of the Truth do not use to be Bashful in asserting their Principles when they find their Interests in them 1 Tim. 6.5 But fupposing Gain to be Godliness as the Apostle observes of them are generally very forward to shew their good Affection to it and like Demetrius to put the World into an uproar out of zeal to the Magnificence of their Great Diana and their Profits from her Shrines and Altars Conscience 't is true at the first has the least share in the Actions of these Men whose Interests choose choose their Principle for them But what they strongly Affect and desire should be true in time they strongly believe and having willfully Rejected the Truth are given up by the Just Judgment of God to their own Delusions to Believe and defend the Lye 4. Some Principles are so bad in themselves as to inspire men with a furious and Unchristian Zeal and without the help of Worldly Interest to instigate and push them on to violent and Unnatural Actions Such are these which Warrant the Killing of men for Christs sake and the Gospels and promise them Heaven for the Vilest Pnactices in the World For Assassinating their Natural Prince Betraying their Country and putting it under a Foreign and insupportable Yoke Such are all those that make Unlawful and indifferent things absolutely Necessary to Salvation and eneourage Men to think the better of themselves for their Zeal against such as pretend to nothing but the plain Rules of Christianity and a Decent Way of serving of God in Spirit and in Truth These Principles do naturally produce an Envious and Ill-natur'd Zeal 'T is the property of those that are under the POwer and Guidance of them to allow no Man a Name for Religion but themselves to be angry with every one that do's not Espouse their Follies to Glory in their Marks of Distinction and take themselves to be the Holier and better men for differing from all Christians upon Earth And this is too often the effect of that odd and Peevish Principle that Innocent and indifferent things cease to be Lawful when they are once Commanded No Man knows the malignity of such an Errour as this should it once get the Ascendant which is the Aim and Tendency of it over that Authority which God hath placed in the Rulers of his Church Do we not already find the Insluence of it upon some of the straintest Sect of our Religion who yet have reserved themselves a sufficient Latitude in Scorning and Deriding their Brethren and are extreamly lavish in their Censures of Persons of the highest Chaeacter and Reverence in the Church of God Nay many there are that prize and commend themselves upon these very Accounts and look upon it as a mark of Sanctity to Break and blemish the Communion of that Church which they pretend no other Quarrel with than only for interposing her Authority in some indifferent things i.e. making use of the Power which Christ himself hath given to every Church for the benefit and Edification of it And what is this but to Consecrate a Schism into a state of Perfection and to do that for Religions sake which directly tends to the undoing and subversion of it 5. Enthusiasm or a false pretence to Divine Inspiration is a Fatal cause of this Extravagant Zeal When men have the Considence to ascribe their Errors to the immediate Dictates of the Spirit When they take themselves to be the peculiar Favourites of God in whose Breasts he hath lodg'd his choicest Secrets whom he hath chosen and authorized to bring his most glorious Designs to pass 't is not to be expected they should long content themselves with the Pleasure of these Delusions srons That Evil Spirit that hath blinded their Eyes and taught them to Belye the Holy Ghost had a farther Design upon them And as the Philiftines dealt with Sampson when they had put out his Eyes will surely Employ them in his Drudgeries and put them upon the most destructive Attempts 'T is hardly to be imagined what desperate Projects men will freely contribute their Service to when they are once possest with a Spirit of Delusion and struck Blind with an Opinion that whatever they strongly Fancy is Infallibly so That 't is impossible for them to Err having Private Instructions from God himself hitherto hid from Ages and Generations to Advance the Kingdom of Christ and exalt it to a more glorious Height To which purpose an Eminent Divine of this Church who had a peculiar Sagacity in Tracing and detecting the Errours of his time hath left us this memorable passage * Mr. Hook Pref. to Eccl. Pol. When Men are once Erroneously persuaded that 't is the Will of God to have those things done which they Fancy then Opinions are as Thorns in their sides never suffering them to take rest till they have brought their Skpeculations into Practice The Impediments of which Practice their restless desire and study to remove leadeth them every Day into more dangerour Opinions sometimes quite and clean contrary to their first pretended meanings So that what will grow out of such Errours as go mask'd under the Cloak of Divine Authority impoffible it is that ever the Wit of Man should imagine till time has brought forth the Fruits of them I Proceed now in the third and last place 3. To make some Inferences brieefly from this Discourse From whence it will follow 1. That we have no Reason when we see the Effects of this Distructive and Unchristian Zeal to be stagger'd in our Religion or to suspect our Faith That the best Religion should meet with the sharpest Opposition from Men that the worst sctions should pretend to serve it and receive Authority and Encouragement from it that Men of Learning and Knowledge and of High and Extraordinary Zeal should Combine against it are no new things in the World The Church from her Infancy had been acquainted with them and our Saviour and his Apostles have expresly foretold them on purpose that we should not be Offended when we see and feel them 2. Hence we learn that an Erroneous Conscience is a very unsafe and dangerous Guide And it must needs be so because it is supposed to Dictate the mind of God and by his Authority to guide our Practice And accordingly the greatest Troubles and Persecutions which have befallen the Church are manifestly Owing to the Delusions which have past under the Name of Conscience in several Ages which should mightily awaken us to look well to our Principles and to keep our Minds Pure and untainted with Errour If the Light saith Christ that is in thee he Darkness Mat. 6.23 how great is that Darkness A little speck in the Eye fed by an Invincible Humour often Deftroys the most Useful and Noble Sense 'T is sad to observe from what small beginnings the greatest Errours both in Judgment and Practice have in a short time spred and diffused themselves to the infinite Prejudice
to premise 1. That by the streight way to Heaven I understand as it is plain the Author of this Epistle does the way which God hath revealed in his Gospel the same which is there called the way that leadeth unto Life Mat. 7.14.22.16 Act. 16.17 2 Pet. 2.15 Heb. 10.20 the way of God in Truth the way of Salvation the right way the new and living way which Christ hath consecrated for us that is the Method which the Son of God by his Incarnation and Preaching the Gospel hath put us into for the attainment of Everlasting Life and Happiness 2. By the sure finding of this Way upon a due and careful enquiry I mean that Ordinary Christians by applying themselves to the study of the Scriptures the Sacred Records of our Religion with a clear and honest intention by imploring the Divine Asssistance and making that use they ought of their Spiritual Guides may certainly attain to the knowledge of all the Truths which are necessary to be believed and of the Duties required of them to be done in order to their Eternal Salvation And this is as much as any man that is sincerely inquisitive after the Way to Heaven can desire For who that is so can desire to be more than certain of his way thither Or to have a better Foundation for his Faith and Practice than the Authority of God himself who if there be any such thing as Infallibity in men must be the Author of it Now to prove that we may be certain of our way to Heaven without the help of an Infallible Guide I shall endeavour to make good these following Assertions 1. That the Blessed Author of our Religion hath left us a certain Rule to direct us to Eternal Life That there is such a Rule is as evident as that the Gospel is the Word of God or that the Doctrine of Christ is contained in the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles And in this all Christians are agreed Even the Romanists themselves allow the Scripture to be the Infallible Rule tho they are no great Friends to the Usefulness or Perfection of it But still we have a greater Authority than this I mean that of the Scriptures themselves which declare that they were written Joh. 10. ult that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God i. e. to be the Rule of our Christian Faith and that Believing we might have Life through his Name Tit. 2.11 12. That they teach us a Rule of Life and are able to make us wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3.15 And hence the Primitive Fathers and the First General Councils appealed to the Scriptures as the True Standard of Christianity and condemned the Ancient Hereticks by the Authority of them In those days the manner was to set the Holy Oracles in the midst of the Councils to signifie that they ought to be consulted in all their Debates and that nothing ought to be imposed upon the Faith of Christians or decreed to be an Article of Religion but what may be found in the Gospel and is so determined by that Infallible Rule 2. Christ having left such a Rule to his Church it must be supposed to be Intelligible i. e. capable of being understood and applied by those that are to use it as a Rule Otherwise it can never serve the Great End it was given for to say which is the highest Reflexion that can be upon the Wisdom of him that gave it The Gospel pretends to shew us a streight way to Heaven but to what purpose if we can never find it by its directions If we must use it as a Rule we must learn from it what we are to believe and practise And if we must do so I think that is a plain and unanswerable Argument that we may do it For assuredly God would never make a shew of bringing us to Heaven by a Means which he certainly knows would fail us if we trust to it 3. The Institution of Pastors and Ministers in the Church for the instruction of private persons in the meaning of this Rule undeniably proves that our Saviours meaning was that all Christians should understand it themselves And then it is evident they may do it so far as they are concern'd and are qualified to judge in other matters For what use is there of Teachers but to assist and inform our Understandings and help us to make a Right Judgment of Things Or what benefit is there of being taught if we may not use our Judgment when it is rightly informed and be permitted to know when it is and when not This I am sure is the natural priviledge of Mankind and I do not know one natural right that our Saviour by any Institution of his deprives us of And certainly of all others he would never bar us of this because his Doctrine would be of little use to us without it For what sway is the Gospel like to bear upon our Minds or which way can it influence our lives till we know the true Sense and Uses of it which it is impossible we should unless we may exercise our own Judgments upon them Let my Guide be never so Knowing or Infallible 't is not his without my own knowledge that can make me sure of my way And therefore unless he has a way to conveigh his Great Knowledge into me and if he has it is surely through my understanding I am but just where I was without him and never like to make any Spiritual Improvement by him 'T is the Interest I confess of some Teachers that their Disciples should not see which way they lead them But those whom Christ hath ordained to this Office are sent to open their Eyes and to turn them from Darkness unto Light that they themselves may see the things which belong to their Eternal Peace 4. Christians without distinction are expresly required to search the Scriptures and to prove all things by them as the Rule and Standard of Truth and certainty in matters of Religion Search the Scriptures saith our Saviour for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life John 5.39 implying that as there is a Treasure in the Scriptures a clear discovery of the Way to Eternal Life so it may be certainly found by those that duly search for it And if it may be found in the Scriptures of the Old Testament to which our Saviour here directs his Disciples there can be no reason we should despair of finding it in the New being infallibly assured 2 Tim. 1.10 that Life and Immortality were brought to the Light of the Gospel i.e. were more Emphatically Discovered being set in a better Light to us Christians by the New and Brighter Revelations of the Gospel than they were of Old to the Jews by all the Writings of Moses and the Prophets And then if we seek for Life and Immortality and follow the directions of this
EIGHT SERMONS PREACHED On Several Occasions BY NATHANAEL WHALEY Rector of Broughton in Northamptonshire LONDON Printed for John Everingham at the Star in Ludgate-Street near the West End of St. Paul's Church-Yard 1695. Imprimatur Carolus Alstton R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. a Sacris April 30 1695. THE PREFACE TO THE Reader THE true End of Printing Sermons is to promote the Belief and Practice of Christianity Which must be at a low Ebb while the Witty part of the World is Floating in Scepticism and the Heavier sinking into down-right Atheism and Sensuality And This I think is so good an End in it self that it certainly needs no Excuse For I know not why any Man may not venture upon doing Good without asking leave of the World or Pleading the Importunity of Friends or craving a Protection for it All the Discouragement lies in the Difficulty there is in reaching this excellent End especially in this Singular and Confident Age in which He is no Body almost that has not an Opinion by himself And he is counted a very easie Man that will resign it to a stronger Judgment for being reduced to a Contradiction or two or convinc'd of a few untoward Consequences of it But however this be I think it becomes the Ministers of Religion to perswade Men if it be possible to be Wise and Happy and while the Scriptures are of any Authority with them to Admonish them of the Truths which belong to their Eternal Peace And this I can truly say is the Design of the following Sermons The two first of which are framed to shew the great Difference there is between a stable and well-grounded Faith and meer Confidence and Opinion or between the Faith of Abraham which carried him through the greatest Tryals and Difficulties and the Presumption of a Pharisee which did as strange things in their kind For as Abraham by Faith offered up his Son in Obedience to God So Saul by the impulse of his Opinions Persecuted the Children of Abrahams Faith and verily thought till our Saviour called to him out of Heaven as the Angel did to Abraham that he was doing the Will of God even when he was going to make a Sacrifice of Christianity it self The Design of the Third and Fourth Sermons is to represent the extream Danger of Impenitency under the Powerful means of Grace and of Trusting to a late or Death-Bed Repentance These I fear are very Grating and Unpleasant Subjects But I the rather think they require the plainer dealing and must needs say in reference to the Latter that upon the Review I cannot esteem it any breach of Charity to have wrested a Text perhaps more frequently mis-applyed than any other in the Gospel out of the hands of those that were never Fairly in possession of it and are apt as St. Peter speaks of some others to wrest it to their Own Destruction The Fifth was delivered at a time when great Endeavours were used to turn us out of the streight Way to Heaven Which gave occasion to shew the Grounds of our Protestant Faith and the great Advantages it has above the Romish in point of certainty How much Reason we have to adhere to the Doctrine of our own Church and to adorn it by the Purity of our Lives and Examples And the Way to do this is described and recommended in the following Discourse concerning our Improvement in all Christian Vertues and Graces And were we once perswaded to govern our Lives by the Principles of our Religion we might justly hope to Enjoy them more and perhaps much longer than we do We should think it no Dishonour to suffer those that Affront and Despitefully use us to live out the short term of Life which God and Nature hath set them and make better Use of the shortness and uncertainty of our Own to bring us to which happy Temper is the Design of the two last Sermons As to the Composure of these few Discourses the Reader will find enough to exercise his Candour and Ingenuity All I can hope for is That they may be serviceable in some measure to the Lovers of Truth for whose sakes they are Published that the Venture will be the more Pardonable because my Infirmities at present are such as hinder the Discharge of the Ordinary Duties of my Function God grant his Blessing to all Faithful Endeavours to Preserve the Truth and Promote Peace and Piety The Contents SERMON I. The Power and Efficacy of Faith Heb. 11.17 18. By Faith Abraham when he was tryed offered up Isaac And he that had received the Promises Offered up his Only begotten Son Of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy Seed be called SERMON II. The Danger of a mis-inform'd Conscience or mistaken Principles in Religion Acts 26.9 I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth SERMON III. Of the different Dispensations of Grace and of Impenitency under the best Means of Salvation Matth. 11.21.22 Wo unto thee Chorazin Wo unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty Works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have Repented long agō in Sack-cloth and Ashes But I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than for you SERMON IV. The Case of a Late or Death-Bed Repentance Matth. 20.9 And when they came that were Hired about the Eleventh Hour they received every Man a Penny SERMON V. The Streight and Certain Way to Happiness Hebr. 12.13 Make streight Paths for your Feet SERMON VI. Of Growth in Grace 2 Pet. 3.18 But Grow in Grace SERMON VII Of Murther particularly Duelling and Self-Murther Matth. 5.21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of Old time Thou shalt not Kill SERMON VIII Of the shortness and Instability of Humane Life James 4.14 For what is your Life It is even a Vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away Sermon I. Concerning the Power and Efficacy of Faith Hebr. 11.17 18. By Faith Abraham when he was tryed Offered up Isaac and he that had rerceived the Promises Offered up his Only begotten Son Of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy Seed be called THE Author of this Epistle discourseth in this Chapter of two Eminent Points of Knowledge the Nature of Divine Faith and the mighty Power and Efficacy of it In the first Verse he calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a grounded Expectation of things hoped for and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Conviction of things not seen ver 3.5 c. such as the Creation of this and the Existence of a better World And this shews the Nature of Faith to lye in a firm Perswasion of Truths and Promises grounded upon the Testimony of God and not upon any sensible Evidence of the Reality of them And accordingly the Holy Men whose Faith is so much magnifyed in this Chapter ver 13.
Greater Light we may be sure to make Streight Paths for our Feet till we come to the Perfect Fruition of them Nor are we commanded only to search the Scriptures but to prove all things by them to try the Spirits whether they be of God 1 Thes 5.21 1 Job 1.4 Luk. 12.57 and to judge of our selves what is Right That is we must use our own Reason and Judgment in comparing matters in Controversie with the Infallible Rule of Scripture For some Rule we must have to Prove and Try and Judge by And it is plain the Scripture takes no notice of any other Rule but it self and that of Modern and Unwritten Tradition as Opposite to it And this is security enough against any Dangerous Error considering that the Gospel is as much a standing Revelation to the Christian Church as the Law and the Prophets were to the Jews 5. We find the happy Effect of this Course so far that persons of ordinary capacity after a competent Trial of it do rightly believe and understand all that is necessary to their Eternal Salvation The necessary Articles of Religion are so visible in the Scriptures that it is the hardest thing that can be for an Ingenious Reader to overlook them That there is but One God that He only ought to be Worshipped that he sent his Only Begotten to Die for us that he Died and Rose again that as many as Repent of their Sins Believe and Obey the Gospel shall be Saved These and other Principles of Religion are so clearly and fully exprest in Scripture that there is no need of an Infallible Interpreter to certifie for them A common Understanding with the ordinary Means of Knowledge can reach the Discovery I mean without the help of a Roman Telescope or standing upon the Shoulders of St. Peters's pretended Successor This we know the Certainty of we feel it in our selves and we see the Demonstration of it in ten thousand Instances and do not think the worse of our Faith for being Protestant i. e. immediately Grounded upon the Evidence and Authority of Scripture We look upon it as our Inviolable Birth right to judge of Plain Truths when we see them And for this we have the general Sense of Mankind on our side and cannot think it reasonable to put it to any man to judge for us whether or no there is a God a Christ or a Heaven That all necessary Truths are plain is allowed by all Christians but those that make Articles of Faith necessary to Salvation which are so far from being plain that there is not the least mention of them in the whole Gospel And if all things that are Necessary are Plain then I hope a plain man may judge of them and without asking leave of any other man may believe them and so doing he certainly is in a state of Salvation And then the Church that declares he is not cannot be Infallible unless a Church can Err and be Infallible at the same instant 6. It is far easier for men who implore the Direction of God and use the Helps which he affords them to find their way to Heaven in the Scriptures than to find an Infallible Guide on Earth to lead them to it It must be granted that there are Obscure as well as Plain Passages in Scripture Some Places so very Dark and Intricate that they even Pose the most skilful and judicious Guides But thn our Happiness is that our Way does not lie Thorough them and that there is Light enough in innumerable other places to direct our Steps and to bring us in a Streight Line to Everlasting Bliss and Perfection I do not say that every thing tht concerns our Salvation is so clearly revealed that no man can be ignorant of it But that we may know as much as is needful for us if we apply our minds to it and laying aside all prejudice against the Truth beg of God to Preserve us from Error all which we have great encouragement to do since he has promised us the assistance of his Spirit in the search of Truth The Church of Rome indeed offers to put us into a shorter and easier Method of finding out Truth and to bring us to a Guide that will Infallibly shew us every step of our way So that we need not be at the Pains of any Tedious Inquiries nor any longer in danger of missing our Aim in them through the weakness of our own Fallible Judgments And who would not gladly embrace so Free and kind an Offer as this provided there be no Trick or Fallacy it it The Tryal of which will appear if the Proposes of this way of certainty be able to satisfy us in a few reasonable Cases without which as great as the Courtesy seems to be we cnnot prudently Accept of their Offer If a man should freely proffer me the Indies I must say it is a very Noble Gift if he can make it good and when he has convinced me that he can I will thankfully accept it from him but before he can give me Satisfaction about it I find ther must be a few words exchanged between us and therefore if he Pleases I desire him to tell me how he came to be the Owner of so vast a Treasure which is or lately was in the possession of so many Great and Potent Princes And which way he will put me into Possession of it c. If he cannot Answer these Queries as I believe he cannot I am sure he can never conveigh the Indies to me and therefor I will never trouble my Head more about them And thus I fear it will fall out in the case of an Infallible Guide to all Christians who were there such a Church or Person as they boast of at Rome that could infallibly solve all Doubts and put an end to all Controversies in Religion were richly worth both the Indies together But before I accept of the Conduct of this Guide I must desire to be satisfied in a few things in reference to him As 1. How I may be certain that there is such a Guide or Judg of Controversies For I find there is a great Controversy in the Church about it And if I can never be assured that there is such an one till he has ended all Controversies which is the great blessing the Church of Rome Promises from him 't is in vain in this Age of Controversies to enquire any farther after him But suppose it were not may I or any other Protestant determine this Controversy by the use of our own Fallible Judgments If we may then it seems a Fallible Judgment may do more sometimes than an Infallible Judg. However a Fallible Judgment is all the Judgment that we have and if by it we may be certain of an Infallible Guide which at Rome goes for a leading Article of Faith I see no Reason why we may not by the same means be certain of all the Rest and if we may
in favour of St. Peter or the rest of the Apostles or of the Church in general to understend it and more than it implies as these men would have us of the Pope and Church of Rome For why might not St. Peter be a Rock and Pope Honorius a Monothelite and Liberius the Arrian no better than Waves Must the Gates of Hell needs prevail against the Catholick Church if the Bishop of one Diocess prove not so Orthodox as he should be And why may not Christ be with his Church to the end of the World tho he takes no greater care to preserve it from Error than from sinful Practice And is it not modestly done of the Church of Rome to engross all the Promises to her self which are made to the Church Universal And to argue all along as she does upon the Ciedit of ths No tabel Principle That a part is the whole which bids Defiance to all the Reason of Mankind Now since we cannot be sure of our Guide we must do as well as we can for our selves Wemust Judge of things by such Faculities as God hath given us and if they are Fallible was cannot help that but find it to no purpose to judge at all if we cannot be certain either till we are Infallible or till we can meet with an infallible Judge But the best of it is we may shift well enough without him having an infallible Rule to walk by plasn and easie to be understood by those that are duly instructed by it in all the Necessary Points both of Faith and Practice And for Doubtful cases as they require a Narrower Search and the Assistance of better Judgments perhaps than our own so God hath not left us destitute of these Advantages He hath appointed Men of Wisdom and Understanding to be our Guide and he hath promised to assist both them and us in the Search of Truth And if we will be directed by them in things whcih are above our Level we may satisfie our selves with this that we take the best course we can to meke our Paths streight and to secure our progress tcwards Heaven In a word we may be sure that God is always ready to bless the means of his own Appointment and that if we desire to approve our selves to him in the use of them either he will not fuffer us to err or he will not lay our Involuntary Errour to our charge I proceed now to the third and last Observation which is this 3. Obs That having found the streight way to Heaven we ought to be very careful and exact in walking in it and not yeild to any Temptation to forsake it The End of all the Advantages we have of knowing the Will of God is that we may readily apply our selves to the Practice of it If we stop at t is we certainly lose all our Labour in enquiring after it For 't is impossible we should reach to Heaven merely by knowing the streight way or beginning to walk in it unless we hold on our course and maintain it to the end It is to be hoped that we are all satisfied in our Religion and that we know why we are so having measured the several Doctrines and Institutions of it by the Line of Scripture And if we have done this with good Care and Judgment let those that take another Course be as Confident as they will there will be Confident Men to the end of the world we may be certain the while that we are upon the way to Eternal Life nad hope by the Grace of God to persevere in it But then I cannot promise you that you shall meet with no Discouragements in this way There is no Road upon Earth more infested with Treacherous and Deceitful Men that with great Civility will offer to shew you a Readier and a finer way to Heaven and tell you if you will but step a little out of your way to a Friend's house of theirs they will bring you to an Infallible Man that will save you many a weary step and prevent a multitude of Errors provided you will but be so civil as to suffer him first to pull out your Eyes which they say only serve to mislead you But if you will be so unreason able as not to submit to this you must look to your selves For tho the good men prosess a very deep compassion for the Blind and Ignorant yet they don't think themselves bound to keep Faith with Men that have their Eyes in their Heads I wish we had no Occasion to understand the Moral of this But let not your hearts be troubled You profess a Religion that can bear the Tryal and has past the Ordeal already Wherefore hold fast the profession of your Faith without wavering Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of it Who for the joy that was set hefore him endured the Cross despising the shame and it set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God And be not like children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine through the sleight of men and the cunning craftiness of tbose that lie in wait to deceive Lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees and make streight pats for your feet looking diligently lest any man sail of the Grace of God The way to be stedfast in our Religion is to be diligent in the practice of it This will give it a grace in the Eyes of Men and perhaps convince the Adversaries of it sooner than the best Arguments we can urge them with And this will secure us from sailing of the Grace of God in our greatest Tryals and Exigencies and from falling short of the Glory which shall be hereafter revealed I shall therefore enforce the Exhortation in the Text as it resers to our Practice with these two Considerations and so conclude 1. Let us consider the Honour and Interest of our holy Religion I need not tell you how much the Protestant Religion stands upon its Reputation at this Day and how watchful the Enemies of it are to improve all Advantages against it I would to God we would all seriously consider this and not betray the Interests of the best Religion by the Wickedness and Impiety of our Lives 'T is our Happiness to Live in the Communion of a Church which affords us all Advantages of knowing the direct and perfect way to Life and Salvation We enjoy the just Freedom of our own Reason and Judgment and have as much Liberty as we can desire to consult the Scriptures our selves We may go to the Fountain Head and try the Purity of any Doctrines that pretend to be derived from thence even when they are brought down to us by a whole stream of Interpreters So that it is to be supposed that our Religio hath approv'd it self to our Judgments and that we call it ours not because it was the Religion of our Fathers or had the good turn to be the
and dye in our Sins 't is not material what Church we Live or Dye in Communion with While we are in Bondage to our Lusts all the Absolutions in the World can do us no Good If we study to serve and Please God we need not any Indulgencies from Men And if we do not we shall be never the better for them I must needs say after all that has been said on both sides I cannot see the least Reason we have to Change our Religion To leave the streight Path we are in and to go about by the Saints to our Redeemer and by Purgatory to Heaven to leave the Holy Scriptures which were written for our Instruction and to Turn to Legends and stories of Saints which a serious Man would think were composed only for Merriment and Diversion But tho we have no Reason at all to Change our Religion yet surely there is great Reason for many of us to make Considerable alterations in our Lives to change almost the whole Frame and Tenour of them and to reform our selves who call our selves the Reformed 'T is not only for the Credit of our Profession that our Lives be uniform to it but our Immortal Honour and Interest depend upon it We lose the Crown of Life if we faint in the Race that is set before us and there is no other way to escape everlasting Death than to persist in the way that leadeth to Life Eternal If a man should tempt you to renounce your Faith I verily hope the Danger of it to your eternal Salvation would hinder you from hearkening to him But then there is the same Danger in a Prophane and Vicious Life and therefore the same Reason to forsake every evil way to deny every sinful Appetite and Worldly Lust to be cautious of our steps and having found the Way of Truth to keep a streight and even Course to the Kingdom of Heaven Is it not an Article of our Faith that no unrighteous man shall inherit the Kingdom of God And shall we live in a perpetual Jar and Contradiction to our selves To conclude we had as good pin our Faith upon the sleeves of other men or bestow it upon any body that will take it off our hands as keep it only to rise up in Judgment against us Sermon VI. Of Growth in Grace 2 Pet. 3.18 But Grow in Grace 'T IS hard to name any of the great Rules of Christian Piety without reflecting upon the sensible Decays of it in the present Age an Age much addicted to talk and wrangle about Religion very stout and zealous in opposing and maintaining the Doctrines which divide the Christian World but very cold and careless in the necessary points of Practice without which the best Religion degenerates into Two of the worst things in the World Hypocrisie and Superstition This being our present case it concerns us to look well to our selves and seeing we know these things before as St. Peter speaks immediately before the Text to beware lest we also being led away by the Error of the Wicked the bad Opinions and ill Examples of men fall from our own stedfastness To which he adds this Excellent Advice as a certain Rule to prevent the Danger of so fatal an Apostacy But grow in Grace Grace is a Term of Various Senses and Acceptations in Scripture being frequently taken for Favour and Acceptance with God or Men for the Divine Assistance whereby we are enabled to perform the Will of God and for those Good Dispositions and Habits of the Mind which are the Genuine Effects and Product of it In the latter sense it is the same thing with Vertue and Holiness and is most properly so to be understood whenever as in the Text it is the Matter or Subject of an Exhortation Now in this Exhortation to grow in Grace these two things are plainly implied 1. A Root or Principle of Holiness actually implanted in us We must be in a state of Grace before we can make any progress or proficiency in it There must be a stock before there can be an increase a quickness in the Root before the Branches will sprout or flourish a springing of Grace and Vertue before an abounding in the fruits of Righteousness And this shews to whom the Apostles Exhortation belongs namely to men that are in a state of Holiness and have not received the Grace of God in vain 2. It is here implied That Good Men are nor meerly passive in growing better but may and must do something towards it themselves Nay the Text supposes they must do enough to make it their own Act and that the Work of Sanctification must cease if they refuse their Endeavours to farther and promote it Did the best we can do signifie nothing to the making us better there would be no room for our Endeavours and consequently no Reason for all the Counsels Admonitions and Exhortations of the Gospel to use them The Spirit of God is indeed the Author and Fountain of all Grace But then he has appointed the use of Means both in order to the Birth and Growth of it He knows therefore that by his Assistance which he is always ready to afford us we may attain to such a Growth and Perfection in Grace as is requisite to qualifie us for the highest Degrees of Glory and Happiness And by his Direction it is that we should be frequently moved and excited to use the means he hath prescribed for our improvement in Grace and Piety And this is a plain Argument that our Endeavours are very useful to this End and that as weak and imperfect as they are our proficiency in all Virtue and Goodness depends upon them Now to make this Exhortation as useful and effectual as I can I shall aim at these four things 1. To explain the nature of our Spiritual Growth 2. To shew the Proper and Effectual means to Promote it 3. To warn you of the great Hindrances and Impediments of it 4. To inforce the Apostles Exhortation by shewing what weighty Reasons and Obligations we have to be Growing in Grace 1. To explain the Nature of our Spiritual Growth The work of Grace is neither begun nor carried on by natural Principles without the mighty Aids and Operations of the Holy Spirit of God who Inables us both to will and to do of his good Pleasure Nor does a Christian grow like a Plant merely by the Influences of Heaven But by improving the assistances he Receives from thence and using the means prescribed to him for obtaining new Measures of Grace and Holiness And hence we may discover both the Principles of our growth in Grace and the manner of our growing in it The first mover in it is the good Spirit of God the giver of every goods and perfect gift And subordinate to it is the Spirit or mind of Man disposed in some degree to grow in Grace by the Grace he hath already obtain'd and excited to greater measures by the Spirit of
that one of them must fall by the others hand 't is reasonable to suppose that both God and his Miniters of Jutice do agree in the same choice and by a virtual Commission impower the Innocent Person to execute their Vengenace upon the guilty and to slay the Invader rather than be Murthered by him And this I think is the sense of our Laws and was so of the Roman which allowed the Killing of a Thief in the day time Si se telo defenderit if he offered to make use of his Weapon And much more may we presume upon the lawfulness of saving our lives when we are Assaulted with a Mortal Violence and it is evident after all our care to prevent and escape it that unless we immediately return it there is but a Moment between us and Death These are all the ordinary cases in which it is lawful to take away the Life of Man There is one indeed of a more Heroical Nature which has fair Pretences to the like Immunity from this Law viz. When a Man is cast into those Circumstances that either he must yield up the Life of his Friend that is as his own Soul or save it by taking away his Enemys from him But this Case is liable to such infinite abouses and variety of Circumstances that as the Tenderness of our Laws in this matter shews the Wisdom of our Law-givers so it is parhaps the best light that can be given into it 2. The Second thing was to shew what the Sin of Murther or the Killing here forbidden is by what hath been spoken it is easy to apprehend that this Law Prophibits the bereaving our Neighbour of his Life without Authority Justice or Necessity enforcing to it The Instances of which are when a man of his own motion compasses the Death of another in a wilful Treacherous Revengeful or sportive manner or is accessary to it at the Instigation of any Person not invested with competent Authority whether this be done to cover our Shame or to heal what we call our Honour or with respect to any convenience Satisfaction or Advantage to our selves whether we do this by open Assault and Violence or by secret and malicious Craft under the colour of Religion or Law in the Face of the Sun or under the Mask of Night whether immediately by our selves or by wicked Instruments by Purjury or Poyson by false Suggestions evil Counsel or enticements or any other Means or Method tending to the untimely Death and Destruction of our Neighbour This is the Sin of Murther directly forbidden in the sixth Commandment The first and immediate Design of which is to preserve the Life of our Neighbour which is generally of all other Blessings the dearest to him and ought to be highly valued because all the rest of his enjoyments and advantages of doing good at least in this World do depend upon it Now it must be supposed that God who forbids the Killing of our Neighbour and expresly Commands us to love him as our selves does by consequence also forbid the Killing of our selves For we have no more Power over our own than we have over the Lives of other Men. Mal. 2.10 Have we not all one Father hath not one God Created us nad hath he not Created us after his own Image the preservation of which in Man is the manifest end and intention of this Commandment But of this I shall have occasion to speak more fully under the last General 3. The next thing to be spoken to is the hainousness of the Sin of Murther It is generally condemned by the voice of God and Men as one of the greatest strains of Wickedness and Inhumanity and is indeed a crime of the largest size and the highest Provocation of any against the second Table of the Law The very Relation of the Fact strikes every Innocent Breast with Horrour and raises a mighty Indignation against the Murtherer The mean while his own Conscience pursues him and whither soever he flyes his Accuser Witness and Judge are with him the Altar is no Sanctuary to him for God who is greater than his Conscience hears the dreadful Cry of his Sin strongly importuning him to hasten down his Vengeance upon him We have an instance of this in the first Act of this kind that ever was Committed The Voice of thy Brothers Bloud saith the Lord to Cain cryeth unto me from the Ground Gen. 4.10 And 't is observable how quick and severe an Answer it received 11 12. verses And now art thou cursed from the Earth a Fugitive and a Vagabond shalt thou be upon it Nay the Malignity of this Sin is such that it difiles the Land where it is Committed and leaves a guilt upon it that is not to be expiated but by the Bloud of the Murtherer And therefore no Sanctuary was provided for him in Israel and if he fled to any of the Cities of Refuge he was thence to be taken by the special Command of God and immediately given up to Justice Thou shalt take him saith God from mine Altar that he may Dye Exod. 21.14 and on this account God is said to make Inquisition for Bloud Ps 9.12 i. e. to search out the shedder of it and to drive him out of all his Refuge till he fall into the hands of his inexorable Justice Now since there is so terrible an outcry against the Murtherer since Heaven and Earth are so highly incens't against him and so much concern'd to Punish him there must be a more than ordinary Malignity and Provocation in the Sin which calls so loud for so solemn a Vengeance And wherein this consists will appear with the least glance of our Thoughts upon these Tarticulars 1. That it bids Defiance to the Majesty and Authority of God and in the nature of it directly tends to extinguish his Government in the World It snatches the Sword of Justice out of his hand and employ's it to the Destruction of his Creatures and Subjects contrary to his declared will and most sacred Prerogative every time this Sin is punished in its kind two at least of his Subjects are cashiered out of the Land of the living the Kingdom he hath Founded amongst men It is a peculiar affront to the Divine Nature as it defaces the Image of God in Man on this account it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very greatest Sacrilege as Philo calls it a robbing God of that Creature which he hath appointed to represent him in this lower World which approacheth the nearest in Perfection to him being made for his own society and of all his works hath the liveliest resemblance of Divinity upon it And therefore when God pronounceth Sentence upon the Murtherer who so shedeth Mans Bloud Gen. 9.6 by Man shall his Bloud be shed he assigneth this reason for it For in the Image of God made he Man 3. Murther is an Act of excessive Mischief and Cruelty to our Neighbour the utmost wrong that