Kingdom ruleth over all they stand continually before him to behold his face expecting his Commands and in a constant readiness to do his Will For tho' the Omnipotence of God and his perfect Power of acting be such that he can do all things immediately by himself whatever he pleaseth in Heaven and in Earth can govern the World and steer the Affairs of it and turn them which way he thinks best by the least nod and beck of his Will without any Instruments or Ministers of his Pleasure yet his Wisdom and Goodness has thought fit to honour his Creatures especially this higher and more perfect Rank of Beings with his Commands and to make them according to their several Degrees and Capacities the ordinary Ministers of his Affairs in the
a Rack which yet ought to have been indifferent to them had they believed themselves and really esteemed that which others account Pain to be as Happy a Condition as that which is commonly called Ease But we need not trouble our selves to confute so stupid a Principle which is confuted by Nature and by every Man's Sense and Experience I think we may take it for granted that Freedom from Misery is a very considerable part of Happiness otherwise Heaven and Hell if we consider only the Torment of it would be all one But certainly it is no small endearment of Religion to the common Sense of Mankind that it promiseth to us in the next Life a Freedom from all the Evils and Troubles of this And by this the Happiness of Heaven is frequently described to us in Scripture Esai 57.2 speaking of the righteous Man he shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds 2 Thess 1.7 where the Apostle speaking of the Reward of those who should Suffer Persecution for Religion It is a righteous thing with God says he to recompense to you who are troubled Rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels And the Apostle to the Hebrews frequently describes the Happiness of Christians by entring into rest And Rev. 21.4 the State of the New Jerusalem is set forth to us by Deliverance from those Troubles and Sorrows which Men are subject to in this World and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are past away Thus it is with us in this World we are liable to Sorrow and Pain and Death But when we are once got to Heaven none of these things shall approach us The former things are pass'd away that is the Evils we formerly endured are past and over and shall never return to afflict us any more And is not this a great Comfort when we are Labouring under the Evils of this Life and Conflicting sorely with the Miseries of it that we shall one Day be past all these and find a safe Refuge and Retreat from all these Storms and Tempests When we are Loaded with Afflictions and even tired with the Burden of them and ready to faint and sink under it to think that there remains a rest for us into which we shall shortly enter How can it choose but be a mighty Consolation to us whilst we are in this vale of tears and troubles to be assured that the Time is coming when God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes and there shall be no more sorrow nor crying There are none of us but are obnoxious to any of the Evils of this Life we feel some of them and we fear more Our outward Condition it may be is uncomfortable we are poor and persecuted we are destitute of Friends or have many Enemies we are despoiled of many of those Comforts and Enjoyments which we once had Our Bodies perhaps are in Pain or our Spirits troubled or though we have no real Cause of outward Trouble yet our Souls are ill Lodg'd in the dark Dungeon of a Body over-power'd with a Melancholy Humour which keeps out all Light and Comfort from our Minds And is it no reviving to us to think of that Happy Hour when we shall find a Remedy and Redress of all these Evils at once Of that blessed Place where we shall take Sanctuary from all those Afflictions and Troubles which pursued us in this World Where Sorrow and Misery and Death are perfect Strangers and into which nothing that can render Men in the least unhappy can ever enter Where our Souls shall be in perfect rest and contentment and our Bodies after a while shall be restored and reunited to our Souls not to Cloud and Clog them as they do here but so happily changed and refined to such a Perfection that they shall be so far from giving any disturbance to our Minds that they shall mightily add to their Pleasure and Happiness And when we are once Landed in those Blessed Regions what a Comfort will it be to us to stand on the Shore and look back upon those rough and dangerous Seas which we have escaped How pleasant to consider the manifold Evils and Calamities which we are freed from and for ever secured against To remember our past Labours and Sufferings and to be able to defie all those Temptations which were wont to assault us in this World with so much violence and with too much success And this is the Condition of the Blessed Spirits above They find a perfect cessation of all Afflictions and Troubles they rest from their labours But this is not all For. 2. They are not only freed from all the Evils and Sufferings they were exercised withal in this World but they shall receive a plentiful Reward of all the Good they have done in it their works do accompany them When Pious Souls go out of this World they do not only leave all the Evils of the World behind them but they carry along with them all the Good they have done to reap there the Comfort and Reward of it Just as on the other hand Wicked Men when they die leave all the good things of this World all the Pleasures and Enjoyments behind them but the Guilt and Remorse of their wicked Lives accompany them and stick close to them to Torment them there and that there they may be Tormented for them Thus the Scriptures represent to us the different Condition of Good and Bad Men Esai 3.10 11. Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him for they shall eat the fruit of their doings Wo unto the wicked it shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him Which is many times true in this World but however that happen will most certainly and remarkably be made good in the other And this is most Emphatically exprest to us in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16.25 where the Rich Man Petitions Abraham for some Ease and Abraham returns him this Answer Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented What a Change was here How Comfortable to the one and how Dismal to the other Lazarus found rest from all his Labours and Sufferings and his Piety and Patience accompanied him into the other World and conveyed him into Abraham's Bosom Whereas the Rich Man was parted from all his good things and the Guilt of his Sins went along with him and lodged him in the place of Torments But my Text confines me to the bright side of this Prospect The consideration of that Glorious Recompence which Good Men shall receive for the Good Works which they have done in this World Indeed the Text doth not expresly say
We may sit down every man under his own Vine and under his own Fig-tree and that there shall be none to make us afraid So that if Security is necessary to the Comfort and Happiness of Mankind then Government is so too For without this the Societies of Men would presently dissolve and fall in pieces and all things would run into Confusion and Disorder 2. Another great Benefit which may reasonably be expected from Government tho' it does always so happen is that Men are protected by it in the free Exercise and Practice of Religion and Virtue Therefore we should pray for Kings and for all that are in authority says the Apostle that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty that is in the Practice of Piety and Devotion towards God of Sobriety and Temperance in regard to our selves and of Justice and Charity toward all Men. It 's true indeed and so the Apostles and first Christians found it by experience that the Edg and Authority of Laws may be and sometimes is turned upon the true Religion and the sincere Professors of it But even then tho' Good Men may receive great harms and injuries from Persecuting Princes and Governors as the Primitive Christians did from several of the Roman Emperors yet then it so happens that Good Men have some considerable Benefit and Protection from the Civil Government and Laws being for the most part preserved from the fury and rage of the Multitude so that tho' particular Persons undergo the Tryal of Cruel Sufferings yet much greater Numbers do escape and are preserved And which is very considerable in this Matter against several of the main and essential Parts of Religion there never was any Humane Laws made as against the inward Love Honour and Reverence of Almighty God and the Worshipping him in our Hearts and in Secret of this Part of Religion Humane Laws can take no cognizance Nay farther yet against Humility and Meekness against Modesty and Patience against Temperance and Chastity against Peaceableness and obedience to Government against Justice and Gratitude against Charity and Forgiveness of Injuries against these and such like Virtues the Apostle has told us there is no Law Against the Practice of these without some of which Government could not possibly subsist no Perfection was ever raised no not by the worst of Governors On the contrary in the Practice of these Virtues Good Men have been in all Ages and Times protected by Law 'T is true indeed that Good Men have many times been grievously Perfected by the Civil Government and Authority for the external Profession of revealed Religion which was the case of the Christians at that Time when the Apostle commanded them to pray for Kings and for all that were in Authority that under their protection they might lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty St. Paul knew very well when he gave this injunction to them that Supplications and prayers be made for Kings and for all that are in authority that the Powers of the World did not at that Time favour Christianity But he knew likewise that Government was necessary to the Happiness of Mankind and that Christians even in that State of Perfection did enjoy many considerable Benefits and Advantages by it so that they were not perpetually exposed to popular Rage and Cruelty and the Violence of Wicked and Vnreasonable Men Which would not only have hindred the progress of Christianity but would in a short time have endangered the extinguishing of it Besides that by the favour and protection of Government the Christians had many considerable Intervals of Peace and Ease which gave Christianity a breathing time and opportunity to recover it self and tho' the Secular Authority did for a long time discountenance Christianity and keep it under Hatches that was but an accidental effect and abuse of Government and Obedience was still due and Prayers for it so much the more necessary yea and Thanksgivings to God for it very reasonable upon account of the common Benefits and Advantages of it to Humane Society Besides that Christians did hope and believe that the Civil Government might in time be gained to give its countenance and assistance to Christianity and that Kings and Princes might become nursing Fathers to the Church as was expresly foretold by the Prophets and afterwards in God's due time was remarkably accomplisht In the mean time Christians were patiently to Obey and Suffer in expectation of those Glorious Rewards in another World which were promised to their Faith and Patience and to pray for the Powers that Persecuted them that they also might be brought to the acknowledgment of the Truth and might use that Power which God had committed to them for the protection of Truth and Innocency and for the Continuance and Support of the true Religion which blessed be God was afterwards the Case of Christianity for several Ages I proceed in the Second Place to shew what Obligation the Consideration of the mighty Benefits and Advantages of Government lays upon us both to pray to God on the behalf of Princes and Governors and likewise to praise God for them Because in their Welfare and Prosperity the Publick Peace and Happiness doth chiefly consist and in the Publick Good consists the Good of particular Persons and above all the Piety and Goodness of Princes and Magistrates especially those who are in highest Place of Authority have a general good influence upon the Manners of Men both for the discountenancing of Wickedness and Vice and for the encouragement of Religion and Virtue which are the main Pillars and Foundation of publick Peace and Prosperity A King sitting in the Throne of Judgment saith Solomon Prov. 20.8 scattereth away all evil with his eyes The Pattern of a Religious and good Prince is a living Law to his Subjects and more than the Example of Ten thousand others to Mould and Fashion the Manners of the People to a Conformity to it Besides that there is as one expresseth a kind of Moral Connexion and Communication of Evil and of Guilt betwixt Princes and People so that they are many times mutually Rewarded for the Virtues and good Actions and Punished for the Sins and Faults of one another Of which proceedings of the Divine Justice towards the People of Israel there are many remarkable instances in Scripture where God Rewarded the Piety of Good Princes with great Blessings upon their People and Punisht the Personal Faults of their Kings with publick Judgments upon the whole Nation So that in Truth it is the greatest Kindness and Charity to our selves to pray for our Princes and Governors because our welfare is involved in theirs and we suffer not only in all the Misfortunes and Calamities which befal them but many times upon account of their Personal Faults and Miscarriages Quicquid delirant Reges plectuntur Achivi the Extravagances of Princes are punisht in the Misfortunes of their Subjects Thus David