was God And as the Eternal Power and Godhead were understood by the things that were made as St. Paul saith so he adds that all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made Which is as certain an Argument of the Divinity of Christ as there is of the Being of God from the Creation of the World 2. As to the other Point it was indeed a sad and amazing Consideration that the wonderfull Love of God in sending his Son into the World should have so little Effect upon the Generality of those to whom he was sent and his Doctrine preached but the Apostle contents himself with these two Accounts of it 1. That it was far from being God's Intention or Design in sending his Son to make Men's condition worfe and more desperate For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved 2. But it might be presently objected That if this were God's Intention the World would not have receiv'd so little Benefit by it but according to the Terms of Salvation proposed by the Gospel so few will have advantage by it therefore the Evangelist adds that if Men did perish they must thank themselves for it For this is the Condemnation that light is come into the World and Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil v. 19. So that there are two things which deserve our Consideration I. The wonderfull Condescension and gracious Intention of God in sending his Son into the World II. The true Reason why so many miscarry as to their Salvation notwithstanding viz. their own Wickedness and Folly 1. The former of these is that which upon this Day we have particular Reason to take notice of not in a slight superficial Manner as though an Annual Commemoration of it were all that God expected from us but our Minds and Souls ought to be possessed with a deep and humble Sense of so great so undeserved so astonishing a Condescension of God to Mankind And the more we think and consider of it the more amazing and surprizing it must appear to us For when the Psalmist thought but of God's Providence towards Mankind he could not but break out into that Expression Lord what is Man that thou art mindfull of him and the Son of Man that thou so regardest him What is Man indeed a Mass of Vanity and Disorder weak in his Judgment wilfull in his Passions uncertain in his best Resolutions violent in his worst Inclinations strangely bent upon what tends to his Ruine and hardly brought to understand and pursue his truest Interest What is such a Creature as this that a God infinitely Wise and Powerfull far above our Thoughts as well as our Services should concern himself about the low and trifling Affairs of Mankind But such is the Goodness and Condescension of God that he humbles himself so far as not only to behold but to govern the things that are done upon Earth But what is Man that he should visit him Not with the meer common Demonstrations of his Kindness which he affords to other Creatures but that when Mankind had so far degenerated and fallen off from God by their Sins that they deserved to be for ever cast off and forgotten by him that then God should visit him by sending his Son into the World that the World through him might be saved this is so far above our Imaginations as well as Deserts that it seems to be the most colourable Pretence for Infidelity that it is too great a thing for Mankind to believe But I am sensible that in this sceptical and unbelieving Age there is such a Humour of caviling against Matters of Revelation especially this fundamental Article of it that it would seem as if we were afraid to look their Objections in the Face if we take no notice of them and on the other side to insist too much upon them were to make them appear much more considerable than they are Therefore I shall pass over all the trifling and impertinent Talk of such Men which is not whispered in Corners but I am afraid is become a Matter of too common and publick Discourse and I shall single out that which seems to have the greatest Weight in it viz. Suppose God should have an Intention to offer Terms of Salvation to Mankind yet what need was there that the Son of God should come into the World for that End Had not God easier Methods of doing it than by the Incarnation and Crucifixion of his Son Is it not more credible that God should forgive Sins without any Atonement than that he should send his Son to be a Sacrifice of Propitiation to himself Is it not enough for us to believe all the Principles of Natural Religion to be true for we own a God and Providence and a Life to come and Rewards and Punishments of Mankind according to the Nature of their Actions but why should our Faith be cramp'd by such incredible Mysteries as these concerning the Son of God's coming into the World in such a Manner as the Evangelists describe it This is so far from being a kindness to the World that it makes the Condition of Salvation so much harder if we must believe things which seem so impossible to us and so hard to be reconciled to the Natural Principles of Reason and Religion I shall not dispute it with such Men whether these late Pretenders to Natural Religion have at the bottom any real Kindness for the Principles of it or not I am willing to hope the best and that it is a meer Dissatisfaction in them as to our revealed Religion and that this pretended Zeal for Natural Religion is little more than a meer Sham and Disguise to avoid a more odious Imputation But let it be as great and real as they pretend what I at present undertake is to make it appear That none who do embrace the Principles of Natural Religion can have any Reason to reject the Christian even as to this Article of God's sending his Son into the World which they seem most to stumble at I shall not go about to shew how the Christian Religion not only supposes but improves refines establishes and enforces the most noted and allowed Principles of Natural Religion as to the Being of God and Providence the most agreeable way of Worship the Nature and Kinds of Moral Duties the Rewards and Punishments of another World since no one of common Sense can deny that the Christian Religion is very exact and particular in these things above any other Institution in the World And therefore I cannot but in passing take notice that I do not remember any one Institution in the World with respect to Religion except that which we have by Revelation which hath not some notorious Blunders in it as to the Principles of Natural Religion and Vertue and therefore they have far less
Assistance to sincere and humble Minds And that Assistance carries a Lumen Fidei into the Mind as Aquinas calls it 2. 2. a 3 ad 2. and by that he saith the Mind is united to Truth that its Assent is only fixed upon it and therefore there is no danger of Damnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and are thus illuminated by Faith in him Not that this is an Argument to convince others who have not that inward Sense which they have but the same Holy Spirit which did at first indite them may give such an inward and effectual Testimony as to the Truth of the Matter contained in them that from thence they may firmly conclude these Books to contain the Word of God And that Assurance which the Minds of good Men have from the Influence of Divine Grace may be more effectual and powerfull in them than all the pretended Infallibility or Demonstration in the World It is certain those cannot be deceived whom the Holy Spirit teacheth and the best and wisest of the Antient Schoolmen did make the great firmness and certainty of Faith not to depend on outward Motives but on inward Grace which so inlightned the Mind and fixed the Inclinations of the Soul that nothing is able to remove it This sort of Faith is no blind Assent but after all the Evidence which it hath to make its Assent reasonable it takes so fast a hold of Divine Truths by discerning the excellency and value of them that he that hath it is willing to let go any thing rather than that and although the Apprehension of Faith be not so clear as that of Science yet the Hypostasis as the Apostle calls it may be so firm that no Temptations may be able to shake it And he that can die for his Religion hath a stronger and better Fâ—ith than he that thinks himself never so infallible in the Grounds of it That is a true Divine Faith which purifies the Heart and thereby enlightens the Mind which works by Love and not by cavilling and wrangling about the Grounds of it which overcomes the World and not that which is overcome by the Temptations of it And such a Faith and only such a one will carry us to Heaven when if it were possible for us to have the utmost Infallibility in the Act of believing yet if it did not work effectually on our Hearts and Lives we might go infallibly to Hell And so I shall conclude this Discourse with the second Sense of the Obligation which lies on those who have received Christ Jesus the Lord so to walk in him i. e. to improve their sound Faith into the Practice of a good Life For alas What advantage will it be to us to have the most Primitive and Apostolical Faith if our Works be not answerable to it Why call ye me Lord Lord saith Christ and do not the things which I say Why do we pretend to receive Christ Jesus the Lord if we do not observe his Commands It is good saith St. Paul to be zealously affected always in a good thing And no doubt our Faith is such but then let us be zealous of good Works too that we may shew our selves to be that peculiar People who are redeemed by Jesus Christ. So that our Obligation arises every way from Christ Jesus the Lord to walk in him if we consider him as our Lord so we are to obey him if as Christ Jesus so he died for us to redeem us from all iniquity We can have no pretence to live in our sins if we have received him who commands us to forsake them for then we receive and reject him at the same time Let every one that names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity saith St. Paul what should those then do that profess to receive him as their Lord who are thereby bound to yield obedience to his Laws one of the great causes of the Degeneracy of the Heathen World was the separating Religion and Morality when this was left to the Schools of Philosophers to instruct men in whereas their Religion consisted only of some Solemn Rites and Sacrifices Let us have a care of as dangerous a Separation between Faith and Works or which is all one between receiving Christ and doing his Will For those are the proper Works of the Gospel wherein we own Christ as our Lord and do them because he commands us And the Apostle hath summ'd up the whole Duty of Christians in those comprehensive words Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. To whom c. SERMON III. Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL February the 22 d 1688 9. 1 Pet. IV. 18. And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear THis Epistle was written by S. Peter for the Incouragement of Christians under all their Sufferings but these Words seem to carry so much Terrour and Severity in them as though none but Martyrs and Confessors could have any Reason to hope for Salvation and all others were to be left in Despair Although Mankind be not easily satisfied concerning the Punishment denounced against the Ungodly and Sinner yet the Justice of God the Equity of his Commands the Freedom of their Choice the Contempt of Grace and their wilfull and obstinate Impenitency take away all just Cause of Complaint But that the Righteous should scarcely be saved seems hardly reconcilable with the Grace and Design and Promises of the Gospel For the Righteous here are not vain proud self-conceited Hypocrites such who think they need no Repentance but such who by the Grace of God were brought off from their former Sins and were redeemed from their vain Conversation with the precious Blood of Christ who had purified their Souls in obeying the Truth through the Spirit Who were a chosen Generation a royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People yet of such as these it is said if the Righteous scarcely be saved But how can this agree with the infinite Goodness and Mercy of God declared in the Gospel whereby Sinners are courted and encouraged to repent with the Hopes and Promise of Salvation Did not Christ come to save Sinners and St. Paul call this a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation and yet after all shall the Righteous scarcely be saved What Joy in Heaven can there be over one Sinner that repents if after his Repentance it be so hard to come to Heaven Doth not Christ himself invite those who are weary and heavy laden to come to him with a Promise that he will give rest to their Souls But what Rest can they have who notwithstanding their coming to him do with so much difficulty attain to Eternal Rest How can that
Reason to quarrel with Christianity than any other Religion if their quarrel were not really against all as I fear it is Let them look abroad over the Unchristian World and they will find such foolish Notions such vain Superstitions such incoherent Fables such immoral Practices allowed by their several Religions as would make a considering Man wonder how the Notion of Religion could be so debased among Men. Let them look backward upon the Passages of elder Times and they shall find either they set up false Gods with the true or the false Worship of the true God or a Worship disagreeable to the Divine Nature by mean Representations or uncouth Sacrifices or impure Rites or else there were some horrible Flaws as to the common Principles of Morality as to conjugal Society or the Rights of Property or the due Regard to the Preservation of Mankind or they give such a pitifull Representation of the Rewards and Punishments of another Life as if they had a Mind to have them look'd on as Fables or despised as unworthy our regarding them above the present Pleasures of Life But I dare challenge the most cavilling Sceptick to find any just Fault with the Duties of Christianity for the Worship of God required therein is pure holy spiritual very agreeable to the Divine Nature and the common Reason of Mankind The Moral Precepts of it are clear weighty and comprehensive And those who have delivered them to us neither commend any Vice nor sink the Reputation of any Vertue they never lessen our Duties to God or to one another all the just Complaint is that the Precepts are too strict and severe too good and too hard for Mankind to practise them But is this an Objection against our Religion or against Mankind If they think that let our Religion require what it will the generality of the World will still live and act like Brutes and go against all Reason and Religion how can we help it But we hope the blame is not to be laid on Reason or Religion that so great a part of Mankind are either Fools or Mad-men i. e. either want Sense to understand their Duty or are resolved not to practise it Especially considering that the Rewards and Punishments of another Life are set forth in the Gospel with that Clearness that Force that Authority that if any thing of that Nature would work upon Mankind these must But all these things I pass over and come to that which I proposed as my chief Design which is to prove That none who truly believe the Principles of Natural Religion can have any Reason to reject this fundamental Article of it as to God's sending his Son into the World And that upon two Accounts I. That the Principles of Natural Religion make this Design appear very credible or fit to be believed by Men of Sense and Understanding II. That the Principles on which this fundamental Article of our Revealed Religion stands afford sufficient Evidence to prove it true and therefore that we are bound to believe it As to the former the Grounds or Principles which I go upon are these I. That the great End of Christ's coming into the World viz. the Salvation of Mankind is most agreeable to the infinite Wisdom and Goodness of God No one who believes a God can deny him to be of infinite Wisdom and Goodness for the very same Reasons which move Men to believe a God do convince them that he must be of infinite Wisdom and Goodness seeing the strongest Evidences to prove his Being are from the Instances of them in the World These being then supposed as essential and inseparable Attributes of the Divine Nature we are to consider what End with respect to Mankind is most agreeable to these to carry on and we must suppose Mankind to be made up of Soul and Body which are capable of Pleasures and Satiâ—faction both in this World and another But our Souls are of an immortal Nature that will subsist in Happiness or Misery after this Life otherwise the Rewards and Punishments of another World signifie nothing the Question then is if it can be made a Question Whether it be more agreeable to the infinite Goodness and Wisdom of God to provide for the Well-being of Mankind in such a low and gloomy Region as this Earth is or to advance them into a far better Place and better Company and more Noble and Divine Delights and those not depending on a fading drooping dying Life but on the perpetual Enjoyment of a complete Happiness both of Soul and Body No one that ever dares to think or consider of these things can believe there is any Comparison between them so that the Salvation tendred by the Gospel is the most agreeable End which the Wisdom and Goodness of God could carry on for the Benefit of Mankind But why should Mankind flatter themselves with the Hopes or Expectation of a Happiness so far above what they can pretend to deserve There were some Grounds for such an Objection as this if we supposed the Rewards of another Life to come from any other Fountain than the infinite Goodness of God towards those who sincerely love him and endeavour to please him although with many Failings and Imperfections But this is the only Hypothesis which we maintain to be the Christian Doctrine And what is there in it which is repugnant to the Wisdom and Goodness of God What was it but infinite Goodness which gave a Being to the World at first and hath preserved it ever since and made it so usefull and beneficial to Mankind What is it but infinite Goodness that suffers us to live and enjoy so may Comforts of Life after so many great and continual Provocations If we were to argue from our Deserts it were impossible for us to justifie the wonderfull Patience and Long-suffering of God towards the sinfull Race of Mankind for we are certain that they have long since deserved to be cut off from the Face of the Earth If we consider the Justice and Holiness of God whereby he is daily provoked to punish Offenders and the Power he hath to execute his Justice in a Moment without any opposite Power to controll or resist him we have Reason to be astonished at the wonderfull Patience and Forbearance of God of which we every day see so large Experience But this is not all he doth not only suffer them to live but often makes their Condition easie and prosperous as to this World having Health Riches and Honour and the Hopes of their Posterity enjoying the same things after them Now these to such who do not believe or value another Life are the greatest things God can do to their Satisfaction But if they can allow so much Goodness in God towards those who continually offend him why should they question greater Instances of it towards those that endeavour to please him I do not mean as to this World but as to another which they value
be said to be an easie yoke and a light burthen which is of it self so hard to be born and the Reward which is to make it easie so hard to be attained If it be said that this Expression that the Righteous are scarcely saved is to be understood of some Sufferings and Persecutions which the Christians were then to undergo and it was very hard for any though never so righteous to escape and that to this v. 17. referrs I answer That this doth not clear the Difficulty For from whence doth this Necessity of Suffering arise Is it not enough to repent and forsake our Sins but we must undergo some Punishment for them in this Life although God remits that of the World to come But how is this consistent with the Fulness of Christ's Satisfaction and the Freeness of God's Remission of Sins And if God's Justice be satisfied and the Sins be forgiven what need can there be that Persons must here suffer for their Sins before they can come to Heaven So that for the clearing this Subject these things must be spoken to I. In what Sense the Righteous are said to be scarcely saved II. How this is consistent with the Grace of the Gospel III. What incouragement there is for us to hope for Salvation when the Righteous are said to be scarcely saved I. In what Sense the Righteous are said to be scarcely saved That may be understood Two ways 1. With respect to accidental Difficulties arising from the particular Circumstances of Times and Seasons 2. With respect to the General Terms of Salvation which are common to all Persons and Times 1. With respect to accidental Difficulties arising from the particular Circumstances of Times and Persons For the Difficulties of Religion are not alike in all Times nor to all Persons for they are not like a Geometrical Measure which is always exactly the same but rather like a Voyage at Sea which is to be managed by the same Compass and to the same Port but it sometimes proves calm and pleasant and at other Times stormy and tempestuous Which chiefly happens when a Religion appears New or goes about to reform the Old for then it is sure to meet with all the Opposition which the Passions and Interests and Prejudices of partial Men can raise against it It 's true he that stills the Raging of the Sea and the Madness of the People can when he pleases calm the most violent Passions of Mankind and make way for the Reception of Truth in their Minds but he thinks fit by such means to try and discover what is in Men. Who never shew their Passions more violently and unreasonably than when they are mask'd under a Pretence of Zeal against Heresie and Innovation For that blinds their Understandings corrupts their Wills inflames their Passions hardens their Hearts and shuts up all Bowels of Pity and Compassion towards Brethren Thus it was among the Jews towards the Christians both in Judoea and in the several Places of their Dispersion For they looked on them as Apostates and Hereticks and treated them not only with the utmost Scorn and Contempt but with all the Fury and Rage imaginable and where their own Power fell short they called in the Assistance of the Roman Governours representing the Christians to them as an Upstart and pernicious Sect seditious and turbulent and therefore ought by all means to be supprest By such Insinuations the poor Christians in the Eastern Provinces of the Jewish Dispersion were miserably harassed and proceeded against as Malefactours Thus it was at that time when St. Peter wrote his Epistle to the Jewish Christians who were scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia where there were abundance of Jews and many Converts but very hardly used among them St. Peter having been imployed much among them the Apostleship of the Circumcision being committed to him and being withdrawn into the Kingdom of Parthia where he had planted a Church at Babylon not so desolate at that time as not to be sufficient for such a Number as appears by Strabo and Josephus from thence he writes this excellent Epistle for the Advice and Comfort of the suffering Christians He adviseth them to behave themselves with great Prudence and Care of their Actions to give no Advantage against themselves by doing any ill things and then if it pleased God to call them out to suffer they ought not to murmur or complain or mistrust his Gracious Providence towards them but commit themselves to God in well doing as unto a faithfull Creatour And if they did think it hard for them to suffer these things they ought to consider there was a wise Directour of them above who had before hand appointed such a Series of Events that although their Enemies rejoyced to see them suffer in the first Place yet their Turn would come not long after and then these Enemies of the Gospel would feel the Severity of God's Wrath and Displeasure against them Which is the meaning of the foregoing Verse For the time is come that Judgment must begin at the House of God and if it first begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God i. e. Christ hath foretold Desolation and Ruine to come upon the Jewish Nation for rejecting him when he came to save them but he withall saith that before these things they shall lay their hands on you and perfecute you delivering you up to the Synagogues and into Prisons being brought before Kings and Rulers for my Name 's sake Which implies a severe Persecution of the Christian Church begun by the Jews but carried on by the Governours of Kingdoms and Provinces And therefore saith the Apostle although the time be now come that Judgment begins â—t the House of God yet it will not end there but that which is only a Cup of Trembling and Astonishment to them shall be a Cup of Fury and Destruction to the obstinate and impenitent Jews The cafe was hard to the poor Christians but it would be much more severe towards their cruel Persecutours for if the Righteous whom God loves meet with such sharp usage by his Permission for a time the day will come when God will avenge the Cause of his suffering People and make their ungodly and perfidious Enemies feel the smart of his displeasure in such manner that they shall not know where to hide themselves Where shall the sinner and ungodly appear But that which I observe from hence is that there are some accidental Circumstances which depend on Divine Providence which may make the condition of some Men as to Salvation much more difficult than that of others For it is no such easie matter to go through many Tribulations into the Kingdom of God i. e. to be content to be contemned and reproached as the worst of Men to be torn from Friends and Relations and all the Comforts of Life to be cast
they have not the Heart and Courage to examine them whether they be reasonable or not but rather choose to return to their former Opiates than undergo the trouble of an effectual Cure by a hearty Repentance and coming to themselves as the prodigal Son in the Parable did when his Hardship had brought him to Consideration We do not know what had become of him if he had been wise and frugal in his Pleasures if he had taken care of a good Stock and a plentifull Subsistence but he first came to be pinched with want before he was awakened to repent But we have in Scripture a more remarkable Instance of the stupifying Nature of sensual Pleasures and that was in David after his Sins of Adultery and Murther It is a wonder how a Man of such a tender Conscience in other things should continue so long under the Guilt of these Enormities without being awakened to Repentance Did he not know these to be great Sins And did not his Conscience charge him with the Guilt of them How came he then to need a Prophet to be sent to him and to deal so plainly with him as to tell him Thou art the Man But this is a plain Evidence how much the Pleasures of Sin are apt to stupifie Men's Consciences so far that unless God by his Grace be pleased to awaken them thoroughly they never come to a sincere and hearty Repentance David saw nothing more as to the Guilt of his Sins when he penn'd his 51st Psalm than his own Reason and Natural Conscience might inform him before but he had quite another Sense of his Sins then his Heart was broken and his Soul wounded under the Apprehension of God's Displeasure and this makes him pray so earnestly and so importunately to God for the Pardon of his Sins And if it were thus in the case of a Man otherwise after God's own heart i. e. afraid of offending him and carefull to please him what may we imagine it to be in those who in the time of Youth walk in the way of their hearts and in the sight of their eyes i. e. allowing themselves in all sensual Inclinations and pursuing carnal Delights so far till they have lost all Sense of God and another World and such as these nothing but the powerfull Influences of Divine Grace can awaken and recover 3. The third Reason is A General Presumption upon God's Mercy The first thing which Sinners in the Heat of their Youth and Pursuit of their Lusts aim at is to think as little as may be of what they are doing or what will be the Consequence of their Actions For every thought of themselves is very uneasie to them and every thought of God is much more so therefore they drive away all such Thoughts by one Means or other by Sleep Diversion Company and such publick Entertainments as rather heighten and inflame their Vices than correct them If all this will not do but there will be some melancholy Hours wherein Conscience begins to rouze it self and to awaken the Sinner to some Sense of his Folly then he is ready to hearken with Pleasure to any Raileries against Religion and Morality and admires the Wit of any one who dares say a bold and sharp thing against the Wisdom of all Ages and of the best Men in them And one or two such Sayings without Proof are cried up as far beyond the best Rules of Morality or the Evidence of natural and revealed Religion Any Sceptical Disputes are sufficient Demonstrations to them and the most unreasonable Cavils against Religion are embraced because against the thing they hate and even a Jest against the Day of Judgment shall signifie more with them than the strongest Arguments in the World to prove it The true Reason is they love their Vices and hate every thing which makes them uneasie to them and nothing doth more so than the thoughts of a Judgment to come But suppose after all the terrible and frequent Expressions of Scripture concerning the Day of Judgment joyned with the Reasonableness of the thing do make such Impression on their Minds that they cannot wholly shake off the Fears and Apprehensions of it then their last Endeavour is to mitigate and lessen them from a General Presumption of God's Mercifull Nature and therefore they are willing to suppose that however God to keep the World in awe hath threatned them with the dreadfull Severities of the Great Day yet as a tender Father who threatens his disobedient Son in order to reclaim him with no less than disinheriting him for ever yet when it comes to Execution he may relent not from his Son's Deserts but his own Compassion so they hope or believe or are willing to do so that God at the Great Day will not proceed according to the Rigour which he hath threatned to use And to comfort themselves in these hopes they find out all possible Extenuations of their Sins If we say they had been created purely intellectual Beings free from this load of Flesh and the Inclinations which are natural to it then it had been more reasonable to have called us to a strict Account for every Action of our Lives for then every Inclination to Evil must have come from our Minds but now our Bodies corrupt and draw them aside and the Inclinations to Evil grow faster than our Reason which should check and restrain them And when those Inclinations are strongest Men have not that Judgment which is necessary to the Government of unruly Passions So that the very Frame of humane Nature seems to plead for Sins committed in the Heat and Violence of Youth Besides such is the Strictness and Purity of the Law of God and so great the Weakness and Disability the Ignorance and Inadvertency of Mankind that if God will make no Allowance for humane Frailty who can stand before his Tribunal And if any Allowance be made for Sins of Infirmity there are so many Abatements to be made for Sins committed through sudden Passion through Mistake through the unavoidable Impotency of humane Nature in this degenerate Condition that the Severity of that Day is not much to be feared This is the utmost of the Sinner's Plea against the Severity of the Day of Judgment But to shew how faulty it is I shall offer these Considerations 1. That God will certainly Judge the World in Righteousness and therefore none shall have Cause to complain of the Harshness or Severity of his Proceedings For this Righteousness is not the Rigour of Justice but that Equity which hath a Regard to the Circumstances of Actions and the Abatement and Extenuation of Faults which arise from them 2. None shall suffer at that Day but for their wilfull Impenitency and obstinate Continuance in Sin For this is not only agreeable to the Mercifull Nature of God to forgive repenting Sinners but it is one of the great Designs of the Gospel to assure Mankind of it by the
Magnanimity requires in general 2. Shew the particular Measures of it according to Christianity 3. Consider the Possibility of attaining of it and the Means in order to it 1. As to Magnanimity in general It is not so much any one Vertue as a Result from several put together and especially these 1. Integrity of Mind Which implies these things 1. A Freedom from any mean and sinister Ends in what we do Aristotle who considered the Nature of Moral Vertues as well as any Man saith there can be no Magnanimity without Simplicity and Truth And Cicero saith Men of Courage and Magnanimity are Men of Simplicity and Truth and not given to Tricks It is the Sense of its own Weakness which disposes any living Creature to craft and cunning The Lion knows his own strength and despises it the Fox is sensible he hath not strength enough for his own Security and therefore tries all other ways to compass his End A Spirit of Magnanimity is above all little Arts and Shifts which tend only to some mean and pitifull End not worthy to be regarded Men of Artifice and Design may think it Weakness and Folly but it is really a Greatness of Mind which makes a good and wise Man despise such things as unbecoming that true Greatness which lies in a generous Integrity which cunning Men can no more reach to even when they affect it than an Actor upon a Stage can the true Greatness of a Prince 2. Sincere and unaffected Goodness Which is that which Aristotle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and makes absolutely necessary to Magnanimity The first thing in the Character of a good Man among the Moralists is that he be inwardly so not taking upon him the Appearance and Shew of Vertue for the sake of others but forming his Mind and Temper according to the Principles and Rules of it And when he hath done this the whole Course of his Actions will be agreeable thereto he will not only be just and temperate but kind and obliging ready to do good to all according to his Circumstances and behaving himself under all as becomes a good Man 2. There must not only be Integrity but Courage and Resolution without which in difficult times it is impossible to maintain Integrity I do not by this mean any sudden and violent Heats which rather shew the greatness of the Passions than of the Mind but a calm and sedate Courage which exceeds the other as a Man of true Valour doth one that is rash and fool-hardy The latter may do bolder things than the other but none of the Moralists allow it to be true Fortitude for that must be guided by Reason and Discretion The bold and daring Man never considers what he doth but he is carried on by a sudden and violent Impetus or such an agitation of Spirits that suffer him not to think but on he goes and if he meets with Sâ—ccess it is more owing to his Passion and Heat than to his Wisdom or Courage Violent and furious Heats although under a Pretence of Zeal for Religion are like the furious On-sets of undisciplined Soldiers which do more mischief by their want of Order than they do good by unseasonable Courage True Courage must be a Regular thing it must have not only a good End but a wise Choice of Means and then the Courage lies in the vigorous Pursuit of it not being disheartned by difficulties nor giving over through despondency and disappointments 3. There must be an Indifferency of Mind as to the Event of doing our Duty Not a perfect Indifferency which humane Nature is hardly capable of but such as keeps a Man's mind firm and constant so as not to be moved from the Dictates of a well-satisfied Conscience by the Motives of this World It was a remarkable Saying of Socrates which Antoninus takes notice of That man saith he is of no value who regards any thing so much as doing his Duty It is not whether a Man lives or dies but whether what he doth bejust or unjust whether it becomes a good Man to do it or not which he is to look after If thou canst not find any thing in life saith that excellent Emperour himself better than Justice and Truth a sound Mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word here used and a discreet Courage then make this thy great business and apply thy self to it with all thy heart Let neither popular Applause nor Power nor Riches nor sensual Pleasure draw thee off from it Choose that which is best and pursue it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with simplicity of Mind and the free Inclination of thy Will But the Roman Orator goes beyond them when he saith That Nothing argues so mean and narrow a Mind as the Love of Riches nothing savours more of a great Mind than to contemn them and if Men enjoy them to bestow them in Beneficence and Liberality And again To value Justice and Honesty and Kindness and Liberality above Pleasure and Riches and Life it self and the common good above ones private Interest argues a truly great Mind and is most agreeable to humane Nature These things I have mention'd not only to clear the Nature of Magnanimity but to shew what generous Notions these Heathens had concerning the Practise of Vertue and Integrity even when it was accompanied with Losses and Hardships for the sake of it and what a mean Esteem they had in Comparison of that great Idol which the World still worships i. e. Riches 2. I now come to shew the true Measures of Magnanimity according to the Christian Doctrine And that consists in two things 1. In studying to please God above all things 2. In choosing rather to suffer than displease him 1. In studying to please God above all things Aristotle hath observed that Magnanimity hath a particular Respect to Honour The Question then is whether it relates to what gets Esteem and Honour among Men or to that Honour which comes from God It 's â—â—ue the Heathen Moralists knew very little of this although Aristotle once mentions the Kindness which God hath for Persons of the most excellent and vertuous Minds as being nearest of Kindred to the Gods But this was not settled as a Principle among them but it is the Foundation of all true Religion with us that our main Care ought to be to please God and to value other things as they are most pleasing to him The most refined Atheists of this Age confess that the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles is very Pious and Vertuous although they look on them as deceived in their Imaginations We take what they grant viz. that the Morals of Christianity are very good but we say that it is a heightning and improving of Moral Vertues to make them Divine Graces and not to practise them meerly as agreeable to Reason but as pleasing to God Those who allow a God who is wise and powerfull do
said he doubted he could not Why then said the Philosopher smiling are not you ashamed to be guilty of so much Folly as to be so exceedingly cast down under such a Calamity as though you were the only Person in the World that underwent it This was agreeable enough to his Humour in exposing the Folly of Mankind which was a Subject large enough for his whole Life but he was too pleasant upon it I do not deny but the Moralists did find out some very usefull Considerations to bear Men up under the common Accidents of Life but those of greatest Moment were such as are much improved by Christianity viz. the Wisdom of Providence the Usefulness of Trials the Benefit of Patience and the Expectation of a better State 2. As to voluntary and chosen Sufferings We have in Scripture several extraordinary Instances of this kind of Magnanimity such as Abraham's leaving his Kindred and Country and going he knew not whither on God's Command and his readiness to sacrifice his Son which argued an entire Sacrifice of himself to the Will of God Such was Moses his choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Pharaob's Court Such was the Son of God's choosing to suffer for our sakes with admirable Resignation to the Divine Will and praying for his Persecutors under the greatest Agonies on the Cross. Such was the Apostle's Resolution and Courage when they rejoyced to be accounted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ when they were more than Conquerors in the midst of Persecutions And truly the Magnanimity of Suffering rather than Sinning was never so much shewn to the World as in the Case of the Primitive Christians There were some few Heroick Instances of Suffering for Truth among the Heathens but they were no more to be compared with the numerous Examples of the Primitive Church than the Miracles of the Vestal Virgins were with those of the Apostles It could not but amaze the common sort of Spectators of Rome who were wont to see the Gladiators who were either hired or condemned to that cruel Entertainment of others with their blood to behold a sort of grave and serious Persons expose themselves to so much Torment and Cruelty when so small a matter as burning a little Incense would set them free This was a new Spectacle to the World and it could not but put them upon thinking what strange sort of Philosophy this was which inspired ordinary Persons with such a Magnanimity in suffering They had never found those who pretended to Philosophy among them very fond of Suffering for the Doctrine they taught They rather liked the Example of Aristotle than Socrates who when the People of Athens were enraged against him withdrew to Chalcis and when he was upbraided with it made a witty Excuse that he had no mind the City of Athens should sin twice against Philosophy Whereas the Christians were so forward to suffer for their Doctrine that it was imputed as a Fault to them and it appears by Tertullian that some out-went the bounds of Christianity in offering themselves too freely to it This made such as Antoninus and others impute all their Sufferings to an invincible Obstinacy and a sort of Madness which possessed them which had been easily confuted if they would have had the Patience to have examin'd the Reasons and Grounds of their Religion as they did the peculiar Doctrines of the several Sects of Philosophers But this is not all which Christian Magnanimity doth imply for it is not only a Spirit of Power but of Love and of a sound Mind And so it hath II. A Respect to the Humours and Passions of Men. And truly there is such a Variety and uncertainty in them so much Folly and Mistake so much Prejudice and Peevishness in some so much Wilfulness and Stiffness in others so little Regard to the true Interests of Religion and Vertue under all the Pretences to it that those who sincerely desire to promote them had need of Magnanimity to bear them up against such Humours and Distempers of Men's minds Aristotle hath well observed that Magnanimity doth go beyond the Consideration of Dangers It makes a man more ready to do Kindnesses than to receive them and to forget Injuries I add and to forgive them for else it is rather want of Memory than Magnanimity It is well he adds one thing viz. that he that hath Magnanimity is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Contented within himself so he had need to be for he will find very little Satisfaction abroad especially in an Age when Sincerity is almost lost when Men have used themselves to so much Hypocrisie and Dissimulation with God and Man that they can zealously pretend to love what they would be glad to ruine and cry up Peace and Unity only to get an Opportunity to destroy them But still true Magnanimity keeps a Man's own mind at Ease and makes him to govern himself as the same Philosopher observes with due Temper and Moderation in all things Such a one is not only easie to himself but to all others as far as is consistent with his Duty For a mind truly great hath nothing of Bitterness or Sowerness Peevishness or Ill-will to the rest of mankind All malice and cruelty argue a mean and base Spirit The more noble and generous any Tempers are the more tender and compassionate they are the more ready to oblige the more easie to forgive the more willing to be reconciled But to be more particular there are two things implied in this Spirit of Love and of a sound Mind 1. The making all reasonable Allowances for the Infirmities of others It makes men to consider the Prejudices of Education the Variety and Weakness of most men's Judgments the Power of Perswasion the Biass of Parties and the Shame and Reâ—roach which Persons undergo that break off from them after they have been once ensnared by them On these Accounts it makes them rather pity than triumph over the Follies of mankind There are two things which a great mind doth most abhorr in Religion and are most directly contrary to a Spirit of Love and a sound Mind and these are Hypocrisie and Cruelty which make men false to God and Enemies to mankind These two often go together and although they are masked under a Pretence of Religion yet there are no two things more opposite to the true Spirit and Design of it St. John concludes that man to have no true Love to God who doth not love his Brother He that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen And we may argue the other way If a man doth not love God how can he love his Brother When the Love of God is the best Foundation for Charity and Kindness to our Brethren who were at first made after the Image of God and have it again renewed in them by the
some men and look on as wholly unconcerned They are extremely mistaken in the Temper of the Nation who think so But if Men will not be quiet when they have all they pretended to desire what can we expect but further Animosities will discourage our Friends animate our common Enemies and expose us all to Confusion if not to Ruine If Men loved this World less and another better they would be more quiet here and be more carefull to prepare for that better State If our Conversation were in Heaven as it ought to be with what Contempt should we look down upon the busie Designs the restless Cares the vain Hopes and the perplexing Fears of the greatest Part of Mankind Then we should have more Peace and Tranquillity in our Minds while we live and greater Satisfaction when we come to die For Integrity and Innocency will keep us most from giving disturbance to others and from finding any in our own Breasts Whoso hearkeneth unto Wisdom shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from the Fear of Evil. 2. We are assured that we are under the constant Care of Divine Providence The Tranquillity of our Minds in this World depends very much upon the Esteem we have of Providence and the Trust we repose in God What makes Children pass their time without solicitous thoughts about themselves but the Confidence they have in the Wisdom and Care of their Parents What makes Passengers lie down at rest in a Ship at Sea but because they trust to the Conduct of their Pilot We cannot alter the Methods of Providence by all our Solicitude God will govern the World by his own Measures and not by ours The Government is his the Duty of Submission is ours Let us not then be peevish and quarrelsome at what he doth but make the best Use of any extraordinary Instance of his Providence which seems to be intended for our Good unless we turn it another Way But it is not enough to be meerly contented with Providence but we ought to be active and usefull in our own Places to promote the common Interest and not to repine and murmur at what is necessary for the Support of it Let us not torment our selves with Fears of what may and what may not happen but let us commit our selves to God in well-doing as to our Creatour and Preserver SERMON VI. Preached at St. Laurence-Jewry April the 7 th 1691. 1 Timothy I. 15. This is a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief IF these Words were to be understood without any Restriction or Limitation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save sinners they would overthrow the great Design of the Gospel and make its excellent Precepts useless and ineffectual For to what purpose should Men be put upon the severe Practice of Repentance Mortification and a continued Course of a Holy Life if the meer being Sinners did sufficiently qualifie them for Salvation This indeed would be thought a Doctrine worthy of all Acceptation by the greatest Sinners but it could not be a faithfull saying being not agreeable either to the Nature of God or Revelation of his Will by Christ Jesus But St. Paul speaks of such Sinners as himself had been i. e. such as had been great Sinners but had truly and sincerely repented Of whom I am chief What then Must we look on him as the Standard and Measure of such Sinners whom Christ Jesus came to save What will then become of all those who have been Sinners of a higher Rank than ever he was It 's true in the Verses before the Text he sets out his Sins as a humble Penitent is wont to do with the worst Colours and deepest Aggravations Who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but yet he adds that he obtained Mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief How then is St. Paul the Chief of Sinners Are Sins of Ignorance and Mistake the greatest of Sins for which Christ died Is there no Expiation for any other by Jesus Christ What will become then of all such who sin against Knowledge and Conscience and not in Ignorance and Unbelief Can none of these hope for Mercy by Christ Jesus although they do truly repent But the Blood of Christ is said elsewhere to cleanse us from all Sin not while we continue in them but if we repent and forsake them And Jesus Christ is said to be a Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World And therefore this Expression of St. Paul notes his great Humility and deep Sense of his own Sins but doth not exclude others from the hopes of Pardon whose Sins have other Aggravations than his had For if we leave out the last words as peculiar to his Case yet the other contain in them a true Proposition and of the greatest Importance to Mankind This is a fà ithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save sinners This you may say is a matter out of all doubt among all such who hope for Salvation by Christ Jesus for all are agreed that one way or other we are to be saved by him But there is great Difficulty as to the Way of saving sinners by Christ Jesus whether by the Doctrine and Example of the Man Christ Jesus by the Power he attained through his Sufferings Or by the Eternal Son of God's assuming our Nature and suffering in our stead in order to the reconciling God to us and making a Propitiation for our Sins These are two very different Hypotheses or Notions of Christ's coming to save sinners and the former seems more easie to be understood and believed and the other seems to have insuperable Difficulties in point of Reason and to run our Religion into Mysteries which expose our Faith and make Christianity appear contemptible to Men of Sense and Understanding Is it not therefore much better to embrace such a Scheme of it as will have the least Objection against it that so Men of Reason may not be tempted to Infidelity and Men of Superstition may not under the Colour of Mysteries bring in the most absurd and unreasonable Doctrines These are plausible Insinuations and would be apt to prevail on considering Men's minds if they were to form and make a Religion that might be most accommodated to the Genius and Humour of the Age they live in And truly no Men by their own Authority can pretend to a Right to impose on others any Mysteries of Faith or any such things which are above their Capacity to understand But that is not our Case for we all profess to believe and receive Christianity as a Divine Revelation and God we say may require from us the belief of what we may not be able to comprehend especially if it relates to himself or such things which are consequent upon
be not something Negative viz. because great Absurdities would follow if we attributed any thing Corporeal to God for then he must be compounded of Parts and so he may be dissolved then he must be confined to a certain Place and not every-where present he cannot have the Power of acting and self-determining which a meer Body hath not For the clearest Notion we can have of Body is that it is made up of some things as parts of it which may be separated from each other and is confined to a certain Place and hath no Power to move or act from it self But some of these Men who cry down Mysteries and magnifie Reason to shew how slender their Pretences to Reason are have asserted a Corporeal God with Shaps and Figure It was indeed well thought of by those who would make a Man to be God to bring God down as near to Man as might be But how to reconcile the Notion of a Body with Infinite Perfections is a Mystery to me and far above my Comprehension But if it be no Mystery to such Men they must either deny God's Infinite Perfections or shew how a bodily Shape can be capable of them But some Men can confound Finite and Infinite Body and Spirit God and Man and yet are for no Mysteries whereas these things are farther from our Reach and Comprehension than any of those Doctrines which they find fault with But to proceed If we believe Prophecy we must believe God's fore-knowledge of future Events For how could they be foretold if he did not foreknow them And if he did fore-know those which he did foretell then it was either because those only were revealed to him which is inconsistent with the Divine Perfections or that he doth fore-know all other Events and only thought fitting to reveal these But how can they solve the Difficulties about Divine Prescience Is there no Mystery in this Nothing above their Comprehension What then made their great Master deny it as a thing above his Comprehension Because nothing can be fore-known but what hath a certain Cause and therefore if evil Actions be fore-told God must be the Cause of them and Men will not be free Agents in them And yet it is most certain that the Sufferings of Christ by the Wickedness of Men were foretold What then Must we make God the Author of Sin God forbid Will the righteous Judge of all the Earth punish Mankind for his own Acts which they could not avoid Then we must yield that there is something in the Manner of the Divine Prescience which is above our Comprehension And the most searching and inquisitive Men have been forc'd to yield it at last as to the Connection between the Certainty of Prescience and the Liberty of humane Actions Is it not then much better to sit down quietly at first adoring the Infiniteness of God's incomprehensible Perfections than after all the Huffings and Disputings of Men to say In ignorantiâ solâ quietem invenio as the great Schoolman did Surely then here is something plainly revealed and yet the Manner of it is still a Mystery to us I shall not now insist on any more of the particular Attributes of God but only in general I desire to know whether they believe them to be finite or infinite If to be finite then they must have certain Bounds and Limits which they cannot exceed and that must either be from the Imperfection of Nature or from a superiour Cause both which are repugnant to the very Being of God If they believe them to be Infinite how can they comprehend them We are strangely puzzled in plain ordinary finite things but it is madness to pretend to comprehend what is Infinite and yet if the Perfections of God be not Infinite they cannot belong to Him I shall only add in Consequence to this Assertion That if nothing is to be believed but what may be comprehended the very Being of God must be rejected too And therefore I desire all such who talk so warmly against any Mysteries in Religion to consider whose Work it is they are doing even theirs who under this Pretence go about to overthrow all Religion For say they Religion is a Mystery in its own Nature not this or that or the other Religion but they are all alike all is Mystery and that is but another Name for Fraud and Imposture What were the Heathen Mysteries but tricks of Priest-Craft and such are maintained and kept up in all kinds of Religion If therefore these Men who talk against Mysteries understand themselves they must in pursuance of their Principles reject one God as well as three Persons For as long as they believe an Infinite and Incomprehensible Being it is Nonsense to reject any other Doctrine which relates to an Infinite Being because it is Incomprehensible But yet these very Men who seem to pursue the Consequence of this Principle to the utmost must assert something more incomprehensible than the Being of God For I appeal to any Man of common Understanding whether it be not more agreeable to Reason to suppose Works of Skill Beauty and Order to be the Effects of a wise and intelligent Being than of blind Chance and unaccountable Necessity whether it be not more agreeable to the Sense of Mankind to suppose an Infinite and Eternal Mind endued with all possible Perfections to be the Maker of this visible World than that it should start out from it self without Contrivance without Order without Cause Certainly such Men have no Reason to find fault with the Mysteries of Religion because they are incomprehensible since there is nothing so absurd and incomprehensible as their darling Hypothesis And there is nothing which can make it prevail but to suppose Mankind to be as dull and insensible as the first Chaos Thus I have shewn that it is not unreasonable for God to require from us the Belief of something which we cannot comprehend 2. I now come to consider whether those who are so afraid of incomprehensible Mysteries in our Faith have made it so much more easie in the Way they have taken And notwithstanding all the Hectoring talk against Mysteries and things incomprehensible in Religion I find more insuperable Difficulties in Point of Reason in their Way than in ours As for Instance 1. It is a more reasonable thing to suppose something mysterious in the Eternal Son of God's being with the Father before the World was made by him as St. John expresses it in the beginning of his Gospel than in supposing that although John the Baptist were born six Months before Jesus Christ that yet Christ was in Dignity before him What a wonderfull Mystery is this Can Men have the Face to cry down Mysteries in deep Speculations and Matters of a high and abstruse Nature when they make such Mysteries of plain and easie things and suppose the Evangelist in profound Language and lofty Expressions to prove a thing which was never disputed viz.
relieving them in their Necessities and he proposes the best Example in the World for our imitation and that of God himself who maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust But none can suppose that the righteous and holy God can have the same Love or Kindness for the Evil which he hath for the Good or for the Unjust which he hath for the Just. So that this Precept which being misunderstood seems to be irreconcilable to human Nature contains in it nothing but what all Mankind approve in others as unwilling as they are to practise it themselves And now it is time to make a stand and to look about us for I have gone through our Saviour's Commands with respect to the things which are apt to provoke us And where are those Christians to be found who do what Christ hath said herein who do yet every day call him Lord Lord If Peevishness and Frowardness perpetual Uneasiness and Discontent If Rancor and Bitterness Strife and Envying Faction and Animosity if Impatience of apprehended Injuries and the making of Enemies instead of loving them were the Marks of good Christians we should find Number enough even among those who pretend to Reformation We profess to thank God for a late great Deliverance from the hands of our Enemies I mean as to our Religion and truly there appears more and more Reason for it since it is so much more evident that the Design was no less than a total Subversion of our Religion But what a sad Requital is this for so great Mercies to break out into Factions and Parties instead of pursuing the common Interest of our Religion Instead of laying aside Differences about Religion to increase them nay to make Religion it self not only the Subject of their Quarrels but of their Scorn and Contempt What can be said or hoped for as to such a froward unthankful atheistical Generation of Men Thanks be to God there are not wanting some extraordinary Examples of true Piety and Goodness among us and of Meekness Patience and Universal Charity and truly there needs a great deal to bear up against the daring and insolent Profaneness and Irreligion of others When I once see a true Spirit of Reformation prevail among us not meerly as to Doctrines but as to Mens Lives and Tempers when I see them more zealous for God and Religion than for the Interest of particular Parties when I see them really promoting Peace and Unity and not making a Pretence of it to serve private Ends I may then hope for a lasting Settlement of the true Religion among us But till then 2. I proceed to the second Head of our Saviour's Commands and that is as to such things which Tempt us S. James saith Every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own Lust and inticed Lust is the ungoverned Desire of Sensual Pleasure Now as to this Christ hath laid so strict a Command as seems very hard for humane Nature to observe For he not only forbids the Act of Adultery but the Tendencies to it viz. the Impurity of the inward Desires and of Looks and Glances and makes these to be Adultery in the Heart What is that For Adultery is an outward deliberate Act and hath Injustice as well as Uncleanness in it But Desires and Looks are sudden and transient things which may leave no permanent Effect behind them However our Saviour to shew how much God abhors Impurity who sees into the secret Thoughts and Intentions of the Heart declares that the unmortified Desires and inward Lusts are very displeasing to God and therefore that those who hope to see God must be Pure in Heart Which as it implies a sincere Endeavour to suppress all inward Motions which are contrary to it is both a reasonable and necessary Duty But the hardest part of Christ's Commands in this matter is that which requires us to pluck out our right eyes and to cut off right hands Must the blind and the lame only go to Heaven But he speaks of such sinsull Inclinations in us which seem as delightfull and usefull to us as to the Pleasures of Life as a right Eye or a right Hand yet we must part with them if we ever hope to get to Hâ—aven Not by any one single Act like the cutting off a Hand or plucking out an Eye but by a serious constant and sincere Endeavour to mortifie and subdue them And if this be thought hard the Consideration of future Happiness and Misery ought to reconcile us to it and surely it is reasonable we should part with something which is pleasant to us here for the sake of an infinitely greater Pleasure in another World since this is only a sensual Pleasure which cannot be pursued without disturbance of the Mind and can be enjoy'd but for a little time and the other is no less than Eternal Felicity of Soul and Body together 3. As to the things which Concern us as to our Condition in this World There is no Precept of Christ which seems more inconsistent with the Wisdom of this World than this doth For as that lies in taking great care for the future so our Saviour on the contrary seems to allow none at all Therefore I say unto you Take no thought for your Life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your Body what ye shall put on What doth our Saviour mean by this Would he have all Christians live like the young Ravens meerly upon Providence Or as the Lilies of the Field which grow and flourish and yet neither Toil nor Spin But Man is an intelligent Creature and apt to forecast and contrive things for his future advantage and God seems to have left things very much to his own Care and Providence and generally speaking Mens Condition in this World is according to it What then Doth our Saviour indulge Men in a careless easie unthinking Life Or require that his Disciples thoughts ought to be wholly taken up with matters of Religion Not if S. Paul knew his meaning for he saith Those who provide not for their own have denied the Faith and are worse than Infidels But this only seems to make the Difficulty greater Therefore to clear it we must attend to our Saviour's Scope and Design which was to perswade his Disciples to lay up their Treasure in Heaven to seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness in the first place and then represents this World and another as two opposite Interests so that one cannot serve two Masters which implies a Contradiction to each other So that what follows must be understood in such a Sense as is inconsistent with the main Duty of looking after Heaven as our Happiness and therefore ought not to be understood of a prudent necessary Care but of an anxious solicitous distrustfull Care which implies that we place our
believe no Life after this be compared with the Pains and Martyrdoms of those who have suffer'd for their Religion these will appear to be far more eligible than the other because the Mind hath far greater Satisfaction under them and a certain Expectation of an infinite Reward to follow upon them Whereas the other can have no Comfort in looking back on what they have done or forward in what they are to expect For they have destroy'd their own Happiness and hasten'd that upon themselves which they account their only Misery 2. As to the common Calamities of Life which none can prevent or avoid the spiritual Mind hath very much the Advantage of the carnal for the one â—ills them with inward Peace and Satisfaction of Mind which of all things carry Men best through the Troubles of Life being joyned with Patience Humility Self-denial and Submission to the Will of God which are all the genuine Effects of a spiritual Mind but a carnal Mind is froward and impatient uneasie to it self and to all about it and this makes every Pain and Trouble to be much greater than it would have been like the Ass in the Fable Which lay down in the Water with his Burthen of Wool and so made it heavier than before There were two things the philosophical Men of Pleasure sought to comfort themselves by under the unavoidable Troubles of Life which the spiritual Mind hath far greater Advantages than any of them had as to both of them and these are Reflection and Expectation 1. Reflection When Epicurus was in his last Agonies under the Stone what a miserable way was it for him to go about to comfort himself by reflecting upon his Atoms and his Maxims his imaginary Notion of the Happiness of Life consisting in Pleasure when his Life was so near being ended by excessive Pain But a good Man that hath sincerely endeavour'd to serve God in his Generation and to do all the good he could and to promote the Interests of Religion and Vertue in the World may in the Midst of many Failings and Infirmities look back with comfort on the Course of his former Life and by the Peace of a good Conscience may injoy inward Satisfaction under such Pains and Distempers which make Life uneasie and Death more welcome as it is a Passage to a far better State And that is the next thing 2. Expectation It was a sorrowfull Expectation which Epicurus supported himself with when he was in the Prospect of Death which was no more than that the subtle Atoms which made up his Soul would soon be scatter'd and dispersed he knew not where and then he should be as if he had never been But what Comfort is there in such a Dissolution Men that have deserved it may heartily wish it but they have deserved something worse and that they must expect For the just and holy God will certainly call them to an Account for all their Vices and Follies and it is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God and what a miserable Case are those in who have nothing to look for but Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall consume the Adversaries of God and Religion But O the blessed Hope and joyfull Expectation that attends a spiritual Mind Especially when it is enliven'd and assisted by the powerfull Influences of Divine Grace For without that even good Men may be liable to some Dejections and Fears as to another World from the Vastness of the Change the Sense of their Failings the Weakness of their Minds and Mistrust of their own Fitness for Heaven but so great is the Goodness and Mercy of God towards them that sincerely love and fear him that he always makes their Passage safe though it be not so triumphant And although the Valley of the Shadow of Death may seem gloomy and uncomfortable at a Distance yet when God is pleased to conduct his Servants through it he makes it a happy Passage into a State of a glorious Immortality and everlasting Life and Peace To which God c. SERMON IX Preached before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL ON Christmass-Day 1693. St. John III. 17. For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved THese words are part of the Gospel written by St. John wherein he doth not only fill up the History of our Saviour with many particular Discourses omitted by the other Evangelists but the whole seems to be penned in another Strain and with some different Purpose and Design It 's true that they all agree in the same general End of Writing which St. John mentions viz. That we might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing we might have life through his Name but they make use of several Methods as most agreeable to the Circumstances of the Time and Place and Occasion of their Writing St. Matthew wrote his Gospel for the sake of the Jews and therefore he begins with the Genealogy of Jesus Christ from Abraham and shews that the Prophecies were accomplished in him and how he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it and that his Miracles and Doctrine were sufficient to convince them that he was the promised Messias St. Mark wrote only a summary Account of the most material Passages relating to the Person and Doctrine of Christ for the sake of the Gentiles St. Luke takes a larger Compass and puts things into an exacter Order of Time as himself tells us and adds many Circumstances relating to the Birth of Christ and the general Advantage to Mankind by his coming that he was to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the Glory of his People Israel St. John succeeding the rest found two great things which gave him occasion of writing his Gospel 1. The perverting the Doctrine of Christ by the Ebionites and Cerinthians who pretended to give great Honour to Christ as an excellent Person both for Wisdom and Holiness but yet so that he was but a meer Man to whom God upon his Baptism had given extraordinary Gifts and Assistances of his Holy Spirit 2. The other was that the Gospel which was designed for the Universal good of the World met with such cold Reception and Entertainment from it He was in the World and the World was made by him and the World knew him not He came unto his own and his own received him not What could be more uneasie to so true a lover of Christ as St. John was than that he lived to see his Doctrine perverted and his Design in so great a Measure rendred ineffectual And therefore in the writing of this Gospel 1. He begins after another manner and in a very short significant and lofty Style he sets forth his Eternal Being and Godhead In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word
far before it for if they do not they have no Reason to expect any Happiness in it Why then should it be thought more unreasonable for God to bestow the Happiness of another Life on those who esteem and choose it than to give the good things of this Life to those who love and admire it I do not say the Wisdom is equal in the Choice but the Goodness of God is wonderfull in both Aâ—d there can be no imaginable Grounâ— to suspect that God should be really less kind to those who love him best It is a vain thing to talk of those being saved by Christ's coming into the World who do not heartily love God and keep his Commandments for the whole Design of the Gospel is to perswade us to one in order to the other and therefore it is not a well-grounded Hope but a fond Imagination for any to expect Salvation by Christ on any other Terms If we then take in the whole Hypothesis or true Scheme of Christianity together it is no other than that God sent his Son into the World that the World through him might be saved not by continuing in the sinfull Practices of this World which St. John calls the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life but by subduing and mortifying all disorderly Passions do prepare themselves for a better State Now if there be in our Minds a firm Perswasion of the infinite Goodness of God of which we are convinced by meer Natural Reason why should it be thought hard to believe that God should take care of so great and good an End as the Eternal Salvation of those who truly love and obey him II. The next Principle agreeable to Natural Reason and Religion is That no such thing as Salvation or Happiness in a future State can be expected without the particular Favour of God For all who do own Natural Religion must agree that the Soul of Man is an immortal thinking Being and therefore its Happiness must consist in such a sort of thinking as carries the greatest Pleasure and Satisfaction along with it Let us think with our selves what a Soul separate from the Body can do to make it self happy Here it was intangled corrupted and therefore apt to be deceived by the false Appearances of things which glide through the Senses and leave too lasting Impressions on the Mind and thereby it comes to mistake Shews for Substance and meer Colours for Realities But this is a Mistake so common and so fatal to Mankind that very few are throughly undeceived in this World for one way or other they are apt to flatter themselves with some pleasing Mistakes and delightfull Errors of Life But assoon as the Soul is dislodged from this cloudy Mansion in the Body all things will then appear not as by an uncertain Sky light in a dark Room but in an open and distinct View and then it will be impossible to be any longer deceived by false Representations of things What then can be conceived sufficient to entertain and please the Mind Will it be the Reflection on the past Pleasures of the Body No certainly for those cannot bear a severe Reflection now and the very thoughts of them make Men's minds very uneasie for the most tempting Pleasures of Sin leave no gratefull Relish behind them How then should the Mind bear up it self in another State when its Reflections must be far more constant and severe What then Can the Mind lay it self asleep and put it self into a State of unthinking That were all one as a kind of Self-annihilation if it be of a thinking Nature There is a State of unthinking in this World which is too common when the Mind is as it were overwhelmed and stifled with Feathers I mean is so taken up with trifling and vain Imaginations as hardly give way to one serious Thought But this is impossible in another State and therefore nothing but what will bear a most strict and severe Scrutiny can give any Support or Comfort to the Mind then It must be true and real good to create any Satisfaction it must be durable and lasting to keep it up it must be complete and perfect to answer all the just and reasonable Desires of an immortal Soul And what can this be less than God himself And therefore the Christian Religion speaks most agreeably to Natural Reason when it still supposes the Happiness of another World to consist in the Presence and Enjoyment of God For those must have all that is desirable who enjoy the Favour of him who commands all things and knows how to suit them to the greatest Advantage to those to whom he designs to shew his Favour And this Prospect of another State or of the Salvation of Mankind by Christ s coming into the World is that which lets us into another View of all that relates to the Son of God's coming into the World For if our Minds be possessed with great Apprehensions of the Power and Greatness of the World all that the Gospel represents as to the manner of God's sending his Son into the World his being born of an obscure Virgin being laid in the common Manger being bred up in a private Place having so mean Followers meeting with so cold a Reception from his own People and at last being exposed to an ignominious Death by them looks very reproachfull and contemptible But on the other side if we could raise our Minds to such Idea's of things here as the glorious Spirits above have and see how all things are esteemed by them according to the Ends and Purposes they are designed for we should then perceive how admirably all these things were fitted for his great End which was to wean Men's hearts from the Pomp and Vanities of this World and to prepare them for a better and we should then have quite another Opinion of these things For as there is a certain Greatness which is above all the formal Shews and affected Appearances of it so when a great and noble Design is to be carried on the true Measure of Decorum in that Case is that which is most serviceable to the principal End If a great Person had a Design to rescue some near Relations out of Slavery he would never go with a splendid Equipage and a long Train of Attendance which would but make his Person more gazed at and his Design less effectual If he had intended to have rescued them by force out of Captivity it had been necessary to have had Power and Strength proportionable to his Design but if it were only by Perswasion then he must accommodate himself to such Methods as were most likely to prevail The great End of the coming of Christ was to deliver the Souls of Men from a much worse Captivity viz. of their own sinfull Passions and the Devil's Tyranny by their means but he did not come in a way of Violence to break open the Prison-doors
such aggravating Circumstances as he hath done and now resolves in the Anguish of his Soul never more to return to the Practice of them This no doubt is far more pleasing to God than going on to offend still but all this is no more than a Man in justice to God and to himself is bound to do for he is bound to vindicate the Honour of God's Laws and to condemn himself for his own Folly and to return no more to the Practice of it But what amends is made by all this for the infinite Dishonour which hath been done to God and his Laws by the Violation of them The Courts of Justice among Men take no Notice of the Malefactor's Repentance however he be affected the Law must be observed and Offenders punished How then can any Persons be assured from meer Natural Reason that God will not be as tender of the Honour and Justice of his Laws as Mankind are allowed to be without any Imputation of Cruelty or Injustice If God should be exact in punishing Offenders who could complain For who can plead Not Guilty before his Maker And when a Man 's own Conscience condemns him that he hath deserved Punishment what Reason can he have from himself not to expect it And if he doth justly expect to be punished what reason can he have to hope for Forgiveness Since he knows that he deserves to be punished and therefore can never deserve to be forgiven It must be therefore a free Act of Grace and Mercy in God to forgive even penitent Sinners and upon what Terms and in what Manner he will do it depends wholly upon his own Good-will He may forgive Sins if he pleases and it is agreeable to his Natute to do it if Sinners do repent and forsake their Sins but whether God hath actually made known to us the way of Reconciliation cannot be known by any Principles of Nature because it is a Matter of Fact and must have such Proof as a thing of that Nature is capable of II. Having thus shewed how strongly the Principles of Natural Religion do make way for entertaining this Point of the Christian Doctrine as to God's sending his Son into the World in order to our Reconciliation with him and our Salvation by him it remains now to shew how justly God doth require the Belief of it from us as true for the next words tells us That he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God v. 18. This some may say is very hard Doctrine for they believe as much as they can and if they can believe no more it is no fault for no Man can be bound to believe more than he can I do not question but Nicodemus to whom these words are generally supposed to be spoken by our Saviour thought he had gone a great way when he used those words to Christ v. 2. Rabbi we know that thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these Miracles that thou dost except God be with him i. e. He was willing to believe him some great Prophet whom God had sent and this was a fair step for a Ruler among the Jews who were generally very unreasonable Unbelievers But Christ tells him plainly this would not do for unless he believed him to be the only begotten Son of God he could not be saved And this is the great Point That God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life v. 16. Not as though meer believing this were sufficient for this carries a great many other things along with it but that since God had sent his only begotten Son into the World upon such a Message he did expect that he should be received and entertained as such upon their utmost Peril But can we believe farther than we have Reason to believe No God doâ—h not expect it from us provided that with sincere and impartial Minds we set our selves to consider and weigh the Evidence and with great Humility beg the Assistance of Divine Grace without which God may justly leave us to our Unbelief It would be too large a Subject now to lay open the several Arguments to prove that it is as evident as a Matter of Fact can be made to us that God did send his Son that the World through him might be saved Therefore I shall only mention these two things 1. That if the Matters of Fact are true concerning the History of Christ's coming as related by the Evangelists there can be no Reason to doubt his being the Son of God For he that was the most exact Pattern of Humility and Self-denial not only frequently assumes this Title to himself and his most intimate Disciples affirm it of him but God himself gave the most ample and convincing Testimony to it by his miraculous Birth and a Voice from Heaven to that Purpose at his Baptism by a long Train and Series of publick and usefull Miracles to attest the Truth of his Doctrine by his Resurrection from the Dead and Ascension into Heaven and wonderfull Effusion of the Holy Ghost with the strange Effects which followed it so that no one who doth believe these things to be true can have any ground to say that he cannot believe Christ to be the Son of God 2. That if these Matters of Fact are not to be believed as true we cannot be bound to believe any thing but what we see our selves For the Distance of Time and Place are equal in this Case and no other Matters of Fact are so well attested as these are And so as the Apostle saith of Christ's Resurrection If he be not risen our Faith is vain so in this Case I say if there be not Reason to believe these things all Faith is vain For no other Matters of Fact which we should be accounted Fools for not believing have had such a sort of Testimony which these have had For these things were not conveyed by a silent Tradition for some time till the chief Parties were dead who could either prove or disprove them but they were publick and exposed to all Manner of Examination They were not deliver'd by one or two who were trusted with a Secret but openly avowed by a great Number of competent Witnesses who were present and none of them could be brought by the greatest Sufferings to deny or falsify or conceal any Part of their Evidence that when these things had been thus delivered by those who saw them who were most remarkable for their Innocency and Integrity in the next Ages they were examined and enquired into by Men of Sagacity and Learning who upon the strictest Search found no Reason to suspect their Testimony and therefore heartily embraced and defended the Christian Faith And from thence they have been conveyed down to us not by
parity of Reason some things are declared and enforced by the Gospel others left to our own Deductions and Inferences some things are made positive Commands for all Ages others are reported by way of Example but that Example understood by the Church to have the force of a Command now in all these and other like Cases we ought to have the greatest regard to plain positive moral and perpetual Commands but withall to have a due regard to consequential and usefull Duties especially where the Church of God hath always so understood them which is the best Interpreter of such doubtfull Cases where the Sense of it is truly delivered to us 3. As to the Obligation we are under and that is three-fold 1. That of Nature which is to act according to Reason and none can question that but those who question whether there be any such Principle as Reason in Mankind and whosoever do so have Reason to begin at home 2. Of Christianity which supposes and enforces that of Nature and superadds many other Duties which we are bound to perform as Christians 3. Of our several Relations and particular Imployments As to the former we are under great Obligations from God and Nature and Christianity to do the Duties which belong to us in them As to the latter they commonly require a stricter Obligation by Oath to do those things which otherwise we are not bound to do But being entered into it by a voluntary Act of our own we cannot omit such Duties without Sin but where the Circumstances of things do supersede the Obligation Thus I have gone through as clearly and distinctly as I could the most usefull Cases relating to Sins of Omission it remains now that I make some Application to our selves When we reflect on our Lives and Actions our Sins of Commission are apt to terrifie our Consciences and make us very apprehensive of the Wrath of God but how few are any ways concerned for their Sins of Omission viz. For not discharging the Duties of their Places for not doing the Good they might and ought to have done for not serving God with Diligence and exemplary Devotion for not having their Minds so fixed and intent upon him as they ought to have on their Creatour and Preserver and Redeemer In a very corrupt Age not to be remarkable for doing Evil is a kind of Saintship but how few are remarkable for doing Good And yet that is one of the best Characters of Saintship How much time is squandred away in Vanity and Folly And yet how is that grudged which is spent in the Worship of God O what a burthen it is to serve God and spend any time in Devotion How many Excuses and Pretences of Business will such make rather than attend upon religious Duties which themselves would judge very frivolous in other Matters And will God and Conscience be satisfied with such unequal Dealing such notorious Partiality Let us deal faithfully and sincerely with our selves Are we as ready to serve God as to serve our Lusts and Pleasures Have we the same regard to his Worship that we have to any thing we really love and esteem If not there must be something very much amiss in the Temper and Disposition of the Mind and we are highly concerned to look into it I do not speak now of casual and accidental Omissions of some particular Duties at some times but of a general Unconcernedness about Matters of Religion as though they were either too high in the Speculation or too mean and low in the Practice of them or at least that it is no great Matter one way or other whether they mind them or not This I am afraid is too much the Temper of the Age we live in which seems to be sinking into a strange Indifferency about Religion It is possible for Persons to have a Zeal against some corrupt Opinions and Practices in Religion and yet to have no true Zeal or Concernment for Religion it self For they may so much hate being imposed upon by false Pretenders that carry on an Interest and Faction under the Shew of Religion as from thence to suspect all Religion to be nothing else which is as unreasonable as for a Man to conclude that all Merchants and Jewellers are Cheats and that there are no such things nor can be as true Diamonds in the World because he hath fallen into the hands of such as would have cheated him with those which were counterfeit And it is common with such who design to deceive that what they want in Sincerity they make up with Confidence This is a good Argument for caution and looking about us but it is none at all for our indifferency about Matters of Religion For it is not here as in Jewels which are fine things to look upon but the Happiness of Life doth not depend upon them But would any one let alone things necessary to the Support of Life because Poison may be put into them We may take care to prevent it but we must have the Necessaries of Life and it would be great Folly to die for want of Sustenance for fear of being poysoned If we have no true Love to God and Religion we must perish for there is no hopes of Salvation without it And if we go on in a careless Indifferency about God and his Service If we do not do our Endeavours for suppressing Wickedness and Vice if we do not mind Religion our selves nor are incouraging it in others it will shew that we have not that Love of God and Religion which we ought to have Therefore if we regard the Honour of God our own Salvation the Duties of our Places the Interest of the Nation and the Satisfaction of all that are wise and good we must shake off all this Coldness and Indifferency about Religion and apply our selves heartily and sincerely to promote the great Ends of it which are to make Persons good in this World and happy in another Which God of his Mercy grant c. SERMON XI Preached at WHITE-HALL Before the Princess of Denmark February the 11th 1686 7 St. Matth. XXVI 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into Temptation the Spirit indeed is willing but the Flesh is weak THESE words were spoken by our Saviour to his Disciples at a critical time when they were just entring into Temptation but they were very little apprehensive of it and of their Inability to withstand it Like Jonas they were fallen asleep when the Storm was gathering about them and did not imagine they were so near being cast into a rough and tempestuous Sea It was but a little before Ver. 26. that Christ had entertained them at the proper Banquet of the Messias which the Jews speak so much of but not such a one as they fansied made up of the greatest Delicacies and Varieties of Meats and Drinks but at a Supper of his own appointing where ordinary Bread and Wine were made use of to set
never yet understood what the Government of his Passions meant 6. A sincere Endeavour to please God in the Duties of his Worship and Service For since God hath appointed such Duties no Man can pretend to depend upon him for his Happiness who is not sincerely willing to please him in doing what he hath appointed for his Service and that in such a manner as himself hath required Under the Law God was very punctual and particular in his Institutions and that as to all the Circumstances of them and then he expected to be obeyed according to his owâ— Appointments and added a severe Sanction to his Law Cursed is every one that continueth not in every thing written in the Law to do it And he required great Diligence and Care in the keeping all his Commandments so that then they could not be righteous over much with respect to the Law of God for all their Care was little enough to perform it Under the Gospel God that hath taken away the rigorous Dispensation and instead thereof he requires a reasonable Service which doth not only consist in the Acts of our Minds but in the most reasonable Duties of Religion in Prayers and Praises and Sacraments which ought to be performed by us with that Diligence and Devotion as requires our greatest Care and in that we cannot exceed 2. And this leads me to consider the Rules and Measures we are to go by in external and positive Duties There are three sorts of Measures to be observed 1. Of strict Obligation and that depends upon a clear and express Declaration of God's Will that it is a Duty incumbent on us to perform as Creatures or as Christians as Prayer for one and celebrating and receiving the Lords Supper for the other As to these such Rules of Conscience are to be observed 1. They must be done so as to be consistent with other Duties of Piety Charity Justice Regard to Health Families and Publick Good 2. They must be done so as to shew our Fear and our Love of God in the doing them i. e. So as not to live in an habitual Neglect of them nor to perform them so as if we had no regard to him that appointed them 2. There are other Measures of Zeal and Devotion which exceed the strict Obligation of Conscience I do not now speak of an accidental Obligation of Conscience by particular Engagements of Oaths or Promises or Vows but of what is Free and Chosen As to which these Rules may be observed 1. The more Persons are freed from Incumbrances of the World the more time they are to set apart for the Worship and Service of God 2. The more Love any have to God and Religion the more frequent they will be in the voluntary Service of God and the greater Delight they will take in it And thus much may serve to clear the Measures of true Religion 2. But there are many Mistakes and false Notions of Religion in the World and by reason of these Men are very prone to exceed their due Bounds And here I shall set down some of the most common and popular which are most apt to deceive 1. That God is pleased with such kind of Service as doth most please our own Fancies This is the Foundation of what the Scripture calls Will-Worship i. e. when Men are not contented with what God hath appointed but set up their own Fancies and imagine that God will be as much pleased with them as with any thing himself hath required Such as the Worshipping of Angels and abstaining from Meats there mentioned If these had been any necessary parts of Religion no doubt Christ and his Apostles would have recommended them to the Christian Church but they are far from it and St. Paul very much dislikes the introducing such things although they had some plausible Pretences for them which he calls a shew of Wisdom But it came at last to this that such a Severity in Diet such Humility in making use of the Mediation of Angels seemed very agreeable to the Fancies of Men and the distance between God and us And from hence they came to the Invocation of Saints as appears from them for their Fancies still ran upon the manner of Earthly Courts and thought things were managed in Heaven accordingly From hence came all the gross Superstitions the frequent Addresses the tedious Pilgrimages in the Church of Rome only to procure the Favours of some particular Saints to intercede with Christ that he might intercede with God for them Whereas the Scripture shews us the plain and direct way of making our Applications to the Father by the Mediation and Intercession of his Son whom he hath appointed the Mediator between him and us So gain in the Worship of Images as directly forbidden as Adultery and Murder are in the ten Commandments yet because Men shew respect to one another in keeping and kissing their Pictures therefore God cannot be displeased with worshipping Images tho' against his Commandments because they intend it for his Honour This among others because the heats of Fancy and Variety of Expressions is pleasing to themselves in Prayer they conclude it is so to God too Whereas the Wise Man takes notice of the multiplying words in Prayer as one of the Vanities of Mankind Be not rash with thy mouth and let not they heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth therefore let thy words be few Some place too much of their Religion in a Zeal for or against some external Ceremonies of Worship and both think what they do is very pleasing to God Whereas at the bottom there may be nothing but Temper and Prejudice and Education in both sorts Some have a natural Averseness confirmed by their manner of breeding to all kind of Ceremonies and others as great an Inclination to them But still God must be pleased with what they are As the warlike People of old worshipped their God's in Armour and the rest according to the peculiar Dresses and Habits of their Countrey 2. That God is pleased with what doth most cross and displease our Inclinations This is another Fountain of Superstition and seems contrary to the former only they think God is more averse to our Inclinations than to our Fancies It is true our Inclinations are too much bent to what is morally Evil and that God abhors But that is not the thing I am speaking of but of such Inclinations which have no real Evil in them but are meerly natural as to a Freedom from Pain and uneasiness And the Point is whether God be pleased with seeing us to vex and Torment our selves and whether that be any acceptable Service to God As to deny our selves natural rest to avoid eating a thing because our Appetite is pleased with it to kneel upon bare Stones to cut our Flesh to whip our Bodies c. for they are all of the same kind Can we
it is made to serve Mens Passions against each other 3. When they seek for no Accommodation of their Differences in a fair and amicable manner The Necessities of some Cases are such That they are fit to be referr'd to such Wise Arbitration as the Law provides but if Men are restless and litigious who love Differences and delight in vexing their Neighbours with Law Suits it is certain they have not the Spirit and Temper of Christians who are to live peaceably with all Men. 2. How this proves so mischievous to Men. 1. It makes such Mens lives very unquiet and troublesome to themselves and others For it is impossible for some to disturb others but they must expect a Retaliation Many Men would have their Passions lie more quiet if they were not rouzed up and awakened by others but when they are they know not how to lay them asleep again And so they exasperate and provoke each other and take away all the Peace and Contentment of one anothers Lives And what Care and Solitude what Vexation and Trouble doth attend those who are thus Righteous overmuch that they will always be endeavouring to right themselves till they bring the greatest mischief upon themselves 2. It provokes God to shorten their days out of pity to the rest of the World For the greatest Blessings of this World are promised to the meek and patient and charitable and merciful Persons and therefore others have no reason to expect any other but a Curse upon them To conclude all by way of Advice as to the general Sense of these words 1. Not to think every thing too much in Religion and Vertue because some are here said to be Righteous overmuch The far greatest Part of Mankind err the other way They care not how little of Religion they have and they desire no more than just to carry them to Heaven Which shews they neither know what Heaven or Religion means for then they would be convinced their Minds could never be too much prepared for it 2. To understand the difference between true Wisdom and Righteousness and that which is not For upon that depends the just Measure of them both We cannot be too Wise in that which is real Wisdom but we may be too easily conceited of our Wisdom and cry up that for Righteousness which is not but a sort of busie Impertinency about little Matters in Religion and making a great noise about them which signifie very little as to true Wisdom 3. Be not too curious in searching nor too hard in censuring the Fâ—ults of others It is a very unpleasant Curiosity to find out the Faults of others like that of some Creatures which delight in Dunghils and those who consider the Frailties of human Nature will not be too severe upon the Miscarriages of others 4. Live as easily with others as you can for that tends much to the sweetning and prolonging Life It is not possible to live without Injuries take as little notice of them as may be and that may be the smartest Revenge If you are forced to right your selves do it with that Gentleness and Fairness that they may see you delight not in it 5. Avoid a needless Scrupulosity of Conscience as a thing which keeps our Minds always uneasie A Scrupulous Man is always in the dark and therefore full of Fears and Melancholy apprehensions he that gives way to Scruples is the greatest Enemy to his own Peace But then let not the fear of Scrupulosity make you afraid of keeping a good Conscience for that is the wisest and best and safest Companion in the World FINIS Books written by the Right Reverend Father in God Edw. L. Bishop of Worcester and sold by H. Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul 's Church-Yard A Rational account of the Grounds of the Protestant Religion being a Vindication of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury's Relation of a Conference c. from the pretended Answer of T. C. 2d Edit Fol. Origines Britannicae or the Antiquities of the British Churches with a Preface concerning some pretended Antiquities relating to Britain in Vindication of the Bishop of St. Asaph Folio Irenicum A Weapon-Salve for the Churches Wounds Quarto Origines Sacrae Or a Rational account of the Grounds of Christian Faith as to the Truth and Divine Authority of the Script and the matters therein contained 4 to A Discourse concerning the Idolatry practised in the Church of Rome and the hazard of Salvation in the Communion of it Octavo An Answer to several late Treatises occasioned by a Book entituled A Discourse concerning the Idolatry practised in the Church of Rome and the hazard of Salvation in the Communion of it Part I. Octavo A Second Discourse in Vindication of the Protestant Grounds of Faith against the pretence of Infallibility in the Roman Church in Answer to the Guide in Controversie by R. H. Protestancy without Principles and Reason and Religion or the certain Rule of Faith by E. W. with a particular enquiry into the Miracles of the Roman Church Octavo An Answer to Mr. Cressy's Epistle apologetical to a Person of Honour touching his Vindication of Dr Stillingfleet Octavo A Defence of the Discourse concerning the Idolatry practised in the Church of Rome in answer to a Book entituled Catholicks no Idolaters Octavo Several Conferences between a Roman Priest a Fanatick Chaplain and a Divine of the Church of England being a full Answer to the late Dialogues of T. G Octavo The Unreasonableness of Separation or and Impartialaccount of the History Nature and Pleas of the present Separation from the Communion of the Church of England Quarto A â—ourse concerning the Doctrine of Christ's Satisfaction or the true Reasons of his Sufferings with an Answer to the Socinian Objections To which is added a Sermon concerning the Mysteries of the Christian Faith Preached April 7. 1691. With a Preface concerning the true state of the Controversie about Christ's Satisfaction The 2d Edit Octavo Sermons preached upon several Occasions in 3 Volumes Octavo A Discourse in Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity with an Answer to the late Socinian Objections against it from Scripture Antiquity and Reason And a Preface concerning the different Explications of the Trinity and the Tendency of the present Socinian Controversie The 2d Edit Octavo An Answer to Mr. Lock 's Letter concerning some Passages relating to his Essay of Humane Understanding mentioned in the late Discourse in Vindication of the Trininity With a Postscript in Answer to some Reflections made on that Treatise in a late Socinian Pamphlet An Answer to Mr. Lock 's Second Letter wherein his Notion of Ideas is proved to be inconsistent with it self and with the Articles of the Christian Faith 8 to Ecclesiastical Cases Relating to the Duties and Rights of the Parochial Clergy stated and resolved according to the Principles of Conscience and Law The Rule of Faith Or an Answer to the Treatise of Mr. J. S. entituled Sure-footing