neither more nor less and lying along with our Heads in one anothers Bosoms as the Apostles now did and which I suppose no Christian of whatsoever Church or Persuasion he be does at all think himself obliged to do But my meaning herein is this That in those things wherein the Nature of this Holy Sacrament consists and which the Holy Scriptures have recounted to us on purpose to direct us in the Celebration of it in those we are not to depart from our Saviour's Institution nor to presume to set up our own Innovations as the Council of Constance has most presumptuously done in opposition to and even in defiance of our Blessed Lord's Appointment To receive the Holy Sacrament in this or that posture with such or such particular Ceremonies these are things wholly foreign to the Nature and Design of this Blessed Sacrament and therefore such as may in different places and Ages be different And every Christian ought to comply with what is used and prescribed in that Church with which he communicates But for those things in which the very Nature of this Holy Sacrament is concern'd for such parts as constitute the integrity of it and serve the more lively to set it off as a memorial of the Death and Passion of Christ and which therefore we must look upon our Lord and Saviour to have sealed with his express Command Do this In these I say we are to keep close both to the Example of our Saviour and to the Command of the Text and when he has distinctly instituted this Holy Supper in Two Kinds not dare to command Men under the pain of an Anathema to believe that One alone is sufficient And this may suffice for the Explication of the former part of my Text What it is we are to understand by that Phrase of my Text Do this I go on Secondly to enquire Secondly What it is to do this in Remembrance of Christ. It is I think agreed on all hands That the Design of our Saviour in this Command was to set forth the great End of his Instituting this Holy Sacrament viz. That it was to keep up in our own Minds and set forth to others a solemn and lively Remembrance of his dying for us and of the great Benefits and Advantages that accrue to us thereby And however it be pretty hard to reconcile this plain Design of this Institution with what those of the other Communion now make to be the main business of it namely to be a true and proper Propitiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of the Living and of the Dead in nothing differing from that upon the Cross but only in the manner of the Oblation A remembrance being ever of things absent from not present with us and the same Sacrifice very improperly said to be a Type or Memorial of it self yet so clearly is this design of this Holy Sacrament here declared to be for the remembrance of Christ's Death and Passion that they have chosen rather to encounter all these Absurdities than to adventure to deny what our Savior has so very plainly delivered as the End of this Institution But though it is not therefore to be doubted but that the Intention of our Blessed Lord in this Command was to oblige us by such a Solemn Ceremony as this to continue the Memory of his Death yet we are not therefore to think that all we have to do when we come to the Holy Table and attend on this Great Memorial is simply to remember or call to mind the Sufferings of our Saviour No this is not sufficient to answer either the meaning of this Command or the design of this Institution The word in the Original which we here render Remembrance is very emphatical and imports not a bare calling to mind but a renew'd Commemoration It regards the Affections of the Heart as well as the Action of the Mind In a word it denotes not so much a private Remembrance as a publick and solemn Commemoration when in our Apostle's Phrase ver 26. we do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 annunciate and shew forth to others at the same time that we thus call to mind our selves the Lord's Death and that with all those pious motions and resentments that befit so excellent and so advantageous a Remembrance To know therefore what it is that our Saviour here requires of us when he bids us to do this in Remembrance of Him two things will be necessary to be considered by us First What it is that we are to remember or shew forth when we come to this Holy Sacrament Secondly In what manner and with what Motions and Affections we are to do it And First let us examine What it is that we are to remember or shew forth when we come to this Holy Sacrament Now this in general St. Paul here tells us is his Death ver 26. that is that bitter Death and Passion which he was just then about to undergo for our sakes when he established this Solemn Memorial of it For says he as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew forth the LORD 's Death till his coming But because a bare Remembrance of the Death of Christ without any farther Consideration either of the cause and manner of it or of those infinite Advantages which accrue to us thereby will afford but a very imperfest Memorial to us We must therefore for a full discharge of this duty and to raise up in our Souls those suitable resentments we ought to bring to this Holy Administration take a farther and more particular prospect of it And consider First What our State and Condition was that obliged our Blessed Saviour thus to die for us Secondly What that Death Passion was which he underwent for our sakes and has therefore commanded us to remember in this Holy Sacrament Thirdly What the Benefits are that accrue to us thereby And First To do this in Remembrance of Christ will engage us to call to mind what our State and condition was that obliged our Blessed Saviour thus to die for us For however we were by Baptism wash'd from all the Guilt and delivered from the Punishment of our Original Pollution and admitted into the Covenant of Grace and made Heirs of the Promise of Eternal Glory yet we are not therefore to think our selves ever the less concerned when we come to this Holy Sacrament and shew forth that Death of the Lord by which our very Baptism it self was consecrated into a laver of Regeneration there to call to mind that wretched State in which we once were and must for ever have lain had not the Blessed Jesus given himself up unto Death for us I should indulge too much your Curiosity in an Argument of this moment should I enter on that vain Speculation which the School-men first started and has since been made the Sport and Diversion of our Modern Scepticks in Religion Whether God could not otherwise have provided for
to be seduced from the right Faith he may deserve indeed to be pitied now but I fear he will hardly be hereafter excused But it is not sufficient to secure our selves against this danger He that will be constant in his Religion as he ought to be must see 2 dly That he be not too apt to entertain an ill Opinion of it For if it be Obstinacy on the one hand not to admit of any Conviction thò never so clear and reasonable it is certainly a great Weakness on the other to be affrighted at every shadow of an Argument and to put it in the power of every little Disputer to prejudice us against our Religion because one who is its professed Enemy rails against it and pretends it is a very ill One He would I believe be thought a very credulous person indeed who should begin to stagger and fall into a trembling thô he saw himself upon plain and even Ground because a bold and fanciful man is very positive that 't is a precipice And doubtless that Man is no less to be pitied that is frighted for fear he should be in the wrong thô he has the undoubted Authority of Scripture and Antiquity nay and even of Sense and Reason too on his side as often as every Common-place Trifler shall think fit to run over his division upon the Church the Antiquity Succession Infallibility of it and without either Modesty or Proof call us Hereticks If Men have Reason on their side if they have Scripture for what they say let them on God's Name produce it We are always ready to consider and to submit to such convictions But otherwise to think to perswade us that we are in utter darkness when we see the Sun shining in our faces That we must be damned for not believing that what we see and tast and know to be but a bit of Bread is not the Body of a Man That they are not Infallible who are actually involved in the grossest Errors In a word That our Church had no being before Luther every Article of whose Faith is founded upon the Authority of the Holy Scriptures and has been professed in all Ages of the Church from the Apostles to this day this is certainly one of the most unreasonable things in the whole World and what ought not by any means to stagger our stedfastness And now having secured our selves on both these sides it only remains to preserve our Constancy 3 dly That if at any time any Arguments should be offer'd to us that may deserve our regard we then be sure to give them that due and wise Examination that we ought to do It is a very great Weakness and indeed a very great fault in many persons that if at any time they begin to doubt in their belief of any part of their Faith which they have been taught to profess they presently abandon their own Guides and run for satisfaction to those who are the professed Enemies of their Religion From henceforth they hear nothing but what is ill of their Church they are taught more and more to suspect the way that they are in and then 't is odds but a very little examination suffices to make them leave it This is certainly a very great fault and will one day prove of very dangerous consequence What such persons may think of changing their Religion I cannot tell but sure I am our greatest Charity will hardly enable us to entertain any very comfortable Opinion of them Nor are they such as those that we either say or believe may be saved notwithstanding the errors and corruptions of that Church with which they Communicate He that will make a safe change from one Religion to another must not think it enough to enquire into one or two points and having received a satisfaction in them embrace all the rest at a venture for their sakes but he must pass distinctly through every Article in debate He must enquire not only whether the Church of which he is at present a Member be not mistaken in some points it may be there is no Church in the World that is absolutely free from all kind of Error But whether those mistakes be of such a consequence that he cannot communicate any longer with it on the account of them When this is done the greatest difficulty will still remain to examine with the same diligence every Article of that other Church to which he is tempted For else thô he should have reason to forsake his own Church he will yet be but little advantaged if he goes to another that is as bad or it may be worse than that If there he should find the most part well yet so that there are but any One or Two things so Erroneous as to oblige him to profess what he thinks to be false or to practice what is unlawful even this will be sufficient to hinder him from reconciling himself to it And in all this there must be a serious and diligent and impartial search There must be no prejudice in favour of the One or against the Other no desire that the Truth should be on this side rather than on that In short nothing must be omitted whereby he might reasonably have got a better Information And to all this Care there must be added fervent Prayer to God for his assistance He who falls away from his first Faith on any lesser convicton than this can never excuse himself from a criminal lightness in a matter of such concern And for him that sincerely does this I shall for my part be content that he should leave the Church of England whenever he can be thus convinced that any other but especially that the Church of Rome is a safer way to Salvation And this may suffice to have been said to the first particular What that stedfastness in Religion is to which our Text exhorts us I go on 2 dly to shew II. Upon what Motives it was that the Apostle here stirred up the Christians to whom he wrote and that I am now in like manner to exhort you to such a stedfastness Now these our Text reduces to this One General Consideration That they both understood their danger and were expresly forewarn'd by his Epistle how careful it would behove them to be to arm themselves against it Ye therefore Beloved seeing ye know these things before Beware And doubtless it is not only a great security but ought to be also a great engagement to such a vigilance to be thus expresly forewarned of our danger And he who either neglecting or despising the Admonition suffers himself to be seduced from his own stedfastness must certainly be utterly inexcusable both in the sight of God and Man for his Inconstancy But that which will aggravate this neglect yet much more is the consideration of those Motives by which the Apostle here cautions them to Beware and which therefore I must lay a little more distinctly before you Now such
not trust their own Interpretation to tell them that Abraham begat Isaac if the Church should think fit to expound it otherwise For such and so plain are many of those passages that we alledg against them to shew their corruptions in a great part of those things wherein they differ from us If you offer them Reason as clear as the plainest Demonstration why that were well But still Private Reason may Err and the Church cannot Convince them by their Senses which one would think should convince any body Desire them to consult the Verdict of their own Eyes and Mouths and Noses and Feeling 't is no purpose the Senses may deceive them but the Church cannot Thus have they suffer'd themselves to be conjured into a Circle out of which 't is impossible ever to Retreive them Sense Reason Scripture All are of no force against this one Prejudice of their Churches Authority though at the same time they know not either what the Church is to whom Christ Promises are made nor where to find it nor what it has decided nor wherefore they at all Adventures attribute to their own the Title of the only true Church Such Hearers as these are Unteachable and Unprofitable And we ought certainly by their Example to beware of such an indisposition as is able to lead men into so strange a Slavery and make them believe they are never more in the Right than when they have put themselves out of a Capacity of ever being so upon any Certain grounds and otherwise than by meer Chance 4. A Fourth and last thing required to Docility is a freedom from Obstinacy This is a disposition for the most part consequent upon that I the last mentioned and such as wherever it is found renders a man utterly incompetent to receive any benefit by the best instruction It is called by St. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a reprobate mind Rom. i. 28 a mind void of judgment When men resolve they will not be instructed but affect ignorance and either to keep up a faction or to serve their present Interests or to indulge themselves the more freely in their sins flee both the means and the desire of knowledge And this or somewhat like it is again the Case of those of the other Communion Who not content with the Prejudices I before mention'd in favour of themselves and their own Opinions do moreover engage their proselites by a most Solemn Oath never upon any account or by any Argument whatsoever to be drawn out of those Errors in which they have engaged them Such then is the Nature and these the Vices that are to be avoided by us in order to the second Qualification required in a Christian Auditor viz. Docility 3. The next I mention'd was That he must be Diligent By which I mean not only a carefulness to attend upon all the publick means of instruction which God is pleased to afford us but yet much more to apply those means to a right and due End To be sedulous and diligent in embracing the Opportunities of hearing is indeed very commendable and the duty of every Christian but yet if his diligence stop here he may for all that reap but little benefit by all his Care He that will be truly sedulous as he ought to be Let him 1 st When he comes to these Holy Exercises be very careful that he attend with all his Soul to what is deliver'd But especially if any thing chance to be spoken in which his Conscience tells him that he was either altogether Ignorant before or not sufficiently instructed in it 2 dly When he has done this Let him be careful to take the first opportunity to retire within himself and call to remembrance the things that he has Heard And either by writing or some other way let him provide for the future preservation of it But especially 3 dly Let him employ his utmost diligence in the Practice of what he hears Let him consider that this is the great end to which all his Knowledge in the Mystery of Godliness is to be referr'd And that without this he shall become but the more inexcusable for all the rest For he who knows his Master's will and does it not shall be beaten with many stripes It was for this that God sent his Son to Preach his Gospel to the World And 't is for this that we still are commission'd by him to declare to you your duty and press you with the strongest Arguments the Hopes and Terrors of Eternity to be careful and sedulous in the performance of it The End of Christianity was not to puff us up but to Edifie us To make us Better rather than more Knowing and more Knowing only that we may be Better They are not the Hearers of the Word that shall be justified before God but the doers of it It is but a half Diligence that carries men to Learn their Duty He is the truly Sedulous Christian indeed who both seeks with all earnestness to know what God requires of Him and then as carefully endeavours to put it in practice Now to this end and to conclude all 4 thly He that will Hear as he ought to do must to all these other Qualifications add his fervent Prayers to God for his Assistance It is not an easie matter to become a Perfect Christian So high and excellent are the precepts of the Gospel and in many things so contrary to the Interests and Inclinations of sensual Men that without some extraordinary Assistance of the Grace of God we are not able so much as to comprehend any thing of these kind of instructions as we ought to do But to bring a willing and ready disposition of mind to receive the Word to become such an Auditor as not only speculatively to learn the great Truths of Christianity but to resolve effectually to put them in practice too this must certainly be the work of God upon our Hearts and 't is his Grace alone that can both enlighten our Vnderstandings and incline our Wills And here therefore we may see at once both the necessity of this last disposition our Prayer to God for his Grace and in that the true cause why so many make no better an Advantage by their Hearing They come to the Church as if they were going into a Theatre where they had nothing to do but to attend to what is spoken to render them every way competent Auditors of it But alas The Divine Truths that are here deliver'd are above the discernment of the Carnal mind Spiritual things must be Spiritually understood Such Auditors as these like the Scribes and Pharisees among the Jews may hear our words as they did our Blessed Saviour's but they will not be at all the better for them God must open their hearts as he did that of Lydia and then our addresses will find a suitable admittance and not pass without a due and careful consideration And our Prayers
is I cannot but think that such Persons as these who not only continue in the Commissions of sin but project and contrive for the continuing in it and therefore put off the Time of their Repentance as a work that may be well enough done hereafter do in effect despise the Holy Spirit of God and trample under foot that Grace which should have led them to Repentance And it must certainly be a most daring Presumption in any Sinner to think that notwithstanding such a provocation God will yet attend his leisure and continue to afford him the Assistance of his Grace for his Salvation at the last though he has so often wilfully and designedly rejected all the Offers of it I am sufficiently persuaded that there is none of us whom God does not call most truly and sincerely to Salvation and by consequence that there is none of us to whom he has not offer'd such a measure of his Grace as might enable him to fulfil his Duty in order thereunto and perfect his Repentance But I must confess I cannot without some concern think what an unworthy use we have the most of us made of it and how justly we have deserved that God should at last leave us to our selves and no longer in vain attend our Amendment And O! that we would therefore be persuaded seriously to reflect upon all these things and no longer go on to expose our immortal souls to such desperate hazards as 't is plain from all these Considerations we do every day that we neglect to provide for Eternity Be it enough that we are not already made the fatal Monuments of Abused Mercy That we are yet on this side Hell and may if we please by our speedy Repentance still prevent those Judgments which our former Impenitence has but too justly deserved Let us begin in this our day to see and to pursue the things that make for our peace bâ—fore they be hid from our eyes Let us exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of us be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin Let us fear lest a promise being left us of entring into his rest any of us should seem to come short of it Let us give glory to God before darkness come and our feet stumble upon the dark mountains I conclude all with the words of the Prophet Isaiah Chap. LV. Vers. 6 7. Seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and unto our God for he will abundantly pardon OF THE DANGER OF Mens Delaying their Repentance A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL ACTS XXIV 25 Felix trembled and answer'd Go thy way for this time when I have a convenient season I will call for thee AMong all the Aggravations of sin there is none greater than to continue it not only against the checks of Conscience and the motions of God's Holy Spirit to the contrary but after many admonitions in vain sent us by his merciful Providence to bring us to Repentance There are I believe but few if any in the World so lost to all the Hopes of Heaven and Eternity who have not some time or other been put in mind of their Duty and invited by God's Grace to Pardon and Salvation And if notwithstanding all this men will nevertheless continue still incorrigible and harden themselves against all the means that can be made use of to reclaim them we ought not to wonder if they are at last given up to the Dominion of Sin and reserved as monuments of the just Judgment of God at the day of his glorious appearing I will not now enter on any Enquiry what the cause should be why we who are all of us sufficiently convinced of the necessity of Repenting and the deplorable State in which we must expect to be if we do not some time or other effectually set about it should yet still for the most part be so very unwilling to Repent But because this is one of the most fatal delusions men are apt to cheat themselves withall that with Felix here in my Text they put off this business to a more convenient Season and by their unseasonable Procrastinations in an Affair that of all others ought the least to be defer'd too often die without ever performing it at all I will make it my endeavour so to lay before you the Danger of such a Delay as if it shall please God to convince you not so much of the Necessity of Repenting some time or other which I take it for granted without my speaking you are all of you already resolved to do as of the great concern we have immediately to set about it and do that presently which we must some time or other do and can never do so Well as now And this I shall make appear from these two Considerations I st Of the great Danger we run by delaying our Repentance II dly Of the Comfort and Satisfaction that will arise to us from the Conscience of having duly Perform'd it as we ought to do I begin with the former of these Considerations I st Of the great Danger we run by delaying our Repentance Now that in one Word is this That whilst we go on continually to put off our Duty and the business of Repentance to a more convenient Season and like Felix in the Text think it still too soon to set presently about it we run the hazard of never doing it at all and like Felix too often die in our Sins and our Impenitence So that whatsoever danger there is of dying without ever Repenting the same is the danger which we run by delaying our Repentance And this I shall make appear 1 st From the great Shortness and Vncertainty of our present State 2 dly From the Nature and Difficulty of Repentance And 3 dly From the Method of God's proceeding in the Dispensation of his Grace as set forth to us in the Holy Scripture And 1 st That the Shortness and Vncertainty of our Present State ought to convince us how great a danger we run by Delaying our Repentance For Proof whereof I shall not think it necessary to entertain you with any Common-place-Argument of the Infirmities of our Nature and the many Casualties to which our Lives here are perpetually exposed and against which we can never say we are secure for the next moment How many Persons have been struck with Sudden Death What accidents have befallen others to render them wholly unfit for their Duty so that though they have had a longer warning of their Approaching End yet either by the Intollerable Sharpness of their Pain or its influence upon their understanding Faculties so as many times to deprive them of all the use of their Reason and render them utterly uncapable either to reflect upon their lives
of life and it is not without some violence that they break through the restraints of Shame and Modesty to pursue it Sometimes it sets before them the obligations which their duty lays upon them to fulfil it How worthy and honourable a thing it is to live Virtuously what a Credit and Respect it gains a man here and what a glorious Reward shall be the consequence of it hereafter Sometimes it calls to mind the terrors of the Lord and forces them whether they will or no to think of that Time when for all these things God will bring them to Judgment and how they shall then be able to endure an Eternity of Torments in that wretched place where the Worm dieth not and where the fire never shall be quenched Now all these and many other hindrances of the like kind which the Sinner meets with in the first beginnings of his Evil Course are not only so many Barriers which it has pleased God to set in our way to keep us from ruine but so many helps too to assist us if we should at any time be enticed to do wickedly to recover our selves again out of it But by a longer Continuance in Sin all these are overcome and we are not only thereby more deeply engaged in the ways of wickedness but having lost all these Assistances our retreat is also rendred infinitely more difficult than whilst we lay under the restraints of Shame and Fear and Conscience to reclaim us But this is not yet all for by continuing in Sin and putting off the time of our Repentance we do not only diminish our own Natural strength and thereby render our selves still less able to encounter with it but what is yet more to be consider'd we deprive our selves of the Assistance of God's Grace too without which it will be impossible for us ever to overcome it It is laid down by Isaiah as the reason why God forsook his ancient People the Jews Chap. lxiii vers 10. That they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit therefore was he turn'd to be their Enemy and He fought against them And our Blessed Saviour in his Gospel every-where proceeds upon this measure in the dispensations of his Grace that to Him who has i. e. who makes use of and improves what God has already bestow'd upon him shall be given and he shall have more abundantly But from him that has not i. e. that does not make use of and improve what he has even that which he once had shall be taken away And however it may sometimes please God in an extraordinary manner to raise up Sinners at the last and though they continue long in their Wickedness yet nevertheless still continue his Divine Assistance to them to bring them to Repentance yet cannot this be any Ground for any one to rely upon in this matter seeing it is plain both from the Authority of Holy Scripture and the Common Experience of Mankind that in the ordinary Methods of God's Providence his Grace is withdrawn in proportion to Men's neglect of it till at last they are utterly deprived of it and given up to be led Captive by the Devil at his Will Hence it is that we sometimes read in Holy Scripture of Persons deliver'd up to a Hardness and Impenitence of heart Not that I think God ordains any man to destruction or denies him such a measure of his Grace as may be sufficient to preserve him from it But when Men neglect his Offer and despise and grieve his Holy Spirit and go on in their Sins notwithstanding all the methods of his Providence to bring them to repentance When the measure of their Iniquities is now fill'd up and they are become ripe for Vengeance then God is pleased sometimes to withdraw his Grace from them and seal them up unto destruction And tho he may sometimes permit them for other ends of his Providence to continue still in this World yet he no longer continues the Power and Assistance of his Holy Spirit to them to bring them to repentance This I take to have been the Case of Pharaoh after the Sixth Judgment Till then the Scripture tells us that He hardned his Heard or that His Heart was hardned But when his own Magicians confess'd that the finger of God plainly shew'd it self in the Miracles of Moses and yet he still continued obstinate then God declares that He hardned him Exod. ix 12 and caused him to stand i. e. kept him alive when he had deserved to be punish'd with a quick destruction for this very end that he might shew in him his power Exod. ix 16 Many are the Declarations of the Holy Scripture that confirm this to us If we look into the state of the Old World before the Flood God himself declares Gen. vi 3 That his Spirit should not always strive with Man Yet a hundred and twenty years and if they repented not in that time then He would bring an utter Destruction upon them And in the same manner we find Holy David speaking in the person of God concerning the Rebellious Israelites and which I the rather remark because Saint Paul applies it Hebr. iii. 12 to the very purpose of what I am now speaking That because they hardned their hearts and tempted and grieved God forty years therefore he at last sware to them in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest And the application which the Apostle makes is this plain Conclusion Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God But exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulness of Sin And lastly to mention no more The same is the Declaration which Solomon makes in the Name of God concerning the Destruction of hardned and impenitent Sinners Prov. i. where having first set forth the Grace of God ready to assist them if they would repent verses 22 23. How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity And ye scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge Turn you at my reproof Behold I will pour out my Spirit upon you I will make known my words unto you He afterwards declares the just indignation of God against them if they should still continue obstinate and impenitent verses 24 25 26. Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded But ye have set at nought all my Counsel and would have none of my Reproof I also will laugh at your Calamity and mock when your fear cometh And again Verses 28 29 30. Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me For they hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord They would none of my Counsel they despised all my Reproof Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own
way and be filled with their own devices It were an easie matter to multiply Passages to the same purpose out of every part of the Holy Scripture But I have said enough already to shew the danger of delaying our Repentance from the apprehension of over-passing the time of it and to warrant that great Conclusion which I think is generally received by most Christians viz. That there is to every wicked man a certain Time when the measure of his Iniquities being accomplish'd there shall be no more any space for repentance nor any farther assistance given them by God to bring them to it Now if this be so then would I only desire that these three things might seriously be consider'd by every one of us 1 st Whether he who being invited by the Grace of God and the Motions of his Holy Spirit by the cheeks of Conscience within and the importunate calls of the Ministers of the Gospel without to Repentance nevertheless neglects all these Admonitions and with Felix still puts off the practice of this duty to some more convenient season does not thereby grieve the Holy Spirit of God and despise his Grace and affront his Goodness who thus graciously offers and continues to him the means and opportunities of Salvation 2 dly Whether by so doing he does not provoke God in as high a manner as can well be imagined no longer to continue his Grace to him nor to expose his Mercy to contempt by suffering his Holy Spirit still to strive with such obstinate Offenders And then by consequence 3 dly and lastly Whether every such Person may not have just cause to apprehend that by delaying his Repentance and putting off the business of Religion to a still future opportunity he shall at last provoke God to withdraw his Grace from him And seeing when he had the opportunity given him and was invited to repent he despised the offer and neglected so to do God may not hereafter deliver him up to a hardned and impenitent heart and take away that Grace from him which he has so unworthily abused and thereby deserved to have no longer continu'd to him To conclude If in that famous Parable of the Talents there be any application yet remaining to be made of that part of it in which we find the Talent taken from the unprofitable Servant and a terrible Sentence of Everlasting Misery pronounced against him for his neglect Or in that other of the Fig-tree which was to be pruned and digg'd and then try'd another year and if still it continued to bring forth no Fruit then to be cut down and cast out of the Vineyard The meaning of both can be no other than this That he who despising the Grace of God and the opportunity of Salvation continues still in his Sins and improves not those Abilities God has given him to the great ends for which they were bestowed upon him shall at last by a severe but most just judgment of God be deprived of them and have his neglect punish'd with the loss of God's Grace here and in the consequence of it with an Eternal Damnation hereafter And this then may suffice to shew how dangerous it is for a man to put off the business of Repentance at the present out of an unwarrantable presumption that it will be time enough to perform it hereafter But now if the Question be What a man who has unhappily done this should do I reply 1 st Let him by all means hasten his Repentance all he can and the longer he has deferr'd it already the more careful and resolute let him be not to put it off one moment longer 2 dly Let him be so much the more zealous and diligent in his Religious Performances let his sorrow be the more pungent his Confessions the more humble his Prayers the more fervent but especially his Resolutions and his Endeavours the more hearty and sincere to break off the course of his Sins the longer he has continued in them that so by the extraordinary vigor of his present Endeavours he may make some kind of reparation for the slowness he has been hitherto guilty of in setting about his duty But this is not all It will perhaps be farther enquired Whether upon the Principle I have now laid down of the withdrawing God's Grace from such as refuse and reject the offers of it it will not follow that such persons as these are to be look'd upon as in a desperate Estate and therefore that it is in vain for them now to think of repenting at all But this is a Question which every man will best be able to satisfy himself about That he who puts off his Repentance now upon a presumption that it will be time enough to fulfil it hereafter may justly fear the withdrawing of God's Grace from him I have fully shewn But that God does absolutely withdraw his Grace from every such Person I do not say and whether or no he has withdrawn it from any particular Person he will presently be able to discern by the state in which he finds his Soul as to the business of Religion If his Lusts and his Passions lead him captive at their pleasure If he has no Affections or Desires remaining after Piety in his soul if he cares not for God nor his duty nor can yet persuade himself either to think of another world or to provide for it These indeed are though I will not say certain signs of a desperate condition yet such as may give us just cause to fear whether he be not come into that state from which there is no Redemption and in which God will no longer give him any Assistance to return into the way of Righteousness But if on the contrary he even now begins to come again to himself and wishes and desires if it be possible to be reconciled unto God If being touch'd with a lively sence of his sins and his obstinacy he is at last willing to amend and return unto God with all his heart Then 't is plain that though his Condition may be bad yet it is not desperate God has not yet given him up a Slave to the Devil but still continues to him the benefit of Repentance so that if he be not again wanting to himself he may yet hope for a sufficient measure of Divine Grace to bring him by Repentance to Salvation But here still there will one difficulty more arise and it is this How such a Person shall satisfie himself that he is truly penitent and by consequence that he may depend upon the mercy of God for Pardon notwithstanding his former Impenitence To this I answer 1 st If the person who thus repents at the last be in a condition of continuing yet longer in this world he may then be sure of the sincerity of his Repentance and of the consequent security of his Condition by the same experience that all others are viz. by the fruits of it in a
so wise or it may be is wiser than I am and sees farther than I do and therefore is not exactly of my Opinion in every thing Now if this be so as both the Principles of Reason conclude it very well may be and the common Experience of Mankind not only in the particular concern of Religion but in most other things assures us that it is That Men's Understandings are different and they will argue different waies and entertain different Opinions from one another about the same things and yet may nevertheless deserve on all sides to be esteemed very good and wise Men for all that How vain then must that Argument be which a Late Author of the Church of Rome has with so much Pomp revived against us from our Differences in a few lesser Points of our Religion to conclude us to be Erroneous in the greater and that because we are not exactly of the same Opinion in every thing that therefore we ought to be credited in nothing that is to say That because Protestants when they differ are mistaken on One Side therefore when they agree they are mistaken on Both 1 st It is certain that amidst all our other Divisions we are yet on all sides agreed in whatsoever is Fundamental in the Faith or necessary to be believed and professed by us in order to our Salvation There is no good Protestant but what does firmly believe all the Articles of the Apostles Creed and embraces the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God and Rule of his Faith and readily acknowledges whatsoever is plainly revealed therein and is at all times disposed to submit to any thing that can by any necessary and certain Consequence be proved to him thereby In short Our Differences whatsoever they are I will be bold to say They do no more nor even so much concern the foundations of Christianity as those of the Judaizing Christians here did If their differing therefore with one another was no Prejudice to the Truth of their common Christianity then I would fain know for what Reason our Differences which are lesser shall become so much a greater Argument against our common Christianity now But Secondly If our differing from one another in some Points be an Argument that we are not certain in any How shall we be sure that those of the Church of Rome are not altogether as uncertain as we are seeing we are sure that they do no less differ among themselves and that in Points too much more considerable than we do For to take only one Instance instead of many and that so considerable that Card. Bellarmin once thought the Sum of Christianity he meant the Sum of Popery to consist in it viz. The Prerogatives of the Bishop of Rome both in and over the Church of Christ. * Some there are who hold the Pope to be Head of the Church by Divine Right Others the contrary * Some That he is Infallible Others That he is not * Some That the Pope alone without a Council may determine all Controversies Others That he cannot Now if in these and many other points of no less importance they themselves are as far from agreeing with one another as they can possibly pretend us to be what shall hinder us but that we return their own Inference upon them That seeing they differ among themselves in such things as these they are so far from that absolute Infallibility they set up for that in truth they have not so much as any certainty among them even in those Points wherein they do agree Is it that in their Church tho there be indeed as many differences as in ours yet this makes not against them seeing they have a certain Rule whenever they please for the composing of them viz. The Definition of the Pope and of the Church This indeed I find is commonly said by them But then certainly if they have such a ready means as they say of Agreement among them 't is the more shame for them that they do not agree he being much more inexcusably guilty in the omission of any duty who having a ready means to fulfil it neglects so to do than he who has none or which is the same thing does not know that he has any But indeed they have no means of Ending their differences any more than we have The Holy Scriptures we both of us acknowledg to be the Word of God and an Infallible Rule of Faith but for any other direction they are not yet agreed where to seek it And sure that can be no very good means of Ending all their other Differences which is it self one of their chiefest Controversies Or is it That they agree in matters of Faith and differ only in those things that do not belong to it Because if they differ about any Point they for that very Reason conclude it to be no matter of Faith But besides the Impenitence of this Answer which amounts to no more than this that they do agree in what they do agree and differ only in those things in which they differ This is what we say for our selves concerning our Differences We agree in all those things that are necessary to a Sound and Saving Faith and if we differ in matters of lesser moment 't is no more than what all other Christians have ever done and what those of the Church of Rome it self at this day do So that still it must remain either that those Differences which were among the Christians of old and which are among us now are no Prejudice at all to the common Truth which we profess or if they be the Consequence will fall upon those of the Church of Rome no less that I do not say and more severely than upon us and be of the same Force against Their Religion that it can be against Ours But I must carry this Reflection a great deal farther for Thirdly If once this Principle be allowed That because Men differ in some things they ought not to be credited in any what then will become not only of the Protestant Religion as it now stands in Opposition to Popery but even of Christianity it self For might not a Turk or a Jew if he were minded to give himself so much trouble to so little purpose as this late Author has done draw out a large HISTORY of the VARIATIONS of Christians among themselves from the Controversie of the Text unto this day and then by the very same Principle conclude against us all That we have none of us any certain Grounds for Our Religion because the differences that are among us plainly shew that some of us must be deceived And to go yet one step farther Might not a Sceptick by the same Rule argue against all Religion and even against all Reason too That the disagreement of mankind in these and many other Points of the greatest Importance clearly proves that there is no certainty in any thing and therefore that
well what is it else but to maintain a Paradox and shew a great deal of Skill only to demonstrate how much may be said for the most incredible things Heaven is a place which cannot raise his desires who has not thoughts purified enough to be in love with innocent and spiritual delights The pleasures of those happy Regions are not suited to the sensual apprehensions of such men as know no attractives but those of a Mahumetan Paradise And Hell it self tho the most formidable consideration of any yet such as for that very reason he will be sure to put as far from him as he can and either fancy that perhaps there is no such place or if there be yet hoâ—e it will be time enough hereafter to pâ—ovide for the escaping of it 3. And then lastly for that which is the great end of all religious instructions the Practice of Piety and without which all our knowledg in the Mystery of Godliness will be in vain this is what such a one is yet more indisposed to than all the rest There are many in the world who can be content to applaud the reasonableness of Piety and Virtue and will allow of all that we can say in praise of it that yet when it comes to the trial cannot endure to put it in practice Like the Ground over-run with Thorns in the Parable they receive the Word with gladness but the Cares of the world and the Pleasures of life choak the seed so that they seldom bring forth any Fruit unto perfection It is therefore absolutely necessary that he who will be a fit Disciple for the school of Christ should first dispose himself by a Probity and Integrity of mind to be willing to follow his Instructions That he labour sincerely to have a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards man That he come to our Religious Exercises with a Pious Mind not to please his Fancy or gratifie his Curiosity but to learn true Wisdom and that in order to Practice Instead of considering how the Discourse is managed whether the Preacher performs his part as he expected he should he must employ his Thoughts on more substantial Meditations In what particular especially the Discâ—urse came up to his own condition and how he may best apply it thereunto If any Vice were reproved whether his own Sin be not concerned in it If any Duty explain'd or encouraged whether that were not directed by God to inform his Knowledg or to reprove his remissness If it set forth any of the great Mysteries of our Redemption or the Glories of Heaven and what we must do to attain to them to remember that in all these things God calls upon us to acknowledg his Power and to celebrate his Goodness who has sent so wonderful and gracious a salvation to us This is the true way whereby the Pious Christian may profit himself even by the meanest of our Discourses but without such a disposition to receive Instruction the best seed will in vain be cast away upon us 2 dly The next qualification required in a Christian Auditor as well as in all others is That he be Docile By which I do not mean Endued with quick Parts and Abilities to learn that is the Gift of God and which sometimes may do more harm than good but I mean that he be desirous of Instruction and to that end prepared with such a temper and disposition of mind as to be willing and ready to pursue the means of it And to this end more particularly 1 st That he be Humble i. e. neither vainly conceited of himself as if he had no need of instruction nor esteeming himself to be too great to receive it even from the meanest Preacher There is nothing in the world so great an Enemy to our Proficiency in any thing as Pride When men look upon themselves as too great to learn and as such neglect and despise the means of Instruction Indeed I am not so vain as to think that we are not many times called to speak to those who are much fitter to become our Teachers But yet neither can I so far undervalue the Gospel of Christ which we deliver unto you as to believe there is ordinarily any Sermon so mean and despicable but that an humble mind might have profited by it and have found somewhat at least to exercise his Charity and his Patience if not to excite his Zeal and improve his Knowledg 2. A second thing required to this Docility is That a man be free from Passion This disturbs the mind and blinds the reason and hinders many times the best Doctrine from producing any suitable effects upon us Those who are subject to the command of their own affections judg more according to the inclinations of them than to the dictates of right reason He that espouses a Party or Interest that loves an Opinion and desires it should be true easily approves of whatsoever does but seem to make for it and rejects almost at all adventures whatsoever appears against it How does the Hope and Desire of Honour or Favour or Fortune in the World carry men away to the vilest things for the prosecution of it And so all the other Passions of the mind whether it be fear or pleasure or whatever else be the affection that rules us they hinder the reason from judging aright and weighing impartially what is delivered to us and 't is great odds but such an Auditor receives or condemns the Doctrine of Christ not according as the Authority of Holy Sripture and the Evidence of right reason require he should but as his own Passions and Inclinations prompt him to do 3. A Third thing required to Docility is That a man be free from Prejudice He that will advance any thing in the finding out of Truth must bring to it that Travellers indifference which the Heathen so long since recommended to the World He must not desire it should lie on the one side rather than the other lest his desire that it should prompt him without just reason to believe that it does And so in Religion too He that will make a right judgment what to believe or what to Practice must first throw off all prejudice in favour of his own Opinion or against any others And resolve never to be so tied up to any Point or Party as not to be at all times ready impartially to examine whatsoever can reasonably be objected against either How far the want of this does at this day divide the Church of Christ I would to God we had not too great reason on all sides to complain There are many among us so strangely engaged by false principles to an ill cause that 't is in vain to offer them the clearest Arguments to convince them If you bring them Scripture 't is true that must be heard but then be it never so plain they are not competent Judges of the Meaning of it and they durst