of Providence God will no doubt take Care of his own Honour but he is not bound to give such Men an Account of the Ways and Methods and Seasons of his doing it He often raises up a Nation fit for his purpose and makes them as a Scourge to Neighbour Nations and when they have done his Work he suffers them to be humbled if not destroyed by the same Methods they have used to others Sometimes he raises up one Kingdom and Nation against another when their Sins make them ripe for Vengeance and so he takes the Potsheards of the Earth and breaks them upon one another and thus by their mutual Punishment they both become the Executioners of his Wrath and we cannot determine by the Event which was in the greater Guilt So that God takes Care of his own Honour by Methods we are not able to comprehend For who can weigh the Nations in a Balance and determine how far the Sins of one doth exceed the other And if we cannot know the Number and Aggravation of a People Sins we can never fix the Measures and Degrees of their Punishment But however some things are certain 1. That the Sins of a Nation do naturally tend to the Weakness and Dishonour of it Thus a factious seditious turbulent Temper not only is the Reproach of a People but the ready way to destroy it And yet it hath so happen'd that when the Factions have been almost equally poised as at Rome and Carthage they have raised such an Emulation between them which by their endeavours to out-vie each other hath for some time preserved their Country Who can deny that Luxury and Debauchery and all sorts of Intemperance not only sink the Reputation of a People but effeminates and softens them and makes them Careless and Idle Regardless of any thing but what makes for their own Ease and Voluptuousness And in all humane probability such a Nation must sink when a People of more Wisdom and Courage and Resolution makes it their business to overcome them So that these sorts of Sins are Natural Causes of weakning the Power and Interest of a Nation But there are other Sins as Profaneness and Contempt of God and Religion Hypocrisy Idolatry c. and of such which Work as Moral Causes God himself is the only Judge when the Measure of their Iniquity is filled up 2. Sometimes God steps out of his Ordinary Method and Course of Providence either in a way of Judgment or Mercy And then he more particularly shows that those that Honour him he will honour and those who despise him shall be lightly esteemed These things are not every days Experience but when they do happen they deserve to be taken Notice of in a more than Ordinary Manner Eudem l. 7. c. 14. Aristotle who was no great Friend to Providence as to Humane Affairs professes that he did not know what to make of the extraordinary Success some Persons had in their Affairs without any extraordinary visible Causes It is possible he might have the Success of his Macedonian Friends in his Thoughts who swallow'd up the Common-wealths of Greece as so many Morsels and then destroy'd the mighty Persian Monarchy But in these Cases he allows a Divine Impulse carrying them on beyond the Ordinary Measures of humane Prudence and over-ruling so many things in Order to Success as nothing but a Divine Hand could manage And when great Advantages come to a Nation in such a manner a more than Ordinary Degree of Thankfulness is justly expected that God may be honoured in a particular manner for the Deliverance he Works by such Means and the Mercies he bestows or continues thereby 2. As to particular Persons how far this holds will appear by these things 1. That Esteem and Honour naturally follows the Opinion of anothers Desert or Excellency For it is not an Arbitrary thing but is founded on the Supposition of something that deserves it It is like the Assent given to Mathematical Evidence which is not because they will do it but because they cannot help it 2. The Sincere Practise of Piety and Vertue doth command Esteem and Reverence Hypocrisy indeed lessens it to the utmost degree because it argues a mean and false Temper of Mind but there is nothing in true Religion but what tends to raise Esteem For it implies all the things which are allow'd by all Persons to gain Honour among Men. For one that is truely Religious is a true Lover of God and of Mankind He is grateful to his Benefactour and always owns in the most solemn manner his Dependence upon him both by Prayers and Praises He is ready to do Good to all Men as far as is consistent with his Duty to God He is just righteous and merciful sober and temperate in the whole Course of his Life He acts not by Chance or for by Ends but by a fixed Principle of being and doing Good He keeps himself within the Bounds which God hath set him and with Chearfulness and Resolution sets himself to do and suffer his Will and hath so much Courage as to dare to do his Duty and is afraid of nothing so much as Offending God And now let any one judge whether there be any thing Mean or Contemptible in all this whether every one that hears this Character doth not wish it belonged to himself And that is a certain token that it brings Honour and Esteem with it Let me then for a Conclusion of all Recommend the Practise of Reliligion and Vertue to all such as are the most concerned for Honour and Esteem The World is always vain enough to flatter Greatness either out of Weakness or Design but true Greatness of Mind despises Flattery and where that is wanting in any this very Flatterer despises them But this is a Way to be above the reach of Contempt Micah 6. 8. To do Justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with God and these are the things which God himself assures us are the main Parts of our Duty If we be Careless of God's Honour and Service now the time will shortly come when we shall heartily wish we had been otherwise For how great soever your Honour be now you and that together must in a little time be laid in the Dust. And then the main Difference will be according to the Honour we have done to God For although the Text doth hold good as to this World as I have already shew'd yet the most glorious Accomplishment of it will be made Evident to all Mankind that Those that honor him God will honour and they that despise him shall be lightly esteemed FINIS
Reformation of Manners the true way of Honouring God With the necessity of putting the Laws in Execution against Vice and Profaneness IN A SERMON Preached At White-Hall By the late Right Reverend Father in GOD EDWARD Lord Bishop of Worcester And Published by Their Majesties Special Command The Second Edition Not Printed in any of the Volumes of his Lordship's SERMONS LONDON Printed for Tho. Bennet at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. The way of honouring God by a Reformation of Manners IN A SERMON Preached At White-Hall 1 Samuel 2. 30. For them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed THese Words were spoken by a Prophet of the Lord to Eliâ— at that time the High-Priest and Judge over Israel upon Occasion of the Wickedness of his Sons and the Hishonour brought upon Religion thereby which was so great that it is said v. 17. they made the People abhor the Offering of the Lord. But that we may the better comprehend their Scope and Design there are some remarkable particulars to be considered with respect to the Circumstances that attend them 1. That their Sins were of a high and scandalous Nature being an open Affront both to the Ceremonial and Moral Law The Offering of the Lord was that which himself had appointed in the Law of Moses wherein it was expresly required that the Fat of the Sacrifices of Peace-Offerings must be burnt upon the Altar Lev. 7. 31. and after that the Joints were to be divided and the Priest was to have his share v. 33 34. and the People that offer'd them the rest But these Sons of Eli thought themselves too great to be tied up to such a strict observance of the Niceties of the Law and therefore they sent their Servants to demand what they pleased v. 13 14 15 16. without any Regard to that Order which the Laws appointed It is possible they might think although such lewd and and profane Persons are not much given to thinking that the matter was not great how or in what manner they took the share which belong'd to them but God who best knew what was pleasing to himself saith The Sin of the young Men was very great before the Lord. v. 17. For God will and ought to be served in his own Way and they who thought to be Wiser than his Laws smarted for their Folly Lev. 10. 1. Thus Nadah and Abihu two brisk young Men had a mind to try the Experiment of offering strange Fire before the Lord not taking it from the Altar as God had appointed Lev. 1. 7. ch 6. v. 12. ch 16. v. 12. And what came of this Presumptuous violation of God's Law They were immediately consumed by a strange Fire themselves for ch 10. v. 2. it is said A Fire went out from the Lord and devoured them and they died before the Lord i. e. they were struck dead with Lightning upon the Place and their dead Bodies were carried forth from before the Sanctuary out of the Camp v. 4. that all the People might observe the Truth of what Moses said to Aaron on this Occasion v. 3. This is that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the People I will be glorified It is true God did not punish Hophni and Phinehas in the same manner who added great Lewdness and Immorality to their other faults v. 22. but He severely threatens the whole House of Eli for their Sins and as a sign of the rest he declares that these profligate Wretches should both be taken off the same Day v. 34. Which was accordingly accomplished with dreadful Circumstances â—â— 4. v. 11. For the Ark of God was taken at the same time 2. That the House of Eli was advanced to that Dignity which it then enjoy'd by an Extraordinary Method of Providence For when Nadab and Abihu the Sons of Aaron were destroy'd Lev. 10. 6. 1 Chr. 24. 2. there remained Eleazar and Ithamar for the other died Childless from them descended two Branches of Aaron's Family Num. 3. 4. Eleazar was of the Elder House but Eli who descended from Ithamar was in possession of the High Priesthood by God's Approbation And when Abiathar in Solomon's time was put by the High Priesthood 1 Chr. 14. 2. 5. it is said that he descended from Ithamar 1 Kings 24. 27. and was of the House of Eli and he was therefore thrust out that God might fulfil his Word which he spake concerning the House of Eli in Shiloh By which we find that God had raised up the House of Eli after an Extraordinary manner and no doubt according to the Wise Methods of Divine Providence for an Extraordinary End and we find no ill Character fixed upon Eli himself although he had judged Israel forty years 1 Sam. â— 18. but there were those about him and very near him who were loose profane and dissolute Persons and although those who are most concerned do commonly hear the last of the Miscarriages of those related to them yet the Cry was so great that it came to his Ears and he took notice of it and reproved them for it ch 2. v. 22 23 24 25. And he said to them why do ye such things c. The good old Man seems to be heartily concerned and troubled for his Sons Follies but this did not answer God's End for the Reason He gives of the heavy Judgments denounced against his Family ch 3. v. 13. was because his Sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not God expects something more than meer Words or bare Reproofs where his Honour and that of Religion are so much concerned But when Profaneness Looseness and Irreligion crept in among them and grew too hard for the Government God threatens to do such a thing in Israel ch 3. v. 11. at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle I need go no farther 3. That although God was justly provoked by the Sins of the House of Eli yet there was a concurrence of the Peoples Sins in bringing down such severe and astonishing Judgments There was no great loss in Hophni and Phinehas unless they had been better but it was a terrible Judgment to have the Ark of God taken and carried Captive and thereby their whole Religion exposed to scorn and contempt among their Neighbours who hated them for the sake of their Religion For when the Idolatrous Nations about them had corrupted themselves and the Worship of God He was pleased by the Ministry of Moses to set up a Form of Worship among the People of Israel according to his own Will This gave great Dissatisfaction to all their Neighbours and encreased their Spight and Malice against them which they were ready to shew on all Occasions but never more than when the Ark of God was taken Captive and carried
not to the true God but to an Idol of their own Fancy But there is a great deal of difference between such Conceptions of God in our Minds which fall short of the Perfections of the Divine Nature as all ours must do for want of Faculties to comprehend him and such which attribute something to him which is unworthy of him Not that if any happen to be mistaken in their Conceptions of God we must presently charge them with Idolatry for the Scripture makes that to lie in an open and publick Dishonouring of God by giving that Worship which is alone due to him to any thing besides himself It is the setting up of another Interest among Mankind in opposition to his Power and Soveraignty It is such an Exposing the proper Object of Divine Worship as to render it mean and contemptible For nothing can be a greater Disparagement to the Divine Nature than to be supposed to be like the Work of Mens hands or to have any of his own Creatures to have that Worship given to them which belongs to himself And so it takes away the due Apprehension which ought to be always maintained of the Infinite Distance between God and the Workmanship of his Hands But these Consequences do not reach to inward false Conceptions of God yet they ought by all possible Means to be avoided by those who would give unto God in their Minds the Honour which is due unto him And to avoid all wrong Apprehensions concerning him we must settle in our Minds such a fixed Notion of him as results from those Evidences which prove his Being Rom. 1. 20 For the invisible things of God saith the Apostle are understood by the things that are made i. e. the visible frame of the World doth afford such plain Evidence of the Wisdom Power and Goodness of the Maker of them that from thence we may form a distinct and clear Notion of God in our Minds as a Being Infinitely Wise Powerful and Good This is the most natural easie and orderly Conception we can have of God in our Minds because it arises from the same Arguments which prove his Being And when our Minds are fixed and settled herein the next thing is to exclude all mean and unworthy Thoughts of him as inconsistent with his Divine Perfections Therefore whatever savours of Impotency or Cruelty whatevertends to abate our Reverence to lessen our Esteem to damp our Affections or to cool our Devotion towards him cannot be agreeable to those just Conceptions we ought to have always in our Minds concerning him For the Honour of God doth not lie in having such terrible Apprehensions of his Majesty and Power and Justice as may drive us into Horrour and Despair but in entertaining such an Opinion of his Wisdom Goodness and Loving kindness as may incline us to Love him and to Trust in his Mercy And then God is truely honoured by us when we preserve a deep Sense and Awe of him upon our Minds When we Adore him for his Infinite Perfections When we Esteem him as the most proper Object of our Love as well as of our Fear When we put our Trust and Confidence in him and depend upon him as to the Conveniencies of this Life and the Happiness of another when the desire of our Soul is towards him and our Meditation of him is frequent and serious and delightful to us when we set him always before us and direct the Course of our Lives and Actions to the Pleasing him When we dare not wilfully do any thing to offend him but make it our chief study and business to do what tends to his Honour and to promote it in the World It is therefore of very great Consequence as to the whole Course of Religion to keep up in our Minds such a true and setled Notion of God as may influence our Devotion reform our Disorders inflame our Affections and keep us from being led aside by the violent and impetuous Heats of Imagination For this is the true Source of most of the Extravagancies of Mankind about Religion They have no true Notion of God in their Minds but they dread his Power and know not how to please him and so run from one thing to another through the several Methods of Superstitions or Enthusiasm as agrees best with their Fancies which is so unstable and uncertain a Principle that no steady Course of Religion can be steer'd by it A Man who Acts by Imagination is like a Ship at Sea without Anchor or Compass which Rouls up and down just as the Wind and the Waves carry her But Reason and Understanding is a steady and uniform Principle and being well fixed from a due and thorough Consideration of the Nature and Will of God keeps the Mind even and constant and goes on its Course as well as it can and makes its way notwithstanding the Force of the Current and Tide of Natural Inclination be against it and that the Clouds and Vapors of Imagination often hinder the Freedom of its Motion Nothing is so uncomfortable nothing so ungovernable as a restless Imagination and when it is oppressed with a Religious Melancholy then every thing seems dark and confused we neither know God nor our selves as we ought to do and we must judge amiss when we judge by such a false Light And therefore our wisest course in such a case is to be Humble and Patient to suspend any Peremptory Judgment as to our selves till we have clearer Light and those Mists and Vapors are dispersed which darken and perplex our Thoughts 2. Men dishonour God when they pretend to honour him not according to his Will but their own Intentions and Imaginations There are some things practised and defended in the Christian World which one would hardly think possible to have ever prevailed had it not been that they thought to do Honour to God by them I shall not insist upon the pretences in the Church of Rome of Honouring God against his Will by giving Divine and Religious Worship to Images Saints and Angels c. because though there be a great deal of Folly and Superstition and real Dishonour to God in them yet there is no such Mischief to the rest of Mankind unless they take up an Imagination that God will be honoured by rooting out and destroying all such as cannot comply with them in their Superstitious Follies But as the true Spirit of Religion wears off that of Persecution often comes in the place of it like Wasps and Hornets out of a dead Carkass Thus in the Jewish Church in our Saviour's time there was the same outward shew and Pomp of Religion which had been in their best times and our Saviour himself frequented both the Synagogue Worship and the Solemn Festivals at the Temple Luk. 4. 16. Mat. 23. 2. nay he allow'd that the Scribes and Pharisees sate in Moses's Chair and that his Disciples should observe what they taught agreeable to the Law but